I Will Never Stop Teaching

Posted by Jim Thornber on January 28, 2017
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Leadership, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

“Then Jesus went from village to village, teaching the people” – Mark 6:6

bibles-jdtI was in the produce section of Wal-Mart the other day when I saw Charles, who pastors another church in town. As is our custom when we run into one another, we stood there talking about God, church, Scriptures and life. We laughed, shared, commiserated and truly enjoyed ourselves. It’s strange that we can’t seem to find the time to have a lunch together, but we have the time to share and encourage one another for half an hour while we lean up against the banana display in the produce section.

While we were talking about teaching the Scriptures, Pastor Charles reminded me of the scene in Mark where Jesus couldn’t do many miracles in Nazareth, His home town, because the people there lacked faith. Mark 6:6 says, “And he was amazed at their unbelief.”

I know how Jesus felt. And so does Pastor Charles. We spend so much of our time as pastors soothing the saints and reassuring the redeemed we are the first to be amazed when people still doubt God and His Word and make the life of the church fifteenth on their list of important places to get involved in. We listen to people claim to love God’s Word but fail to show up consistently to Bible studies when they are offered. We hear people claim that their life is not their own because Jesus is their Lord, and then they complain when life isn’t going their way all the time. It is about this time in the life of a pastor when we wonder if we are doing anybody any good.

That’s why meeting Pastor Charles was so timely for me. I needed to know that Jesus felt my confusion, was amazed at people’s unbelief, yet never gave up His mission or His ministry. After telling us Jesus was amazed at the people’s unbelief, Mark goes on to say, “Then Jesus went from village to village, teaching the people.”

            My job as a pastor isn’t to get people to accept the Word I teach. Neither does my calling ever include a time to stop teaching. If only five people show up for Bible study on Wednesday night, I need to teach like there were five hundred there. I know what I want to do. I want to tell the church, “You have voted with your feet that Bible study isn’t important to you so we are cancelling it. Call me if you change your mind.” That’s what my pride wants to do. It wants to stand up and tell people how good and holy I am because I want to teach the Word but how unholy and selfish they are because they don’t want to study the Word. I want to take the bully pulpit and justify my bad attitude at the expense of others. And by talking with other pastors, I’m not the only one.

But then I run into a brother in Wal-Mart who reminds me that after being rejected by His hometown, Jesus turned and went from village to village, teaching the people. Jesus never forgot His mission and His purpose for being with us. He was amazed at their unbelief, not angry. He was amazed, but didn’t take it personal. He just continued on. And this is what I sense He is telling me.

And so I will.

 

 

When Will You Die?

Posted by Jim Thornber on December 29, 2016
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

“So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, just as the Lord had said.” (Deut. 34:5)

moses-on-mount-neboI recently finished teaching a series on the life of Moses at my church, and when it was all over there was one particular thought that stayed with me, comforted me and even brought me some relief. The thought is this: Our life doesn’t end simply because we’re old and wore out. Instead, God takes us when He determines our time is up.

Deuteronomy records the last days of the Moses’ life, where God calls him to the top of Mount Nebo for a final look around. Now, this mountains is about 4,500 feet high, and most of us are thinking, “Hey, nice view.” But Moses was 120 years old! How many of you could climb almost one mile high now, much less than when you are 120 years old? And there was no trail or paved road. Moses blazed his own trail and climbed to the top. I have trouble going up and down the stairs at work more than a few times in a row, and here’s Moses doing a little last minute mountain climbing and sight-seeing before he finally takes his eternal rest. Moses was a stud.

But Moses wasn’t just physically strong, he was spiritually strong. We don’t find any self-pity or final regrets mentioned in this last chapter of his life. He knew he was going to see the land God promised to Abraham, and he knew he was never going to walk there. Furthermore, the Lord had already chosen Joshua to take the Children of Israel into the Promised Land. The only thing left for Moses to do was to hike a mountain, enjoy the view, and quietly pass away.

I believe this brief story reminds us that, as believers, we have no reason to fear or panic when it comes to dying. We all die; it is part of living. In some ways, we’re really not ready to live until we’re ready to die.

As we read about Moses climbing to the top of the mountain, we don’t really want him to die. I remember reading the Gospels in high school and somewhere in my mind was the hope Jesus didn’t have to die this time. Of course, I knew that He did and I knew why He did, I just didn’t want Him to actually die. Perhaps it is something within all people that abhors the death of another, because to experience death is not the way God first created us. We were created to live on and on but the original sin messed that up. Still, it didn’t mess up our expectation for eternal life, nor our sense of sorrow when a loved one dies. We know they will; we just don’t want them to.

At the end of his life, Moses is still strong enough to climb the mountain and get a look around, and what a view it is. He starts by looking northward from Gilead to Dan, turning northwest to see Naphtali and the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, then west to all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea, and finally southward toward the Negev (semi-desert region) and the Valley of Jericho. After wandering the deserts for forty years, this must have been quite a sight.

