January 1, 2012

Posted on January 3, 2012 by jgarrott

Joshua 24:14 “Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.”

We have a hard time leaving “our fathers’ gods,” that is, the things our ancestors held dear, tangible and intangible. Real change has to start with the fear of the Lord, and few people seem to have that much at all. They fear death without understanding that God has provided victory over death. Serving God always involves letting go of things that aren’t God. Sometimes those things are good, or even very good, but if we cling to them over God, they have become idols. God calls for undivided allegiance. Today there is a massive assault on even the concept of absolute truth, which is another way of saying the concept of God. If God is not absolute then He is not God, and neither is He God if He is not true. Many cultures have very relativistic roots, which means that to come to God out of those cultures, you must indeed come out of them. That is far easier to say than to do! The world is not simple black and white, but unless we have our anchor in an absolute God, we have no anchor at all.

I have the enormous blessing of having been raised in a home that held true to a Biblical world view, but even that blessing itself has the risk of becoming an idol. Even the snake that Moses raised on a pole in the wilderness later became an idol. (2 Kings 18:4) I must cling to God and God alone, and serve Him with my whole heart. I am to fill my heart with His Word, but not make the Bible itself an idol either. I have seen more than enough churches where the Trinity was treated as Father, Son, and Holy Bible! As important as it is, I am not to treat this church as an idol. It’s not my property, it’s God’s, as is every person in it. I have been given the privilege of participating in it as pastor and I am to love it, but I am not to love it above God. I have no wisdom or power to shepherd it on my own, but I must trust God to do it well through me, for His glory.

Father, thank You for the current circumstances that are forcing me to look at this issue. Help me see people, myself included, with Your eyes, and not just with the eyes of flesh. (2 Corinthians 5:16) Show me how to establish the foundation of this church on You, and not on me. People coming to church because they like me can be a useful tool for evangelism, but if I fail to get their eyes off of me and onto Christ, I have failed. People have come because of me, and they have stumbled because of me. It needs to be that they will come to worship God even if they dislike me. Father, I have no wisdom to bring that about, so I ask You to do it. May Christ alone be lifted up in this place, for the salvation of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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December 31, 3011

Posted on January 3, 2012 by jgarrott

Acts 16:30-31 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved–you and your household.”

This is a justly famous passage, being influential in many coming to salvation and many more being encouraged to believe for the salvation of their families. However, I think it bears a good bit more analysis than it usually gets. In the first place, the jailer had come to a place of extreme crisis, and his initial response had been to take his own life. Stopped just in time, his question here is desperate. I have heard this passage used countless times by well-meaning evangelists with people who had little if any sense of crisis, and it has naturally been ineffective. We have to know we are lost before we will accept salvation! The awareness of need must be there, and on top of that, a willingness to admit that need. That last is often the sticking point. I have dealt with numbers of men, particularly, who were unable to confess their need of salvation because they saw such confession as weakness. They literally preferred hell to such confession. That shows how little understanding they had of hell! That said, however, I think it is verse 31 that gets the most misunderstanding. Some people take this as an unconditional promise, ignoring the verses that immediately follow. With a “name it and claim it” mentality, they think that their faith will automatically save everyone in their family. If that were the case, the whole world would be Christian! What Paul and Silas were saying was that the offer of salvation by faith wasn’t just open to the jailer, but to his household as well. As it turned out, they didn’t have the extreme crisis the jailer did, but when the Gospel was explained to them, they too chose to accept it and believe, and so were baptized. This passage in no way negates the need for individual repentance and faith. That said, it should indeed encourage every believer that the Gospel is just as much for their family as for them.

This is an issue of great importance in my ministry, because the majority of the believers here (in our church) are the only Christians in their families. Tomorrow’s message, and indeed the verse for 2012, is, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15) Such commitment is of great importance, but we can’t force anyone to be saved. I need to impart hope without giving any false promises. The Bible is loaded with promises and every one of them is true, but they must be received in context, understanding the conditions connected to them, or we will be in danger of destroying faith rather than building it. I must not be guilty of “cherry picking” Scriptures, but at the same time I must not deny the reality that God sometimes imparts special faith through verses taken completely out of context. I don’t have the wisdom to get it all straight, much less keep it that way, so as always, I must rely on God. I am to watch my mouth so that I don’t proclaim something on the basis of wishful thinking, but neither am I to draw back from speaking out anything the Lord is saying, no matter how impossible it might seem, humanly speaking.

