James & Mark Batterson talking about Primal Faith

This week – we have been looking at portions of James.

I’m reading a book written by Mark Batterson – Primal. The premise of the book – which he wrote as a result of a trip to the Holy Lands (Brian – we’re looking for a book from you when you return from Israel) is an examination of what we call Christianity today in light of what Christianity was from the beginning.

James asks these questions about religion.

James 1:26-27 – 26 If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Mark and James both ask us questions about our faith and about our practice of that faith. I have to hope that our faith is more than committee meetings, weekly worship, giving of offerings, and the like.

As I read this book further I will give you some more of Mark’s insights. Suffice it to say we need to be real and authentic in our faith – in our worship of God. Going through the motions won’t cut it. Pretending to be a Christian won’t cut it with God either. His grace is free, but not cheap.

John 3:16 – "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” NIV

Believing in Jesus is not merely head knowledge – although we should study to know God’s Word and truths. Believing in Jesus is not about doing good deeds – although serving others is a part of our faith journey. Believing in Jesus is about a relationship with Jesus – something that is life changing, something that is Primal – base and sturdy.

Just something to think about today as you go on your way.

1 Corinthians 13

I have been doing my Daily Messages (last week and this week coming) on 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a. Do you have any comments or thoughts?

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 - 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8a Love never fails. NIV

A Lazy Christian

Have you ever heard the term - Lazy Christian? This week I will be writing about Lazy Christians in my Daily Messages. Do you have any ideas or Scriptures that would support or reject the notion that some Christians or so-called Christians are lazy?

Marriage and Submission

Daily Message – September 18, 2008

Rev. Dr. Ramon E. McDonald II
Pastor – Mt. Oak Fellowship – Mitchellville, MD

Marriage! Marriage is a God given institution between a man and a woman. It takes work and effort. It is not simply find a mate and marry. Serving the Lord needs to be at the center of your marriage if it is to be pleasing to God. We’ve seen some Biblical instructions about marriage and the marriage relationship. Today I want to write about submission (it may take two days).

We’ve all read the Ephesians passage.

Ephesians 5:22 – Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.

Men have this one memorized and fail to read the verse before and those that come after it.

Ephesians 5:21 – Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Ephesians 5:25-28 – 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

Submission is a willingly offered gift. A woman who feels loved, protected, cherished and honored will not have an issue with submission. A partner who realizes that their partner has the best interest of the family or the partnership at heart will have little problem yielding in the few circumstances of life where mutual agreement cannot be reached.

In my married life of 28 plus years I can only name a handful (that would be five or less) of times when I made a decision that was not mutual. It doesn’t happen daily folks.

I’d love some debate on this subject and will place this message on the blog page after it goes out.

Today's Daily Message

I received more comments on today's daily than others. Do you have any thoughts you would like to share about it?

Daily Message – February 5, 2008
Rev. Dr. Ramon E. McDonald II
Pastor – Mt. Oak Fellowship – Mitchellville, MD

I want to continue taking a look at Paul, one of the greatest apostles of the Bible. The truths about Paul can help us in our spiritual journey.

We mentioned in this sermon yesterday a couple of passages from Paul’s writings. One was about the struggle we deal with, even after the regeneration of the new life.

Romans 7:18-20 - 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do — this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

Have you ever felt this way? If so, Satan has tried to convince you that you aren’t saved I bet. That if you were really saved you would do good all the time. Yet Paul, a godly man who strived to follow Christ and was often beaten and imprisoned for his faith, struggled and wrote about it in the above passage. The sin nature lives on in us and continues to wage war daily for our witness, if not for our soul.

We will see tomorrow that because Grace covers over all our sin, we shouldn’t sin more so Grace may abound, but it is good to know that I am not alone in my struggles to do what is good, what is of God.

Just something to think about today as you go on your way.

Good Morning

Do you remember Nicodemus? He was the Pharisee who came to Jesus at night. Did he come at night because he didn’t want others to know he was curious about Jesus or because of the crowds during the day?

John 3:1-2

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."

Maybe clarity is shown by this next passage. Nicodemus was hanging around with Joseph who didn’t want others to know he was a follower of Jesus.

John 19:38-42

38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. d 40 Taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

Yet these two were brave enough to approach the authorities and ask for Jesus’ body after he had died while others hid.

Are there times when you are unsure of whether you want others to know you follow Jesus? Are there times you are brave enough to step out and to be counted as a follower of Jesus?

Just something to think about today as you go on your way.