Serving God; March 21, 2019

Posted on March 31, 2019 by jgarrott

Acts 21:13 Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Some see this as Paul stubbornly seeking martyrdom, but I can’t be at peace with that idea. As I see it, God had given Paul assurance of what He wanted him to do, and then He spoke through Agabus and others to test Paul’s obedience. Martyrdom wasn’t Paul’s goal, but it wasn’t something he shied away from. His commitment to Christ was complete, body, soul, and spirit, and he considered that what happened to him was God’s business, so long as he was being obedient. Having already been stoned to death once (Acts 14:19-20, 1 Corinthians 12:2-4) and seeing heaven for himself, he had no hesitation to return! That said, his goal wasn’t heaven itself, but rather to serve God. (Philippians 1:20-24) The Japanese have a term they use for what in English we call “commitment to full-time Christian service.” That term is kenshin, meaning to give your body, just as you would give money for an offering. I like the term, but I feel it’s something every believer should do, not just those God wants to be “professional Christians.” God has different jobs for each of us, but He wants each of us to be fully committed, dedicated, to Him. Our job description as far as the world is concerned could be just about anything at all, if we are morally and ethically upright. Paul was an apostle, but he was also a tent maker, which is a fairly mundane occupation. We are to be committed to Christ as he was, considering that every part of our life and being belongs to Him.

Of course this applies to me as much as it does to anyone else. God has gifted and called me as a teacher, but that doesn’t make me any better than anyone else, it just makes the rules a bit stricter for me. (James 3:1) I want to be as much of an example as Paul was, and that is a high bar indeed. I take great comfort in knowing that he was fully aware of his own imperfections, as I am. (Philippians 4:1) There are moments when I would be delighted if God would take me home to Himself, but like Paul, I know He still has work for me to do here. (Philippians 1:22-26) I am not to try to dictate to Him, to be in control, but rather rest, relax, and rejoice in Him, just as He has told me to do. This trip is a real test of that, because the total lack of routine keeps me somewhat on edge, but again as Paul said, I can do it through Christ who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:13)

Father, thank You for this reminder. This morning I was hit with the strong desire to be back in Omura, but the wedding which is the purpose of this whole trip is in two more days. What I am going through is a far cry from martyrdom! Help me fully receive the lessons You are teaching me so that I will grow as You intend, blessing those around me in the process, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Trusting God; March 20, 2019

Posted on March 30, 2019 by jgarrott

Acts 20:32 “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”

This is how Paul was able to move on from place to place. It wasn’t that he was abdicating responsibility, he was trusting God with those to whom he had ministered. That can be a difficult call at times. Some evangelists indeed seem to care nothing about follow-up with those who “make decisions” in their services, but that’s not how Paul was. His letters show that he was deeply concerned for and about those who had come to the Lord, but as he says here, he knew that God in His grace was more than able to take care of them. It is significant that he specifies “the word of His grace,” that is, Scripture, since his own letters came to be acknowledged as fitting into that category. We aren’t in the same situation of literally writing the Bible, but we can follow up with written encouragement and admonitions of various sorts. However, the focus must always be on God and what He says. It’s not that we are to worship the Bible, forgetting the Holy Spirit who is the Author, but we are to keep it as the standard, both for ourselves and for those to whom we minister. Much of our anxiety comes from trying to be in control, effectively putting ourselves in God’s place. Just writing it out like that makes it clear how absurd it is, but we have a persistent tendency to think everything depends on us, and even want it to, for the sake of our own importance. That attitude requires repentance! God is God, and He guards and guides His children.

This is of extreme relevance to me, since I am away from my congregation for three weeks and I am concerned for my successor. The Lord has shown Himself faithful already in this period of my absence, and He is going to continue to do so even when I am gone from this earth. My task is to train the believers in feeding on the Word themselves, not depending on being spoon-fed in the services but growing in their personal relationship with God. I am to keep myself personally faithful, listening obediently to the Holy Spirit and trusting God with absolutely everything else, because He’s smart and I’m not, He’s powerful and I’m not.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for how You have been demonstrating Your faithfulness throughout this trip. I pray that Your perfect will may be done in every detail, both here and in Omura, so that Your kingdom may indeed come, for the salvation of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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The Holy Spirit; March 19, 2019

