SILENT NIGHT

Merry Christmas from The Ranch!  I’ve written a special Christmas message for you today, and we’ll return to our series on “The Top 20 Passages From The Bible” after the holidays...

 

Did you know that one of the most famous Christmas songs was written because of a broken organ?  It happened in a small church in Oberndorfer, Austria, back in 1818.  Their pump organ had given out, and they were going to be without music for their Christmas Eve service.  It was a calamity in the making.

 

But their pastor, Joseph Mohr, remembered a poem he had written two years earlier about that first “silent night” when baby Jesus was born.  He asked his friend, Franz Gruber, if the poem could be set to music, and as Gruber read the poem, a tune came to his mind.   That night, the church sang the song “Silent Night” for the very first time.

 

The story is told that several weeks later, a repairman came to their church from another village to work on the organ.  When it was fixed, Gruber tested it out by playing the tune he had written for their Christmas Eve service.  The repairman heard the tune and passed it on to others in his travels.

 

The song that was written because of a broken organ has now been sung worldwide.  Out of calamity, a song was born.

SAVE AND BE SECURED

A lot of Filipinos are still uninformed and remain passive about how to manage their finances.  Statistics will show that only about 14% of the total population is covered with insurance.  People are still left to believe that life insurance protection is only for the rich.  Unfortunately, many still leave their future to the mercy of their luck or the “bahala na” attitude.

There are quite a few reasons why Filipinos are still clueless about wealth management.  One could be lack of education about financial planning.  It could also be that they don’t really understand the concept of wealth management.  

The Philippines have been the lame duck economy of Asia for a little while and it has not yet full escaped from the clutches of its misfortune, but it is slowly growing for the better.  We have overtaken India us the call center hub of Asia if that is an accomplishment to reckon with.  It still doesn’t guarantee though that Filipinos will start to act like their Asian counterparts when it comes to handling money.

In some countries, especially those who belong to the more affluent ones, people spend less than what they earn.  It might be because they earn more than their counterparts here do and their basic need purchases are a lot cheaper compared to what we have here.  This may sound sensible, but it is not a good excuse for us to spend more than what we earn.  This does not authorize you to splurge your invisible money using your credit card and drown you in debt come your payday.

It is a fact that it is estimated that 3 out of 4 adults in developing and middle income countries like the Philippines don’t have bank accounts.  Poor people also actively save in cash and through informal mechanisms, but these tools do not always meet their needs.  Not until we do something about the plight of these people, we will remain to be what we are in the next few decades to come.

So let me share with you some advice on how you can have a secure today and a better future by proper use of your money.

First, if you really care for your spouse and children, or your love ones, secure your income by purchasing a life insurance that is equivalent to 5 years of your annual income.  This means to say that even you if are gone, or you die or become disabled, your family will still enjoy your income for the next five years.  This will give ample time for your spouse to recover and start anew.

Then you set aside at least 10% of your income/salary to savings.  Don’t attempt to withdraw!  A participating life insurance policy is a good force savings program that you can take advantage with.  This will provide you protection and good returns in time for your retirement. If you are a bit savvy about investment, you can consider investing in a mutual fund which your insurance company might also be able to provide you with.  You can just leave investing in stocks to the experts.

Your savings goals should include an emergency fund in case an emergency happens.  Emergency usually comes in forms like sudden hospitalization, fire or accident.  It is really best that you also get yourself covered with a healthcare program too so that personal illness is the last thing you should be worrying about.

You should also set an aside an amount equivalent to 6 months of your salary just incase you need to shift career, change jobs, or worse lose your job.  This money will be the amount you will use for mobility in finding a new career if this happens.

Then lastly, throw away you’re second down to the nth credit card.  You really don’t need one!  If you have to use your credit card, pay it in full when the bill comes.  Your credit should only be there for convenience and not for your deliverance from nothingness.

ORDER OF THE WOODEN CROSS

"May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."¹

I have read how, "During his reign King Frederick William III of Prussia found himself in trouble. Wars had been costly and in trying to rebuild the nation, he was seriously short of finances. He couldn't disappoint his people, and to surrender to the enemy was not an option.

"After careful reflection, he decided to ask the women of Prussia to bring their jewelry of gold and silver to be melted down for their country. For each ornament received, he determined to exchange a decoration of bronze or iron as a symbol of his gratitude. Each decoration would be inscribed, 'I GAVE GOLD FOR IRON, 1813.'"

Apparently, "The response was overwhelming. The women prized their gifts from the king more than their former jewelry. The reason why is clear, the decorations were proof that they had sacrificed for their king. It even became unfashionable to wear any other jewelry. And thus was established the ORDER OF THE IRON CROSS."2

I wonder how much we who name the name of Christ and call ourselves Christ-ones (Christians) are willing to sacrifice for and give of our best to our king, King Jesus—and receive from him the ORDER OF THE WOODEN CROSS?

CONDOM

What is wrong with using contraceptives?  Personally, I don’t see anything wrong about it.  If you have to have sex with somebody you don’t know you better use the most famous contraceptives of all time, the condom.  It is unimaginable that you get to someone you don’t know skin to skin without the protection you need.  It is always better to be safe.


In view of the Roman Catholics abhorrence to the idea of using condom, it is not fair on their part to make a sweeping statement that these people are really against sex and are lot holier than anybody else in terms of self control.  Well, of course, with the priest celibacy vow, indeed I can’t comment any further.  I salute them to the max!


The use of contraceptive being bad came from the idea that having sex outside marriage is indeed not acceptable.  The bible terms it fornication. If you are a bible believing person, you can tell yourself if you commit fornication to go to hell because that is where you really are going.  It is punishable by death, of course spiritual death.  Fornication is the illicit sexual intercourse of unmarried persons.
Another equally wrong sexual relationship is adultery.  This is commonly known to women who are being charged by their husbands which are a strong case if caught with someone other than their husbands.  Adultery is punishable by imprisonment and is a valid basis for annulment in the Philippines, divorce in the US.  From the context of the bible, it is to have sexual relations with someone other than one's own spouse, husband or wife.  The only difference that the bible has against our perceived adultery is that in the bible, the mere thinking of the girl, imagining her naked, looking at her with lust is already committing adultery.
Matthew 5:28  But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Another type of sexual immorality is having sex with the same sex.   This is gross because I cannot myself afford to do this if given the chance! This is the worse kind of immorality because this was the common practice in the times of Lot in the bible where God burned Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes.  Men were having sex against men, just like what we commonly see in the society today.


The leastof these immoral acts is of course masturbation.  This refers to sexual stimulation of a person's genitals, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation can be performed manually, by other types of bodily contact (short of sexual intercourse), by use of objects or tools, or by some combination of these methods. Self masturbation is a common form of autoeroticism. Masturbation with a partner (called mutual masturbation), is also common.  This may not be as bad if you have some sort of medical reasons to do this. Some would say it is good for the heart; others would say it is to relieve them of stress,or what not. We can name all the excuses we can have in the world, but at the end of the day, if you do it because there is no one to express your desire for sex unto,then you are committing an immoral act worthy of the punishment mentioned above.
 
Now, you ask, why then it is not good to use contraceptives?  From my personal point of view, it is not the use of contraceptives that they may be against to but the purpose of where it is to be used.  If you are going to use it just out of lust then you are a victim of your own demonic mind.


The question of population is secondary as far as the church is concerned, as I thought so.  The Roman Catholic wouldn’t care to stop the population growth because this is one way of increasing membership through biological way.  The Roman Catholic population is dwindling all over the world, and the fastest growing religion is Islam, so you make your choice which religion you would want to get ahead in this world.


If the people however are well educated to just be loyal to their spouses and never mind the rising popularity of broken homes, separated husbands and wives, children with no fathers, or no mothers, and just stick to whoever you have, your wife or your husband, of the opposite sex of course, then the fear of propagating the deadly sexually transmitted diseases will be lessened.


We have just taken the church stand to be against the use of contraceptives out of context.  It is immorality that they abhor and not the use of it per se.  They have just been so vocal about being against the use of these sexual tools because it is the only way to get their message across which the common Tao can understand in a flash.


You don’t go to congress and do bible study and educate these people about morality.  Aside from they not understanding it, it will be a waste of tax payers money listening to priestly education. You don’t go to the streets and preach the bad news about having illicit relationships and quote whatever religious verses you have; but you go out there and show to the people your message that can be understood even with just visual communication – and that is condom.

SHEER POWER

"Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD…. No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine."¹

It's not only the influence of some prison guards whose power has corrupted them, but one cannot help but wonder about the power of the news media that daily influences the minds of multiplied millions of people—seeking to shape the minds of listeners according to their particular slant and agenda.

In the U.S., for example, while mostly ignoring all the good that has been done in places like Iraq and other places around the world, the TV news media thrive on reporting the number of deaths of our military personnel in Iraq and/or in Afghanistan. I'm not in any way implying that such deaths are not tragic. They certainly are. What I am talking about is truth and responsibility in reporting. These same news channels rarely mention the daily slaughter on our highways—43,220 deaths in one recent year—that was an average of 118 deaths every day!²

Furthermore, of these 43,200 deaths 17,401 were alcohol related! (By way of interest, not so long ago, while waiting to turn left at a stop light, a driver slammed into by a car that was slammed into by a heavy pickup truck driven by a youth who caused a six-car pileup. I wonder if he had been drinking! the driver was just fortunate that his injuries weren't much worse. The accident caused too much damage to his vehicle.)

Nor does the news media mention the hundreds of babies who are being murdered every day throughout our nation, nor the merciless butchery of partial-birth abortion, nor the accelerating moral decline of our nation. Why aren't these tragedies newsworthy? Is it because it wouldn't be politically correct to report on these issues? Or is it because their TV station would lose listeners and therefore financial support?

Think too of the far-out-of-proportion power of some politicians who are adept at making decisions that they believe will keep them in power, rather than for the good of the country … and those who blame other politicians (or anyone else) for the problems that they themselves helped to create in the first place, or who refuse to call acts of terrorism for what they are? Instead, the war on terrorism has been called "Overseas Contingency Operation."

Furthermore, let's be realistic, the "overseas contingency operation" its not only a war against terrorism, it is a religious war caused by militant Muslims who are hell-bent on destroying and killing Americans, Westerners, Jews, Christians and all who oppose their fanatical, barbarous "interpretation" of their religion. If we don't win the war against this barbaric "religiosity" the consequences will be unthinkable for our children and our children's children. Will our politicians and the news media ever consider calling the "overseas contingency operation" for what it truly is—a war against religious terrorism? Not likely!

How tragic when we use words to twist the meaning of critical issues and in so doing deny their reality. This, too, shows the deceitfulness and hypocrisy of the human heart. Would we dare call poison by any other name? To do so would be murderous.

So wherein lies the answer to the dilemma we currently face? Is it, as Ed Ames asked about the national problems our country faced in the sixties, is it in the "stars, or in ourselves?" Not likely.

If we who claim to be Christians, whose faith is definitely not in the stars or in ourselves but in God and his Word, don't give answers, who will? Godless politicians, the outspoken immoral minority, irresponsible news reporters, and militant religionists will give hopelessly false answers to lead us astray. Of this we can be certain.

APO BLAST

What is a fraternity - a group of people associated or formally organized for a common purpose, interest, or pleasure.

