Let us reason together…

Posted on by kevinjandt

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“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” – Isaiah 1:18

I’ve been challenged recently with how I reason with people. I’ve often been harsh and judgmental in my reasoning as I wrote about recently and this often hurts my testimony. It puts up walls and causes people not to hear the message. Yet, sometimes God uses this to grow me and mature me for His purposes. It doesn’t mean I stop learning, but it means that I plan my way and the LORD directs my path. Ultimately He is in control.

What does it mean to reason together?

yaw-kakh’

A primitive root; to be right (that is, correct); reciprocally to argue; causatively to decide, justify or convict: – appoint, argue, chasten, convince, correct (-ion), daysman, dispute, judge, maintain, plead, reason (together), rebuke, reprove (-r), surely, in any wise.

A Christian should be consistently refining and improving in this area of their daily life. Our job is to convict, reprove and to argue, but doesn’t this sound harsh and judgmental? Do we really go around disputing with people all day long?

The idea of reasoning is to present a case, to cognitively persuade someone of the truth; as in court, where the attorneys argue their cases. When I use the term argue I don’t mean what most people think of in terms of an argument, but a back and forth presentation of ideas.   Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 2:25 that in humility believers are to correct those in opposition.

What are they in opposition to? They are in opposition to the truth correct? Most people and even those that name the name of Christ object to the truth of Scripture. There is a tremendous amount of emotion when most people argue; I’ve certainly been guilty of this more than I care to recall. When we can learn to reason well, our witness is much more powerful and effective.

Reasoning and argument is a gift God has given us. He has given us the ability to “think”. If we can think properly and biblically we stand on firm ground and this should be the basis for our argument.

2 Timothy 2:14 Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers.

Ouch… Do we see what Paul is telling Timothy on how he should pastor a church? He tells him to teach his people how to argue; how to present the truth and be focused on the Lord.

And how do we do this Paul?

2 Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

The directive is crystal clear if we are willing to accept it. And of course if we claim fellowship with Christ we must accept it or we are not truly His. We are to present ourselves approved to God, by rightly understanding Scripture and properly using Scripture in our arguments to convince people if they are in error.

We are to reason with them, gently, not striving and quarreling about useless words, but using God’s word to show them if they are in error.

This is not popular in today’s culture. It’s never been popular, but as we look to Christ as our example we can see that He always challenged people in their sin. His example is perfect and it was always done in love, but we must remember that He was hated for it. In fact so hated they crucified Him. Have you been hated enough for your reasoning they wanted to crucify you? If we argue and reason perfectly as Jesus did, then they will. It’s guaranteed.

2 Timothy 3:10-12 But you have carefully followed by doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions…what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

My sin too often gets in the way of my reasoning for it to be effective, but sometimes I argue well, and by God’s grace I’m growing in this area of my life. As I learn to properly divide Scripture I trust God will use that to grant some repentance. That they just might come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil. Whether they realize it or not they’ve been taken captive by him to do his will.

If you are a Believer and you spend time having discussions with people you must realize they reside in one of two camps. They believe or they don’t believe, and if you care about their eternal soul you will challenge their beliefs with the truth of God’s word.

Let’s learn to reason well; so that we can properly present the gospel of repentance and faith in Christ that some might be saved.

 

Kevin

I’m a Good Person…

Posted on by kevinjandt

good-person

I don’t believe I’ve ever met a person that hasn’t thought themselves a good person, for the most part. Most of them will say, “I’m not perfect, but I’m basically good.”

I’m old enough to be a Seinfeld aficionado and there is an episode “The Bizarro Jerry”. Jerry, Kramer and George, have exact opposites and Elaine becomes friends with them. They are actually nice and the George counter-character is not cheap but generous. They like to go the library and read, not sit in a coffee shop making fun of people.

Christianity is kind of like the Bizarro-world. Everything is upside down. “The first will be last and the last will be first”, “he who desires to save his life will lose it and he who desires to lose his life will find it”. The Son of Man came to serve and be a ransom for many; it goes on and on…

So why is it not surprising to me that when people think they are “good” they are not? They might be nice, they might be kind and they are probably “good” by the world’s standards but how do they measure up to the biblical standard?

“They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.” – Romans 3:12

Matthew 19:17 So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

And of course this man said to Jesus, “whew…I didn’t think I could be good enough to keep the commandments, now what should I do?” Unfortunately, just like you and me, this man thought he was good enough. His sin had him deceived and the hard impenitent heart must be broken and crushed. If Jesus didn’t love him He wouldn’t have exposed his sin. He would have allowed him to stay in his deception.

When I consider whether I really love someone or not I must expose sin in their life or there’s no chance to break up the “good person” fallacy. I must be like Jesus.

Matthew 19:21 Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

That was it…the challenge to this young man’s life was to sell everything he had. Give up everything that is important to you. Abandon your life as you know it…   Stop sinning, and follow Me!

What do you place as a priority in your life over Jesus?

