Part 2: What Vine are you Abiding In?

Part 2: What vine are you abiding in?

Jesus looks in the eyes of his disciples, who are probably a bit shell shocked, and tells them:

John 1:1-2
“I am the true vine and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away…

Jump to v 6

If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

AND BURNED! Do you see this? Jesus is comparing the non-abiding branches to the abiding branches and those that do not abide do not bear fruit and are completely worthless and he cuts them off and he burns them. Just an hour or so earlier, Christ pointed out how one of his disciples was going to betray him: Judas. He is telling the remaining disciples about Judas – the betrayer of Christ. He is comparing the abiding disciple to the non-abiding disciple represented by Judas.
Think about Judas, he was with Christ everyday for 3 years. He heard every sermon, went to every Sunday school, did every bible study, and he went to every retreat and every church event. He may have even gone to the singles dinner. Here is the unbelievable thing: I’m sure he even sat in a quiet place with Christ – his loving mentor and teacher – listened to him teach about himself and his fulfillment of prophecy and the law.
Can’t you see Jesus and Peter or John sitting along the shore of Galilee talking intimately? Or Philip sitting with Christ under the shade of a big tree? Judas did this as well. He was face-to-face and sitting close to Jesus learning one-on-one with the creator and savior of the universe…he sat listening to Jesus. Can you hear it? “Believe in me, Judas, and it will be counted to you as righteousness.”

Do you hear it?

ABIDING

But, he was with Christ and never abided. He didn’t stay close to Christ. His life was not for Christ. His heart was set on something else. He was not IN HIM. Judas didn’t abide in the true vine.

What are you abiding in?

• Are you abiding in Christ?
• Or are you abiding in yourself?
• Are you abiding in video games?
• Computers?
• TV?
• Sports?
• Your friends?
• Your parents?
• How about religion and good works?

What is it for you? – What false vines are you abiding in?

For me it is usually work, family, house, computers, and books that I am drawn to abide in.

No matter what you are abiding in, you’ll bear fruit. But you’ll notice that Christ quickly points out that the vinedresser – who is the Father – takes away the branches that do not bear the spiritual fruit of godliness. These fruitless withering branches are worthless. Think about this – the branches from a grape vine are the most worthless of all trees and wood products. They serve one purpose only…to bear fruit. The withered branches can’t be used to build a house. They can’t be used to build anything. They can’t even be burned for heating a house or cooking. They are worthless. The withered branches are tossed in God’s rubbish pile and are BURNED.

C.H. Spurgeon put it this way in his sermon, “The Fruitless Vine,”

“If it were any other kind of a tree he would at least reserve it for chopping up to make a fire within the master’s house, but this is much an ignominious thing, he throws it away in the corner and burns it up with the weeds. If it were a stout old oak, it might have the funeral of the Yule log, with honor in its burning, and brightness in its flame; but the fruitless vine is treated with contempt, and left to smolder with the weeds, the refuse, and the rubbish. It is a miserable thing.”

DO NOT become one of these branches. You must abide in Christ to have eternal life. If you don’t abide, you will fall in line with those like Judas who knew Christ, but never abided. They were never in Him. They will never inherit the promises of eternal life.

Jesus uses the word ABIDE – 11 times in this passage (if you count v 16). You think he is serious or what? Listen to the definition of abiding:

Abide:
a) to remain
b) in reference to place: to sojourn, tarry, not to depart, to continue to be present, to be held, kept, continually
c) in reference to time: to continue to be, not to perish, to last, endure
d) of persons: to survive, live
e) in reference to state or condition: to remain as one, not to become another or different, to wait for, await one

This is such a blessing. Wait on Christ. Do not depart. Continue in him, endure…Abide in Christ is the point. He wants you abiding in him. He does not want you abiding in other things. Find rest and peace in Christ.

Moses, in Psalm 91, provides a great definition of abiding for us (my favorite).

Psalm 91:1-2:
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

Abiding in Christ is to rest in him, to rest quietly without fear or anxiety to the point that you doze off comfortably in your savior’s arms – at peace.

PRUNING

Now, even the branches that are abiding in Christ and are showing fruit get some treatment from the Vinedresser. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes. The Father will prune you in order that you bear more fruit. Do you hear this? God wants you to bear fruit and he will prune you so that each season you bear more and more fruit.

