notes from lisa...

Most of us, have a wrong idea of how to reach the world. We have a desire to see men saved, but our methods aren't effective, and they don't follow the example of Jesus. We suppose that to win the world we must first address their sin. The "world" is aware of its sin, in most cases--maybe, every case. We all have within a us a conscience--saved or unsaved; it's innate. It will tap all of us on our shoulders when we mess up--the Holy Ghost didn't give us a conscience (when we accepted Jesus Christ); we always had one. The Holy Ghost provides the means to respond to sin in our lives--and to avoid sin, before it happens; the Spirit gives us power to say "no" to sin, but we know what sin is, whether we admit it or not. When we attempt to reach the world, our misconception of their lack of awareness of sin (in their lives) leads us down an unwise path. Instead of providing them with the solution, we offer them the problem. We attack. We list their sins

I'M SORRY!!! How do YOU say, "I'm sorry"? Often, when we have offended someone, and are aware of it, we apologize--or, at least we say the words. What, though, is the feeling behind the words? Apologies come in many forms and appearances. Some are genuine, some only serve the offender--to appease guilt or to feel justified, some are downright hostile--and not really accepting of any guilt in the matter, and many more are never even uttered , but (supposed to be) assumed by those we have offended. All of us offend. All of us have a duty and responsibility to apologize. It is also a privilege --repentance in any form, is freeing and cleansing. Still, many of us resist honest, straightforward, responsibility-accepting apologizing. Genuine "I'm sorry's" are healing. They open lines of communication, restore trust and make room for unity and love to abound. It is our pride and self-will that keeps us from offering sincere apologies. We are more c

"And, Who is My Neighbor?" But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Yeshua, "And who is my neighbor?' (Luke 10:29) This is a strange question, if you consider who was doing the asking. Those assembled (If you don't know), are attempting to trick Jesus into condemning Himself, with His own words--this was surely an odd question from such a source (if you don't know what he is up to). Take note--not just anyone was asking this question of Jesus--this person was referred to as a "lawyer", "religion scholar", "expert", "teacher", "expert on the Law", "expert in Moses' teachings", etc. (in various versions). This man knows the Law. He knows all of the Law--surely he knows the 16th and 17th verses of the 20th chapter of what we call the Book of Exodus. (The Law for Jewish people consists of the Torah--and over 600 commands that had to be memorized and kept. If you offended in one point, y

Most of us are familiar with the evils of the system of Apartheid that existed in South Africa for many years. Even today, many experience the aftershocks of that wicked and damnable system. Under Apartheid, only European whites were completely free, in South Africa. Indians, no matter what their education and accomplishments could not travel freely without "papers" and were still subject to harassment. Blacks suffered far more--being even darker. They were forced to live in crowded townships, only allowed to leave to work for the European whites (who couldn't survive without their labors). When they began to demand their rights as citizens, they were beaten, jailed and brutally murdered--sound familiar? These evils aren't limited to people of color either--remember Adolph Hitler? He was so fixated on creating the "perfect" race of blond-haired, blue-eyed people with no "imperfections". They should all have a particular nose and jaw line, and n

"RETHINK CHURCH". I had to put that in quotes, because I borrowed that statement from the United Methodist Church commercial, I just viewed. I think they have a point. It is time to "rethink church"! Church, as we know it, is not accomplishing the goals that Christ would have it. It isn't working like the New Testament model. Souls aren't being won--like they once were. people aren't being healed or raised from the dead in our churches. Of course, some would argue, that it isn't for this day--but tell me, what was the cut off date? We are in the same dispensation--Grace, right? So, what changed??? I would surmise, that our problem is relational, in nature--with God, and even more so, with others. Of course, if we have problems with others--our relationship with God becomes fractured, too, soooo.... What can we do about this? The Scriptures give us very clear directions about how we should relate to one another. How to have good and prosp

NOTHING ELSE WILL MATTER... "1 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. 2If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. 3-7If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love." (The Message) "1 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everyt

Building Bigger Barns Today, our society is shaken to its roots. It seems as if everybody is overwhelmed with talk of the recession and possible depression. The economy is the constant headline, each new day. Even the church is caught up in the fear of financial crisis. Conversations everywhere turn to where to place your money to keep it "safe", how to save your home and belongings from foreclosure and repossession. Barns. Yes, barns. Jesus spoke to us of these things, in the parable about "the barns". Jesus said, "a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth". It seems as if our lives--or the value of our lives are totally determined by the "things", in this day. I'm not exactly sure of all of the factors that brought us to this condition--and in fact, I believe the factors are many, and vary from person to person. What is important, though, is that we begin to refocus on what is truly impo

