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Is God For Us?

Is God For Us?
We who are pastors and leaders of Christian ministries are among the most zealous people in the world. Our strategic plans have eternal implications woven throughout; we rightly believe the stakes are higher even than on Wall Street and in Washington D. C.

Zeal is a wonderful attribute At least one of the disciples of Jesus was a “Zealot” (probably against Roman occupation of the Holy Land). Zeal can be good or bad in Scripture. In fact, two Greek words, zelos and spoude are used to express different aspects of zeal: jealousy (positive and negative) and speed or intensity. “Jealous” is actually derived from “zealous,” and “speed” is derived from spoude. Zeal is essential in our pursuit of God; zeal for God’s house prompted Jesus to cleanse the temple (John 2:17), but zeal can be harmful if not according to knowledge (Romans 10:2).

Lately, the Lord has been speaking to my heart about the focus of my zeal. About what am I most intense or jealous? After a year of intense presidential campaigning, we have seen professional partisan zeal claim the hopes and allegiance of disgruntled citizens. Americans, like the Romans in Seneca’s time, are seeking ad salutem – for a savior. So the campaigning on both sides was zealous.

In our zeal for the Lord’s work, we tend so easily to sanctify our own organizations and pursue popular admiration and financial advantages, often by exaggeration and sometimes by subtle undermining of – in all honesty – competitor ministries.

Joshua was sure God was fully on his side after going through the Red Sea, the wilderness (40 years), warfare on the east bank, and the Jordan River. His warriors were recovering from fresh ceremonial sanctifying, and Jericho was in sight. (See Joshua 5). Out for a stroll, Joshua confronted a man whose sword was drawn. “Are you for us or for our enemies?” Joshua inquired. For the good guys or the bad guys?

The response of the commander of the army of the Lord ought to cause pause in all of us zealots: not for you, not for your enemies, not for both – for neither! God is on God’s side only. The question is, Joshua (and David, and Pastor Jones, and President Smith, and everyone else), whose side are you on?

Is God on my side? Is God for Somerset Christian College? From Joshua 5, I take the answer to be No. Is God for me? Yes! If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31). Confused? Let me explain what I believe God has been saying to me. While God is surely for His children, only one “organization” has God’s total affection and devotion. It is the Church universal, the invisible Body and Bride of Christ. Not my school, my local church, my denomination, my ministry. Does God support and care for these works? I believe He does. But no institutions or organizations will go to heaven or last forever. Some wonderful works of God have been closed. But His Word, His Church, and His people endure forever.

So, bottom line on this: it’s good to be zealous for the ministry God has entrusted to us, and even to love it and work passionately for it, but to think of it as the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord (Jeremiah 7:4) as though my ministry is more special to God than others – not a good idea. When I go that way, I see ugly stuff inside, things like arrogance, envy, disunity, triumphalism, selfcenteredness, and a very inadequate view of God. May 2009 be a year of THE KINGDOM FIRST!

Upfront - Those who have insight...

Some propositions that I now embrace:

We woke up to the culture war all around us on 9/11/01, and the world will never be the same. New York is still an open, festering wound on the body of America. Revenge has eluded us. Our war on terrorism has not satisfied us. We still feel insecure and vulnerable. And most Americans do not have a clue about what is really happening. What’s happening is not what’s really going on. Today’s followers of Jesus have a fourfold prophetic role; to:
Hear and know the word of the Lord
Understand the times and the seasons
Confront the church’s complacency, starting with ourselves
Lovingly warn all people of the coming intervention of God, and show and tell the good news of salvation.

“Those who have insight will understand” (Daniel 12:10) that the battle lines are being drawn between conflicting worldviews. More than ever, the Lord wants to raise up believers with a biblically-based, Christ-centered education and deploy them in all walks of life as His army. I cannot give adequate intensity or emphasis to the importance of young people gaining a spiritual worldview if the next generations are to effectively combat the false ideologies of the world and man-made religions. The new www is Worshipper Warrior Worldview. And that’s what a SCC education imparts. Our students are aware that a battle for kingdom supremacy is being waged, and that the radical terror that is inspired by the chief enemy of God must be challenged and defeated by radical commitment to Christ.

God is raising up a new generation of radical disciples. They will make all of us uncomfortable because their zeal is far beyond ours, and their recklessness scares their parents. Today’s SCC is more like that of a century ago than any other generation in our 100 years. I believe it’s a “God thing,” as they say. So, when we see the fire of God, let’s douse it ……. with gasoline!

Saints & Sinners - Zaccheus

GF: Zaccheus –

A tax collector, and a wee man; tree man; tea man.

GF: What?

An old Sunday School song. “Zaccheus was a wee little man; he climbed up in a sycamore tree, for the Lord he wanted to see. As the Savior passed that way, He looked up in the tree, and said, ‘Zaccheus, you come down, for I’m going to your house for tea.”

GF: For tea?

Well, I don’t know about that, but would you climb up a tree to see Jesus?

GF: I hope so.

Me, too. But more importantly, he repented, restored money to folks he had ripped off, and Jesus said, “Today salvation has come to this house…for the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

Saints & Sinners - Barnabus

GF: Barnabus –

What kind of bus?

GF: C’mon, Doc. Barnabus.

Oh, that guy. Well, he was like a bus. He took folks places. His name means Encourager. Everyone else was afraid of the new convert known as Saul, the Christian killer. But Barnabus took him on board and discipled him for a whole year.

GF: Wow, imagine that – discipling the Apostle Paul!

Yes, we never know how God will use someone that we encourage in the faith. Before long, Paul was in the driver’s seat taking the church to Europe.

GF: So, what became of Barnabus?

After Paul and Barnabus’s first missionary journey into Turkey, they split up and Barnabus took another young disciple on board to encourage, John Mark, who eventually wrote the Gospel of Mark.

Back to Blog - Gideon

Alien to the tech age as I am, I got lost in cyber space for two years, but Christine found me. Both my profile and I have been saved. I will be posting Saints and Sinners scripts for a few weeks (if I can find my way back here), starting with Gideon. Snappy, smart-alecky, and occasionally worth while. The interview GF is George Flores. These were aired on STAR 99.1 in the fall of 2008.

GF Gideon –

Wimp to Champ. The Israelites were doing exactly what they were told not to do – worshipping the gods of the Canaanites. Because of their disobedience, they were being totally dominated by the Midianites, even hiding out in caves. Finally, they cried out to the Lord, who appeared to Gideon and called him “Mighty Warrior.”

GF And you call him a Wimp!

Well, he started out that way, When God said, Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand, Gideon said, How can I save Israel? My tribe is the weakest and I am the least in my family.

GF So then he became a Champ?

He did. He gathered an army of 32.000 – too many for the Lord to get the glory, so He cut it down to 300 and then went out and whipped the Midianites with jars, torches and trumpets.

Upfront Musings

Big news received this week. My latest book, Upfront Musings, was released by AuthorHouse. It is available via internet purchase and can be previewed first. Google either AuthorHouse or Upfront Musings to check it out. I haven't seen a hard copy yet. The book will also be available through Barnes and Noble bookstores.

Pioneer Blog

Formerly, the Follow Me materials written by David Schroeder were featured on a website whose server was GospelCom.net. We are very grateful for their help in serving many MasterWorks customers. While the Follow Me Manual is not currently available gratis by downloading, we hope on this blog to continue to feature the Follow Me material and many other writings from time to time.