Ephesus- Lost First Love

Ephesus – Lost First Love

  Jeff Lampl

Is it possible to be diligent, hard working and self-sacrificial, even . . . .  
loving, but to still “miss the boat?”

As I was reading the last book the Bible, Revelation (no “s”!), in preparation for next Wednesday night’s one night overview of this important book (you’re invited!), I read the passage below where Jesus is addressing a church of about 3 dozen believers in a city of about 250,000, the vast majority of whom were enthusiastically joining the new and quickly spreading religion of Caesar Worship (which also went under the name of “gospel” or  “good news”), but the city also contained thousands of Jews who were vehemently against the spread of this new “Jesus cult”. 

Jesus tells the author of Revelation, John, to tell the Angel of Ephesus to tell the church members that they, although looking like a terrific church from the outside (and, yes, they look great to me, especially given the demographic odds and circumstances!), nevertheless they’re missing what actually matters.

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands.  I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.  You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.  Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.  Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.  But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.  Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God."    Revelation 2:1-7 (NIV2011)

“Repent and do the things you did at first. . .or I will remove your lampstand from its place . . . . who has ears let him hear”.  Strong words!

So, I am asking myself, what were those things that I did at first, that I have stopped doing or perhaps have continued to do but with a heart that’s grown cold.    One thing I’ve noticed is that I have the capacity do loving things, but without love.  I can, for example, serve family members, but do so without being fully “there”.  I can do my Christian acts of service without actually listening to and taking into my heart and mind the actual people I am serving.   I can pray to God, read scripture, and write devotionals like this one, yet do so as a duty, hurriedly, dutifully, without being attentive to and receptive to  Jesus Himself.   It seems to me that Jesus doesn’t like this.  And he loves us enough to wake us up with some tough words.   It seems that when first things become second things and second things become first things we are then in danger of losing both.

“Lord, please give me ears to hear what your Spirit is saying to me,

and then the discipline and strength of character to act on you guidance”

Amen

Choosing Joy - Part 2

Choosing Joy - Part 2

By Megann Graf

This morning I had the chance to walk my son to school.  It was so nice out, and he was in a good mood (two pluses that don’t happen often!  Haha!)  So, we walked and talked about rattles snakes, and speed bumps that look bigger when you’re walking then when you’re driving, and about how he felt like he was hiking because he had on short sleeves and a backpack.  (I don’t know where these things come from people, this is just the mind of an 8 year old!)  We got to school and I had to ask for my kiss goodbye because he was going to run right in, but he came back and smooched me.  I walked away thinking that this was joy.  That just enjoying that moment is choosing joy over the million other things I could be fretting over.  And, I thought how it’s funny how humans (at least those living in the northeast) need days like this to feel the sun and breath the fresh air and remember that renewal is possible.  Even a store clerk told me that people were nicer when the weather was nice.  Funny how God uses so much of His creation to affect us and teach us. 

So, it was a lovely walk back to my house, thinking all these nice thoughts, and saying hi to other neighbors who seemed equally satisfied with the beautiful morning and grateful for a refreshing walk.   And then, it came.  Poop.  That’s right, poop.  Dog poop.  I was walking, and it was right there in the middle of the sidewalk, and I literally laughed out loud.  Why, laugh, you ask? 

Because, let’s face it, when we choose joy, we have to know that sometimes crap comes along, right in our path and out of no where.  We have to know how to deal with it.  We have to watch out for it.  We have to not allow the crap to get in the way of our joy.  (And, for goodness sake, try not to step in it!)  I never thought that I would be writing to you about how God made a lesson to me out of poop, but He does have a sense of humor.  The only way to deal with all the crap that life brings, and to deliberately choose joy, is to be in God’s word, to be in communication with Him daily, or hourly!  And to know that He wants to teach us how to live joyfully even when life is crappy.

So, today, as you breathe the fresh air, and you feel the sunshine and warmth and get a sense of renewal, not just in the season, but in your Spirit, take time to see the good.  Choose to be joyful about just one thing.  It’s likely that you might come across some crap in your path.  But, maybe you can laugh at it too.  Maybe God put it there to teach you something.  And, maybe, if you can find happiness through the crappiness, you might have just chosen joy.  

The Fruit of the Spirit is Love

The Fruit of the Spirit is Love
Jeff Lampl

“The fruit of the spirit is love”   Galatians 5:22

The White House has seen marital . . . .  .

love at its worst and also at its best.  Ron Reagan, son of Nancy and President Reagan said,

“Once they had bonded together, they really were inseparable.   I mean it sounds cliché, but I don’t’ think that they ever spent a day apart where they didn’t call or speak on the phone.  He wrote her letters all his life.  They were in love.  And they stayed in love for 52 years”

Marriage is the best picture of God’s love for us when we return it to Him.   It’s permanent and solid.   Marriage is not the endgame for us.  If we see the thing we seek in it, we will be glad, but we will also have missed its essence.   As the highest of human loves (done right) marriage gives joy, peace, pleasure, meaning, purpose and fullness to life for both spouses, but in its highest form marriage is still not the thing (we are seeking) itself, rather it is the conduit, the medium for the thing we are seeking.

When we hear music that is beautiful, we are tempted to believe that the beauty is in the music.  We are wrong, points out CS Lewis.  The beauty was not in the music, rather it came through the music.  Marriage is like that. 

Craig Shirley writes about the Reagans,

“When he (Pres Reagan) was away, he wrote to her daily, letters that were tender, funny and touching. He’d depict himself in drawings crying over being away from her. When Reagan was running for president, he wrote her that “maybe being in the White House wouldn’t be so bad — you’d be right upstairs.”

“Nancy Reagan remembered everything about her husband and he remembered everything about her. They often dined together in the restaurant both where she had said “yes” to his proposal of marriage."

“They were really best friends who slept in the same room and same bed for their entire marriage. They laughed together, celebrated together, cried together and when he died, a part of her died”

“In his later years, she gave part of herself to him, like an O. Henry story. She ate less, slept less, worried more, cried more and, when he died, she mourned him greatly. She never stopped loving Ronald Reagan and never stopped mourning him."

Personally I do think that Ronald Reagan was an impressive man and president in many ways.  However, what impresses me above all else are the actions of love for his wife which flowed from his heart for his wife and her reciprocation of his love.  Is it possible that this could be the greatest achievement of this former leader of the free world?

“Now, at last, they are together again in eternity”

And, I would add, they are now united with God, now experiencing that piercing fullness of the love and joy of God,, which they had tasted only in incipient form through their love for each other.

“For we know in part and we prophesy in part,  but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.    1 Corinthians 13:9-10 (NIV)

A Parenting Revolution

Monday, March 7, 2016

A Parenting Revolution

I have been anxiously saving this blog and now is . . . 

the right time to post it.   If you are a parent, please, please, please  take the time to read this post from Tara Beth Leach, a mom who has lots of questions about how to parent her children.  Read on.

“Before we dig in, I’d first like to say that this blog post comes with a critical caveat: I am not one bit qualified to write a post on parenting. Really, I’m not. I’m not even a “mommy blogger”; I usually like to write about theology, ministry, and all things related to the church. When it comes to parenting, most days I am pretty sure my husband and I are making things up as we go along. We are trying our best, and sometimes I go to bed thinking about all of my parenting doozies of the day.   Not too long ago, I was so bone tired from school, ministry, and all the demands that life brings, I let my children eat popcorn for dinner. True story. Ok, now that we have gotten the whole I’m-not-qualified-to-write-this-post-but-I’m-going-to-anyway-thing, let’s get started.

I came across a fascinating study published in the New York Times. This study reveals that the college admissions process has created a competitive and stressed-out behavior among today’s young people. It shows that “colleges spend a huge sum each year sending signals that influence the behavior of students ….”The writer says maybe colleges need to “turn the tide” and send signals that create more of a compassionate behavior.  Furthermore, the admissions process favors privileged and affluent families. But here is what stood out to me the most in this study:

 …a survey of more than 10,000 middle- and high-school students that asked them what mattered most: high individual achievement, happiness or caring for others. Only 22 percent said caring for others.

This study, of course, is nothing new under the sun. Many have been publishing reports and opinions that today’s younger generation has noticeable attributes such as entitlement and selfishness. While there may be some exaggeration to the reports, and not all reports represent the entire generation, I think it’s time we start taking a good, long, hard look in the mirror. Something has to change.     Most of all, this is incredibly alarming to me as a parent. But my reaction to this study isn’t to point the finger at the admissions process in colleges and universities – although I am glad that there is going to be a change of tide – instead, my reaction is to point the finger at myself, the parent.

After reading this study I couldn’t help but think about the most important commandment that emerged from the lips of Jesus, found in the Gospel of Mark.

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^[e] 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’^f31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[g] There is no commandment greater than these.”      Mark 12:29-31

Our family has made a commitment to daily saying this as a family.

Again, I’m not claiming to have this whole parenting thing all figured out, but I do wonder what our world would look like if (Christian) parents decided that the highest priority is to not only love God, but also love our neighbors, no matter the cost.  I think a cultural revolution would unfold before our very eyes.

