Testing the Teaching: March 26th Devotional

Testing the Teaching

1st John 4:1

March 26th Devotional

      On this day in 1997, authorities entered a mansion near San Diego.  What they found that day would forever haunt them.  They discovered the bodies of 21 women and 18 men dead.  Their ages, education, occupations, and lives were all different, but they were all found that fateful morning wearing matching dark clothing and wearing Nike shoes.  Their bags were packed neatly by their beds as if they were going to take a trip.  There was no blood, no signs of struggle, or trauma.  Many of the victims wrote letters or sent videotapes home explaining what was going to happen.  How did nearly 40 people die, all in a similar fashion?  They were all members of a cult called “Heaven’s Gate.”  The cult was created in 1974 by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles, also known as Do and Ti.  They claimed to be the two prophets in the book of Revelation.  Their perverse teaching hinged on UFOs, New Age philosophy, and twisting of Biblical truth.  This cult’s teaching revolved around the idea that the human body could be released from its limited bonds and go to the ‘next level of evolution.’  The belief was that the body was merely a container or a vehicle for their soul until they could become a form of extraterrestrial.  Applewhite gained a small but dedicated group of followers over the years.  The group would nearly become extinct after making multiple false prophecies, that is until the 1990s.  In the year 1995, Applewhite became convinced that the comet Hale-Bopp was hiding a spaceship that was meant to transport his followers from this world.  His followers were reclusive and were forbidden from having contact with others outside of the cult's compound. They were denied many necessities and some even castrated themselves because they would no longer need their human body.  Hale-Bopp reached its closest and the group began a very systematic and orchestrated practice of ritualistic suicide.  Members assisted each other in drinking a poison that would take their lives.  This lasted for several days until the final two members died. There is only one major common thread among those 39 people who tragically died, they were all deceived by false teaching.  False teaching has always been prevalent.  It existed when the church was in its infancy and it will continue through the future. 

      Some false teaching is obviously wrong. It’s easy for most people to look at a UFO cult like Heaven’s Gate and say “how could someone believe that craziness?” But most false teaching isn’t as blatantly out there. Most false teaching is packaged to look Christian and Biblical.  The most successful and longest-lasting cults are those that mix a bit of false teaching with the truth.  How can a Christian know what is true and what’s not true?  How do you know that a Mormon or Jehovah's Witness, or any other group is wrong?  What is the basis of right and wrong doctrine and how do we gracefully minister to those that are currently under false teaching?  The Apostle John challenges us with these words “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world (1st John 4:1).”  John first tells the believer to not be naïve: don’t believe every spirit.  He’s saying that not everyone will be right, if anything many will be wrong. But what is the measuring stick by which we determine if something is believable or not?  We test the ‘spirits’ or the teaching.  The word test is unique.  The word means to try or scrutinize something.  It was a word used to test see if a material was real or fake.  As Christians, we need to try all teaching based solely on the entire Word of God.  Bogus teaching falls apart at the feet of the Scripture.  Cherry-picked verses rot when compared to the full authority of God’s Word.  John tells us to test all teaching with the Word of God to see if it is true or not.  Let’s not run to the newest craze or the hippest new preacher, instead let’s discern the message with the unfailing, unchanging Word of truth.  Let us be testers of teaching, not tasters.

