Yogi Berra, the former New York Yankees catcher gave us many “Yogi-isms” said, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” The context of that statement according to his book was he was giving someone directions to his house. However, that saying has been used by many people in trying to give wisdom to other people. When you come to a fork in the road, you have to pick a path. Well, the same is true in how we use our words. One of the greatest gifts we have been given by God is the ability to communicate with people. However, we must be careful in how we communicate. Our words can either be a blessing to others or they can cause great pain. In speaking of our tongue, the Bible says it is the only thing that mankind can’t tame. James wrote a lot about our speech as Christians. James 3:7-10 says, “For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile, and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.”

In previous verses, James talks about how small the tongue is in comparison to the rest of our body. He compares our tongue to the bit put in a horse’s mouth and the rudder of a ship used to turn the ship. James says that although our tongue is small, it is able to control a lot. James makes an interesting statement when he says that we bless God, but then we curse man, who is made in the image of God. James is drawing a connection between our we speak to others is really revealing how we feel towards God. To curse someone made in His image, is to curse God Himself because God is the Creator of all mankind. So, when you are telling someone off, you are in a way telling God off. I think a question that we should ask ourselves before we open our mouths is this, would I say the same things to God or about God as I am getting ready to say to or about this person? While we often try to justify harsh words by saying that our emotions got the better of us, Jesus has a different take. In Matthew 15:18, Jesus said, “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.” The context of this statement is that Jesus had offended the Pharisees by saying they were exactly like the Old Testament prophet Isaiah said Israel was when he wrote, “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.” The Pharisees focused on the outward actions of the Law, but neglected the heart and motivations behind obeying the Law. Jesus was saying that they were doing the right things outwardly, but inside their heart wasn’t right. Then, Jesus tells a parable to demonstrate that truth. Afterwards, Peter comes up and asks Jesus to explain what Jesus meant by that parable. Peter’s question lead to Jesus’ statement in Matthew 15:18. Jesus’ point is that what comes out of our mouth reveals what is truly in our heart. So, when we lose control and have an angry outburst; we may say that emotions got the best of me; however, Jesus would say that what came out of us is what is truly inside of our heart. Here is the dangerous deception, we are very good at covering up the real us. We are so good at it, we even fool ourselves into believing that we are good people who just slipped up. Jesus would say, you didn’t slip up, you just got caught with your mask off, and the real you shone through in that moment. That’s hard to hear isn’t it? I think of those times that I have “lost” it even momentarily. This is why we must be in the Bible daily, because it accurately diagnoses who we are. But it also points us to Jesus, who is our hope and our help. James says that we can’t tame the tongue. His intention is to point us to Jesus. It’s not about trying harder to watch your mouth. It is about surrendering your body to Jesus, and asking the Holy Spirit to work in you and change you. We can’t tame our tongue, but the Holy Spirit can. We need to ask God to search us and to reveal who we truly are, and then we need to ask for His help to make us into the man or woman we are supposed to be.

Our words reflect our heart. You wouldn’t go swimming in a dirty pool would you? You would want it clean. Then why are we ok walking around with a dirty heart? Use your words wisely, because they can speak life to someone or they can destroy them. One of the most important times to remember the power of your words is when you are hurting or you are angry. Words that come out in a moment can do a lifetime of damage, and sometimes the damage can’t be undone. We all like to be encouraged by others, so give the encouragement to others that you hope others will give to you. Use your words to build up, not to tear down.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Justin

Have you ever known someone who was always the “smartest” person in the room? They knew the answer to every question, and were always one of the first to answer? Not trying to doubt their intelligence, but seldom were they actually the “smartest” person in the room on every subject. But it didn’t stop them from believing they were, and offering their opinion. Unfortunately, in our day and age of social media, there are a lot of “smartest” people in the virtual world. I remember when a couple of our children went to a public elementary school. This particular school focused on the “7 Habits of Highly Successful People” as written by Stephen Covey. One of the habits written about in the book was to “seek first to understand, then to be understood.” Whether or not Mr. Covey knew that this sort of wisdom came from Scripture or not, I don’t know. I don’t know if the school realized it. Either way, they were teaching a great principle. Something that frankly, we all could stand to remember right now, especially in our interactions on social media. James 1:19-20 says, “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”

