Unselfish Christianity

Is it OK to be selfish? I don’t think you can find a Christian who will admit to thinking that it’s acceptable for a Christian to be selfish. Selfishness is at odds with Christianity.

In Philippians 2:3(NCV) Paul writes, “When you do things, do not let selfishness or pride be your guide. Instead, be humble and give more honor to others than to yourselves.” He also wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians that love “is not rude, is not selfish, and does not become angry easily.” 1 Corinthians 13:5 (ICB)

James addressed the selfishness this way, “Are there those among you who are truly wise and understanding? Then they should show it by living right and doing good things with a gentleness that comes from wisdom. But if you are selfish and have bitter jealousy in your hearts, do not brag. Your bragging is a lie that hides the truth. That kind of “wisdom” does not come from God but from the world. It is not spiritual; it is from the devil. Where jealousy and selfishness are, there will be confusion and every kind of evil. But the wisdom that comes from God is first of all pure, then peaceful, gentle, and easy to please. This wisdom is always ready to help those who are troubled and to do good for others. It is always fair and honest.  James 3:13-17 (NCV)

The Bible is clear: In the heart of the Christian, there is no room for selfishness. That was easy. We have answered that question. Now let me ask you another question. Do you want Jesus to come again?

I would hope that the answer is yes. So let’s move on to a third question. Why do you want Jesus to come again?

Something strange happens when we discuss these most basic Christian ideas: Salvation, Eternal Life, The Second Coming and Heaven.  We often talk about them in the most selfish of terms. Think about it. The average “gospel” presentation goes something like this: you’re a sinner who deserves death, but if you want to be saved from hell and live forever you need to believe in Jesus. Salvation is presented as something to get from God for the benefit of self.

A friend of a friend posted the following encounter on Facebook this week. “Today an individual stopped me in a parking lot and asked me if I were to die today, right this very moment, do I know I would go to heaven. I took a second to gather my thoughts because I have always thought this to be a strange question. As if the entire point of the cross, the tomb, the resurrection and my salvation is going to heaven. Sure, I want to go to heaven someday, but I also want to be saved for today. I need salvation to be the father and husband that my kids and wife need. I need salvation to be a good teacher. I need salvation in order to preach the gospel. I need salvation to love my neighbor and enemies alike. I have had a lot of life to live since I was saved. Sure, heaven is in the mix, but right now life is what is on my mind. When I talk to the lost, life seems to be their immediate concern as well. Perhaps we need a different question when sharing our faith. Perhaps we should talk about living because life is ultimately what Jesus gave.”

Secular psychologist Alfie Kohn, writing about child rearing, states that a rewards approach to raising kids is actually “by its very nature dehumanizing.”  He adds that the great challenge with using rewards as a motivator is that “the more rewards are used, the more they seem to be needed.”

When we as Christians use the rewards method of evangelism, we are simply setting people up to live in an endless cycle of requiring future benefits in order for their belief to be sustained.

Instead of presenting the gospel as something that will yield a future benefit we need to present it as something that has already benefited. Something that benefits us now. The rewards of the gospel are present tense not future tense. This changes faith from being something that we are rewarded for to a way we express gratitude.

Back in the 70’s, one of my favorite music artists was Evie. She sang a song that relates today. It was titled, “If Heaven Never Was Promised to Me.” Here are some of the lyrics.

“You may ask me: Why do you serve the Lord? Is it just for heaven's gain? Or to walk those mighty streets of gold? And to hear the angels sing? Is it just to drink from the fountain that never shall run dry? Or just to live forever, ever and ever in that sweet all by and by?

But if heaven never was promised to me. Neither God's promise to live eternally. It's been worth just having the Lord in my life. Livin' in a world of darkness. But he brought me the light.

Evie says that, “it’s been worth just having the Lord in my life. Living in a world of darkness. But he brought me the light.”

The promise of Heaven and eternal life is awesome, but God loves us and wants us to love Him now. He wants a relationship with us now not just the promise of one in the future.

Jesus wants to be with you.  Revelation 3:20 tells us, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me." This promise is present tense. Jesus wants to come in now. He wants to be with you now. He has prepared a place for you in heaven, but he wants to be with you now not just later in heaven.  He wants to give you a rich and satisfying life. He wants to do it now!

Brilliance in Blogging Award

I was shocked and surprised to receive the Spring 2016 Brilliance in Blogging Award.

Over 150,000 blogs were nominated this year, so it is a huge achievement that An Arkie's Musings won this prestigious award. The award celebrates great writing, great photography and great commitment to stoytelling.

