Following Christ’s Example – Resounding Shophar Ministries

Ambassadors!

The times that we are now living in seems to be getting crazier every day. The anxiety and tensions of what is currently going on, as well as what lies ahead for us is growing every day. We have people telling us this is the direction we are to go in, while others are telling us we should go an entirely different direction. The craziness we’re seeing seems to be escalating rapidly all at the same time it appears that things are spiraling down almost out of control. As Christians, what is our responsibility and role during times like these?

The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 briefly outlines what our role as Christians should be, that of being an ambassador for Christ. As ambassadors for Christ we are to be proclaiming the good news of the Gospel for the purpose of reconciling man back to God. So, the question is asked, what does it mean to be an ambassador. The simple definition of an ambassador from the Merriam-Webster dictionary is; “the highest-ranking person who represents his or her own government while living in another country”. As ambassadors for Christ, we need to remember that this world is not our home, but instead we have a heavenly one awaiting us.

To be an ambassador one must be sent to represent the country or kingdom they came from. We read in both Matthew 28:18-20 and Mark 16:15-18 that Jesus sends His followers out to represent Him to the world, and His followers includes us if we’ve decided to be a follower of Jesus. So, what does being an ambassador for Christ look like? Is there an example for us to learn from?

Yes, there are examples of what it looks like to be an ambassador for Christ. The first example we need to look at is Jesus, the very one that we are to be representing to the world. In Jesus we find the clearest picture of how we are to live and represent Him. No matter the setting, whether it was one-on-one, in a small group, or in front of the multitudes numbering in the thousands, Jesus taught others of Himself and the new covenant He was initiating with those who would follow after Him. He spoke of both grace and judgment, and the need for total surrender of our lives to Him. Other examples we see are found in the Apostles and some of the disciples in the early church. They proclaimed the good news of the risen savior, Jesus, how through relationship with Jesus everyone now has direct access to God the Father, and that Jesus will be coming back to take His followers to forever be with Him in heaven. The Apostles and the early church were so effective in their representing Christ, proclaiming the good news of the gospel accompanied with signs and wonders, it is reported in Acts 17:6 by the gentiles that they had turned the world upside down proclaiming Christ as King. Based on these examples, it is clear that as ambassadors for Christ we are to be boldly proclaiming the gospel of the good news of Jesus whenever we can.

As ambassadors for Christ, we are told in Philippians 2:5-11 that we are to have the same mindset as Christ. There are a couple of things worth pointing out in this passage of Scripture. In verse 6, we are told that Jesus being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Jesus was confident in who He is, and He wasn’t ashamed of that. In like manner, we are joint-heirs of Christ, adopted into the family of God, and we should be confident in that and not ashamed. However, in verse 7 we find that Jesus took on the form of a bondservant, a voluntary slave, to God the Father, and in verse 8 we see that He humbled Himself before God and was obedient to Him unto death, even the death of the cross. In just the same way, instead of claiming our rights and privileges as joint-heirs of Christ and children of God, we need to humble ourselves to Him and be obedient to Him even unto death of whatever type. For Jesus that humility and obedience took Him to the cross to pay for our sins, and while the plan that God has for each of us is different in so many ways, we need to have the same humility and obedience to God that He had no matter what path God may lead us on in this life.

Ambassadors have the full backing and support of the nation it represents, and in the same way we have the full backing and support of God as ambassadors for Christ. God demonstrates His support and backing of Jesus, the Apostles, and disciples in the early church through the supernatural works and manifestations of signs and wonders through the Holy Spirit. We are told in Mark 16:17-18 that as ambassadors for Christ, signs and wonders will follow those who believe. We also read in Acts 1:8 that we will receive power with the baptism of the Holy Spirit to be His witnesses, through which we would be empowered to do the supernatural works that Jesus did. In John 14:12, Jesus tells us that the supernatural works He did, we not only will do them as well, but that we will do greater ones than He did. While supernatural signs and wonders cannot be a barometer for the condition of one’s relationship with God, and while doing them shouldn’t be our primary focus, those things should be taking place to confirm the message we are proclaiming of Jesus as valid and from God.

Another aspect to being an ambassador is the fact that when they are mistreated and harmed in any way, in essence the country or nation that ambassador is from is also getting mistreated and harmed. In 1 Peter 3:13-14, we’re told as followers of Christ to not be fearful of anyone that seeks to harm us. In the previous chapter we see an example of how to let this play out in our lives. In 1 Peter 2:21-23 the Apostle Peter tells us that Jesus left us an example to follow. He mentions that even when Christ was reviled and lied about, suffering at the hands of others, Jesus did not respond to any of it in like manner or try to defend Himself. Instead we are shown what Jesus’ mindset was in how He responded at the end of verse 23; “but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously”. We are told to not be fearful of anything that may come our way, but to instead place our trust in the only one who judges righteously, God Himself.

