The Power of a Church's Vision

Unity comes when the people have a common vision. I was reminded of this years ago when I directed a discussion with the pastors and elders of a church in the Midwest during a two-day retreat. The church was being pulled in several directions. As I spent time with the church leaders before the retreat, five areas of conflict came to the forefront. There were relational, spiritual, doctrinal, philosophical, and organizational conflicts among the people of the congregation. As each problem was brought up, the forty-plus of us would gather together and ask the Spirit of God to guide us. What soon became evident was the lack of a clear vision statement for the body of Christ, they had no answer. I advised them to seek God and His vision of what He wanted to do in their midst. During the actual retreat, we hammered out a vision statement that everyone agreed upon. The mission statement went like this: "This local church exists for the purpose of loving Jesus Christ by magnifying Him through the Word and worship, by loving believers and encouraging them toward maturity and ministry, and by loving the lost through making Jesus Christ known to our neighbors and the world." This mission statement gave the leaders of the church a purpose and a direction. They next evaluated the programs of their church. In the process, some of them were discarded because they did not fit into the mission statement of the church. Others were added. As the leaders moved forward in the process, their hearts were unified. It was not uncommon during that weekend to see them break down in tears of repentance and forgiveness toward each other. The power of their vision made possible not only direction and unity but also greater love and commitment toward each other. God wants us to have His vision. As a congregation walks with the Lord, the members are to walk in the unity of the Spirit, which He has established in His body. Now, several years later, the church is strong, it has grown, there is solid unity among the people, and God is being glorified. Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.

The Hand of the Lord

Acts 13:11 "And now behold the hand of the Lord is upon you..." God the Father is a spirit, He has no physical parts, no material organs, such as face, eyes, ears, feet or hands. His hands are spoken of symbolically. The hand of the Father is a sustaining hand (note Job 12:10). "In whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind." There is the delivering hand of God (see Acts 7:25). "God granted them deliverance." The governing hand of God. Isa. 40:10. "Behold, the Lord God will come with a strong hand and his arm shall rule for him." The supplying hand of the Lord. Psalm 104:28. "You give to them, they gather it up, you open your hand, they are satisfied with good." We read in Psalm 145:15. "The eyes of all look you You, and You give them food in due time." The prospering hand of the Lord. Nehemiah 2:8 "And the king granted them to me because the hand of God was on me." There is the renewing hand of the Lord. Phil. 2:13 "For it is God who is at work in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure." The guiding hand of the Lord. Psalm 73:24 "With Your counsel You will guide me" The chastening hand of the Lord. Job 19:21 "Pity me, pity me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has struck me." We also learn about the hand of the Son. The saving hand of God is put forth in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. His healing hand. Matthew 8:3 "And He stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, I am willing, be cleansed. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed." His life giving hand. Matthew 9:25 "He entered and took her by the hand, and the girl arose." His hand of kindness. "Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray." The delivering hand of Jesus. Matthew 14:26-30. "He healed all who were demonized." The ministering hand of Jesus. John 13:4-5 "He arose from supper, and laid aside His garments, and taking a towel, he girded himself about. Then he poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples feet." His supplying hand. The loaves and fishes. The preserving hand of Christ. "Rev. 1:16 "And in his right hand he held seven stars (churches)." His crowing hand. Rev. 2:10 "Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life." We all need the hand of the Lord on our lives. God is reaching out to you today. "His hand is not short that he cannot save." Strongly consider reaching out to Him. Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.

What Do You Reflect

"John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light" (John 5:35). The beauty of the moon on a clear night is a beautiful sight to behold. Yet the moon is only a reflection of the sun. The moon in and of itself has no light, it can only reflect light. Take away the sun and we would never see the moon. The moon would simply be an dark object in the sky. Like wise a diamond only reflects light. A fine cut diamond does a very good job of reflecting light, yet is bears no light of itself. I have been told there is no cut that measures the quality of a diamond, but rather there are a number of measurements taken as to how it reflects light. How well it reflects light, (as well as size) determines its value. Much like the moon our lives are dark until we meet Jesus. With out Him our lives are dulled by the sin created by Adam and passed on to us. Paul said "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23-24). Our Lord contrasted in many parables those who allow His life to live in them to those who choose to live amidst darkness. Jesus in the heart is the Light that is shining upon our life in order to reflect the glory of God's Son through us. The workplace is a really good place to reflect His glory. We must ask ourselves how well are we reflecting the Light of His glory and grace into a dark and fallen world. Its always proper to ask the Lord to make your life a continual reflection of His light to others. DR. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.