I am thrilled to win the award. I'm still in shock that my blog has been recognized for its brilliance. It feels like a dream come true. Who knew that a little blog from Mena, Arkansas was being noticed.

This is a big deal for me. Winning this award has confirmed that what I am doing is important. All those late nights busily tapping away at the keyboard were not wasted.

I'm just a bit worried about the date of the award, April 1, but any day is a good day for an award.

Now!

Why did Jesus come to this earth? Here is what Jesus said in John 10:10, "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."

Jesus said that he came to this earth so that you could have life and have it more abundantly. When He said have life, he was talking present tense. You can have it now. It isn’t a future reward; it is something you can have now. In The New Living Translation John 10:10 reads this way, “My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”

Jesus wants to give you a rich and satisfying life, right here right now. He doesn’t say that you have to wait until later to get His rewards. Now I’m not talking about the prosperity gospel here. The rich satisfying life isn’t about money. It’s about being happy. It’s about being at peace. It’s about overcoming sin. Jesus has promised these things now.

Television commercials claim that a rich and satisfying life goes along with drinking the right beer, wearing a certain kind of tennis shoes, or driving a certain type of car. Christians never seem to advertise this positive aspect of being a Christian. You are more apt to hear of the trials that a Christian must endure before he can receive his ultimate reward in heaven. But Jesus says that He came to give you a rich and satisfying life right here. We have not been the best witnesses.

In Matthew 10 we have the story of when Jesus sent His disciples out to witness. In verse 7 Jesus said, “As you go, preach, saying, ‘the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” Notice that the kingdom of heaven – the reward of the gospel – is not in the future, it is now. It is at hand.

Over and over we find in the gospels that Jesus talks about the kingdom of heaven. Eleven times in the book of Matthew Jesus tells stories and gives illustrations where he says, “The kingdom of heaven is like.”
1. A man who sowed good seed in his field
2. A mustard seed
3. Leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal
4. Treasure hidden in a field
5. A merchant seeking beautiful pearls
6. A dragnet that was cast into the sea
7. A householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old
8. A certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants
9. A landowner who went out to hire laborers for his vineyard
10. A certain king who arranged a marriage for his son
11. A man traveling to a far country

Jesus refers to the kingdom of heaven in the present tense. His kingdom is here and now and he wants you to be a part of His kingdom and live a rich and satisfying life.

In Romans 15:13 Paul tells us, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” God wants to fill you with joy and peace NOW. He wants the Holy Spirit to fill you with hope. He wants these things for you NOW.

God wants so much more for us that just waiting for the future, waiting for heaven. 2 Corinthians 6:2 reads, “In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you. Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."

God says I have heard you. I hear you NOW. I have helped you. I am helping you NOW. NOW is the accepted time. NOW is the day of salvation.  It is NOW!

The Missouri River

My An Arkie's Faith column from the March 30, 2016 issue of The Mena Star.

Recently we made a trip to Ashland, Missouri to visit my sister. My nephew was the lead in his High School play and we were excited to be able to go see him perform. He played the part of Shrek in Shrek the Musical. He and his classmates had worked hard, practicing every school night for weeks. The production was very entertaining and my nephew was incredible as Shrek.

Ashland, Missouri is just a few miles from the Missouri River and is situated halfway between Columbia and Jefferson City. One morning while I was there I got up early to photograph the sunrise. I ended up at the little town of Hartsburg. It is a small town of 100 people situated on the Katy Trail, a 225-mile bike path that stretches across Missouri. I saw a sign that said Missouri River Access. I decided to check it out. The road to the access was called River Road. From Hartsburg Access to Wilton the River Road runs along the banks of the Missouri River. It was a beautiful drive and I enjoyed taking photos along the river. I was impressed by how wide and how swift the river was.

My mind drifted back in time and I imagined steamboats making their way up the river. Recently I had read portions of the book, Old Man River: The Memories of Captain Louis Rosche, Pioneer Steamboatman by Robert A. Hereford. In the book, there was a quote from an old steamboat man that Rosche met on the St. Louis levee in 1866.

“Just because the Mississippi is the biggest river in the country, you mustn't get the idea that she's the best and the boats on her the finest and her boatmen the smartest. That ain't true. Son, real steamboatin' begins where the Missouri and the Mississippi join up. It takes a real man to be a Missouri River pilot, and that's why a good one draws down as high as a thousand dollars a month. If a Mississippi boat makes a good trip to New Orleans and back, its milk-fed crew think they've turned a trick. Bah! That's creek navigatin'. But from St. Louis to Fort Benton and back–close on to five thousand miles, son, with cottonwood snags waitin' to rip a hole in your bottom and the fastest current there ever was on any river darin' your engines at every bend and with Injuns hidin' in the bushes at the woodyard landings ready to rip the scalp off your head–that's a hair-on-your-chest, he-man trip for you!”

