17 March 2012
The Lord's Day
And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He had rested from all His work which God created to make. (Gen 2:2-3)
What will you do on this Lord's Day? Will you go to the beach, vacation, visit a friend, relative, or rest a little or maybe something else entirely? More importantly though, let me ask you, from whom did you seek permission to do such? Now I know what you are thinking, Jesus said, if your ox falls in the ditch go get it out. How many of you will really be removing oxen from ditches this Sunday morning in lieu of going to Church? It is amazing how working on cars, resting, relaxing, and a million other excuses have been reinterpreted as "removing your ox." Sunday belongs to God, period! It is not for us to barter with, or for us to negotiate. The Scripture teach it has been sanctified. This sanctification was not done by water or blood as were the instruments used in the Temple, but rather by a decree from the mouth of God Himself. It is amazing that our government declares a holiday and we all happily observe it, but when God sanctifies a day and declares it holy, we simply ignore it! Sadly, usually by those who say they love and respect Him most. There is no rationale, for "forsaking the gathering of yourselves together" on the Lord's day. If God inhabits the praise of His people, how sad it must be as He looks down from heaven into the living rooms and lives of so many who cannot find a few minutes each week to honor Him in such. The question is not so much, what you will be doing this Lord's Day, as it is, who gave you permission. Now before you tell yourself, God understands, ask first, why did God at creation declare and sanctify a day for all men for all time, if your excuse would be a reasonable one! Remember, people worked for a living in biblical times harder than men do today! However, one thing they did not do was take so casually their relationship with God. If you really think it does not matter where you are or what you are doing on the Lord's Day, think again. On that day, God decreed, let all who love Him say so, let all who worship Him, do so, and that will continue throughout all eternity, with or without you!
Rev. Joel M McDuffie Jr.
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14 March 2012
There remaineth therefore a rest for the people of God
"There remaineth therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest hath himself also rested from his works, as God did from his. Let us therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, that no man fall after the same example of disobedience."
(Heb. 4:8-11)
I do not recall a time in recent memory when society has been filled with such anxiety. Unfortunately, not far beyond the immediate horizon, storm clouds are gathering. What the world is facing now, will make 9/11 look like a pathetic dress rehearsal. Nation states, each with their own interest at heart, are currently posturing themselves for a final showdown. Old alliances behind the scenes are being renewed and the face of the world will soon be changed forever.
It would be grand to think of a world where peace and harmony, brotherly love and prosperity was experienced by all, but such hopes only belong in the pages of a child$apos;s fairy tale. As Jesus said, the poor will always be with us and nations will continue to rise up against nations, and war and rumors of war will always abound. Soon, Scripture teaches that men$apos;s heart will fail them for the terror that comes upon the earth. How quickly we forget that just a few decades ago, the whole world was at war.
Like a spiraling staircase, history is turning once again upon itself. In years, if not months, the curtain will open and the unsettled hearts of men will appear upon the stage of war. Yet through all this, the Bible teaches that there remaineth a rest for the people of God! How can we find rest in such chaos, or solace in a society where fear abounds? We find rest, simply in Him, Jesus, the one who told us all these things must come to pass. What comfort there is in knowing that the author and finisher of our faith has revealed to us all things, lest these things come upon us and we be caught unaware. Our rest comes in knowing that the one who foretold these things, stands beyond history. If He foretold them, He has obviously seen beyond them. Thus, as the writer of Hebrews declared, there is a Sabbath coming. This Sabbath is different from all the rest, for it will be the last and will never end. As Christ sat down after He created all that there is, we all will soon sit down forever from our labors here on earth, as well.
Today, not only can we rest in knowing that our Lord sees these things from beginning to end, but also in knowing that He has provided the means of our salvation. As those who are in Christ, we rest also solely in His work upon Calvary. Nothing may be added and nothing may be taken away. We rest in knowing He has done all to save us to the uttermost! So what does the writer mean when he suggests that we labor to enter into that rest? The intent and meaning is simple. The writer admonishes us, to give ourselves earnestly to these truths. The implication being that the more we dwell on and affirm these things in our hearts, the more rest will find in our souls. Remember what Christ hath told us, "Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, so that where I am, you may be also" (John 14:1-3)
Rev. Joel M McDuffie Jr.