Posted on March 30, 2019 by jgarrott

Acts 19:2 [He] asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

This section of Acts 19 is something I heard discussed a great deal when I was first introduced to the Charismatic Movement back in the ’70s. However, the Japanese puts a different slant on this verse than the NIV does. Where the NIV says, “We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit,” the Japanese says, “We have not heard that the/a Holy Spirit is given.” (Japanese doesn’t have articles, so the question of “the” or “a” remains.) Given the standard baptismal formula of “In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,” I would think there wouldn’t be any Christians today who haven’t heard that the Holy Spirit exists, but many seem to be ignorant of the Biblical reality that He is given to believers to abide with and infill them. That is tragic. It should be obvious to any earnest believer that we can’t live in full obedience to God in our own strength. That’s why Jesus so famously said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be My witnesses.” (Acts 1:8) We tend to focus on the gifts the Holy Spirit gives, as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12 and elsewhere, but the fundamental purpose of the Holy Spirit being given to believers is to enable them to live as God’s children, rather than “merely human.” (John 1:12-13, 1 Corinthians 3:3) There are many people who essentially give up trying to obey the Bible because humanly speaking, we can’t do it. That’s why Peter said so forcefully, “Why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear?” (Acts 15:10) Jesus told us to “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) Anyone with half a grain of self-awareness knows they can’t do it! Even Paul famously acknowledged that reality. (Philippians 3:12-14) However, the Holy Spirit, as part of the Trinity, is indeed perfect, and the more we allow Him to fill and motivate us, the more we will be like Jesus, accurately expressing and doing the Father’s will.

My own experience of the baptism in the Holy Spirit was delayed because I was distracted by all I had heard about the gifts, and specifically the gift of tongues. It was only when I let go of my preconceptions that I was able to receive. I have since then experienced all the gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12, but I have learned that being filled with the Holy Spirit is more fundamental than any gift. Just yesterday we were with a friend who, to her knowledge, has never spoken in tongues, yet who is radiantly filled with the presence of God. That’s what God is after. Spiritual gifts are useful tools, but they are no more than that, and are never ends in themselves. They are certainly not “merit badges!” I desire that all to whom I minister would be filled with the Holy Spirit, not just to “get happy,” though it is certainly a joyous thing, but so that they would be able to deal with all of the many frustrations of life, as radiant witnesses of the power of God.

Father, thank You for this clear reminder. Help me operate more and more in the flow of Your Spirit, and help me guide others to do likewise, so that in all things Your Name may be hallowed and Your kingdom come as Your will is done, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Women in Ministry; March 18, 2019

Posted on March 25, 2019 by jgarrott

Acts 18:26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.

On this trip I was talking with someone about the issue of women in ministry, and this very passage came to mind. Some people reference such passages as 1 Corinthians 11:1-16 and insist that women are never to teach men, or even a mixed group. However, we also have this passage. What came to me as I was sharing with my friend (a woman, by the way) is that when this couple is referenced, the wife is always given priority. It’s not “Aquilla and Priscilla,” but “Priscilla and Aquilla.” (In Acts 18:2 Aquilla is mentioned first, but that is a result of the narrative. In verse 18 of the same chapter, and from then on, Priscilla comes first, including in Romans 16:3. The one exception is in the greetings conveyed in 1 Corinthians 16:19.) This isn’t a minor thing, because they were given the task by God of teaching Apollos, who became a major Bible teacher and someone Paul referenced in 1 Corinthians 3. If women are never to teach men, that would be entirely out of line. It is my personal conviction that men are indeed to have the headship in the home, as Paul discusses in Ephesians 5, and by extension it is very natural for them to be in leadership otherwise, but that excluding women is putting God into a box He hasn’t chosen. Our focus is to be on God and listening obediently to Him, whatever vessel He chooses to use.

This is very close to my family, because my grandfather, W. O. Carver, was a champion of women, building a training school for them at a time when they were not allowed to enroll in theological seminaries. It has since been absorbed into the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, but for a considerable period of time over half of the Southern Baptist foreign missionaries were graduates of that school, either as single missionaries or as missionary wives. With recent swings in church politics, my grandfather’s name and portrait were removed from the school, but I leave that in God’s hands. The point is, God will use any submitted, committed vessel, and we are to let Him be Lord.

Father, this isn’t an issue I worry about most of the time, but I thank You for bringing this passage to mind the other day. Thank You for all those who are committed to You, and for Your grace in using us. May men and women alike revere Your name as holy and serve as agents of Your kingdom by doing Your will fully, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Pride; March 17, 2019

Posted on March 25, 2019 by jgarrott

Acts 17:24-25 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.”

Paul here beautifully destroys two major arguments of atheists. In the first place, he agrees with them that the idea of “housing” the Creator somewhere is absurd. By agreeing with them that idols are strictly human constructs, he removes that “straw man” from the discussion. He amplifies that by pointing out that the Creator has no need to be served by anyone or anything. In the process, however, he points out that everything we have comes from the Creator, so that automatically creates the need for accountability, which is exactly what atheists are seeking to escape. I have always felt it was quite obvious that vocal atheists actually believed a Creator existed, they just didn’t want to be accountable to Him. Otherwise, why would they care if other people believed in Him and sought to please Him? The foundations of morality come from Him, so denying that He exists seems to be a way to justify their immorality. Mankind loves to place itself in God’s seat (or so it thinks). That was the temptation in the Garden of Eden, when the devil said, “You will be like God.” (Genesis 3:5) To me, sin is always tangled up in some way with pride, because at the very least it is choosing our way over God’s way. We need to get quiet enough and honest enough to know that we literally can’t exist apart from God, and respond accordingly, in grateful obedience.

This is of course as true for me as it is for anyone else. I have struggled with pride all my life, and the more I have been able to let go of it, the happier I have become. I am constantly counseling people to strive for an “attitude of gratitude” if they want to be happy, because that really is essential. If we think we are in control, or if we strive to be in control, frustration and disappointments are guaranteed. We are in the middle of an epidemic of entitlement, but that is one of the surest ways to a life of misery. It is when we recognize that everything we have is a gift, and seek to be good stewards of all that we have, that we experience the joy and peace God intends for us. I tell people this, but I’ve got to practice it fully myself, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Forgive me for all the little ways I complain. Help me indeed rest, relax, and rejoice in You, just as You have told me to do, so that all of Your purposes for me may be fulfilled, on Your schedule and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Witnessing; March 16, 2019

Posted on March 25, 2019 by jgarrott

Acts 16:25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

Sometimes people don’t notice us at all, but sometimes they are really paying attention. That’s what being a witness of Christ is all about. (Acts 1:8) Paul and Silas literally had a captive audience, and their behavior was all the more noticeable because it was so unexpected. Our response to trials is perhaps the most powerful testimony we can give, and sadly, we all too often show that our faith is just a matter of words, with nothing behind them. Paul and Silas were not present in the Upper Room before Jesus’ crucifixion, but they certainly demonstrated that they believed something He said there: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have over-come the world.” (John 16:33) Everyone who lives on the face of this earth goes through stuff, which is why over-protective parents do their children real harm when they make a big deal over little things. We shouldn’t let our children feel we don’t care, but we should encourage them that they will get through whatever it is that seems so big to them. After all, we need the same encouragement ourselves sometimes! Making a big deal over minor things is what produces “snowflakes,” people who are offended by the smallest things and do their best to make life miserable for those around them. Paul and Silas were obviously the opposite of that, and they made it clear by their actions that their strength came from their faith. The result was a miracle and the salvation of a whole household. (Sometimes I wonder if the other prisoners weren’t included in that!)

This is of course a challenge to me, as it is to every believer. I don’t always respond well to the troubles of life, but I’m learning. Cathy’s response to her multiple medical issues has been a powerful witness to many, and particularly those at the clinic where she does rehab for her Parkinson’s. On this trip we are somewhat in the spotlight at times, and that is certainly an opportunity to demonstrate the difference it makes for Jesus really to be Lord in our lives. We aren’t to be bragging, but we are to be genuine, giving God the praise and glory He certainly, and He alone, deserves, just as Paul and Silas did.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I needed it! I pray that today we would recognize what You want us doing each minute, and do it with joy and praise, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Church Government; March 15, 2019

Posted on March 24, 2019 by jgarrott

Acts 15:35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord.

