Bitterness is a trap

²³ For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.” 
Acts 8:23 (NIV)


A note about bitterness:  Bitterness is a trap.  It ruins your perspective, it makes you focus only on yourself.  It creates a false reality, where you are stuck in this look that is driven by anger, yet fueled by justice...it's a self-righteous prison where you are free to do or think whatever, because you aren't the one really feeling this way...THEY did it to you and THEY made you do it.  Your loop is protected by the mirage of piety, because you are justified.

When you give into bitterness, it slowly yanks everything from you that is good...your self-respect, your happiness.  It then progresses to take your integrity (personally I'm allowed to be bitter even if you know people shouldn't), your perspective (everything you do is judged through the filter of your bitterness) and you lose the capacity to see past your own situation...and there's the danger.

No other reality exists besides yours...so everyone else must be synthesized into your "world"...
Anyone who isn't bitter like you is delusional or naive...
Anyone else who has been hurt, but is joyful, is a novice that doesn't know real pain, pain like yours...
Anyone not angry is spoiled and annoying...
Anyone that suggests you are hurting yourself...they are crazy.

In other words, "joy" is your enemy...you become captive to sin.  Oh yeah, it might let you crack a joke occasionally, to make you think everything is fine, but it isn't, and another thing...bitterness gets in your way with God, because no matter how you slice it, you have it because of your own sin.

It may not have been your fault, and you might be right and totally mistreated, but so was Jesus.  We tend to forget that reality as well in the midst of our injustice.  The purpose of the Bible is really two fold...to show you what God expects from you and what you can expect from God.  Jesus, our example, lived a life where he was damaged, defamed, and destroyed (physically) and never once did we ever see Christ fall victim to bitterness.  He's had more right to be bitter than anyone alive...no one has endured more injustice than Him, yet He continued to show us, by example, what He expects from us...but it's hard to get.

Jesus was never bitter...and if we are to have the mind that is from him, then neither should we be.  Don't fall into the trap.

Beyond the Vow...

This week we are starting a series at FBC Melbourne at our Bay West Campuses and Melbourne Campuses called "Beyond the Vow" and it's a crucial one.

As a pastor, I see a lot of marriages, both inside the church and outside of it, that are experiencing trouble and because we are human, it can get a little disheartening, even if the majority of the marriages around us are in good shape.  Even so, you have to think...why is that?  The disparity of marriages in the church in trouble or ending in divorce, really is not that different statistically from that in the world and why is that?

I believe that part of the reason is that we've legislated and written and analyzed and psycho-analyzed our marriages to death.  We've struggled through the definition of roles of the spouses and what's fair and what's not and what's too constricting and consequently, what's too freeing...and in all that verbiage, we've forgotten what marriages are for.

For the month of March, we'll be going through this series in our worship services, but we'll also be bringing in Dr. Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, who's done a lot of Biblical study on marriages, to help us take an intense look at our marriages on March 23-24 at our 2 to 1 Marriage conference.  Feel free to signup to come if you'd like here 2to1marriage.com .

Also, in the month of March, off the heels of our Hungry for God series, our church will be participating in a corporate fast***, seeking God intently to move in the marriages in our church that are under attack and for vision/direction for our church as a whole moving forward in how we serve God in the Melbourne/Palm Bay area...March is going to be a HUGE month.

In Beyond the Vow, we are going to take a good hard look at the reason anyone gets married in the first place, exactly what marriages are and AREN'T supposed to accomplish and how we can take that knowledge and "re-track" our marriages on a path that will really last "'til death do us part".

Don't miss it.

***Basically Pastor Scott, Senior Pastor at FBC Melbourne, has called our entire church to take some time and let go of something that we do this month, and use that time seeking God's presence in these areas.  Formally, we are asking members and regular attenders of FBC, both campuses, to consider fasting for a period of time in the month of March from food or some other form of physical gratificaion to seek God's presence in these two areas in our church.  For more info on fasting, you can click here for our page on fasting and some resources OR you can listen to our sermons on fasting here from our "Hungry for God" series.

Dove Bible Club Update!

Here's an email from Anthony and Loretta Dozier and the work they are doing for Christ in our Elementary Schools in Brevard.  If you remember we had them come and share with us what's going on in their ministry here a while back at Bay West.

It's truly amazing what has happened in the last few years in their ministry.  Please pray for them...if you are looking for a place to serve outside the church that is a valid, thriving ministry where God is in, this is one for sure.   February 26, they are dedicating their new offices...things grow huh?