The Church's One Foundation: March 19th Devotional

The Church's One Foundation

Matthew 16:13-18

March 19th Devotional

On this day in 1882, the first stone is laid for one of the most breathtaking churches in all of Europe, the Sagrada Familia Basilica, located in Barcelona Spain.  The brainchild of the church was a bookkeeper named José María Bocabella.  Jose or Josep was enchanted by the huge, Gothic-style churches in Italy and felt that Spain would be best served by replicating one for itself.  Bocabella was a devout Catholic and wanted to create a place to worship the ‘holy family’, thus the name Sagrada Familia.  The first stone was laid on this day by the original architect named Francisco Paula del Villar.  Villar was a well-known Spanish architect who was familiar with designing and building churches.  He quit the project shortly after it started due to disagreements with Bocabella.  The task then fell onto the shoulders of a Catalan-born Spanish architect named Antoni Gaudi.  Gaudi is considered to be the most prolific Spanish architect of all time and would turn the project on its head.  The original design of the church was meant to be simple, but Gaudi would create an architectural masterpiece. The 31-year-old architect was already considered a genius and integrated his bold, unique style into the Sagrada Familia. His vision was beyond huge.  The church was designed to have 18 towers, 3 facades, and most artistic flair than any other religious structure.  Gaudi was a deeply devout Catholic who wanted the church’s design to tell a story.  The three facades would represent the nativity, passion, and glory of Christ. Gaudi would tragically die before he could complete the structure but left detailed plans on how to finish it.  The church would endure difficult times through the years.  It suffered through a fire that was started by rebels and countless other delays. Incredibly, after 141 years, the church remains unfinished.  An estimated finish date of 2026 has been set, but most people feel it will take much longer.  The Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China, and the great pyramids were built faster than this church.  When it is finished it will be the tallest religious structure in all of Europe. Over four million tourists flock to this beautiful piece of art each year.

      I had a chance to visit the Sagrada Familia in 2002 and it was beyond breathtaking.  There are more details than my eyes or brain could ever process. There is one major problem with the Sagrada Familia.  It is built on a poor foundation, and I don’t mean the ground upon which the mammoth structure is built, I mean the spiritual foundation.  The church is gorgeous and glamorous, but it’s dead.  It’s dead because the Gospel is not the focal point of the ministry.  Any church that does not have the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the foundation is dead.  Many beautiful structures are dead while there are many tiny churches in the hollers of Appalachia that are alive. Churches adorned with stained glass windows might not share Christ while Chinese Christians meeting in dark caves are in love with Jesus.  Churches with great music and wonderful entertainment and large programs might miss the mark of the Gospel while people meeting in the open air of jungles are worshipping the Savior.  A lot of Western Christians have almost created an idol out of our building.  We fight over the color of curtains, carpets, and even the type of toilet paper the church purchases.  Jesus spoke about the foundation of the church in Matthew 16. He asked His followers who they thought He was, and Peter rightly affirmed, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”  Most of us are familiar with Jesus' response in verse eighteen, “That thou art Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”  Christ will build His church on a foundation, but what foundation?  Stone?  On Peter? No.  Christ builds His church upon Himself.  The church isn’t about buildings, programs, music style, how you dress, or where you are located, instead it is built upon Jesus Christ alone.  Our physical churches are stationary, they don’t move.  The real ‘house of God’ isn’t an address, but people who come to worship Christ.  May we as believers not forget that.  My prayer is that God would open our eyes beyond the place of worship, to the person of worship.  Let’s not focus on drapes and curtains, but on the Gospel and the Word of God.  Let’s be more concerned about the people outside of the building instead of the building itself.

March 2023 Prayer Letter

 

  “Mobilizing the Church Through Short-term Mission Trips”

