I hope everyone is having a great start to the week. I went ahead and uploaded this week's podcast early for your listening ears. Again, I welcome your feedback along with possible topics of discussion. Email me at jeremytbutt@gmail.com
As a reminder, just click on the title to open the podcast.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Jesus is Aware!
A short while ago I was visiting some patients in Maury Regional Medical Center in Columbia, TN. As I was walking down the hall, I glanced in the coffee shop as I often do and found some friends of mine from Centerville. One of them was Shane Willis, who is on staff at the Centerville Church of Christ. His mother-in-law had surgery, and it just so happened Shane's partner in crime, Brian McAllister (the preacher) was visiting her. I sent Brian a text message saying "I know where you are and what you're doing!" His reply to me was "glad someone does." Though we were being sarcastic, he knew that I was aware he was in the hospital.
In the book of Revelation (which is another type of text message), John reveals to the seven churches of Asia Minor in chapter one that Jesus is in the midst of the lampstands (13). He clarifies that a few verses later by saying the lampstands are the churches (20). He also says that Christ was holding the seven stars in His right hand, which were the angels of the seven churches (16, 20). He was aware of the persecutions they had been facing, but He was also aware of the horrible persecutions they would face in the near future. That's why His message to them was relief is coming soon (1:1; 6:9-11). Following that up in chapters two and three, Jesus begins to reveal to John the spiritual conditions of the seven churches. It is clear from the information given in the opening chapters of Revelation that Jesus is totally aware of what goes on with His church.
We need to know this message today, because Jesus still knows what is happening with the church. It doesn't matter if it's here in Tennessee, California, Africa or Japan; Jesus is aware of what is going on in the lives of His people and their congregational triumphs and tragedies. Five of the churches were told to repent because of wrongdoing, whether is was leaving their first love like Ephesus or tolerating immorality like Thyatira. Smyrna and Philadelphia were the two praised for their faithfulness to the Lord. Regardless of where the church is meeting around the world, Jesus knows and cares what's happening with his people.
This message is comforting, but it should also be frightening. How many times have you heard the phrase "there's an all-seeing eye watching over you?" The writer of Hebrews says "and no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account" (4:13). Knowing that the Lord knows everything about us, how should that make us feel as members of the body of Christ? Are we doing things what would make Christ proud to call us members of His body, or are we acting in ways that bring shame and reproach to His body? Good or bad, Jesus is aware of our activities each and every day.
Jesus did provide us with the ultimate text message in the Word of God, but how would it make you feel today if Jesus sent you a text message on your phone saying "I know where you are and what you're doing?"
In the book of Revelation (which is another type of text message), John reveals to the seven churches of Asia Minor in chapter one that Jesus is in the midst of the lampstands (13). He clarifies that a few verses later by saying the lampstands are the churches (20). He also says that Christ was holding the seven stars in His right hand, which were the angels of the seven churches (16, 20). He was aware of the persecutions they had been facing, but He was also aware of the horrible persecutions they would face in the near future. That's why His message to them was relief is coming soon (1:1; 6:9-11). Following that up in chapters two and three, Jesus begins to reveal to John the spiritual conditions of the seven churches. It is clear from the information given in the opening chapters of Revelation that Jesus is totally aware of what goes on with His church.
We need to know this message today, because Jesus still knows what is happening with the church. It doesn't matter if it's here in Tennessee, California, Africa or Japan; Jesus is aware of what is going on in the lives of His people and their congregational triumphs and tragedies. Five of the churches were told to repent because of wrongdoing, whether is was leaving their first love like Ephesus or tolerating immorality like Thyatira. Smyrna and Philadelphia were the two praised for their faithfulness to the Lord. Regardless of where the church is meeting around the world, Jesus knows and cares what's happening with his people.
This message is comforting, but it should also be frightening. How many times have you heard the phrase "there's an all-seeing eye watching over you?" The writer of Hebrews says "and no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account" (4:13). Knowing that the Lord knows everything about us, how should that make us feel as members of the body of Christ? Are we doing things what would make Christ proud to call us members of His body, or are we acting in ways that bring shame and reproach to His body? Good or bad, Jesus is aware of our activities each and every day.
Jesus did provide us with the ultimate text message in the Word of God, but how would it make you feel today if Jesus sent you a text message on your phone saying "I know where you are and what you're doing?"
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
New Podcast
For those of you wondering where the link to the podcast is, the audio will play if you click on the title of the blog entry. It may be easier to provide the visible link below next time. Let me know what you think.
Follow Me - First Podcast
Here is the inaugural edition of my podcast I was promising all of you. Please provide me with some feedback so I can work to improve it along the way. I hope you enjoy and benefit from this weekly study!
Friday, February 18, 2011
New Podcast
Coming soon from my blog will be a new podcast, which will be a weekly audio feature on the site titled "Biblically Speaking." I have pondered for a while the possibility of having a weekly study of Scripture to benefit anyone who can listen. I am planning on kicking this off next week on Tuesday, so pass the word along to your friends. I look forward to your comments and suggestions on possible topics of discussion on the upcoming program.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Who Will Follow Jesus?