I fairly often comment that I don’t find democracy as such in the Bible, but neither do I find dictatorship as a good thing. Absolute monarchies were the order of the day, but Jesus was very specific that such were not to exist in the Church. (Matthew 20:25-28) What I do find is multiple leaders working in harmony (for the most part) because they were all submitted to the Holy Spirit. There wasn’t complete harmony, as evidenced by the split between Paul and Barnabas immediately after this, but neither was there rivalry. Technically that could be called a Presbyterian form of church government, but that’s not to say that the Presbyterian denomination is correct in every respect. The point is that everyone was submitted to the Holy Spirit and recognized that He could and did speak through and otherwise use each or all of them. Today we tend to have top-down church government, with consequent “rebellion in the ranks.” Congregational church government is an attempt to get around that, but all too many supposedly congregational churches are effectively dictatorships. Sometimes the pastor is the dictator, and sometimes it’s mob rule. Neither is pleasing to God. My Systematic Theology professor, Dr. John Kiwiet, was doing post-doctoral study with the famous theologian Emil Brunner, and they were discussing church government. After Dr. Brunner had expounded on the various pitfalls of different church government systems, Dr. Kiwiet (a strong Baptist) said, “So then the congregational system is best.” Dr. Brunner responded, “No, because then the Holy Spirit only gets one vote.” There needs to be unity that comes from agreement with the Spirit, but not all believers have equal maturity. Sometimes the less-mature members insist on their way, and sometimes we assume that age brings spiritual maturity, when that isn’t necessarily the case. The picture given by this verse is multiple people who were both submitted to the Holy Spirit and well versed in the Word, both the Old Testament and collections of Jesus’ sayings that were circulating by this time. Respecting one another, together they built up the Body of Christ.

Church government has always been something of an issue with me, because in a mission setting, mature believers who are well versed in the Word can be few and far between. I have sought to raise up such believers, but most have launched out in independent ministry as they have approached that point. That says to me that I have failed to give them room to exercise their gifts within our local church context, and I seek to grow in that area. I am not to abandon what the Lord has shown me clearly, because He holds me responsible for the flock, but I’ve got to grow in bringing people along with me, so that they understand it is the Holy Spirit who is in control, and not me. I have demonstrated clearly that when I operate in my own thoughts and ideas I make a mess of things, to no one’s benefit.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank you for these three weeks You’re giving the church without me. I pray that it would be a growing, maturing time for them and for me, so that together we may be more of what You desire, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Sexual Immorality; March 14, 2019

Posted on March 23, 2019 by jgarrott

Acts 15:10-11 “Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”

The first major conflict in the Church was over whether Gentiles could be saved in the first place, (Acts 11) and here it’s between grace and legalism. Peter came down firmly on the side of grace, just as Paul did in Ephesians 2:8-9, and the council ended up agreeing, to our lasting benefit. However, today the conflict is between grace and libertinism. Grace doesn’t mean anything goes! Even in this Jerusalem Council it was agreed and stressed that sexual immorality is out of bounds. Even cursory research shows that the Roman empire was in no way behind our current society in terms of LGBTQ activity, not to mention prostitution and human trafficking. (After all, slavery was legal.) The Jewish believers were understandably concerned that such things might pollute the Church, and today they have indeed done so. Today we have churches that would be essentially unrecognizable to those early believers, to our great shame. Homosexuality is hardly the only issue. Marriage in general has been degraded to the point of being ignored almost in much of society, and sadly, the statistics are no better for the Church. After expounding at length on the wonders of grace, in Romans 6:1-2 Paul destroys the whole “hyper-grace” movement: “What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” Today many are saying that sexual immorality isn’t sin, and that lie is straight from the pit of hell.

This is extremely close to home for me, not only from my own history but also in the lives of people close to me. I cannot control their actions, but I can speak the truth in love. I cannot give permission, but I can forgive. So many are trying to make immorality normative, touting “tolerance” and “acceptance.” I cannot and must not accept that which God has made abundantly clear is bad for us and against His will. However, I likewise must not descend into judgmental legalism, but express love in all purity, even when that has to be very strong.

