Clever Free Methodist

  Since the birth of social media and 24-hour news organizations, we have quickly seen that information (true or false) travels quickly. It reminds me of words from the infamous church camp song “Pass It On” which states “It only takes a spark to get a fire going.” We have seen how quickly sparks of information can set our emotions into flame with the recent deaths of Charlie Kirk and Melissa Hortman. Their senseless deaths set off a blaze of responses due to their murders being categorized as assassinations. Sadly, this isn’t anything new. Just hearing the word “assassination,” we think of people such as John and Robert Kennedy, Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X. We can even go back in time to notable leaders as Abraham Lincoln and Julius Ceasar. Yes, it is true what Solomon remarked in Ecclesiastes 1:9 , “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” Evil is doing what evil does. Therefore, since we (...

One of the strongest defenses of investigating any situation is making sure that we gather as many facts, witnesses, and information on the subject at hand. We don’t want to jump to any rash decisions or conclusions and find out, later, that we were wrong. The Bible has a very strong passage to support taking the time to gather facts to make a truth-filled decision. Proverbs 18:15 , “An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.” We cannot afford to jump to conclusions on unfounded rumors or quickly repeated gossip. I have witnessed one incident of such false information that has spread like a raging forest fire due to individuals not doing their homework on the subject matter. I am talking about some recent “observances” during the funeral of Pope Francis. During his funeral, several individuals noticed that there were “upside-down crosses” displayed in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. Many took to social media in a wild frenzy to associa...

  Romans 5:8 “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” It is truly amazing to know that God didn’t first put us on a 30-day trial period to see if we could “handle being a Christian” before he would save us. I am glad He didn’t say, “I’ll forgive most of your sins except for these few particular ones."   What is even just as amazing is knowing that God sent his Son, Jesus, to us with the risk knowing there was a good chance that he would be rejected and not one, single person would accept his offer of salvation. It was quite a sacrifice. It is what we focus on during the season of LENT.   LENT comes from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning “Spring.” What happens in Spring? The Winter snows melt away, warmer temperatures, and the robins appear. But, most importantly, the earth comes back to life! Grass becomes green, trees bud and the leaves return, and flowers grow and bloom.   We, like Spring, want our spiritual lives to “come back to life” now and after we die. So...

The Great Commission found in Matthew 28:16-20 , is packed full of so many life-changing words that a pastor could write a few months-worth of sermons. It is really fascinating to me what is packed into most of the words Jesus said.   We know the word “go” in “Go and make disciples” in verse nineteen. The word “go” does not imply that we “sit down and plan out” a trip or meeting. The correct translation is that Jesus is telling us we live out the Great Commission “while we are going.”   There is no specific destination given for “where” we are to go. It is simply an issue of living in awareness that this applies to “everywhere” we are at the moment. As you go about your day to be attentive towards living like Jesus and speaking the life-giving words of Jesus.   We go about our day in privacy and out in public on the alert, and fully engaged and prepared to “…give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:15).   Howev...

There are hundreds, if not, thousands of video clips that circulate on social media on a daily basis. Some have an agenda while others are manipulated to force a narrative upon us. I have also found that some just speak for themselves. I came across one of those video clips.   I’ll keep it “anonymous” as to who this was because my point is context . I would normally just brush off such a video clip as this, but I couldn’t. The person involved took the Bible out of context and was “forcing a square peg into a round hole” to make it justify his lifestyle.   He was expressing his displeasure with people criticizing him for being very rich. He did not appreciate that people were voicing their displeasure at his owning a mansion and having a private jet to fly him around the world. This television preacher made no apologies for living an “above and beyond” lavish lifestyle. In fact, he claimed them as a blessing from God.   I would have just brushed it off at that point and m...

I think we could spend hours, if not days, in just the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel. If there is one thing that is made clear in this writing is that God is passionately pursuing us and bidding us to have a relationship with Him that is restored by His Son, Jesus.   There is one verse, in particular, that stands out to me. John 6:37 , “However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.” Those that come to Jesus will never be rejected. If you come to Jesus, just as you are now, he will not turn you away. He gladly welcomes you to come to him.   It is not God’s design or plan that we live separated from Him. He makes the way for that relationship to happen. He initiated the plan. He paid the price. He gives freely. He gives us free-will to choose or reject that offer of reconciliation through Jesus, His Son.   God makes His intent clear:  Ezekiel 33:11 , “As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the ...