Forgiveness

“For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people." It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:30-31). We should not be surprised that the enemies of God would also become enemies of those who are made in the image and likeness of God. We are commanded "As much as in you lies within you live at peace with all men." This means we must learn to be peacemakers. The balance comes in making peace with others without wounding our conscience or offending God. There are Biblical examples where peace making would not have worked. David and Goliath could not have lived in peace with each other. However David did everything possible to make peace with King Saul. The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him your friend. Jesus said "Blessed are the peacemakers." The command to "Avenge not yourselves would be difficult to understand, were it not coupled with "Give place to God wrath." Should I seek revenge I am the one who is conquered, should I choose to forgive I am the conqueror. This is why the Lord tells us "Be not overcome by evil, but triumph over evil by doing good" (Romans 12:21). We are to "Give place" to God's wrath. Revenge is God's parking place, if we park in His place, we will experience some of His wrath. A tremendous example of forgiveness comes from the life of Corrie Ten Boom (1892-1983) she was born in Amsterdam and raised in the Dutch Reformed Church. When the Nazis came to power in the late 1930s, Corrie and her family hid Jews in the basement of their home. In 1944, Corrie's family was arrested and sent to Ravensbrück, one of the worst concentration camps in Nazi Germany. There, Corrie's entire family died. Corrie herself was scheduled for execution - but she was released shortly before the end of World War II because of a clerical error. Corrie concluded that God had saved her for a purpose. She committed her life to preaching the good news of Jesus Christ, speaking in churches, tent meetings, and open-air rallies. At one meeting in Germany in 1947, she taught on God's forgiveness. Afterward, a man came up to her and introduced himself as a former Ravensbrück guard - but Corrie needed no introduction. She remembered him well. He was notorious for his cruelty. "I've become a Christian since the war," he said. "I know God has forgiven me for the horrible things I did, but I would like to hear it from you. Could you tell me that you've forgiven me, too?" He put out his hand. Corrie stood there for what seemed an eternity, unable to think of anything but the horrors this man had committed. Then she remembered the words of Jesus that required her to forgive ANY sin. She silently prayed, "Jesus, help me!" ...then she took the man's hand and cried out, "I forgive you, brother!" She later recalled, "I had never known God's love so intensely as I did then." That was the defining moment in Corrie's ministry. Over the years that followed, she took the Christian gospel to more than sixty countries around the world and hundreds of thousands of lives were changed through her speaking, writing, and the motion picture The Hiding Place, based on her autobiography. If we want to be used in a great way by God, we must be willing to forgive those who may be a great source a pain in our lives. Is there someone who needs your forgiveness today? Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.

The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

I have watched trends in Evangelical Christianity for the last 40 years. The Church from the time of Christ seemed to have been aware of an active enemy who sought to destroy the work of God. Satan is the "Thief who comes but to kill, steal and destroy." Numerous books have been published that alert the church to the enemies schemes and instructed believers in the battle. It seems to me that in the last few years many ministries have turned away from teaching about the enemy. I have numerous friends who serve in Scriptural Warfare ministries, they all tell me the church has become cool toward the subject of warfare. Some of this undoubtedly comes from a abuse of warfare teaching and extremest in the body of Christ. However, their abuse is not an excuse for our non practice of Biblical truth. I believe this gives the enemy a tremendous advantage in very troublesome times. Lets examine a few passages that deal with our common enemy. Paul said "In your anger do not sin: do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold' (Ephesians 4:26-27). The word "Foothold" literally means "Place." Paul is saying that it is possible for us to allow the devil a place in our lives if we fail to speak the truth in love or fail to be emotionally honest. Anger that leads to bitterness and spiritual ineffectiveness is an open invitation to demonic influence (see II Corinthians 2:10-11). It is a critical need that each believer understand their vulnerability to demonic influence so they may have an adequate Biblical answer should they fall victim to "The Fowler's snare" (Psalm 91:3) or "The devil's trap" (I Timothy 3:7). Satan may well outwit us if we are "Unaware of his schemes" (II Corinthians 2:11). Spiritual believers don't grow out of coming under spiritual attack. As we grow in the Lord the enemies' attacks may well increase. Anyone who is doing damage to the devil's kingdom will feel his wrath. When we come under attack we must have the discernment to understand the nature of our attack. If we blame God, our confidence in Him will be shattered, and we won't submit to Him and resist the devil. I believe the Biblical balance in warfare is to gaze on Jesus and on occasion glance at the enemy. This is a good time for a glance. Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.