There are known fraternal organizations which existed as far back as ancient Greece and Rome, and analogous institutions in the late medieval period called confraternities, which were lay organizations allied to the Catholic Church. These confraternities evolved into purely secular fraternal societies such as Freemasonry, which in turn was used as a model for many modern fraternal orders and societies.
The development of modern fraternal orders was especially dynamic in the United States, where the freedom to associate outside governmental regulation is expressly sanctioned in law.[2] There have been hundreds of fraternal organizations in the United States, and at the beginning of the 20th century the number of memberships equaled the number of adult males. (Due to multiple memberships, probably only 50% of adult males belonged to any organizations.)

In 1944 Arthur M. Schlesinger coined the phrase "a nation of joiners" to refer to the phenomenon. Alexis de Tocqueville also referred to the American reliance on private organization in the 1830s in Democracy in America.

There are many attributes that fraternities may or may not have, depending on their structure and purpose. Fraternities can have differing degrees of secrecy, some form of initiation or ceremony marking admission, formal codes of behavior, disciplinary procedures, very differing amounts of real property and assets.
In the recent spate of incidents, we recognize that Alpha Phii Omega has been in the lime lights. The hazing incident which killed one aspiring member is one, and the La Salle bombing which implicated an APO to be the culprit. It is easy to throw in the towel against Alph Phi Omega because in many occasions some of its members have abused their sworn oaths as scouts who are there to lead, to serve and to be a friend.
It cannot be denied that an Alpha Phi Omega member can really do such horror to the community but these are individual calls. APO is not what it is painted today. It is perhaps of the dirty politics of the nation where they choose to dwell on the APO issue and focus on its bad reputation to associate Vice President Binay and taint his reputation, but it will not in anyway affect what Alpha Phi Omega stand for.

Alpha Phi Omega (ΑΦΩ) (commonly known as APO but also A-Phi-O[4] and A-Phi-Q) is the largest collegiate fraternity in the United States, with chapters at over 350 campuses, an active membership of approximately 17,000 students, and over 350,000 alumni members. There are also 250 chapters in the Philippines and one in Australia.

Alpha Phi Omega is a co-ed service fraternity organized to provide community service, leadership development, and social opportunities for college students. Chapters range in size from a handful of active members to over 200 active members, independent of each college's size.

The programs of the fraternity are centered around developing its three Cardinal Principles: Leadership, Friendship, and Service. Many chapters plan a several local service projects throughout the year, including blood drives, tutoring, charity fundraising events, Scouting events, used book exchanges, Boy Scout Merit Badge days, campus escort initiatives, and housing construction/rehabilitation. Signature projects include the annual National Service Week, in the first full week of November, and the Global Spring Youth Service Day in April. Many of the operations of individual chapters are left to their own discretion, though most chapters have membership requirements which require a certain number of hours of service each semester. In the United States, on April 14, 2003, the fraternity received the Daily Point of Light Award in recognition of its members, who give unselfishly of their time and energy on a daily basis, and who cumulative donate an average of over 300,000 hours of community service each semester.

The purpose of the fraternity is "to assemble college students in a National Service Fraternity in the fellowship of principles derived from the Scout Oath and Scout Law of the Boy Scouts of America; to develop Leadership, to promote Friendship, and to provide Service to humanity; and to further the freedom that is our national, educational, and intellectual heritage." Unlike many other fraternities, APO's primary focus is to provide volunteer service within four areas: service to the community, service to the campus, service to the fraternity, and service to the nation as participating citizens. Being primarily a service organization, the fraternity restricts its chapters from maintaining fraternity houses to serve as residences for their members. This also encourages members of social fraternities and sororities that have houses to join APO as well.

PHILIPPINES’ SORRY HOSTAGES

The hostage drama in Manila the other day was outrageous.  People all over the world who have watched the scene felt bad and had negative feelings against the Philippines in general.  It was really a sad scenario that I for one as of this writing could not think of anything but to say sorry to the world that it happened.

To say sorry is not really enough to undo what has already been done.  I would rather bring up the idea that everything has a purpose which was the reason why that happened.  The hostage taker was just a vessel to allow the circumstances to transpire to serve the purposes which was at hand during that time.  Whatever the purpose for this incident to transpire is still unknown.  It might be that the Philippines starts thinking on what better ways to improve tourism in the land so that we stop sending OFWs abroad.

The Hong Kong and the Chinese people felt outraged and somehow dumped the blame on the entire Philippine nation as a whole.  Some OFW (Overseas Filipino Workers) employers have dismissed the services of their Filipino employees in retaliation of what happened to their countrymen.  Many in Hong Kong have staged rallies in front of the Philippine embassy in Hong Kong to condemn the most barbaric act ever done by a dismissed police officer – to hostage tourists in open daylight. A lot of blogs in the internet all coming from Chinese writers condemning the Philippines and a lot of journalists all over the world ride on to the sentiments of the time just to get their articles read.

I am on their side really in condemning the act; but condemning the nation as a whole is entirely unfair.  It is very quick for these people to throw judgment on the Philippines as a whole without even looking into how they are as a nation act as well.  The  Philippines does not condemn them when a ship load of drugs worth billions of pesos (millions of US dollars)  coming from China are confiscated in Philippine ports similar to what came out from the news the day after the hostage incident.  We don’t condemn them when substandard products are smuggled in our ports to penetrate the Philippine market and destroy legitimate trade.  Drug trafficking is equally worse with hostage taking. Smuggling is equally sinful.

No matter how many times do we say that the hostage incident was an isolated case would not bare any weight if their minds are already closed to prejudging the nation.  Haven’t they thought of it that a lot of Chinese migrants who came to the Philippines a long time ago to find greener Pasteur because they were starving in their homeland are now millionaires here?  It is because of this nation’s hospitality that they were given the opportunity to grow and prosper which these Chinese could not have done anywhere else in the world.

When you travel to the Philippines, you will not see scenes like these everyday.  The people would still welcome you with high regard because you are a foreigner in our land.  Looking at Chinese with high respect is something that you will cherish in the Philippines alone because you will seldom find this kind of regard to Asians in the US or Europe and anywhere else.  It is different of course if you go to those places and arrives there like an emperor, then probably Europeans or Americans will attend to you with majestic service.  The Philippines does not discriminate people whether you are rich or poor, for as long as you are a visitor, you are very much welcome.

Let us broaden our minds and think of better ways to help improve humanity.  Barbarism should not have any room in this new millennium.  The hostage taking was a classic example of how illogical a lost man can become, and retaliating in the same illogical manner will not make you any different to the lost hostage taker at all.  His mind was narrow to believe that his predicaments will be resolved by staging a grand hostage drama.  Let us not narrow our minds then to believing that retaliating to every citizen of the Philippines can help contain the anger within.

I admire what Jacky Chan, a highly respected actor with high education, has said to what happened.  He looked at the incident with a broader perspective and with an open mind.  If an open mind is a thing only an emperor can afford, then who am I to blame you then if you get back at our OFWs working for you in Hong Kong in retaliation to the hostage drama.

New Hope for Business in the Philippines

Business in the Philippines will probably have a fresh start now that we are expecting a new President. The running leader in the just recently concluded election is Noynoy Aquino. He is now the President apparent before he will be proclaimed on June 8 but not later than June 12, 2010. This is just in time for the celebration of the Philippine independence.
Businessmen in the Philippines are expecting to prepare their strategies for the said new administration. We are looking forward to corrupt free nation as Noy-noy had always been accusing the present administration to be guilty of. I remember during his campaign that he clearly illustrated the lack of budget for school buildings and other infrastructure because of corruption. He said that there was money and yet money just went though the wrong priorities or worse was diverted to corruption, hence, no schools and lack of roads.
What the business people in the Philippines should be preparing for this new era of governance is by getting ready their businesses with better technology. Better technology may be as basic as creating a website for their company. The can visit http://thetravellerportal.com for the web hosting and web design requirements in the Philippines. This web hosting company can also accommodate hosting requirements even outside the Philippines because their servers are not limited to Philippines alone but has also partnered with a Seattle based provider in the USA.
A website is your company’s tool to capture the world with your business. You are not only limiting your coverage to the Philippines alone but to all over the world. http://thetravellerportal.com is your best partner in helping you out in the Philippines. The Traveller Portal hosting package start with a meager $36.55 for a 1 gig disk space a year inclusive already of the registration.

Small and Medium Enterprise in the Philippines need also to update their present accounting system which is the vital lifeblood of the business. A messy accounting set up will lead to massive lost of money, income and opportunities for the business. It is very crucial that they install QuickBooks which is also being provided by the http://thetravellerportal.com in the Philippines. QuickBooks by the traveler portal is designed for Philippine setting where the taxes and other government regulations are already integrated in the software for easy application. The Traveller Portal QuickBooks also has the payroll system in it for the small business sin the Philippines to manage.
These are the basic provisions that a small business in the Philippines should have to start with to compete in the present time. The internet is your best tool to increase your business. When business increase income increase, and of course when income increase individually therefore the over all economy also increases.
God bless the Philippines under Noynoy Aquino

WHO IS THE NEXT PRESIDENT?

The Philippines is right in the verge of change. In the coming election this May 10, 2010, the whole nation will choose who there next president will be. Unlike in other nations where we are only to choose between to leaders from a 2 party system, we are faced with a more confusing dilemma in selecting who is who. We have the multi party system where in anyone desirous to become the president can ran and any group can become a political party.

These may be the things that we have to accept and live with until somebody realizes that the people deserve a better political system than the confusing path we have always been. It may really be confusing but there some thin lines we can find to distinguish the bad from good.

As the saying goes, tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who are will remain to be useful this time in selecting the next president. There is really no way we can know who these people are except for those who have really been with them or from the things we see on media as they are advertised. The media plays a big contribution in introducing the candidate to the public but you know very well that the media will only tell what the people would like to hear. There is no good news from the media. The paid advertisement on the other hand will only tell you what the advertiser wants to portray, and advertisements are always good, in contrast to the news.

How do we tell then who these candidates are? I say we can determine who they really are by understanding very well the people surrounding them, who their party mates, the senators behind them, the people who supports them etc. If you doubt the qualifications of the candidates supporting this presidential candidate then you might as well select the opponent. Now think for your self which among these parties have the best senatorial line up then probably they must have the better president. Make sure you vote for the president of the party where the majority of your senatorial candidates belong to.

Let me share with you the Seven Personal Qualities of A Good Leader:
1. A good leader has an exemplary character. It is of utmost importance that a leader is trustworthy to lead others. A leader needs to be trusted and be known to live their life with honestly and integrity. A good leader “walks the talk” and in doing so earns the right to have responsibility for others. True authority is born from respect for the good character and trustworthiness of the person who leads.

2. A good leader is enthusiastic about their work or cause and also about their role as leader. People will respond more openly to a person of passion and dedication. Leaders need to be able to be a source of inspiration, and be a motivator towards the required action or cause. Although the responsibilities and roles of a leader may be different, the leader needs to be seen to be part of the team working towards the goal. This kind of leader will not be afraid to roll up their sleeves and get dirty.

3. A good leader is confident. In order to lead and set direction a leader needs to appear confident as a person and in the leadership role. Such a person inspires confidence in others and draws out the trust and best efforts of the team to complete the task well. A leader who conveys confidence towards the proposed objective inspires the best effort from team members.

4. A leader also needs to function in an orderly and purposeful manner in situations of uncertainty. People look to the leader during times of uncertainty and unfamiliarity and find reassurance and security when the leader portrays confidence and a positive demeanor.