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8 March 2012
Abide in Me
The Christians life is often associated with the plant world and bearing fruit is always seen as the goal. Can you imagine a plant growing without sun, water, soil, or air? Such would surely be absurd. In fact, anyone who suggested such would be looked at as half crazed, yet many believe that such is possible in the course of their walk with God. To grow as a believer there are four essential elements. The first is the seed, which gives life. This seed is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This life giving seed is solely responsible for any new life that may take hold. A person trying to bear fruit without it is like a man standing in a field that has no seed, thinking that sprouts should appear. Next, is the water of the His Word. Water is essential to every living thing but this water is different in that it strengthens and nourishes. Unlike water without nutrient, the Word is filled with those things, which are necessary for healthy and consistent growth in sanctification. This water provides truth, conviction, and assurance, all of which are essential. Third is our communion with Christ. Like a teacher of old, we come and sit before Him to inquire. In an exchange of words and emotion we consult Him in prayer, we ponder of Him each moment and we live to find solace in His presence. In this personal communion, we are able to digest the water of His Word. Lastly, it is the exercising of our faith. Like muscles that atrophy, a stagnant believer loses the strength to stand or walk in His Spirit. Faith is a daily exercise, which grows every aspect of the believer's life. At first, barely allowing him to lift, but as time goes on, giving him the strength to move the weight of even the mountains. As with any living thing, to keep it alive, daily care must be given. Neglect it and it withers, forsake it and it dies, but tend and keep it and watch it thrive! As Jesus said, "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me" (John 15:4).
Rev. Joel M McDuffie Jr.
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1 February 2012
Prayer
The beauty of prayer is in the simplicity of it. Like in the Garden of Eden as Adam and Eve spoke with the Lord in the cool of the day, so we are invited to do the same. There is no right or wrong! If any error were to be found in prayer, it would only be our lack of it. Is it necessary? Prayer for the believer is the breath of his spirit. In this communion, we inhale and exhale with the Divine. Because of this, we cannot separate our life from our prayers or our prayers from our life. When we walk in the Spirit, we will continually abide in unbroken communion! "Ask and ye shall receive."
Rev. Joel M McDuffie Jr.
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30 December 2011
The New Year and What We All Have in Common
Some will be planning to live this new year to the fullest, others will venture into new careers, and still others will plan to acquire new possessions, or travel. However, no matter who you are or where you live, we will all be doing something together this New Year whether we like it or not, and that is, dying together. One thing we will all share in this New Year, is less time to live. The clock is ticking and the hourglass is emptying for us all. The grandest resolution one can make, is to take note of the hourglass. Whatever we will be, or chose to become, there will never be another moment like the present. We are all fulfilling our destinies one second at a time. What will you do with the months, weeks, and days of this New Year? Will you fill them with selfishness and self-serving desires? The time will come when like a dying man, your life will be measured in seconds, what then? Preparing to meet our maker takes a lifetime, and despite the lies that pervade our culture, no one can prepare themselves in the last few seconds of their dying breath. It takes a second to buy a car or home, not a seat at the Lord’s Table! Use the months, weeks, and days wisely, for the day is coming for us all when we will have but seconds!
Rev. Joel M McDuffie Jr.
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20 November 2011
In John's Gospel, Jesus heals a blind man, who had been blind from birth. Interestingly enough, the town's folks did not believe it was even the same person, and the Pharisees hint they did not even believe his own parents when they admitted such. Nevertheless, can you imagine this fiasco from the blind man's point of view? Here we have a man blind from birth that can now see, while those around him argue the point. Stop for a moment and considered the nature of this miracle. What could be more obvious than sight coming to a man that had sat blind and begging all of his life? When Jesus healed this man of his blindness, He performed a miracle that was so dramatic and overwhelming; no one could ever dispute it! That is why when the Pharisees ask the man about it, his only response was simply "one thing I know, I once was blind and now I see." That is precisely why Jesus performed the miracle, to testify that when a man has been blind and becomes able to see, the occasion is undisputable for that man. Jesus in performing this miracle was speaking to the greater issue of man's spiritual blindness, and the new birth, which allows him to see. For anyone who has been "born again" the miracle is no less dramatic, unmistakable and more importantly irrefutable! If you wonder whether you have been saved, just ask yourself, have you experienced what the blind man did that day!
Rev. Joel M McDuffie Jr.