I wonder if our final moments in life will also reveal a spectacular, panoramic, heavenly view of what is ahead; a new dimension that we can see only by the invitation of God. “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him,” Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 2:9. This is what Moses was looking forward to as he took his final look at the Promised Land.

And I am sure that Moses enjoyed the view. Verse 7 says “Moses was 120 years old when he died, yet his eyesight was clear, and he was as strong as ever.” Moses was more than twice my age but still he had better eyesight than I do! The word “strong” here occurs six times in the OT with the sense of being fresh, moist, or green like a tree. It speaks of sexual vigor and physical health.

Nobody knows how many more years Moses would have lived naturally if the Lord had not taken him when He did. Every part of Moses was physically healthy and spiritually strong. So take heart knowing that God doesn’t take us only when we’re worn out. He takes us when He determines our time is up. And if you’re still breathing, it means God isn’t finished with you yet. I encourage you not to give up on yourself until God determines it is time for you to go.

 

What Martial Arts Taught Me About Prayer

Posted by Jim Thornber on December 22, 2016
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

For four years I was an Assemblies of God minister and a monk with the Brothers and Sisters of Charity at the Little Portion Hermitage. This is an excerpt from my book Taking Off My Comfortable Clothes: Removing Religion to Find Relationship.

Every Friday evening, the community gathered in the chapel at the Little Portion for a half hour of silent prayer and meditation. At the appointed time, we would enter the candle-lit chapel, find a place to sit, and silently talk with God. Occasionally, you would hear the sound of slow, heavy breathing in the chapel – that unmistakable indication that one of the saints is taking a short siesta. But for the most part, everyone was engaged in some type of silent prayer.

It was during these times—when I desired nothing more than to bask in the presence of God and simply be with the One who loved me to death—that unsavory images from my past or arguments I’ve had with people would come screaming into my head. Here I am trying to meditate upon God, and an image of girl I once dated (and shouldn’t have) explodes upon my imagination. Now, instead of hoping to catch a glimpse of God’s glory, I have Victoria’s Secret dancing in my head. What’s a monk to do?

The Battle of Prayer

Oswald Chambers said, “The battle of prayer is against two things in the earthlies: wandering thoughts and lack of intimacy with God’s character as revealed in His word. Neither can be cured at once, but they can be cured by discipline.” Although I didn’t know it at the time, it was my previous study of martial arts that helped me overcome my wandering thoughts while in prayer.

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I Have No Record

Posted by Jim Thornber on December 16, 2016
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , . 2 Comments

“He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.” – Psalm 103:12

fresh-start Usually when I eat breakfast, I have a book open in front of me. I eat and read almost every morning. But yesterday I was running late so I didn’t open my book. As I was looking around the breakfast table, I noticed my wife’s address book was open because she’s been addressing Christmas cards. I also noticed that she writes everything in her book in ink. How silly is that? Ink! You know that people are going to move, change phone numbers, get married and or even die, right? This means you have to cross out the name or number and stack another on top of it or even write a completely new entry.

I, on the other hand, am the smart one (yes, she’s rolling her eyes…). I write everything in pencil. That way all I have to do is erase the name or number and start over. It bothers me that she writes in ink. I’ve told her so. More than once. But she still does it. So, while I was eating breakfast and looking at her address book, God broke through. Yes. Even God can speak to a selfish soul whilst they are in the midst of judging another…

It occurred to me that God does a bit of writing Himself, and He does so in a variety of mediums and on different canvases. Jeremiah tells us that God writes His instructions on the hearts of His people (Jer. 31:33), while He told Isaiah, “See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands” (Isa. 49:16). Jesus told the church in Pergamum each victorious believer would receive a white stone with a new name written on it (Rev. 2:17). God wrote with on the two tablets of the Ten Commandments, with His finger (Ex. 31:18), on both sides (Ex. 32:15). Even Jesus did a bit of writing while He waited for the self-righteous teachers of the law and the Pharisees to disperse from their judgments of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:6-8), reminding us of what Jeremiah said: “Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the LORD, the spring of living water” (Jer. 17:13).

What does this have to do with my wife’s address book? I believe that God keeps track of our lives, but He does so with some type of instrument that is easily changed, not permanent, not eternal. God became a baby so He may grow to take away the sins of the world. He knows that people will change, repent and seek to start over. In His great love He keeps us from destruction and puts all our sins behind His back (Isa. 38:17); removing them from us as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12).

Our lives are a living palimpsest, a manuscript on which two or more successive texts are written, each one being erased to make room for the next. One day I’m a sinner, the next day a saint, and tomorrow is yet to be determined. But God, in His love for the Word and the invention of words, determines not only to write our names on the palm of His hand, He writes our sins in the blood of the Lamb and our past He records in erasable ink, for the love of God keeps no record of wrongs (1 Cor. 13:5).

