Priority Check

You may recall from Sunday's message that Jonah apparently had his priorities out of order. It is evident that he had more care and compassion for a plant than he did for people. May his wrong priorities challenge us to evaluate our priorities.

Here is another quote from "Surprised by Grace" that reminds us how easily we can make lesser things into main things.

"...in God's city, the inhabitants love people and walk on gold, while in man's city, the inhabitants love gold and walk on people."

God's deepest affections are reserved for people. In God's economy, people come before projects, not projects before people. God proves this not only in his reprieve for Nineveh but in continually pursuing Jonah."

Endeavoring to love people more than plants, programs, plans or personal agendas,
Pastor Mike

Not all movies based on a Biblical Character are Biblically Sound

While we can be grateful for films with a Christian worldview or with a Biblical theme we must also be discerning in regards to our entertainment choices.

Here is a quote concerning the film "Noah"

"Noah's director Darren Aronofsky, a self-described atheist who made the Oscar-nominated hit The Black Swan, has described the movie as is "the least biblical biblical film ever made" and called Noah "the first environmentalist". According to one early review, the name "God" is not actually spoken at any stage."

Those are the words of a movie reviewer. You can read the entire review HERE.

Another reviewer has written: (Click HERE for the complete review)

Darren Aronofsky wrestles one of scripture's most primal stories to the ground and extracts something vital and audacious, while also pushing some aggressive environmentalism, in Noah. Whereas for a century most Hollywood filmmakers have tread carefully and respectfully when tackling biblical topics in big-budget epics aimed at a mass audience, Aronofsky has been daring, digging deep to develop a bold interpretation of a tale which, in the original, offers a lot of room for speculation and invention.

I think I will skip this movie and just read Genesis 6-8 for the best account of what happened in the life of Noah.

By the way, you will find the title "Lord" or "God" twenty three times in Genesis 6-8, that is twenty three more times than you will hear the "Lord" or "God" referenced in a movie that is supposedly based upon the story of Noah.

I think I will stick with the Holy version over the Hollywood version,
Pastor Mike

A Grumpy Prophet and a Gracious God

We concluded our series on Jonah yesterday. I don't know about you but I felt like we had a great day of worship. Our singing, giving, praying, special music and message all led us in heartfelt worship of our gracious God.

While we have good reason to tag Jonah with the title of "Grumpy" we also need to remember that he at least aired his concerns with God in prayer. I am grateful the Bible says; "he was angry. And he prayed to the Lord" (Jonah 1:1-2). His prayer is a quote from Exodus 34:6-7, which also reminds us that this grumpy prophet had a working understanding of God's Word.

Here is the basis of his prayer from Exodus:

⁶ The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
⁷ keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation."

Jonah said: "You are a gracious God." I love that! I want to remind myself of that. We would all be wise to repeat that truth to ourselves frequently throughout the day.

One quote I left out of the message is:

"There is no place where you might be now, or where you might have been in the past, or where you might go in the future that will ever be beyond the reach of God's grace - nowhere." (Tullian Tchividjian, Surprised by Grace, p. 149)

May we always be surprised by grace,
Pastor Mike

Four Minutes that Will Impact You

Do you have 4 minutes to spare?

Click HERE to watch a video that will only last three minutes and twenty-five seconds, so in about 4 minutes you will be done with checking out today's blog entry.

Your heart will be filled with wonder, there will be a smile on your face, you will have big thoughts to ponder, and you will be filled with gratitude.

That's not bad for a four minute investment.

If you like it, pass it along to your friends.

Rejoicing in "Something More"
Pastor Mike

Anytime, Anywhere, Anything

Yesterday we continued our sermon series in the book of Jonah. Chapter two records Jonah's prayer from inside "the belly of the fish," (Jonah 2:1). Of all the times Jonah could have prayed, it wasn't until he was thrown overboard and swallowed by the fish that he "prayed to the Lord his God". He could have prayed when the Lord SPOKE to him or he certainly could have prayed in the midst of the STORM; but he didn't. He also failed to pray when the SAILORS asked him to. Being tossed into the SEA would have been a good time to pray. None of these events served to rouse him to pray. But when he was swallowed by the fish he "called out to the Lord, out of my distress," (Jonah 2:2). Distressing times can be a call to prayer. Jonah teaches us that we can pray to God anytime and anywhere!

Are you in a distressing situation? Do your problems seem to engulf you? Do you feel as if your trials and troubles are about to pull you under? Then...PRAY!

Like Jonah you too can pray to the God who is SOVEREIGN. He controls the wind, the waves and the great fish. He is control of the circumstances you are in at this moment and He is the one you can call out to and He will hear your voice (Jonah 2:2). He is also the STRONG one. He can do far more than you can ask or think. Above all else He is the SAVING one. I sense a confident assurance in the voice of Jonah as he declares, "Salvation belongs to the Lord!" (Jonah 2:9). Salvation still belongs to the Lord and He alone can save you if you will but call out to Him.