5. Good leaders are tolerant of ambiguity and remain calm, composed and steadfast to the main purpose. Storms, emotions, and crises come and go and a good leader takes these as part of the journey and keeps a cool head.

6. A good leader as well as keeping the main goal in focus is able to think analytically. Not only does a good leader view a situation as a whole, but is able to break it down into sub parts for closer inspection. Not only is the goal in view but a good leader can break it down into manageable steps and make progress towards it.

7. A good leader is committed to excellence. Second best does not lead to success. The good leader not only maintains high standards, but also is proactive in raising the bar in order to achieve excellence in all areas.

WHO WILL I NOT VOTE FOR PRESIDENT ON MAY 10?

Election time is just 7 days away. We hear endorsements everywhere from all walks of life. In the same manner I want to express some thoughts on why I wouldn't vote for someone in the presidential race. Those who are not mentioned doesn't mean that they are on the better side of my voting list but they at least have a big chance to be selected. And the candidates who I think I will not be voting for are:

Noynoy Aquino

The band wagon may carry you over to voting for him because the surveys are telling you so. The band wagon effect is the best strategy used in marketing to entice people to believe in something, a product or an idea.

I remember the time when Noynoy’s mom died, he really didn’t have the inkling of raising his career to the presidency neither did he have any plans of moving forward as a senator. It was the people who demanded for him to run for the presidency because they thought that he will be the one to stop the increasing trend of the Philippines to becoming the number 1 most corrupt country in the world. Noynoy may be able to quell corruption but he will have to learn to stand on his own feet before he could begin to do that. He needs to have the conviction to stop corruption 1st which he really never had in the first place prior to his presidential declaration. Never did we see Noynoy stood for the people when he was yet a senator. The only plus points we could recall as his senatorial accomplishments was attendance.

When Noynoy becomes the president, the church will again become so vocal in their state intervention in the guise of moral guidance. I remember during the time of Cory when the Catholic Church has almost become part of the nation’s policy making body. Cory couldn’t just afford to say no to the cardinals; and Noynoy could still hardly get away from his mothers shadow.

Joseph Estrada

If there are issues circulating around about Noynoy’s mental health condition which he would obviously deny and what I can say is that it may just be running in the family. People who will vote for Joseph Estrada may be as worse as the mentally retarded voters. For obvious reasons, voting for Joseph Estrada is like swallowing again what you have vomited. He was convicted of plunder and pardoned by the even more slanderous administration which gave him the encouragement to run again for the presidency. In assuming that he did not even commit the crime he was accused of as he would say, I still wouldn’t vote for him by the mere fact the he was accused of such. It is an insult to our history that a disgraced president gets reelected after he ran again.

Jamby Madrigal

I just can’t imagine having a President of the Philippines with a foreigner as the husband. Her husband is a French businessman. We are used to officers with dual citizenships working in the government like Gary Olivar who is both a Filipino and an American citizen. For some obvious reasons he couldn’t get rid of his foreign citizenship because of security. Everybody needs a fallback. When things in the country won’t go right, they can right away leave and apply the benefits of their other citizenship. In the case of Jamby, it is just but very normal that the President should be 100% Filipino and that includes the better half.

Gibo Teodoro

It is really not safe to say right now that the reason I am not going to vote for him is because he is from the administration. There was a rumor that circulated which said that Gloria is backing up Villar and not Gibo, but whatever that is, a vote for Gibo may just be a waste of vote. Your single vote may be in the danger of being wasted if the trend of Gibo continues to dip down in the pit. Still I will not vote for him despite his winnability if there is because after all he is still the man for Gloria. Whoever Gloria supports will just have to end losing.

JC de los Reyes

I dont know, but I just cannot be convince why this little guy would really want to run for President. His arguments are very shallow and so common that he wont even get a chance to win if runs for Mayor.

3 THINGS NEEDED TO REACH THE LOST

I’ve heard about a little six-year old boy who restlessly struggled to listen to a rather lengthy sermon. After the service, the little boy asked the question that sooner or later most "church kids" ask. "Dad" he said, "what does the preacher do the rest of the week?" The dad replied, "Son, he’s a very busy man. He takes care of church business, visits the sick, studies the Bible. . . and he has to take time to rest up. You see, preaching in public is not an easy job." The little boy thought about that and said, "Well, listening ain’t so easy either!"



The truth is that listening really is not always easy, especially when the messages are challenging. Last week’s message from the end of Chapter 14 was challenging because I shared with you the total commitment necessary to follow Jesus. This week’s message may be just as challenging because I will be sharing with you on the subject of the Christians responsibility in reaching the lost. I know I was troubled in my heart as I studied this text because the more I studied this passage, the more I realized how I and the church have not been responding to the lost the way Jesus taught that we should. The message may be challenging to you today, but it is the message of the Bible, as such it is not meant to condemn us but it is meant to change us, and sometimes that requires that we be made uncomfortable.



I will go over this passage verse by verse shortly, but first I will give you an overview of what these parables are about in general.



In these two parables something of value is lost. In the stories the thing lost, whether a sheep or a coin, have monetary value. Nobody, including the religious leaders who valued material things, would ignore such a loss; rather they would put every effort into finding it and would rejoice when they did.



If this is true about things that are lost, shouldn’t it also be for people who are spiritually lost? The term "lost" refers to those who are not Christians, to those who are outside of the household of God but whom God desires to come home. You can see this in the story of the Prodigal Son where the father says about the son who has repented and returned home "he was lost and is found (verse 31)." Clearly it is those are spiritually lost who are represented by the lost things in these illustrate stories.



Shouldn’t we respond to people who are lost in the same way or even a greater way than we would to lost things? Shouldn’t we exhibit the same efforts, and perseverance in searching for them? Shouldn’t we be filled with joy at there being found? I believe that the point of this passage is primarily to remind Christians of how they should respond to the lost. You could also interpret these parables as primarily illustrating how God responds and searches for the lost. Even if that is the case, the message remains essentially the same because if God responds a certain way to those who are lost then it is obvious that Christians should follow his example.



Now that we have an overview of these 10 verses, I want to go over them verse by verse where I will share with you three things needed in order for us to reach lost. The first thing needed is found in the setting that the parables were given in and the other two things that are needed to reach the lost are found in the parables themselves.



Read Luke 15:1-2



1. The first thing needed for reaching the lost is compassion.



Jesus had the "tax collectors and sinners" gathering around him. These are lost people who were not running from Jesus but rather running to him. They were not avoiding him, ignoring him, or even hostile towards him. Verse 1 says that they were "gathering around to hear him." Why were sinners so willing and even eager to listen to Jesus? It certainly wasn’t because Jesus had an easy message that tickled people’s ears. It wasn’t because Jesus compromised on sin and said that everything they were doing was acceptable. They weren’t gathering around Jesus because he was putting on some sensationalistic show of signs and wonders. At this point in Luke’s narrative the emphasis is on Jesus’ teaching, miracles are hardly even mentioned.



Why did the "lost" seek out Jesus rather than run from him? I believe the answer is his compassion. Jesus loved them and showed that love with a compassionate instead of condemning attitude. The Bible says in verse 2 that Jesus "welcomes sinners and eats with them." One of the definitions for the Greek word translated as "welcomes" in this verse is to "receive as a friend." This was Jesus attitude toward those who were lost in sin. Jesus welcomed them; he was compassionate and accepting of them despite their sins and faults. He was a friend and not a foe. Jesus had a attitude that lost people were attracted to, do we? For us as individuals and as a church to reach people we are going to have to show and have that same love and acceptance.



1. The first thing needed for reaching the lost is compassion.



When I was a police officer, I responded to several traffic accidents, some of them with very severe injuries. At the scene of these accidents there are three groups of people, each with a different response toward those involved in the accident. The first group is the bystanders and onlookers. They are curious and watch to see what happens but have little active involvement. The second group is the police officers, of whom I was one. My response was to investigate the cause of the accident, assign blame, and give out appropriate warnings and punishments. The third group is the paramedics. They are the people usually most welcomed by those involved in the accident. They could care less whose fault the accident was and they did not engage in lecturing about bad driving habits. Their response was to help those who were hurt. They bandaged wounds, freed trapped people, and gave words of encouragement. Three groups - one is uninvolved, one is assigning blame and assessing punishment, and one is helping the hurting. Which group are you in?



When it comes to reaching the lost and hurting, we’re going to be in one of these three groups. We will be uninvolved and let others do the work. Or we will condemn people for their foolish behavior saying things like, "It’s your own fault that you’re in this mess. If you had been going to church and doing like you should this never would have happened!" Or we will be concentrating on helping those who are lost and hurting. I hope we will be those who are showing compassion like those in the last group!



Much of the church is responding to the lost like the police officer instead of the paramedics. This is what the Pharisees and teachers of the law did. They were more interested in condemning and criticizing sinners than in showing compassion. The same attitude is sometimes seen in the modern conservative church, of which we are a part. We’re rightfully upset about the current state of moral values, abortion, the homosexual agenda, and the immoral entertainment in society today, among other things. It is fine and appropriate to be concerned about these issues, but we must be careful that our concern about these issues does not turn into condemnation and consternation toward the lost. The lost have never flocked to hear those who were condemning and they never will listen to us if we have that same attitude.



1. The first thing needed for reaching the lost is compassion.



There are several lessons in the next two parables. Along with an illustration of the joyous attitude the Pharisees should have had to the lost coming to Jesus, we are also instructed about two more things needed to reach the lost.



2. The second thing needed for reaching the lost is effort.



Read Luke 15:3-5



Many years ago, when my oldest daughter Nicole was much younger, a scary incident happened to our family. One morning, after Amy and I got up, we noticed that Nicole was not in her bed. At first we were calm because we thought she must have gotten up in the middle of the night and gone into another bed. Soon we realized that she was not in any of the other beds and we began to grow frantic. Our hearts began to accelerate and we yelled Nicole’s name at the top of our voices, but there was no response. At that point our love for her compelled us to make every effort to find her, including running from room to room and tearing them apart in our search. I never said, "Well I’ve lost one child but we have three other children." No, one child mattered! She mattered enough to give everything we had toward finding her. Eventually, after what seemed an eternity, but in reality was only a few minutes we did find Nicole. She was under her own bed sound asleep, oblivious to our searching.



Here’s the point - it took effort to find Nicole and it will take that same kind of diligent seeking for us to reach the lost. In these two parables, Jesus emphasizes the effort that went into finding the lost. In the parable of the lost sheep, Jesus said that the shepherd would "leave the ninety-nine sheep in the open country and go after the lost sheep. . ." In the parable of the lost coin, the woman lights a lamp, sweeps the whole house, and searches carefully for the lost coin according to verse 8.



In both cases the thing that was lost had to be sought after with great effort. The shepherd did not wait for the lost sheep to wander home and the woman did not wait for the lost coin to turn up. In our Christian lives and in the church it sometimes seems that we do the opposite. We tend to wait for the lost to come to us. We’re passive rather than active. We’re waiting for people to come to Christ instead of putting effort into bringing them to Christ! I know that I have been guilty of doing this. I want people to be saved but haven’t went out searching for the lost with great effort. This has to change if we’re to reach the lost like Jesus did.



