Thessalonians Series, Part 5

DIFFERENT STANDARDS
1 Thess 4

1Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. 2For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
3It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4that each of you should learn to control his own body[a] in a way that is holy and honorable, 5not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; 6and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. 7For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.
9Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. 10And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.

MEASURES GOD LAYS OUT TO US AS FOLLOWERS

* Christians are to live by different standards than the world's ever-changing standards ... Judiasm, emperor worship and Greek 'anything goes' religions and attitudes were the standards for Thessalonica at the time of this writing...(the mid first century...)

1. Live in order the please God (v. 1)

2. Live a Life of Continual Growth (v 1 and v 3 ... "be sanctified..." meaning to be 'set apart
Justified -- moment of salvation
Sanctified -- daily walk
Glorified -- death and resurrection

3. Live Under Biblical Authority (v 4 and 8)
Park of our problem is we're not really reading the World ... and when we do, we often apply it selectively

4. Live a Life of Purity (v. 3-7 ... moral purity vs sexual immorality)
v. 6 -- Don't defraud your neighbor ... sex with someone besides spouse defrauds them and their/your future spouse

5. Live in a Way that Blesses Others (v 9-10)
Am I doing life in a way that lifts up other people?

* Hold yourself to God's standards. This is aht makes life matter...

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Whale Wars, Part 6

(My notes from Sunday if you trust my note taking. From Dr Chris at FBC Ruston.)

PROPHETIC OR POLITICALLY CORRECT?

Jonah 3: 1-4

1 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: 2 "Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you."
3 Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very important city—a visit required three days. 4 On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned."

We live in a 'day of political correctness.'

In the original way, political correctness was a good thing, as it was defined. It was a case of being sensitive to others. Now, it has moved to silly degrees and most people seem TOO sensitive. Now we're asked to compromise the truth.

Christmas tree = Holiday tree

Loudmouth = Verbally Abundant

And on like that.

Political Correctness is not new. In Jeremiah 28, a prophet downplays Jeremiah's prophecy. (If you don't want to go to that chapter, I can tell you that in the final verse, the false prophet buys the farm.)

Our World Needs Prophetic Voices

Jonah 3:1-4 ... Jonah tells Nineveh to 'duck!'

* A prophet's main job is to proclaim God's truth, AND also sometimes to prophecy (of particular coming events.) ... So, ALL of us are called to speak God's truth to the world around us.

* True prophets have, in the Bible, always been politically correct. They kept getting killed.

* We need prophets ... in our homes, schools, at work, in our churches ...

FOUNDATIONS OF BEING A PROPHET

1. God's Truth (v.2) "...give them MY message..."

a. Tell it as God's word and truth reveals it

b. Get God's Word IN you

2. Love -- don't steamroll people;

"speak the truth after it's baked in love..."

(v 3:10) ... " When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened."

(v 4:11 --God says to Jonah, "But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?"

I Corinthians 4:11 -- "..do everything in love..."

3. Redemption -- v. 10 - compassion

* God sent Jonah not so He could destroy them but so He could redeem them

* Don't talk of hell as if you are glad people are going there! Share redemption instead!

Love, Redeem, Restore, Help

A good prophet is like a good parent

A. Will you be a prophet? Can you have the will/guts/understanding that, sometimes to people, it might be loving to say, "I'm afraid of whwere you're going to spend eternity" or "I'm seeing some things in your life that are far from God's Word and that's not how you should live."

B. Will you HEAR the truth? -- Nineveh did and was redeemed. Hear the prophets...

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Temps Rise as LSU Game Pre-empted ...

An update from my friend Other concerning LSU's coming in second to Auburn Saturday -- not that any of you with television sets in the Shreveport-Bossier area would know that...

Other said:
As an LSU fan, I don't guess I've ever been more disappointed or disgusted than I was Saturday. At times I tried to laugh to keep from crying or screaming. It didn't work.
Who was in charge of the game plan? What a debacle.
Terrible choices. Embarrassing performance. Ineffective, repetitive, but, based on past efforts, predictable.
Somebody should be fired. Because it probably won't end with the Auburn game.
We'll likely see more of the same with Alabama, Ole Miss, and Arkansas.
But that's enough about KSLA-TV.


ALSO, a Les Miles quote post-woodshed (and maybe my favorite of the season, though it's funny and, un-Les-like, sane):

“There’s a want in every football player to take someone on, and that’s what we did. Sometimes when the person is 250 pounds it can be a little much.”

