Archippus Take Heed

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I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire.  (Luke 24:32)

And say to Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.”

That’s an encouragement…and a warning.

It was for Archippus in the Bible, in Colossians 4:17, but it’s for us, too.

Take heed to the ministry with you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.

Are you fulfilling the ministry you have received in the Lord?  Are your answering the call, doing what God wants you to do, what He has gifted you to do, and told you to do?

“Take heed,” was the message to Archippus.  That means “give this serious attention.”  It means, “make sure it’s done to avoid bad results.”

I don’t want bad results, so I’m determined to “take heed” and seek to do what God wants me to do.  

Philippians 3:12 says, “…I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”

If you are a Christian, then at some point Jesus “took hold” of you, and you have a ministry to fulfill, a vital role in the Body of Christ.  Whatever it is, do like Philippians 3:12 says.  Press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of you.

Do like Colossians 4:17 says, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.”

What happens, though, is that we can lose our focus.  There are so many distractions, so many bells and whistles, so many trinkets and sparkly things.  We are easily drawn away from God’s calling toward something else, like Demas.

Demas was on mission with Paul, but something drew him away.  In Second Timothy 4:10 Paul wrote, “Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world.”

I want to cry out, “Demas!  What was it?  What was so shiny and attractive?  What drew you off course?  You were dead in like five minutes and standing before your Maker.  Was it worth it, forsaking your mission for a minute’s worth of worldly pleasure?”

Jesus called His various disciples with these words, “Follow Me.”  And they followed Him.

Well there was one man to whom Jesus said, “Follow Me,” and He didn’t.  We call him the rich, young ruler, but his name isn’t recorded.  Whatever fame he had at the time is long gone.

Mark 10:21 says that Jesus “loved him, and said to him, ‘One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.'”

But he couldn’t do it.  Verse 22 says he was sad, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

I want to cry out, “Dude.  Rich, young whatever.  What was so great about your stuff?  Was it really that great?  You passed on the chance to follow Jesus and for what?  Some stuff?  Really?

And yet we all get hit with similar temptations, and it’s all garbage.  Better to have the attitude of Paul in Philippians 3:8 where he counts the trinkets of this world as garbage.  He counted everything else as loss compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus.

So what to do?  Don’t be led astray by the sparkly trinkets of this world.

Instead, press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of you.

And like Paul said to Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.”

May God bless you today.

I’m Doug Apple.

 

If You Don't Like the Word Obedience

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I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire.  (Luke 24:32)

The word “obedience” sounds harsh to some people.

They think of abusive parents, or schoolteachers with paddles, or military drill instructors.

We can be leery of obeying anyone because we are free Americans and we bow the knee to no one.  Plus, if we put ourselves under anyone’s authority, they might take advantage of us.

There is truth to all of that, but what about when it comes to obeying God?

Well…some people put obeying God into the same category.  They don’t like the word obedience, period, even when talking about God.

So today I want to put obedience into a different light.  Actually, I’m not doing it.  Jesus did it, in the Sermon on the Mount.

At the end of that famous sermon, He talked about obedience in a completely different way, by putting it into construction terms.

Now think about construction.  When you are building a building, there are certain principles you have to follow, or your building will be garbage.

The very first principle you have to keep in mind is gravity.  All construction principles revolve around gravity.  If you don’t build it right, gravity will pull it down.

The second principle is the elements, including rain and wind.  If you don’t build right, rain and wind will destroy it.  And with rain comes erosion.

The third element is going to be critters.  Whether it's termites and wood bees, rats and snakes, raccoons and bears, if you don’t build it right, other creatures are for sure going to move in and destroy it.

Now back to obedience.  When you pay a builder to build a building for you, do you want him to be strictly obedient to good construction principles? 

Of course you do.  You don’t pay your hard-earned money for someone to build poorly.  You want it right.  You want it well built.

Now back to Jesus’s teaching in the Sermon on the Mount.  At the end He said, “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them (that’s obedience, by the way), I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock (in other words, using solid construction principles).