2. The second thing needed for reaching the lost is effort.



How do we practically practice this principle? What do you and I need to do in order to be following Jesus instructions about giving effort to reaching the lost? There are several things we can do. First, a significant part of our prayers should be for the lost. Second, making every effort means that a significant part of the ministries of New Life in Christ should be directed toward reaching the lost. I know that we must also be careful to dedicate a significant part of the ministries toward discipling those who are already Christians. Nevertheless, this is no excuse for not seeking the lost as Jesus instructed us to. Third, making every effort to reach the lost means we must be willing to make outreach a significant part of our personal and church spending. This is one area where we have been improving. In the last year-and-a-half much more of the church funds have been directed toward missions and outreach than in previous years. These are all practical things we can do to apply this principle that Jesus has shared on reaching the lost. While it is important that the church corporately make every effort to reach the lost, the most important thing you and I need to do in reaching the lost is to do our best to share Jesus with all those we come into contact with.



So far I’ve shared two things necessary to reach the lost like Jesus did.



1. The first thing needed for reaching the lost is compassion.



2. The second thing needed for reaching the lost is effort. There is also a third thing necessary for reaching the lost found in these parables.



3. The third thing needed to reach the lost its persistence.



Read Luke 15:4, 8



In both these cases Jesus notes specifically that the person continued seeking after the lost item until he or she found it. In other words, Jesus seems to be pointing out that persistence was a needed quality for success. After all, lost sheep among spacious fields and hills, and lost coins in the dirt floor of the Jewish home would not have been easily or quickly found.



It’s the same way with reaching the lost. It is not easy to reach people’s hearts so that they receive Jesus. It is not usually the case there our first efforts meet with success. Sometimes it takes years and years of persistence, but we should not be discouraged or give up. If a sheep or coin was valuable enough to persistently search for, then people who are spiritually lost are too valuable to give up on.



Following an exhilarating performance at New York’s Carnegie Hall, celebrated classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma went home, slept, and awoke the next day exhausted and rushed. He called for a cab to take him to a hotel on the other side of Manhattan and placed his cello—hand-crafted in Vienna in 1733 and valued at $2.5 million—in the trunk of the taxi. When he reached his destination, he paid the driver, but forgot to take his cello.



After the cab had disappeared, Ma realized what he had done. He began a desperate search for the missing instrument. Fortunately he had the receipt with the cabby’s ID number. After searching all day the taxi was located in a garage in Queens with the priceless cello still in the trunk. Ma’s smile could not be contained as he spoke to reporters.

Citation: Greg Asimakoupoulos, writer and speaker, based on story in Chicago Tribune (10-17-99)



Here’s the point, Yo Yo Ma did not quit but persisted because what was lost was too valuable to give up on. The spiritually lost are too valuable for us to quit trying to reach even though our efforts do not pay off quickly.



3. The third thing needed to reach the lost its persistence.



Read Luke 15: 5-7, 9-10



Conclusion: The religious leaders of the day had been indifferent toward the lost and even antagonistic toward them coming to Jesus. Jesus uses these two parables to illustrate how wrong their response was, especially when compared to how they would have responded toward recovering something of far less value. Jesus pointed out how joyful they would have been at the recovery of a lost sheep or lost coin, certainly then they should of been joyous instead of angered at the lost coming to Jesus.



Jesus then pointed out that the one thing that matters most to God is the lost. They matter so much to God that when the lost are found, even one of them, all heaven rejoices and throws a party! There is more joy over one sinner coming to Jesus that over ninety-nine people being right where they’re supposed to be with God. If lost people matter this much to God, shouldn’t they matter this much to us? Shouldn’t we be willing to give everything needed in order to reach the lost? My answer is "yes" and I hope yours is also. What is needed to reach the lost? From this passage we discovered at least three things.



1. The first thing needed for reaching the lost is compassion.



2. The second thing needed for reaching the lost is effort.



3. The third thing needed to reach the lost its persistence.

JOY FOR THE JOURNEY

In 1492 Christopher Columbus set out for the Orient and ended up in the Caribbean. Some people have said that Columbus set a pattern that’s continued for the last 500 years…that men still won’t stop and ask for directions.



For many of us guys, being someplace we’ve never been before is a challenge, and adventure, an obstacle to be conquered. Asking for directions spoils the whole fun of the journey. Maybe for Columbus Day we should only let people drive who ask for directions. But then again if Columbus hadn’t gotten lost we wouldn’t be here. Not all guys won’t ask for directions, but it sure seems like a lot of us are.



Well, in many ways our spiritual lives are much like being on a trip. In fact the dominant word picture of the spiritual life in every world religion is the image of a journey. Whether you realize it or not today, you’re on a spiritual journey. You may be reading this as a spiritual seeker, someone who’s not yet committed to following Jesus Christ but who’s investigating the Christian faith… you’re on a spiritual journey. You might be a skeptic or an agnostic or an atheist or simply not sure what you believe…you’re on a spiritual journey. Or you might be a follower of Jesus Christ-his disciple--and you’re aim in life is to please Christ, to live out his plan for your life--you’re on a spiritual journey. In fact, with the diversity we have here that reality is probably the only common denominator among us…that we’re on a spiritual journey together.



Well guys may resist asking directions when it comes to a car ride, but in the spiritual journey both men and women equally resist asking for directions. If life is a spiritual journey many of us tend to act like we have it all figured out, like we know exactly where we’re going. We often refuse to ask for directions.



Today we start a new series through the New Testament book of 1 John. I’ve entitled this series A ROADMAP FOR THE JOURNEY because the little book of 1 John provides us with a reliable guide to navigate the rough terrain we’re likely to encounter in this spiritual journey we find ourselves in.



You see, the apostle John--who wrote the book of 1 John--was the only one of Jesus Christ’s original apostles to not be murdered by the Roman government. Not that they didn’t try! But John was a codgy old man who didn’t die easily. Eventually the Roman government banished John to an Island called Patmos. John was an eyewitness of Jesus Christ, one of the first of Jesus’ followers, and he wrote five books in our New Testament: The gospel according to John (the fourth book of the New Testament), three letters--1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, and then finally the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible. Before being banished to the Island of Patmos by the Roman Government, John served for many years as an overseer for all the churches in ancient Asia Minor.



Asia Minor is located in modern day Turkey, and there John lived as a kind of spiritual mentor--the last living apostolic witness to Christ’s life and resurrection--so he kept himself busy helping the Christians in Asia Minor develop into fully devoted followers of Jesus. John most likely wrote his Gospel for use among these churches in Asia Minor, to give them an accurate account of the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Some Bible teachers believe that a difference of opinion arose about how to correctly interpret John’s Gospel, with some people advocating new and novel ideas contrary to what John intended in his gospel (Brown, Burge). Soon the Christians in Asia Minor became bitterly divided down between those who held to the apostles’ teaching about Jesus and those who were believing new and novel ideas about Jesus Christ. So John wrote his first letter in order to correct these misunderstandings about Jesus Christ and the Christian life in the face of this terrible division that was destroying the churches and causing Christians to take dangerous side trips in their spiritual journey.



You see, the Christians in Asia Minor had reached a major fork in the road in their spiritual journey, with John as the last remaining living apostle beckoning them to follow the orthodox view of Jesus and with false teachers enticing the church to depart from the Christian path to follow their new esoteric ideas. Eventually this painful split would deeply wound the churches in Asia Minor, causing terrible division, and leading many into a false religion that later became known as Gnosticism. Ancient Gnosticism is really quite similar to what you and I know of today as the New Age Movement. John is writing this letter as a roadmap to help the confused and troubled Christians in Asia Minor navigate these unexpected twists and turns in the Christian journey, to help them stay focused on the true Jesus and not be led astray down a different path. Shortly after writing this letter John was banished to Patmos, where he wrote the book of Revelation, and then he eventually died and was buried back in Asia Minor.



So John wrote his letter as a kind of roadmap for the spiritual journey. As we’ll see in a few minutes, one of John’s reasons for writing his letter was re-ignite joy in this spiritual journey. You see, John’s friends were so troubled by the division and controversy tearing their church apart, that they’d lost their sense of joy. That’s what we’re going to look at today, as we look at four factors we need in order to have genuine joy in our spiritual journeys today. So turn to 1 John 1:1 as we look at "Joy For the Journey."



1. Building On the Right Foundation (1 John 1:1-2)



The first thing we need for our spiritual journey to be joyful is the right foundation. That’s what we see in vv. 1-2. The first thing we notice about this letter is that it really doesn’t sound anything like a letter. Most of the 21 letters contained in the NT start out by stating who the letter’s from, who the letter’s addressed to, followed by a blessing or a prayer. In fact John’s other two letters in the Bible--2nd and 3rd John--are models of this ancient letter writing formula.



But here we find something very different, something that almost sounds like the beginning of John’s gospel that he wrote probably ten years before this letter. This unexpected beginning is probably written this way because John is correcting misunderstandings about his gospel, and he knew that as soon as he started writing like this his readers would immediately remember his earlier words, "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God" and so forth.



Now the "word of life" here is Jesus Christ himself. As the gospel of John already tells us Jesus is this word, that this word was with God in the beginning, yet this word became flesh among us-what John here describes in v. 2 as "appeared to us". The eternal Son of God--God the Son--appeared among human creatures in what Christian theology calls the Incarnation, God himself taking on human flesh. John emphasizes that both he and the other apostles were eyewitnesses to this incredible event of God entering into human history through the person of Jesus Christ. This apostolic witness is why John uses the pronoun "we" here instead of just "I."



He uses four verbs that describe his own experience with the Incarnation. He heard it--he heard the voice of Jesus teaching with God’s own authority, he heard Jesus declare to people that their sins were forgiven, he heard the sound of leaves crunching under Jesus’ feet as they walked together, he heard the sound of the whip Jesus used to drive the money changers out of the Jewish Temple. He heard it. He also saw it: with his own eyes he witnessed the many miracles Jesus performed, he had seen Jesus’ arrest, crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. He saw it. John had also looked at it. This word means to stare intently at something, to study it and contemplate what it means. John had stared in amazement at Jesus Christ after his resurrection from the grave on Easter Sunday. He gazed intently, rubbing his eyes to make sure it wasn’t a hallucination or a ghost. And finally, John had touched Jesus with his own hands. He had placed his hand on Christ’s shoulder, he’d reached out and groped at Jesus after the resurrection to make sure he wasn’t just seeing things. Because of John and the other apostles’ experience with Christ, they stand as reliable eyewitnesses to proclaim to us what they heard, what they saw, and what they touched.



This is why John’s friends had all met untimely and brutal deaths, because of this testimony. Yet, even with his closest friends killed for this testimony, John as the last living apostle still bears witness to this reality for these Christians who seemed to be losing their way in the spiritual journey.



These first two verses speak to having the right foundation. OUR SPIRITUAL JOURNEY IS JOYFUL WHEN IT IS BUILD ON REALITY.



John’s point here seems to be that God’s Son Jesus Christ really lived, really died on the cross, and really rose from the grave. The Incarnation wasn’t an illusion or a hallucination, Christ’s resurrection on Easter wasn’t a myth or a fairy tale, but it was something John actually heard, saw and touched, something that’s real. For our spiritual journey to be joyful we must have a foundation in reality, not in wishful thinking or fantasy.



In 1849 a wagon train was traveling through Death Valley to follow the gold rush into California. As this particular wagon train trudged through Death Valley, the hottest place in California, they looked ahead and saw a sheet of water they all believed was Owen’s Lake. But it was just a mirage created by the intense heat, and the harder their pressed on to make it to the water, the more frustrated they became. The foundation for many people’s spiritual journey is no more real than that mirage. People base their entire spiritual lives on illusions whether it’s the psychic friend’s network or astrology, whether it’s some strange teacher like David Koresh or some new claim to have special insight into the future.



In contrast to that, God invites us to base our spiritual journey on the Incarnation and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This reality was witnessed by those who knew Jesus, and they wrote down what they saw and heard in what we have today as the 27 books of the New Testament. The New Testament is our link to their eyewitness account of the Incarnation and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Only a spiritual journey based on reality can bring us genuine joy, because anything less is a mirage.



2. The Right Companions (1 John 1:3-4)



But not only do we need the right foundation for our journey, but we also need the right companions. John is sharing his experiences as an eyewitness so we can enter into fellowship with the apostles.



Now we don’t use that word "fellowship" much these days. The Greek word here is koinonia, and it means a close relationship of sharing with other people. One Bible scholar describes it as the "setting aside of private interest and desires and the joining in with others for common purposes" (Rienecker, Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament, p. 785). It describes "mutual sharing," whether it’s sharing our lives, our hearts, our possessions, our tears (Smalley 12). Biblical fellowship is a relationship of both give and take with other followers of Jesus Christ. One of the primary purposes for the Christian Church is to provide a place for this experience of biblical community with other Christians to occur.



We learn here that true fellowship is based on a common fellowship with God and God’s Son Jesus Christ. In v. 5 we also learn of John’s desire that there be joy in this spiritual journey, that this joy might be full.



Here we find the necessity of having the right companions in our spiritual journey. OUR SPIRITUAL JOURNEY IS JOYFUL WHEN IT IS SHARED WITH OTHER CHRISTIANS.



Christians today have diluted that word "fellowship" to describe any kind of social event. We use it to describe watching Monday Night Football with a friend where we never even talk about the spiritual journey…there are even "fellowship" chat rooms on the Internet. Yet the word describes genuine life involvement, a true investment of ourselves in relationships with other Christians. It’s impossible to be in fellowship if this relationship is one-way, if we’re the only one giving or if we only taking, but it’s a mutual thing. Without the right kind of companions in the spiritual journey we’re likely to lose way…just like the churches in Asia Minor John was writing to.



Many Christians today try to live the spiritual journey alone…just me and Jesus. Others try to find companions in the workplace, or in Alcoholics Anonymous, in their political party, or in their country club, or in a myriad of other possible social groups we encounter every week. Yet the Bible pictures the church as the place to find that biblical fellowship, not because the people are so perfect, but because they live in fellowship with Jesus Christ.



Now attending worship services doesn’t guarantee genuine fellowship; in fact, in a church of our size the worship service is the least likely place to find fellowship… teaching yes, corporate worship yes, celebration of God yes, evangelism yes, but fellowship probably not. This is why we have small groups so you can get together in smaller groups and live out this koinonia together.



I read recently about a woman who was driving from Alberta, Canada to the Yukon. She didn’t know that you never travel that way alone, especially in a rundown Honda, Civic. So she set off on a road usually reserved for four wheel drive trucks. Eventually she found herself in a truck stop. Two truckers invited her to join them, and since the place was so small she felt obligated to oblige. "Where are you headed?" one of the truckers asked, to which she replied, "Whitehorse." "In that little Civic? No way! The pass is dangerous in weather like this." "Well, I’m determined to try" was her naïve response. "Then I guess we’re going to have to hug you," the trucker suggested, to which she replied, "There’s no way I’m going to let you touch me." The trucker laughed, "Not like that. We’ll put one truck in front of you and one in the rear. That way we’ll get you through the mountains." That entire day she followed two red dots in the fog in front of her, as the two trucks hugged her through the dangerous pass as she made her journey.

That’s what the right companions will do for our spiritual journey. There’s no better way at LBF Church to find that fellowship than our Share & Care Groups. How’s your joy in the journey? Maybe you need to find the right companions.



3. The Right Source (1 John 1:5)



In v. 5 we find an emphasis on the right source. This image of God being light is common in the Bible, and it describes God as being majestic and fully righteous. But perhaps most of all this image of God being light describes the fact that God reveals himself, he makes himself known to us as people. Just as it’s the nature of light to shine and dispel darkness, so it’s the nature of God to reveal himself. This is picturing the spiritual journey on a dark road, that we can’t find our way to our destination unless we have light…the kind of light God provides. For us today, the source of God’s light is our Bibles. Psalm 119:105 tells us, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Psalm 119:130 says, "The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple."



Here we find a focus on the right source for our spiritual journey. Our spiritual journey is joyful when it is based on God’s revealed truth. People today are flocking to all kinds of different sources for truth in their spiritual journey. Whether it’s pyramids or the psychic friend’s network, whether its astrology or hidden Bible codes, whether it’s science or church dogmas, there’s no lack of claims to spiritual truth. Some people base truth on their spiritual experiences, others on their favorite theology or their favorite author.



Yet only the Bible has stood the test of time as the only reliable source for God’s revealed truth. The entire Bible--all 66 books of the Old and New Testaments-are like God’s Thomas Guide for the spiritual journey. The Bible contains everything we need to know to start and complete this spiritual journey of following Jesus Christ, God didn’t withhold anything from us that he thought we’d need.



A few weeks ago I was driving around looking for a business in Riverside. I had an ad that I’d clipped out of the newspaper that had a little map to the business, and that map told me that the business was near the corner of Van Burren and Jurupa in Riverside. So I went to Van Burren and Jurupa, and I looked…and I looked…and I looked. Being like a lot of guys, I didn’t stop and ask for directions…at least not for an hour. Finally I called the phone number on the ad, and the business owner told me, "Oh…you’re on Jurupa Rd. and I’m on Jurupa Ave." My ad didn’t make any distinction between road and avenue, and because of that little piece of information I lost my way.



What’s your source of truth for the spiritual journey? Do you look at the Bible as simply a set of good suggestions, a combination of folklore and advice? The Bible claims to be more than that, it claims to be from God himself, a unique product of divine inspiration, that the Spirit of God so superintended the authors of the Bible that they wrote the very words of God, God’s revealed truth. Nothing else in the world-no other book, no preacher or teacher, no theologian, no church can make that claim. If we want to have joy in the journey we must have the right source.



4. The Right Goal (1 John 1:6-7)



In verses 6 and 7 we find John hint at one of the misunderstandings that was circulating among the Christians in Asia Minor, Apparently some people were claiming to be in close fellowship with God, but these same people were living lives of moral and spiritual darkness. Now that means that for all their pious talk about God, their lives were characterized by disobedience, sinfulness, and rebellion. In fact some Bible teachers think that these people were claiming that once you trust in Jesus Christ, God doesn’t care what you do or how you act, that sin no longer matters. I’m met Christians who believe this, that as long as they’ve trusted in Christ it doesn’t matter what they do or what choices they make because God will forgive them.



Yet John tells us that such a life is dishonest and impossible, that it’s impossible to live in close communion with God--who is light by nature--and then to live a life of darkness. Your words may sound good, but your choice of direction in the journey gives you away, because there’s no darkness in God, not even a shadow. You may tell me you’re heading toward the beach, but if you’re going north your direction gives you away. Now this doesn’t mean Christians have to be perfect, but it does mean that in this spiritual journey Christians will strive to live in God’s light.



That’s John’s point in v. 7, that if we walk in the light as God, the byproduct of that will be fellowship with each other and purification from our sins. Notice he doesn’t say forgiveness our sin, but he uses the word "purify" which means to erase the stain caused by sin and to wash away the defilement and ongoing effects of our sin in our lives (Rienecker 785 and Burge 71). As the Christian strives to live in conformity with what God has said in the Bible (walking in the light) then the blood of Jesus--which is just a way of describing the significance of his death--washes away the stain caused by our continual struggle with sin. So the challenge here isn’t sinless perfection, but a life that seeks to walk the spiritual journey in the light of God’s truth.

Here we find the right goal. OUR SPIRITUAL JOURNEY WILL BE JOYFUL WHEN IT LEADS TO TRANSFORMED LIVES.



This purification process is designed to change us, to erase from our hearts the stain left by our failures and disobedience, so we can be changed into people who wholeheartedly love God and other people. Picture your spiritual journey as being on a dark stage with a spotlight shining in the center of the stage (Marshall 110) The goal Christian journey is to get in that spotlight, so it’s focused on us, and then to move forward slowly and gradually as the light leads us. Our fear is that the light will expose our sin and failures, so John assures us we have nothing to fear by walking in the light because Christ’s death on the cross will cleanse us from what might otherwise be exposed by that light.



You see the point of the journey isn’t just to get to the final destination, but it’s to be transformed along the way. Like a caterpillar that becomes a butterfly, so also God is transforming our lives as we walk this journey with him.



Conclusion



People today are striving for joy in the journey, turning over every rock along the way to try to find the secret. Some pursue it in pleasure and success, still others in money and security. John would tell us that joy is to be found by having the right foundation, the right companions, the right source, and the right goal. If we build our spiritual journey on reality, share it with other Christians, based it on God’s revealed truth in the Bible, and allow it to transform our lives, our joy will be full, even as John’s was when he wrote this letter.



How is your joy today?

REIGNITING YOUR PASSION FOR GOD

The creative force behind all great art, all great drama, all great music, all great architecture, all great writing is passion. Nothing great is ever accomplished in life without passion. Nothing great is ever sustained in life without passion. Passion is what energizes life. Passion makes the impossible possible. Passion gives you a reason to get up in the morning and go, "I’m going to do something with my life today." Without passion life becomes boring. It becomes monotonous. It becomes routine. It becomes dull. God created you with the emotions to have passion in your life and He wants you to live a passionate life. Passion is what mobilizes armies into action. Passion is what causes explorers to boldly go where no man’s gone before. Passion is what causes scientists to spend late night hours trying to find the cure to a dreaded disease. Passion is what takes a good athlete and turns him or her into a great athlete where they’re breaking records. You’ve got to have passion in your life.

One day a man walks up to Jesus and he says, "Lord, what’s the most important thing in the Bible?" And you know what the Great Commandment is. We’ve talked about it many times. Jesus said, "I want you to love God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength. Nothing matters more than that. That’s the number one thing in life. I want you to love Me passionately." Nothing else matters in life if you don’t love God passionately. God doesn’t want you to love Him half-heartedly. He wants you to love Him with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength.

I love the paraphrase of that verse, Mark 11:30, from The Message "Jesus said, ’Love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy." Circle the word "passion". That word, in Greek, is the word "heart." God is saying I want you to put some muscle into it, put some energy, put some emotion into your relationship with Me. Don’t be a wimp about your relationship with Me. Don’t be namby-pamby. Don’t be half-hearted. Give it all you’ve got. Jesus is saying, "If you’re going to follow Me, you’ve got to go it with passion. You’ve got to give it some oomph, some spark, some zip, some enthusiasm, some zest. I want you to live passionately."

In fact, this truth is all through the Bible. The Bible tells us that we’re to seek God passionately. We’re to love God passionately. The Bible says that we’re to serve and obey God passionately. We’re to trust God passionately. Then as if you didn’t get the message, in Colossians 3:23 He says "Whatever you do, do it with all of your heart as unto the Lord and not unto men." He says I want you to do everything passionately when it comes to loving Me, serving Me, living for Me.