In regards to being an ambassador, we have to remember that their role is not to dictate, to conquer, or to control the nation they are sent to. They don’t entangle themselves in the internal affairs of the nation they are sent to, nor do they participate in protests or activities to further their cause or the cause of their country. Their role is simply to represent their country, relaying messages to and from the country they are an ambassador to. When I think about that I realize something that is missing in the New Testament, Matthew through Revelation.

I’m reminded that in the days of the early church, they lived under a very corrupt and violent Roman rule, especially towards them. Persecution of the church was severe, taxation was extreme, violence and cold-blooded murder was common, and political corruption and sexual perversions was rampant during that time at all levels. To compare the times we are now living in to what the early church lived through, what we are experiencing is nothing by comparison, though it seems to be heading in that direction. Despite all that the Apostles and the early church lived through, it’s interesting to note that the New Testament is missing some things.

As bad as things were in the first century, we find that there is no record of followers of Christ trying to rise up against the Romans. We also find that there is no record of followers of Christ trying to clean up the corruption in society and government, and there is no record of followers of Christ trying to take over communities and nations. Amazingly, we also find no records of followers of Christ complaining about society, corruption, taxation, persecution, etc. In fact, we don’t even see any instructions given to followers of Christ to do any of the above or seek social justice, but instead the opposite, living at peace with others and being obedient to the authorities for the sake of Christ. For the sake of Christ, you say? Yes. In 1 Peter 2:13-17, we are told to submit ourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, or every human institution depending on the version you’re reading from, and that this is the will of God. In the days we are living in, it seems like people, Christian or not, are focused on doing and saying things for either their sake, the sake of someone they know, the sake of their political party, or even for their country. Yet, we are told that what we do should be for the sake of the Lord.

It is important for us as ambassadors for Christ to remember what our role is here on earth, and to not get sidetracked or distracted and caught up in the affairs of this life. We are ambassadors for Christ, and as such we should conduct ourselves accordingly. We need to live a life blameless before God and man, boldly proclaim the good news of the gospel, and to allow God to confirm the message through the supernatural with signs and wonders. Along the way we are to share the love and grace of our Lord Jesus to those around us, not just in word but also in deed, but our primary role as identified by Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20 and Mark 16:15-18 is to proclaim the gospel to the world in whatever setting God places us in, and to teach them to observe and do all that He commanded us to do.

We are to be ambassadors for Jesus. Are you His ambassador? I’m challenging myself as well, seeing where I’ve fallen short at times, but it is important for us in the days we are living in to remember what our role is in the midst of anxiety and the crazy turmoil that characterizes the world we now live in. If you find that you haven’t been His ambassador as you ought, there is no better time than the present to begin to do so. Change your focus and mindsets accordingly, be open and willing for the Holy Spirit to manifest Himself in the supernatural to validate and confirm the message of Christ you are proclaiming, and strive to maintain a blameless life in the sight of God and man so as to not hinder or hurt your ability to be His ambassador. Living a blameless life doesn’t require one to be perfect in all their ways, but it does require a heart that is sensitive to any sin and inappropriate behavior and speech in your life along with a strong conviction to live free of sin. If you are aware of sin and inappropriate behavior and speech in your life that is wrong and displeasing in the sight of God, make it right with Him by confessing your sin and turning from it, asking Him for help to live a life blameless and pleasing to Him in all your ways.

BE AN AMBASSADOR FOR CHRIST!!

John Johansson (Pastor John)

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World Changers!

The world we now live in is going through a lot of changes. We’re seeing it economically, socially, politically, and even religiously, just to name a few. These changes are coming about as a result of political corruption and political agendas, various people groups claiming and demanding their rights at the expense of others, the overflow of violence and ideologies bleeding over into other cultures and societies that don’t share in their way of life, as well as the desire of various religious groups seeking ways to be more appealing and acceptable in the eyes of society. Much of what we are seeing is a reflection of the overall perceptions of people where what is evil is now considered good, and what is good is now considered evil.

When I think of world changers, I think of something written by a physician in the first century named Luke. In Acts 17:6, Luke quotes the statement made by some about the Apostle Paul and Silas, as well as other Christians, when they dragged Jason and others before the rulers of the city; “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.” What a statement that is, validating the ministry and influence of the Apostles and Christians on the world at that time. They apparently had a tremendous impact on communities wherever they went, an impact that couldn’t be ignored.

Several years ago I had the privilege of sharing a message to graduating students, and the message I shared focused on the above passage. In the days we now live in, I believe many, especially youth and young adults, are looking for a cause not only to live for, but one that is worth dying for, and when they find it they will be effective in impacting the world around themselves for that cause. That is how we need to view and live our lives for Christ and the Gospel. Are we willing not only to live for Jesus, but are we also willing to die giving ourselves for Him and to Him?

