Mike Fisk & Built with Grace

Hey Jonah! I think I get it now!

June 27, 2012 in Uncategorized | Tags: doctrinal differences, God, grace, Jesus Christ, Jonah 1:1-2, jonah and the whale, judgmental attitudes, ministry to people we don't like | 4 comments

The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” Jonah 1:1-2

I’ve heard the story of ‘Jonah and the Whale’ retold hundreds of times in Sunday School,VacationBibleSchool, Sunday sermons and even a few theology classes. I know all about the typology of Jonahs three days in the belly of a fish and Jesus’ three days in the tomb.

I know the lesson about not running from God, about the faith Jonah had and how ungrateful he was. I know the story about the faithfulness and forgiveness of God as evidenced by his holding back the judgment promised because of the repentance of the city ofNineveh.

Yet there is another part of this story that escaped me until recently. The Biblical record tells us little about Jonah’s background other than the fact that he was a prophet and that he chose to run from God rather that go where God sent him.

Jonah was most likely a good prophet. His ability to preach the word of God is evidenced by the fact that his message brought a city of 120,000 people to their knees, literally. But Jonah was also a proud and stubborn man. When questioned on the boat about whom he was he proudly testified to his heritage (“I am a Hebrew”) and his theology (“I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” Jonah 1:9).

His stubbornness is evidenced by the fact that he refused to follow the leading of the very God he professed to worship and then became angry when God relented of his judgment over repentantNineveh.

Stubbornness and pride are two things God can not honor in a ministry, and all of us, regardless of our walk in life are ministers in some way to the Father. We can be successful, but we will never experience the full measure of God’s blessing if we are governed by pride and stubbornness.

Nineveh can stand for anything that goes against our cultural heritage and our doctrinal/theological distinctives. Ninevehwasn’t the squeaky clean, suburban ministry. It was the little rural church made up of people who were content to stay the way they are. It was the inner city ministry with little money and large problems. It was no place for someone who rigidly stuck to their doctrine.

Nineveh didn’t need more religion, they needed relationship and Jonah was unwilling to give it to them. The story of Jonah is a story of grace. God asked Jonah to show grace to a people he disagreed with culturally, religiously and socially and Jonah refused. His story begs an answer from each of us. If we believe we are called to be ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ (and Matthew 28 gives us that charge) are we willing to passionately pursue those who are different than us in order to show them the forgiveness, mercy and love of Jesus Christ? Jonah wasn’t called to preach his own opinions; he was called to turn people towards the God of heaven, a God who passionately desires to bring ALL people to himself. If your Father calls you to preach to a group of people you dislike, are you willing to go in love?

PRAYER: Father, the message of Jonah is renewed in my heart today. I confess to you that I’ve been close-minded in ministry because of my own standards and doctrine. Open my heart and my eyes to those to whom I’ve been withholding your word by my deeds and attitudes. Amen.

He Protects His Own

June 24, 2012 in Uncategorized | Tags: God, I need a strong defender, Jesus Christ, living under attack, losing hope, Psalm 24:8, Stealing the dream, trust | 5 comments

Who is this glorious King? The Lord, strong and mighty. The Lord, the powerful warrior. Psalm 24:8 (NCV)

It’s a rather peculiar phenomenon in the animal kingdom. The Martin will spend days building her nest in preparation for laying eggs and raising their young. Soon after that, a sparrow may decide that the martin nest looks like a pretty cool abode and take it over. That’s right, the little, calm looking; harmless sparrow steals the nest from the Martin. Sometimes even pushing eggs or newly hatched young out onto the ground. But the sparrow’s home isn’t secure either. Starlings have been known to come in and take over the nest the sparrow stole from the Martin!

The problem in this picture is that Martin and Sparrow had the ability to build their home, but not defend it. What the Martin needs is someone to fight on their behalf. Someone to defend all they’ve worked for, to protect their investment.

Like the Martin, each of us sets out to make a life for ourselves. It may not necessarily be a conscious thought, but in the backrooms of our minds we have an idea of what we’d like life to look like. Few of us include, in those plans, divorce, bankruptcy, cancer or the untimely death of a loved one.

