April 20, 2017

Posted on April 24, 2017 by jgarrott

Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

I have had this verse memorized for over 40 years, in both languages, but I must not let familiarity breed contempt. This verse was greatly celebrated in the early days of the Charismatic Movement, which is how I happened to latch onto it, but it seems to me that popularity and awareness have faded. It should be a powerful motivator both for local evangelism and world missions, but many churches seem to have forgotten both of those things, focusing instead on their own status and comfort. Such churches are dead. We have a strong tendency to increasingly be self-centered. Centripedal force seems to be stronger than centrifugal, but when we allow that to happen, we implode and die. Jesus calls us to abide in Him (John 15:5) and to go and make disciples of all nations. (Matthew 28:18-20) If we do those two things, everything else will fall into place. However, we tend to focus on all sorts of other things and forget both our center (abiding in Christ) and our purpose (making disciples). There are many things that are good, and God has indeed prepared many good things for us to do, (Ephesians 2:10) but if we forget what is most important, we go astray. In many churches and for many Christians, the power of the Holy Spirit and the gifts He gives are seen as merit badges or signs of favor, rather than as tools to be used in our core purpose of making disciples. Most Christians are familiar with Jesus’ parable of the talents, (Matthew 25:14-30) but too often we fail to apply it to ourselves. Everything we are given is given to us for a purpose, and we are responsible to seek God for what He wants us to do with it. Seeking Him means abiding in Christ, (our center) and He will show us how to use what He has provided in making disciples, which is our ultimate purpose.

I am preaching to myself here. I do seek God, holding intimacy with Him as my highest priority, but I still allow other things to interfere with that. I do seek to make disciples, but I burn out, which is proof that I’m trying to do it on my own rather than by the power of the Holy Spirit in and through me. I get discouraged at the low rate of return, and so stop investing my time and my energy. That’s a trap of the devil! I need to return to the fervor I once had, knowing that God has not changed and He is more than able to use me even now. After all, Abraham was 100 when Isaac was born, and Moses was 80 when he encountered the burning bush. I am to remember that it is God’s power and not mine, His wisdom and not mine, and eagerly look forward to what He is going to do through me each day.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I didn’t know I needed it as badly as I evidently did. Keep me focused on You so that these things won’t creep up on me. When I allow the stresses of life to take my focus I fall into the traps of the devil. Deliver me from evil! Help me be the steward You want me to be of all that You have provided, spiritually and materially and however, so that all of Your purposes for me may be fulfilled in Your way on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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April 19, 2017

Posted on April 23, 2017 by jgarrott

John 20:31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

John didn’t write just for the sake of writing, he wrote with a very specific purpose, and that was the salvation of his readers by faith. He has just recorded Jesus’ words about “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed,” (verse 29) and then he addresses those who would fall into that category. English lacks a clear 2nd person plural pronoun, (apart from the Southern “y’all”) but the Japanese here matches the Greek, making it clear that John includes anyone who might read his words. We are included! John was following Paul’s advice to the Colossians: “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:17) He was nearing the end of a major writing project, long before the modern conveniences we take for granted as we write, but he had an overarching purpose that motivated him, and that was the salvation of souls. We would do well to keep that same focus. Jesus told us to “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,” (Matthew 6:33) and drawing more people in is integral to that. We should so live that those who see us will know about and be attracted to the Lord we serve, so that they too may repent and believe for their salvation.

Living in Japan I am at least aware that the vast majority of the people who see me every day are not saved, but the question remains of how much I am doing to encourage them to change that status. I feel that many in this city like and even admire me, but my frustration comes in not enabling them to see that they can have every good thing they see in me, because it is all by grace through faith. Even in the church I have not been good at encouraging the believers to exercise their gifts; they like to depend on me, and that’s not healthy. I guess that means I get a pretty low score as a pastor/teacher, because my job isn’t to do the work myself, but rather “to prepare/equip God’s people for works of service.” (Ephesians 4:12) I write daily to focus my heart to hear what God is saying to me, and then I publish what I have written as a blog, (and even as one book, so far) but that publication must be for the purpose of drawing others closer to the God I serve. If it is for my pride, then I am far better off not doing it. I feel the Lord is pushing me to complete another book I’ve started, but I must keep the purpose in sharp focus as I write. Like John, I need to write so that people may receive and experience all that God has done for them in Jesus Christ my Lord.

