Gang members show more love than Christians

I’m out.

Simple words from a man. This man was mentioning how he recently became a Christian, giving up life in a gang to follow Jesus. He came into the church and said these two words to the pastor indicating he was going back to the gang. The Pastor replied, “Why are you out?” The man replied, because I thought following Jesus was a brotherhood. You have each other’s back, you care for one another and are around each other all the time. The man found the opposite to be true. This was a story from a book I read, I can’t remember which book it was (Maybe “It” by Craig Groeschel) but I believe it was a true story. Part of me wants to debate this. The church in general is better than this, but part of me thinks the opposite.

It was November 5, 2000 when I was baptized. It was a great day. One of the things I remember after getting baptized was a lady. This lady almost came running up to me saying loudly “Welcome to the family!” She gave me a big hug, I was thrown off by this. For the past two years I attended this church off and on, I never got more then a dirty look from this lady. I would be standing next to my friend Jason and she would talk lovingly to Jason and how great he was, than she wouldn’t even acknowledge I was there. One time in particular, she talked to Jason (While I was standing next to Jason), praised him for reciting scripture in Sunday School than looked up and down at me, giving me a dirty look and walking away. I was not a Christian at the time and I told Jason, “Dude, did you see the look she gave me, what’s her problem?” Those weren’t the exact words I said, but you get the point. He replied, “Don’t worry about that, she is like that to people she doesn’t know.” Until I became a Christian, I had not one positive interaction from this lady. This was part of the reason I didn’t get baptized earlier. I thought all Christians were hypocrites, they talked about love but didn’t show it. We need to change this.

Paul shares some words that applied to the Thessalonians and they can apply to us today regarding love. 1 Thessalonians 3:12…

“May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.”

Paul showed amazing love for people. Even from jail he wrote encouraging letters to people. He shared how hearing of their love for one another lifted his spirits. May your love increase and overflow not just for people in the Church but people outside the Church. I love the overflow line, that is how much we are supposed to love. Our love can be so much, it can overflow just like fizz from filling up a fountain drink, it can overflow.

We have the opportunity to show our faith by our love. Christians have a history for fighting and having bitterness in church over small trivial things: color of the carpets, getting rid of hymn books and showing words on a screen, calling a gym a gym instead of family life center etc. We as Christians need to still show love to each other even when there are disagreements. Our love is supposed to overflow from those inside the church to those outside the church.

For those who are Christians, who have you been bitter towards inside the church and why? As a Christian, who do you need to do a better job inside the church of showing love? Now in general, who can you show a love that is overflowing from you today?

We have the opportunity to show the world our love, how can you show your love today?

Have a great day.

Why haven’t the Lions won a Super Bowl and why did Peyton Manning have to leave?

Anybody that knows me knows I am a Lions fan through it all.

Through the good times and the bad.

It’s too bad it’s a lot of bad, but we show signs of improvement.

When people ask, why haven’t they won a Super Bowl yet, you could list numerous things.

Lack of talent, hiring awful coaches, making Matt Millen president and the list can go on and on.

Just like with Peyton Manning leaving the Colts.

Many different things that led to that happening.

Sometimes we find out things as they happen, other times we have no clue and we just guess.

Sometimes this happens in more serious situations then in a sports game.

People get wrapped into things like riots and such based off pretty pointless things.

This happened as people rioted after MSU lost a basketball game.

People were expelled for some of their actions in the riots.

Bad things can happen and people can be involved in them for the wrong reasons.

This happened to Paul in the Bible.

A group of people didn’t like Paul and the result ended up getting a group of people together and were beating him, trying to kill him.

Soldiers were called into handle the situation.

Once they were able to get through the crowd and get to Paul they arrested him and ask what was going on and why was this man being beat.

Acts 21:34…

“Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks.”

Why was Paul being beat?

They couldn’t get the same answer.

Some didn’t even know why this get started and yet they were beating him.

It’s amazing how some things happen when not everyone knows why they are happening.

Ever feel like that happens in life?

People respond to things and have no clue what the full story is?

How gossip can overtake people is sad.

Bad things happen in our lives all because people react before hearing the full story.

We are people that like to be quick to react long before we listen.

How can we change for the better?

People were beating Paul without have the reason why he started to get beat.

James 1:19…

“My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”

Lives could be changed if we did this.

Do you think you are react before you listen?

Imagine the difference we could make in this world if we just listened first.

Do you think the world and our lives would improve if we listened to the whole story?

Have a great day.

If you could fight anyone in the world or history, who would it be?

Ghandi.

Not really, that was a quote in a movie though.

Most of us do not choose who we are going to fight in life.

Not every fight is physical.

There are plenty of fights that are more verbal and in other forms.

People fight, argue and disagree all the time.

Who do you choose to fight with?

What are you even fighting about?

I have seen people fight over some stupid things that have no significant value.

Some issues have come up with my family about my Grandma’s possessions since passing.

It breaks my heart to hear my family fighting over an amazing women’s stuff.

There is no earthly possession that represents Grandma or Grandpa.

Yet fighting happens.

It breaks my heart that a family so close as ours fights over who gets what.

Memories are not possessions.

When I think about my Grandma, I think about all the times we ran into her working at Sears, how she would always try to get a volleyball game together at whatever family event we had and how she would always tell you exactly what was on her mind.

I love my Grandma and hate the fighting that has taken place after she has passed.

So much love destroyed by possessions and power.

I love and miss my grandma, and even just hearing about the fighting tears me apart.

God gives us a couple of issues that came up between people and the church.

This is what was given to us to learn from.

In Chapter 15 of Acts an issue comes up about salvation.

Issues came up about whether you had to be circumcised in order to have faith in Jesus.

Faithful followers who came from a Jewish background said yes and people without a history of faith came to know Jesus (Gentiles) did not think so.

There was a discussion of the leaders of the Church.

They came up with a letter to explain their answer to this question.

They sent leaders to explain what their conclusions were, the results were positive.

Verse 31…

“The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message.”

It encouraged each other from them looking into this matter.

So much fighting can revolve around bickering instead of fighting a result.

Matthew 18:15-20 gives us this so solve disagreements…

“If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him—work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you've made a friend. If he won't listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again. If he still won't listen, tell the church. If he won't listen to the church, you'll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God's forgiving love.

"Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this. When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I'll be there."

Jesus gives us some great tips about fighting and confrontation…

1.      Go to that person first.
2.      If they won’t listen bring in a mediator that both people respect.
3.      In the Church aspect, you tell the entire group.
4.      Offer the chance for forgiveness and repentance.

We can fight over some pointless things and ruin some great relationship over fighting over some meaningless things.

The church in Acts 15 were able to work out their differences.

Are you willing to stop bickering and try to workout those relationships in your life that have went wrong?

God always gives us a second chance, are you willing to do the same?

Sometimes the first step is the hardest.

Are you willing to forgive just like God has forgiven you?

Have a great day.