Here’s the amazing thing. In America it’s ok to be passionate about anything except God. That is not politically correct -- to be passionate about God. I can be passionate about movies. I can be passionate about sports. I can be passionate about politics. I can be passionate about fashions and clothes. I can be passionate about restaurants (and some of us really are). But I cannot be passionate about God. That’s a no-no.

I type in the phrase "a passion for..." into Amazon.com and found a couple hundred books with that title. There’s a book call A Passion for Birds, A Passion for Books, A Passion for Cactus, A Passion for Chocolate (that’s understandable), A Passion for Fashion, ... for Fishing... for Flying, ... for Gardening, ... Golf, Hunting. There’s even a book called A Passion For Mushrooms (somebody’s smoking them probably is what he’s doing. He’s not eating them -- putting them in a salad. He’s smoking those things.) A Passion for Needlepoint, Pasta, Ponies. There’s a book called, A Passion for Potatoes, for Roses, for Shoes. There’s even a book called A Passion for Steam. I can’t figure out what that one’s all about! I don’t know why you’d get passionate about steam.

But in our culture it’s ok to be passionate about anything except your religion, except your faith, except your relationship with God. I can go to a rock concert, or a political rally or a baseball game and I can shout my head off. I can get excited. I can get hoarse from yelling so loud. When my team loses I could cry. Nobody thinks that’s a big deal. When my team wins I can jump up and dance around and wave my hands in the air. If I do that at a game people go, "He’s a real fan!" If I do that in church people say, "He’s a fanatic! He’s a nut case." You don’t want to get too emotional about your faith. It’s ok about anything else but not that.

Romans 12:1 "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor." Keep the fires going in your life. Circle the word "keep." Notice, it’s not automatic. It’s a choice. It’s a discipline. It’s something you must maintain. You are not by nature passionate about God. It’s something that you must choose to do. You get distracted and everything in life conspires to keep you from being passionate about God. So He says keep your passion going. Keep the fires going. It’s a discipline. It’s not just automatic.

This kind of thing -- being passionate about God has nothing to do with either your personality or your age. Our church is filled with hundreds if not thousands of senior believers who have walked with God a long, long time and are still passionate. I could give you hundreds of names of people in our church who have lived passionately for God for years and years and years.

Last night, Bill Bright died -- the founder of Campus Crusade. We lost a giant in the land last night. Yet I was always amazed by Bill Bright. I knew him quite well. In his eighties he was just as passionate as he was many, many years ago. He never let up. It has nothing to do with your age. It has nothing to do with your personality. My wife Kay by nature is quite an introvert. Yet I don’t know anybody more passionate about God than my wife.

Everything in life conspires to keep you from being passionate. And it dissipates your energy. On Friday we had a birthday party for Matthew, one of my boys, who turned eighteen. We had some helium balloons and they got loose and they went up on our high ceiling and we were wondering how to get them down. Tom said, don’t worry about it. They’ll be down by morning. And the truth is, it wasn’t even that long. In just a few hours they began to dissipate, lose their steam and come back down.

A lot of times we’re like that. When you first become a believer and you really understand what a good deal you’ve got you get excited about it, "This is quite a deal! All my sins are forgiven. I now have a purpose for living, and I now have a future home in heaven. What a deal! And you get excited about that when you give your life to Christ and you’re pretty passionate. But as time goes by you begin to lose your steam. You begin to lose your zip, your zest, your enthusiasm. What happens? Why does that happen?

That’s what we’re going to look at today. As we go through God’s word we’re going to look at seven passion killers, things that rob the joy out of your life. I thought this would be a very appropriate message, right in the middle of the dog days of summer, when nobody feels very passionate about much of anything. You want to chill back, lay back a little bit. So we’re going to look at these passion killers. I want you to use it as a checklist. Because God says, I want you to love Me with all of your heart.

Seven passion killers and what keeps you from having that constant passion for the Lord.

1. An unbalanced schedule

That means either if you’re overworked or you are under worked you’re going to lose your passion for life and lose your passion for God. Life is a series of seasons, the Bible says. There’s a season for everything. And there’s a rhythm to life. You need both in your life -- both input and output. You need both rest and work. And too much of either will cause you to lose your passion. Too much work will cause you to lose your passion. Too much nothing -- boredom -- will cause you to lose your passion too, if you’re not working enough.

My guess is, in a crowd this size, half of you need to work less and half of you probably need to work more. We’re all different in our personalities. And you can go to either extreme. Psalm 127 "It’s senseless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, fearing that you’re going to starve to death;, for God wants His loved ones to get their proper rest." That’s a good verse for your refrigerator door. God wants you to get your proper rest.

Some of you the problem is you’re always giving out. You’re always helping, you’re always sharing, you’re always serving, you’re always working, you’re always being generous. And you never take time to recharge. If you never take time to recharge you’ve got unbalanced on the ministry side, on the work side, you’re going to eventually get compassion fatigue.

What is compassion fatigue? You just stop caring. You don’t care about God any more, you don’t care about other people any more, you don’t care about anything anymore. Why? Because you’re burning out from too much work, from too much service. When you care and care and care, eventually you get this compassion fatigue.

Others of you here, you’re the exact opposite. You’re always taking in but never giving out. You go to Bible studies, you listen to teachers on the radio, you listen to tapes, you go to seminars, you go to Christian concerts, you go to workshops, you come to church all the time. You’re always learning, always taking in, always growing in the input. But you’re not giving out any. You don’t have any ministry, you don’t have any mission. You’re not really helping anybody. You’re just taking all this food in getting fatter and fatter and fatter till pretty soon we’re going to have to roll you down the aisle. And that’s where we get the term holy rollers. Some of you are holy rollers. You’re taking in all the time and you’re never giving out.

I don’t know which one is your problem but my guess is one of them is. You either have too much output and not enough input. Or you’ve got too much input and not enough output. You’ve got to decide that. I’m sure God can help you out.

Let me give you a little shock though. Bible study without ministry is extremely dangerous. Because the Bible says in James 2:17 "To him who knoweth to do good and doeth it not it is sin." Do you realize that the more you know about God’s plan for your life the more responsible you are to God for that knowledge. And the more you know, if you don’t do anything about it, you are simply increasing your judgment. You’re increasing your responsibility. Because God holds you accountable for what you know. So the Bible tells that you need both in your life -- input and output. You need work and you need rest. You need balance in your schedule.

What’s the antidote for that? 1 Timothy 4:7 "Take the time and trouble to keep yourself spiritually fit."

How do you do that? One word. Balance. We all know to be physically fit you have to have a balanced diet. And to be spiritually fit you have to have a balance of God’s five purposes for your life in your life. You need to have time to worship with God private and corporate. You need to have times when you’re fellowshipping with other believers. You need to have times when you’re reading God’s word and growing as a Christian. You need to have times of ministry -- service -- where you’re giving out and using your abilities. And you need times of mission where you’re sharing your faith with others.

If you tend to go to seed on one of those purposes -- you have a lot of fellowship but nothing else. Or a lot of Bible study and nothing else. You’re going to get imbalanced. And you will inevitably lose your passion. You’re going to go, "How come I don’t feel as close to God as I used to be?" Because you’re out of balance. That’s the number one reason.

2. An unused talent

An unused talent will cause you to lose your passion for life and your passion for God. 1 Peter 4:10 says "Each of you has been blessed with one of God’s many wonderful gifts to be used in the service of others. So use your gifts well." Notice God gives you certain talents, abilities, personality, gifts -- the shape that He’s given you -- and those gifts, those talents that you’ve been given are not for your benefit. They’re for the benefit of other people. My gifts are for your benefit. Your gifts are for my benefit. You are to use those gifts in the service of other people. God has given you a special role in this world. He wants you to make a contribution with your life. God says, I have given you these gifts and talents.

If you don’t use your talents you’re going to lose your passion. God did not give you special abilities just to sit on them and do nothing about it. God says I want you to use it or you’re going to lose it.

Let me get real specific. If you are stuck in a job that does not use your talents to any degree you are inevitably going to lose your zeal and zest and passion in life. It’s going to burn you out. Studies have shown that 70% of all Americans are in a job that does not use their talents. That’s tragic. That makes God sad. Because God did not give you talents and then say, "Don’t use them. Just go make some money." There’s something more important than money. That is using what God gave you. God is grieved when He looks and sees you in a job that’s not using your talents. He’s going, "What do you think I gave you your talents for? Just to sit on them?" No. If you do that you’re going to lose your passion.

If you’re in a job right now that uses only 30% of your talent that’s going to give you what I call a 70% boredom factor. Does that make sense? You’re bored by your job because it’s not using the talents that God put in you. A lot of guys are stuck in a job they hate, that aren’t using their talents. They lose their zest for life. Why? They aren’t using the talents God gave them.

1 Corinthians 7 "Each one should live his life with the gifts that the Lord has given him." God gave you gifts and abilities and talents to use.

The reality is you’re never going to find a job that uses 100% of your talent. You’re never going to find a job that is 100% fulfilling. Why? Because God never meant for you to find 100% fulfillment through your job. Your life is more than your job. He wants you to have a ministry. That’s why you need a ministry in your church to use the talents you’re not using in your job. Because no job could possibly use all the talents God has given you. So you need a job but you also need a ministry that expresses what you’re good at. That’s why we here at Saddleback encourage everybody to find a ministry.

Let me say this as your pastor because I care about you. If you are in a job right now that is killing your passions, get out! Get out! This is America, folks. Nobody’s holding a gun to your head. In a lot of countries you don’t have a choice on where you work. But you do in America. And it is not good stewardship and it is not wise use of your time and life to be in a job that doesn’t use the talents that God gave you. It’s no wonder you lose your passion and zest.

You probably can’t do it over night -- can’t go out tomorrow and quit. But you could start planning for the transition. You start making preparation. Part of your church family’s role is to help you find your niche in life. Many of you may not know that we have a lot of different tools here at Saddleback to help you discover, develop and deploy your talents. Pastor Eric Reese has produced a great new tool called the Life Review Retreat. I want him to come and take a minute and tell you about some of the ways that are available to you.

Eric:

Thanks, Rick. About eight years ago a very close friend of mine said, "Eric one of the greatest things you can do in life is to discover who you’re not so you can fall in love with who God’s made you." That’s what the role of 301 is all about -- helping you discover who you are and who God’s made you. So you can live with fulfillment and passion every day of your life. We have many opportunities from CLASS 301 which some of you maybe have taken. If you haven’t we look forward to seeing you in CLASS 301 in the near future. After CLASS 301 you can taken a Shape Discovery Session, which is a one-hour opportunity with someone to set down and start to sift through your unique shape. Beyond that is what Pastor Rick just talked about -- a Life Review Retreat.

What is a Life Review Retreat? It’s a designated time away -- away from the noise and distractions of your daily life to pause long enough to allow God help you realize where you’ve been, reflect on who He’s made you and respond to where He’s leading you.

This last service a lady came up to me and she goes, "I just got back from a week of vacation. It sounds like a Life Review Retreat might be the best investment of a vacation I could make this summer." For some of us maybe this summer is the time to take that Life Review Retreat. If so, there’s information on the patio. We would love to partner with you as you start to fall in love with who Jesus has made you because God wants us to live with fulfillment every day of our lives. Not frustration. We’ll be outside for you. We look forward to meeting you. God bless you so much.

