Blog Archives - River of Life Church

No Shopping Week

8/31/2012

Friday or Saturday is usually the time of the week that we typically stock up on groceries at the Radeke home. Not this week and I have only myself to blame.

Our church is going through a six message series from the book, "The Hole in Our Gospel". The first session addresses the tension between faith and actions. So, our church family was challenged (by me) to put our faith into action by skipping a trip to the grocery store this week and donating the money saved to our local food pantry or to our church's benefit which is used for those in the community with emergency needs.

During the week we ate only what is left in our cupboards, pantry and fridge. Our families get a feel of what it is like to have fewer food choices.

Labor Day weekend makes for additional challenges for many families. We have a family gathering at my Aunt Carole's on Sunday afternoon. Everyone is bringing a dish to share. We put our request in early to bring something we still have on hand. This week and the next will remind us to be thankful for the abundance we have in our nation. It also reminds us of people and areas who have much less than us.

James 2:14-17
What good is it my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes or daily food . 16If one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action is dead.

Newton's Apple

8/30/2012

Everyday there are new apples on our lawn. They are getting ripe and falling off the tree. The good ones are gathered and brought to the kitchen for raw eating or baking. The ones that are too bruised or the birds have half eaten or are wormy are gathered and brought out to the heifers in the pasture who are very eager to devour as many as we can feed them.

Like Newton's apple, they just fall. The apples did not have to strain, work, or exert any effort to blossom, bud, and ripen. All they needed to do was stay attached to the tree.

Jesus makes a comparison to help us understand what is necessary to becoming a fruitful disciple.
John 15:5-8
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit' apart from me you can do nothing. 6If you do not remain in Me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. 8This is to My Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples."

The time you spend praying should not be a strain or a chore, but a life flowing connection. Time spent reading the Bible and telling others about Jesus should happen with the same ease an apple ripens. Showing others how to follow Jesus should be like a healthy apple tree producing fruit. If it is full of effort and strain, then it is a good time to check your connection to Jesus.

Let the Son, ripen you!

What is Your Posture?

8/29/2012

The Republican National Convention is going on and last night was filled with speeches. The commentators shared what they felt each speaker needed to say to portray the candidate in the best possible light. A large part of the appeal for our current president and those running against him is how they posture themselves in front of the variety of groups they wish to win their votes from. When speaking to farmers in the heartland of America the posture is blue jeans and rolled up sleeves. When meeting with business leaders the posture is suit and tie.

Jesus would not do well in today’s polls because He would not posture or position Himself correctly. As somebody who needed recognition as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus should have had an advisor helping Him with His campaign.

Jesus made a good move to have a dinner stop at a religious ruler’s home, but He blew it when He allowed a woman with a very tarnished background to touch Him, cry over Him and carry on so. He looked weak when He washed the feet of His followers and behaved like a servant. Jesus did not curry favor with the movers and shakers. Instead He hung out with the down and outers.

Jesus was intentional in His posture. He wants you and I to take the position of serving others. Jesus wants us to choose humility over fame.

John 13:13-15 (NIV)
13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you."

What is you posture?

Wiffle-ball and Giants

8/28/2012

The church softball season has come to a close. Our team had a building year, which means more loses than wins. However, there were no injuries, we enjoyed playing together and we finished strong. Tonight, our team will get together for a BBQ and an all family wiffle-ball game.

Wiffle-ball is fun because it levels the playing field. Our teams’ leading home run hitter can be bested b y a seven year old during a game of wiffle-ball. It is not by strength or might that wiffle-ball games are won. It is all about correct contact. A young child can out hit an adult by an easy swing that makes full contact with the plastic bat to the plastic wiffle-ball.

An account of correct contact is recorded in the Bible. A young boy had correct contact with His God and bested a giant with a sling and a stone. The shepherd boy, David, talked and listened to God. He trusted God when he protected his sheep against the attack of a lion and another time against a bear. David’s constant contact with God filled him with courage to stand before the giant Philistine soldier, Goliath. Goliath and his army were mocking God and David could not accept their taunts.

David swung his sling with the same confidence when he faced the lion and bear. David knew that this battle was not going to be won by neither might nor strength. He knew it would be won by God using him to kill an enemy. The sling whirred around over David’s head; the stone was released at the precise time and found its mark on the forehead of a giant who trusted his own brawn instead of God.