If it’s anything and I really do mean anything you are the rich young ruler. You MUST be willing to sell it all. The command is clear. It’s easy to read it plainly and understand what Jesus is demanding, so don’t tell me Jesus didn’t really mean I need to sell everything. Maybe He did for you? Maybe He did for me? I don’t know for sure, but I know He’s telling you and me today, that we are holding onto something that we deem more precious than Him.

This is why Christianity is even more bizarre than the Seinfeld Bizarro-world, it’s completely upside down and counter-cultural, and the world hates it. The world hates it because it loves sin, and we love our sin, until the great physician heals us.

The biggest question you can ask yourself today “Is this the Christianity that I know?” Will you willing give up your life as you know it to follow Him?

Are you “good person”, or are you in need of a Lord and a Savior?

When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” – Matthew 9:12-13

If your hope is built on anything but Christ’s righteousness, you only have your own righteousness. You are not sick and don’t need a physician. But if you realize your goodness can only be found in Him then you’ve found the right Jesus.

I must and Believers must expose the “goodness” of man for what it is, filthy rags, and call sinners to repentance. If you are to imitate Paul as he imitates Christ, then we must be like Christ in how we evangelize, if we truly love them and desire the best for them.

As we learn to love people more and more we must also realize that they crucified Jesus. His love was the perfect love, but it didn’t mean the message was always popular.

Let’s go out today and “Be Like Jesus”

Kevin

Take the good person test

Fertile Ground

Posted on by kevinjandt

IMG_6931We’ve lived in our home for nearly twenty years now and the one thing I’ve learned is that we don’t always get projects done around our house quickly. Not that we don’t have the best intentions, it’s just that life takes over and the things we’d like to do get put on the back burner.

The west facing wall of our home has been one of those non-priority projects that has take a bit of time to accomplish. We remodeled our basement to create some new rooms a couple years ago to accommodate our growing family and we put in some egress windows. These make the bedrooms legal so we can have two ways of escape in the event of a fire. This requires digging out the ground around the basement wall, cutting holes in the wall and then putting in windows and window wells which keep the dirt back.

We’ve wanted to plant something along this side of the house for years, and we finally, and when I say “we”, I mean Jen and the girls. Okay, mostly Jen, but the girls assisted with the little ones while she was planting them.

We took great care in selecting our new plants and our desire is for them to grow and flourish in the place we picked to plant them. What will determines success depends on many things. We must do our part in order for there to be a chance of success, but we can’t guarantee it, only give them care and nurturing and then trust what we’ve done will be enough.

Do you see the similarity to the gospel and the planting of God’s Word into the hearts of those around you?

I’m primarily thinking of my children in this analogy, but it certainly applies to all we come into contact, and I’m always hopeful someone that reads this will consider themselves and those around them.

In order to increase our “odds” I must take some steps.

Good Soil

We must plant our plants in good soil. Iowa has a lot of clay and around our home is no exception. It’s so hard and sticky, when we dug the holes it was a big job just to keep the shovel on the back hoe clean. It’s very hard soil and it won’t grow plants well without adding top soil and fertilizer.

Matthew 13:8 But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

If we want to yield a crop, we must plant in good ground. Jesus tells us in the parable of the soils, not all the seed will fall on good ground, so it’s crystal clear that not everyone will receive the word. But if it’s up to us, we must spread good seed (The Word of God), and it must land on good soil. This is not soil that we have prepared, its soil that God has prepared, it’s God that opens hearts to receive His word.

…but we must prepare hearts to receive the word through teaching and proclaiming properly. In the case of my children I prepare their hearts by cultivating it with the Word of God. As a practical example this means sitting with them and opening the Bible, reading it and teaching from it.

This is my responsibility as a father to my children.

Ephesians 6:4 And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

If I don’t bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord, I’m provoking them to wrath. Fathers, you are provoking your children to wrath if you don’t bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. Have you ever thought of it that way before? [1]

Prepare the soil to receive the good seed, by training and admonishing them, do it today and everyday you have opportunity. Don’t delay, because every day that soil can harden and become more like clay.

Hebrews 3:13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

It Needs Water

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.

If the word is received on good ground and it appears to blossom for a while, that young plant will need watering through reading and study of God’s Word.

Do you know or are you a Christian that doesn’t read and study your Bible? Then you’re not a true Christian, or you are a rebellious one. Jesus tells us you will need this like plants need water to live.

John 4:13-14 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Pull the Weeds

Weeds choke out and take over. If you don’t, fertilize, water and tend to the care of your lawn, or your garden you will have nothing but weeds. It’s true in this example and it’s true in the hearts of sinful man.

Matthew 13:7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.

God’s Word is clear and so is the instruction for the Christian. If this doesn’t describe your life, I’d urge you to humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. Seek his righteousness first, and don’t put off the preparing of that soil.

Kevin

[1] Elder Nick Rolland sermon on Ephesians 6:4

Do you have a reservation?

Posted on by kevinjandt

written_down

My business has me staying in a lot of hotels. When I walk into a hotel there is always that anxious moment that my name won’t be on the list. Many times these reservations are made for me by someone else, and so it’s often a guess as to what name they used.