Pruning – this is another one that you have to hear the definition: “to reduce especially by eliminating superfluous matter for more fruitful growth.”

Each one of us here this morning and me have superfluous matter in our lives and the Father is coming to reduce it! He will. I have been through this. I can speak of personal experience on this one. God does not want you to remain where you are…he wants you to be more fruitful. He will remove things from your life so that you will be more fruitful.

Pruning hurts. No doubt about it, pruning is a painful experience that God will take us through. The Father’s desire is to conform you into the image of Christ and he’ll do that be cutting away the junk from your life. That junk might be a job, or a friend, or money, or comfort, or luxuries, or your health. These things will hurt when they are cut off, but you will become more fruitful the next season IF you are abiding in Christ.

James 1:2-4
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

2 Corinthians 3:18
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

The word “changed” or “transformed” here is Meh-ta-mar-pha-toh, which is obviously related to our own English word of metamorphosis, which means to change in appearance, condition or character. Here is another passage dealing with the Father transforming or pruning us:

Hebrews 12:7-11
7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

When you abide, you will bear fruit, but God will prune you in order that you are made perfect and complete lacking in nothing – IN and THROUGH CHRIST.


Keller Hackbusch

Part 1: What Vine are you Abiding In?

Part One - What vine are you abiding in?

One of my favorite passages in scripture is Jesus’ teaching on the vine and the branches. Recently I had a chance to work through this passage with the high school group at our church and look at what it means for Christ to be the Vine and for the believer to be the branch in relation to the changing and transforming nature of their young lives. Here is the passage:

John 15:1-11
15:1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

Background and Context

Before we get into the meat of this passage we need to consider the context and set the stage a bit. Just two chapters previous to this we see Jesus and the disciples entering the upper room to celebrate the Passover together. This was probably a few hours before Jesus teaches on the vine and the branches. In the upper room, Christ knows he is on his way to the cross and he knows the misery and suffering that is to come. He takes time during this last supper to teach the disciples massive truths. From chapter 13 to our passage in chapter 15 we see all of this:

- Jesus washes the feet of the disciples and introduces servant leadership – love one another (John 13:1-17) – remember this
- Jesus tells of a disciple who will betray him. (John 13:18-30) – remember this
- Jesus introduces communion – (Mat 26:26-29)
- Jesus introduces the new covenant of his blood (Luke 22:20)
- Jesus introduces a new commandment – love one another (John 13:31-35) – remember this
- Jesus foretells of Peter’s denial (John 13:36-38)
- Jesus drops the deity bomb by declaring that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no one comes to the Father except through him…and if you have seen him you have seen the father. (John 14:1-14)
- Jesus promises the Holy Spirit (John 14:16)

After all these huge topics that Christ slips onto his unsuspecting disciples during this little Passover dinner, says in v 31: “Rise and let us go from here!” The disciples I’m sure are sitting at the table looking at each other asking, “What did he say? Another is coming? A Helper? What was that about eating his body?” – and Jesus gets up to move on…probably leaving the disciple scrambling to catch up with Him.

According to Harry Ironside in his commentary and also in Morgan’s commentary, there are a couple of possible reasons why Christ compares himself to a vine and defines himself as the TRUE Vine.

1. As Christ and the disciples leave the upper room at night – probably dark by then – and walk past the Temple, they would have passed by the temple Gates which have a huge golden vine with hanging fruit – representing the Old Testament references of Israel (Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah,, Ezekial) as the vine. You could see Christ stopping the disciples in the tracks and point up to this vine above the gates and say, “I am the TRUE VINE – abide in me.” Now, there is a whole rabbit trail – more like a freeway system to follow related to Christ as the true vine in reference to the Old Testament passages, however, we don’t have time to deal with now.

2. The second possibility is that as they were walking through the Kidron Valley on their way to the Gethsemane, they passed a vineyard along the path, and again, you can see Christ stop the disciples and say: “I am the TRUE VINE!”
Neither of these can be confirmed historical or biblically, but they provide us with a nice picture of this late night adventure.