We also learn from Jonah, as we consider "how" he prayed. First, his prayer was BIBLICAL. Look at the many quotes from the Psalms in Jonah 2. His prayer was filled with God's Word. We would be wise to do the same when we pray. I also believe his prayer was very PERSONAL. He called out to "the Lord his God" and Scripture records "he answered me". You get the idea that God and Jonah knew each other. How well do you know the God to whom you pray? Thankfully we can and should know Him well. HOPEFUL is another word that describes how Jonah prayed. He had the confident assurance that God heard him and that he would "again look upon your holy temple" (Jonah 2:4). Being hopeful is not a "cross your fingers" and hope this works out attitude. No, it is a calm and confident assurance in the power, ability and might of God to hear and respond to our prayers. Finally, we sense that even in the belly of the fish Jonah was GRATEFUL. He said "But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you;" It is as if Jonah was thanking God for the deliverance even before the deliverance came. That is praying in faith and trusting God to accomplish His will for His glory and our good.

Take a few minutes today to thoughtfully read over Jonah chapter two. As you do, you too will discover that no matter how deep you are or how distant you may feel from God that gap can be bridged by a simple prayer. It is true you can pray Anytime, Anywhere and about Anything. And you don't have to be in the belly of a big fish to learn that. You can learn from Jonah.

May we with Jonah declare "I called out to the Lord...and he answered me;"
Pastor Mike

Powerful Words for any Leader

7 Billion People... How to Comprehend it

One of the blogs I like to read is Callies Dot Com. A few days ago he had a link to another web site that sought to make the complexity of 7 billion people on earth a little more easy to understand.

Here is the opening paragraph from that site:

"Earth’s population recently surpassed 7 billion people and that number is still growing. To comprehend the composition of our species 100people.org sought to help people, “better understand the complex issues facing our planet and the resources we share by framing the global population as 100 people”.

I think you will find the information presented there to be interesting. Click HERE to see it. According to their statistics, if the earth's population were reduced to 100 people; thirty-three of them would be Christians, twenty-two would be Muslims, Hindu's would be fourteen in number and there would be seven Buddhists. Twelve would practice other religions and twelve more would not be affiliated with any religion.

Do you wonder how the 33 are doing in sharing the good news of the Gospel with the other 67? It seems we should think about that. There are billions of people who need to hear that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). Jesus came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). May we do the same.

A redeemed one out of 7 billion,
Pastor Mike

Let Us Pray

There is certainly much which calls us to pray. As I study Jonah chapter 2 in preparation for Sunday I have been reminded that we can pray anywhere and at anytime. Speaking of Sunday; I pray that you will be with us as the Church gathers to worship. The Lord has a message for each of us in Jonah 2.

Tonight, several of us with gather for a time of corporate prayer. You are welcome to join us. Here is the prayer printed for today in the book "Prayers Ancient and Modern."

"Infinite and holy One, whom we know as our Father and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we devoutly thank Thee for the mercy that created us from the dust, and for the greater mercy that has created us anew by a heavenly adoption as thy children. For the undying yearnings, which thou hast implanted in us, after things unseen, - for their satisfaction in Thyself, we thank Thee; and we rejoice that Thou hast been willing to encourage our frail and mortal spirits, by revealing to us something of the perfection of Thy nature, and calling us to follow after Thee. Grant, we pray, that thy loving-kindness may be followed by our obedience. And do Thou so confirm our best purposes by renewing our sense of Thy presence, that we may both imitate Thy nature, and accept Thy dealings with us in the spirit of childlike trust, and by the help of Thy dear Son, Jesus Christ our Lord - Amen."

You can read another powerful prayer in Jonah 2 and you will be both learning and preparing your heart to receive the Word on Sunday.

Praying with you and for you,
Pastor Mike

The Fish that Caught a Man

Some supposed "theologians" struggle with the veracity of the book of Jonah because they struggle with accepting the fact that a "great fish" could swallow a man. Of course they could simply accept the testimony of Scripture and believe it happened because the Bible says it happened. They could also accept the evidence that tells us that a great fish can indeed swallow a man.

I found the following two illustrations in the book "Explore The Book" by J. Sidlow Baxter (published 1960)

"In the Daily Mail of December 14th, 1928, Mr. G. H. Henn, a resident of Birmingham, gave the following testimony.

"My own experience was in Birmingham about twenty-five years ago, when the carcase of a whale was displayed for a week on vacant land in Navigation Street, outside New Street station.

I was one of twelve men, who went into its mouth, passed through its throat, and moved about in what was equivalent to a fair-sized room. Its throat was large enough to serve as a door. Obviously it would be quite easy for a whale of this kind to swallow a man." (Explore the Book, p. 152)

Here is another amazing story from the same book.