One thing that Diana and I try to tell our children, “God gave you two ears and one mouth. Therefore, do twice as much listening as you do talking.” It is easy to say, but sometimes hard to follow. However, it is needed, maybe now more than ever in our nation. With everything going on in our country and then add on top of it many of us are still in some form of a lockdown, you have a recipe for disaster. Then, let’s pile on to that how both political parties are stoking the fires, and now you are sitting on a powder keg just looking for a reason and a place to go off. We have some very real problems in our nation. Problems that will not be solved by violence, rioting, or immediately dismissing someone because you don’t agree with them. What truly needs to happen is that leaders need to get in a room with people who have grievances, sit down, be quiet, and just listen. The only talking that they should do is to ask questions as a follow-up to make sure they are hearing and truly understanding the concerns. As difficult as this may be to hear, sometimes people act out because they feel fed up with not being listened to. No, that isn’t a justification for rioting and looting. However, I have known more than one kid to throw a temper tantrum and do stuff in order to get their parent’s attention. I believe that the church needs to lead the way in modeling reconciliation and dialogue. After all, Paul says that God has given us a ministry of reconciliation. Of course, he is talking about how we are to share the Gospel with the unsaved, so that God can save them, and they can be reconciled to Him. However, Jesus also taught us about reconciliation on a personal basis as well. He said, “Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave you gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Mt. 5:23-24). I’m not going to pretend that I have all the answers to the deep-rooted problems in America. However, I am smart enough to look at both sides and say that what we are doing isn’t working; therefore, we better find a different way. Sometimes, what someone truly wants is for someone to just listen. They want to know that someone cares. I can remember early on in Diana and I’s marriage that I would frustrate her a lot. Ok, so I probably still do now that we are 15 years into our married life. One thing that frustrated her the most was how I went about trying to “fix” everything. She would come to me with a problem or a concern, and I immediately went into fix-it mode. The good news is I was able to fix some of the issues. The bad thing is I wasn’t listening to my wife and showing her my love for her. She finally had to just tell me, “I don’t want you to fix everything, I want you to listen to me. I want you to be on my side.” I would like to say that I have fixed that problem, but I’m not a miracle worker, just a work in progress. What could God do in our hearts and in our communities, if pastors or different races sat down and had a genuine conversation about what is going on in their community and in the world. And both sides just listened to the other, and loved their brothers in Christ, and prayed with and for each other? What could happen is churches of different races in the same community did a joint worship service together and shared a meal afterwards (yes socially distanced and with as much precaution as possible)? Would it immediately change the community and the country? Probably not. But it couldn’t hurt. Because again, what we are doing as a nation sure isn’t working right now. If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, the same way and expecting different results; I think we are meeting the definition of insanity. The blood of Jesus Christ is a greater uniter than everything that Satan is using to divide us. It’s past time that we show love for one another, and in this case it starts by sitting down, opening our ears, and keeping our mouths closed for the most part. We must listen to each other, because then we might learn that we really aren’t that much different from one another. Who can you show love to today by listening to them?