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3 November 2011
Failure
What is it? What is it for? How do we understand it? Failure is defined as that which is proving to be unsuccessful. Most however, see failure in its most descriptive yet destructive form; like the catastrophic failure that led to the Challenger space shuttle disaster. Failure is better defined and understood in the context of the difficulties encountered upon deciding to climb Mount Everest or something similar. Sometime we move freely, sometimes we move cautiously, sometimes we have to hunker down until the storm passes. Failure is a good thing for many reasons. Sometimes we need to slow down because of inherent but unforeseen events just over the horizon. Sometimes we find ourselves in places on the mountain (life) which are more treacherous than others which deserve more attention in order to navigate safely. And at other times it is imperative that we do not move at all, for exposing ourselves further would surely lead to our being overcome. Thank God for the failure in your life, the times when moving forward proved unsuccessful. Like Paul when he failed to find access into Asia, it only served to direct him safely where he needed to be in Macedonia. Our failure oftentimes is simply God's way of keeping us safe, so we can journey further!
Rev. Joel M McDuffie Jr.
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5 Sep 2011
Oh the Love!
Oh the love that God doth show
To all His creatures here below
With patience, care and gentle hand
He gives us time to understand
To see His wonder to know His grace
To prepare our hearts to see His face
For only now we toil and spin
A race before us soon to win
A robe, a crown, a table there
That our Lord and King Himself prepared
For those who love Him and long to be
Before His throne upon their knees
Oh the love that God doth show
To those who love Him here below!
Rev.Joel M McDuffie Jr.
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10 August 2011
Think About It!
What if Jesus had not come to earth yet? What if this was the generation to see the incarnation? Did you ever stop to think about the implications of what could be absolutely plausible? The truth is, Jesus could have just as easily come into the world today, as He did 2000 years ago! If He did, what would be the implications theologically and practically in the church and for the world? And more importantly is there a lesson in it for us?
Just for the sake of argument, let's suppose that instead of the angels coming to shepherds in the fields they came to construction workers in the West Bank. And instead of a donkey, Mary and Joseph traveled by way of a Prius, and instead of a stable the only refuge was a Motel 6. My point is, if you brought every aspect of the gospel story into the 21st century, think about how different the story would look like on the surface! Things like, what music would they be playing in the synagogues and who would the chief personalities be? What would the first churches look like and how would they interpret the sacraments? We must remember that all those things that took place, took place within a prophetic context, a context that would be much different if they took place today! It would be just as easy for the Bible to predict the Hyatt was full, as it would be that there was no room at the inn!
Why is that important? It is important because many of the things today the church fights and is divided over are really absolutely pointless! One group doesn't want drums the other no piano. One group says use only the psalms and the other group says don't sing at all! All of these differences would prove themselves completely and totally without any merit if Jesus showed up for the first time tomorrow! Many of the things we fight so vehemently for today are based entirely in the context of yesterday. What if Jesus was killed in an electric chair for being falsely accused of treason by America not Rome, instead of on a cross? Would the fundamental purpose of His life and ministry be any less efficacious? Now, I do not intend to bring any disrespect to the cross. The cross is everything to me and every Christian, but if those same events took place in a different context today, it wouldn't fundamentally change anything! What this means is, we are divided and weakened as the Body of Christ over things that we would all have a completely different view of if Jesus had not come into the world at such an ancient time.
One of the reasons why the church is no longer relevant in many ways and has lost several generations of young people, is because it is fighting to preserve the mentality of a society that lived 2000 years ago, instead of focusing on the larger picture that lies behind it all. Whether you want to admit it or not, Jesus did not live 2000 years ago, He has lived forever! When He walked the earth 2000 years ago He was still from a place millions of years in the future. Though He worked as a carpenter, He also fashioned the atoms of mass and matter in His hands and created the known universe. The God Moses, Ezekiel and John saw was not driving a donkey! The God that descended on Mount Sinai shook the earth with fire, smoke and thunder and with the sword of His mouth the heavens and earth fled away. You see, in actuality, we are fighting to preserve something from the past that will most certainly prove to be untrue in the future!
Rev. Joel M McDuffie Jr.
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6 Jul 2011
My Lord, My Life, My Friend!
Inside each soul is a yearning cry
To understand it all
To somehow fight to find a way
To rise above the fall
To make some sense of why were here
And a reason each day to live
To find enough inside ourselves
A part somehow to give
But in all we face and do not know
Our frailty lays us bare
And leaves us longing for a friend
Or at least someone who cares
But in the distance a cross appeared
Upon which a Savior died
A man once robed with majesty
For a commoner such as I
A man unlike all other men
With the answers to it all
A man whose life could bring me hope
A name on which to call
A name which made the demons flee
But this sinner feel at home
A man who found me on my way
When in sin I sought to roam
A name on which I often call
And shall call on till the end
A man whose name is Jesus
My Lord, my life, my friend!
Rev.Joel M McDuffie Jr.