This passage, John 15:1-11, is about as famous of a scriptural passage as you can find in the Bible and we can’t get anywhere near being able to deal with everything, so I have boiled it down to four points that I want you to learn, own, and live out:

Point #1 - What vine are you abiding in?
Point #2 - What kind of fruit are you bearing?
Point #3 - Why does Christ tell us these things?
Point #4 - How do we abide? – The practical side


Keller Hackbusch

Matt Chandler...be encouraged

The Village Church (Dallas, TX) lead pastor Matt Chandler was diagnosed with a frontal lobe brain tumor. Chandler is a healthy young man (35yrs) with great zeal for the word of God and preaching his savior. This sudden diagnosis is shocking and sad for those who have been following Matt for a while. I pray for recovery and strength for his wife and kids. Matt is very encouraging and this video is true to his spirit and faith. Matt will not waste his tumor, but will instead glorify God with this surgery and tumor and recovery.

Watch this video and be encouraged by Matt's courage and faith.

Matt Chandler Video

http://fm.thevillagechurch.net/blog/pastors/?p=363



Keller Hackbusch

Take Your Eyes Off the Mirror

Are you happy being who you are?

Do you have good self-esteem?

Good self-confidence?

Does it really matter?

Are you comfortable in a room full of strangers or do you compare yourself to everyone; focusing on your flaws?

I think many of us struggle everyday with who we are. I’m not talking about how we wish we could lose 20 lbs or how I wish my hair hadn’t started falling out in my mid-twenties. Those are minor cosmetic issues. I’m talking about the big stuff that becomes chains shackling us to the walls in the dungeon of depression.

Our society is going through many trials in these difficult times. Many are losing homes and jobs, going bankrupt and feeling like failures.

Do you feel like a failure?

Do you feel not good enough?

Are you jealous of those who seem successful and have it all?

Do others have better jobs?

Are others more attractive?

Is their house, wedding ring, or motor home that much bigger and better than yours that you feel like a loser around them?

Do you ask why them and not me?

These thoughts of discontentment will eat away at our self-confidence and self-worth. But what is self-confidence and self-worth? Where does self-confidence and self-worth come from?

We need to start by taking our eyes away from the mirror for a change and look up. We need to look up toward our creator and savior Jesus Christ. We spend so much time looking at ourselves and comparing ourselves to other people that we don’t have time to look at God. Let’s get into the encouragement that can only be found in the Word. Here is what God says…

Genesis 1:26

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”

Each one of us is uniquely and specially made in the image of God, which means we each carry unique attributes of God. We are all different, but no less made in God’s image.

Psalm 139:13-14

13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

God crafted our bodies, minds, and spirit in our mother’s womb in a unique and special way. We are wonderfully made in an awe-inspiring and fearful way. We are no accident. We are different, but each one of us is formed by the hands of the living God, who is infinitely holy, perfect, and good.

Isaiah 43:1-2 & 7

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine… 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

God is very serious about these facts: He made us in His own image. He uniquely formed us from the inside out in our mother’s womb. He made us for His glory – for His purposes. Based on these scriptures (many others tell the same story), we should be able to deduce that we are not a freak occurrence of nature or and accident. We were not the results of strange biological evolutions or random chemical combinations. Each and every one of us was uniquely planned, creatively designed, precision engineered, and delivered with a purpose. God made us the way we are for a reason…for His glory. God made us just as we are for His purpose and His glory alone. There is nothing more valuable or perfect in the universe than God’s delight, purpose, and glory.

I hope you find comfort and confidence in this. We can not compare ourselves to others when we know we are unique for God’s purpose. We should instead search out where God has gifted us and apply our lives fully to those gifts and let God do the rest.

But why has he made us this way or that way?

But, if God makes us in His image, why is everyone else more interesting, more desirable, more rich, more important, more everything?

Is it not enough that you are the image of God?

My current favorite passages of scripture finish the story. These verses add power to our created nature and they describe the scope and depth of the power of the God who created us.

Romans 8:28

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Ephesians 1:11

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will…

These two phenomenal verses show that God’s will and purpose rules our existence. All things work for good – good in God’s eyes, not our own – and He works all things according to his predestined purpose. We and our lives are chosen and planned before time began in order to fulfill God’s ultimate design, purpose, and pleasure. This is good news. There are no mistakes and no failures…ever. Everyone has a purpose.

Not only do all things work for good, but all things are being maintained and held together by Jesus Christ. Right now, Christ is holding the stars in place in the sky, choosing the exact amount, size and speed of the rain drops falling in another part of the world while He is orchestrating the events of your life. I’d even argue that He is beating your heart to keep you alive.

Hebrews 1:3

…and he [Jesus] upholds the universe by the word of his power…

Colossians 1:17

And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

The best part is that it is all good. It was all planned to be this way. You were planned to be this way. Have hope and have courage to serve your purpose to God’s glory. Find your purpose and work it out.

If, however, you are not encouraged and you still want to complain to the all knowing living God, I would caution you. We must be careful in complaining to the creator. Gratefulness and thankfulness should rule our hearts. We in today’s society have lost the healthy respect for God. We need to know our rightful place in the universe. This verse helps keep perspective:

Romans 9:20

20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”

Do we have higher standards than God? Or should we find peaceful contentment in how we were molded? Should we change our self-consumed focus from what we don’t have to God, His purpose, His glory, and His genius? I’d say so.

Scary Reading in the Dark

Just the other day as I was reading Psalm 119, I was struck by fear. It wasn’t the global fear of God caused by his greatness, holiness, and power but the sort of fear that is followed by the words: “oh, my…did I just read that?” Have you ever had moments like this? It was a moment of revelation.

It was late and I was reading in bed with a small flashlight. My book light is broken and I was trying not to bother Maria as she slept, so I fumbled around awkwardly while trying to read the small words on the page. That night, by accident, I found that reading the Bible at night in the dark with a flashlight is a fantastic way to read the word of God. Something about the darkness and spot light adds a unique quiet focus. I had been reading Psalm 119 during the week before, but this particular time I was hit straight in the head when I reached verse 67:

“Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.”

The word afflicted jumped off the page at me. So, I read it again. Before I was afflicted I went astray. Yikes, before I was afflicted? But now I keep your word. I know that as a Christian we should expect affliction, but this was like a neon sign saying, “You will be afflicted.” God wants me to keep his word and commandments, but the author made it clear that he could not keep them until after he was afflicted. He learned something during his affliction that changed him. This is not comforting in a worldly sense. Who would want to learn this lesson? My mind immediately shot to Hebrews chapter 12 and the description of how a father will chastise and discipline his son if he loves him. Better yet, the father disciplines his son because it is the best thing for him and seems painful but later yields good fruit. (Hebrews 12:3-11) I think of my own pitiful weak parenting and see this truth materialize everyday.

The thought of affliction is a very scary thought for me. When I read affliction I see visions of death, pain, loss, misery, and physical and emotional struggles. My wife and I recently went through a bout of affliction at the beginning of 2009 and my heart is still recovering from the wounds. Several tragic things happened in a span of a few weeks. First, my father-in-law passed away and although it was not a surprise, due to his health, it has been terribly sad. Then a major part of our business started to crumble beneath us, which led to me parting ways with a business partner and dear friend of mine of many years. Finally, to top off the challenging period, our brand new puppy, who was merely twelve weeks old and we brought him home the week following my father-in-laws memorial, suddenly developed a health condition that caused several strokes, blindness, and toxins in his brain. Within forty-eight hours he went from being an adorable puppy that brought great joy into our life to a horribly sick and miserable creature. We had to put him down and face death again eye-to-eye and our frailty face-to-face.

During these days when sadness dominated, I kept remembering a single verse that others I know spoke to themselves during struggles and pain: “You are good and you do good.” I knew this verse was from a Psalm, but I couldn’t remember which one. The truth behind the verse gave me great strength. In a simple sentence, I knew God was good and no matter what happened to me it was good because God was in complete control and it would ultimately work out for my good, as stated in Romans 8:28-30. Regardless of how bad or painful it was at that moment, it was working for the greater good in God’s plan for my life and those around me. I knew this and my entire understanding of who God is, what his character is, and what plans he has for me were all incorporated within this simple disambiguated verse: “you are good and you do good.”

