Blog Archives - River of Life Church

Halloween Haggles

10/31/2012

Halloween has become the second highest consumer spending holiday in America, passed up only by Christmas. People buy decorations for the rooms in their home, decorations for the outside of their home, costumes, candy and if they host a halloween party, they have additional expenses.

The treatment of halloween varies among Christians. Many recognize the pagan roots of this holiday and choose not to do anything to celebrate or recognize a day dedicated to things that oppose God. Other Christians are unaware of its origins or background and participate in the activities that interest them. Some Christians are aware of halloween's background, but feel that what is celebrated today is dressing up in fun, festive characters and going trick or treating.They believe the pagan roots no longer bear any significance or hold over their participation.

So, which view is correct? Is it a pagan holiday that Christians should not participate or okay because it has become just a fun day? Yes. The answer is yes.

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ addressed a similar situation among the Christians in Rome. Some considered one day more holy than another and others were convinced to not eat meat as a sign of holiness. Paul writes that their convictions should be something that is lived out for the Lord and not as a point of judging one another.
Romans 14:6,14
6 Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.
14 I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean.

Our family and church chooses to invade the darkness surrounding halloween by handing out candy, bibles and child appropriate gospel tracts to trick-or-treaters.

Whether you turn off the lights on halloween or advance the light - do it all for the Lord!

Five Big Lies

10/30/2012

The devil began his deception with himself, thinking he could and should be elevated above God. Then the devil lied to a group of angels and got their cooperation to revolt against God. Those fallen angels turned their allegiance to God over and have been enemies of God ever since. The final group that the devil is deceiving is humankind.

Five big lies that the devil tries to make us believe:
Big lie #1: He has as much or almost as much power and ability as God.
Truth is: He does not. The devil was created by God and will forever be subject to Him.

Big lie #2: He can read our minds.
Truth is: He cannot. The devil is not all-powerful, all-knowing or able to be everywhere at one time; only God is.

Big lie #3: Your sin is worse than other people.
Truth is: It is not. ALL have sinned and every sin separates us from God who is holy and pure.

Big lie #4: You get to heaven if you do more good things than bad things.
Truth is: You can never be perfect or holy like God by working. God did the work through the death of His Son Jesus. Your salvation is a gift from God.

Big lie #5: You have sinned and asked to be forgiven too many times; God is done forgiving you.
Truth is: He is not. When you trusted Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, He forgave all of your past sins, all your present sins, and all your future sins.

Jesus told those who believed in Him that the truth would free them from the lies of the devil.
John 8:31-32
To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, “If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

What big lie is harder for you to treat as false?

Training to Serve

10/29/2012

I have read that people have enough heard enough “SHOULD” messages that tell you that you should obey, should follow God, should live right, etc. etc., but there are not enough messages telling a person "HOW" they can live a life that pleases God. I believe that statement is generally true.

Our Sunday service yesterday was all about "how to". A woman from our church led us in a training to serve New Pathways, a program that partners with churches helping those families who find themselves homeless in a five county area of Minnesota.

Much of the training is founded on the principles of not judging, being kind, respecting, serving and helping. The program gets families into homes on an average of 56 days and has a 90% success rate among those who complete the program. New Pathways is one of the best interfaith programs in our community.

Our church family knows that it “should” help those in need. We have many people who have a genuine desire to help those in need. Now, we are trained to serve. We were given the tools necessary to equip us to know how to be able to effectively serve families in need.

Do you agree that we need more “how to” messages on Sunday morning?

Do You Hate Long Offering Appeals?

10/26/2012

A big turn off to non-Christians and Christians alike is an appeal before the church offering that lasts almost as long as the soon to be preached message. The pastor or leader may use scripture that tells of prosperity if you give sacrificially. They may talk about giving hilariously because God loves a cheerful giver. The pastor or leader may use guilt, motivation or manipulation and it is for those reasons that people hate offering appeals.

At our church, first-time guests are encouraged to fill out their guest card and put that in the offering basket when it comes around. Most of the time, we share a couple announcements and take the offering. Simple as that.

Howard Dayton, financial author and founder of Crown Ministries, a financial training ministry, has counted about 500 verses in the Bible on prayer and over 2,350 verses on how to handle money and possessions. Why is there so much written in the Bible about money?

Follow the money and you discover a persons affections. Jesus said a lot about money because He knew how much we would struggle with it as a competitor for our affections.

Should we change and make a bigger deal about money on Sunday morning? Not in the ways mentioned earlier. The big deal that should be made is celebrating how the money was used over the past week or month. It purchased supplies that gave our children ministry leaders tools to successfully teach children about Jesus. It helped a person through some emergency expenses. It was put in the bank to accumulate for remodeling so more people can come on Sundays. It paid the utility bills so we have electricity, heat, and water. It was sent overseas to support a child in a third world country.

I think all of us would like to hear that kind of talk about money!

2 Corinthians 8:7 NIV
But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

Breaking Handcuffs

10/25/2012

I have never been handcuffed. I can only imagine the frustration of being completely limited by the plastic straps of riot restrictions or the metal of traditional cuffs. A book, The Resolution for Men, written by Stephen and Alex Kendrick, addresses chains forged by injustices of the past. The authors write that most men have vivid memories of sinful examples and hurtful things our fathers have done or said. Often they were defining moments that are remembered in detail.

All of us have been wronged in some way or another. Forgiving those past injustices breaks the handcuffs of bitterness and anger. It is not saying that the actions were not wrong, they were wrong and wounded deeply. It is releasing those wrongs into the hands of God for His perfect justice to prevail.

Ephesians 4:31-32
31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

How often do you recall past wrongs done to you?
Are you still handcuffed or have you broken free?

The New You!