Here's the update for Loretta & Anthony.

Dear Dove Bible Club Volunteers and Partners,

 

God is using you to make a difference in their lives of many, many children.  Thank you!

 

Testimony:  While at Riviera Elementary last Tuesday, here is what happened.  I was walking the the students to the front gate and a parent stopped me and asked, "Are you one of the Bible teachers?"  I said "Yes, I am".  She began to share these words:  "I just wanted to say thank you for what you and the other teachers are doing.  Every since the first meeting of Dove Bible Club, I have seen a transformation in my daughter.  She used to be afraid to pray out loud or share anything about the Lord.  Now, she prays aloud at home and shares her testimony at church.  It has been amazing how she has changed!  We were at a restaurant the other day and she grabbed her grandfather's hand and began praying.  She loves attending Dove Bible Club and she has really learned a lot. I just wanted to say thank you to all of the teachers."

 

February Lesson: 

• The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)
• Character Trait:  Love/Kindness
• Key Verse:  Luke 10:27

T-Shirt Orders

• T-Shirt orders are still being accepted; cost is $7.00
• New regulations dealing with the ink used in children's products put the order on hold

New School Openings for Dove Bible Club

• Harbor City Elementary
• University Park Elementary
• Central Middle School

New School Sponsorships

• Discovery Elementary was adopted by The Mission Church (God bless you Mission Church!)
• If you/ your church/your family/ your ministry are interested in adopting a school, please see me for details

Dove Bible Club Office Dedication

• Dove Bible Club office address:  1707 Canova St. (Unit 3) Palm Bay, Fl.
• February 26, 2012 @ 4:00pm
• Come celebrate with us.... Yahooo!!!!

Dove Bible Club Remaining Meetings for February

• Discovery  2-13-12
• Palm Bay  2-13-12
• Columbia  2-14-12
• Southwest  2-14-12
• Central  2-15-12
• Port Malabar   2-16-12
• Westside  2-17-12
• Jupiter  2-21-12
• Meadowlane (P)  2-22-12
• Lockmar  2-24-12
• Turner  2-27-12
• Meadowlane (I)  2-28-12

Dove Bible Club Needs for February

• Office furniture (office desk, computer desk; computer chairs, conference table, etc.)
• Office equipment (printer, computer, projector; filing cabinets, etc.)

If you have any questions or need anything, please call us at (321) 728-2251.

God bless you,

Anthony and Loretta

Someone gets it

So impressed with the words of the the recently former Victoria's Secret model, Kylie Bisutti...someone gets it.  Love this quote about why she quit a financial-rewarding and fame-giving career path...

“I just became so convicted of honoring the Lord..."


Here's her public statement posted on her Twitter page...
“For all of you that were looking for me in the Victorias Secret runway show this year, I wasn’t in it. I have decided not to model lingerie Because I personally feel that I am not honoring God or my husband by doing it. My marriage is very important & with divorce rates rising I want to do everything I can to protect my marriage and be respectful to my husband. God graciously gave me this marriage and this life and my desire is to live a Godly faithful life, I don’t however judge others for what they do. Everyone is convicted on different levels.”

If we could all just stop making up fake iron-clad excuses why are "forced" to dishonor God and we can't honor God, or the biggest lie, "I have no choice".  If Jesus is #1, then what is the awesome job, if it wins over Jesus?   She answered that question correctly this time...will you?

One more thing:  Let's not make her a saint and require perfection,though...one battle won...pray for more.

More gold in the article...I didn't spoil it too much.

ABC news article about Bisutti

God can use a lot of things in ways you don't realize

Got an email today from Dolly, (MC student ministry assistant/FBC Web Manager) and it was a prayer request that came in online through our online prayer request page on our website (here's the link)...  It was from Serbia.  We'll gladly be praying for them and for what God is doing, but it got me to thinking about the impact of just a small campus worldwide...just 100 people or so, could we make a difference?

The answer is yes, God can use anyone to make a difference if we are willing.  I'll share two brief things.

This last year, we sold the Bay West T-shirts and helped the village of Las Lajas get clean water for the first time ever.  The project has just recently finished...a project that should have taken 3 weeks, due to calamity and bad weather has taken over 3 months to complete.  Still, God used that time.  In having to spend the extra time with the people of Las Lajas, the workers were able to plug into the lives of the people of the village even deeper, spending more time with them.  In the process of doing that, 74 people came to know Christ and not just "say" they know him, but as our project manager said, to FOLLOW Him with their whole lives.  They will be planting a physical church, the first church, in Las Lajas and just through that, God has used us to transform a village.