"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." (21st Century KJV) I am a "fan" of Dr. Phil (McGraw, that is). Occasionally, I get to watch his program; and see the celebrity psychologist, as he counsels. The thing that I like about him, and his brand of psychology is that, most of the time, it's just good old common sense. Now, there are times, that I don't agree with him--but there is one phrase he often uses, that I think we ALL could ask ourselves, in times of conflict. Many times, he will have people on that are at each other's throats, for one reason or another--and they will bicker back and forth (as they, undoubtedly, have been before they arrived on his stage, too!). After they go on for awhile, he will ask them a pointed question. "How's that working for you?", he will say. It seems obvious--and it is; if their way was working, they wouldn't be sitting in front of the doctor, wou

Thursday, July 9, 2009 Lately, I've noticed that a lot of accusations are being hurled, all over the place! At friends, loved ones, at me, at President Obama, the previous administration, the media, fallen minister's, minister's who haven't fallen, but because they aren't poor, you name it--accusations abound! What I don't see much of, is forgiveness or mercy. That's a problem. You see, accusations, don't bring solutions. Forgiveness and mercy--they solve and heal a multitude of errors. There is so much finger pointing. A lot of it comes from those of us who SHOULD know better--the Body of Christ. We should have learned better, in Sunday School--Card Class (as tots), in fact; hearing about the Pharisee's, accusing Jesus, that NO good can come of it. Yet, we get caught up in it, day after day, and we justify it, by saying that "God demands holiness and righteousness!!!" He sure does! Yes, HE does--but who are WE! It reminds me of th

In this 21st Century, when we are doing everything in a new and different way--seemingly, moment by moment, the church, too, has seen some changes. Churches used to be the place where "everybody knew your name"; now, though with the advent of the Mega-Church, you may not know if the person you are seated next to, is even a member of that assembly or not. I think Church growth is a wonderful thing--propagation of the faith is our responsibility as Christians, but have our methods gone awry? How does the Mega-Church fit with the requirements of the Church, laid out in Scripture? Whose purpose does the Mega-Church serve? Is there a better way? I am going to make a statement that many will disagree with--but here goes. I think Mega-Churches, primarily serve Mega-Preachers. In a church that has thousands of members, how can one pastor serve all of them equally--and if the answer is, to delegate to under-shepherds, then why not train these men (and women) when they come into t

"1 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. 2If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. 3-7If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love." (The Message) "1 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even s

"Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not." (KJV, James 4:2). "For I was hungry, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto Thee? Then shall He answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to Me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into eternal life." (KJV, Matthew 25:42-46) Those words, "...ye have not, because ye ask not", have to be among the most misused Scriptures in the Bible. We say, that the reason, people don't have basic necessities met, is because they "ask

There are some times in our lives when we can easily get caught up in the "seasons" of daily living, and lose focus of the "big picture". At times, we may need to pull out that spiritual "film projector" and roll em', to regain focus and realize just what is really important and what isn't. It isn't hard to get off track and find ourselves drowning in the everyday trappings of life, trying to manage a rat race that we aren't equipped for. We, after all, are pilgrims, in a strange land--and this is not our home. But, as we occupy this place, for the time being, we have to cope with "seasons"; yet, not without an eternal hope and a future. The seasons of this life sometimes carry, great burdens, trials and pain; but while those seasons might destroy some, they make us and purify us. We go from day to day, not focused on how our difficulties and challenges are turning us into vessels of glory and honor--but they are. We can't

It may seem as if this blog is devoted to how we relate to one another, as Christians। I stand accused. The reason for this, is that I believe it ranks so high on the list that if we do not take corrective steps, many of "our greatest" will suffer. I am thinking in particular, today about the ways we use titles in our churches. I understand and agree with the need for some form of protocol. I see the proper use of some titles--those that are biblically-inspired. However, do we misuse them?I am of the belief, that titles, in our churches are out of control. What is the reason? I am going to suggest that it has something to do with the history of racism in America. I hate to focus on churches being "black" or "white", but this particular issue is a much bigger problem in the "black church". Here is my historical take on the issue. Black people in America, we know have had little or no power, until very recently. The only legitimate place (in pa