10/24/2012

We become a new person when we begin a relationship with Jesus Christ. The past is past and you now have a new character, a new destiny, and a new life. If you become a Christian later in life some things changed immediately and dramatically. You have a new attitude, a new joy and a new hope. Other areas have changed more slowly and even with difficulty.

People change bad habits and establish good habits without Jesus. They quit smoking, begin exercising or learn to play guitar. The time it takes to form a new habit varies from 21 days to eight months. Dr. Maxwell Maltz, a plastic surgeon, found that it took 21 days for a person to adjust to the loss of a limb.

The work of the Holy Spirit in your life changes many areas of your life instantly. You quit swearing, using, or hurting. Other areas are in a holy process of change, but more challenging. You may return to past behaviors when facing conflict or stress. The Holy Spirit will bring victory in those stubborn areas that are more deeply ingrained in you.

Remember, the past is past and the new has come!
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

What were immediate changes in your life when you began a relationship with Jesus?
What is still in process?

The Brief Exchange

10/23/2012

When your car breaks down, you are not interested in the technical mechanical reasons why it is not running. All you really want is for it to run smoothly and get you from point A to point B. There is a technical mechanical reason why cars run and do not run. Emotionally, we just want them to run well all the time. In the back of your mind, you realize a car or motor does not last forever; eventually, it wears out.

A funeral last week and another one coming up reminds me that we will not last forever. At funerals, we do not want to hear spiritually technical language about whether our friend, relative and loved one is in a holding place until judgement or if they have a new body or if they have to wait someplace in some body-less state until a certain time.At funerals we want to know that the person we care about is in a better place. We may feel confident if they attended a church, read their bible and prayed. We may feel anxious if the person disregarded church, prayer and the bible.

The bible does tell us that after death there is a brief exchange with the Lord. Some will point to amazing things they did, but the lack of a true relationship with Jesus prevents them from entering.
Matthew 7:21-23
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

The real deal is a relationship with God.
1 Corinthians 8:3
But whoever loves God is known by God.

What do you think the Lord will say to you in that brief exchange?
Why will the Lord say that?

Honor

10/22/2012

Abby and Nayara erickson

Abby Erickson brought a message about Honor at our Sunday morning service. Election campaigns are pushing hard these final two weeks and the marriage amendment on this year's ballot should press us to making positive change and influence. Abby challenged us to ask ourselves, in terms of positive change, "What is our ultimate goal?".

We want a president that will promote peace, protection and prosperity in our nation. We want wholesome marriages that raise healthy families. How are we conducting ourselves to achieve those goals?

In the bible is a record of a young man named Daniel. He and his nation were taken as POW's by an enemy nation. It is likely that Daniel had family members killed, saw homes destroyed and cities ransacked by the invading nation. His Hebrew name was changed to a name honoring the other nation's gods.

God gave Daniel the ability to interpret dreams and when the enemy king had a dream about his demise, Daniel did not rejoice or celebrate. Daniel told the king that he wished the dream was for the king's enemies even though this was an enemy king. The honor and respect Daniel gave the king brought a platform of spiritual influence.

Influence requires grace.
"Grace is a power from God to overcome sin." Abby Erickson
When we treat a person with respect and value before they are deserving of kind treatment, we are behaving like Jesus does.

Romans 12:10
10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.

Who is it in your world that is least deserving of honor that you have opportunity today to show respect and kindness towards?

This Side is not Forever

10/19/2012

When you break a window of a car, it is completely broken. The design of the tempered safety glass makes it shatter when it breaks. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the fruit from the tree they were not supposed to eat from, it shattered the perfect world God had designed for them.

Tomorrow, I will attend the funeral of a classmate of my oldest son. I am certain there was a rule in God's kingdom that no parent should ever have to bury any of their sons or daughters. The cancer was discovered in April of this year and six months later their oldest girl will forever be younger than thirty.

Her classmates will mourn her death and wonder why. Her husband will go home to an empty house and never be able to start a family with his young bride. Her parents will face a Thanksgiving and Christmas with a vacant chair and only memories of the daughter that filled the room with her smile.

On this side of eternity are joys and hardships. On the side of eternity that their daughter is on there is a forever life with the Father, His son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Every tear will be wiped away. There will be no more injustice. Love will be pure and joy will be continuous. My friend I wrote about yesterday may soon make entrance into the other side of eternity.

No one lives on this side of life forever. Our thoughts, hopes and dreams are all on this side of eternity, but should have a trajectory into the other side. Tomorrow's funeral will remind us that this side is not forever.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Aching for Eternity

10/18/2012

My friend is dying.
Things that were important in her life and in the life of her husband have changed dramatically. Their lives are fully committed to Jesus Christ. They have served as missionaries in Mexico and in a Hispanic church in the US for more than a decade. Their love and trust in God is unwavering. If there is any change in that relationship it is a change of greater love, trust and dependency.

Leaves on the yard, emails to check, and contacts to make have all faded into the background of importance. Life in recent days focuses on whether there is an ability to stand, tolerate pain, and finding a position that is bearable. Conversation that brings a smile to her face is a cherished moment.

A miracle is needed. Prayers of faith are lifted for her healing. Leaving this life seems like such a tragic event. My friend has shared to her husband that she is ready to go home. There are too many better things in the forever life with Jesus. Jesus will wipe every tear from her eyes. No more sickness. No more pain. She will recieve a glorified body. There will be only pure love and joy in the presence of the One who created all things including my friend.

Cancer has brought her to an edge of eternity. Each of us is brought to that edge also when those we love are at that threshold.
2 Corinthians 5:1-9 NLT
For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. 2 We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. 3 For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. 4 While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. 5 God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee He has given us His Holy Spirit.
6 So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. 7 For we live by believing and not by seeing. 8 Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please Him.