free

Last Sunday, Taylor Brown brought the Word to us regarding the freedom from sin we have in Christ. Powerful message from a great preacher! I have been thinking a lot about it this week. And here is the thought that keeps resonating…

Something I have found profoundly interesting is that, when you look at the way the world thinks / operates, it is almost always the exact opposite of the way God and His kingdom think / operate.

For example, your neighbor’s dog tears up your garden. What worldly advice would you get from your worldly friends? Tear up his garden, right? Get even!

But what is the opposite of that? Opposite of destroying your neighbor’s garden: help him build his own garden up. That sounds crazy!

And it sounds like the kind of thing Jesus would do.

Here is another opposite for you when it comes to the world’s way / God’s way:

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." They answered him, "We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, 'You will become free'?" Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:31-36)

When worldly people think about Christians, they often think of us as people who have to live according to a strict list of rules. Oh you poor Christians. So restricted in the way you live.

First of all, we were not meant to live by a list of rules. Jesus saw to that. (Galatians 2:21)

But even more fascinating about this: take a look at what is really happening. We are thought of as being restricted, while worldly people view themselves as being free. They define freedom as “the ability to do whatever you want”. But such a mindset never leads to freedom - it always leads to bondage!

Sin is enslaving. And immersing yourself in sin in the name of freedom always leads to bondage. Name a sin that doesn’t trap someone in addiction. Name a sin that doesn’t hold people in bondage when they make it a practice. What sin does not lend itself to being "hard to shake" once it is started?

Pornography, alcoholism (or other drugs), lust, gossip, envy, greed, stealing, hatred, illicit sexual activity - the list goes on and on. All sin carries a hard reality of enslavement.

Jesus brings real freedom. Not merely “freedom to do whatever the heck I want to do”. But freedom to be who God created you to be. Not freedom to sin. Freedom from sin. Free indeed.

Have you been freed?

p.s. - needs to apologize to his neighbor for his dog’s behavior…

I Fought the Law (and the Law Won)

(This is a p.s. from last Sunday’s message on legalism from Mark 7:1-13, available to listen to on this site!)

Should a Christian get a tattoo?

Maybe that isn’t the best way to phrase that. Let me try again…

Is it okay for a Christian to get a tattoo?

Wait, that’s not great, either. Because you are like, “A tattoo of what? Donald Duck? A flaming demon skull?”

Is it a sin for a Christian to get a tattoo? (we‘ll go with this one.)

Jesus condemned the Pharisees for keeping their list of unbiblical rules, but doesn’t the Bible say something about tattoos? Yes, Leviticus 19:28 does. So obviously it is a sin, then, right?

Actually, no. 

Here is where people get confused. Christians are not bound by the OT Law. God gave Israel the Law for a season, and for a reason. God gave Israel the Law to show His standard of righteousness - and man’s inability to keep the Law.

Why would God give a Law that He knew we couldn’t keep perfectly? It was to show us our universal and absolute need for grace. If I want to be righteous, totally righteous in and of myself, I need to keep the Law perfectly. How is that working out for you? Just looking at the 10 Commandments (See Exodus 20)…

1. Is God always #1 in your life?
2. Have you ever had anything else be a priority over God?
3. Have you ever used God’s name in vain?
4. Have you always taken a day of rest?
5. Have you always obeyed your parents?
6. Have you ever murdered? (According to Jesus, Hatred = Murder.)
7. Have you ever committed adultery? (According to Jesus, Lust = Adultery.)
8. Have you ever stolen anything?
9. Have you ever lied?
10. Have you ever been envious of someone having something you want?

If you have ever broken any of these, even once, you are guilty of the whole Law, because you have rejected the giver of the Law (James 2:10).

So if you want to keep the Law, you have to keep ALL of it, and never violate ANY of it, not even once, or you stand guilty and condemned.

That’s bad news for me, how about you?

The good news is Jesus abolished the Law (Hebrews 10:9)! He fulfilled the Law by being perfectly obedient, died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins, and rose from the dead to give us eternal life.

So keeping the Law, any Law - Old Testament, man-made, church-dictated… will not and cannot save you (or keep you saved), because you will fail. Only belief in the work of Jesus on your behalf will save you, and keep you saved (Romans 3:28), because Jesus will never fail.

So… rest, and live in Jesus‘ grace. You fought the Law, and the Law won. It isn’t a sin to get that tattooed on your face, but that doesn’t mean it is a good idea.

p.s. - If that song is stuck in your head now, I apologize.

Church Planting is for Kids

"Why should I get involved with a church plant if I have children? Don’t other churches have more stuff to offer?”

Not necessarily. They may have different stuff to offer, but a young church plant has some things to offer you won’t find anywhere else. 

In fact, here are some reasons you should prefer to get your family, including your young children, involved in a young church plant like Harvest Bible Chapel Pittsburgh North:

1. They will get to see how new churches start.

I never knew how churches started before I planted a church. Guess I never really thought about it. I just assumed back in the day John Wesley and Martin Luther just moved through the area and opened franchises. (Just kidding. I knew a little more about it than that. A little.)