Father, I am reminded of the medically impossible prophecy You had me share about 31 years ago, that was fulfilled in a way that neither I nor those to whom I was speaking could have imagined. Keep me from squashing faith with logic! Help me direct my hearers’ eyes to You, so that their faith may have a sure foundation. Help me also walk by faith and not by sight, trusting Your Holy Spirit to take the words from my mouth and use them to implant faith in my hearers. May we be a people totally committed to You, so that You may do in and through us all that You desire and intend, today and every day, though all eternity. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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December 30, 201１

Posted on January 3, 2012 by jgarrott

Acts 2:38, 41 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

A clear invitation was given, and those who accepted it were baptized. There are those who dislike the term, “accepting Christ,” equating it with “easy believeism,” but accepting, taking in, is clearly the term used here. However, it specifies that they accepted Peter’s words, which certainly included the message of repentance. We have no way of knowing if any of the 3000 mentioned here later fell away, and I don’t think Luke thought it was important. It is significant that these were people who had a foundation for understanding the invitation as it was presented. They knew what “Lord and Christ” meant! That’s not only an important distinction in countries like Japan, with essentially no Christian background in the culture, it is increasingly an issue in countries that historically have been saturated with the Gospel. People don’t know what it means for someone to be Lord, and they know Christ only as an expletive. It is ironic that “God,” “Jesus,” and “Christ” are used as expletives most in countries that have a Christian history. Evangelism must always be done in cultural context, using terms that are understood as they are intended, rather than as something else entirely. That is of course the biggest challenge of cross cultural evangelism.

Whatever else can be said about my ministry, it is certainly cross cultural! Born of and raised by American parents in Japan, I am what is called a “Third Culture Kid,” (TCK) with a personal culture that is synthesized from the two cultures I was exposed to. On top of that, I was steeped in Scripture from infancy, to the point that a Scriptural world view seems almost automatic. That’s certainly a different culture from most of the people around me! I must constantly be on my guard to see to it that my words are received as they are intended. My success rate at that is certainly not 100%! I need the constant help of the Holy Spirit both to understand what is being said to me and to express myself so that I am not misunderstood. That is a challenge not only in evangelism but in every relationship, even in the Church, where we supposedly share some foundational truths. However much I misunderstand or am misunderstood, I must not give up, but yield it all to God to sort out by His Holy Spirit.

Father, thank You for the training in this area that I’m undergoing right now, even though it is pretty distressing. Thank You for Your promise to work everything together for good for those whom You have called. (Romans 8:28) I pray that You would grow and mature each member of this body, using us to sharpen one another to be more effective tools in Your hands. (Proverbs 27:17) In the new year ahead of us may we grow in every area to be the church You want us to be at this point, preparing us to be what You want us to be further down the line, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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December 29, 2011

Posted on December 29, 2011 by jgarrott

Acts 1:7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.”

We tend to get all tied in knots about times and schedules, and Jesus is saying we aren’t to sweat it, even about the event that will be the climax of all history. We have such a tendency to want to be in charge, in control, or even to think that we actually are, and that causes untold stress. That doesn’t mean we aren’t to plan and set up schedules, but it does mean we are to leave control in God’s hands, emotionally as well as mentally and practically. That’s much easier to say than to do! Intellectually, we understand that God is outside of time and so sees the end from the beginning, and that He is love and so desires the very best for us, but emotionally we tend to get impatient about some things and dread others, wanting things to run on our schedule. If anything, the modern age has greatly intensified that, with many technological things being timed to the millisecond. An extreme example is that one reason for the surge in caesarean births in the US is that surgery can be scheduled, whereas natural birth cannot! As a whole, we have moved toward becoming “control freaks.” That really benefits no one!

I am squarely in the middle of this, with yet another delay in the title transfer for this building. I maintained my composure fairly well while we were still at the Legal Affairs Bureau yesterday, but by the time we left I was boiling! That wasn’t good for me or for the people around me. I have grown in my patience about some things, but that was a clear illustration of the reality that I still have a great deal of room for growth! It has also recently been pointed out to me that I’m not a good listener, tending to jump in with response, advice, or whatever before the person speaking has finished. That’s part of the same problem. I need to release my time into God’s hands, emotionally as well as intellectually, with gratefulness and praise.

