As followers of Christ we have to be aware that we are always under intense scrutiny. People are looking to see how we react to any given situation from long lines at the DMV to hitting a finger with a hammer. What is going to be the “Christian reaction”? Are we going to give reason for people to turn away from the church or are we going to be beacons of hope? Can we show that, even though life is just as hard on us as it is on everyone else, we will persevere with joy?

Last week I spent the evening with two old friends that I only see about once a year now due to life and geography. One of them is an agnostic (thinks there is probably a god, but won’t go any further) and the other is an atheist (believes there is no god). The conversation turned toward religion and they began to verbally assault God. As I dug deeper, I found their beef was not with God, but with those who follow him. Apparently they had experienced some holier-than-thou attitudes from our brothers and sisters in Christ. They felt judged and angry and wondered why if Christians have it right how can they be so argumentative, hypocritical and downright cruel. And these guys are friends of mine! Imagine what people think who have no Christian friends and can only base what they hear about us by what is presented on TV!

We must always be on guard with our words and actions. We must maintain constant vigilance. Satan wants us to shoot ourselves in the foot by alienating people from the blood of Christ. Let’s not give him the opportunity.

Next week I will talk about constant balance. Make sure to check back in to see what Steve and I have to say.

On the Journey with You,
Scott

This Sunday I’m wrapping up the Once Series.  Over the last weeks, I’ve learned about what happened that caused people to experience God as…

• Jehovah Shammah…God who is there for me
  
• Jehovah Shalom… God who is my peace
• Jehovah Nissi…God who is my banner, or my encouragement

and now this Sunday ends with…

• Jehovah Jireh…God who is my provider
  (by the way you can hear Sunday’s message below)

The cool thing about it all is that we’re all experiencing the same God, and yet he can respond to us in many ways.  Of course it’s not that God has a multi-personality disorder or anything like that.  Rather God is everything we need at the exact time we need Him!

I’ve personally experienced God as my discipliner, my comforter, my teacher, my encourager and so on.  He’s made me laugh and cry, He’s mended my brokeness, and broken me too.

I’m looking forward to this Sunday because I want to tell you how God is our provider.  The only time in the Bible that God is called Jehovah Jireh, which means God, our Provider, is when Abraham took his special son up a mountain to sacrifice the young man.

God had promised Abraham that the world would be blessed through this special son.  But then God tested Abraham by telling him that he needed to kill his child.  I know that sounds really rough, but remember that God knew what He was going to do in the end.

Still Abraham had a hard choice to make…trust God to provide even though it didn’t make complete sense to him, or defy God and make it on his own.

Each of us have choices to make in life.  Some even come down to life and death for us.  If we trust and obey God we will experience Him as Jehovah Jireh.

See you Sunday!

I asked everyone Sunday to think about the battles that they personally face.  For some, physical and emotional battles rage from the moment they wake up until they burn out to sleep.  A battle that you don’t always think about facing is a spiritual one that Christians face just by being part of the Church.  By definition, if you are on Jesus’ side, the world hates you, and Satan is against you.  So, whether we’re asking for trouble or not, we shouldn’t be surprised that Christians face many hard battles.

Now, I want you to answer a question:  How would facing your battles be different if you had some encouragement?

I think about the reality tv show, The Biggest Loser.  Those contestants are able to lose weight, build muscle and regain self-esteem all because they have a motivational personal trainer.  With that kind of encouragement (and it’s not always the lovey-dovey kind) they are able to achieve things they could have never done on their own.

So, how could you fight your daily struggles differently if you had the right kind of coach? In Exodus 17, the Israelites were so encouraged by God that even though they were ill-equipped and untrained for war, they were victorious as God cheered them on.  Moses named that place Jehovah Nissi…which means The Lord is My Banner.  In other words, The Lord, Himself rallied the troops to victory.

Take a look at this video clip from The Patriot…It displays how someone carrying the US banner into the battle motivates the troops to run straight into the heart of the fight.

Now, I hope you’ll discover that God wants to encourage you in those physical, emotional and certianly the spiritual battles you’re facing right now.

I got some great encouragement through an email this week.  A friend at church wrote that he got in line behind someone in the grocery store Sunday, and heard this person talking about Team Church.  The gentleman was saying to the cashier how he had just been to Team Church, and how it encouraged him.  My friend was not having such a great day, but hearing that changed his whole attitude.  He went back home with a new pep in his step.

Hearing that someone is interested in church is really nice…but do you know why it affected my friend so much?  It’s because he’s involved…he’s invested, and he feels a healthy sense of pride that God is blessing what he’s doing.  Hearing that does the same thing to me.  Isn’t it wonderful to see God at work where we get the priveledge to be involved?

Isn’t that cool that Team Church encouraged a newcomer, and he encouraged my friend, and then my friend encouraged me with the whole story!

This week I will be talking about “Jehovah Nissi” which means “God is my banner.”  A banner is like a flag that rallies the troops. This story from my friend is kind of like God rallying us with some Good News.  It’s easy to discouraged, but I want you to sense the encouragement that Jehovah Nissi wants to give you.

Can you imagine with me that God is getting excited about what he wants to do this Sunday in churches all over our area?  Can you see Him wanting to encourage the speakers, leaders, the people who set-up, and the greeters and so on?  He wants these people who are responsible to get pumped because God has someone coming that needs encouragement too!

If you’re part of the Team, I hope you get that encouragement that you need, when you need it, because it helps us to keep going.  God wants to fill you up so you can fill others!  I hope you’re as excited as God…Jehovah Nissi.

See you this Sunday for some strong encouragement!