Our Video Podcasts, since we started putting them up on Facebook 1.5 years ago, have been watched in over 56 countries.  People have allowed little Bay West into their lives through the Internet.  Here's a map...the blue are the countries that have watched our services online.

The lesson is this.  Obedience is what you do and the only success you will ever have to worry about.  After the "not a fan" movie last week, I imagine some of you may be re-evaluating your life situation and what reallly matters in a way that maybe you haven't before.  Sometimes, simple obedience doesn't seem to have the dramatic effect that we think should be present from the sacrifices in life, but we must remember, that true followers of Christ are focused on the following and trusting God for the results of obedience.  Consider this, as you look at your life and wonder how the results are working for you, think of this map and the shirts and wonder, "where is God using me in ways that I don't see?"  Just like an older chorus used to say "He works in ways we cannot see...", trust that.

Christmas thoughts: What you are

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
Matthew 6:13 (NIV) 

Christ follower...don't lose what it is that God made you to be to serve the world in the way only you can.  If you do, then you lose your sense of purpose and you lose you momentum, and it's likely that you'll get trampled by those that don't get it.  Don't just quit being what God has called you to be and "lay down" waiting for it to happen.


How do you lose it?  By taking your eyes off Christ daily...by putting your judgment ahead of God's...by listening to those naysayers who are rarely party to the conversations that you and God had.

Stand up...be what God called you to be...let Him worry about that results of that.  It says later to "let your light shine before men"...that's YOUR light.  Not someone else's light that seems to have it more together or to have it figured out, it's YOUR light, the light that God placed in you, the gift that God gave you...the light that is fueled by hanging around the true Light of the world, Jesus.  Light it up!

A closer explanation of the translation of John 1:1 issue re: "the Word was A god" vs. "the Word was God"

In John 1:1, is one of the strongest declarations that Jesus is God.  Here is what it says:
 ¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Some religions who use the Bible as part of their basis have translated that verse incorrectly from the Greek to say this:
 ¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a God.


It's a simple change, but is it a big deal?  Yes.  As I alluded to yesterday at Bay West, it opens the door, that we will all be Gods, like Jesus one day, to which many concurrent beliefs have been built on in some of these religions.  That premise has been superimposed on other expressions of Jesus in the Bible and you can see where that leads.  Conflicts with God as the one true God... conflicts with the unique nature of Jesus (Him being the ONLY Son of God in the nature that He is Son)... introducing a polytheistic essence to the monotheistic faith of Christianity (not one god, but many)...loads of issues.

You can see that this interpretation doesn't synthesize John 1:1 with other Scripture, such as Deut. 6:4 (God is one) and the loads of other similar passages throughout the Bible, but instead it tries to elevate this mistranslation above other verses, by using it to "trump" them so to speak, not to  understand what Scripture, as a whole, together says.

I wanted to provide a more complete explanation than what I was able to get into yesterday, so that you can understand it.  Here is a good, concise one below.  It isn't too technical, so if you aren't a Greek scholar, you can understand it and get the point.  All you really have to have is an understanding of that boring subject that we all had to take in school...grammar, subject, verb, predicate (or predicate nominative, as I was taught in English grammar), etc.  Bet you thought all that would be useless, didn't ya? :D 

Here is a good concise explanation from Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Commentary.   I could reword it. but he did a great job here in explaining the Greek translation issue

This confused position falls on at least two grounds. Such a view is polytheistic, the belief in more than one god. Second, it betrays a misunderstanding of Greek grammar. Verse 1 of the first chapter of John reads, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The last portion of 1:1 is the major point of contention. It reads in the Greek theos en ho logos, or literally, “the Word was God.” God, or theos, occurs in this verse without the Greek article ho, so that some have contended that the lack of the article in the Greek text should cause the statement to be translated “the Word was a god.” The best understanding for the translation, however, as recognized by Greek scholars, is that since theos is a predicate and precedes the noun logos and a verb, it is natural for it to occur here without the article. Greek scholars are agreed that the verse should be translated as it regularly is in modern and ancient translations, clearly affirming that Jesus is indeed God.

Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1999). Nelson's new illustrated Bible commentary (Jn 1:1). Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers.