Selma Christ Church

James 5:11 says, “As you know, we count blessed those who persevere. You’ve heard of the perseverance of Job. And seeing what the Lord brought about, the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

As we look at this, in the context of Job’s entire story, there are things to note. Of course, God does not give a reason to Job for why everything happened. He doesn’t explain anything. Job is left, at least, with this question: “Why?” Why did all this take place? When God said, “Can you answer these questions first?” And, of course, Job couldn’t. This indicates that Job doesn’t have the capability to understand the answer. 

So, despite that, Job persevered. He kept holding on to God. He questioned God, yes. He wondered what was happening and was asking if God had failed him, and wanted answers. He still held on to the Lord. Comments like, “in the last days, in my flesh, I will see God,” and “my flesh will be destroyed,” this is not somebody who’s expecting to be delivered. This is someone who’s expecting to die horribly. Yet, has faith that God will raise him someday. 

And yet, at the end, God restores. Why? because God is full of compassion and mercy.

God didn’t have to, but He did.

God showed compassion and mercy. We see that throughout the Bible. God promises to show compassion, show mercy, and reward those who are faithful.

Now, we know from Scripture and from what Jesus said that in this life, we may not have that reward. But this passage is not talking about receiving rewards in this life; we talk about what the prophets did. They persevered, but most of them died horribly. On the other side, this passage states that for those who are unfaithful, those who have stored up for themselves shall gain horrid things; they shall be judged (we see that beginning of chapter five). This is not always here and now, but it will come. 

Those who are faithful to God, those who persevere in the midst of suffering, in the midst of being faithful and yet not seeing great rewards like the prophets, those who persevere against those who treat them wrongly, and those who suffer like Job, will be rewarded by God. Some people say we shouldn’t think about a reward because Jesus himself is a reward, and he is. God doesn’t have to give us anything else, but it is very clear in Scripture that God is going to give us more. He’s going to reward us in a way that we could never imagine. God restored to Job twice what he lost. God promised in the Bible that he would restore to Israel the things that they lost. And here we see God is promising through James that he will reward us if we just persevere.

Sincerely,

Pastor Charles Areson

New Burlington Church

Selma Christ Global Methodist Church

The book of Ecclesiastes says there’s a time to build up and a time to tear down. There’s a time to stay, and there’s a time to leave. There’s a time to get away. A lot of times, we think in our own lives that we should be building more, and we should be doing something to add or get more, especially in the church. We always want to grow, and we never want to be taking away. But sometimes there’s a time and a place where things change. There’s a time to tear apart. There’s a time to rend. There’s a time to, well, run away.

And when we look in  Jeremiah 45, God has a message to Baruch, Jeremiah’s scribe, who is seeing all this stuff that is taking place. The Lord says,  “This is what the Lord says. I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted throughout the land. Should you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the Lord. But wherever you go, I will let you escape with your life.”

God is telling Baruch, “Don’t try to hold on to things. Let them go.” At this point, Baruch, trying to hold on to things or gather things for himself, would only bring misery because he was going to lose them. And there are times in our lives when we have to be willing to let go. Because if we try to hold on to them, they will bring pain. There’s a time when a child grows up, and we have to let go. There’s a time when we get older, and we’ve got to, well, release the keys of the car. There are times we have to let go of something we may like to do because we are no longer capable of it. There may be ministries in the church that at one time were a great work, but now are not. Maybe they were a great work for you to do, but now you are at a point in your life where you’re not going to be successful if you continue to do them.

And God may say to you, “It’s time to let go.” And the problem is, if we keep holding on, when God says let go, we will have pain. There will be agony. And that’s why sometimes God says, “Let go.” We’ve got to be willing to make sure and listen. And let go when God says to.

No, don’t give up too soon. Don’t just throw in the towel when things get hard. But when God truly speaks, it’s time to walk away. Then you need to walk away. Or they use the words of Kenny Rogers in The Gambler. “You’ve got to know when to walk away.” Sometimes, “you’ve got to know when to run.”

One thing you always want to run to is God.

I recently heard someone say it was easy to identify the crazies—those who are so off the wall that it seems obvious to everyone that they are wrong. Then the person mentioned that it’s hard to see it in ourselves. We may not be “radically” wrong, but we can be misguided in how we live our lives. Jesus said that he came to bring division (Luke 12:51), and the Scriptures divide (Hebrews 4:12). Though Jesus’ truth can cause division among people, what we truly need is the Word of God to separate us from sin, erroneous doctrines, pride, and selfishness. 