So, how do we change and impact the world around us for Christ? While there are many different opinions out there on how Christians and churches are to accomplish that, I wonder what we can learn from Scripture and 2,000 years of history. Do you want, as I do, to impact and turn the world around you upside down for Jesus? Please know that as I write this I’m also talking to myself, looking at how I fall short in this area and what I need to do to change that in my life.

“These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.” What were these men doing to illicit such a charge against themselves? They were simply living a life blameless before God and man, boldly proclaiming whenever they could the good news of Jesus, manifesting signs and wonders to support and confirm the message they were proclaiming, all along with a strong conviction to give their lives for the furtherance of the gospel even if it meant death. That is all we really read about in the Book of Acts and the rest of the New Testament. Is this the model we must follow if we are to impact and transform our communities for Christ, or should we consider a different approach more in line with current culture and society?

While I couldn’t put a name on it until recently, I’ve seen over the past several years a push by some churches that have sought to impact and transform their communities through community involvement and works. Yes, one way of outreach to the community is through community involvement and works, but to seek to impact and transform a community in this manner is like “getting the cart before the horse”. Often times I’ve heard it said that the harvest field is outside the four walls of the church, but it seems like the majority of the time the community outreaches some employ are simply ways to entice people to come to church, and not so much pointing them to the cross where there is salvation, hope, and healing for them. It’s almost as if they are trying to move the harvest field they talk about back into the four walls of the church instead of reaching them where they are at. I’m reminded of a powerful movie that stars Gavin MacLeod, one that you should see if you haven’t already. In the movie, Time Changer, it takes a look at how the push for morality apart from the name of Jesus deteriorates over time, and that we can never leave Jesus out of the equation. In the same manner, community involvement without the proclaiming of Jesus and the good news of the gospel will become a community minded church with a very weak message of salvation to the very ones they seek to reach.

I mentioned the phrase “getting the cart before the horse”, and this is what I mean by that. The approach of some churches is to impact a community through community involvement and works, expecting people to come to church and receive salvation when they do. However, this is the opposite approach we see God used both in the Bible and the great revivals of the last 2,000 years. The approach we see God using is what I described a couple paragraphs earlier. When the early church took the approach as I described a couple paragraphs earlier, people were not only getting saved, but they were getting transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, and as a result the communities were being transformed and turned upside down for Christ. The transformation of the communities came as a result of lives being transformed by the Gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit, and not the other way around.

When we look at the great revivals of the past, we see the same thing happening. The focus was to reach the lost with the Gospel of Jesus, calling sinners to repentance with signs and wonders confirming the message, and where they experienced the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. It was then that bars and saloons were shut down, gambling halls closed their doors, and places of prostitution were put out of business. In one revival, the Welsh Revival, it was reported that the work animals had to be retrained in regards to the commands they were given, commands that were once made up of obscenities and profanities were replaced with more appropriate and wholesome commands.

The focus of the early church and the great revivals of the past was not to impact and transform a community, but instead to point sinners to the cross for salvation, which as a result impacted and transformed communities.

The approach by some in recent years is to use what is referred to as a “missional” approach. In this approach the idea is to be community minded, involved in community events and practical works. They seek to live and reach out to people in the way that they think Jesus did; through community involvement, practical works, not holding people accountable for sin that is clearly identified as such in the Bible, being tolerant of other people’s beliefs, and being as appealing and attractive as possible to society and culture. Several years ago a well-known pastor put together a guide for churches seeking to attract people to their church. In this guide he pointed out that churches needed to do away with anything that might deter people from coming to their church, or that might make people feel uncomfortable for being there. Some of the things he mentioned was to eliminate from the premises any crosses, to avoid any singing, preaching or teaching about the cross or the blood of Christ, and to definitely not mention or deal with sin or the repentance of it in any way. This approach has the form of godliness but denies the power of God as the Apostle Paul told Timothy would be present in the last days (2 Timothy 3:1-9)

In regards to Jesus, the apostles and the early church, I’m not sure how they come up with how they lived to support their approach. Where do we see in Scripture that their ministry was made up of community involvement and practical works? Yes, we read of Jesus’ illustrated sermon washing the disciple’s feet on one occasion, but that is the only time that we see or hear of Him doing anything practical, so to speak. And we can see from the disciple’s response that doing anything practical like this was not something they ever saw Him do before. What Jesus was trying to convey to them was a mindset like He had (Philippians 2:5-11), willing to do whatever the Father asked of them to do no matter how low or hard it was. If Jesus was wanting them to do practical works as a primary means of ministry and reaching the lost, then they apparently missed the point as we can see in Acts 6:1-7 they focused their attention on prayer and the ministry of the Word, giving to specially appointed disciples the responsibility of meeting the necessary practical works.

