Tag: the church

  • Christ uses ordinary people and ordinary days

    mug of coffee

    My brain is foggy this morning, so I have opted to pull a back  issue out of the archives. This issue originally appeared in September 2005.

    The house is quiet. The only sounds are the buzz of my laptop’s power supply and the dripping/gurgling of the coffee pot. My eldest son, Kris, was off to his full-time job before I awoke. He works both a full-time and a part-time job at the moment. Kathy is awakening for work, and soon Kyle will be getting up for school.

    Tigger the cat came by my office for a quick visit, then went back to bed. Genni the wonder dog is sitting expectantly beside me. She shared my bagel and cream cheese and is hoping in vain that there might be more.

    Brief intermission in the narration as Kevin goes to get his morning cup of coffee.

    It’s a good cup. Sometimes in the morning, I’m not the best at counting the number of scoops so that the first taste can be an adventure. I must have measured right today.

    So what? 

    Well, the subtitle of this daily devotional is “Experiencing an extraordinary God in ordinary life.” You just caught a snapshot from our very ordinary lives. We’re ordinary, everyday people having an ordinary day. We’re just “plain folk”. Some would even say we’re boring, but I prefer the term “content”.

    The good news is that God works through very ordinary people in everyday life.

    Moses was an aging shepherd with a warrant out for his arrest for murder. Abraham was an aging businessman. Gideon worked secretly in the family winepress out of fear. David tended sheep. The disciples were an odd combination of blue-collar workers, petty criminals, and zealots.

    It’s the power of our righteous and holy God who transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary.

    The all powerful God of creation could have accomplished His goals in any way He wished. Yet He chose to give us the blessing of participating with Him. He’s given you and me, ordinary people, the task of sharing His love with the world. He’s made us to be salt and light to a dark world.

    “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:13-16 NIV

    That means that while our lives may be ordinary and while the world may think we’re ordinary, we’re truly extraordinary people. Not because of who we are but because we’ve allowed a holy God to accomplish His work through us. 

    You are an instrument of peace, love, joy, and transformation. Absolutely nothing short of God Himself could be less ordinary.

    The flip side of the coin is that we never know what ordinary people are being used in extraordinary ways by God. That behooves us (I know behooves is a dated word, but I love the sound of it) to treat all people as if they were special in the eyes of God. We have no reason not to do so.

    Until next time, I pray you get a grasp of how truly extraordinary and how valuable you are for all eternity when Jesus works through you, and may you learn to see all people as He sees them.

    Hallelu Yah (Praise God)

    Be blessed, 

    Suggested Reading

    Every member is necessary

    Why everyone knows the truth

    Read the Word

    Sea Glass – beauty from brokenness

    Ordinary people – Extraordinary calling

  • The Church – Who’s in?

    quaint white country church

    The word “church” is interesting in that it can have  various meanings depending on the context.

    We can go “to church,” which is a common way of referring to gathering in a building for worship. Sometimes, the church means the building itself.

    The church can refer to the people gathered together for worship and instruction. It is often a mixed bag of believers and non-believers. Some people don’t yet know Jesus but are seeking truth. Some people claim the name “Christian” for any number of reasons but don’t have a relationship with Christ.

    This gathering is called the visible church. It’s what the world sees as the church.

    Then, there are all true believers worldwide. They can differ in theology and practice, but the Holy Spirit seals them all. They can vary by denomination, affiliation, and confession. This is the invisible church, the true church.

    In North America, at least, a Christian can be a member of the invisible church, part of a visible church, and meet in a church building.

    Some advocate that Church gatherings be comprised only of true believers. This begs the question, “Who decides whether someone is a believer or not?” Only God knows our true hearts; you and I cannot know the state of someone else’s salvation.

    We can get some hints from their conduct and the fruit of their lives. We can get clues from what they profess to believe.

    When we get to glory, I think we will be surprised by the absence of some people we expected to see and the presence of some we didn’t. There won’t be any mistakes. Jesus knows his own.

    So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He, who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. John 10:7-16 ESV

    Our role isn’t to decide who is and isn’t a believer. We are called to love and minister to everyone and let God do the sorting.

    Sheep and goats can be present on any given Sunday (or at special times like Christmas and Easter). Let’s welcome and love them all.

    Hallelu Yah / Praise God 

    Kevin

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