Don’t get me wrong; when the rubber meets the road, this is harder than it sounds. If my child comes home from school and tells me about another kid who has been mean to him, my instinct might be to him to show the other child what’s up (eye for an eye). When I’m on a play-date at a friend’s house, and my friend’s child pushes my child off of the chair he had been sitting on because the other child wanted to sit there, my instinct is to intervene and make sure the other child knows that my child had the chair first. But instead, these can become teachable moments for our children in some of their most formative years. When another child is mean to our child, we can teach them to love them, serve them, and be kind to them anyway. Does another child want the chair that your child had first? We can teach our children to give up their chairs, and maybe even the clothes off of their own backs if necessary. 

If the following is a list of priorities for your child. . . .

§  Winning

§  Be a top athlete

§  Be at the top of the class

§  Competitive

§  Elite

§  High Test Scores

§  Straight A’s

§  Financial Success

§  Stand-out-from-the-crowd

§  Front of the line

And if the following is not a list of priorities for your child . . . .

§  Servant-hood

§  Selflessness

§  Gratitude

§  Care

§  Tenderness

§  Compassion

§  Them-before-me

§  Inclusion

§  Sacrifice

§  An eye for the downtrodden

§  Generosity

§  Hospitality

§  Last in line

…then maybe something needs to change.

When I read the report from the New York Times, I couldn’t help but think that things are upside down in our culture. I’d like to say that Christian children are different than others, but I don’t think this is the case. Instead, things like individualization, consumerism, and achievement have gripped our culture. We are missing the mark, we’re getting it wrong, and we are somehow communicating to our children that the first list takes precedence over the second list. Something needs to change – a cultural revolution of sorts.

The church was and has always meant to be a drastic alternative to the world around us. When the world screams, “me first!” we scream, “me last!” When the world screams, “my money, my gain!” we scream, “God’s money, their gain!” When the world screams, “mine!” we scream, “yours!”

Friends, let’s begin a cultural revolution, and let’s start in our own homes. Let’s create a society of compassionate, caring, generous, loving, and grateful children . . . . children who look a lot like Jesus.

Lord, help us all.

Peeled: LOVE

Friday, March 4, 2016

Jeff Lampl

“The fruit of the spirit is love . . . .”  Galatians 5:22

The TV show, “The Bachelor”,  is now in its 20^th  . .  .

season.   What’s really interesting is that the first bachelor show took place almost 4,000 years ago in Mesopotamia.   Here’s an excerpt.

“Now Laban had two daughters. The older daughter was named Leah, and the younger one was Rachel.  There was no sparkle in Leah’s eyes, but Rachel had a beautiful figure and a lovely face.  Since Jacob was in love with Rachel, he told her father, “I’ll work for you for seven years if you’ll give me Rachel, your younger daughter, as my wife.”  “Agreed!” Laban replied. “I’d rather give her to you than to anyone else. Stay and work with me.”  So Jacob worked seven years to pay for Rachel. But his love for her was so strong that it seemed to him but a few days.”      Genesis 29:16-20 (NLT)

In this episode the bachelor, Jacob, had only two contestants to choose from (TV programming was still in its primitive stages then and contestants were few and far between), Rachel and Leah.   In the original Hebrew “beautiful figure and lovely face” actually meant “hot”.   So, of course, Jacob goes for Rachel.   He’s a guy, after all, who, driven by his youthful neediness and passions, can’t think clearly when he’s smitten.   But he does come up with one of the greatest “lines” in the Bible, “but his love for her was so strong that it seemed to him but it a few days”.  Is that a great line or what?  I tried it on Kathy once.  She just said it seemed like years. 

In the end Jacob gets them both!  (the show still had some kinks to work out).   You might want to check out how well the threesome worked for each of them in rest of chapter 29 and 30.   You’d think we would have learned our lesson by now.   Jacob was a lost soul who was needy and he found a way that he thought would fulfill that need.  Leah, too, tried to fill the hole in her soul too in a different way.  The results for both were exactly what you would expect.

Listen to the words of psychologist Ernest Becker (a secular unbeliever) in his 1970 Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Denial of Death.

“modern people won’t admit it, but . .  .we are making up for the lack of inner spiritual fullness”

“By looking out there saying I’m going to find that one”. 

(I’m here to “find love” say all the bachelors and bachelorettes!)

“we need to feel that our life matters.  We want to merge ourselves into some higher self-absorbing meaning in trust and gratitude, but If we no longer have god how are we to do this?”