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Justin

Have you ever been in a stressful situation, but felt completely calm in the middle of it? My dad tells a story of when I was playing baseball, I was going to start a pretty big game. As I was taking my warm up pitches, I was casually blowing bubbles with my bubble gum on the mound. It didn’t matter if I was in mid-wind up or actually throwing the ball. He always says that is how he knew that I was relaxed, and that I would have a good game that night. I’m happy I seemed calm on the outside, but knowing me, I was probably a bundle of nerves on the inside. Sometimes, when we should feel nervous, anxious, or even scared; we don’t really realize the magnitude of the situation we are in, and so we don’t act nervous, anxious, or scared. Other times, when it really isn’t that big of a deal, we tend to act like it a really big deal. What is the difference? I’m sure there are a lot of things that lead to the different reactions, but I have come to believe that there is one driving force behind it. We either believe that God is sovereign or we don’t. When we talk about God being sovereign, which is God is in control, people tend to get really nervous. That is because there is a theological belief system known as Calvinsim, that tends to talk a lot about God’s sovereignty. I’m not going to go into all of the details about Calvinism, but one of the biggest premises behind the belief system is that God is in control of all things at all times. This shouldn’t make us nervous at all. In fact, it should be one of the most comforting facts we can ever know. It can be comforting because it means that an all-knowing, all-wise, loving, gracious, and merciful God is in control. Things are left up to chance or coincidence. It is all divinely orchestrated. This doesn’t meant that God causes bad things to happen or is the author of evil. But it does mean that God is in control, so that even when bad things happen, He is powerful enough to turn them around and bring about something good from it. Again, I can’t think of anything that is more comforting than this. I think the apostle Peter, one night while he was in prison, would agree with me. The story is found in Acts 12. James has already been killed by King Herod, and persecution of the church is growing. Peter has been arrested, and Herod intends to kill him as soon as the Jewish festival of Unleavened Bread is over. The night before Peter is scheduled to be executed, guess what Peter is doing in his prison cell? Acts 12:6 says, “And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison.” Did you read that? Peter was sleeping! The night before he is going to be killed; Peter isn’t worried about a last meal or trying to figure out how to escape. He has completely trusted God with his life, and this allowed Peter to get a good night’s sleep. That is until the angel came and woke him, and walked him right out of the prison. The point is, Peter didn’t know that God was going to spare his life. For all intents and purposes, Peter thought the next day he was going to die. Yet, he had peace in his heart, and that allowed him to give no thought to his life. Peter trusted in the sovereignty of God, and that gave Peter peace. I can’t help but wonder if this is part of the reason that our world seems so frantic right now. They are running around, losing their minds because of COVID-19. I’m not downplaying COVID-19 at all. It is a serious virus that has made many sick, and taken the lives of many. In fact, as I write this, a friend of mine is in a hospital fighting for his life due to COVID-19. Yet, his wife is posting on social media about their family’s trust in God’s plan for his life. She has no idea whether or not her husband and the father to their little girl will come out of this, or if he will step into eternity and be with Jesus. However, it doesn’t matter, because she trusts God, and knows that God will do what He knows is right. This is what it looks like to trust in the sovereignty of God. When we trust that God is in control, it allows us to relinquish control. When we trust God, it allows us to not worry and fret over every little thing that happens in life. The reason that the Bible describes God has high above His creation, is to remind us that it may be over our heads, but it is still under God’s feet. When we trust God, it gives us peace. A peace that the Bible says passes all understanding. A peace that knows no matter how things work out, it is right and God is good. So, the question is this, do you have this peace? It is available because of Jesus’ death and resurrection. You can receive it as you surrender your heart and life to Him, and then live according to faith in Him. If you would like this peace, but don’t have it, please reach out to me at pastorjustin@westlakebaptist.org. I would love to tell you how you to can experience peace regardless of the situation or circumstances of your life.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Justin

How many of you would like to receive a blank check, and to have the person who gives it to you tell you to write whatever amount you need in the box? How many of you would be willing to write a blank check and give it to someone? Let’s be honest, we like to receive more than we like to give in some instances. I can’t help but wonder if we don’t treat our relationship with God much the same way. We would love for God to give us that proverbial blank check. Whatever we needed, we could have it. In fact, I believe that is how many people treat God. They treat Him more like a genie in a bottle than the sovereign God of the universe. We would love for God to give us that blank check, but how many of us are truly willing to write a blank check to God? I wonder how much we miss out on being used by God, because we don’t want to write Him a blank check. Peter could have missed out on God using him if he didn’t trust God. Peter had a vision that didn’t make sense in Acts 10. Acts 10:19-20 says, “While Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him, ‘Behold, three men are seeking you. Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.'”