We require the Word of God to divide us more internally than externally. It is easy to use the Bible to create division among people, and some division is necessary. However, the problem arises when we use the Bible primarily as a tool to separate people rather than to distinguish what is wrong in us from what is godly. We need the Bible to help us break free from bad habits and erroneous thinking. 

We need it to effect genuine change in us. This is the purpose of the Bible, but it won’t fulfill that purpose if we don’t engage with it properly and consistently. I can have a great diet plan, but if I don’t adhere to it correctly, it won’t be effective. I can be given a new computer program, but if I don’t learn how to use it properly, it may ultimately cause more problems. The truth is, if the Bible isn’t utilized regularly and appropriately, it can be more dangerous than not having it at all. It’s like the old saying: a little knowledge or truth is a dangerous thing. A small amount of Biblical knowledge can be equally perilous. 

Pastor Charles Areson

New Burlington Church

Selma Christ Global Methodist Church

Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. Mark 2:27 NTL

I have often said that God gave us the sabbath because we needed it. I still believe this but recently I have been concluding that this is only part and a small part of sabbath. It is far bigger than us taking a day off. 

First, before I go any further, I want to say that I’m not saying we need to institute the blue laws again as a cure to our problems. The problems in the world require changed hearts not changed laws. Nor am I arguing which day of the week should be the sabbath. This according to Paul (Romans 14) is not worth arguing over and is actually a stumbling block. Sabbath at the end of the day should bring freedom, not bondage.   

The sabbath as I see it was given to help. The problem I think many have today is thinking that the sabbath is taking a day off to rest for ourselves. I have said and have heard others say, “I took a sabbath.” The problem here is that if we really look at the commands the sabbath is something we don’t take, we give. 

So, who are we to give the sabbath to?

Sabbath means far more than taking a day off. It means giving others a day off and of course doing it to honor God. 

we would need less from others and nature. This would be a good thing.  

I recently read a book called Subversive Sabbath and though I don’t agree fully with some of the concepts the author puts forth, it helped me cement a concept, I hate to admit, I fall very short in, giving an honest sabbath to God, others, and myself. 

Side Note: There are more scriptures than the ones I listed I was just listing one of many.

Pastor Charles Areson

Selma Christ Global Methodist Church

Selma, IN 47383

How did the ministry of Saul, who we know as Paul, begin? In Acts 13, it began in the normal disciplines of the Christian’s faith. It began when they were worshiping God, fasting, and praying. We see no activity on the part of those there asking God to start a new ministry. We don’t see Saul and Barnabas announcing they had been called to ministry. As far as I can see, they were seeking God. In the act of seeking to know God, God gave them a ministry.
If you ever read Oswald Chambers’ book, My Utmost for His Highest, one of the main themes is seeking God first and then doing God’s work. In this chapter, it is when people are seeking God that God gives a ministry. I wonder if in the church, we are too focused on what ministry we should be doing rather than focusing on the God who gives us the ministry to do?
Another point, even after they received the word to send Barnabas and Saul they waited. They fasted and prayed even more before they sent them out. The church didn’t rush to send them once they heard from the Holy Spirit. They fasted and prayed more to prepare those who were being sent.
PRAYER
Dear Father,
You know my heart and what is best. God as I seek you more and more, if there is some work that you would have me do show it to me clearly so that I won’t spend my life doing things that are a distraction from your plan for me. Let me be willing to follow you wherever it may take me. As John Wesley said in his Convent prayer:
I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will, place me with whom you will.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be put to work for you or set aside for you,
Praised for you or criticized for you.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and fully surrender all things
To your glory and service.
And now, O wonderful and holy God,
Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer,
You are mine, and I am yours.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
Let it also be made in heaven.
Amen.

Not following Jesus. Seriously. It’s way harder.

By Brant Hansen

—

“It’s so hard to follow Jesus.”

I hear that a lot, in one form or another. I’ve probably said it, too. There’s the easy way, and the hard way, right? And the Way of Jesus is the tough one, right? I mean, he said this, after all:

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. (Matthew 7:13 NIV)

But you know what? Jesus doesn’t say his way of life is harder here. He just says most choose the other way, the default way.

And then he talks about a wise man—someone who puts The Jesus Way of living into practice—who builds his house on solid ground. But a fool (who “hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice”) builds his house on sand. And it collapses.