The plans we have though are often disrupted, diverted or destroyed by life. The Sparrows and Starlings of life attack us. We didn’t plan on becoming addicted to drugs. We didn’t plan on the affair happening, it just did. We didn’t include in our plans the rebellious child or the disinterested spouse.

Like the Martin, what we need is a defender. Someone who can protect us from the attacks of evil in our lives. Someone who can walk us through the battle ground to the others side. Each of us needs someone we can call on when doubt, worry, anger and frustration raise their ugly heads.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we had someone like that to call on in our time of distress? Religion will try to tell you it has the answer. Politicians have plenty of ideas of how funding can solve this problem or that. Friends and family always seem to have advice. But what we need is a warrior we can count on. Someone who not only knows how to wage battle against the evil one, but knows how to win.

The Psalmist says, ‘The Lord is a powerful warrior’. Most scholars agree that the ‘Lord’ in this passage not only refers to God the Father, but points towards Jesus Christ, his Son. The word picture is clear. There are many things along the path we call life that are there to distract us and destroy our dreams. Reliance on our mighty warrior, Jesus Christ, assures us that even though the battle may be tough, he will fight for us. He is a mighty warrior who believes in us and sees us as worth fighting for.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, as I enter the battle of life ahead of me I see many enemies. Many who are intent on taking away my peace, my trust, my future. Thank you for being a mighty warrior I can count on in the midst of battle. Amen.

Everyone Needs to Feel Valued

June 23, 2012 in Uncategorized | Tags: feeling important, feeling unloved, Feeling valued, God's love is inclusive, grace, Jesus Christ, Psalm 24:1, Showing Christ's love | 7 comments

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Psalm 24:1 (NIV)

Walk through any art exhibit or museum and you will see display after display of the giftedness of some people. Some works of art bring a high price tag. Why? Because the maker of that particular work of art is famous. He/she is well-known for their talent.

Someone who has established themselves as being excellent in a particular area (such as writing, the arts, speaking, etc.) may enjoy the privilege of having their work elevated above others simply because of their name. The value of an item is determined by the value of its maker.

What’s true in the world of the arts is true throughout life as well. When you travel, are you drawn to your favorite restaurant for food, or do you tend to look for the small café off the beaten path?

If you buy one brand of automobile and have bad luck with it and with the service, are you likely to go back to that maker or are you inclined to give someone else a try?

If you have a bad experience with one company, how does your mind react when the person across the table tells you they just got a new job at that company?

Our reaction to products, places and events is often determined by the experiences we’ve had in the past with their maker. If we aren’t careful, we can find ourselves doing the same thing with the people we come across.

When we see a person of a particular race, or wearing a particular type of dress, or speaking to a particular topic, or living a particular lifestyle, it’s easy to draw conclusions about the person themselves. The Psalmist reminds us that God made everything and EVERYONE in the world. “All who live in it” is pretty inclusive language.

How will your reaction to others change if you treat them as God’s creation? To be sure their actions may repulse you, but is their value in what they do or who made them?

When Jesus looked at the leper he saw value based on the fact that God made the leper. When Jesus saw the prostitute, he saw her as valued, not because of her lifestyle but because of her maker. How then shall we view those with different lifestyles, different beliefs, or different cultural backgrounds?

As Christ-followers we are called to spread the good news of Jesus to ALL people. To show Christ’s love effectively we must show others their value is based on their maker and not their actions, past, or current lifestyle. Our job is to love others. God’s job is to change them.

PRAYER: Lord, everyday I come in contact people on who are different than I am in action, creed or background. While I may not agree with how they live, empower me with your Spirit to show them the value they have as your creation. Amen.

No Bumper Stickers for Me

June 21, 2012 in Uncategorized | Tags: bumper stickers for jesus, compassion, Galatians 2:20, giving of your time, grace, Jesus Christ, love, patience | 2 comments

I have died, but Christ lives in me. And I now live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave his life for me. Galatians 2:20 (CEV)

I don’t put bumper stickers on my car. I’ll tell you it’s because of my fear of damaging the paint, etc. but there’s another reason. The only kind of bumper sticker I’d consider putting on my car would be one about my faith in Christ.

