BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY….. “…the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.” Luke 2:10 NLT

The unmistakable theme of Jesus’ birth, life and ministry was that He was the Savior of the “world.” Almost sixty years after the birth of Christ, John would write, “He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.” (1 John 2:2 NLT)

Paul, the Apostle would write about the “mystery of the gospel” and declare, And this is God’s plan: “Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 3:6 NLT)

From the announcement of the angels to the shepherds on the hillside to the words of the apostles as they wrote to the first century church we see this focus of one message of good news, one way to God, for all the world. What some would view as “narrow” is intended by God’s sovereign plan to be clear and simple.

This is not “everyone finding their own way.” This is God revealing Himself so that we would know the way. Before His death, Thomas asked Jesus, “How can we know the way?” It seems that many still ask that question today. Both the clarity and complexity is found in Jesus straightforward response 2,000 years ago, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but through me.” (John 14:6)

It doesn’t matter whether would are a lowly shepherd or a revered wise man. It doesn’t matter whether you are poor or rich. It doesn’t matter your ethnicity or your nationality. It doesn’t matter if you receive a visit from angels, or you search diligently. All roads lead to a manger. Nothing is more disarming and simple in wonder than a new born baby.

Jesus is to be accepted as a gift. He is to be revered as Lord. He is to be followed with full devotion.

When Jesus is embraced as Savior and Lord the response is the same for all. It is great joy. It is a new beginning. It is hope. It is the assurance of eternal life. It is the confidence that “He will never leave us or forsake us.”

The shepherds left the manger with “fear and great joy.” The wise men, returned to their home “another way.” While the later simply refers to their alternative route home to avoid Herod’s wrath, it is a fitting metaphor for the life change that Christ bring to our life. When we encounter Christ we are never the same.

That spiritual experience of new birth is a foreshadowing of the eternal promise the Lord has for all who follow Him.

“We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.” (1 Corinthians 1551-53 NIV)

The message of hope is still the same. It is still for all. It is a “gift that keeps on giving.”

BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY…. “For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people…” 1 Thessalonians 2:4 NLT

This week at my Tuesday devotional and prayer meeting with pastors and other elected leaders, it was shared by one pastor about not just having the right position, but also the right disposition.

I thought about the combinations of those dynamics. You can have the right position and the wrong disposition, you can hold to the wrong position and have the wrong disposition, you can have the wrong position and the right disposition, but the optimum is having both the right position and the right disposition.

Paul’s desire was to preach truth and do it in a way that pleased God and didn’t result in compromise in order to please others. He was not intentionally trying to be belligerent with the truth out of arrogance or pride. It is one thing if people are “offended” by the truth, it is another if the messenger is being offensive.

Paul reveals that motives are important. “…He alone examines the motives of our hearts.” (1 Thessalonians 2:4 NLT) If we are open to the Lord, He will allow us to know whether our motives are pure or not.

Paul realized that pleasing people was not the ultimate goal. That being insincere was being sincerely wrong. He states, “Never once did we try to win you with flattery, as you well know.” (1 Thessalonians 2:5, NLT) Speaking the truth is telling people what they need to hear, not what they want to hear.

Paul states something that was true in his day and well as in ours,  “God is our witness that we were not pretending to be your friends just to get your money!” (1 Thessalonians 2:5 NLT) The key to sustainable ministry and a life of integrity is to realize that when we please God and speak the truth, our needs will be met. As the adage goes, “we are to love people and use money, not love money and use people.” Pretending to be “friends” to get money, is using people.

We can observe Paul understood for whom he was working and to whom he was accountable. “As for human praise, we have never sought it from you or anyone else.” (1 Thessalonians 2:6 NLT)

Paul’s desire was to have the “well done” commendation from the Lord over the “pat on the back” from people.

Finally, we see the “right disposition” in declaring the truth in a way that pleases the Lord. “And you know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children. We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy.” (1 Thessalonians 2:11,12 NLT)

Paul understood that he was called by God to speak the message God gave him. That allowed him to seek to please God as he demonstrated genuine love for people.

Here are some reflections on the case currently before the Supreme Court involving Jack Philips and his Masterpiece Cake Shop in Lakewood. I know the case has brought to the forefront all kinds of issues involving religious freedom and public accommodation for a business. It is unfortunate that a literal “federal case” can be made out of something that in reality lacks merit.

I like the saying, “truth is stranger than fiction.” I wonder if the framers of our constitution ever envisioned a day when a “constitutional crisis” would be triggered over flour and sugar.

It has been interesting to see the “crisis” and handwringing that has resulted with Jack Philip’s refusal to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. All types of issues ranging from public accommodation to religious freedom have been brought into the resulting debate.