“He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come see the place where the Lord lay.”  This precious passage in Matthew 28:6 was Titus’ memory verse for school a few weeks ago. I’ve read this verse countless times and have preached on it nearly every Easter, but this passage never loses its power. Christ our Lord didn’t just lay down His life on an old rugged cross but rose with power and life to all who would come and believe. As we enter the Easter season let our eyes fall onto the empty tomb, and let us take every opportunity to invite others to ‘come and see.’  This Easter, be intentional with making Christ known.        Last month Matt was blessed with an opportunity to take fellow CiM missionaries to Southern West Virginia.  God is growing our outreach ministry in that area and now multiple of our missionaries can lead teams to Welch.  We are grateful for excellent contacts that love Jesus and love their communities. This surveying trip allowed us to prepare for future ministry along with construction projects. Our newest missionary family, the Cooks, were able to tag along for this trip.  Alicia spent HOURS doing the lady's hair at the drug rehab center.  Not only did Alicia do hair, but she also built relationships that we pray will lead to redemption.       The next few months are filled with ample opportunities to minister.  At the end of this month, we will be traveling to Southern WV to create promotional material for future trips, meet with contractors for future construction jobs, and encourage our ministry partners.  Later that week we will be traveling to Cortland New York to work alongside Pastor Thomas and the Church of Blodget Mills.  This small church was built in 1811 and is one of the last Gospel-preaching churches in the community.  This small, older congregation is eager to meet with CiM to discuss future ministry.  We will also be meeting with a Christian Camp in the Cortland area.  The camp needs staff that would be able to present the Gospel to boys and girls throughout the year.  Our family also has the opportunity to travel to Southern WV again in April with Boonsboro Bible Church.  They will be providing construction, teaching, teaching skills like cooking, and most of all, the hope of the Gospel to ladies at a drug rehab center.  We are also starting to put considerable planning into our multiple VBS ministries and camps.     As always, we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your prayers and financial support. It might sound cliché, but we couldn’t do this without you. We never take your gifts and love for granted. Growing our financial support has had many different challenges over the past four years. The first challenge was Covid and the current challenge now is the increase in costs due to inflation. We readjusted our budget from last year and realized that we have a shortfall that we need to make up for. We encourage you to pray over that shortfall. Pray that God would open doors with the multiple new churches we are meeting with. Also, pray that God would help us connect with new individual partners that would team up with us for monthly support for the mission. We are excited to watch God work. Gifts sent to:  P.O. Box 51519 Durham, NC 27717 Or give online via www.churchesinmissions.org       Designate for Matt & Tiffanie Robinson          mandtcim@gmail.com

Fireside Chats of Hope: March 12th Devotional

Fireside Chats of Hope

Lamentations 3:21

March 12th Devotional

     On this day in 1933, a nervous American public listened to the newly inaugurated president for his first fireside chat.  Franklin Roosevelt was inaugurated only 8 days earlier and things couldn’t have started worse for a newly seated president.  He had to endure a terrible run on the bank which already complicated a very dire time in American history.  The nation was currently suffering through a worldwide depression, tremendous unrest in Europe and Asia, soaring unemployment that affected countless millions, industry was at a standstill, and was still reeling from the dust bowl.  Most Americans felt hopeless.  Things had never seemed darker or bleaker.  The public’s response was to withdraw all their money from the bank, thus creating a banking crisis.  The president desperately wanted to speak to the American people.  He choose radio as his media outlet.  It was estimated that around 90% of Americans owned a radio at that time.  He had used the radio earlier while he was the governor of New York and now it would help spread the message to the masses.  From the White House President Roosevelt came on the air that Sunday at 10:00 PM.  Estimates claim that over half the population tuned in during that first chat.  The president addressed the American people as “my friends” and used simple, clear words to convey the message to everyone.  His goal was to be honest but also encouraging.  The message flowed with a tone of optimism and patriotism.  His first ‘chat’ lasted nearly 14 minutes but it was heard loud and clear.  A sense of hope was bred that night.  Many Americans re-invested their money and the gears of the economy started to turn again.  Roosevelt didn’t coin his radio address as a fireside chat.  The media gave it that moniker and it stuck.  Roosevelt would give a total of 31 fireside chats during his time as president.  Some of them lasted for a few minutes, and others lasted for nearly an hour.  He used it frequently during WW II to keep the American public informed of the war front. Many historians believe that the reason why Roosevelt was so loved by the American people was because of these fireside chats.