Few of us face fearful opponents in the form of giants. You are faced with situations and challenges that are overwhelming and can fill you with fear. The next time you face a giant, remember the wiffle-ball and David.

1 Samuel 17:45-47 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give all of you into our hands.”

Tips for a Weed-Free Spiritual Garden

8/27/2012

One of the main successes of our garden this year was crop failure. We planted just sweet corn and onions. Only one third of our sweet corn sprouted and none of the onion sets survived. Not certain why. The sparse garden made it easier to water and weed during the summer. Once every week the garden was hoed by hand or roto-tilled. Whenever there was too long of a gap of rainfall, the garden was watered. The small population of corn plants we had grew extremely well.

This is the time of year that the garden gets neglected. The sweet corn has been picked and eaten. The raccoons are not even interested in the garden anymore. Usually an amazing crop of weeds grows and overtakes the garden. The fall or spring tilling is a frustrating process of weeds wrapping around the roto-tiller, stopping to unwrap the weeds, starting again until the tines are wrapped full of weeds.

All the good efforts during the growing season could be preserved if the garden was not neglected at the end of the season.

Sometimes our spiritual lives are well taken care of during productive seasons or during challenging times. Time is spent reading the Bible which waters our souls and prayers to the Lord are fervent. When the intensity of life backs off and pressures are reduced it is easy to neglect the garden of our soul. Usually, an amazing crop of weeds invade the once cultivated and fruitful areas of our lives. Cleaning out poor habits and choices that wrap around our thinking can be avoided if we do not neglect our spiritual garden.

Your spiritual life will flourish if every day you do the following:
*Talk to God. A conversation is both speaking and listening.
*Read God’s Word. The Bible tells us about God and His actions with His world.
*Do life God’s way.

Keeping a garden weed-free when the weeds are small is pretty simple.
Keeping our spiritual garden weed-free is pretty simple when you do it every day!

John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.”

Tolerance

8/24/2012

The past three days our family was tent camping at a beautiful campground located ninety minutes north of our home. We enjoyed a few days off, a different pace of life and the joy of being together. The tent sites were located in a grove of tall pine trees which sway and sigh in the late summer breeze.

Whether we are roughing it in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area primitive camping or going easier and enjoying some amenities in a campground, there are certain things we tolerate. On the first days of camping we carefully pick out every pine needle and piece of ash that has landed on our supper while cooking over an open fire. By the last day of camping we only notice the big lumps that have fallen in and tolerate the smaller stuff.

Also, after a day or two of camping we notice things that were there the day before, but our appreciation for the beauty of nature, we cannot tolerate litter. Around our campsite we notice and pick up things we would overlook on our city sidewalks, but cannot pass by in a more natural setting. Gum wrappers, twisty ties and cigarette butts get picked up and either burned in the fire or packed out of the campground.

When your life is given to loving and following Jesus Christ, a different level of tolerance occurs. Jesus Christ is making something beautiful of your life. Things that were part of you that went unnoticed you no longer allowed to litter your life. The blemishes that gossip, anger and any characteristic that does not resemble Jesus are picked up and thrown away.

Also, when you love Jesus with all your life you are able to tolerate comments that used to needle you. It is only the big lumps that need addressing and the little stuff is barely noticed.

Colossians 3:12
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Are You A Risk-Taker?

8/21/2012

Each person has a certain level of risk they are willing to take. Some are willing to take bigger risks than others. Others will take a risk as long as they have assessed the options and feel confident the reward is worth the potential loss.

Following Jesus Christ requires taking risks. There is the risk of faith, risk of reputation, risk of control, and a variety of other risks. Everything changes when you say yes to Jesus.

Years ago, I purchased a well used Nissan Sentra car primarily for commuting 70 miles one way to a Bible college. The driver side looked fine, but the passenger side had been in a major side-swipe accident. The rear passenger door would not open and both doors were crushed inward. Other drivers would give me lots of room when they saw the passenger side feeling I had nothing to lose in a fender bender with a car like that!

People with lives crushed by injustices, loses, and pain are willing to take the risk to follow Jesus because they have lost so much, they have nothing left to lose. Those who are sailing along well in life are less willing to give up everything and follow Jesus because they value too much what they are giving up.

A rich, young man came to Jesus and asked how he might inherit eternal life. He had been following the Ten Commandments, yet knew he was missing something important in life. When Jesus told the young man to take a risk, sell everything and give it to the poor, he could not take the risk and went away sad.