I’m not blaming those of you who have your car plastered with ‘Honk if you Love Jesus banners, or the cute little fish. I’m not being judgmental or critical if you are one that has some of those really quite clever sayings about faith and practice or God.

The reason I don’t want to put up any indicators of my faith on my car is really quite simple. Sometimes I get driving and forget to watch my speed. I thank God daily for cruise control! Sometimes I’m thinking about other things and don’t pay close enough attention to what’s going on around me. That’s why I may have cut you off that day on the interstate. (Sorry by the way). Then again, there are times when I’m not sure where I’m going and suddenly realize that this is my corner. Sorry for slamming on my brakes back there. I really did think it was my turn. My bad.

So what does all this have to do with bumper stickers? I don’t want my reputation as being a bad driver (sometimes) to be a reflection on who Jesus is and what he means to me.

Perhaps that’s a rather mundane example of a rich spiritual truth, but I wonder what life would be like among us if we lived as though we were dead and Jesus Christ had taken over our bodies. Not just the driving but the thought processes when we are treated poorly; or how our schedule would change when a friend in need interrupts what we think is extremely important; or when our child asks to play ball when the lawn needs mowing; or when our spouse needs a listening ear and not a lecture on how to do things.

What would our worship be like if Jesus were in control of our thoughts, our actions or our attitudes? When we leave a tip for lousy service would the server, who was up all night fighting with her spouse, watch you leave, look at your tip and say “That must have been Jesus!”

Every day Jesus took time from his schedule to show people the love of God. Every day Jesus put aside his own needs for rest and food to feed the hungry and encourage the tired. Every day He calls us to do the same. The banners of action we wear will do far more to spread the love of Christ than any ‘bumper stickers’ we wear in life.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus empower me with your Holy Spirit to live everyday as though you were in complete control of my actions, my thoughts and my feelings. Take control of every part of my body for your name’s sake, Amen.

He Made You on Purpose

June 15, 2012 in Uncategorized | Tags: Creation or evolution, faith, Filling the void in our lives, forgiveness, Genesis 1:26, God's special creation, Jesus Christ, the creation of man, trust | 6 comments

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” Genesis 1:26 (NIV)

You weren’t an afterthought. When the Creator God formed the universe, hung the sun in place and separated the water from the land, you were on his mind. When he spoke the word and thousands of plants and animals came into existence, he knew he wasn’t done. With a word, the Father spoke all this into existence. But when he made man, he stopped and thought about it.

Why? Was it because God was confused as to how to make man? Were we too large a task for him to handle? Of course not, God paused after making the other animals because this was something special. This ‘man’, these humans as we call them, were going to be set apart from everything else in creation.

These beings were going to be made in his image. That means that unlike other animals, human kind would have the ability to reason, speak choose. He would give them the power within themselves to do great and mighty things.

God made the world (the plants, the universe, and the animals) for mankind to tend to. He made mankind for his own personal relationship. Did the world need man to be complete? Probably not. The angels could have tended to the tasks at hand. Without man, God wouldn’t have been complete. He needed man to be his special object of love. He desired to create for himself one being that would be the most like him.

It’s no wonder then that when we shun God there is a part of us missing. We were created to fellowship with him and the absence of that fellowship causes and emptiness.

Oh, we can try to fill it with religion or spirituality. We can try to dull the pain with human relationships and materialistic endeavors. But nothing will fill that God-shaped hole in our hearts except for God himself.

God, the creator of the universe, the one that controls everything you see created you because he desired to have a passionate love relationship with you. Nothing you can do will make him change his mind about you. Nothing you can do will allow that love relationship to happen. There’s only one thing to fill the void and that’s Jesus Christ.

The forgiveness Jesus offers you through the cross allows you to a restored relationship with your creator.

PRAYER: God, I’ve been taught that you aren’t real. I’ve heard that all I see around me happened by chance. I thank you that I didn’t happen by chance. I thank you that I was intentionally made so I could love you. I’m tired of trying to fill this void in my life. Help me to find the peace only Jesus can give. Amen.