Tom:

In fact, if you’re interested in the Life Review Retreat that Eric just talked about why don’t you pull out one of those response cards sometime during the rest of the service, fill out your contact information on the front and on the back write "LRR" for Life Review Retreat and he’ll get you some more information.

There’s a third cause for a loss of passion in our lives.

3. An unconfessed sin

This is a big one. Few things rob us of joy, rob your confidence, rob your passion, more quickly than guilt. Here’s how it works with us with guilt, the sin in our lives. We don’t walk around thinking, "I have a sin in my life. I am a guilty person." No, we rationalize it consciously. Consciously we think, "It’s ok. Everybody’s doing it. It’s no big deal." But subconsciously it gnaws at us. Subconsciously whenever it gets quiet that guilt pops into your mind. Subconsciously right now as I’m talking about it, it begins to pop into your mind.

Here’s the truth about us as human beings. We cannot feel enthusiasm and guilt at the same time. You can’t feel guilt and passion at the same time because guilt by its very definition robs you of passion. Psalm 38:4&6 "My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear... I am bowed down and I am brought low."

A lot of you work on computers. Anybody besides me ever had your computer crash? Sometimes they crash. They stop working. Some program tries to write the wrong thing to the wrong place and it’s gone! Guilt does that to us as human beings. We’re not made to live with guilt. God did not make you to carry guilt around in your life. He made us to deal with it immediately. He sent Jesus to this earth to die on a cross to say, I want to offer you a gift -- freedom from guilt. That is God’s gift.

But some of you right now, you’re in the midst of a personal system crash. Truth of the matter is the joy in your life has crashed and you’re trying to keep the enthusiasm up, you’re trying to keep the passion alive. But the guilt keeps crashing your system. So what do you do?

Fortunately this is a problem that can be remedied quickly. You can do something about it right now. Because Jesus has already done all that’s needed to be done to deal with our guilt. That’s why He came to this earth.

1 John 1:9 says "If we confess our sins He [God] can be trusted to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." That’s His promise. To confess just means you agree with God. You just say, "God, I agree with You. It’s a sin. What I did was wrong. I agree with You. And I want to begin to live the kind of way You want me to live. Would You free me from this guilt?"

I would encourage you -- do it now! Don’t wait. Sometimes we carry guilt around for weeks, months, days. You shouldn’t carry guilt around even an hour. The minute that you realize that the red warning light that’s flashing saying Do something about it. Not carry it. So right now in your mind, in your heart, take it to God and say, "I confess it. God, would You relieve me of this guilt? Thank You for forgiving me. Would You restore my passion?"

There’s a fourth cause for a loss of passion in our lives.

4. An unresolved conflict

Conflict just drains the passion right out of you. Do you ever start a day and it’s going to be a great day -- you know it. You just fly out of bed. You’re awake from the moment you get up. You’re ready for the day -- shower, breakfast -- you’re ready. You’re on the way out the door and you have a fight with your husband or your wife. All the zip goes out of your doo-dah. It’s like the air going out of a tire when the conflict comes. That’s what conflict does to us. It takes all the passion out of our lives. Your attitude all of a sudden just goes flat.

Let’s be honest about this. Some of you, you’re in situations at home or at work where the conflict is constant. Maybe you’re even doing all that you can to minimize the conflict. But it’s coming from the other person. How do you keep your passion in a situation like that?

You decide to protect yourself from the three passion killing emotions that can come into our lives in conflict. You cannot control the other person always. But you can control the kind of emotions you have in the midst of the conflict. The three emotions that kill our passion in the midst of conflict are resentment, jealously and prolonged anger.

These next verses talk about them. Job 5:2 "Resentment destroys the fool and jealousy kills the simple." Circle "resentment" and circle "jealousy." Passion killing emotions.

Job 18:4 "You are only hurting yourself with your anger." Circle "anger." It only hurts you.

You make the decision when it comes to resentment and jealousy and prolonged anger to let it go. This is why forgiveness is so important. God who knows us, who made us, who created us knows that we can’t carry resentment. So He says here’s a way to let it go. Even logically we know that the resentment that we have in our lives it’s not hurting the person we’re resentful against. They don’t even know you’re resentful. It’s hurting us. The anger is hurting us.

If you want the passion to be restored in your heart, in your life, you have to forgive. You have to let it go.

I know what some of you are thinking. "Let them off the hook? How can I do that?" I’m not telling you to let them off the hook. I’m telling you to put them on God’s hook. Let them off your hook. Just put them in God’s hands. Just say, "God, I can’t handle this. You can. I forgive them and I leave it to You." If you don’t then that unforgiveness is going to kill the passion in your life the rest of your life. If you do not then the resentment that you have for that person that resentment is controlling your passion and by that it’s controlling your life. And you do not want them to control your life. So you forgive and you let it go. That’s how you resolve the conflict in your heart.

There’s a fifth cause for loss of passion.

5. An unsupported lifestyle

Sometimes you lose passion for God because you’re not spending time around other people who have a passion for God. You’re not spending time around other Christians. You’re not getting any fellowship. I love this incredibly practical verse in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, just common sense from the Bible. "Two are better than one... because if one falls down his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!" We need each other. We all fall sometimes. We all stumble at times. So we all need people to help us up in our lives.

If you’ve been around Saddleback for any amount of time you’ve heard what I’m about to say hundreds if not thousands of times but I’m going to say it again because it’s so important. This is why you have to be in a small group. This is why it’s so important. Those of you who have thought many times maybe, "I should do that," maybe this is the day when you realize, "I’m going to do that!" Do not wait until the crisis comes to think, Now I need a small group. You’re not going to have time to get in a group then. We all fall sometimes. We all go through crises in life. So you find a small group. You get the support system in your life so you can keep the passion alive even during the difficult times.

It’s not only for the difficult times. It’s also for the good times. Human beings were made for relationships. We’re made to live that way. In a prison, when they want to give somebody the ultimate punishment in a prison, where do they put them? They put them in solitary. Solitary confinement. Because we were made to be around other people. That’s how God created and made us. Whether you’re married or single you need relationships with others. Others who are trying to live with passion for God in their lives, to keep that passion for God real in life.

Having been a pastor for a while now, I’ve seen a lot of people continue with their passion for God and a lot of people lose their passion for God. Those that lose their passion for God there’s a predictable pattern. You can see it the same way almost every time. I’ll tell you where the pattern begins. The first thing that happens is the person stops coming to church. I’m not talking about the ritual of coming to church. I’m talking about they draw back from the relationships of being around other believers. There’s a lot of reasons we tell ourselves that’s ok. Summer... I’ll watch it on the internet... I’ve got other things to do... I’ll get back to it soon... but whatever the reason you start not spending time with other people who have a desire to have passion for God.

The next thing that always happens is your heart starts to turn cold. You start to feel far from God. You start to feel like God’s far from you. What you really need is to be around other people who can warm up the love that you have for God in your life. It’s a need in all of us to be around other people to have this passion for God. If you have no inspiring contact with other believers your heart wills grow cold. It’s inevitable.

Greg Lauri who’s going to be with us next week speaking, was recently interviewing one of the women from the Survivor show, a Christian woman. She’d gone on the show and been told she could bring five things to the island or wherever they were. She said, one of them I want to bring is a Bible. They said, "No, you can’t bring a Bible. Somebody already did that. You’ve got to bring something different." So she went to this island without a Bible, with no Christian relationships and watched what happened to her life. She fell right off the table. Her character began to change, the way she talked, the kind of words she used, the ugly words she used. The attitudes she had towards others, the jealousy, the hatred. All of it immediately came into her life. She told Greg, "I didn’t realize how weak I really was."

I’ll admit it. I’m weak. I’ll admit it. I need relationships with other believers to grow. For better or for worse the only reason I’ve grown as a believer is because I’ve been around other people who are growing as believers. That’s how God made all of us. We need relationships in order to grow. That’s what makes it happen.

Hebrews 10:24-25 "Let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds. Let’s not give up meeting together and let us encourage one another."

Rick:


The sixth passion killer is...


6. An unclear purpose


When you forget the purpose of your life that is a sure way to kill your passion for life and for God. If you don’t know the purpose for life, why bother? Why get up in the morning? Why put forth the effort? Why get out of bed? Life without purpose is activity without direction. It’s motion without meaning. Life without purpose is trivial, petty, and pointless.



My guess is that the people at Saddleback church know more about the purposes of God than probably any other church. We talk about it all the time. But even still it’s easy to forget why we’re here on earth. We get distracted by budgets and bills and babies and baseball and all kinds of other things. We forget the five reasons God put us here on earth. Whenever you forget why God put you on earth you’re going to drift toward apathy and lethargy. Who cares? Why get out of bed if there’s no meaning, if there’s no purpose to my life. Maybe you’ve felt like Isaiah who said in Isaiah 49 "I’ve labored to no purpose and I’ve spent my strength in vain and for nothing."



Passion and purpose go together. When you have a clear purpose it’s going to give you a lot of passion. But it’s got to be God’s purposes for your life. If you’re only living for yourself, that’s a pretty dinky purpose. That isn’t going to make you very passionate. In fact it’s pathetic. "I’m living for me." That’ll give you a lot of energy to get out of bed in the morning! You need a cause greater than yourself. That gives life significance and gives life meaning. The more you understand God’s purposes for your life and the more you live those purposes the more passionate you’re going to be.

Hobbs wrote this about passion. He said, "Passion is waking up in the morning wherever you are and bounding out of bed because you know there’s something out there that you love to do, that you believe in, that God made you for and you’re good at, something that’s bigger than you are and you can hardly wait to get at it again. It’s something that you’d rather be doing than anything else and you wouldn’t give it up for money because it means more to you than money."

Nothing matters more than knowing and living the five purposes that God put you on earth to fulfill. Nothing else can compensate for not living those. Not fame, not wealth, not success, not pleasure. Nothing can compensate for life without meaning. So whenever your purpose gets unclear and you tend to forget why we’re here in the first place you’re going to lose your passion.

It might be good idea this summer to go reread Purpose Driven Life. I know we’ve all gone through it before but it’s easy to forget, what on earth we’re here for. And an unclear purpose will kill your passion.

Finally,

7. An undernourished spirit will kill your passion.

Every day you face all kinds of circumstances that conspire to shrink your spirit and shrivel your heart. You’re going to get up tomorrow morning. You’re going to have distractions and disappointments. You’re going to have conflicts and you’re going to have changes and challenges. You’re going to have problems and pressures. You’re going to have frustrations and fears and failures and fatigue. All of these things fall in on you to shrivel your heart and shrink your spirit. So you must intentionally nourish your spirit. If you don’t do it nobody else is going to do it for you. Nobody else is going to nourish your spirit. So if you don’t take the time and trouble to do it, it’s going to shrivel up.

How do you do that? Through the five purposes. You need times of worship with God everyday, where you get to know Him -- private worships. You need fellowship with other believers. You need to read God’s word and grow to be more like Christ. You need to have a ministry where you’re using your talents to help other people. And you need a mission in the world where you’re sharing your faith. If you just choose one of those purposes and forget the others you’re going to be imbalanced and you’re going to lose your passion. You need them all.

So how do I do it? How do I plug into God? How do I have this living, vital, daily relationship with God that keeps my spirit nourished?