Father, thank You for this further reminder. Help me follow through with all that You tell me to do, not accepting any of the excuses my flesh or the devil might suggest, so that Your Name may be acknowledged as holy and Your kingdom come as Your will is done, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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April 18, 2017

Posted on April 23, 2017 by jgarrott

John 20:21-23 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

This passage has always been mind-blowing for me and still is, despite how many times I have read it. I’ve even preached on it repeatedly, but I still need to let it sink into my soul and spirit more. The very idea that Jesus would send us as He was sent trips all the circuit breakers, and then there’s the matter of forgiving sins. It’s too much! When you think about it, Jesus was at this point elevating His followers in much the same way He had done three days earlier in the upper room. “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12) God has given incredible power and authority to those who are His through faith in Jesus Christ. It is very foolish, even dangerous, to try to lay hold of that power and authority without understanding the context and conditions. In between saying He’s sending us and talking about forgiving, Jesus instructs us to receive the Holy Spirit. The importance of this cannot be overstated. Without the presence, guidance, and power of the Spirit we have no hope at all of fulfilling the commission we have been given. Recently Charisma Magazine has come out with a series of books called Life in the Spirit. I haven’t looked at it, but if the authors have been true to Scripture, I hope many people get it and apply it. We live so much of our lives without tapping into the power that God has made available to us. (Acts 1:8) Even those who have experienced the power of the Spirit are tempted to use it for their own ends, instead of submitting fully to the will of the Father as Jesus did. (Luke 22:42) I’d say the vast majority of Christians, God’s children, live out their time on earth without grasping more than the tiniest sliver of what God has done for them and made available to them in Christ. I count myself among their number!

I am challenged every time I read this, and that’s good. I have tasted God’s amazing grace and rejoice to share it, but I must remember that there’s always more. God never runs out of grace, love, or power! I need to operate more and more fully in the commission God has given His children, and lead others to do the same. I have squandered it pretty badly to this point. I have proclaimed that when Japanese Christians wake up to who they are in Christ, the nation and the world will change, but at the same time I haven’t walked fully in who I am in Christ! As God has told me personally, there is much in the world that is not as He wants it to be. I am to submit myself fully as His change agent, operating not in my own wisdom and strength but His, so that the works of the devil may be destroyed and people set free, (1 John 3:8) for their salvation and God’s glory.

Father, as I wrote this You reminded me that You had me start a book on this very subject. Help me get back to it. My words have no power, but when they are Your words through me, they accomplish whatever You intend. (Isaiah 55:10-11) May I be fully obedient, doing exactly what You desire of me, not running off on my own but not holding back either, so that all of Your plans and purposes may be fulfilled, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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April 17, 2017

Posted on April 22, 2017 by jgarrott

Luke 24:27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

Too many Christians forget that the whole Bible points to and talks about Jesus. In some churches it’s rare to have messages from the Old Testament at all. We forget that even for years after Pentecost the Old Testament was all they had. The New Testament helps us understand many things about the Old Testament, but the Old Testament provides the foundation for the New. Too many Christians think the New Testament replaced the Old, just as some think the Church replaced the physical descendants of Abraham in God’s plan. Such thinking is a deception of the devil! It is very true that the Old Testament is fulfilled in the New, but that doesn’t negate the Old. Some things, like the sacrificial system and the dietary laws, are rendered obsolete, but that doesn’t mean that the Old Testament is no longer valuable. Peter preached from it on the day of Pentecost, Philip used it to explain Christ to the Ethiopian, (Acts 8:26-40) and here Jesus Himself used it to explain Himself to these two men. In my observation the two New Testament books that help most in understanding the Old are Hebrews and Romans, and the Old Testament book that talks most about Christ is Isaiah, but each relates to the other throughout. We need to be familiar with the whole Bible to understand how it all relates to our daily lives today. If we relate to it on strictly academic terms, as many do, it is no more than interesting, and sometimes obscure, literature. It is only when we receive it as the Word of God that we get the full benefits, from Genesis to Revelation.

I wasn’t more than 11 when I read the Bible through for the first time. I still have the first full Bible I owned, that my parents got for me at some point after I was baptized at seven. Thankfully it was the RSV translation, so I wasn’t totally stuck in KJV archaisms. It was interesting to me that when I did a dramatic reading in a college speech class using that translation, the teacher was surprised that it sounded as majestic as it did, because he had been raised on the KJV. In any case, my parents never denigrated the Old Testament, and I am grateful. In my preaching over the years I most often have used both Old and New Testament passages in each message, and still do. As I teach believers I desire to instill in them a love for the whole Bible, because every bit of it is filled with more riches than we can grasp in a lifetime.