Back in the days when steamboats were common, a passenger stood watching the pilot as they went through a tricky spot on the river. The passenger asked the pilot, "How long have you been piloting a boat on this river?"  "About twenty years," was the reply.  The passenger said, "so I suppose you know every rock and shoal and sand bank and all the other dangerous places."  "No, I don't," said the pilot.  "You don't!" exclaimed the passenger in alarm. "Then what do you know?"  The pilot said, "I know where the deep water is."

Many Christians waste a lot of precious time and resources studying error.  They think that to avoid error they must understand all of the ins and outs of it.  Instead of focusing on Jesus they focus on these erroneous ideas and the people who are teaching them. They become conspiracy theory Christians who spend more time focusing on these conspiracy theories than they do on Jesus.

In Philippians 4:8 (NRSV), the Bible tells us, “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” That seems to tell me that God wants us to focus on the positive.  There is so much evil and error in the world that we could never hope to understand it no matter how long we studied it. Why would we want to take time away from Jesus to study such things?

I am quite often given materials or sent e-mails and internet links to articles that are meant to expose certain groups or organizations. I don't want to take the time to study things that I already believe to be in error. If we know our Bibles and we know our Savior we will not be deceived.  We don't need to see the evil side of life to be able to seek the good.  Jesus tells us in John 8:31,32 (NCV), "If you continue to obey my teaching, you are truly my followers. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Gentle Reader, we need to know where the deep water is.  We need to travel in the deep water as we negotiate the river of life. Too many lives have been wrecked by the rocks and sandbanks of life as they have strayed from the deep water.  Let's resolve to stay in the deep water of Jesus.

Easter at Garvan Woodland Gardens

Yesterday Gina and I along with my daughter and her family visited Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The Gardens were the dream of Verna Cook Garvan. The site for Garvan Woodland Gardens was purchased in the 1920's. In 1956 Mrs. Garvan began to develop it as a garden and possible future residence. She was intimately familiar with the land and laid out each path, marking every tree to be removed. She also personally chose each new plant and selected its location.

When she died in 1993, Mrs. Garvan gave the property to the University of Arkansas Foundation. The Gardens are now an independent department of the University's Fay Jones School of Architecture and continue to flourish and grow.

Every spring Garvan Woodland Gardens has a tulip extravaganza. Over 150,000 tulips line the walkways of Arkansas' premier botanical garden.  Every year that we can we visit the gardens during the tulip extravaganza. Yesterday was a perfect day for a visit.  The weather was perfect as we walked the tulip lined trails.

The peak tulip viewing times at the gardens are March 15 through April 1. Garvan Woodland Gardens are beautiful any time of the year, but I think that the tulip season is quite possibly the best.

Garvan Woodland Gardens is the largest remaining undeveloped tract of land on Lake Hamilton, the Mid-South's most popular recreational Lake. There are over three miles of recreational trails.  This time of year many of the trails are lined with thousands of tulips.

We had a very enjoyable afternoon. The temperatures were warm and the flowers were so beautiful. This time of year the tulips are quite impressive, but there are other flowers in bloom.

My granddaughter Elisabeth loved the flowers and kept saying these flowers are pretty, take my picture here. As a Papa, of course I did.

Garvan Woodland Gardens is an amazing place.  If you ever visit Hot Springs, Arkansas I highly recommend a visit to Garvan Woodland Gardens.

Good Friday Thoughts

Today is Good Friday and the Easter weekend is approaching, My daughter and her family are coming to spend the weekend with us and my granddaughters will be spending the week. I'm looking forward to being with them.

Because of the Easter season, I have been thinking about the final week of Jesus' life.  One of the stories that is recorded during that final week is of Jesus crying for the city of Jerusalem.  If he cried over the city of Jerusalem, can you imagine how he is crying over the world today?

When I was growing up I attended a small church in Fort Lupton, Colorado with my family. The small church shared a pastor with another church. Sometimes when the pastor wasn't there for the mid week prayer service those in attendance would take turns reciting a favorite text. Being somewhat of a smart aleck, I thought it was amusing to say that my favorite verse was John 11:35 – “Jesus wept”.

