Tag: Life

Sermon Podcast: “Living for God” by Captain Scott Strissel

New Sermon Podcast is up follow it here: http://scottstrissel.podomatic.com/entry/2013-06-23T11_08_34-07_00

Image

1 Peter 4:7-11 (NIV)
7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Sermon Transcript:

Living For God

How to live consistently as a Christian:

1) Be Clear__ Minded__ (v7)

Clear minded implies that we can’t be of two minds about our faith in Jesus…it’s either all in or nothing!  Peter is reminding us that our commitment to God is complete not just a portion but everything…body soul and mind.

Do you have doubts?  Do you struggle with worry?  Are you fearful that you aren’t good enough for this cause of Christ?  Wrong…don’t let second guessing hold you back either!   The mind can be a battle ground that Satan likes to prowl, but if we allow him access he will give you doubt, give you uncertainty of your mission and cause you to doubt you were even called in the first place!

2)Be  Self-Controlled (7b)

Secondly in order to live for God you have to be disciplined.  That’s what self-control means.  How do you control what you put into this body of Christ? How do you maintain your devotion life with God?  How do you continue to live for Him and be clear-minded? You have to exercise self-control and be disciplined.  Our lives can be chaotic at times, we may get so busy that we forget to pray or read His word and that’s when we can starve our spirit.  Did you know that our spirits require sustenance?    How else can we continue to live for God if we’re not reading what He has said to us?  How else can we continue to live for God if we aren’t feasting on his promises and finding peace with His still small voice?  Why are we to be disciplined?

  • Why?  so that you can Pray!(v7)

We some- times doubt prayer…and its effectiveness.  We sometimes doubt that prayer is really THAT vital.  Have you ever had someone tell you that they would pray for you?  Have you ever felt the effects of people gathered together to pray for you?  Sometimes we treat prayer as if it is a secondary after thought.  We pray to get ourselves out of trouble…we pray when times get difficult, but do we actually treat prayer as a primary weapon?

Do you consider prayer to be a primary weapon?  IF you haven’t before I would like for you to consider the potency and power of prayer!  Prayer is vital but it shouldn’t just be used as a reactive weapon…you know what I mean by reactive don’t you?  Prayer shouldn’t be something we just do when something bad happens to us…or happens to someone else.  Prayer ought to be a proactive discipline we should strive to hone in our own life.  Instead of prayer being a reactive thing that we do, we should instead pray over every area of our lives… “Lord thank you for my family, how blessed I am that you have given me this group of dysfunctional people…” Ok maybe not quite like that…but you get what I’m saying?  Pray for people and reflect on the blessings that God has given you!  When we arm ourselves with proactive prayer…do you know what takes place?  We have placed everything already at God’s feet!  We essentially are saying the Lord’s prayer when we do this in that we’re stating in our actions “Lord, thy will be done…in all of my life!”  Living for God implies that our conversations with God are not just reactionary prayers of petition…but we are arming ourselves with His might and His power.  This type of prayer life creates too in us a disciplined lifestyle.  We begin to expect His responses, we begin to converse with Him as freely as if we were talking to a good friend.  We begin to find His hand in our lives and through the things that we experience.  He guides us into a deeper relationship with Him which is holiness.

3) Love_______Deeply_ because it brings

  Forgiveness and Acceptance_(v8)

3rdly in order to live a godly life we ought to love deeply.  When we love deeply and without any kind of hidden agenda or selfish motives we begin to experience Agapa love.  Agappa love is godly love.  Love that permeates who God is…that’s the kind of love that sent Jesus to the cross for us.  That’s the kind of love that doesn’t want us to remain in a state of sinfulness but wants a right relationship with us.  Godly love is something that far too few possess.  When we fulfill that first command to Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'”  What we are saying is I no longer put the needs of myself first.  I no longer wish to be God in my life…but I am giving God his rightful place in all things.  And in the same breath I am then saying I will also love others as I love myself.

How can this be?  People are tough to love aren’t they?  Especially if those neighbors are seemingly unloveable people.  Yet we are called to love them as we love ourself.  DO YOU?

If we get this love of God right…the rest falls into place.  If we can worship our Lord with all of our hearts instead of just a portion, then we can do this other thing regarding loving our neighbors.

When we love deeply as this scripture passage says we begin to focus less on the transgressions of our neighbors and instead focus more on the grace and love of God who first loved us in our awful state.

This passage says love covers over a multitude of sins…let me ask you…has someone sinned against you?  Has someone wronged you so painfully?  Has someone hurt you to the point that you can seem to find it in your heart to forgive them?  Let God help you…You can’t possibly do this on your own.  You aren’t supposed to.   But when we love as God first loved us this paves the way for healing.  This paves the way for forgiveness and reconciliation.  It won’t be easy, but His grace is enough!  His power can do the impossible!  Do you believe that?

4) Use the Gifts  God_ has given you!

            (V.11)

“Living for God” 1Peter 4:7-11

0

Broken Bread

Image

Broken Bread

 

One night

Quite late

In adoration

Kneeling,

I pleased with

My new found Lord,

“Reveal Thyself

To me.”

So sleep stole in

Enfolded me

In sweet and

Welcome rest.

Now, in my home

Famished, hungry,

I found a loaf

Of bread unbroken.

 

Even as

I reached

To satisfy

My need,

Stood a Stranger

By my side

His eyes

Upon my bread.

Without a word

I broke it

Giving Him

The larger half.

Then as He passed

Into the room

Where dear Mother

Had lain in death

With burning heart

I shyly spoke,

“I know ‘tis You,

You’re Jesus.”

Round me His arm;

In Mother’s tongue

He softly said,

“Ich Bien!” (I Am)

Oft when I’m tired

Careworn and sad,

He whispers,

Oh, so gently,

I need you still

To break the bread

My hungry ones

To feed.”

So strengthened,

Satisfied, content,

I carry on

For Him! 

(By Brigadier Harry Strissel, my Great-grand Father) 

1

Not a part of the Holy Eucharist?

Image

I had an interesting conversation today. It took place in the parking lot on my way to see someone in the hospital. There in the hospital parking lot this gentleman spotted my uniform and inquired if I was a member of The Salvation Army. I indicated I was indeed and he proceeded to tell me that we did great work for people in need…I could almost hear the ‘BUT’ coming a mile away. Finally after a few additional compliments he came to his ‘but’, when he said, “But you guys are not completely a part of God’s family because you don’t have His holy Eucharist inside you.”

Image

Wow, what do you say to a complete stranger in a parking lot after only a few pleasantries have just been exchanged? There really wasn’t time to delve into it right then and there, I was on a mission of sorts to visit a parishioner. I found it interesting that in a parking lot I was engaged in a theological conversation…I didn’t have the time to engage.

So since I didn’t then, let me tell you what I would have said.

His argument: We (The Salvation Army & most Protestants) Are not completely a part of the body of Christ because we don’t have the holy Eucharist in us.

I couldn’t disagree more with his pompous take on theology! What he essentially struck me as proud and even elitism. Does God desire practice over faith? Often times religious conflict comes from theological misunderstandings or staunch stubborn persuasions. His assertion was that because we do not practice Communion or partake in Eucharist we are not a part of Christ. Hmm…was it the work of bread and wine that spurred the disciples into converting many at the day of Pentecost? Was it bread and wine that brought the Apostle Paul to the knowledge of Christ?

No! In fact I would contend that the Holy Spirit is an element that many high churches miss out on in their practice of Eucharist. Sure the practice can become ritualistic and lose its meaning, but His Holy Spirit is not mentioned enough within their church practices. How can one participate in Communion/Eucharist and completely miss the point of such a ceremony?

Is the practice of such a ceremony an act of Salvation? I would contend again that it is not! In fact, there are still many churches who say that if people do not partake in Eucharist they aren’t saved. How can this be? Did Jesus say ” Do this in remembrance of me to be saved?” No! He simply said, “Do this in remembrance of me”. What is ‘this’ that Jesus refers to? Was it solely the breaking of the bread and drinking of the wine? I do not believe it to be so. When Jesus later prayed to the Father that his disciples be One just has He and the Father were One, I believe there is significance there. Jesus wanted unity, peace amongst his followers. When they were to fellowship over a meal together, whether it was the Passover or even a simple shared meal the remembrance, I believed was conveyed in their meeting, not just the elements of Eucharist.

Secondly what makes the Eucharist holy? What is holy anyway? I’m sure there will be those who may disagree with me and that’s fine but where does Holiness come from? The only true source of Holiness is God himself. Who is able to bless something in order to make it holy then? Man? Are we ever worthy enough to make something holy in and of our own selves? I’m not denying that His Holy Spirit can’t indwell within us and work through us, but to claim that something is always holy just because of practice is foolish.

When we understand the source of Holiness, then how much weight should we then place of ritual? Is Communion in and of itself a source of Salvation? No. Who does provide Salvation and Redemption from our sins? Jesus himself, through His sacrifice…and “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9) Did Paul indicated anything in there about breaking bread and drinking wine to save your soul? Is that how we gain access to ‘the body’? No. Confession, belief and faith are the ingredients, if you will, for our salvation!

So what is Eucharist then?

Don’t get me wrong, I am not condemning its practice here by any means. What I am condemning is the ingrained denominational notion that if one does not practice Eucharist regularly they aren’t a part of the body of Christ. That is simply foolishness and a slant to the scriptures that was never meant to be. Should we participate in Communion in church? I think that there is a time and place for it. I think that some very sacred moments can come from it, but do I think that it ought to be practiced every Sunday? No, and here’s why. It loses significance and symbolism, and instead of something sacred can become monotonous and mundane.

Lastly, to the churches who teach that Eucharist is mandated and lack of practice is detrimental to our salvation…think again. Stop dividing the body of Christ! We become elitist when practice replaces holiness, and judgement is measured out by the hands of man. Salvation belongs to Christ, and those who call upon His name will be saved.

There is no perfect church here on earth, just imperfect people striving to be like Christ. When we allow His indwelling to be evident in the outpouring of our faith then, perhaps we have the authority to speak on such things.

0

Bury your head in the sand?

Image

Contrary to the notion that Ostriches burying their heads in the sand…this is simply not true.  When faced with fear, their first instinct is to run.  And since an Ostrich can run at a sustained speed of up to 40 miles an hour/ 65 km their first instinct is probably their best instinct.

So where did this fallacy of buried heads in the sand come from?  Traditionally Ostriches do not make nests like a traditional bird, since they are so big and most trees couldn’t hold them they will bury their eggs in the sand.  From a distance it can appear that an Ostrich is putting its head in the sand when in fact they are simply checking or turning their eggs.

So what they do in fear is actually out of necessity for the survival of their young.  If they didn’t run very fast and distract other predators from their nests, the Ostrich would cease to exist and suffer extinction.

Isn’t it interest that what we thought was cowardice is really a parent protecting their young?  Perhaps there is something to learn from this huge, fast birds…are we protective of our youth today?  Instead of being fearful of the world around us are we protecting our youth by nurturing them and not really caring how it would appear from the outside world?

Our youth needs us!  They need people of God who will instruct them and protect them from the predators in our world.  Perhaps there is something to learn from the Ostrich, perhaps we might even reconsider what it means to bury our heads in the sand.

Image

0

Friends & Cheers…and belonging!

Image

Isn’t it everyone’s longing and hope in this world to find a place that you belong?  Isn’t that the hope of every person living?  We want to find acceptance, understanding and people who will love us for who we are…truly love us regardless of our faults and flaws.  Isn’t this why television shows like ‘Cheers’ and the more contemporary ‘Friends’ became so popular in the first place?  We find identity within characters who have found this formula don’t we?  We, perhaps covet their meaningful relationships because we too crave this type of deep level of fulfillment in others as well.

Image

Sure the characters are flawed, have issues, aren’t perfect and yet these characters had people coming back for more each week to find out how their favorite fictional characters were getting on.  These syndicated comedy shows have been so popular that for Cheers they’ve aired followup episodes to please its following, and rumors are they are planning this type of event for the cast fan base of ‘Friends’ as well.

Perhaps it’s loneliness that drives these franchises to popularity, or perhaps they touch on a very familiar topic and emotion in the majority of our world…we want to be loved and find belonging.

Perhaps a passage of scripture that seems obscure or a book in the bible you don’t often read says this to us about God’s love and our search for belonging in this life:  Zephaniah 3:17 “The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”

Perhaps some of us feel lonely in this life…know that God is with you!  Perhaps some of us feel unloved or unlovable…know that God ‘will quiet you (and your heartache) with his love’!    Perhaps some of us worry about how our bills will be paid, where our next meal will come from or even the relationships (no matter how broken they may appear)…God will rejoice over you!