I’ve stayed in some pretty lousy hotels, but I’ve also stayed in some that are absolutely beautiful and way beyond my means. When you step into them you realize that this is a really nice hotel. It feels pretty good when you step up to the reception desk to be greeted by the hotel staff and asked “how can I help you?”

“I believe I’m staying here”, is often my response.   As I hand them my identification there is always that moment you wonder if your name will be there. I’ve been to the wrong hotel before, and that’s an awkward moment. Is it the other one that is across town?

There is coming a day when we will all stand before God and our name will either be on the list or it won’t and today it’s important to take a moment and think about your life. Is your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life?

Revelation 20:11-15 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead small and great, standing before God, and the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.   The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

If you think you are in awe when you walk into the lobby of a Hyatt Regency or some other extravagant hotels imagine the day you will approach the throne of God?   Heaven and earth cannot begin to look upon His glory, they must flee says verse 11.

Can you envision what this day will be like? All will be judged by two standards. Two books are opened. One contains our works. Everything we’ve ever done will be judged. All our works brought into judgment by a God so awesome we can’t even look upon His glory; so glorious the earth and heavens flee from Him.

In the beginning of his heavenly vision John fell to his face as if he were dead at the awesome sight of the resurrected Christ. This is not a God that is the “Big Guy” upstairs. He is God and He is to be worshipped and feared, because He will judge according to our works.

Every thought you’ve ever had, every nasty little thing you’ve done, every remark you’ve ever made about someone. As I think deeply about my thought life I’m repulsed by who I am. I need Jesus. I need Him to cleanse me; I need Him to purify me, because when the books are opened I’ve got no chance outside of His righteousness.

Revelation 21:6-8 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be His God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

Do we see the transition here to the answer for eternal life?

He who thirsts… He who overcomes…

How do you get this thirst and how can you possibly overcome? Only through Christ is the answer. He is the only One that can satisfy. In myself I’m cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murdering, sexually immoral, sorcerer, idolater, and liar. I have no hope.

My sin is my problem. Jesus Christ is my remedy.

Romans 3:21-24 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…

We’ve all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. None is righteous in His sight. But God is rich in mercy and sent Jesus Christ to live the life we couldn’t live to justify those who believe in Him as their only hope.

It’s the Good News!

The big question is do you believe that? And will your name be written in the Book of Life?

Repent and turn from your sins if this is a God you do not know, believe in Him and believe His work is sufficient to save your soul.

Kevin

It’s all about me!

Posted on by kevinjandt

loveme

I’m a selfish man by nature… I really can’t help, I was born that way.

I was thinking about this recently and discussing how easy it is to live that way with a brother of mine. It comes quite naturally in most situations, but one of the times I notice it most is when I return from business trips.

I’m in an unusual sort of business. Believe it or not someone pays me to provide times for the participants in a running race. This business requires me to be away from home on numerous occasions and sometimes during the peak running season I can be gone for up to a week at some of our very large events.

It’s in these times that I’m particularly prone to myself. It’s almost like a surreal world that I reside when I’m at these events. The bottom line is that I have a certain amount of work that needs to be accomplished and I need to ensure it gets done. I wake up when I need to wake up, do the things that I need to do, feed myself when I’m hungry (in most cases) and don’t have to wait around for a wife and children.

It’s probably similar to a military man on deployment. He’s hanging with the guys and then they head out on their missions. When I come home it’s sometimes difficult to re-adjust. I have to attempt to snap out of “Kevin only” mode and start considering the ones God has placed in my life to nurture. It’s really much more difficult than you think and on more than one occasion (or maybe all of them), my wife has to gently remind me that she desires adult conversation when I return home. And, “oh right, I almost forgot God requires me to lead my family.”

Hebrews 4:12 tells us that God’s word is sharper than any two-edged sword, and it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, and this is very sharp indeed for me.

Husbands love your wives…  Ephesians 5:25

Husbands your wife is a weaker vessel… 1 Peter 3:7

Father’s train your children… Ephesians 6:4

It goes on and on for me and I’ve often found myself knowing that I need to put things off to stay ahead of the impending email that will soon invade my inbox. I’m pulled in a lot of directions, because Jen wants me to lead and I just got done leading and I’m a bit worn out.

It would certainly be a lot easier to just hide somewhere, but I can’t wait to get home and I can’t wait to see Jen and the girls, so the war rages inside.   I have responsibilities and I must provide for my family, but I must also lead them and nourish them and train them.

So the battle continues and it will for a lifetime, because one day the kids will be out of the house and then my role will change, but God still doesn’t let me off the hook. Lord willing I’ll still be a husband, and Lord willing I’ll still be a father, and Lord willing I will be a grandfather and have the opportunity to live out a multi-generational vision for my grandchildren.

What a battle…what a life…what an opportunity to deny myself, take up my cross and serve and honor the Lord.   He never promised a life of ease and comfort, actually just the opposite. If the Christian life you live is a little too easy, maybe it’s not true Christianity and maybe a war needs to rage within you?

It’s pretty easy to live life on cruise control. Jesus said those who desire to keep their life will lose it and those who desire to lose their life will find it. I desire to lose my life, but that doesn’t make it easy.

 

Kevin