      Roosevelt understood the importance of the fireside chat.  He knew that the American people needed their fears assuaged and a spirit of hope reborn.  The Bible uses the word hope around 130 times, but ironically the word hope is most found often in some very surprising books.  The books of Job, Jeremiah, and Lamentations are three of the top four books for the usage of the word hope.  Tragically though it was during these times of hardships that people sought out hope and found it in the wrong source.  One wouldn’t typically associate hope with the time of Jeremiah.  During his time the light of hope was nearly extinguished.  The nation of Israel was judged by God and handed over to the Babylonians.  People were taken away into captivity and the land lamented.  An air of bleakness lay heavy on the people.  It even affected the mighty prophet, Jeremiah.  Jeremiah acknowledged this in Lamentations.  In chapter three we find Jeremiah sharing his heart about how dire the situation seemed, he even wrote “My strength and my hope is perished….” Looking at all the external circumstances caused Jeremiah’s hope to diminish and nearly fade.  The same can be said about us.  If all we ever do is watch the current affairs of the world, we will quickly find ourselves becoming depressed and ready to quit.  But then Jeremiah looked to heaven, remembered God’s presence, and declared in Lamentations 3:21 “This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope!”  In despairing times it's easy for us to lose focus on hope, but if anything, the Bible overwhelmingly uses the term hope in those situations.  We shouldn’t abandon the pursuit of hope when we lose our jobs, have a cancer diagnosis, or have tragic news delivered to our doorstep.  It is in those seasons when we need to seek out the God of hope and cling to it with all our being.  Come to God for a fireside chat.  Get into His Word.  Spend time with Him in prayer.  Each of us needs to hear the encouraging words of God during discouraging times in our life.

Hula Hoop Hardships: March 5th devotional

Hula Hoop Hardships

Genesis 18:14

March 5th Devotional

      Most readers have probably enjoyed the toy that was patented today in 1963.  The invention of this toy has ancient roots.  It seems as if children from countless eras have played with some form of it.  Some were made from wood, grass, or vines bent into the shape of a circle.  I imagine you could probably guess that the toy is a hula hoop.  No one can lay claim to being the inventor of it, but we do know its patent history.  The story revolves around Richard Knerr and Arthur ‘Spud” Melin.  Arthur was the founder of a company named Wham-O.  It started with him selling slingshots out of his garage, but he quickly morphed his business model to selling novelty toys.  His first major success was the patent of another ancient toy, the frisbee, which was originally coined as the Pluto Platter.  Arthur watched other children swing rings made out of metal or bamboo around their waste and quickly realized that he could capitalize on patenting this toy.  The term hula hoop comes from the Hawaiian hula dance of the same name because of the similar motion.  Arthur made the hula hoop out of a fairly new material called plastic and would visit playgrounds with the new toy.  The children were hooked and a fad started.  It was all the craze in the late 1950s.  It was the must-have toy.  Ads for the new toy were found in newspapers, magazines, comic books, and even on television.  It is estimated that it sold over 25 million units in the first month and around 200 million units in the first two years.  It originally sold for around $2 (which would be about $20 in today’s currency).  But all toy fads are destined to come to an end.  By the mid-1960's the hula hoop craze had cooled and children everywhere moved onto the latest new toy, leaving hula hoops everywhere to yard sale heaven.  The hula hoop enjoyed multiple revivals over the years, but never quite enjoyed its original popularity.  

      I vividly remember getting a hula hoop as a child.  The other kids in my neighborhood could twirl it around for what seemed like hours.  One girl even had a pink hula hoop that made noises when she twirled it.  I never quite mastered the hula hoop as a child, and by master, I mean that I’m fairly certain the hoop never made one full revolution around my body.  My grandmother used to say that I wasn’t coordinated enough to play with hula hoops.  No matter how much I practiced, the hula hoop was too difficult for me to learn.  Some things are extremely hard.  Some of us will never learn to play the piano, play golf, juggle, paint, and the list could go on and on.  Typically, when something gets hard, we quit, we raise the white flag.  Life can be hard at times and when life is hard, we are also tempted to quit.  We are tempted to quit on our spouses, our jobs, our families, our finances, our faithful walk with Jesus, etc.  But what about God?  Is there anything too hard or difficult for God?  To find that answer we need to look at Genesis 18.  In this chapter, the Lord visits Abraham and his wife Sarah.  Both of them are getting up there in years and were still without the child that God had promised them years earlier.  Doubt might have even crept into their hearts and minds.  God told Abraham that day that Sarah was to have a child, and Sarah’s response was to laugh.  She laughed because, in her mind, it was impossible, and she was partially right.  It was impossible for Sarah in her latter years of life to have a child.  But Sarah only saw it from her side of heaven, God saw it from the other side.  God heard Sarah’s laughter and said to Abraham “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”  It’s a rhetorical question; the answer is implied.  Nothing is too hard for God.  God, who is limitless in power and wisdom has never faced ONE single thing that was too difficult for Him or even challenged His strength.  Read this again, nothing is too hard for God.  Underline that word NOTHING.  You might be hitting a wall of impossible, but it’s not too hard with God.  God is bigger than whatever you are facing and He will give you the grace and strength to overcome it or go through it.  Nothing ever was, is now, or ever will be too hard with God.