The audio from last night's sermon has been uploaded if you would like to listen. The title of the sermon was "Who Will Follow Jesus?"
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
I Can Do It All By Myself!
"I can do it all by myself!" Have you ever heard these words before, possibly from a child who is very independent? There are many times in life when we think we can handle everything on our own, whether it be job-related, church-related or otherwise. It's great if you can tackle many projects at once, but is it always best?
Delegation is the word that comes to mind with this particular subject. Hesitation is also another word that comes to mind, because so often we hesitate to delegate! Why is it that we are hesitant to pass things off to others to keep us from being bogged down and becoming inefficient? It seems that pride and fear keep us from delegation: pride because we want to show people we can accomplish the task and fear because we don't want to look like a failure for saying we need someone else to do it.
Consider the church. The role of servants (which I believe eventually developed into the role of deacons as described in 1 Tim. 3) came about as a result of the daily distribution of food needs which were threatening to take the apostles away from what they really needed to be doing. They needed to focus their efforts on prayer and the ministry of the word (Acts 6:4). It wasn't that the apostles didn't have the abilities to do this, rather it was that they needed to let someone else do it so they could fulfill their roles as apostles. This is called delegation, giving others responsibility to perform a certain task, and in turn it gets them involved in the work of the church. Though we don't have apostles among us today, the elders of the church should focus on the spiritual aspect of shepherding by delegating other areas of work to the deacons.
Go way back in time with me to see one of the earliest examples of delegation. Moses had a lot of responsibility placed on his shoulders in leading the Israelites out of Egypt. There was a point in time where he not only was a prophet, but he was also acting as a judge to determine the outcome of disputes between the people (Ex. 18:13ff). When his father-in-law, Jethro saw what was happening by these judgments taking up so much of Moses' time, he told Moses "what you are doing is not good" (17). This not only was taking too much time but it was going to wear everybody out. Jethro recommended a plan of action that would allow Moses to appoint others to judge the cases of the people, but Moses would be consulted when there were hard matters upon which to decide. Because of the advice of Jethro, Moses was able to delegate and therefore take a heavy burden off of his back, per se.
Never be afraid to delegate some task to someone else. Let go of the pride and/or fear that might cause you to help get someone else involved in the Lord's work. Delegate - don't hesitate!
Delegation is the word that comes to mind with this particular subject. Hesitation is also another word that comes to mind, because so often we hesitate to delegate! Why is it that we are hesitant to pass things off to others to keep us from being bogged down and becoming inefficient? It seems that pride and fear keep us from delegation: pride because we want to show people we can accomplish the task and fear because we don't want to look like a failure for saying we need someone else to do it.
Consider the church. The role of servants (which I believe eventually developed into the role of deacons as described in 1 Tim. 3) came about as a result of the daily distribution of food needs which were threatening to take the apostles away from what they really needed to be doing. They needed to focus their efforts on prayer and the ministry of the word (Acts 6:4). It wasn't that the apostles didn't have the abilities to do this, rather it was that they needed to let someone else do it so they could fulfill their roles as apostles. This is called delegation, giving others responsibility to perform a certain task, and in turn it gets them involved in the work of the church. Though we don't have apostles among us today, the elders of the church should focus on the spiritual aspect of shepherding by delegating other areas of work to the deacons.
Go way back in time with me to see one of the earliest examples of delegation. Moses had a lot of responsibility placed on his shoulders in leading the Israelites out of Egypt. There was a point in time where he not only was a prophet, but he was also acting as a judge to determine the outcome of disputes between the people (Ex. 18:13ff). When his father-in-law, Jethro saw what was happening by these judgments taking up so much of Moses' time, he told Moses "what you are doing is not good" (17). This not only was taking too much time but it was going to wear everybody out. Jethro recommended a plan of action that would allow Moses to appoint others to judge the cases of the people, but Moses would be consulted when there were hard matters upon which to decide. Because of the advice of Jethro, Moses was able to delegate and therefore take a heavy burden off of his back, per se.
Never be afraid to delegate some task to someone else. Let go of the pride and/or fear that might cause you to help get someone else involved in the Lord's work. Delegate - don't hesitate!
Small Game Hunt
I have recently been asked by my local game warden and buddy, Eric Anderson to help guide for next weekend's Maury County Youth Small Game Hunt. I'm excited about this as I'll get to serve as a guide to a young person who wants to bag a coyote. I'm not a professional in this field, but it can be a lot of fun. I'll give it my best shot and we'll see what happens. It would be great to get a young person interested in varmint hunting.
Also, I now have the latest audio up from the Revelation class last night. Next week's lesson is on the man-made doctrines of premillenialism and the rapture. Thanks for stopping by and checking out the blog!
Also, I now have the latest audio up from the Revelation class last night. Next week's lesson is on the man-made doctrines of premillenialism and the rapture. Thanks for stopping by and checking out the blog!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)