And so, for reasons only God knows and only God can justify, because of the gift of Christ we are “holy and blameless” as we stand past-erased (Col. 1:22). In the Book of Life God writes our name. There is nothing crossed out, no record of faults and no list of changes. There’s just us, loved and accepted in the beloved (Eph. 1:6), whose names are on the guest list to join the party that accompanies the wedding feast of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7).

 

 

 

But Lord, I Want THAT Gift!

Posted by Jim Thornber on December 14, 2016
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

“It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have” – 1 Corinthians 12:11 (NLT)

giftsFor many people, the Christmas season is their favorite time of year. The time spent with family, the abundance of favorite foods, and of course the opening of gifts all make this holiday special.

When I was a kid, I was so keen on getting gifts I would often peel back the wrapping paper to get a peak at what was underneath (I’ll bet you did, too!). After all the gifts were unwrapped on Christmas morning, I would head outside to gather with my friends and compare gifts which, in Southern California, inevitably included a few new bikes, a skateboard or two and usually one remote-controlled car. However, it seemed to me that no matter how cool my gifts were, there was always some other gift my friends had that I envied. I guess they felt the same, because we usually ended up playing with our friend’s gifts more than our own.

What bothers me is how often I have this same attitude about the gifts the Holy Spirit has wisely given to me. Instead of enjoying and showing gratitude for my own God-given gifts, I find myself desiring “other” gifts – gifts I see in people that I, with self-proclaimed omniscience abounding, deem more successful than I am. I figure if I had their gifts then I, too, could have what they have: house, car, job, successfully published book, prestige. You know, all those items that are destined to perish.

However, by pursuing this attitude all I’ve really done is whine, tell God I don’t like my gifts and, in a not-so-subtle manner, suggest He made a mistake. The Lord God Almighty, with true omniscience abounding and from the depth of His own mercy and grace, has loved me enough to give me gifts I didn’t deserve, and I in turn thank Him by breaking the tenth commandment as I covet my neighbor’s possessions.

Excuse me for a moment while I head off into a corner and repent.

Furthermore, it is little comfort to know I’m not the only one who has problems with the gifts of God. Often I’ve heard some Christian say they don’t have any gifts, which doesn’t make any sense. 1 Corinthians 12:11 says God decides which gift each person should have, not some people should have. It is hard to imagine loving parents who only give Christmas gifts to some of their children while neglecting to give to others. Maybe there are some scoundrels like that, but God does not reveal Himself to be that type of father.

Paul goes on to say in the rest of chapter 12 that the gifts of God are like the parts of the body – every part is important and has a reason for being there. Likewise, every Christian is important in the Body of Christ and has a part to play, a gift to use, for the overall health of the body. I guess God knew there would be people like me who would compare their gifts to others, for verse 15 says, “If the foot says, ‘I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,’ that does not make it any less a part of the body.” God has given me a part to play and instead of rejoicing in it, I’ve murmured because I don’t have a different part. What a shame.

My challenge is to stop wanting someone else’s gift and start exercising my own. Being a part of the Body of Christ is not about me, but about the health of the Body as a whole. It’s time to change my prayer from a whiney, “But Lord, I want THAT gift” to a grateful, “Thank you Lord for the wise gift You’ve given me.” Only then will I stop comparing my gifts with the gifts of others and find myself at peace within the Body.

 

Can I Be Like Jesus And Be A Pastor?

Posted by Jim Thornber on December 10, 2016
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

A Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table . . . Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.” – Luke 11:37ff

 

truth_signOne day, Jesus is walking along, teaching a crowd of people about prayer, Beelzebub, driving out demons and the sign of Jonah, who lived inside a fish for three days. You know, the basics of the faith. Then a Pharisee invites Jesus to eat at his house, so Jesus goes and has a nice lunch, but when He doesn’t wash before the meal the way custom instructed, the Pharisee gets religious with the creator of the universe.

In response to this Pharisee and his concern for traditions over God’s mercy, Jesus tells him and his friends they are filthy cups and fools who are headed towards God’s judgment for the way they chose tradition over relationship. This is the famous passage where Jesus pronounces His “Six Woes” upon the Pharisees and scribes.

As I was reading this, it occurred to me that Jesus is actually condemning those who were paying for His lunch. After accepting an invitation to eat in someone’s home, Jesus turns on the one who fed Him. In appears that Jesus wasn’t afraid to tell the truth to those who were hosting Him. Could pastors (me included) learn a lesson from this?