He made the same mistake that many people make today. They do not realize that when you take the risk, what Jesus has to offer is always greater than what have.

Mark 10:29-30“I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for Me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.

What risks do you face or have you faced to give up all and follow Jesus?

Wondering

8/20/2012

I wonder. Adam was created by God and placed in the Garden of Eden. The world was perfect. No pollution, no bills, no wars, no relational conflicts, no telemarketers calling during mealtime. The garden of Eden was pristine and perfect. God did not have a whole lot of rules for Adam. God put him in charge of everything - to rule and take care of the earth. He could eat from every tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:8-9,15-17
8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

God made Eve as a companion and partner for Adam. Together they were caretakers of the earth. A serpent, the devil, tempted Adam and Eve to eat from the one tree God told them not to eat and they ate.

I wonder. How long was it before they disobeyed God? Was it years later, months later, weeks later or days later? Did they pass by the tree often and look at it wondering what its’ fruit tastes like?

We do not have any answers given in the biblical narrative. We know the devil looks for opportune times and takes advantage of situations that may make us more prone to disobeying God. We know that all of us are just like Adam and Eve because at some point in our lives we disobey God.

Their disobedience broke the face to face personal relationship they had with God. Because God is perfect and holy, Adam and Eve could no longer walk hand in hand with God in the garden. Their sin separated them from God.

There is no need to wonder about God’s reaction to the broken relationship. Blood from the best animal of the flock or herd was the temporary solution that removed the son and made a person right with God. But the next sin required another sacrifice.

God the Father sent His one and only, perfect Son Jesus to be the once for all sacrifice. The relationship with God is restored by repenting and turning away from our sin and turning to Jesus Christ.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son……

Rich or Wealthy?

8/17/2012

This morning an interesting interview on the radio brought up the subject of wealthy people. The person responded that people may be rich, but not wealthy. He defined rich as having material means to have a lifestyle above the average population. Wealth, he described as having the ability to reproduce riches over a long period of time.

He said lottery winners and professional athletes are rich, but not always wealthy. Many have their riches consumed by maintaining a high standard of living. Professional boxers have come out of retirement because their riches are gone and their sport is viewed as the only means to earn more money. Lottery winners return to gamboling in hopes of getting lucky again. Business men and women may not appear rich, but are wealthy because they re-invest their earnings into their business or other successful businesses and generate more money.

Two kings in the Bible made statements that sound like boasts or over-exaggerations:
Esther 5:3
Then the king asked, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given you.”
Mark 6:23
And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”

Consider their words if they were given from a position of wealth. Each king knew that if they gave away half of their riches they had the ability with the remaining half to build it back to their current wealth. These kings had the skill, ability, and leadership to generate income.

Why do you think these statements were included in the Bible?
They were part of a narrative that had implications that were not centered on their wealth. It was centered on the authority each king had to grant grand requests. Queen Esther made a request regarding the safety of her people. Herodias, through her daughter, made a request for the death of John the baptizer.

The Holy Spirit gives each believer spiritual gifts. One of the gifts is the gift of giving.
Romans 12:6-8 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

God gives people the ability to be wealthy, so they have an authority to give away up to half their kingdom, their riches and be confident that they can use what remains to build it back up, so they can use their spiritual gift to give more.

What, not Why.

8/16/2012

Asking the right question is the key to getting the right answer. I believe in a God who has all the answers to any and every question. Many people become frustrated because they do not get an answer. It could be because they are asking the wrong question.

A frequently asked question to God is, “Why?”.
Why did this accident happen?
Why is this relationship not working?
Why is my friend or family member suffering?
Why did they die so young?
Why?

People feel compelled to tend to give an answer in an effort to bring comfort, but often give a wrong answer. Wrong answers include: “God is punishing you”, “You do not have enough faith” “God is bringing suffering so you realize that you need Him to help you” and “God ended their life because He needed help in heaven.”

You are most likely to ask God, “Why?” during a crisis in your life. There are no good answers other than understanding that our world has a sin stain that goes back to Adam and Eve. Because of sin and the free choices of humankind, bad things happen to good people. Even this does not answer why God has chosen to step into our world and directly make changes by healing or resolving in a direct manner.

During a crisis, the answer God has for you is what He wants you to do or in response to the situation. The best question during a crisis is “what?”.
“What do you want me to do, Lord?”
“What do you want me to learn about you?”
“What do you want me to be in response to this?”
“What, Lord?”

Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.