Let’s be honest, that isn’t much information to go on is it? Imagine you are Peter. You have just seen a strange vision of a bedsheet lowered with various types of animals on it, including some that you as a Jewish person are forbidden to eat. But then God tells you to go ahead and eat it. This doesn’t happen just once, but three times. Then, all of the sudden here are three strangers looking for you and wanting you to go back with them. I think there was good reason for the Spirit to tell Peter to go with them men and don’t doubt or question why. I’m not Peter, and I have a few questions. Let me switch metaphors for a moment. I’m a puzzle guy, I love working puzzles. However, like most people, I work a puzzle from the outside in. I start with the border, because I know once I have it filled in, then every other piece goes on the inside. However, in my walk with God, I have to be honest about something; God seldom gives an edge piece of His plan. He seems to like to plop down a center piece, that at the time doesn’t appear connected to anything else around it. This is where the blank check comes in. When you write a blank check, you are trusting the person you are giving it to, to write in the correct amount. The question is, do we trust God? The reality is, God seldom gives us that edge piece of His plan. However, He does give us enough of the puzzle for us to respond in faith to Him. All He told Peter was to get up and eat, and go with these men who came looking for him. Truthfully, Peter didn’t need any other information, and neither do we. God gives us what we need to know in order to obey Him. Therefore, the question isn’t, what’s next? The question is, will I trust God enough to obey Him with what He has revealed to me? These are the times in life, that I have to remember, if I can’t see or understand the hand of God in a situation, I just have to trust the person of God in this situation. God is good, loving, gracious, and merciful. He is all-knowing and all-powerful. He knows the end from the beginning Isaiah 46:10 says. He has a plan, and His plan is for His glory and my good. Therefore, I already have enough to trust Him and to obey Him. The question is, will I trust Him and obey Him? That is a question that you have to answer for yourself. What is keeping you from giving that proverbial blank check to God? What are you trying to hold back? This is a call for all of us to turn loose and give all of ourselves to God, knowing who He is, and trusting what He has planned for us. It begins with surrendering you heart and your life to Him. Then it continues with surrendering your plans and your desires to Him. Trusting that wherever He leads you, it is for His glory and your good. Here’s the final question, do you trust Him enough to do this?

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Justin

One thing that we have heard for six straight months now is about the spreading of a virus. The interesting thing is, the spreading of Christianity has a similarity to the spreading of a virus. All it takes is the right environment. Jesus had told the disciples that they would be witnesses to Him in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the ends of the earth in Acts 1:8. Up until this point in the book of Acts, the Gospel has stayed in Jerusalem. However, with the events of Acts 7 and into the opening of Acts 8, the environment was right for Christianity to spread. Acts 7 closes with the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. This sets the stage for what we read in Acts 8:1, “Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.” Did you see where they were scattered to? God was fulfilling His promise to spread the Gospel to Judea and Samaria. However, just like the spread of a virus, the environment for spreading the Gospel was not necessarily a favorable environment to those living in it.

God spread the message of Christianity through suffering and persecution of His followers. We see this over and over, not only in the Bible, but also in history. The stronger the persecution, the stronger the church and the further the Gospel spreads. This is why I believe we as Christians are wrong to pray that God would keep persecution away from us, or that He would remove it from us. Persecution is God’s environment of purification in the lives of His people. As much as COVID-19 has not been enjoyable, I truly believe that this is the church in America’s Acts 8:1 moment. Jesus gave us the Great Commission to go and make disciples of all nations. However, for far too longer, we as Christians have tried to gather into our holy huddles, build bigger ministries, focus on making converts, but not do the one thing that God has called us to do. At the end of March, as things began to shut down, churches had to focus on getting the Gospel out to their neighbor through different means. No, the virus isn’t persecution, but it is God’s method of getting His children to do what we should have been doing the whole time. We started noticing our families more, spending more time with them, and learning to disciple them. We started noticing our neighbors and showing the love of Christ to them. These are all very, very good things. Hopefully, we will have learned this lesson and long after COVID-19 disappears from our vocabulary, we will continue to do what we have recently started doing. I’m not saying that difficulties are fun, because they aren’t. However, we should learn to embrace them, because they are for God’s glory and our good. God uses difficulties in our lives to trim the fat in our lives, those things that we focus on that we shouldn’t. God uses them to narrow our focus. But He can also use those things that we go through to reach others. However, God uses them, He is glorified through them when we are faithful to Him, and that is what matters. So, hang in there, keep praying, and keep trusting. God has a plan, and He is working it out, and it is going to be perfect.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Justin

I’m going to show my age here, but when I was growing up there was a musical group named Meatloaf. I know they had a lot of songs, but I only remember one. The most famous line from the song was, “I would do anything for love, but I won’t do that.” By the way, I am not endorsing Meatloaf and their music in any way, just making a reference to a song I have heard literally hundreds of times in my life. That song came into my head, because I believe in many ways we as people put conditions on our love and commitment. This can apply to people, situations, or even organizations. We say phrases such as , “I love you, but” or “I know I should go to church, but.” The word “but” is a conjunction that is going to reveal the condition. One of those conditions centers around forgiveness. The Bible has a lot to say about forgiveness. In today’s text, we are going to see forgiveness put into action in a difficult situation. In Acts 7, we see the first Christian martyred. His name is Stephen. The religious leaders found people who would lie about him and what he was teaching. Two things stand out about the story in Acts 7. The first is how Stephen used his time to defend himself. He didn’t defend himself! Instead of saying, “these guys are lying, I’m not doing any of what they are accusing me of”; Stephen gives a history lesson. He recounts God’s faithfulness and God’s plan from Abraham all the way through Jesus. Stephen was calling on the religious leaders to repent and believe, instead of being worried about his own life. This is the example of Christian love in action we should all strive for.

