Managing in a conflicted world

Shalom Mishpachah,

Life is a series of "conflicting" realities and principles. It's been said, that without darkness there is no light, without sadness there is no joy, without difficulty there is no ease, without sickness there is no health, without wrong there is no right, and without sin there is no righteousness.  The truth is, each of these things exist with or without the other.  However, in order to come to a comparative understanding, (a quantitative measure of either), we must have both.  

In our walk of faith we encounter these "conflicting" realities and principles on a very regular basis.  For instance, we've all prayed for people that have a tremendous amount of faith not to mention we are moving in great faith as well, only to find at the end that nothing has really happened or worse yet, something has gone terribly wrong.  An example of this might look like this; there are two people vying for the same job, one a believer and one a nonbeliever.   After much prayer, faith, and maybe some fasting over the believer, the nonbeliever is awarded the job. We go away with "conflict" in our souls.

Years ago, I experienced this while praying for my wife. She had been sick for a number of years, 10 to be specific, and I prayed faithfully every day.  Being a pastor I was of course praying for others as well and many of these were being healed, but not my wife!  Both Kathleen and I were left "conflicted".  During this time someone prophesied over Kathleen that "The depth of the valley prophesies the height of the mountain".  Wow, this is not only a profound statement, but it confirms the idea of "conflicting" realities and principles.    

The degree of conflict itself brings the ability for this quantitative measure.  In other words, we only understand great joy if there's been great sorrow, health if there's been sickness, and righteousness if there's been sin.  Our praise report's come from moving between the two, and the magnitude of the praise corresponds proportionately to the conflict.

The Lord has established life in this present age in such a way that we are able to have comparative understanding and quantitative measurement of both the good and the bad.  The Bible teaches us to embrace these conflicts and to keep our eyes on the Lord no matter what.  This is the substance of faith, the things hoped for, the conviction of things not yet seen.

Shalom,
Pastor Bruce      

Membership

Shalom Mishpachah (Family),

Although we at Shiloh do not have an official membership, I want to take this opportunity to speak about the importance of the principles of membership.  Membership in the body of Messiah is two-fold and must be addressed from this perspective.

First, the Bible teaches that every believer and every congregation are members of God's household or family (Eph 2:19).  In light of this, we understand the need to cooperate, participate with one another, and strengthen each other, that the body of Messiah might be strong in every aspect and on every front.  We are all one, (echad), in the Lord.  This is what we would call the "universal" church and all believers are members of this "universal" church from the moment of salvation.  You did not choose to be a member, God chose you and placed you where He wanted you (1 Cor 12:18).

The second perspective is much closer to home, in that we play a decisive role.  We choose the individual congregation that we want to be a member of, we decide how involved we'll be, we decide where we're going to be involved, and in a word, how much we want to contribute to the well-being of that congregation.

Let me interject a thought here. There are two kinds of people in every congregation – those that are consumers, and those that are contributors.  Consumers are those who consume. They take from the other members of the congregation and give very little, if anything, back.  They seldom give financially, and they do very little to help carry the load and the burden of the congregation.
Contributors are those who contribute. They give what ever and when ever they can from their time, energy, and resource.  They are active in the life of the body and always are seeking for the well-being of the other members (1Cor12:25).  Consumers take, and contributors give.

At Shiloh, membership is not determined by scholastic endeavor, but by the love and concern for other members, that is demonstrated by the giving of your time, energy, and resource.    Don't be a spiritual consumer - Be a spiritual contributor (Gal 6:10).
Shalom,

Pastor Bruce

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Spring is in the air

Shalom Mishpachah (family),
Spring is in the air here in Southern Calif.  In fact winter really never showed her face at all.  You might be asking yourself  "what does this have to do with spiritual things".  A lot!  Of course I'm talking about the spring festivals.

Pesach (Passover), Feast of Unleavened  Bread, and First Fruits are coming at us full speed ahead!  Even if you're not ready, now is the time to get ready.  Let me share with you why it's so important that you and I as Messianic believers celebrate each and every one of God's Moedim (the appointed times).

First and foremost, it is obedience to God. The Lord told us, that if we love him, we will keep his Commandments.  I know that each one of you wants to show and demonstrate your love through your obedience, so let's help one another one in this endeavor.  We can do this by encouraging one another, and finding practical ways of helping one another to be faithful to these appointed times.

Secondly, the eyes of the church and the Jewish world are watching to see if you and I as messianic believers will be true to our convictions.  By just being faithful to Torah and it's commandments we can provoke the Jewish people to jealousy as Paul talks about in the book of Romans.

And thirdly, your Christian friends and family are watching everything that you do.  Your excitement and passion in keeping the Word of God, is contagious, and most of your friends and family are desirous of having that same on fire, passionate joy that you are exemplifying.  Keep up the good work!