We also read in John 10:32 that Jesus did many good works that He had shown from the Father. And in Acts 10:38 we read how that Jesus was anointed by the Father with the Holy Spirit and with power, doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil. Yes, Jesus did many good works; healing the sick, raising the dead, opening blind eyes and deaf ears, casting out demons, feeding thousands, changing water to wine, calming the winds and the waves, walking on water, talking to the forbidden and forgiving the judged. To say that the good works mentioned in these passages were practical works ignores the context in which they were written, and it’s inconsistent with what we read regarding Jesus, the Apostles, and the early church. Not only that, but Jesus also tells us in John 14:12 that not only will we do the works that He did, but greater works we will also do because He will go to the Father. Each of these passages refers to the spiritual, signs and wonders, and not the practical works as some would like us to believe.

What am I trying to say? If we are to see a community impacted and transformed for Christ, then it needs to start with living lives blameless before God and man, boldly proclaiming the good news of the Gospel, manifesting signs and wonders to confirm the message being given, and a strong conviction to give our lives completely to Him and the furtherance of the Gospel, even if it means to our death. Community involvement and practical works, though good and a form of outreach to the lost, will never reach and transform a community if that is our mindset and focus apart from what we see in Jesus, the Apostles, the early church, and in the great revivals of the past.

If you want to be a world changer, to see your community impacted and transformed for Christ, then it has to start with prayer. While prayer for the needs of others is great and important, prayer for the lost and the manifesting of the power of His Holy Spirit in our lives to reach the lost needs to become our hearts cry. If we are to impact our community, then we need to make sure we are living blameless before God and man. If we are to see souls saved and lives transformed, then we need to have more boldness to proclaim Christ to those we come in contact with, seizing the opportunities that God gives us to this end. If we are to see lives reached and communities set ablaze for Christ, then we need to become instruments God uses to manifest the power of the Holy Spirit in signs and wonders to confirm the message. Jesus said for those that believe signs and wonders will follow (Mark 16:15-18), and again He said we would be baptized with the power to be witnesses to Him (Acts 1:8).

Be a world changer for Christ! I want to be a world changer for Jesus, and my prayer is that He will make me more of one for Him in my life. What about you????

John Johansson (Pastor John)

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C G and C

Many people are haunted with memories of their past. They struggle with thoughts and regrets of how they should’ve handled things better, and now they are in an emotional prison of sorts. I’m not talking of things for which you had no control over, but rather instead those times when you had the opportunity of handling or responding to situations differently than you had. While there may be better and more sophisticated ways of addressing these, I want to simplify things by breaking things up into three groups, condemnation, guilt, and conviction.

I’ve found that a lot of people I’ve talked to in the past are confused about what condemnation, guilt, and conviction are or look like, and because of it they don’t know how to deal with them. The first group called condemnation is a nasty one. Sometimes others are the source of condemnation, and other times it is self-inflicted. Condemnation is fairly easy to spot, but not so easy to deal with. Regardless of its source, condemnation devalues and degrades people. With condemnation you will hear statements like; “you’ll never amount to anything”, “I’m no good”, “I’ll never be good enough”, or “you’re not worth it”. All these and other like statements do is destroy your self-esteem and sense of self-worth. These statements basically knock you down, and then work to keep you down. Do these statements, or thoughts, reflect how God views you? NO! God knows and believes you are very, very special, and He has a very special plan for you. God wants you to not only know that, but to also believe it. God will never belittle you or make you feel hopeless or worthless. He sent His Only Son, Jesus, to come and die so that you could have life and life eternal. You are worth it to Him!

The second group is guilt. There is a good or healthy type of guilt, and there is a bad and unhealthy type of guilt. The bad and unhealthy type of guilt are those things that you take upon yourself when they are not yours to take. These could look something like feeling guilty because your distant cousin three states away fell and broke his leg the other day while you were home working in your garage. This may be a bit of an extreme scenario but I think you get the point. Some people have a way, one way or another, of feeling guilty over things that they have absolutely nothing to do with. This is unhealthy guilt. The good and healthy guilt is when you it is for things that you were responsible for. Guilt comes when we become aware of or acknowledge we should have done things differently in a given situation. Guilt tells us that the way we responded or treated someone was wrong, or that we went somewhere that we shouldn’t have, or that we should’ve said or done something when we didn’t. Guilt is knowing that something we said or did, or didn’t say or do, was wrong and we should have done differently. Many people deal with guilt and never get past it. The more guilt they feel the greater the chances are that they will begin to feel condemnation in their life. The more they feel guilty the harder it is for them to move on in life.