The second thing that sticks out to me is the depth of Stephen’s love for God which led to a deep love for the people, even the ones persecuting him. After false witnesses were found, and he didn’t defend himself, Stephen is going to be executed. He was taken out of the city and stoned. As they are hurling stones at him, as he is bleeding, and his life is fleeting from him, Stephen does something unbelievable. Acts 7:60 says, “Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not charge them with this sin.’ And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” Stephen followed in the footsteps of Jesus in the sense of asking God to not hold his murderers accountable for their action. Stephen is forgiving his persecutors as they are killing him.

The only way that we can choose to not defend ourselves, and to even forgive those who are causing us harm is to have a deep love and an abiding relationship with Jesus. Stephen was living out his theology. He believed that God is sovereign. This is why he didn’t try to defend himself against the lies, because he knew God was in control of all things. Stephen knew that Jesus loves sinners. Stephen knew that forgiveness is available through Jesus. Stephen knew that to close his eyes in death was not something to be afraid of, but rather to be embraced because something far greater was waiting for him. Stephen could forgive, because he knew he had been forgiven. His persecutors didn’t ask for forgiveness. Why would they, they didn’t think they were doing anything wrong. Yet, by his words, Stephen is choosing to forgive them. It’s easy to forgive those that we love or when it truly isn’t a big deal. However, it takes a love that is bigger than us to forgive those who are persecuting you. Yet, this is the very type of love that Jesus shows us, and that we are called to show to the world. When we have right beliefs, they will show by our right actions. What do our actions say about our beliefs?

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Justin

A lot of people focus on power and influence, while character is often overlooked. Then there are those who focus on outward appearances, while still ignoring their inward person. However, we see over and over in the Bible that character matters. We see it really matter as the church was just beginning in Acts. There was a threat to the unity of the new church early on. Through divinely given wisdom, the apostles decided to enlist the help of others in the church. It was this action that helped keep the church unified and growing. We see how they chose these new leaders in Acts 6:3, “Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.”

What we see in the selection of leaders is very important. The first thing that I see is that the new leaders were apparent to those in the church. Peter told them to look for people among them. Therefore, these were people who were already a part of the church, most likely from the very beginning. In a day and age when churches try to find leaders outside of their church, we see the early church do something very different. The next thing that I see in the text is the new leaders reputation. It wasn’t just a good reputation inside of the church, it would have also been good outside of the church. Sometimes, people don’t want to come to a particular church because of the way the people at that church act. Now, I will tell you that if you go or don’t go to a church based on a person, you are going for the wrong reason. We go to church to worship the Lord Jesus Christ. However, the people and the way they act can greatly influence visitors to return to a church or not to. Finally, we see evidence of their relationship with Jesus. They are full of the Holy Spirit, and they possess wisdom that comes from the Holy Spirit. These are all qualities that every Christian should have in their life. Leaders aren’t people who have extraordinary gifts. Rather, they are people who exercise and improve the gifts they already possess. Are you striving for these qualities in your walk with God? How can God use you to further His kingdom? Pray and ask God to develop you into the man or woman that God has created and called you to be.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Justin

It seems like people are just in a fighting kind of mood all the time these days. I don’t know if it is the result of the lockdowns that we have gone through this year, or social media, or a combination of both. Whatever the reason, it is evident that we have lost the ability to communicate with each other. Everything escalates quickly. I was told a long time ago, and I’m slowly learning, don’t attend every fight you are invited to. That doesn’t mean there aren’t times which call for us to take a stand. It is asking yourself the question, is this really a hill to die on? The apostles learned this early on in the life of the church. The religious leaders were not happy with the doctrine the apostles were teaching. Therefore, we see them arrest Peter and John. The arrest happened after God used Peter to heal a man who had been lame all of his life. However, what we see in Acts 4 is the fact that Peter and John are arrested not because they performed a miracle, but rather because they preached that Jesus rose from the dead and that He is the Messiah. After asking Peter and John some questions, the religious leaders sternly warn Peter and John to no longer teach about Jesus or in His name. In response Peter says in Acts 4:19-20, “But Peter and John answered and said to them, ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.'” This is a bold stance for Peter and John, but I think it is worth noting that they weren’t rude or belligerent about it. They clearly state where they stand, while encouraging the religious leaders to decide for themselves what they think should be done. In this exchange and even later in the chapter, I see some important principles for our communication, especially when taking a stand publicly.