"In February 1891, the whale-ship Star of the East was in the vicinity of the Falkland Islands, and the look-out sighted a large sperm whale three miles away. Two boats were lowered, and in a short time one of the harpooners was enabled to spear the fish. The second boat attacked the whale, but was upset by the lash of its tail, and the men thrown into the sea, one being drowned, and another, James Bartley, having disappeared, could not be found. The whale was killed, and in a few hours the great body was lying by the ship's side, and the crew was busy with the axes and spades removing the blubber. Yhey worked all day and part of the night. Next day they attached some tackle to the stomach, which was hoisted on deck. The sailors were startled by spasmodic signs of life, and inside was found the missing sailor, doubled up and unconscious. He was laid on the deck and treated to a bath of sea-water which soon revived him; but his mind was not clear, and he was placed in the captain's quarters, where he remained two weeks a raving lunatic. He was kindly and carefully treated by the captain, and by the officers of the ship, and gradually gained possession of his senses. At the end of the third week he had entirely recovered from the shock, and resumed his duties.

"During his sojourn in the whale's stomach Bartley's skin, where exposed to the action of the gastric juice, underwent a striking change. His face, neck, and hands were bleached to a deadly whiteness, and took on the appearance of parchment. Bartley affirms that he would probably have lived inside his house of flesh until he starved, for he lost his senses through fright and not from lack of air." (p. 153)

So, it appears that a great fish can catch a man and he can live to tell about it!

I believe in Jonah 1:17,
Pastor Mike

When God said "Go" and the Prophet said "No"

Pastor Ray Stedman wrote that the book of Jonah was probably the best known and least understood book in the Bible. I pray that we will come to understand the message contained in its 48 verses. It is a message that will change us!

Yesterday we focused on the message of chapter one. There are several key truths packed into those 17 verses. Here are some highlights from the message.

1. God has a MESSAGE for people.
"Now the Word of the Lord came to Jonah...saying, Arise go to Nineveh," God was well aware of the wickedness of Nineveh and he had a message for Jonah to deliver to them. He hasn't changed and in His Word He has a message for us today. Along with His message He needed a messenger to deliver it. Is there a message God has for you? Is there a message He has for you to share with someone you know?

2. MISSIONS has always been on the heart of God.
The prophets of old were used of God to primarily deliver messages to the nation of Israel. Jonah was different. He was called of God to deliver a message to a Gentile nation. Israel was called to be a blessing to the "nations of the earth" (Gen. 22:18). They had failed in their calling. The Assyrians were cruel and evil and God called Jonah to deliver a message of impending judgement (Jonah 3:4). Jonah knew that such a message could serve to call the people to repentance (Jonah 4:2). He would have rather seen them judged that to have seen them repent. In the book of Jonah, we are reminded of God's concern for the nations. Do we have His heart for those in our community, county and country? How missions minded are we?

3. The MAGNITUDE of disobedience.
No man sins alone. The sin of one can have an impact in the lives of others. Jonah's words should cause all of us to think. He said: "I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you." (Jonah 1:12). Jonah's disobedience to the call of God affected....

A. The Sea. God hurled a great wind that stirred up a tempest on the sea (v. 4)
B. The Ship. The storm was so fierce the ship was about to break apart (v. 4)
C. The Sailors. These experienced mariners "were afraid" (v. 5 and 10)
D. The Stuff on board. Rather than deliver their freight they were pitching it overboard to lighten their load. That's not good for business. (v. 5)
E. The Stamina of Jonah. He was "fast asleep" in the inner part of the ship. How could he sleep through such a violent storm? Most of us sleep to be refreshed, some sleep to be removed from the troubles and trials of life. I think Jonah's spiritual perception and physical health was numbed because he was running from God.
F. The Strength of the sailors. "the men rowed HARD to get back to dry land, but they could not," (v. 13). The storm was too much for these men.

All of this because one man had chosen disobedience. We would be wise to evaluate our own lives and see if their is disobedience in our lives that may be affecting others.

It would be bad if we had to stop now. Thankfully the book of Jonah is a record of God's MERCY!

4. The MERCY of God.
This is a great theme throughout the book. We see God's mercy to the people of Nineveh, as they repented. We see His mercy in the life of Jonah in the second chance he received to deliver the message to Nineveh. The sailors experienced his mercy when He immediately calmed the sea and in their realization that He was the one true God. The mercy of God is a vibrant message in the four chapters of Jonah.

5. The MIGHT of God.
We also are reminded of the great MIGHT of God. He controls the winds and the waves. He appoints the great fish to swallow the wayward prophet. He answers the prayers of those who turn to Him in repentance. He is with us in our deepest and darkest times. He has the power to change the hearts of men. He controls plants, worms and scorching winds to fulfill his plans. What a mighty God we serve!

 Can you say "No" when God says "Go"? Ask Jonah. Is it worth it? I believe it would be better to say...

"I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord,
O'er mountain, or plain, or sea;
I'll say what you want me to say, dear Lord,
I'll be what You want me to be."

Let's decide now that we will not say "No" when God says "Go."
Pastor Mike