Father, I don’t have sufficient wisdom for this. You know those I’ve already run into on this trip, and those I will be seeing after this. I ask that Your Spirit through me would convict of sin, righteousness and judgment, (John 16:8-11) bringing repentance and release to those in bondage, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Freedom in Christ; March 12, 2019

Posted on March 23, 2019 by jgarrott

Acts 13:38-39 “Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.”

This is a very important passage for a number of reasons. From the standpoint of my father’s dissertation, it makes it clear that what we think of as “in Christ” can sometimes be understood more accurately as “through Christ.” Another point is that where the NIV says “justified,” the Japanese says “freed/liberated.” The Bible speaks many times of sin being a bondage, so that’s a very important point. The Law of Moses is essentially a diagnosis of our condition, but release and healing come through Jesus Christ. Diagnosis is very important. If you don’t know what your disease is, you aren’t going to deal with it accurately. Many people walk in bondage simply because they don’t understand that Christ has already freed them from their past sins. Peter calls such a situation being “nearsighted and blind.” (2 Peter 1:9) In the book of Romans Paul talked extensively about being a slave to sin. The thing is, in Christ the shackles are off and the doors are opened, but if we don’t understand and believe that, we will act like we are still slaves. That has been a problem ever since the 1st Century and it remains a huge problem today. The people Paul was talking to here at least did know the Law of Moses, but we deal with people all the time who don’t even know the diagnosis of their condition. That’s why the devil hates to have the Ten Commandments posted and taught. We do need to know what God’s righteous commands actually are, so that we will understand how thoroughly we have violated them. At the same time, we need to know that we cannot keep those commands in our own strength, but God has provided a way for His Spirit to do the “heavy lifting” in and through us. We have to believe that, as the song says, “Jesus paid it all,” and open our hearts to Him for the cleansing flow of His Spirit.

I am often reminded of how I had a time of being “nearsighted and blind,” just as Peter said, unable to shake off a besetting sin. It was only when I accepted that I had really been forgiven that I was freed from the powerful impulse to do it again. I still have that weakness and must not be presumptive, but I am not a slave to it because I know I have been forgiven, and the compulsion is gone.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Help me proclaim the liberty that comes from being a slave to Christ, bound by His love for me and mine for Him, so that many may be set free from the bondage of sin. Thank You. Praise God!

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Freedom in Christ; March 13, 2019

Posted on March 22, 2019 by jgarrott

Acts 13:48, 52 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.
And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

I don’t know if John Calvin was particularly fond of this passage, but the wording certainly seems to agree with the concept of predestination. We do not have God’s perspective, seeing the end from the beginning, so we need to work as though everything depended on us, but at the same time we need to realize that actually everything depends on God, and so rest in Him. That’s what Hebrews is talking about when it says, “Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest.” (Hebrews 4:11) We can’t save anyone in our own strength, but God chooses to use human agents to draw people to Himself. That’s that same tension between His actions and ours. Here, Paul and Barnabas were earnest in declaring the Gospel, but it was those who were “appointed for eternal life” who received that message with faith. (The Japanese expresses that as “entered into faith,” but I don’t know if that follows the Greek or simply reflects the Japanese idea of “joining a religion.”) What struck me about the last verse is that it says “the disciples.” To me, that includes not only Paul, Barnabas, and those with them, but also those who had newly committed themselves to Jesus in faith. Discipleship is a lifelong commitment, but it starts at the moment of salvation. We tend to forget that and not expect it, of new converts or even of ourselves. That’s much like the term, “saints.” Paul’s usage of it makes it very clear it applies to all believers, not some special class of people who are to be venerated. We all need to grow in our obedience (discipleship) and holiness (sainthood), but positionally we are already there by faith in the completed work of Christ; we just have to live it out. (Philippians 2:12)

This of course applies to me as much as it does to anyone. I am certainly no more perfect than Paul, (Philippians 4:12-14) but I have the same Holy Spirit working in me that he did, (Philippians 2:13) so I have no need to be anxious. I strive to bring all into a right relationship with Christ, but it is God alone who knows who is “appointed for eternal life.” That work can be heartbreaking at times, when people stubbornly resist submitting themselves to the Holy Spirit, but I must keep speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) and trusting God.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for all You are doing in and through us on this trip. May we continue to grow in our availability to You, so that indeed, all who are appointed for eternal life may enter into Your full salvation, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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