The third group is conviction. This is similar to guilt but with one added twist to it. Guilt tells us we were wrong in something, but conviction tells us that we were wrong in something and gives us hope by giving us direction on how to make things right and to be free of it. Granted, sometimes the direction conviction gives us to make things right is not what we are wanting to hear, and therefore we see the conviction as guilt with nothing we can do about it. God’s Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, and the purpose of it is so that we will make the necessary changes to make things right in His sight. God’s heart is that we be right with Him in all our ways, and because of that He will let us know what we need to do to make that happen. Conviction gives us hope that we can rise above what we’ve done if we follow and obey His lead in how to make things right in His sight. Conviction is what leads us to salvation, where we recognize that we are lost and dead in sin, and with that He gives us the instructions we need on how to get free of it and be made right in His sight through a life surrendered to Jesus. Some people think that the moment we responded to His conviction of sin and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior then it’s a done deal. All our sin is taken care of with nothing more to worry about think, but this is a bit off. Yes, Jesus’ death made provision for all our sins, past, present, and future, but if all our present and future sins are already covered then why should the Holy Spirit convict us of sin? Some don’t recognize God’s conviction as conviction in order to avoid making life changes that are pleasing in His sight. And as I mentioned earlier, some don’t recognize conviction because they don’t like or accept any of the instructions God is giving them to make things right in His sight. Conviction is something that we should all welcome in our lives as it works to make us more like Jesus, and it prepares us for that trumpet sound we are waiting to hear. To squelch conviction in our lives, and we can do that, we are in essence quenching this role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The more we ignore conviction we become harder in our heart and more stubborn in our ways, and this can have dire eternal consequences in our life if left unchanged.

So, hopefully this helps clear up the confusion regarding condemnation, guilt, and conviction. In Romans 8:1 we’re told that there is now no condemnation for those who live according to the Spirit, but there is condemnation for those who live according to the flesh. Condemnation is not what God has for us as His followers, but if we are living according to the flesh then we are subject to it. Good and healthy guilt can help us recognize when we’ve done wrong, which is important in order to for God to help us with it. And conviction is vital in the life of every Christian, and not just convicting the sinner to salvation, because it helps us know when we’ve violated God’s will and nature in our lives and shows us how to make things right with Him and others. If we are living to honor and please God with our lives, and to accurately represent Him to the world as His ambassadors, then we need to welcome conviction instead of ignoring or pushing it aside.

John Johansson

The Triumph of Truth

Have you ever had someone lie about you before? More than likely, most, if not all of us, have had that happen to us at one time or another. And for some of us, we are still feeling the impact of such lies several years after the fact. How many of you would agree with me that going through something like that isn’t real fun?

Lies can destroy someone, including their reputation, faster than most anything else. Lies hurt, and often times are accompanied with betrayal, where someone you trusted apparently thought it okay to speak so negatively about you. I knew someone years ago that taught me that there are always two sides to every story, and how true that is. While we know that to be true there is a tendency by many to make a judgment before hearing both sides. This is another situation where betrayal can be felt, when someone you trusted and respected, a friend, decided to make a judgment against you without first getting your side of the story. The impact of lies can make the person lied against feel alienated and alone, thinking that no one really cares about or likes them. Lies can forever taint or twist the perception of people against the one who was lied about, destroying relationships that have been decades in the making in one fail swoop. Lies can even lay to waste any opportunity for that person to advance themselves in any way.

When someone or some group begins to spread lies about you, it hurts and can trigger a desire to retaliate in some way. It is in these times that bitterness and resentment can begin to take root within us if we are not careful, and we do need to be careful. Oh, we may not become vindictive and seek to avenge ourselves, but we may hang onto it through unforgiveness. As Christians, to not forgive is not an option if we want God’s forgiveness for ourselves. It’s just that simple. I’m not saying that it’s always easy to forgive, or that the person even deserves the forgiveness, but then again when and how did we deserve God’s forgiveness? Forgiveness is not necessarily emotional, though emotions can follow and become a part of it, but forgiveness is a conscious choice we make. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that it is far easier to forgive someone right away than if we wait till later. The longer we choose to not forgive someone, not only does it become harder to forgive them in the future, but it also makes it easier to not forgive others when they hurt or offend us even though they have absolutely nothing to do with it.

We need to remember a couple things when lies are spoken against us, things that will help you remain healthy emotionally and spiritually. I already commented on the first one, being forgiving, and the sooner the better. I might add that God is always ready to help us forgive when it’s hard to do so, but we have to want to and to let Him help us. If we choose to not forgive, we will be miserable and full of anger, both of which will continue to eat us up, either until we decide to forgive or throughout eternity apart from God. So, forgive, and don’t waste any time in doing so. Don’t wait!