(What he coulda said:)

"Some's got it and some ain't."
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Thessalonians Series, Part 4

My note taking from Sunday night, if you trust my note taking: From Dr Chris, FBC Ruston

"MISSION: PEOPLE"
1 Thess 2:17-20
1 Thess 3
1 Thess 4: 9-10

We are to be on a people mission.

Christ's final words before the ascension were instructions ...
To love people
Win people
Train/Disciple them
Matthew 28:19-20 ... The Great Commission

1. People Must Be Our Passion (2: 17-20)

2. Encourage People (3:1-9)
Every church needs a minister of encouragement ..Not discouragement. Encourage others with kind words. Timothy came back to Paul from Thessalonica all fired up about the faithfullness of the church there. That encouraged Timothy, Timothy encouraged Paul, and Paul wrote back to encourage the church.

3. Pray For Them (v 3:10)
A theologian once said that if we thought about it, we'd find that 'we don't gossip about the people we pray for, and we don't pray for the people we gossip about."

4. Love, Love, Love People (v. 3:12)
May Godlike love be overwhelming and powerful ... (4:9-10 ... 'love more and more and more...')

We talk about love a lot because God talks about it a lot
Proverbs 10:12 "Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs."

Can God use one person to change the world? Pastor Rick Warren ("The Purpose Driven Life") was asked if he felt he could, with God's leadership, change the world. Warren said all he knew was that on his tombstone, he wanted, "At least he tried."

We are always on a People mission...
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Sermon on a Stick: Whale Wars, Part 5

My notes from Sunday morning if you trust my note taking, from Dr. Chris at FBC Ruston...


"EXACTLY WHAT YOU NEED (OR WILL NEED)!"

At some point, we will each need a second chance. God is the God of a second chance.

Jonah 3:1 "Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah A SECOND TIME:"

1. We All Need This
Cain. Joseph. Moses. King David. Peter. Saul/Paul. The Bible is filled with people who received -- and accepted -- a second chance from God.

In the 1980s, .38 Special had a hit song with "A Heart Needs a Second Chance." All hearts do.

(In the 1990s, Lyle Lovett recorded "God Will." Part of the lyrics:
"And who keeps on loving you
When you've been lying
Saying things ain't what they seem
God does
But I don't
God will
But I won't
And that's the difference
Between God and me."

Ouch. Often, we're unwilling to give others a second chance.)

2. What The Second Chance Does Not Mean
Jonah 1:15-17 -- Jonah exercises his free will to rebel.
He put others and himself in terrible danger, broke trusts with others ...
Don't play games with the grade of God ... Gal.6:7 "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows."

3. Embrace The Second Chance
This is How We Find It

A. Repentance
Jonah 2:1 -- "From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God."
Jonah gets right with God
Get rid of the junk and clutter that harms your spiritual life

B. Do Right
Jonah 3:3 "Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh..."
Jonah's story illustrates that the whole Bible is about God putting people BACK into the ministry
(Illustration of Seabiscuit -- don't throw things/people away just because it's/they are a little banged up.)

You Can't Make This Stuff Up, (take 5)

Other's picks from the Mad Hatter's Monday press conference. (Other is a friend of mine and a man who, like me, will find his life much less funny once LSU fires its coach.)

On the 'sporadic' passing game...
"Some of which is the situation in the game and one, to manage the game effectively and controlling the ball on the ground. Certainly you'd like to throw the football better than we have. In the McNeese game, I would have certainly thought we would have hit a post or two, but they did a great job. Sometimes you have to give credit to the opponent. They did a good job defending us. We'd like to throw the football better. I guarantee you we are practicing it well."

On the pressure to respond after Auburn's offense scores...
"You're going to be able to do the things that you can do, and I think we're talented enough when called upon to have the passing game operate. I think that will happen. I think when called upon to control the ball on the ground, that's certainly the piece that we also have to continue to do. When you get into a game against your best opponents, you're certainly challenged best. We'll certainly see how it matches up."

On if he feels throwing the football with Jordan Jefferson at this point is a good idea...
"We're seeing the ability to throw the football in practice. It just needs to manifest itself in the game. It needs to show up. I think both quarterbacks will eventually get there. It would be timely certainly this weekend."

Reminds me of a reassuring quote from another confident guy with a hat ...

New TIMES debuts today ...

The greatest change in look and content for The Times in the 14 decades it has served as the heart and conscience for the Shreveport-Bossier City area is in your hands today as you read this story. The new look and press are called Berliner, for the sleek European-style format that is only used in a small handful of U.S. newspapers. Beginning today, you have it in The Times...

Read more of this story by John Andrew Prime and check out more of the new Times at shreveporttimes.com. The picture above is a mock up; today's lede story is the one above with the headline, "Start the Press ... New press, look debut today"