by Aarron Pina | Nov 15, 2012 | Uncategorized
Short and Sweet:
Straight to the point, here’s where we’re at. Ahead of years past, but still playing “catch up”, a little bit “short”, but so little it’s “sweet”. Praise God.
The Not-So-Hard, but Fast Numbers:
$850 in support needed by tomorrow (11.16.2012) in pledges or actual receipts with about $250 in matching funds available for that period. Praise God. To finish the year even, all that’s left to raise is about $11,700, with about $3,500 in matching funds available to reach that milestone.
Yesterday, we received donations of $100, $200, and $22. I’m not sure which we were more thankful for… How about “all of the above”? I mention this example to let some of you know, it’s all appreciated – every dime that God has provided has been appreciated.
Don’t make the mistake I did a few years ago when a friend of mine told me his ministry had s $40,000 shortfall in October – I didn’t give anything because I thought “I can’t make a difference in that big a deficit.” I missed out on helping him. Don’t be fooled like I was. Mike would have appreciated my $22 as much as we appreciated this week’s $22.
Here’s how you can jump in:
1) Pledge: Contact us to let us know if you’re planning to support.
2) Support online or by check (details below) at any level.
3) Consider Seasons of Life in your 2013, 2014, and/or 2015 giving & let us know as the Lord leads.
4) Invite your small group or coworkers to join in “liking” us on Facebook or following our blog or start a pool in your group or office to help push us over the top.
5) Pray, pray, pray. That’s a gift we always appreciate.
To Support Online Using our Secure Online Giving Portal:
Monthly Support:
One Time Support:
To support by check, make your check payable to Seasons of Life Ministries and mail to:
Seasons of Life Ministries
2659 Freedom Parkway
Suite 285
Cumming, GA 30041
Thanks, as always!
in Christ,
AP
by Aarron Pina | Nov 12, 2012 | Uncategorized
Two Ways to “Stop Being So Judgmental”
“You’re so judgmental.”
Stings, doesn’t it? Begs the question “How can I stop being so judgmental?”
Short answer: curl up and die.
Not helpful? Okay, I’ll give you the long answer. But, for context, I have to go way above my pay grade and make a football analogy:
Any pass has at least three parts: the ball, the throw and the receiver. Throw a perfectly good ball poorly and the receiver will need a miracle to catch it. But, even with a regulation ball and a great pass, there are three things that will result in an incomplete every time: wickedness, pride (mockery), or a wounded receiver.
“Gimme the Ball”!
A friend asks for advice. A regulation football represents God’s wisdom. So, you throw it to them where they are. Should be a complete, right? Instead, they snap back at you and accuse you of being judgmental and “holier than thou”. For weeks, there’s enmity between you. You feel rejected. They’re offended. Yet, in your heart, you’re between a rock and a hard place because they asked for the ball and you delivered. What the dilly?!
 |
| Incomplete?! |
What’s Their Problem That Was a Great Pass?!
Wisdom invites two distinct responses: a “toward” response “growing wisdom” (complete) or an “away” response of insult/abuse/hate (incomplete). The toward response is born at the intersection of a healthy heart and the tendency of wisdom to add to itself. The away shows up at the intersection of unhealthy conditions of the heart and a natural tendency to protect that heart from further harm.
Scripture tells us:
“Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult;
whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse.
Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you;
rebuke a wise man and he will love you.
Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still;
teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning. (Prov. 9.7-9)”
Ultimately, how we react to wisdom is a symptom of our overall spiritual health: your doctor may run tests to tell what’s wrong with you, yes? If he gives you a plate of wisdom and you eat it, the proverb above tells us you’re healthy – you were just suffering from a slight case of ignorance in that particular area, but if you add this wisdom to your learning – you’re cured! Reject it though, our proverb says you’ve got a case of wickedness or mockeritis.
The Truth
We have to judge. We’re designed to judge. Our brain is constantly comparing and contrasting things and making conclusions that could easily be classified as “judgments”. If you or I saw someone about to fall into an open manhole, we’d warn them, right? But, if we’re a Christian following the above logic, we’d be considered “judgmental”. If we lied down on the warm pavement of a busy street, we could easily be classified as “having poor judgment”.
Jesus’s teaching on the plank and the speck of sawdust (see Matthew 7) illustrates that we are not to pass final judgment (Greek: krino) on others, but to judge them or their behavior in light of our own faults and the fact that we, too will be judged. This implies a more compassionate confrontation than I or my friend may have in mind above. But, Jude 23 tells us we must “snatch” them from the fire – which may be abrupt and could be considered harsh if not explained.
Freedom
Judging is necessary for survival. But in Christ, we are free to judge a behavior and free from having to condemn the “behaver” in the process (Greek: krino, brings a connotation of final judgment and condemnation). We are also called to love one another, abruptly pull someone in danger from their danger, and to consider others better than ourselves. Not everyone receives wisdom well. Thus, the only other way to win 100% of the time is to pass wisdom only to people who are “all-wisdom, all-the-time” instead of those who are wounded, wicked, or proud.
Good luck with that.