However, the reality this is more of a manufactured crisis and controversy than what has merited all the costs involved and personal suffering for Jack Philips and inconvenience for others who would have benefited from his services.

Masterpiece Bakery is located in my old House District. I would on occasion stop and purchase some of the bakery items at Jack’s store. That is what hundreds of other customers have done over the years including the gay couple that claim discrimination and a lack of “public accommodation.”

The proverbial “line in the sand” arose when the gay couple asked for a handcrafted wedding cake. Since Jack viewed that as an endorsement of gay marriage which was a conflict of his personal beliefs, his refused. This was not a rejection of the individuals involved, it was a lack of willingness to participate, in Jack’s view to partner and participate in an “event.”

Jack’s position was that it would be no different than a gay couple attending a church where they were welcomed, but a minister of that church refusing to officiate the wedding ceremony, based on personal and religious conviction.

I find it interesting and somewhat ironic that in Lakewood where Masterpiece is located, right across the street is a bakery that makes and specializes in exquisite custom-made wedding cakes. Those cakes, unlike Masterpiece, are routinely displayed in the window of their business. Instead of walking a few hundred feet away, a couple decides to make a literal “federal case” out of, not a refusal to be served as customer, but a refusal for a cake artist to participate in their wedding event.

I view this as a fabricated “crisis” that has resulted in faulty comparisons to all kinds of discrimination actions in the past and hypothetical and unrealistic comparison in the present. If Jack Philips refused to serve the offended couple as customer, which he did not, it could merit a legitimate case for “public accommodation.”

A realistic examination of the facts reveals the allegations are fictitious and unreasonable and a fabricated civil rights violation. The truth is great pain and financial loss has been inflicted not on a gay couple, but on a business owner who is willing to stand with his principles and personal convictions.

It is unfortunate the Civil Rights Commission and the Courts have been complicate in furthering an issue that should not have been an issue. I trust the Supreme Court will see this case based on truth and not fiction.

BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY….. “…I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority, but by Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead.” Galatians 1:1 NLT

As I was reading Paul’s letter to the Galatians I noticed the affirmation of his calling that is unique to this letter. He is getting ready to confront those who declared a “false” gospel. So firmly stating his apostolic authority would be in line with his reason for writing this letter.

With the exception of Matthias who was chosen by the eleven to replace Judas, all the disciples were called personally by Jesus. Paul’s calling is certainly unique. It was a call by Jesus, and a post resurrection revelation to one who was intent on persecuting those who followed Jesus.

As the church grew there were those who were viewed as “apostles” in their spiritual role of establishing and leading churches. Paul recognizes this and refers to himself as the “least of all the apostles.” 

This sense of a special calling and designation of apostleship was balanced with a recognition of those who were leaders in the church of Jerusalem. Specifically Peter, James and John. We see Paul recognizing that “God is no respecter of persons” but at the same time God-called men are placed in positions of responsibility and authority.

Paul did not seek immediate recognition from the apostles in Jerusalem, after he conversion. He says, “When this happened, I did not rush out to consult with any human being. Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to consult with those who were apostles before I was.” (Galatians 1:16-17 NLT)

As a matter of fact, it was three years before Paul would meet with Peter and James in Jerusalem. Then after fourteen years of ministry to the Gentiles Paul returned to Jerusalem. He believed the Lord directed him to do so.

“I met privately with those considered to be leaders of the church and shared with them the message I had been preaching to the Gentiles. I wanted to make sure that we were in agreement, for fear that all my efforts had been wasted and I was running the race for nothing.” (Galatians 2:2 NLT)

What caught my attention was this balance of being called by God in a special way and for a special purpose, and preaching a message of salvation, but also being accountable to other spiritual leaders. In Paul’s own words, he wanted to “make sure that we were in agreement.” Paul wanted to build on and not destroy or contradict or undermine the gospel that others were preaching.

It became clear that the “true” gospel was that all people are made righteous by faith in Jesus Christ and not through obeying the law. Salvation was a supernatural work of grace, not human something attained through human effort. Paul was released and blessed to minister God’s grace to the Gentiles and Peter and the other apostles shared the same message with the Jews.

In these opening chapters of Galatians Paul makes it clear there is only one gospel; one way to be right before God. It is the same for Jews and for Gentiles. Paul preached that message with the confidence of his special calling, but he placed himself in a position to be accountable to others to protect the integrity of the message.

In doing so we see the importance of doctrine being subject to assessment of other spiritual leaders and not something that is to be viewed as a “special” revelation or message that is proclaimed without being open to the examination of others.

So, the word of caution is, if a doctrine or teaching that is being proclaimed is not willing to be examined and evaluated by others, it is probably a “different” gospel.

That is why Paul says, “Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you.”  (Galatians 1:8 NLT)