Father, thank You for the privilege of teaching, sharing Your Word. Help me do it faithfully and effectively, not distorting or diluting it in any way. May it accomplish in and through me everything for which You send it, (Isaiah 55:10-11) destroying the works of the enemy (1 John 3:8) and leading many to life in Christ, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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April 16, 2017

Posted on April 22, 2017 by jgarrott

Luke 24:11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.

I have heard people be very dismissive of the apostles here, saying they wouldn’t believe the women just because they were women. Whereas it’s quite possible that influenced their response, the bigger problem was that what the women said conflicted with what their own minds had decided. It was a perfect example of, “My mind is made up. Don’t confuse me with the facts.” We do that far more than we realize. Rather than listening to what God is saying, we interpret what our senses tell us by what the world is saying, and so miss God entirely. That isn’t to say we are to ignore the minds God has given us, but it is to say we must give God higher priority and remain open to His reality being very different from what our senses tell us. Paul reminds us that God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,” (Ephesians 3:20) so it only stands to reason that His reality is different from ours. That isn’t limited to what we would call “good stuff,” however. God can reveal to us dangers that are not at all evident on the surface, and we had better be listening! This is the role of prophets, though not all who claim that title are hearing from God. We need to “keep in step with the Spirit,” as Paul said. (Galatians 5:25) If we will do that, we’ll hear what He is saying to us and be able to filter out the lies from various sources.

This is of course very applicable to me. As a rule I tend to trust my brain, and that can make me deaf to what God is saying. I don’t want that! I don’t want to be a “conspiracy theorist,” but I do recognize that what is reported is often far from the truth. At the same time I realize that a distrust of “facts” is a sign of mental illness! I need to keep getting closer to my Lord, listening to Him through His Word first of all but also however else He might speak to me, knowing that He is the definition and standard of Truth. (John 14:6) Today is Resurrection Sunday. The truth of that event changes everything about human history, and I must never forget it.

Father, thank You for the privilege of speaking to Your children twice today, at the Sunrise Service and in our regular service. May I present Your truth in Your words so that all who hear may be set free from the lies that have bound them, for their blessing and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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April 15, 2017

Posted on April 21, 2017 by jgarrott

Luke 23:50-51 Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God.

This is the first hint we have that there were any members of the Sanhedrin besides Nicodemus who were open to Jesus. John records that Nicodemus joined Joseph in giving Jesus a proper burial. (John 19:38-42) My guess is that the two of them were not notified of the midnight emergency meeting that sentenced Jesus to death. They probably felt pretty isolated even within their own circle. That said, the thing that strikes me right now is that these were men who followed Jesus from afar. I don’t know whether today we would say they were saved, since they hadn’t openly professed Jesus as their Lord and Savior, but on the other hand they weren’t lost. We really don’t know who is in their boat even today. Some are actively antagonistic to the Gospel, but some are simply quiet, needing only the right challenge and opportunity to commit themselves to Christ. It is interesting that Matthew specifies that Joseph was wealthy. (Matthew 27:57) Churches that agonize over finances probably need to focus on bringing people to salvation. God always has provision! We aren’t to target people because of their bank balance, but we must remember that wealthy people are just as much in need of eternal salvation as anyone else. We tend to look at the material and think they wouldn’t be interested, when the benefits of life in Christ are something even Bill Gates couldn’t buy. Jesus died for everyone, and we need to let everyone know it.

This applies to this church in two ways. On the financial side, the church treasurer was pointing out last night that to make our budget balance, as we modified it in the business meeting last Sunday, she will have to increase projected offerings by a significant amount. I had said in the business meeting that growing churches approach budgets on the basis of what God wants them to do, rather than on the basis of what they can do with their limited finances. God is testing us on that! More importantly, we have been stagnating, or worse, in terms of numbers in recent years. That is a far bigger issue that finances, because we are talking about eternal souls here. We need to wake up to the “Josephs” that God has prepared around us and draw them into His family, as He desires. Cathy and I are aware of many people who admire us greatly but have never stepped foot in this church building. We need God’s wisdom and anointing to bring in the harvest! I personally believe that God is holding back on that because He wants the believers to reach out on their own, rather than depending on Cathy and me for everything, and especially evangelism. I think He is starting to move us in that direction, and it’s exciting!

Father, thank You indeed for Your plans for us. I can think of several “Josephs” myself, but You know who is ready. Help us reach out, actively and effectively, to bring in all whom You have prepared, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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April 14, 2017

Posted on April 21, 2017 by jgarrott

Matthew 27:42 “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself!”