The second thing to remember when lies are spoken against us comes from a comment I heard a minister once make. He made the comment, “The truth will always outlive the lie”. Wow, what a statement. That is so very true when you think about it. It doesn’t matter how powerful the lie was, how impacting and destructive it is, or even who was behind it, it will at one time or another be exposed for what it was. No, it may not be exposed in the very near future, but it will one day be exposed. It may not even be in this lifetime, but it will be exposed. When we, and we all will, stand before God the lies will be exposed and the liar will be judged accordingly. When the lies are exposed and the liar judged, the judgment will be final. So, if we can remember this truth and rest in it then we have nothing to fear. God will take care of us and defend us against our accusers. It may not come as we think or how we would like it, it may not even come when we want it to, but He will defend us if we keep our hearts right before Him. If we keep our hearts right before Him, which requires forgiveness on our part towards the liars, we will see Him defend us and He will do a much better job of it than we could ever imagine.

Are you forgiving? Or should I ask is there anyone that you haven’t forgiven? If so, you need to forgive them because God desires to forgive you, otherwise He won’t forgive. It’s our choice to make, but as followers of Jesus to not forgive is not an option.

And, if we can rest in the fact that the truth will always outlive a lie, trusting that God is watching over us and will defend us, then retaliation and vengeance is not an option and we can have a peace that goes beyond the wisdom of man. Can you trust God knowing that He will take care of and defend you?

Truth will triumph over lies. Truth will outlive the lies. And, God’s truth will triumph!

John Johansson

Surely Not I

The other night while studying a seemingly unrelated subject the word “blaspheme” came up. I thought it strange this word would be associated with the subject I was studying especially in the context it was used. Usually when the word is used it referring to what is being spoken, but in this case it seemed to refer to ones actions, and even then indirectly ones attitudes. I was a bit perplexed and began to do some more research on the word “blaspheme”, and what I found was both surprising and unexpected.

Over the years I have heard many different interpretations on what “blaspheme” means, especially since Jesus indicated in Matthew 12:31-32 that blaspheming of the Holy Spirit would not be forgiven. This is what many have identified as “the unpardonable sin”. As I looked deeper into what it means to blaspheme I was surprised by what I found. I saw many different definitions of the word, both from spiritual and non-spiritual sources, and the underlying idea is any speech, action or attitude that is expressed with a mocking or deep, vehement contempt or disdain for God, or to claim for oneself the attributes and rights of God. Wow. I don’t know about you but that sure makes me stop and take notice.

In my search of the word blaspheme and the actual Greek words translated as blaspheme, one word kept coming up, “revile”. I don’t know about you, but I’ve heard this word used at times and had a general idea of what it meant, but seeing it in my research propelled me to delve deeper and find out what it actually means. Again, I was surprised by what I discovered.

When I think of the word “revile” my thoughts immediately go to I Peter 2:21-24. In this passage we read that Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example we are to follow. When we continue down to verse 23 we read that when Jesus was reviled He did not revile in return, so what does it mean to be reviled and to revile? Do we have an accurate understanding of what these words mean, and would others say that we are following Jesus’ example in this area?

One of the best definitions I found for the word “revile” came from the Cambridge Dictionary Online. The definition they give is, “To criticize someone strongly, or say unpleasant things to or about someone”. It isn’t hard when looking at this definition to see how it flies in the face of the speech, attitude and behavior we are told to have as followers of Christ. Whether we look at Philippians 4:8, or the fruit of the Spirit outlined in Galatians 2:22-26, or even at the “Love chapter”, I Corinthians 13, it is evident that there is no room for a follower of Christ to revile anyone. So, how does this play out for the follower of Christ?

Based on the above definition we can see that Jesus had been reviled often, usually by the religious leaders. Jesus was possibly the most reviled during His trial, beatings and subsequent crucifixion, yet He didn’t revile in return. Oh, what a temptation there is to respond negatively when others revile us. When people strongly criticize us, or when they say unpleasant things to us or about us to others, it is very hard to not respond in like fashion. We tend to respond in like fashion by being just as critical or unpleasant with our words and behavior as they are, and in doing so we tarnish our witness as followers of Christ. After all, isn’t that our right? Not if we are followers of Jesus, following the example He laid out for us to follow.

Jesus was confident in who He is, what He was doing, and for which purpose He had been sent to earth for. It didn’t matter what others said about Him, or even what they thought about Him, because He committed Himself to Him who judges righteously. Jesus was willing to endure whatever came His way and to trust that the Father had His ‘backside’ at all times, and this attitude and mindset was evident in His refusal to revile those who reviled Him. In a nutshell, are you confident that you are Gods, and that He is watching out for you with your best interests at heart? Are you willing to commit yourself to Him fully with your life, and to withhold any form of retaliation whether in heart, mind, speech or action when others speak or act negatively towards you or about you to others? James tells us in James 3:1-12 that the tongue is untamable, and Jesus tells us in Matthew 12:34 that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, so it is vital for us to make sure what we fill our heart with is of God and glorifies Him. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:5 to take every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Also, we need to focus our thinking in line with what Philippians 4:8 tells us and to pursue the fruit of the Spirit for our lives. If we will do that then our responses to those who “revile” us will be in accordance to the example Jesus left for us to follow.