Father, thank You for the training experience yesterday, though it wasn’t pleasant at the time. Thank You for not leaving me as I am, but continuing to work on me, transforming me eventually into the likeness of Christ Jesus my Lord. As I receive Your grace in such abundance, help me extend that same grace toward those around me, seeking their best from Your perspective, rather than trying to prescribe what seems good to me. Thank You for the time of fellowship and prayer that I will be having today. Help me really listen to those I will be with, not jumping in with my two cents but hearing their hearts, so that together we may hear Your heart and allow You to direct us, individually and as a church, on Your schedule – not ours – for this coming year, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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December 28, 2011

Posted on December 29, 2011 by jgarrott

Matthew 28:20 “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Sometimes we read the Great Commission and think we have to do it on our own. Nothing could be further from the truth! Not only do we not have to do it, we couldn’t possibly do it on our own. Jesus never gave instructions that He didn’t also enable, but we forget that all too often. Personal responsibility is there, yes, but the power is supplied by God. As Isaiah said so famously, it is those who wait expectantly on God who find their strength is renewed. (Isaiah 40:31) That passage is generally translated “wait on the Lord” in English, but the NIV renders it “hope in the Lord.” That is because English lacks an expression that Japanese shares with Hebrew that means, “wait in hope,” or “wait expectantly.” Just waiting passively, or out of resignation, doesn’t do much good! We need to remember the many passages like this one that assure us God has not forgotten us, much less dumped us by the wayside. When God is with us, what do we have to be afraid of? Saints through the ages have discovered the joy and comfort of God’s presence in circumstances that would otherwise have been unbearable, and they have received victory on the other side of those circumstances. That gives real assurance!

I have experienced this many times, but I still have moments of forgetting it. My major trials have all been in relation to other people, which has tended to make me focus on people – myself or the other people involved – rather than on God. That’s not a good idea! I need to remember that Jesus is always with me by His Spirit, not with any trace of pride but with great peace and comfort. The source of my trials is often within me, in some area the Lord is trying to correct, and I have to recognize and confess that. However, that doesn’t mean God has left me. That’s a truth I need both to remember and to communicate to others, because we all experience such trials.

Father, thank You for what we’re walking through right now, and that You are right here in the middle of it. Help me listen to You and make the changes You indicate, growing as You intend, for my own sake and especially for the sake of the Body of Christ, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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December 27, 2011

Posted on December 28, 2011 by jgarrott

Romans 10:14-15 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent?

The logical rationale for evangelism is presented very clearly here, but many Christians cling to the first line of verse 15 and say, “But I haven’t been sent!” Wrong. That is dealt with in tomorrow’s reading, in the Great Commission. (Matthew 28:18-20) People tend to associate that with foreign missions, to which it does apply, but it also applies to our next-door neighbors, as is dealt with in Acts 1. We are to start with those closest to us, but be willing to go wherever God indicates. I personally think it is a bad idea to send someone anywhere as a missionary if they aren’t already sharing the Gospel with the people around them. Where we are isn’t nearly as important as who we are. Until we see ourselves as representatives of a loving God, calling people to be reconciled to Him, we aren’t going to be very effective as evangelists anywhere. (2 Corinthians 5:18-20)

I have tried to communicate this until I was blue in the face, but reception has been varied, to say the least. This issue is closely linked with the whole matter of being used by God, which has come up a good bit in recent readings. People recognize, rightly enough, that they can’t save anyone, but they need to take the next step and realize that God can save people through them. For that to happen, however, they have to be willing to open their mouths, and that’s what today’s passage is all about. Everyone doesn’t need to be a trained orator, and sometimes oratory is quite counterproductive. I need to help believers understand that all they are called on to do is share their own understanding of God, and what He has done for them. Of course, every believer should be taking in the Word daily and growing in their knowledge and understanding, which should make them more effective in sharing the Gospel, but sometimes we try to share too much at once with people who have no framework of understanding to receive it. I’m certainly guilty there. Often it’s the new, relatively ignorant Christian who’s most effective at bringing their friends and family to Christ! I need to help people believe that if they will open their mouths, God will supply the words. (Psalm 81:10)

Father, fill my mouth with Your words to get Your truth through to people to set them free. (John 8:32) Thank You for Your faithfulness over the past year, and for how people are growing, me included. Help us continue to grow in the coming year, letting go of the things that have held us back and yielding ourselves fully to You as Your agents, so that Your will may be done in and through us for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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December 26, 2011