1. Know what you believe. One of the first things that jumps out to me in their defense is how they put their beliefs out front. Peter and John believed that Jesus is the Messiah, that He was crucified and risen from the dead, and that all of this was done according to God’s plan for the salvation of people. One thing that saddens me in our day is how people latch onto something they have heard, without doing any background research on it. They get riled up over something, because someone has told them they should be riled up over it. It is important, especially for Christians in this pluralistic society we live in, to know what they believe. What does the Bible teach? You can only know what you believe if you spend time reading the Bible.
2. Be ready to take a stand. As I said, we live in a pluralistic society. A pluralistic society means that people “worship” many different gods, while also believing that there are many ways to get to heaven. It strikes me a funny and sad at the same time that our society is offended by Christians who state that faith in Jesus is the only way to be saved, but then want to say that each person must decide how they believe a person can go to heaven. Which is it? Are you offended in the exclusivity of the Gospel or that people believe there are absolute truths, or are you tolerant of any and all beliefs? You simply can’t have it both ways. The further and further America slips into a post-Christian era, and yes I believe we are a post-Christian nation at this point, the more Christians will be put at odds with the society we live in. While I understand the angst that can cause in some Christians, I believe there are two things we need to realize. First, we have been blessed to have not faced all out persecution in this country like many of our brothers and sisters around the world. Second, Jesus told us that persecution was going to happen. Therefore, we must come to expect it. As persecution comes for our stance and beliefs in the Bible, we must be ready to take a stand. In so doing, there are a few things that I believe we need to remember.
3. Be gracious in your speech. Notice what Peter says in Acts 4:19, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.” Peter isn’t being belligerent. He is telling the religious leaders, they have to decide whether they believe listening to God or man is right. Peter isn’t shoving any biblical truth down their throat. Rather, he has stated biblical truth and he is calling on them to believe it and accept it. Christians, we will not win the world to Christ by talking and treating them disrespectfully. The world needs to hear and see something different from us. Following in Jesus’ example according to 1 Peter 2, when we are reviled, do not revile back. When we suffer, don’t retaliate; instead, commit ourselves to God who will judge and avenge His children. As the saying goes, “kill them with kindness.”
4. Determine if this is really a hill to die on. One thing that saddens me about many in the Christian circle is how we have lost the ability to discern. Our lack of discernment has caused many to have their faith shipwrecked by false teaching. But it has also caused many Christians to fight over non-biblical or sometimes secondary doctrinal matters. What I mean by secondary doctrinal matters are things such as the timing of the rapture, celebration of holidays, and things like this. Too often Christians walk around and get offended by everything except the things that we should really get offended by. If it doesn’t change who God is, doesn’t change the message and meaning of the Bible, doesn’t distort who Jesus is, or how a person is saved; then it most likely is a secondary doctrinal issue. When it comes to secondary or even tertiary doctrinal issues, we can disagree on them, but not be divided over them. At the risk of offending some, I want to give a quick example. Many Christians have lost their mind on social media the past couple of years because Starbucks uses a red holiday (Christmas) cup. Why should we not lose our mind and weaken our witness over this? First, let me say this, I do not drink Starbucks. I have had it before, and I wasn’t a huge fan of it. If you like it, that is great, continue to drink it. I don’t want to pay those prices for something that I don’t like, but that is just me. Now, we need to realize that Starbucks has never been a Christian company. They have never claimed to be. In fact, their CEO has stated in clear terms how he feels about Christians and others. Therefore, why would I expect them to have Christian symbols of Christmas on their cups? I would be more offended if they tried to manipulate me by putting Christmas symbols on their cups, because that would be them pretending to be something that they are not. I don’t like companies or politicians pandering to me, especially when it causes them to compromise what they truly believe. I would rather you be up front about who you are and what you believe. Then, I can decide whether or not it is right for me to patron your establishment or give you my vote. Finally, I want to remind us Christians, we cannot expect the lost to act like they are saved! The things of the Spirit are spiritually discerned Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2. So, while we may not like what Starbucks does, this isn’t a hill to die on. Instead, it is a call to prayer for the CEO and any workers there who are not Christian. The last thing I want to say about this topic is this, when we get outraged by everything, we automatically weaken our witness and soften our voice. I will use an example from a pastor and his wife that my family is friends with. This family says they don’t raise their voice at their kids. Not because their kids don’t drive them crazy at times, but so that when the kids hear them yelling at them, they will know it is something important. The example is if we yell at our kids because they are not listening to us, they are more likely to tune us out when we yell at them as they are running towards the road and into real danger. Why? Because they can’t differentiate between when we are truly scared for them and our normal conversational tone towards them. However, when we don’t yell or raise our voice normally, when we do yell at them to “stop” as they are running towards the road, their brain will realize that their tone of voice is different. It will make the children more likely to stop. So, don’t lose your mind at every potential slight. Save the outrage for truly important issues, and this will make your voice louder and stronger in the public square.
5. Learn to rely on the Holy Spirit. Peter and John didn’t go looking for trouble. They were simply doing what Jesus had done and what Jesus had told them to do. This has to be true of you and I. We don’t want to go looking for a fight, but we don’t want to run from it when it comes to us either. However, here is the key. Don’t fight in your strength and wisdom. Instead, pray and trust the Holy Spirit to equip you to stand and fight.

