Search Results

Pastor Francis Chan deals with the moral failure of a church leader in a wise, compassionate, godly fashion. Sin must be dealt with, but our focus in facing the issue of compromised morality in the church should be godly fear and self-examination rather than condemnation and arrogance.

Anger is a legitimate God-created emotion. God expressed His righteous anger toward sin and injustice. Our Heavenly Father’s love and forgiveness is only understood in the context of His holiness and justice. We can be angry, but we must process our ire in a healthy way.

King Solomon was the consummate diplomat. His valuable advice on assuaging anger is both practical and profound. Eight proverbs give us insight on how to subdue antagonistic people, how to diffuse volatile situations, how to heal dissension, and how to develop patience.

King David, Solomon’s father, gave us a powerful model for handling anger. Because the shepherd-king was called the “man after God’s own heart,” he had profound insight into God’s character. As a result, he responded to life-situations in a healthy, mature way. We can do the same.

Anger is healed by a repentant heart. The dedicatory prayer King Solomon prayed on the Temple mount reveals the king’s clear understanding of the nature of man and the ways of the Divine. Genuine repentance is discussed as we begin to appreciate the greatness of our sin and the infinite grace of God.

Jesus, the Master-Teacher, taught us how to handle anger and proffer forgiveness from His beatitudes, His parables and His example. Forgiveness must come from a grateful heart. Paul teaches us that we should replace our anger with kindness, compassion, humility, gentleness, and patience.

Praying the powerful names of God is the way Jesus prays. He is intimately connected with His Heavenly Father, so He knows both the Father’s heart and the Father’s will. When we focus on God’s attributes, we can pray in confidence that He will hear and answer.

To walk by the spirit is to live with a moment-by-moment dependency on, and sensitivity to, the initial promptings of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit intends to produce in us the character of Jesus Christ. What does this look like? The fruit of the spirit, the most effective evangelistic tool we have.

Three things are going on in the Acts ministry of Christ today. Christ is coming as the spirit to dwell in His followers. Jesus is engaged in His greatest work of building His church using dispersed believers. Christ is adding members to His church as His power enables us to do His work on earth.

My youngest daughter Bronwyn has always pushed the envelope, sticking her hairy toe across any line drawn before her. Bronwyn, or “White Breast” was a Welsh heroine in her father’s favorite book, “How Green Was My Valley.” We never told her what her real name meant until much later. We just called her “pure heart” which matches her nature now. Her “pure heart,” however, was coupled with a predilection for stubbornness and extreme sports. Life with the Bronskie was never dull. When she burst forth from the womb (after performing a continual tap-dance in my abdomen for nine months) her bright red face and Indian mohawk were prophetic. Her colicky warpath made for long nights of rocking and loud days of cajoling. Once we passed babyhood, Roger and I were sure Bronie would settle down. Forget it. She protested any hair-combing or hair-washing the first two years of life. Headbands and hats were our only option. I don’t blame her for being cross. Nobody could spell or pronounce her name (including her). She was dubbed everything from “Brownie” to “Broadman” (the name of the old Baptist hymnal). Her only consolation came years later when we travelled to Wales and discovered her name was a household word. Instead of Barbie dolls, Welsh little girls had Bronwyn dolls. Bronwyn had three treasured possessions in her young life: the first was the “animal blankie”-a multi-colored mini-quilt pock-marked with farm animals and handed down from her older sister, Brianna. One tear-filled afternoon, we jumped in the car, peeled out and frantically drove to El Paso’s Motel 6 to retrieve it-dust bunnies and all. The second treasured possession was a blue taffeta dress with a built-in jingle bell petticoat. It never left her stinky body between the ages of three and four without a fist fight. The third, and by far the greatest, was a bald baby doll named Otis Lee. Otis appeared as the trophy toy from her three-year-old Christmas bounty. None of the other gifts mattered. It was Otis who stole her heart. Otis had a hard life. Besides the smelly task of living under Bronwyn’s armpit day and night, Otis had many brushes with death. Becky, our black and white border collie, fancied Otis as a chew-toy. Besides dragging the plastic heartthrob through dog-poop, several teeth-marks had actually penetrated Otis’ skull. After major surgery and some duct tape, Otis survived. We’re not sure whether he had brain damage. The worst catastrophe of Otis’ and Bronwyn’s lives came when her older sister Brianna had finally taken all of the pestering she could stand from her annoying little sister. Being the precocious yet sneaky seven-year-old that she was, Brie watched the weather channel to find a rainy night in July. After dark, she slipped Otis under a very deeply planted rosebush and waited for the mud to bury Otis alive. Her act was ruthless, pre-meditated dolly murder. Much to my chagrin, Otis was found. Bronwyn was in hysterics. In desperation, I threw Otis in the washer on perma-press. Although the rubber body parts were slightly deformed, Bronwyn didn’t mind. Otis slept in her bed for years. One day she was forced to give up Otis for another. Otis was exchanged for Richard, the man who captured her heart. Bronwyn loved Otis, but as long as she held onto him, she could never grow-up and enjoy the man of her dreams. After all, Richard is washable. We hold onto many things in this life-journey. Most of them are made of plastic. However, if by faith we choose to invite Jesus Christ into our lives and receive His gift of eternal life, we are forever transformed. All the playthings of this earth seem to fade when He captures our hearts. We do not carry Him under our arm, as Bronwyn toted Otis. We carry Him in our hearts. And when He draws us with His love, we will never be the same.

We witness at every stage of our spiritual growth, but we evangelize more effectively as we mature in Christ. Fishing for lost souls looks like accepting the rejected, supporting the struggling and comforting the hurting, the example Jesus sets.