Posted on December 28, 2011 by jgarrott

Acts 4:13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

It is almost amusing that, down through the ages, people are so amazed that God can and does use ordinary people. I say, almost, because it is also rather sad. It shows how much we focus on the container rather than the contents. Paul nailed it when he talked about treasure in earthen vessels. (2 Corinthians 4:7) God is more than capable of using anyone, as He demonstrated with Balaam’s donkey. (Numbers 22:21-33) What He needs is people who are yielded to Him. In English, there is a helpful play on words with “ability” and “availability.” Ability is a gift from God in the first place; all we have to offer is availability. I forget who it was who said, “The world has yet to see what God can accomplish through someone who is totally committed to Him.” Actually, I think there have been many people down through the centuries who have been as committed to God as possible, but that still makes a valid point. We are quick to exclude ourselves and others from full availability to God on the basis of all sorts of things. In this verse, it was the apostles’ lack of education and credentials that so amazed the members of the Sanhedrin. They were forced to acknowledge the decisive factor, that the apostles had been with Jesus. The more time we spend with Jesus, not just in specific times of worship or devotions but in continuous fellowship through awareness of His presence, the more available we will be to Him, for Him to accomplish in and through us things that are totally impossible to us on our own.

This is a message I have sought to get through to the believers for years, yet they seem to have great difficulty receiving it. Actually, I have plenty of room to grow in this area myself! I am not to give up, but rather trust that God is no more limited by the past than He is by my weakness and ignorance. I’ve got to remember, more consistently and more fully, that it’s not about us, but about Him. Actually, that’s true only in one sense, because from another perspective, God created us to be objects of His love, going so far as to send His Son to take the penalty for our sin, so we are enormously important to Him. The point is not to think less of ourselves, but more of Him. When we have an accurate revelation of God, self image becomes largely irrelevant.

Father, thank You for that last point. I deal so often with people who are crippled by their self images, and I have put a lot of effort into trying to correct that. What I should be doing is trying to help them see You more and better. I have been doing that, but not enough. Thank You that You take us where we are and as we are and work with us and in us and through us. Help me remember that fully myself even as I communicate it to others, so that all of Your purposes may be fulfilled on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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December 25, 2011

Posted on December 28, 2011 by jgarrott

John 3:1415 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

There is a difference in nuance between the English and Japanese translations here. The Japanese says, “so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in the Son of Man.” Eternal life, along with all the other good things that God has prepared for us, is available only in Christ. When my father did his doctoral dissertation on the uses of “In Christ” and related terms in the New testament, a thorough discussion is certainly beyond the scope of a morning devotion! A more manageable element of this passage is the matter of being lifted up. Nicodemus, to whom Jesus was saying this, would not have imagined that He was talking about crucifixion, but that was indeed the first meaning. When Moses lifted up the bronze snake in the wilderness (Numbers 21:9) he quite probably put a crosspiece on the pole to support the snake, making the pole into a cross. Those who looked to the snake were saved from their deadly wounds. In the same way, those who look to Christ and acknowledge that He was crucified for them, receive atonement through the blood of Christ and forgiveness for their sins, which are more deadly than any physical wound. Thus the secondary meaning of Jesus’ statement is that today, we must “lift up” Christ, that is, make Him prominent and supreme, so that it will be easy for people to see Him and believe for their salvation. In organized religion it is all too easy for other things to cover up what is central, so all churches and all Christians should be focused on lifting up Christ.

This of course applies fully to me. The minute I fail to proclaim Christ, descended from David, crucified and resurrected, I have failed my purpose, as a pastor and as a Christian. That doesn’t mean waving around a crucifix. Even Moses’ bronze snake later became an object of idolatry, and King Hezekiah had to destroy it. (2 Kings 18:4) What it does mean is that Christ is to be central in all I say and do. I think we’ve done pretty well about that this Christmas, but this is certainly not limited to Christmas! I need to lead each of the believers to have the same priority in their lives, so that individually and collectively we may be Christians indeed.

Father, thank You for all You did yesterday, especially in terms of restoration of people who have been estranged. Thank You for those who came last night, and for those who were here for the first time as well. Help us continue to draw in new people as well as reclaim those who have fallen away, so that the harvest may continue to grow and be conserved, building up a mighty army of people who are fully committed to You not just for their salvation but for Your pleasure and glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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December 24, 2011

Posted on December 24, 2011 by jgarrott

Matthew 4:19-20 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him.