Who has the “harder life” now?

The way of Jesus is not harder than the alternatives. It’s far, far easier.  Jesus is a genius who knows exactly how to live. Oh, sure, life can be heavy… but life without Jesus is heavier. He even said it, straight-up:

Come to me, all you are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30, italics mine.)

Doing it his way is easier. Think about it:

Forgiving people is hard, at first. But you know what’s harder?  A life of unforgiveness.

Blessing your enemies is hard, at first. But you know what’s harder? A life of constant turmoil and bitterness, or losing sleep because of roiling conflict.

“Denying self” sounds hard. But you know what’s harder? Being a slave to your desires. You wind up always discontent, which leads to jealousy and envy and overwork and boredom and foolish, selfish decisions that cause pain for you and everyone around you.

Trusting God might seem hard at times. You know what’s harder? A life of constant insecurity and anxiety.

The list goes on, of course, but the point is simple: God gives us a way of living… because he loves us.

I follow Jesus, and I can tell leave a five-star review here: His way is way, way better than mine.

Easier, too.

He said so.

I believe God is going to do great things in the Global Methodist Church, but we can hinder that if we aren’t careful. If we choose the wrong leaders, stubbornly demand our own way, or hold on to grudges about what has happened in the past, we will get bogged down and possibly even move ourselves outside of God’s will.

To keep that from happening we must be willing to let go and forgive anyone that we feel has wronged us. Jesus made it very clear we must be willing to forgive. It isn’t easy, but we can choose to do so.

We can’t demand our own way. The Global Methodist Church has made it very easy to leave and some may need to leave, but with that ease comes the danger of fragmenting into obscurity.  A “Do it my way or I’ll go play somewhere else” attitude will not serve us well and honestly isn’t Christian. There are reasons for leaving, we have been through that, but now we have the challenge of coming together. For some, it will mean more regulation than you want, for others it will seem less regulated, but that is the way it is in any organization that isn’t a dictatorship with you being the dictator. Yes, stand firm on the essentials but on other issues let’s be willing to let others have their way.

Finally, choosing the wrong leaders. If we choose people who haven’t dealt with the first two problems we are in trouble. However, I believe we could learn from what the apostles asked for in the first deacon. “Therefore Brothers, select from among you seven men confirmed to be full of the Spirit and wisdom…” Acts 6:3a. No, I’m not saying they have to be men. I’m saying we need people full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. We don’t want a popularity contest or a talent contest. We need people who are full of God’s Spirit and have great wisdom.

We don’t want people who seem on fire for God and seem full of the Spirit but have no wisdom. Neither do we need wise men and women who are not full of God’s Spirit. We need both.

Soon you will be deciding who your lay delegate will be for the Great Lakes Regional Conference. This conference is vital because it will help lay the groundwork for our region and for the GMC. Don’t choose the loudest voice, the most senior person, the biggest contributor, or the person who has the days off. Choose a person based on prayer and because they are filled with the Spirit and wisdom.

Building something new isn’t easy, let’s send the best, no, let’s send God’s best.

For your consideration, Pastor Charles 

A year ago in December, a group of us ended a four-year journey that covered every chapter of the Bible. It seemed a huge undertaking at the beginning and, at times, it seemed it would never end. However, in truth should a study of the Bible for the Christian ever end? No, but I’m moving away from my point. The point is that as every journey does it comes to an end. After a year of radical change, I’m beginning the journey again with a new group of people. As before I’m excited and now I have added some new details which for some should make the journey easier. At the end of the day, we will be reading, studying, and hopefully writing something down about every chapter of the Bible.

There are of course books that are available on Amazon and the blog site (https://biblereflections4you.blogspot.com/) that will publish every reading on the day it is to be read and a link so that those who want to can listen to the chapter of the Bible that will respond to that day’s reading. As before these materials aren’t professionally edited but I hope they will serve as an inspiration for others to really consider what every chapter of the Bible means to them. Yes, some chapters which will be clearer than others and some may only bring questions but those are good too. I’m sure that before I know it the second journey through Bible Reflections will be complete and I trust it will be even more rewarding.

Consider joining us or find another application to help you grow in the Word. A warning, without the Spirit of God and His love guiding you any study of the Word will lead to pride and that is a dangerous thing. So cover your study with prayer and fill your heart with love as you begin any journey into the Word of God.