“and one of the first ways that occurred to the modern person is the romantic solution.,  the self-glorification that we need in our innermost being (hear that?) we now look for in a love partner” 

“What is it we want when we elevate the love partner to this position?   We want to be rid of our faults we want our rid of our feeling of nothingness want to be justified to know our existence hasn’t been in vain.  We want redemption nothing less”  

Wow!  I’ll explain the rest at 9:30 and 11:00 on Sunday at CLC.

Choose Joy

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Blog by Megann Graf

 Last week, Mark gave a great message on bumping into people.  On sharing God’s love with folks that you just happen to cross paths with.  And we ended the service with a song called “Joy of the Lord” by Rend Collective.  It’s a song that just makes you want to sing.  For me, I almost can’t help but have my spirit lifted when I hear it.  It’s just infectious.  But, as happy and simplistic as that sounds, it’s also an incredible challenge.  Read the chorus words:  “The joy of the Lord is my strength.  In the darkness I’ll dance, in the shadows I’ll sing, the joy the of the Lord is my strength.”   That is a choice and a challenge that is not simple.  How do I choose to dance when darkness, dark times, times seemingly with no hope or solution arise?  How do I sing when I’m in the shadows, when no one sees my internal struggles?  When I look at those around me, who are in situations much, much worse than mine, how do I tell them to just “choose joy.”  Doesn’t that seem a bit trite and insensitive?

Here’s where our faith comes in.  I don’t know about you- but choosing joy is hard sometimes.  In fact, I don’t want to choose it.  Sometimes I just want to be mad, angry, sad, offended, etc.  So, how do I choose joy and why do I choose joy when I feel that way?  I think it’s only by the grace of God.  It’s only through the supernatural, unexplainable power of God, that we are able to choose joy when the world would say, “you have every right to be mad.”   It’s only through the supernatural, unexplainable power of God that we choose joy in midst of struggles.   This makes us people that the world can look at and wonder how we can be joyful given our struggles.  And when we bump into other people’s lives, we can share this secret that we have.  And, we can be honest, that it is a daily choice.  And sometimes, we don’t choose it, because we’re human, and because we aren’t perfect.  But we serve a God that is.  And the same power that rose Him from the dead, and commanded waters to divide and can move mountains, that same power is ours, when we choose it.  It cannot be explained any other way than by grace.  We choose joy, not because we’re strong enough or righteous enough to do so, but because we have faith in a power stronger than us and have been given so much grace by a God that loves us.

The joy of the LORD is my strength.   May He be yours today too!  

So....What is the Gospel?

Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Jeff Lampl  

A few years ago I was asked . .  .

the question, “what is the Gospel?”  We know that the New Testament word (the New Testament was written in “street” Greek) for Gospel is euangelion, from which we get the words “evangelism” and “evangelical”.    Evangelism typically refers to believers telling other people Good News they don’t yet know about God and Jesus Christ.

So, how would you answer the question? What is this Good News? 

Is it that you can go to heaven when you die?   Is it that God is with you in difficult times?   Is it that Jesus is ruling over the universe?   Is it that God loves you and has a purpose for your life?   Is it that God is in the process of completing and will complete the task of setting all things in the universe to rights?   Does it mean that I am rescued from hell?  Does it mean that my sins are forgiven?  Does it mean that I am raised from living a meaningless life to one that is truly life?  Does it mean that I am saved?  But then what does “saved” mean?

The following passages give us the answer.

“I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said.  He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.  He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve.  After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.  Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles.”         1 Corinthians 15:3-7

“So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!”                        Acts 2:36

“Behold, I am making all things new”.                            Revelation 21:5

“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved”.                Romans 10:9

The most fundamental Good News that was preached and which overtook the Roman Empire with lightening speed, historically speaking, was the message that Jesus is Lord of the planet, not Caesar, not the Roman military, not disease, not demonic powers, not poverty, not despair, not hopelessness, not sin, not condemnation, not satan, not any other power on earth, above the earth or under the earth.   No, Jesus, crucified for our sin and pain, was raised from the dead and sits “at the right hand of God”, reigning over the earth, judging all sin and evil in himself and setting all who are willing to accept it, free to live fully loved, fully purposeful, joyful lives, lives which do not end with death. 

So, if Jesus really is Lord, how does that change how you live your life?

If you wish to learn more I will be teaching a 3 week mini course on the New Testament beginning tomorrow, March 2 at 7:00 and continuing on March 9 and 16^th.

Lord, help me to take this message in.  Help me to think through the implications of the Gospel.   The Message that Jesus is “on his throne”,  right now working all things together to accomplish his purposes,  is an incredibly important fact to learn, for if this is indeed true it changes everything . . .absolutely everything.   Lord show me clearly what the means for my choices, attitudes, and actions today, tomorrow and every day.     Amen