What an education I received planting a church, watching it all come together as God was working! And what a great opportunity for your children to learn something they may never have a chance to be a part of again.

2. They will learn that everyone is called to actively serve.

In church plant world, we use a phrase a lot: “All hands on deck!” Being young and small, we need everyone to step up and actively get on board in ministry. Everyone! That’s Biblical, by the way. I know of many passages in the Bible that call ALL believers to actively serve (Ephesians 4, 1 Corinthians 12, 1 Peter 2). I don’t know of a single passage that calls a believer to be a bystander. “My spiritual gift is bench warming.” No, it’s not.

Longer established churches are blessed to have had people step up and do and lead and disciple. So it can be easy for people to slip in and slip out without stepping up. God calls everyone to be involved, and your child will experience that especially in a church plant.

3. They will learn that church is where you look to give not expect to be given.

Similar to the previous point, your children will learn this valuable lesson about following Jesus that they will carry with them the rest of their lives, if you disciple them in this attitude.

We live in a consumer culture. We get lulled into a consumer mentality. What benefit ME best? Target or Wal*Mart? Giant Eagle or Shop and Save? Ford or Chevy? Coke or Pepsi?

Sadly we carry the consumer mentality into the church. When you walk into a church, and the first question you ask is, “How will this place benefit me?”, you have brought an unbiblical and self-centered mindset that is anything but the mind of Christ.

4. They will see God do some radical things in times of desperation.

We started this church with nothing. A zero dollar bank account. No place to meet. Few people. An empty trailer purchased, praying God would fill it with equipment.

I don’t have the space here to testify to God’s gracious provision that He made every step of the way. So many times, we had our backs against the wall, cried out to Him, and He showed up gloriously. Never late, seldom early. And He never disappointed us.

Not saying God doesn’t move mightily in big churches - sometimes it can seem less obvious to the congregation as a whole. Your child will carry with him/her the glorious lesson that God is a provider and He can always be trusted to take care of His children when they cry out to Him. They will get to not just hear it preached… but watch it happen!

5. They will see how the Holy Spirit grows the church.

What a glorious thing to behold. “But the Holy Spirit is growing big churches!“ Yes, praise God, He is! That’s how they got big. But growth can look more obvious in a church plant. Growth from 1500-1540 isn’t as obvious as growth from 25-65, right?

Jesus promised to build His church (Matthew 16:18). And from the ground up, your child will get to see Jesus fulfill His promise. New believers baptized, old believers revitalized, the Holy Spirit doing what only He can do, to the glory of God the Father.

So bring your children. Let them experience God at work in a way that will strengthen their faith for the rest of their lives!

p.s. - church planting = kids' stuff

Why does He talk like that?

(This is a revamp of a blog from when we went through Matthew 13, discussing the purpose of parables. Since we are diving into Mark 4, I thought it was a good reminder for us...)

Why does He talk like that?!

Have you ever been around someone that made you ask yourself this (hopefully in your head)? I went to high school with someone who suddenly grew a British accent when she went to work. I am sure she didn’t know she was doing it. But I was just like… why is she talking like that? When did she get so British?

So Jesus, the greatest Person to ever walk the earth, is about to reveal some deep spiritual truths about God. “Want to know about God’s kingdom? Let me tell you a story about a guy who had a bag of seeds.”

In Mark 4, Jesus teaches some parables. What is a parable? The Greek (para) means “something alongside of something else”, or a comparison. It is a hard spiritual truth alongside an easy, earthly story. Spiritual matters are very hard for fleshly humans to understand, so parables help us make sense of them.

Parables can be effective for many reasons. They put concepts in pictures, for those of us who think that way. Parables are also easy to remember and retell. They are also great attention-grabbers!

But why did Jesus talk like that? Why didn’t He just teach the facts? Why did He communicate in parables?

In Mark 4:10-13, the disciples had the same question, and Jesus explains why.

And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, "To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that "they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven." And he said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?

So Jesus said He speaks in parables because “they may indeed see but not perceive” and “may indeed hear but not understand”. What does that mean? Why tell a story if people aren't going to "get it"? Parables had a way of revealing truth to some people and concealing it from others… at the same time! If you want to hear God’s truth, He makes a way. But if you harden your heart, you will not be able to hear him! Receive truth, get more; reject truth, stay in darkness! Also an interesting note: Jesus didn’t explain this to the multitudes… He explained this to His disciples!

The bottom line is grace. We are accountable for how we respond to what we know. And the more someone knows… and rejects… the worse the punishment is going to be for them in hell. So God, in His grace, uses a method of clearly teaching truth in a way that can be taught by those looking for it… BUT ALSO missed by those not interested. It’s grace!

The parables have always fascinated me. How can Jesus say so much by saying so little? Join us at Harvest on Sunday as we seek to understand the profound truths taught in simple stories.

p.s. - amazed at the wisdom of Jesus..