It just struck me the similarity between Jesus’ crucifixion and the scene in the movie Silence where a group of believers are being threatened with martyrdom. The biggest unifying point to me is the lack of understanding of salvation. It’s hardly surprising that the people mocking Jesus had no grasp of eternal salvation, but it’s really sad that Shusaku Endo didn’t grasp it either, so he didn’t credit his characters with having such an understanding. Jesus tried to help people understand by saying such things as, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:35-36) Physical salvation, not to mention luxury, is strictly temporal, but we are created as eternal beings. If we focus on the physical we lose sight of the spiritual, when the physical is temporary but the spiritual is eternal. Nate Saint had it exactly right when he said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.” In Silence, the brightest point for me was the one believer who was martyred by being tied to a cross on a beach where heavy surf would frequently hit him. It took four days for him to die, but he sang hymns while he waited. Such people experience salvation indeed! Paul learned salvation both by faith and by daily experience. Not only did he write such passages as Ephesians 2:8-9 to explain how eternal salvation is received, he also wrote, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18) That’s what Jesus was doing on the cross, and it was what His mockers couldn’t grasp.

This is of course vitally important for me, as it is for every believer. As a pastor I seek to lead others into this understanding, but it’s difficult for us to shift focus away from our flesh. Today I’ll be attending the wake of the mother of one of our church members. She was not a Christian formally, but her daughter and grandson talked about Jesus with her in her final days, and her response seemed to be very affirmative. I cannot say definitively that she is with Jesus now, but the possibility is very real. If so, she is saved, even though her body is lifeless. The irony is that most Christians, even, are so distracted by their flesh and the world that they lose the “eternal hope” that is so central to the Gospel. It is when we keep that hope in sharp focus that our faith becomes so attractive that others beg us to share it with them. (1 Peter 3:15) That is how I want to be, and how I want everyone in this church to be.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I pray that the events of the next few days would draw many to Christ as we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. May the believers be renewed in faith so that we may be and do all that You desire and intend, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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April 13, 2017

Posted on April 20, 2017 by jgarrott

Matthew 26:39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

This is probably the most famous recorded prayer of Jesus Himself, since what is called The Lord’s Prayer is what He taught his disciples to pray. It’s an awesome prayer in many ways. We tend to overlook the fact that along with all His physical suffering, depicted so graphically in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, He also had intense emotional suffering. We have no record of when, as a human being, He became aware that He would go through crucifixion, but He told His disciples about it many times, even though they couldn’t grasp what He was saying to them. That awareness comes to a peak right here, even before His arrest, and the stress is so great that Luke, as a physician, records that he had the rare, but documented, situation of capillaries rupturing so that blood mixed with His sweat. (Luke 22:44) Such emotional distress is intense indeed! I don’t know that it would have been so intense if He hadn’t had the power, as the Son of God, to call “more than twelve legions of angels” to His defense. (Matthew 26:53) His human side desperately wanted to do exactly that! In spite of that, as the only perfect human being, He chose to submit to the Father’s plan, knowing the cost to Himself. In Hebrews it says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2) Good advice indeed!

Every time I do a wedding I talk about this as the greatest illustration of the love of God. However, talking about it doesn’t mean it’s always in the forefront of my awareness. I have heard some teachers emphasize “praying in faith” to the point that they discourage praying this prayer of Jesus, saying that for us it’s a cop-out. In some cases it may be, but I never want to place my will ahead of God’s. I’m reminded of the story of when Smith Wigglesworth resurrected his own wife, and she said to him, “Smith, why did you do that?” After about 20 minutes of conversation he submitted to the Father’s will and allowed her to go on to heaven. I would be strongly tempted to at least try the same thing, should it come my wife’s time, but at least I know better, since she’s already been and come back once, and I don’t want to deprive her of all that awaits her there. In some ways it’s harder to pray in submission over smaller things, since we don’t even realize we’re being rebellious. We aren’t to be doormats for the devil’s schemes, but if we’re going to resist him, we’ve got to submit to God first. (James 4:7) I need to keep that in focus all the time.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Passion Week to think about all of this. I pray that You would enable every one of Your children get this into sharp focus, so that together we may indeed submit to You and resist the devil, so that Your kingdom may come and Your will be done, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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April 12, 2017

Posted on April 20, 2017 by jgarrott

Matthew 26:22 They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely not I, Lord?”