Begin now to invite your friends and family to a Passover Seder, teach them about the feast of unleavened bread and the importance of getting the leaven (the sin) out of our lives, and invite them to come celebrate the day of first fruits (the resurrection) with us. Explain to them that these are the prescribed Biblical times that we are to celebrate.  You are the voice of one crying in the wilderness, so let your voice be heard in the spirit of love and concern.  Remember, they want what you have!

If you live in the area we would like to invite you and your family to join us in one of our many Passover seders held both at the congregational building and in the homes of our members.  If you don't live in the area join us through our "online campus"; watch for details on our web page.

Shalom,
Pastor Bruce

Spiritual Birthdays - A Demarcation

Shalom Mishpachah (Family),

This Sunday, February 16, 2014, will be my 40th spiritual birthday.  As I've been thinking about it I couldn't help but think about the passage of time and how fast it's gone.  On the one hand it seems as though I've been a believer forever, and on the other hand, I can remember the day I received the Lord as if it were yesterday. I consider myself blessed to know the exact day of my salvation but I'm not sure that information is all that important.

As our spiritual birthdays come and go we can clock the years (putting notches in our belts), as if that, in and of itself, some how makes us more spiritual.  Sometimes we throw those dates and figures around thinking that it will impress somebody.  Sometimes we deceive ourselves by thinking that the passage of time really does make us something special.

I believe that it's important to count the years, but not for the sake of higher numbers.  I believe we should count the years of our walking with God and use it as a demarcation for growth!  So the question becomes, "How much have I grown in forty years, or, How much have I grown in the last year"?  We can then use the answer to that question to set our pace for the coming year.

The Bible tells us to "redeem the time" (Eph 5:16).  1 Cor. 9:24 says, "do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win".  "Redeeming the time" and "running the race" both speak of time as an important demarcation and a measurement tool to be used in measuring our spiritual growth.

All of us want to grow in the Lord and so I want to challenge you to use your "birthdays" as a type of starting line and a finish line in determining how much you are growing!  Don't end up like people who have known the Lord for 40 years but have the fruit of a 12 year old.

Shalom,

Pastor Bruce 

Gifts of the Spirit

Shalom Mishpachah (family),

The Bible tells us to earnestly desire the gifts in first Corinthians 12:31. Also in first Corinthians 14:39 we are admonished to both prophesy and speak in tongues.  In 1 Timothy 1:6 we are told to stir up the gift of God that has been imparted to us.  In these Scriptures and others like them, we can easily see that the Bible is teaching us that the gifts of the Spirit are for all believers today.

We have been preparing ourselves for over a year now, by learning things like preparing for his presence, creating a habitation, hearing the voice of God, and stirring up the fruit of the Spirit.  I have now started a new series entitled "the gifts of the Spirit" and I want to encourage each and everyone of you to hear as many of these teachings as  possible.  During our Shabbat meetings the leadership and I will be stirring up these gifts as I teach on them and I'm looking forward to you moving in new gifts and new anointing in the weeks and months ahead.  

Unfortunately, many in the body of Messiah have misunderstood the gifts, or been given wrong information concerning the gifts. Because of this, the Church has fallen into the trap of interpreting scripture from a replacement theology mentality.  This is unfortunate because without the gifts the church has become impotent and without power.

In the last days evil is going to abound, but Grace will abound all the more. The gifts, or grace let's, of the Spirit are exactly what we need to see the healing, the deliverance, and the salvation of our Lord in these dark times.  

Acts 1:8 says it best – "you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth".  

Shalom,

Pastor Bruce 

Pruning and Growth

Shalom Mishpachah (family),The Bible tells us that He prunes in order to bring new life!  

Every time the leadership and I make a decision of consequence, the pruning begins.  It's not to say that individuals that leave are not following the Lord or anything remotely like that, but what I've learned through the years is this - God does separate those that for whatever reason, can't go to the next level.

This always brings to Kathleen and I bitter/sweet emotions and feelings.  Bitter, because we lose people that we truly love and care for,  and sweet, because there is an excitement that comes with the Lord doing new things in our midst.  

The Lord is doing many awesome and new things!  We'll be moving to a larger building beginning on Feb 1 which will allow us to double in size.  This is great news because we have been at standing room only for some time now and it has been hard for families to even sit together.  Secondly, I am excited that between Stan and his crew filming the services, Audry, for the new website (way to go girl), and a new relationship with Berin and Lisa, I believe the doors to reaching the world may be opening for us!  I believe this is the Lord for Shiloh in this season!  What do you think?  

The leadership and I are restructuring the organization of the congregation so that there's more effective ministry for all of us at Shiloh.  I,m excited for everyone to begin using their gifts for the glory of the Lord and the encouragement of the body.

The Lord is moving us as a congregation into new territories.  Let's travel together in one accord, with courage,determination, and diligence!

May the Lord bless you and your family in this next season,Pastor Bruce