As I have been studying recently, it has actually become a favorite verse of mine. I believe the simple words, “Jesus wept,” may reveal as much about Jesus as any other words ever said about him.

I’m sure that you remember the story of Lazarus. When he became ill, his sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, the one you love is very sick.” Jesus chose to wait until Lazarus had died before he came. We read the story in John 11:33-35. “When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, he was moved with indignation and was deeply troubled. “Where have you put him?” he asked them. They told him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept”.


Let me ask you a question. Why did Jesus cry? Was it because of his love for Lazarus? He knew Lazarus would be alive in a few minutes. Jesus was crying because of the grief of his friends. He was moved by their sorrow. Jesus is painfully aware of your suffering. When you cry He is aware. Psalms 56:8 tells us, “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.

There is one other place in the Bible where it tells us that Jesus cried. We find it in Luke 19:41 - “But as they came closer to Jerusalem and Jesus saw the city ahead, he began to cry”.

Why was Jesus crying? Was he crying for a city?  I think that Luke 13:34 gives us some insight into this story. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!

Jesus was crying for the people of Jerusalem. He had come to save them, but most were not willing to be saved. Even though they had rejected him and his salvation, he had compassion on them.

As Christians our example is Jesus.  If we are to follow the example of Jesus, how should we relate to sinners? We should have compassion. It seems to me that many Christians have lost their compassion. As I look around I don’t always see Christians dealing with others with compassion. I am more apt to see hate than compassion.

I don’t want to meddle, but maybe I will just a little bit. Just think about a few of the hot button topics of our day and see what your response is toward the following groups. Gays, Muslims, Adulterers, Abortionists, Thieves, Drug Dealers, Prostitutes, Atheists, etc.


Do you have compassion on them, or is your response something different? Can you hate someone when you are praying for their salvation?  Should we hate someone that Jesus loves and was willing to die for.

Following the example of Jesus and having compassion on sinners is very liberating. It allows us to leave the judging up to God while we practice the self-sacrificing love He demonstrated on the cross. It allows us to hold ourselves to a high moral standard without feeling that we must hate those who do not see things the way we do.

Daniel Darling states, "we must not allow our protest against values with which we disagree to overshadow our responsibility to show Christ's love for the world. It may very well be the person who offends us the most whom God is in the process of saving. And our gracious response might be the bridge that the Spirit uses to usher him from death to life".

A very popular catch phrase in Christianity is,"What Would Jesus Do?".  WWJD is found on jewelry, emblazoned on bumper stickers and has made it's way into popular culture.  The only way to determine what Jesus would do is by learning what Jesus did.

Jesus cried for a city of sinners who rejected him.  He asked his Father to forgive those who tortured and killed him.  We should love the "sinner" as Christ loved us sinners and, by our own conduct and words, model a better way. When we uplift the right and the good, sin will appear in its true colors. However, if we do not model the love of Christ and give no evidence of His power in our lives, no amount of argument will induce the "sinner" to give up his sin. Holding a sign that says “God Hates You” is not an effective way to witness to sinners.

Let’s follow the example of Jesus and love sinners and hate the sin in our own lives. John, the disciple that Jesus loved, tells us in 1 John 4:8 “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love”.

The Mena Fun Run

My article from the March 23, 2016 issue of The Mena Star

The Mena Fun Run will be held on April 9th at the Mena School Bus Loop at 10:00 a.m. A fun run is a friendly race in which participants take part for enjoyment rather than competition. It is a great chance to come together as a family and teach your kids the importance of health and fitness.

The event is sponsored by the Quarters For A Cure Relay For Life Team and all proceeds will go to The American Cancer Society. All participants who have pre-registered by April 1st will receive a t-shirt. The adult pre-registration fee is 25.00 and the fee for children 17 and under is 10.00. There will be registration at the event from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. The day of the event adult registration fee is 30.00 and the day of the event registration fee for children 17 and under is 15.00.

The focus of the Mena Fun Run is on fun! There will be awards given out for “Best Dressed Individual” and “Best Dressed Group” so dress up in anything silly or funny.  There will be bubbles and other interesting and fun things throughout the route. There will be medals given in several age groups as well as for the overall male walker and female walker.

Sign up and enjoy the company of friends and family, and the comfortable April weather, while running or walking for a great cause. We’ll see you out there! The Mena Fun Run will be an event you won’t want to miss.

Pre-registration forms are available at any local Bear State Bank. For more information call 479-394-3838 or email tvieira@bearstatebank.com or hlackey@bearstatebank.com