I sat on Psalm 119:67 for several minutes as the last few months flashed before my eyes. I saw the days pass by and even relived many of those feelings in that moment. I read on to gain more understanding of this affliction and the results that came from it. The next verse can be classified under supernatural happenings or as a providential God appointed meeting. I read verse 68:

“You are good and you do good; teach me your statues.”

What! Are you kidding me? This is no exaggeration. I wish I was clever enough to create something like this. The disconnected verse that helped me get through my time of struggle, loss, and sadness mysteriously appears immediately following a verse describing affliction and spiritual growth. This is phenomenal. God is very mysterious, but oh so glorious! I continued to read and found the conclusion to these verses in verse 71:

“It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statues.”

At this point the verses on discipline come together with Psalm 119. You are good, you do good, and it is good for me. Do I know that these sad events in my life were caused by God as a personal affliction to move me to a new spiritual place? No, I have no idea. I may never know. Do these verses make it any easier to deal with? Yes, it is comforting to hang on to. However, these sad times did move me to a new place and in the end, it was good for me. The view I have of God is a tiny bit clearer now than it was before…before I was afflicted. I’m not sure that am keeping His word or statues any better, but I do have a continually growing affection and desire for God. According to Mark 12:29-30, the scribes ask Jesus what was the most important commandment of all? His answer: “The most important is, Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

I find great strength and joy in interpreting Psalm 119:71 like this: It was good for me that I was afflicted, that I might love you will all my, heart, soul, mind, and strength. I don’t want to be afflicted again, obviously, but somehow I just know in my heart that my spiritual maturity is depending on it.

by Keller Hackbusch

Divine Appointment - Part 3

…Continued from Divine Appointment – Part 2.

(Divine Appointment - Part 1)

Flash forward a couple months again. I recently had a trip to Mesa, AZ for a state airport networking conference and I thought there would be a chance that Dennis would be in attendance. So, I contacted him and told him that if he came I would love to talk adoption. Dennis did come and God worked in a major way again. We connected in the morning and decided that if neither of us had other clients to take out to dinner we’d get together and discuss adoption. Dennis also told me that he brought brochures information on an adoption agency for me, which was awesome.

We did in fact end up going to dinner together to discuss adoption and Dennis also invited another guy who worked for the government and had adopted as well. Surprisingly, there were six total in our dinner party: me, 2 of my employees, Dennis, an employee of Dennis’s and the government guy. Out of the six of us, two had already adopted internationally and two of us were very interested in adopting soon. I was shocked to find out that one of my employees was also planning to adopt. We violated all the rules of business that night by diving head first into the topic of our faith. I had my suspicions and I hoped that Dennis was a Christian and I was excited to find out that Dennis has a deep genuine and powerful faith – as did Dennis’s employee and the government guy. We spent the evening talking about God’s glory through adoption and what God was doing in our lives.

For several hours we discussed their specific experiences and all the options. This meeting was encouraging beyond words. After our excellent dinner – food and conversation – we went our separate ways back to the hotel to turn in since it was getting late. While we were sitting in a restaurant a block away discussing God’s goodness, the majority of the conference folks were partying in the hospitality suite late into the night. As I passed by the hospitality suite on my way to the elevator I was incredibly thankful for God protecting me by keeping me from that part of the conference. It is always difficult to avoid the cocktail parties and late night events at these conferences.

Dennis drove back separately with his co-worker as did I and I took a long time talking with my employees before making our way to the elevator where we surprisingly ended up on the elevator with Dennis. This was a surprise because we’d taken so long getting there. Then, ironically, Dennis was on the same floor as I was. We stepped off the elevator and spent another half hour talking about our faith and our goals as business owners from a Biblical and Godly perspective. This was amazing. We even talked about our mutual desire to preach and attend seminary and our struggle with God’s calling. Dennis had words of wisdom in suggesting that we were both not only the preachers of our families, but also the preachers of our businesses. We both have great ministries right in front of us in our businesses. At the end of this conversation Dennis asked if he could pray for me and my family. He prayed a wonderful prayer of encouragement for our faith, adoption, business, and friendship. As we started walking to our separate rooms, Dennis offered, “tonight was a divine appointment by God.” All I could respond with was, “Amen.”

I was so encouraged by the way God works and how he puts people together. In a strange town at a business event God knitted two of His spiritually adopted children together through a passion and a heart for earthly adoption.

Praise God for His divine appointments. Look for them and be blessed.

Romans 8:28-31

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Amen.

By Keller Hackbusch

Divine Appointment - Part 2

link to Part 1

Previously, in Divine Appointment – Part One, I tried to build some frame work around the idea that God ordains everything that happens in our lives. He ordained what you had for breakfast and that you are reading this right now. Since writing the first part of this topic, I’ve decided that I must add the new post: “Divine Appointment – Appendix”. This new “appendix” post (to be posted next) will be more scripture to enforce this belief.

My fascinating divine appointment went like this…it was actually a series of divine appointments.

My job requires me to attend tradeshow conferences several times a year where I travel to places around the western US to attend classes and network with clients. This networking process is something that I enjoy because I get to know new people who have interesting stories. One person with an interesting story is a civil engineering client I have known for about five years now. I’ll call him Dennis for the purposes of this post. Dennis and his wife have two biological children and two adopted children. I know this information because I did an interview with him for a project in Santa Fe, NM several years ago and we spent most of the day working together. Typically at events like this you get to know each other, but the personal information is limited. Limiting personal information exchange is usually recommended because often people have radically different lives and can completely disagree on important issues. This can and will strain professional relationships.

I have always been taught to not mix work with religion or politics. I’ve never been good at following this rule since I am passionate about my relationship with Jesus Christ and because I am a political junky. I am, however, always careful to not overstep the bounds of professionalism.

During this trip with Dennis years ago, I learned a bit about my associate’s adoption and the process they went through. This was very interesting to me because my wife, Maria, and I have been very open to the idea of adoption since we were dating. I told Dennis that someday I’d like to talk to him about his adoption in more detail.

Flash forward to August of 2009, the scene of a powerful divine appointment. I was sitting in my Pastor’s office just after our weekly men’s prayer group talking about how Maria and I really feel that God is calling us to add to our family. We were talking about getting pregnant, but we have had complications in the past so I was expressing my concerns. He asked a very innocent question: “have you guys ever considered adoption?” Well, of course we had, but not like we are now. I spent the next couple hours in my pastor’s office talking about adoption as a beautiful picture of the gospel – how God adopts us into his family, how he pulls us out of the orphanage of the world and our sin. We watched videos on the together for adoption website (www.togetherforadoption.org) and some others as well as discussion Russell Moore’s new book, Adopted for Life, (www.russellmoore.com) which I took home with me that afternoon. I had never had God speak to me so powerfully in such a wonderful way. My heart was broken and reset on God’s new agenda for me.

I can’t tell the whole story of how God has given us a heart for adoption at this point because it will take up too many inches of blog space. Maybe I’ll post on that another day. I’ll sum it up here simply as Maria and I are now looking into which agency we are going to use to adopt.

…Continued in Divine Appointment – Part 3.

by Keller Hackbusch

Because He is God

BECAUSE HE IS GOD

By: Akash Sant Singh

Associate Pastor of Community Bible Church, Reno, NV

Because HE is holy, His anger burns against sin.

Because HE is righteous, His judgments fall on those who rebel against Him.

Because HE is faithful, the solemn threatenings of His Word are being fulfilled.

Because HE is omnipotent, no problem can master Him, no enemy can defeat Him, and no purpose of His can be withstood.

Because HE is who He is and what He is that we now behold what we do - the gathering clouds of the storm of Divine wrath, which will shortly, burst upon the earth.

Because HE is almighty He is one who speaks and it is done, who commands and it stands fast. He is the One with whom "all things are possible" and "who works all things after the counsel of His own will."

Such is the God of the Bible, the God who throws out the challenge:

"To whom then will ye liken God, or what likeness will ye compare unto Him?" (Isaiah 40:18).

And as though that were not enough, in the same chapter He asks again:

"To whom then will ye liken Me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: He calleth them all by names by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power, not one faileth...Hast thou not known? Has thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?" (Isaiah 40:25,26,28).