Finding Love in the Right Places

Some years ago a popular song stated "What the world needs now is love, sweet love, that's one thing there's just too little of." Perhaps we could adapt that song for the church. What the church needs now is love, sweet love. We don't really have a love shortage, we have a practice of love shortage. Concerning love, John wrote “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him." (I John 4:16). We as Christians live in the realm and sphere of love. When a believer shows love toward another believer, this provides assurance to the first believer that he or she resides in God and likewise, that God resides in him or her. Love being practiced lets us know that God is at work. Believers know that they reside in God, and he in them, because of the presence of his Spirit. Believers also know that God has granted them to share in his Spirit because they acknowledge Jesus as God’s Son and because they show love for their fellow believers. John goes on the explain "By this love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as Jesus is, so also are we in this world." (I Peter 4:17). John now talks about Christian growth (what we might call Christian maturity or sanctification). As believers practice love for one another this love is perfected, and that in turn allows them to have confidence in the day of judgment. “If we love one another, God resides in us, and his love is perfected in us.” "Just as Jesus is, so also are we in this world." We are God's representation of His Son in this world. We may well be the only representation of Jesus Christ a person will ever meet. How do we represent Jesus to a lost world? By love. We are to love everyone, our enemies, friends, neighbors, family, believers, co-workers the church, God. True love is made out of shoe leather. God loved and did something about it. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son..." (John 3:16). Love is an action word. I have a good friend who pastors an inner city church. He will meet with people in some unique places. Several members of his church, at one time, lived under a bridge, He went to their "Home" and opened the Scriptures with them. After they accepted Christ, he helped them find jobs and housing. Most importantly this pastor helped them grow spiritually. This is God's love in action. This same pastor told me about the love Christ has planted in his heart toward lost souls. He said as an officer in the Marines, during the Viet Nam War, one of his men was shot, the wound was mortal. He said while they waited for the medic to arrive, he held the dying man in his arms and shouted "Live, please live." Tragically, the soldier bled to death in his arms. He told me he feels the same way about a person without Christ. He said he has the same passion for a person to live spiritually as he did for that soldier to live physically. How is the love of God being lived out in your life? As believers we have the Lover (Jesus), living in our lives. As Jesus is so are we in this world. Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.

God's Timing

There is a song written by Diane Ball called "in His time". Some of the words are "In His time, in His time, He makes all things beautiful in His time. Lord show me every day that you do just what you say, in your time." This theme is taken from the book of Ecclesiastes. In the same book we read "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven?" ( Eccl 3:1). For us to discern God's timing is crucial. "In the fullness of time He sent forth His only Son." God is in control of the times and seasons. He knows what we need and when we need it. He is seldom early but never late. He holds our future in His hands. I have a tendency to run ahead of the Lord. When I do get ahead of the Lord, it causes frustration for others and myself. The Scriptures tell us "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall rise up with wings of eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." We need to ask the Lord to make us aware of His timing. Being led of the Spirit keeps us in step with the Lord. Lord please make us sensitive to your timing, and show us what you want us to do each day, and please slow us down when we tend to run ahead of you. Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.

Staying Clean in a Dirty World

The old hymn writer asked "What can wash away my sin, nothing but the blood of Jesus..." James says "Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you." James 1:21. The story is told of a man living in a place where the soil was salty and nothing would grow in it. Yet one day outside his kitchen window beautiful flowers sprang up and bloomed. Upon investigation it was learned that he threw his dish water out the window each day. In time the water washed the salt out of the soil. He received a gift of flower seed and placed the packet on the window. a wind blew through the house and cause to seed to tumble to the ground outside the window. The daily soaking from the dishwater opened the packed and planted the seeds. In time with the proper soil, rain and sunshine the seeds grew. The flowers came up in an "Impossible" place and put forth their fragrance. This brings us to our verse. How do we get clean and stay clean in a dirty world. The answer is to humbly accept the Word that is planted in us. How does the Word become planted in our hearts? By daily sowing, as we read the Word, the Word becomes planted. What type of soil do the Word grow best in? The soil of humility, we are to humbly accept the Word which is planted in us. This is why Jesus said "You are clean through the Words I have spoken to you." Are you allowing the Word to grow in your heart? Do you daily wash your soul with the "Water of the Word?" Are you becoming the Christian God has called you to be. Let God cleanse your heart that you might grow into His likeness.