Just before Jesus gives up His spirit on the cross, He utters a very powerful word. The word that He cries out is “ tetelestai” (tih-tellis-tie). When literally translated, this word means, “It is finished.” It can also refer to something completed or accomplished. The word occurs in  John 19:28  and 19:30 and these are the only two places in all of the New Testament where it is found. In the John19:28 passage, it is translated, “After this, when Jesus knew that all things were now  completed , in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, he said, ‘I thirst.’” Two verses later, he utters the word himself: “Then when he received the sour wine Jesus said, ‘ It is finished ,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”   Did you know that the word  tetelestai  was also written on business documents or receipts in New Testament times to show indicating that a bill had been paid in full? The Greek-English lexicon (by Moulton and Milligan) sa...

  As we near the Thanksgiving holiday, I can’t help but think of David’s prayer of praise. We find that in the Old Testament.   1 Chronicles 29:10-19 , “David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, “Praise be to you, Lord, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.   Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.   Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.   Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.”   As we gather with friends and family around the table for our Thanksgiving meal, I pray that we will be reminded of the greatest Thanksgiving of all. However, I am not speaking of the holiday in November! ...

  I was reading through one of my daily devotionals and, like always, there are those that strike me in a stronger way. This particular day highlighted Luke 15:2, which makes one profound statement: “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” There’s nothing complicated about what Jesus is doing! I believe it is our approach to ministry that complicates the steps we take to introduce Jesus to others. Jesus had no boundaries. He was willing to engage Samaritans as much as the Jews and Gentiles. There are times we get so focused on “getting them saved” or “getting them to Church” that we forget the most important “first step” of establishing a relationship . Befriending and showing the love of God by being a neighbor and friend. This devotion went on to say, “God rejects sin but not sinners. He seeks them out to free them from the misery. All love should work thus: not condemning but helping even if it is only with a silent prayer. Do I pray for the conversion of souls?” ...

  We are human and prone to mistakes, misunderstandings, and other influences towards our fallen nature that keep us from being absolutely perfect. There are those times where we may find exceptional achievement, but most times we fall short in some way.   Perfection, however, is not an illusion. It is something that we can strive for in our spiritual lives. Jesus challenges a rich man with such a goal. Matthew 19:21 , “Jesus answered, ‘If you want to be perfect , go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’”   Why would Jesus give this man what appears to be a nearly impossible task? It would seem impossible if we didn’t understand the word “perfect.” The word is not implying that we should be continually living without fault. This form of perfection relates to love .   Jesus is literally addressing the unconditional love of agape. In other words, Jesus is saying that we must strive...

  We find a very uncomfortable statement made by Jesus to Peter in  Luke 22:31 , that reads,  “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat.”  What is more intriguing is that Jesus doesn’t stop it or prevent it from happening, but rather prays that Peter’s faith would not fail during the sifting. It is a prayer for our faith as well! What is this sifting? The word used for “sift” means  “inward agitation to try one's faith to the verge of overthrow”  or can have a figurative interpretation to mean “to riddle.” One of the greatest acts of “sifting” by Satan is his use of doubt in God or to question God. One of the earliest examples is from  Genesis 3:1  when Satan tried to get Eve to doubt God when he questioned,  “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” Satan’s tactics were no different with Jesus during Christ’s 40-days in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). Satan will always t...

  We all have some type of device to track time. On our phone. Our watch. A clock on the wall. Some even spend great sums of money to have a grandfather clock to chime the top of the hour as well as each quarter hour. Time matters. We schedule events for a particular part of the day based on time. Our favorite television program or educational classes are at a specific time each week. We have meetings, briefings, and other functions all have a set amount of time they last. However, when it comes to the life of the Church, we have a tendency to expect it to be regulated to a certain amount of time as well especially the Sunday worship service. We have allowed social norms to dictate worship to a one hour service. People have grown accustomed to that hour and now naturally expect that all church services to be one hour and no more. Through that understanding there has grown a population in the church that struggles to accommodate more than one hour. They become fidgety and rest...

  There is a wonderful southern community along the Gulf of Mexico in Texas called Corpus Christi. When I was stationed in Texas, at Fort Sam Houston, it was a joy, as an Army Chaplain, to lead marriage retreats in the luxurious hotels built along those Corpus Christi beaches. It never dawned on me about the meaning of that name until becoming an Army Chaplain and getting to spend a lot of time with colleagues who were Catholic Priests. The name “Corpus Christi” is Latin and means “the Body of Christ.” For Catholics and some protestant denominations, “Corpus Christi” is a very special time of remembrance of the sacrifice Jesus made giving his body upon the Cross for our redemption and salvation. Today, this remembrance of “Corpus Christi” (Body of Christ) is also known as “The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.”   So, what is this? This is a time they set aside after Pentecost to honor Jesus Christ, who they believe is really, truly and substantially present under the a...