God Who Can Be Known

God Who Can be Known

Akash Sant Singh

Associate Pastor of Community Bible Church, Reno, NV

How are we to know what a right view of God is? Who is to make the determination and how can we trust it when made? What standard do we apply? What measuring rod do we hold up as the plumb line to evaluate the personhood of the Creator of all things? Who is arrogant enough to say, "I know the mind of the Almighty." "I understand with absolute certainty the fullness of His character and attributes. Let me tell you about His ways, His acts, and explain Him to you."

We know, first of all, that the existence of God can be seen from His creation. "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." (Romans 1:20)

But we only come to really know Him-His character and attributes-through one source alone: the Scriptures! The Bible is God's autobiography. It is the divine disclosure of the self-revelation of who He is and His redemptive plan for fallen man. Because He is God we don't have the right to redefine Him on our own terms.

Romans 16:25-27 "Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith; to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen."

Romans 15:4 "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."

1 Tim. 6:3-4 "If anyone advocates a different doctrine, and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing;"

If you desire to know Him, to worship Him, to walk with Him, to love Him, to serve Him, to pray to Him, to fellowship with Him, to commune with Him, to adore Him, and to obey Him, you must come to His Word. We are not slaves to our instincts. We are responsible.

Divine Appointment - Part 1

I want to share an astounding story about what happened to me the other night, but I want to take some time first to build up the frame work around a biblical concept. I’ll tell my story in the next post – Divine Appointment Part 2. There are a couple of common phrases that we Christians often say which can become meaningless when we over use them. These phrases, however, have roots in some seriously important theology. I understand that I may be a bit of a theology nerd and a doctrine junky, but I think these things really matter. I believe it is important to know what we believe and why we believe it. I believe that we need to be able to express our beliefs to others with clarity and confidence. Back to our sayings…

Have you ever heard a Christian friend say any of these (or said these yourself – we all say them)? “Oh, you should have been there…it was a God thing.” “I’m sure it had to be a God thing.” “I guess God put that one together.” “Now that was a divine appointment!” I hear it all the time. What do these sayings or phrases mean to you? To most, I suspect, these sayings would mean that God has just done something miraculous, something big and obvious in their life…blessed them in some way. Maybe money showed up in the mailbox unexpectedly or maybe there was a conversation revolving around God that really touch the person or had one of ‘those’ spiritual conversations. Maybe you randomly bumped into that long lost friend that has been in your prayers. So, what does this saying really mean beneath the words? What message is our heart actually delivering? I think it reveals a belief that some things come from God and other things are random events that occur every day within our chaotic world. When we say “it was a God thing” we are also saying that there are things that are NOT a God thing. I believe that this question really dives to the core of how we see the structure of the universe. Does God work to fit His will, purposes, and events into a chaotic and random universe? Or are even the universe’s random events set in motion by God? My barometer is the Word of God, so let’s take a snapshot of a few verses:

Hebrews 1:3: “…he upholds the universe by the word of his power.” – Everything, all the time, is held up by Christ’s word.

Job 1:21 “And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” – Earlier in Job we see that the Father actually commands Satan to test Job and after Satan takes everything away from Job and this was his response.

Genesis 50:15-21 “15 When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” 16 So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died, 17 ‘Say to Joseph, Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18 His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” 19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. 21 So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.” – This topic is too deep and powerful to discuss quickly here, however, look at verse 20. It is clear that God purposely caused and worked out everything we read of Joseph’s life in the Book of Genesis.

Ephesians 1:11 “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will…” – God works out everything according to the purpose of his will. He does all things for his pleasure and his plan.

What is the point of these verses? Simply this: Everything is a God thing. The fact that you awoke this morning and your heart was beating was a God thing. The fact that you are reading this blog post right now is a God thing. These things have been ordained and predestined by God for his purposes – all things all the time. The fact that you were not run over by a bus on your way to work was a God thing; however, had you been hit by a bus on your way to work that would have been a God thing too! God orchestrates everything and there is no such thing as random events! As R.C Sproul wisely states, “There isn’t a maverick molecule in the universe.” Everything and every event are under God’s divine control and purpose down to the way the leaves turn colors and the way that the stars sit in the sky. Everything from how the spiders make their webs to who we bump into in the grocery store…and it is all meant for good. God executed a divine appointment in my life the other night. Long ago God the Father set in motion a plan for that night’s events, he worked it out exactly as he had planned, and it was a great blessing.

Continued in Part 2…