I challenge you to stop and take a moment to re-evaluate your conversations and comments in recent weeks and see if what’s been said would fit the definition of “revile”. If it has, this is the time to repent of such and to honestly begin making the necessary changes to remove this behavior from your speech and lifestyle. This should not be something that others can say you’re guilty of as a child of God, a follower of Christ, or as an Ambassador of Christ.

John Johansson

Putting on the Mind of Christ

We live in a time when the mind of Christ is the furthest thing from most people’s thoughts. In fact, if you were to ask people what is the mind of Christ, the majority would not be able to answer that question or would have a twisted idea of what that is. Has the understanding of what the mind of Christ is for the most part been lost to a culture that is consumed on satisfying self in one way or another?

What is the mind of Christ? There is a lot preached from America’s pulpits, among both the televised and local churches throughout the country, of what the mind of Christ is, but is what they are preaching really the mind of Christ? Let’s take a look at this and see for ourselves. In Philippians Paul tells us what the mind of Christ is, so I think that is probably the best place to start with this. Let’s take a look at it.

In Philippians 2:5, Paul tells us to have the same mind that was in Christ Jesus, so let’s see if we have the same mindset. Even though teachers and preachers of the Gospel tend to skip right past verse 6 of this same chapter, probably thinking that it doesn’t apply to us, but I believe that is the farthest thing from the truth. Why is it that verse 6 tends to get skipped over so frequently? Well, what does it say?

“who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, …” Philippians 2:6 (NKJV)

This verse talks of Jesus being in the form of God, and that He did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, so how does this apply to us? No, we are not God, nor are we equal with God, so why is it that Paul felt that it was important to mention this? After all, this should be a “no-brainer”, right? Well, not necessarily. In Romans 8:12-17, we are told that not only are we adopted into the family of God, but we are also joint-heirs with Christ. Wow. That is awesome, to think that God values us, His creation, in such high regard that He would sacrifice His son for our salvation. And, to top it off, we’re not just adopted by God, but we’ve been made joint heirs with Jesus, our creator. Who said that God doesn’t love us and have such exciting things in store for us? Well, this is where we get tripped up. We hear a lot of preachers and teachers telling us how we are to live as children of the King, and that we should focus on living under the blessings and perks of that relationship, settling for nothing less. We hear how we should claim God’s promises for us in regards to health, prosperity and promotion, because after all Jesus made those things possible for us with His sacrifice and resurrection. We see and hear of scripture in both the Old Testament and the New Testament that reinforces this mindset, but do we just focus on those scriptures? Or, are we to also include the other scriptures in the Bible?

We as people have the tendency to grab a hold of key scriptures that we like and ‘tickle’ our ears, forgetting that there are other scriptures that we need to factor into the equation to get a balanced view of what God is saying to us? Philippians 2:6 is one of those verses that is often times, and conveniently, overlooked or passed right over. Paul tells us to have the same mindset of Christ, and to do so we need to consider this verse. Just as Christ is God and did not consider wrong to be equal with God, even so we need to have the confidence that we are children of God and joint-heirs with Jesus, but what did Jesus do with this confidence of who He is? Well, verse 7 tells us that He made Himself of no reputation, taking on the form of a bondservant, and verse 8 tells us that He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. That puts an interesting twist to things, doesn’t it? How does this fit in with a lot of the teachings we hear these days, claiming God’s blessings and promises for us based on our ‘rights’ as children of God?

Am I saying that God doesn’t want to bless us or that He doesn’t want to fulfill the promises He’s made to us? Not at all! God does want to bless us, and He does want to fulfill His promises to us, but for us to make a lifestyle of claiming our ‘rights’ to those is wrong. There is a time when we are to claim our ‘rights’ to things, much like when Paul exercised his rights as a Roman citizen. Paul had been beaten and imprisoned on many occasions but never chose to claim his rights until he saw an opportunity to use it to further the Gospel and to take it to Rome. Just as Jesus never used His position as the Son of God to do anything for His own benefit and purposes, and just as Paul didn’t use his rights as a Roman citizen for his own benefit and purposes, even so we shouldn’t be exercising our ‘rights’ as children of God for our own benefits and purposes. We should only use what God has promised us as His children for the furtherance of the Gospel and the name of Christ, and to do that we need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit as to when and how we should do so.