Do you need to be cheered up today?  Are you in need of Friends?….I know sorry about that play on words there, but God wants to be involved in your life and to remind you that you aren’t alone, you are never alone!  He loves you so much and wants you to find fulfillment in this life through others as well as your relationship to Him.

Be of good cheer. Do not think of today’s failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles. Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost.” -Hellen Keller

0

Salt: Flavor & Preserver

“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.” Matthew 5:13

Image

Did you know that salt is not only a flavoring element within food, but is also a preserver of food?  Salt has been one of those ancient ways in which people have used to prevent food from rotting.  So when Jesus told those gathered there that they were salt of the earth, he chose a topic with which the people would understand.  Still today food is of epic importance to our survival as people.  We can last for a long time without it, but food nourishes us, sustains us and provides us with the appropriate vitamins and nutrients.  Without those vital components in life, we will eventually perish.

Image

Jesus brought his message home to those who would listen that this world is perishing.  All things have an expiration date…yet what will preserve us?  What will make us last a little longer?  What will inject much needed flavor into our world?  The answer is simply those who will follow after God’s own heart!

This world will eventually pass away, and sometimes we may think it may be in our life time when we see unspeakable horrors and violence, humans turning on other humans, death and destruction…our world is a violent place.  Yet, the preserving element of life is God who is the author and sustainer of all things.  When we align our hearts, body and soul to Him, we find that the outpouring of this faith is love, peace, hope and joy…something this world desperately needs more of!

When we display love without strings attached, a joy without ulterior motives other than for others to find this same joy as well, we will inject our worlds with just a little bit of God’s epic flavor.

So how about it?  Are you prepared to be God’s preservationist?  Are you prepared to offer a dying world hope in the eternal one?  Being salt to a flavorless and empty world is what we ought to strive for!

Image

Another interesting notion in this passage of scripture for us to grasp is that typically all of the salt that was utilized in Israel at the time of Jesus was brought up from the Dead sea, which as you may know is extremely salty.  But there is also something else about the salt content of the Dead sea that you may not know.  The salt deposits within this body of water is full of impurities and often, after time, will lose its flavor.

Jesus instructed, perhaps even pleaded with this audience that we should never lose our flavor.  If we are to provide a flavorless world with the undaunted grace and richness of God then we must be mindful to always draw from His source of power and might.  Because if we stop drawing from Him and instead begin to rely on our own merits and flavor, we will lose the very essence of His character and love to a world so desperate to find hope.

Be flavor and a preserver to this world through the power of the One who sent us out into it!    Never let this hope diminish or lose its flavor!

Image

2

In the hopefully’s and the maybes (A Poem)

Image

Walking past the old mailbox

and thinking of how many times 

I’ve traversed there to collect 

the metered mail, the junk mail

the birthday cards and solicitations, 

it’s raining again today

making it feel like an old sock 

worn too thin with holes in the heel 

the sun has yet to make an appearance 

as another round of thunder peels off

into the distance like an encore far away 

yet close enough to hear…

in these solemn moments

when all is silent in the house

stepping back into it, making the door

creak shut, trying not to disturb

the slumbering home with its constant

creaks and whirrs and electric hums

brick and mortar snoring in this sleepy  

corner of the block.  

Casting one last glance outside

I imagine far different days than these

days in which we try to grasp, 

hold onto for dear life, treasure deeply

breathe in their fragrances 

yet they disappear far too soon

but the magic is never too far away

it still resounds, a myriad of choral sounds

beckoning us back to a place that will never

come.

Still we sigh, casting out our hopes and dreams

into a net of maybes and hopefully’s as I shut the door

tomorrow steps up to the front stoop

and begins its knocking.  

Image 

0

“Teach us to number our days”

Image

  • 37 years
  • 444 months
  • 1,930 weeks
  • 13,514 days
  • 324,336 hours
  • 19,460,160 minutes
  • 1,167,609,600 seconds
  • You were born on a Friday
  • Age in Dog Years: 161.0
  • Age in Galapagos Turtle Years: 17.6

This is exactly how long I’ve been alive on this planet.