Then in Matthew 7:26 He said, “But everyone who hears these sayings of mine, and does not do them (that’s disobedience), will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand (in other words, using bad construction principles).

If the word obedience gives you the willies, then think of it in terms of construction.  How do you want to build your life?  Do you want to build it well, with the best life-building principles?  Then build your life using God’s construction principles in the Bible.

I have found that it works.  To the degree that I do what Jesus said, I see my life being built well.  And to the degree that I see people NOT doing what Jesus said, I see their lives being built poorly, often with one dramatic calamity after another…so much drama.

So if you don’t like the word obedience, even when it comes to obeying God, try casting it in a different light.  The results will be the same, and the illustration comes from Jesus Himself.

Do what God says and your life will be built well and strong and stable and enduring.

Don’t do what God says and your life will be built using sloppy construction principles which leads to wreckage and drama and calamity and failure every time.

May God bless you today.

I’m Doug Apple.

 

Christians in Cars

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I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire.  (Luke 24:32)

Jesus said, “Love your neighbor.”

But what if your neighbor is driving his car too close behind your car, like he would push you off the road if he could.  Do you love him now?

Jesus said, “Love your enemy.”

What if your enemy isn’t someone trying to kill you.  They’re just trying to pass you on the highway.  What do you do when someone who has been tailgating you now tries to pass you?

No, you don’t speed up!  You’re a Christian, and a Christian is supposed to love people.  So when they try to pass you, you love them and want them to pass you quickly and safely, so you certainly shouldn’t speed up.  More likely you should slow down a little so they can pass you safely.

We’re talking about Christians in Cars today.

Jesus said, “Love one another.”

But if your “one another” just dinged your car in the church parking lot…your new car!...do you love them now?

Romans 12:10 says, “Honor one another above yourselves.”

So you’re in the grocery store parking lot, and look, there’s a great parking spot!  And there’s a person behind you also looking for a good spot.  Would you ever, on your best day, honor that person above yourself and actually let them have the good parking spot and take the worse spot for yourself?

We’re talking about Christians in Cars, and Christians in Cars should behave differently.  Lovingly.  Kindly.  Graciously.  Humbly.

Second Corinthians 13:11 says, “…encourage one another…”

When someone else’s driving isn’t up to your standards, will they feel encouraged by you?  Or will they feel embarrassed, or called out, or honked at?

Raise your hand if you’ve ever honked at someone simply because their driving was annoying you.

Galatians 5:13 says, “…serve one another humbly in love.”

When you hit someone else’s car in a parking lot, what do you do?  Leave as fast as you can and hope no one saw you?  Or do you serve them humbly, in love, leaving them a nice, humble note with your phone number?

Ephesians 4:31 says, “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you…”

How do you feel about that person who doesn’t know how to drive in a roundabout?

What about that person who just refuses to turn right on red?

Then there’s the person in the left turn lane who won’t pull out into the intersection so they can make it through.

Now there’s the person honking at you, because they think YOUR driving is bad!  Are you still putting away all wrath and anger and evil speaking?  Or does it come leaking out of you while you’re being honked at?

Ephesians 4:32 says, “…be kind to one another, tenderhearted…”

How do you feel towards the police officers?  How about the officer who just pulled you over?  Are you feeling kind and tenderhearted?

If we really love people, including police officers, how should we conduct ourselves on the highways?

“But Doug, that officer pulled me over and he was wrong.  I didn’t break any laws.”

When someone wrongs us, as Christians, what are we supposed to do?

Ephesians 4:32 goes on to say, “…forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”

Yes, the world is full of bad drivers, distracted drivers, even foolish drivers.  Like the comedian Tim Hawkins said, “That girl almost hit me.  She was so distracted, fiddling with her phone…I about spilled my cereal.”

Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers,” and, “by this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another.”

That’s not just true for Christians in church.  It’s also true, especially true, for Christians in Cars.

May God bless you today.

I’m Doug Apple.