Many times we forget that this life we live is not our own, but is Christ’s life lived through us. We are called to be His ambassadors to a lost and dying world, reconciling men back to right relationship with Jesus. That doesn’t mean that God won’t bless us along the way, or that He won’t make good on His promises towards us this side of eternity, because He does do that, but as His bondservants we shouldn’t be claiming our rights to such things if we are truly working as His ambassadors. He is the one that determines how, where, and to whom we are to take Jesus to the lost and hurting, and because of that we need to be willing to go and do whatever He would have us to for the Gospel and the sake of Christ. Paul learned to be content in all things for the purpose of doing the will of God for him, and even so we need to learn to be content knowing that the salvation and healing of others is of greater importance than our temporal blessings and comforts of life. We have eternity to experience and enjoy ALL that God has for us, but let us not focus on storing up treasures or building empires in this life only to barely make it into heaven and have no real treasures have been stored up.

Think about these things. Are you living a life focused on living as children of the King now, with all its blessings, rights and comforts, or are you willing to go without for the purpose of doing the will of God and storing up treasures for yourself in heaven.

www.resoundingshophar.com

Forbid Them Not …

Heard someone criticize another minister recently and it bothered me. We live in a time when people think it okay to criticize ministers and ministries. When Jesus tells us to not be criticle of others why is it that we think it okay to criticize ministers just because we don’t agree with them or like the way they do things? I’m not talking about major doctrinal issues or things that are in definite conflict with the word of God.

The disciples came to Jesus once regarding someone who was casting out demons in His name, asking what they should do since that person wasn’t a part of them. Jesus didn’t say anything about whether or not this person was sent of God, or if he was even right with God. Jesus didn’t even say anything about the way the person did or did not do what he was doing, or even if he was operating in the flesh or by the Spirit of God. Jesus’ response was very simple and to the point, a response that we should embrace much more often.

Jesus simply said, “Forbid him not”. Jesus continued to say that no one who performs miracles in His name can soon after turn around and oppose Him, and that whoever is not against Him is on His side. Wow. Jesus did not justify or legitimize the person, but He wasn’t going to stop someone from promoting His name to others. How many times are we quick to stop, destroy, or even slander those who are promoting Christ and the Gospel simply because we don’t agree with their take on things or the way they do or don’t do things? I believe we should do some self re-evaluating and see if we’ve helped and aided the cause of Christ and the Gospel, or if there’s been times that by our conversation or conduct we have in some way hurt Christ and the furtherance of the Gospel to save the lost, heal the hurting, and bring deliverance to the bound.

For more on this topic follow the link to read the full article posted on our website; https://rshophar.com/forbidthemnot.html

John Johansson

Judge not …

More than a year ago there was an article in a school bus industry publication that touched on road rage and how we can avoid it. The article also asked readers to let them know of ways that they deal with it, and I promptly responded, to which they included my response in the following issue.

My method for dealing with road rage isn’t limited to driving and road rage. It’s a mindset I’ve tried to establish within myself since high school for all of life. It’s a rather simple one if I may say so. What I try to do is whenever I see or hear something I first stop and ask myself a simple question, “have I ever said or done that before?” If I realize the very thing I was going to get criticle of is something that I’ve been guilty of myself at any time, then I have no place to be criticle or get upset. You may not think that would have much of an effect on you, but if you haven’t taken on that mindset before I challenge you to try it for a month and see what happens.

This way of thinking is at its foundation Biblical. We read in Matthew 7 that we are not to judge others otherwise we will be judged. More specifically, if we were to take it down to the original language, it implies that the exact thing we judge someone else for we will be judged for. You could also say that the same measure or standards by which we judge others God will use to judge us.

Let me give you an example I often times share with others to help you understand this. Let’s say that Billy Ray did something that really hurt and took advantage of you, and Billy Ray apologized for it. Let’s say that when Billy Ray apologized you analyzed it to determine if he was sincere, or maybe you would only accept his apology and forgive him if he satisfied certain “conditions”. Your response to Billy Ray’s apology is entirely up to you, and you have a “right” to handle it however you want, but there is something to remember. Your response to Billy Ray’s apology will determine God’s response to your apologies. The factors you used to determine whether or not to forgive Billy Ray, or the conditions you placed upon Billy Ray in order to forgive him, these very things would be the same that God will use when you ask for His forgiveness. Now, if you were quick to simply accept Billy Ray’s apology and to forgive him, God will be equally quick to simply accept your apologies and forgive you. This is just an example to make the point that the way we critize or judge another, God could use that same response towards us.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be like the unforgiving servant we read about in Matthew 18, that has the very things he was forgiven of now held against him because of his response to a fellow servant. How about you? So, the next time something rises up within you to criticize or judge someone else, or even to get very upset and “balistic” towards another, stop and ask yourself if you’ve ever said or done something like that before, and if so extend grace towards that person or group of people. That is what Jesus would want.

Think about it.