There are times in which we need to be genuinely outraged, and we need to speak up. Those times are probably going to increase the closer we get to the return of Jesus. Therefore, we must always be ready to take a stand. Don’t go looking for a fight, but when it comes, be ready to stand and trust that the Lord will fight for you and give you the words to say when necessary.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Justin

Success is something that many, if not everyone desires. Why is it that so few actually achieve success? There are a lot of reasons. However, I am convinced that one of the biggest reasons is because we tend to overcomplicate things. I’ve seen it in sports, business, entertainment, and other areas of life. Unfortunately, the church is not immune to this problem. If I could define the reasons the early church was so successful, I think it would actually be pretty simple. They relied on the Spirit of God and the Word of God. One of the best examples of this was on the day of the church’s birth, the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. There was a lot of commotion happening in Jerusalem as the Holy Spirit came upon the church. It lead many people to marvel at what was happening, and it lead others to mock. However, Peter stands up and delivers the first sermon of the church to a large crowd. Acts 2:37-39 says, “Now when they (the crowd) heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’ Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off; as many as the Lord our God will call.'”

Here was the pattern, the Holy Spirit came, and Peter spoke the Word of God. Much of what Peter preached that day came from the Old Testament. The result was that 3,000 souls were saved that day. We can go a little further in the book of Acts and see that the Lord added daily to the church those that were saved. Later in Acts 2 it says that they continued in the apostle’s doctrine. The pattern is simple, they relied on the Spirit of God to use the Word of God to produce conviction which led to repentance which resulted in people being saved. It is that simple. I can’t help but sit back and laugh but also be grieved at all the money churches spend on programs, and trying to launch new ministries. It is always done with pure motives and sincere desires to see the church grow. Yet, we are not seeing the same results that the early church did. It has to lead us to ask the question, why is this? For all the technology we have, the access to the Bible, all the innovation; we are not seeing people come to the Lord in salvation as often as they did in Acts or even in our own nation just 30 years ago. On Sunday mornings over the last month here at Westlake, we have studied through the book of Ezra. There in Ezra 9, all they did was teach the Word of God, and people came forward confessing and repenting of their sins. If you want to see spiritual growth in your life, then you must learn to rely on the Holy Spirit to do the work. And know that He is going to use the Bible as the textbook. I long for the day that disciples of Jesus and churches alike trade in our technology and innovations, and simply rely on the Holy Spirit to do His work in us and through us, and we learn from the Bible. Are you relying on the Spirit of God to change you? Are you daily reading the Bible to see how you should live, and to learn what God wants to change in you? If not, let today be the day you pray and ask God to use His Word empowered by His Spirit to begin changing you from the inside out. Then, see how and where God works in you. Then, I would encourage you to compare your spiritual growth over the past six months with what God is doing in your life since getting back to the basics. I bet you will be amazed at the power of God. May we get back to the basics, and forsake trusting ourselves so that God can work in us and through us for His glory, our good, and the building up of the kingdom of God.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Justin