When I look at the time that has passed me it really has an impact on me.  I think of all of the wasted time, the ‘down time’, the time that I let slip through my fingers…But I also think of the miles stones in my life too.  The day I proposed to my wife which was

  • 14 years
  • 177 months
  • 772 weeks
  • 5,405 days
  • 129,720 hours
  • 7,783,200 minutes
  • 466,992,000 seconds

Ago.

I think of the days when my children were born all four of them…I recall the significant friendships that I’ve forged along the way…the meaningful connections of humanity that I’ve had the privilege to partake in and these cross roads that intersected with two or more human beings at one very specific time or place.  I have been a blessed man so far!

TWO VERSES: 
Deuteronomy 30:19-20 Says;
“This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live  and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

And…

Joshua 24:15 says:
“But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

We have this one life and my prayer is that we don’t waste it!  We have so many distractions in this life, so much wasted opportunities and wasted time…but don’t take this life for granted or watch it fly by without taking each and every moment to make a difference in this world and to serve the Lord!  We are called to be Christ’s ambassadors in this world don’t be ashamed of the gospel and don’t forget our calling!

Psalm 39:4 “Show me, O LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life.”

How many days have you been alive?  How many minutes…Galapagos Turtle Years?

Use them or lose them…let’s all choose to use them and take each and every moment without regrets!

Image

0

“Like-minded…but not like the Borg!”

“Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.” -Philippians 2:1,2

Image

What does ‘being like minded’ mean?  I’m a science fiction geek I freely admit it!  And I recall the old Star Trek Next Generation when the Enterprise faced off a number of times with the terrifying aliens called the ‘Borg’.  The thing that stood them apart and made them so dangerous was that they were of one mind.  They were all connected to the ‘collective’ and they would absorb and assimilate other cultures and worlds, thereby gaining knowledge and understanding.  The Borg were terrifying and yet effective because of the ‘like-minded collective.

But truly, science fiction aside, what does being like-minded mean?  Are we to be God’s “collective” here on Earth?  Not for any evil purpose mind you, but for His Holy purpose?  What does being like-minded mean?  Especially when we see so many church splits, divisions and varying thoughts of ideology.  How is it that what began as one body of believers coming together to worship, testify and make other disciples has ended up being many bodies and many sets of worship practices?  Is this what Christ had in mind?  If I were to take it a step further, if this wasn’t what Christ had in mind then did He make a mistake?

The answer to both of those questions is ‘NO’!  His prayer ‘that they may all be one” (John 17:21) is still a prayer for us today.  The problem with this earthly body of believers is that we have free will.  When it comes to deciding and making our choices in worship and practice, we fall short of attaining this unity.  Let’s be honest, church has in the past, present and most probably the future been run by those within the spectrum of human authority.  Sure God has been present within churches, but not all decisions made by man have been God led or God honoring.  It is safe to say that politics is alive and well within the Church.  Both on the large and small scare this is true.  From leadership selection to the color of the carpet in a chapel there is politics involved.  I think Paul had experienced politics that was of selfish intent through various towns and cities when he went on to say in this same passage, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.  Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” -Philippians 2:3-4

Image

Unfortunately the down side is that some, not all, leaders are bent to self and selfish motivations.  It’s the nature of humanity that is not fully surrendered which becomes evident through the choices of man sugar coating it to be what God has intended.  But I am confident that God can take that which man has marred, that which man has broken, that which man has truly messed up and turn it into something remarkable.

It’s not that I  willingly place my faith and trust in leaders who lead this way, but rather in my submission to the Father in Heaven.  So that when I say “Thy will be done” I really mean it even if I am subjugated to a system or to leaders who are fallible and often make decisions based politically rather than biblically.

Paul implores us all to serve selflessly rather than selfishly.  When we can actually practice selflessness in word and in deed then being like-minded can actually occur within God’s body here on earth.

Confession time:

I too struggle with this in my life.  There have been times when I have made decisions based on how it will impact me rather than others.  Sometimes that full surrender isn’t made complete in me.  It’s a daily thing that must take place, in which we force our selfishness back in the box, we kneel before the Father and give Him the box again and we allow His love to shine through us instead of the light of selfish intentions and moral failings.

I want to be a transformer in my world how about you?  I want to be like-minded with others who are in the truth but this can’t be done if I’m looking out for me, myself and I.  If we are to function and thrive as His ambassadors we have to stop playing church politics and the selfishness game and instead face the mission of Christ that He beckons us to.

Image

1

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