Living Fully

I read Nona Jones’ book, Killing Comparisons. It is her personal view of overcoming insecurities in our lives. I would recommend it for both men and women even if the target audience is women. This being said she gave a definition of humility that I loved, and yet being me I had to add to it. Humility is “living fully in the lane God has designed for you.” This means that you live what you are fully which is great in some areas but weak in others and not judging your performance by comparing it to anyone but yourself. It’s a truth we could all do well to learn from.

The one thing I want to add is, not to compare ourselves with a wrong view of who we are. For example, if you’re eighty-five years old comparing your ability to run now to the person you were when you were twenty-five years old would be wrong. It is a wrong comparison. Therefore, this is the addition I would add, humility is living fully in the lane God has designed for you today.

I suffer from migraines at times, and they at times are completely debilitating. Living fully on those days might be just making it through it and celebrating I didn’t throw up on the bed. If that is all I have (and it has been at times) then God is pleased. If I didn’t even make it without throwing up on the bed, if I did what I could, God would still be pleased. Why? I used what I had just to keep myself alive for the time God would use for me later. What if a better day doesn’t come, like those with live-ending illnesses? They just trust God to be there when life is over and endure until. When we consider this it may be that there are people in nursing homes or even on hospice who are “living fully” and more pleasing to God than those who are in perfect health and working. In fact, if God has called you to rest then it is “living fully” and doing that is. in God’s eyes, more important than doing any type of work. 

God Bless,

Pastor Charles Areson

On December 7 of the fourth year of King Darius’s reign, another message came to Zechariah from the LORD. The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech, along with their attendants, to seek the LORD’s favor. They were to ask this question of the prophets and the priests at the Temple of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies: “Should we continue to mourn and fast each summer on the anniversary of the Temple’s destruction, as we have done for so many years?”

Have you ever been taught by someone who forces you to think things through and maybe when you think you have a plan, they take away something you were counting on using or said, “No, you have to do it without that?” I mean really teacher google isn’t going away, why can’t I use it? But no, they don’t let you use the normal method.

If you have it can seem frustrating but if they are a great teacher, then when you get your eureka moment then everything is clear. Before then it is not fun, in fact, you might think that the teacher/professor is a bit of a sadist. He/She sits around trying to find ways to torment their students. Yes, there might be a few like that but thankfully only a few. Most honestly want their students to grow and learn to think for themselves. They also might be pushing them to think outside the box.  

Years later we might laugh about how our instructor pushed us but at the moment let’s maybe not. This is what I see in this chapter. God is pushing Gideon to the correct answer. I didn’t see this before, but it doesn’t diminish the miracle at all as I see it, it reveals a God who loves us enough to push us to think for ourselves. Let’s set the stage…

The stage is set for Gideon. Is Gideon going to figure it out or well we know he will because it probably wouldn’t have a story if he didn’t. Gideon is down by the enemy camp and hears the enemy speaking of dreams that God is going to use Gideon to whip them out. In other words, the enemy is afraid. The enemy is expecting to lose. Yes, they have superior numbers and weapons, but they know they are going to lose. Gideon is shocked. This is news to him. Gideon thought he was the one who was going to lose. In fact, if he fights like everyone expects he will lose.

Eureka! Gideon has his epiphany.  Gideon remembers God’s words that He would fight for them. Gideon doesn’t have to fight. Gideon sees the army is looking for a reason to run and comes up with a plan to give them that reason. I would note here that the Bible doesn’t say that God told Gideon what to do. However, God did place his student in the right place to discover the answer for himself and it was brilliant.   

An army expecting to see an enemy attack woke up to see foreigners around them. They were, after all, a coalition of foreign nations. When they were startled awake, they saw what they expected, foreign enemies. Once the chaos began it just grew. Those who might have had time to realize they were fighting their “allies” were confused by God. The armies, on seeing their “allies” attack their friends and comrades joined in the fighting. Those who survived this first wave of attacks were confused and afraid therefore ran away from the danger. Side note: It’s easier to kill soldiers who are running rather than fighting you giving Gideon the day.

The truth is the miracle of this story is three-fold. First, an enemy who had no reason to believe they would lose actually did. Second, God put Gideon in a place where he had to think differently. Third, God prevented the Midianites from seeing their allies as allies. 

This might not be Ha, Ha funny, but it brings a smile to my face when I consider how God taught Gideon how to win an unwinnable battle.