The starting point is to remember how God feels about you. You know it but you forget it. Did you know that God is hopelessly in love with you? The reason that you’re not passionate about God is you have forgotten how passionate God is about you.

Exodus 31:14 "You must worship only the Lord, for He is a God who is passionate about His relationship with you." Did you know that? Did you know that God is passionate about you? He’s got going, "Oh, yeah, another one of My creations... next!" No, He is passionate about you. He made you to love you. You were created as an object of His love. The more you understand how God is passionate about you, the more passionate you’re going to get about God. When you forget how much God loves you, you start blowing Him off and going, "Forget it! I’ve got other things. There’s a good movie on TV tonight."

How do we know that God is passionate about us? The proof is the cross. Jesus stretched out His hands and they nailed Him to the cross and He was in essence saying, "I’d rather die than live without you. That’s how passionate I am about My creation. I made you. I love you. And I’d rather die than live without you "

In fact, the suffering of Jesus on the cross- His Passion. You’ve probably heard about communities or towns that have Passion plays. What is a passion play? It is drama that depicts the suffering of Jesus Christ. Jesus never wanted us to forget what He did for us on the cross. So He gave us the symbol of communion. He said, "When you take communion I want you to remember My passion. I want you to remember how passionate I am about you."

Acts 1:3 says this "Jesus showed Himself alive to them [the disciples] after His passion by many demonstrations: for forty days He continued to appear to them and tell them all about the kingdom of God."

Today we’re going to end this service by remembering the passion of Jesus, reminding ourselves how much God loves us by taking communion. I’m going to ask the servers to begin serving right now. We’ll wait until everybody’s been served then we’ll all eat together.

Tom:

The Bible says in Psalm 107:33 "Whoever is wise will remember these things and will think about the deep love of the Lord." Let’s do that. Would you pray with me?

As you think about God’s love for you take a moment right now to just go through this checklist of passion killers mentally and renew your commitment to Him. I don’t know what it is that’s been killing your passion. Maybe it’s an unbalanced schedule. You just need to say to God, "God, help me to begin to take in more, quit being so busy for You that I don’t have any time to love You." Or maybe you need to say to Him, "God, help me to stop just taking in. Help me to do something for others." Maybe it’s an unused talent and God brought you here this morning to say, "Get in a new place, a new job. Begin a ministry. Start to use the gifts I’ve given you." Tell Him, "God, give me the strength. Show me how to do that." Or maybe it’s an unconfessed sin. If you didn’t confess it earlier, confess it now. Jesus died to forgive you of that sin. Say to Him, "Jesus, thank You for forgiving me." If there’s an unresolved conflict, as best as you can resolve it right now in your heart, and resolve to resolve it with the other person. Maybe the cause of passion dying in your life is an unsupported lifestyle. You’ve been trying to go it alone. You need today, "God bring some other people into my life. Help me to make that decision." Maybe it’s an unclear purpose. You’ve been living for yourself. Or you’ve been living for nothing. God reminded you today of His purpose for your life. Thank Him. Maybe the cause of passion dying is an under nourished spirit. Focus your heart on the strength that only God can give. Draw up nourishment from Him.

Our Father, we thank You for the passionate love You have for us. You couldn’t have said it more clearly in Your word. You couldn’t have shown it more clearly than by sending Jesus to die on the cross. Help us to learn to love You back. Take if it’s one of these seven things, and be serious about it. Lord, You love us more than we can imagine. In that love You want to change our hearts. We pray that You would this morning. Reignite the passion in our lives and find the way only You can the passion and love that we have for You in our hearts. We ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Rick:

I’d like to read Psalm 107 again, the verse Tom read. "Whoever is wise will remember these things and will think about the deep love of the Lord." It is foolish to not think about how much God loves you. It is wise to remember the passion of Jesus Christ and what He did for us on the cross and how much He showed His love for us. 1 John 4 says "God showed us how much He loved us by sending His only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. This is real love. It’s not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins."

Sacrifice -- even before Jesus Christ went to the cross He suffered enormous pain for you and for me. Before He went to the cross, first they took Him through six trials -- three Jewish, three Roman. They kept Him up all night which meant all six of those trials were illegal because it was against both Roman and Jewish law to have a trial at night. So He went the entire night without sleep. Then the Bible says that they gave Him over to the Roman soldiers just to make fun of Him. So the Roman soldiers blindfolded Jesus and they began to beat Him and beat Him. They used Him as a punching bag. They’d take sticks and hit Him on the head. And as He was blindfolded they’d say, "Who hit You, Jesus? Who hit You? If You’re God, tell us who hit You." Jesus could have given their name, their father’s name, their grandfather’s name. He could have traced their family tree back to Adam. But He remained quiet.

Then it says that the soldiers just decided to mock him and ridicule Him. So they made a crown of thorns and they took those thorns and they pushed them into His skull. Of course He began to bleed as those thorns were pushed into His brain. It says they began to mock Him and make fun of Him. It says they plucked His beard out -- just for fun, just to be mean. You can imagine how painful it would be to have your beard pulled out of your face.

Then it says that they went and they had Him scourged. A scourging was no mere whipping. A scourge is a whip with nine leather straps at the end of it. And at the end of each of those nine leather straps they would tie either a piece of bone to tear the flesh out, or lead to bruise the body. So every time a person was whipped with a scourge it would leave nine marks on the back. It was such a terrible punishment that men often died because of the loss of blood on their back. And it was Jewish law that said you could never give more than forty stripes. That would normally kill a man. So there was another law that said that if you ever gave more than forty lashes with a scourging whip that the person who gave it would be given the same punishment. So they always only gave 39. Just in case they miscounted.

Think about this -- 39 times nine is the number of marks on Jesus’ back before He went to the cross. His back was one bloody pulp before He went to the cross. That’s passion.

Then they gave Him the heavy cross to climb up the mountain with. As He climbed up the mountain suffering from loss of blood and lack of sleep He stumbled and fell under the cross. They grabbed a man out of the crowd, an African named Simon. He was given the privilege of carrying the cross of Jesus the rest of the way. They get Him to the top of the hill. They stretch His arms out and they nail Him to the cross. They weren’t these little-bitty galvanized nails. They were a spike that they would nail into His hands. Then they would take that cross and they would lift it up and they would set it into the group, into the hole. Of course, it would pull and tear at the man’s hands.

I doubt you’ve ever been held in this position for any length of time. But if you’re held in this position eventually the muscles around your chest cavity begin to tire and begin to paralyze. Eventually you can breathe in in this position but the muscles give out and you can’t breathe out. You can breathe in but you can’t breathe out.

So death on the cross would have been a simple death by suffocation. Except the Romans didn’t want to make it that easy. So what they would do is they would take a man’s legs and bend his knees and they would nail his feet to the cross. Why would they do that? So He could stand up on them. What would happen is a man hanging on the cross would hang there and breathe in but he couldn’t breathe out until the pain in his lungs began to be unbearable -- the pins and needles and his lungs were about to explode. He couldn’t breathe any more so he would stand up on his feet that were nailed on the cross. He’d get relief and he’d begin to breathe air until the pain in his feet was unbearable and he’d let himself down again. He’d hold that position until the pain in his lungs was unbearable and He’d stand up again. Until the pain in his feet was unbearable and he’d let himself down again. Death on the cross was a very cruel torture. It took days to kill a man. It was up and down and up and down and up and down, often for days. Extremely cruel death.

It says at one point the soldiers came to Jesus and they were going to break His legs. Why would they do that? Because if you break your legs you can’t stand up any more and He’d suffocate and die. But Jesus had already died by that time. So the soldiers to make sure He was dead took a spear and jabbed it into His side. The Bible says that water comingled with blood came out of that cavity. I’m no doctor but I’ve read dozens of medical explanations of death on the cross. Experts say that the only way that blood and water would co mingle in that cavity would be if that heart would tear, were to rip, were to explode. The stress that Jesus was carrying of all the sin in the world and the weight of the world on His shoulder, you can call it symbolic or whatever you want to call it, but Jesus’ heart literally exploded He died of a broken heart. He said, "I love you this much."

Do you know what the worst sin is for Christians? It is not adultery. It is not murder. It is not some sort of sexual perversion. God tells us in Revelation 3. He says it’s lukewarmness. No passion. "God is just one of the things in my life. I have my social life and my career life and my sexual life and my family life and over here is a little piece of the pie called church." God says, "How dare you! I love you this much. I love you passionately. I made you, created you, planned you, purposed you, saved you, have a place for you in heaven, and you would treat that with half-hearted indifference saying, ’Excuse me but there’s a good TV show on tonight.’"

Jesus says "I’d rather have you hot or cold. Lukewarmness makes Me sick to my stomach."

C. S. Lewis said it like this, "The only thing Christianity cannot be is moderately important." Moderately important! If Jesus is God and He died and loved you that much, you owe Him the rest of your life, every spare minute of it. If He didn’t then go home and live a self-centered life. The only thing Christianity cannot be is moderately important. It either deserves your entire life or nothing.

So how are you in your passion for God? Are you lukewarm? Are you just going through the motions? Or are you red hot for God because He loves you that much? Has there ever been a time in your life when you were closer to God than you are right now? If so why? Nobody’s holding you back. The truth is you’re as close to God as you choose to be. You can have as much of God as you want. You can be as passionate about God as you want. And if you’re not it’s your fault.

Before we take communion I want us to pray a prayer together. Would you bow your heads?

Thank You, God. In your heart just say, "Thank You for being passionate about me even when I was distracted by other things. Jesus, thank You so much for enduring all that suffering for me so I could be forgiven. I’ve never been loved by anybody that much. Thank You for creating me. I wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for You. Thank You for having a purpose for my life. Forgive me for my lukewarm attitude toward You. Jesus, I want to have a passion for You. I want to get up in the morning looking forward to the day that You’ve planned for me and I want to love You passionately. I want to love others passionately. I want to use the talents that You’ve given to me for Your sake. Help me to take time to nourish my spirit and grow every day. Through worship, fellowship with other believers, using my talents for You, sharing the good news with others."

If you’ve never opened your life to Jesus Christ say, "Lord, today I realize what You did for me. I want to say thank You. I want to accept what You did for me. And I want to follow You. I want to accept Your forgiveness." In Jesus’ name. Amen.

On the night Jesus was betrayed He took bread and He broke it and He said, "This is My body which is broken for you." He hadn’t even gone to the cross and He said it so obviously it’s a symbol. He said, "This is to symbolize and help you to remember how passionate I am about you. When you eat it do it to remember that I gave My life for you."

That same night as He met with those He loved the most -- His disciples -- He took a cup of wine and He said, "This cup represents the blood that I’m going to shed for you. I want you to keep this tradition, keep this symbol to remember that I gave My life for you. That’s how passionate I am about loving you. I want you to never forget it." As you drink this say in your mind, "Jesus, thank You for dying for me."

I once nearly drowned in an undertow in Hawaii which is pretty unusual since as a young man I was a lifeguard. So I’m a pretty good swimmer. But I was in this undertow that pulled me under the water for what seemed to me like minutes. I was holding my breath. It wouldn’t let me up to the surface but when I finally forced my way to the surface, I gasped for breath like I’d never had a breath in my life. You might say I was passionate for air. If you, all of a sudden, stopped breathing, you’d get pretty passionate about air.

That’s what God wants us to do. He wants us to see Him as our daily bread and as the air that we breathe. And have that kind of passion for Him.



by: Rick Warren