  • How often have pastors been afraid to address certain church issues because they fear offending the generous giver and losing their financial support? Are we, in this manner, placing tithes over truth?
  • How often have pastors been afraid to address unscriptural behavior by a member in the church out of fear of offending the family and losing a big contributor? Are we, in this manner, placing salary over salvation?
  • How often have pastors steered away from preaching the whole Gospel of Christ because they fear what Sister Self-Righteous will say during the weekly prayer/gossip circle?
  • How often have pastors skipped over controversial passages of the Bible because they know a certain deacon will say the pastor has now gone from preachin’ to meddlin’ and it may be time to look for a new preacher?
  • How often have pastors shown more fear of people’s opinions than they do the opinion of God?
  • How often have pastors been too worried about their salary and position to address the sin and selfishness in their congregation?

 

Jesus didn’t worry about offending people. He was too concerned with telling them the truth their souls needed to hear to worry about His next dinner invitation.

As a pastor of a small congregation, I know it is tempting to sugar coat the truth so no one will be offended and leave the fellowship. But Jesus, knowing He would offend those who supported Him, told them the truth regardless of their reaction. And when their reaction got hot enough, they didn’t just vote Him out of the church – they crucified Him.

I’m not looking for a fight in my congregation. But I’m not going to back down from the truth of God’s Word because a religious traditionalist might be offended and take their tithes elsewhere. Besides, if they were giving to the church in order to hear what they wanted to hear, then their money was not actually a tithe, but rather a tip to insure proper service.

So, can I be like Jesus and be a pastor? Yes, but only if I’m willing to truly follow Jesus and not worry about the contributions and opinions of people. I may not get too many lunch invitations, but I won’t have to worry about Jesus showing up during a church service to tell me to clean the inside of my cup.

 

God Answers Imperfect Prayers

Posted by Jim Thornber on December 3, 2016
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

“Meanwhile, Peter continued knocking. When they finally opened the door and saw him, they were amazed.” – Acts 12:16

 

not-perfectHere’s the scene. A group of Christians has gathered together for an all-night prayer vigil to seek God for the life of their beloved friend and leader named Peter, whom Herod has arrested and plans to execute. They are crying out to God for Peter’s life and the prayers take them into the early morning.

Then a knock comes at the front door. A servant girl name Rhoda is sent to see who it is. Rhoda must have been very familiar with Peter to recognize him just by his voice, because she left the gate locked and ran back to the prayer group and told them Peter was here.

And, being the faith-filled, Spirit-led, Holy Ghost baptized believers that they were, they immediately dismissed Rhoda’s news by telling her she was crazy, it was just probably just his angel. Say what? Here these people are involved in some serious prayer but when the answer comes knocking at the door, they don’t believe it. THAT is what I mean by this being an imperfect prayer – they didn’t even have enough faith to think that God would answer their prayers.

What this means for all of us is that it isn’t the “perfect” prayers we pray that finally prevail. It wasn’t the extraordinary faith they all had that moved God to release Peter. In fact, they didn’t show much faith at all. Here they are, all gathered together to pray for their beloved friend, and when he shows up in answer to their prayers, they don’t believe it. So, how much faith does it take to pray for something and then, when you get it, turn it away because you doubt? Not much faith. Not much at all. But what we learn from this passage is it isn’t the amount of faith you have but Who your faith is in.

We must always remember that our faith isn’t in our faith, it is in God. Jesus knew we’d only need faith the size of a mustard seed to move mountains (Matt 13:31-32). The fact that they were praying was enough faith to produce results. I admonish you to NEVER tell someone they didn’t receive an answer to their prayers because they didn’t have enough faith. I want to seriously hurt the self-righteous clods who tell people, “The reason you didn’t get healed was because you didn’t have enough faith.” If you want to see me truly angry, use that sentence in my presence! How much faith does it take to become saved? How much faith does it take to have your first-ever conversation with God? I think that is the same amount of faith it takes to move mountains. Just talking with God takes a certain amount of faith in itself.

Think about this: Peter was released but James was killed. Do you think any apostle could have been arrested without the prayers of the church going out to them? Could the prayers for James have any less faith in being answered than the prayers for Peter? How much less faith can you have than the little faith they had for Peter’s return? They disbelieve Rhoda and then use the excuse it was a ghost or his angel. Can we really say that they had less faith in praying for James and that’s why God didn’t answer them?

Can I tell you a secret? Sometimes the answer God gives is “No,” and no amount of faith will change that. Sometimes it is the death of His servants that serves Him in a way that his life could not. We say God is God and He can do anything He wants, but then we proceed to give Him a list of acceptable and unacceptable things for a God to do. You know, a God we’ve created in our own image to serve our own interests, wants and needs.

I admit that it comforts me to know I’m not the first person to pray for something and then doubt when it arrives. These early believers prayed rightly, and even though they didn’t believe it when God answered their prayers, God answered them anyway. They prayed effectively but didn’t fully believe. Still, they had enough faith in them to pray in the first place, and that was all God needed to answer their prayers. It is all we need, too.