To me this verse shows the growing spiritual maturity of the disciples. In the first place, they didn’t doubt Him for a moment, even though what He said seemed unthinkable. In the second place, it seems that not one of them discounted the possibility that they might be the betrayer, which shows commendable humility. Actually, it was just minutes after this that Peter made his bold claim of loyalty, even in the face of Jesus saying that he would deny Him, so we know their maturity and humility weren’t perfect by any means. Even so, it looks to me like they had come a long way in the three years or so they had been with Jesus. However, as Paul acknowledged, we always have more room to grow. (Philippians 3:12-14) As long as we are in these bodies, God keeps allowing things that show us our need for growth, if we will only recognize them as such. Things that make us angry, things that tie us in knots, anything that disturbs His peace in our hearts is a gentle reminder that we have room to grow in trusting Him with every detail of our lives. We feel we are entitled to a problem-free existence, and our resentment at not having that is our biggest problem! The failures of others are often involved in our frustrations so we become angry at them, not letting God be God of that specific detail. We protest at the unfairness of others blaming us for things we didn’t cause, but we do the same thing, and often enough our failures really do cause frustration for others. We can’t force anyone else to trust God fully, but we can make that choice for ourselves. We can’t generate faith, but we can choose to accept the faith that God offers to us, and thus mature as His children.

I’m in the middle of a lesson in this area big time. Cathy has had a computer problem that has made using her computer awkward at best since the beginning of this week. The replacement part finally arrived yesterday and I installed it, only to have Windows insist that I had made some major change, which I hadn’t, and refuse to boot at all. (I do have fairly extensive computer hardware experience.) My only recourse at this point is to get through to the Microsoft help desk, but their hours are limited, and my past interactions with them don’t make me overly optimistic. My turmoil at that kept me from getting a good night’s sleep, and then this morning there were other, unrelated irritations. Just before I got around to opening my Bible, it hit me that all of these things are “1st world” problems arising from the luxury in which we live. In all of this I have forgotten gratitude! We want our lives to be largely uneventful, and everything to work as desired and expected. The thing is, from God’s perspective WE don’t work as desired! (At least, given His omniscience, nothing is unexpected for Him.) This is simply an intense lesson in getting my priorities straight. I need to be grateful for the abundance He has poured out on me and seek His wisdom for dealing with each issue, not pouting like a spoiled brat. I look down on others for their “entitled” behavior, not recognizing it in myself. I really do have plenty to repent of.

Father, thank You for this lesson. I see that it touches my pride, when I thought I had made such progress in that area! Keep growing me in the humility You know I need, so that in gratitude I may rejoice in the abundance of Your grace toward me. Thank You. Praise God!

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April 11, 2017

Posted on April 17, 2017 by jgarrott

John 13:17 “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”

I have lost track of how many passages talk about both faith and works, knowledge and action. Lots of passages focus on one or the other, and it can be easy to get off balance. Jesus famously said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32) That would seem to focus on the faith side of things, but that has to be paired with this verse to maintain balance. Judas, after all, had the same input as the other 11 disciples, but in doing other than what he knew, he became the most infamous person in history. This verse agrees completely with James 1:22. “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” The blessing comes not in memorizing, or even intellectual agreement, but in obedient follow-through. Since none of us are totally obedient as long as we are on this earth, we can look forward to increasing blessing as our level of obedience rises! Yes, it is all grace, and we receive much better than we deserve, but actions have consequences, and obedience brings blessing.

I have received grace and blessing beyond measure, but I still have to keep this reality in sharp focus. I know more of the Bible than many people, but just knowing it in my mind doesn’t bring the blessings; putting it into practice does. As a pastor, I’ve got to teach that we are saved by grace through faith, (Ephesians 2:8-9) but also that it still makes a big difference how we live. Paul argued both parts of that extensively in Romans, countering the idea that if it is all grace, then it doesn’t matter how we live. (Romans 6:1-2) As has come out in the readings over the past few days, our obedience is a measure of our love for Jesus. The more we love Him, the more we appreciate and appropriate His love for us. That doesn’t make Him love us any more, it just increases our capacity to receive and enjoy His love. As both a pastor and a secular teacher I know the frustration, even the heartache, of pouring truth into people and seeing them put it on the shelf, so to speak, and not follow through and do it. I must not be that way toward God, but rather live out all that He has poured into me.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I have been aware of this issue for many years, and I still don’t get it right all the time! Help me indeed walk out Your truth so that I may lead others into it, for the blessing of everyone involved and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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