In a Genesis 3 world, we will never fully get this to work seamlessly. There are creases, folds, and tears in everyone’s life and even godly advice delivered with best intentions can set off a fire storm of resent. There is great news for those situations – Jesus died for the fire starter and the fire breather. But, He also promises reward to for everything we have done in obedience for His name and by the Spirit. Suffer persecution, even from followers of Christ, and you will be rewarded as an overcomer. Perhaps not right now… but God promises a retirement plan that is out of this world.
In Christ,
AP
by Aarron Pina | Nov 7, 2012 | Uncategorized
18 The wrath of GodE)’>(E) 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made,G)’>(G)
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.I)’>(I) 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for imagesK)’>(K) in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.M)’>(M) and worshiped and served created thingsO)’>(O) Amen.Q)’>(Q) to shameful lusts.S)’>(S) 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.U)’>(U) to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,W)’>(W)
2 Cor. 11.2
For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy…”
2 Tim. 3.1-5
God must instruct and discipline us.
God has many roles, one is as a thief – where He takes away from us to discipline us. But, it’s unnecessary loss!!!
by Aarron Pina | Nov 5, 2012 | Uncategorized
Those Who Walked with God
Eve walked in the garden with God. Do you get much closer than that? Moses entered the tabernacle, saw God’s shoulder blade, and caught a case of “incandescent face” because he was in the presence of God. Solomon was brutally honest and humble with God that above power and riches, he’d need wisdom to rule God’s people – and received all three for that purpose.
All three had incredible responsibilities for God and all three have been recorded in scripture as having a few major failures on their performance reviews. Moses was denied entry into the promised land, Solomon led the nation of Israel astray, and Eve… Eve, Eve, Eve…
I don’t know what you’re called to, how much responsibility you have, or how closely you’ve walked with God, but I doubt anyone reading this post has more on the line than any of those three. I doubt anyone reading this post has a more direct connection with God than them, unless they have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them… Ooops… You get the point…
Those Who Walk with God & “QTG”
We not only have the Spirit of God in us, but we have the full, inerrant, inspired written revelation to go back and refer to, which none of the above had… So, what’s the problem? QTG… The biggest source of embarrassment when I sit down and talk with guys weekly is “Quiet Time Guilt” or QTG:
- I haven’t been in the word as much as I would like to…
- I’ve been kinda… busy… this week.
- Well, I’m kind of all over the place in my reading… But, I wish…
It’s as if they (by they, I mean we; and, by we, I also mean me…) have a painful, throbbing case of “Gotta do my quiet time again” that flares up every time they look in the mirror.
Stealing Our Excuses & The Bait and Switch
Every time I read the stories of Eve, Moses, and Solomon, I get this sort of “righteous indignation” and almost shout at my Bible: “You had personal experiences with God that most people would kill for – What were you thinking?!?!” Eve got to walk with God, Moses was chosen to lead Israeal out of Egypt, Solomon was born into nobility and somewhere along the line, they took God for granted… What do you think they might say if they read my story, though? Me, a bought-and-paid-for follower of Christ filled with the Holy Spirit, given the full canon of scripture…
The issue at the heart of QTG is that somewhere along the line our “get to” has gotten infected with “have to” and our guilt gland has gone into overdrive. Do we ever imagine Eve waking up in the morning thinking, “Oh, dread, have to walk through a beautiful garden today with the Sovereign of the Universe again…”? I know Moses had justifiable beef with the stiff necked people he was in charge of, but did he ever approach the tent of meeting and think “Sheesh… Gotta go talk to the Lord, again. What a drag.”? After all that Solomon wrote, can you ever picture him saying “Another boring revelation from the Creator of all that is seen and unseen.”?
Upping the Ante – Trading in the Guilt
Make no mistake, there should be a sense of urgency – if Eve walked with God and failed miserably to defend direct revelation to Satan, Moses saw God’s glory and still disobeyed, and Solomon got wisdom, riches, and power from God but still married foreign wives, multiplied horses, and gold and wound up worshiping rival gods – who are you and I to think we’ve got a snowball’s chance in hell without constant contact with the Word of Truth?
Look, it’s a war out there. There is a battle for our hearts and minds no different than the competition Solomon fell prey to when he took a thousand wrong turns with foreign women and their gods – we’d better be in the word, right?
Freedom from the Swelling
Yet, we must not allow our guilt gland to be overrun by the lie that Quiet Time is another chore to be added to the list, another thing to be “done”. Today, we have the stories of these three and many others to remind us that they got to walk with God, they got to enjoy His presence, and we get to, too. Furthermore, knowing that it’s a battle, we can cling to the word out of a guiltless “have to” and a grateful “get to” as we would a life raft in choppy seas following the sinking of the Titanic. How much guilt does a soldier have when the siren blares and he and his platoon run off to the chopper, the tank, or the Hum-V and it comes time to grab his rifle? Is he “too busy” to throw it over his shoulder? No, it’s my rifle and I must, I get to, I will bring it with me!
Find any refreshment there? Yeah, me, too.
Pray, today, that the Helper, the para-kletos comes along side you and I and ups our urgency to get in and stay in the Word not out of guilt or obligation, but out of crucial battle-readiness and love for the Lord whose presence is in us. Thank Him for the scriptures – worshiping the God of the Word, not the Word of the God. Let’s stop DOING our quiet time and embracing our lifeline to the Savior with freedom and confidence.
Soli Deo Gloria
AP