Taste and See: March 2nd Devotional

 Taste and See

Psalm 34:8

March 2nd Devotional

     “I do not like green eggs and ham!”  Those now famous household words were written by the beloved children’s author, Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss.  Today would have been Dr. Seuss’ birthday!  He was born in Massachusetts.  His father oversaw a local zoo, which later inspired many of Seuss’ animal creations and drawings.  His mother would often sing to him and read multiple rhyming words to him, thus creating his love for being a wordsmith.  Theodor would attend Dartmouth College.  While attending there he was voted by his classmates as the least likely to succeed!  Shortly after college Seuss would marry Helen Palmer.  They lived in an old, converted observation tower (lighthouse).  After college, he started to work for various publishing companies as an illustrator in their advertising department and during World War II he would use his talents for political cartoons.    But Seuss desired to do more, his passion was to become a children’s author.  His first children’s book “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” was rejected 27 times before it was published.  The first book that drew attention to his talents was “The Cat in the Hat.”  But none of his works are quite as famous as “Green Eggs and Ham.”  The book was inspired by a bet between Dr. Seuss and his publisher, Bennet Cerf.  Cerf bet that Theodor couldn’t write a children’s book that used only fifty different words.  Seuss won the bet, only using fifty words.  Incredibly only one word is more than one syllable (anywhere).  The book follows the story of an unnamed narrator who is hounded by Sam-I-Am.  Sam has a singular task, to get the narrator to try green eggs and ham.  He goes to great means to try to persuade him to eat the unusual delicacy.  He wouldn’t eat them with a fox, not a box, not a train, with a mouse in a house.   Sam was persistent though.  He eventually broke down the narrator's resolve until he tried a small piece.  Much to his joy, he liked green eggs and ham.  He would even eat them with a goat.  This story with strange food items became a hit.  To date, it has sold over 8 million copies, is the fourth best-seller of all time for children’s books, and helped Dr. Seuss become the first ever children’s author to win the Pulitzer Prize.

      As a parent, I have felt like Sam-I-Am from time to time.  I have tried to convince my kids that a particular food is good, only for them to fight me.   I can understand their trepidation over Brussels sprouts (which are delicious by the way) but I struggled to get my children to eat cookies at one time.  My kids now love cookies.  Why?  Because they tasted them and found out that they were good.  The Psalmist encourages us on a spiritual level to “taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him (Psalm 34:8)!”  The words taste and see are an invitation for someone to try and experience the goodness of God.  David was not a peddler selling God’s goodness, instead, he was merely pleading with people to come into a relationship with God.  If they did, they would find out that David’s were true; that God was and always will be good.  As a believer, we taste and see that God is good when we reflect on His holiness, His unending love for us, His measureless forgiveness, and the power of His might.  Each Christian has experienced God’s goodness through His provision, leadership, and His watch care over our lives.  I hope that each Christ follower can exclaim with great enthusiasm that you have tasted of God’s goodness.  But let’s go back to Green Eggs and Ham.  The unnamed narrator would have never tasted the yummy food if someone didn’t invite him (multiple times might I add).  Each Christian needs to be a “Sam-I-Am.”  We need to invite other people to try God.  How do we do that?  By allowing other people to see God’s goodness flowing in our life.  Sam-I-Am could tell others that Green Eggs and Ham were good because he ate them first.  So it must be with us.  First, we must taste before we invite others to come too.