This is a justly famous passage. Jesus started with where these men were, as fishermen, and related it to the higher calling of drawing people into the kingdom of God. It is also of great importance that Peter and Andrew were obedient to the call, as were James and John a couple of verses later. It is important to remember that this wasn’t their first encounter with Jesus. John and Andrew had been disciples of John the Baptist, and Andrew had famously brought his brother Peter to Jesus. (John 1:35-42) However, this was obviously the decisive moment, because this is how it is recorded in Mark, which is universally regarded as Peter’s recollections, recorded by Mark. The point is, there has to be a clear-cut decision to follow Christ. As steeped in the Bible and faith as I was from infancy, I still remember pretty clearly the point at which I went to my parents and declared that I wanted to be baptized, to commit myself as a follower of Christ, even though I was just seven years old. I’m not proud to say how much I wandered from that commitment in the years that followed, but God in His amazing grace tapped me on the shoulder in 1972, and when I turned around, He had a mirror, to show me my pride and allow me to repent. That too was a clear-cut decision, and there have been many more in the years since. God does not force us to follow Him, but He gives us the opportunity to respond to His call. Many today are afraid of commitment. That is most often noted in relation to marriage, but it applies to salvation as well.

As a pastor, calling people to commitment is obviously right at the top of my priorities. However, I have to remember that, just as this wasn’t Peter and Andrew’s first encounter with Jesus, people need a foundation to be able to make the commitment to follow Christ. I am not to slight “pre-evangelism” but I must not fail to give the call to commitment. That can be a difficult balance, particularly in Japan. Some people are alienated by over-zealous evangelists, and many pastors essentially fail to call to commitment. With church rolls as small as they are, pastors are afraid to alienate anyone, and so they fail to exhort and admonish. I certainly don’t do it right every time myself! I need to focus on constant obedience to the Holy Spirit, because each individual is different, and there is no formula that will work with everyone. I certainly don’t have the wisdom or analytical powers to do it right on my own, so once again I am reminded of my dependence on God. However, my commitment to obedience must be kept fresh, or I won’t be able to hear and follow.

Father, thank You for yet another reminder of my dependence on You. I certainly have trouble releasing things to you! Thank You for Your patience with me on every level. Help me be patient with those around me, without using “patience” as an excuse not to call them to the commitment that will bring them the fulness of all that You have provided for them in Christ, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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December 23, 2011

Posted on December 24, 2011 by jgarrott

Luke 4:21 And he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

It takes a great deal of assurance, not just generalized faith, to proclaim that you have just fulfilled Scripture. However, believers today are fulfilling Acts 1:8 all the time. Realizing we are doing so can be an enormous encouragement! However, saying so can be risky, just as Jesus found. In His case, it was important that He make it clear that everything about His life was a fulfillment of Scripture, but we aren’t in that position. Jesus’ greatest opposition came from the very people who were most familiar with the Scriptures He was fulfilling, which is ironic in the extreme. In our case, pointing out that we are fulfilling Scripture comes across as holier-than-thou, at the very least. However, it can be very helpful to point out to a brother or sister in Christ how they are fulfilling Scripture, because most of us have a very low expectation of being used by God, to the point that it can make us unavailable for His use. Charismatic believers often come across as conceited to non-charismatic people because they have experienced God working through them to do things they couldn’t do otherwise, and that gives them the expectation of His doing so again. All specific manifestations aside, God wants every believer to have that expectation! It’s not that the gift of tongues, for example, is essential to anyone, but that every believer should desire and expect God to use them for His glory. When we start demanding a specific spiritual gift as proof of the baptism in the Holy Spirit, we are putting all sorts of limits, in our minds, at least, on how God can use us or anyone else.

This is something I’ve struggled with for over 35 years. I was slow to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit because I connected it so strongly to the gift of tongues, and I was essentially demanding that God give me that gift. Once I got past that barrier and stopped demanding, He was more than faithful, and in the years since then I have experienced, I think, all of the gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12 at least once. That doesn’t make me better than anyone else, but it certainly gives me an expectation of being used by God in various ways. As a pastor, it is my heart’s desire that every believer in the flock have that same expectation, but to this point I haven’t been so successful in communicating that. Several are starting to get the idea, but I want them all to be fully available to God for however He wants to use them. For that matter, I want to be more available myself! The answer, of course, is to rely on God rather than on my own ability, for others or for myself.

Father, thank You for this reminder, as well as for all You have been doing in, around, and through me in recent days. Thank You for the strength to get through things to this point, and that You will continue to carry me along. Thank You for the beautiful opportunity to express Your Gospel to my speech therapy students, and for the thoroughly enjoyable Christmas party that was the context for that. Thank You also for the unexpected fellowship with believers in the afternoon. Help me leave my schedule in Your hands, emotionally as well as mentally, so that I may be available and responsive to You at all times, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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