I read the following the article this morning by Dr. T.L. Coomer. While not all of us are home schooling our children, we are all struggling with the best way to protect our children from the evils of this world, while balancing it with the commands of Christ to reach out to the lost. We are called to be both holy and effective, not just one or the other. This article provides some good guidance and identifies one of the greatest problems I see amongst conservative Christian families whether they home school or not.
For the Love of the Family Ministries
Missionaries to America’s Forgotten Mission Field, the Family
Do You Have a Critical Spirit?-The Hidden Sin
Dr. Terry L. Coomer, Pastor
Ministry of Hope Baptist Church
139 Shadow Oaks Drive
Sherwood, Arkansas 72120
501-819-0446
TLCOOMER@juno.com
www.fortheloveofthefamily.com
www.hopebaptistlittlerock.com
These messages may be copied in their entirety to help Christians in the rearing of their children for God and building a Christian home. They are not to be changed in any manner or to be sold. This header must be on any copy. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the author.
Matthew 7:1-5, “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye, and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye: and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye”.
John 7:24, “Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment”.
After many years as a Pastor I find that many sincere Christians do not understand what Biblical judgment is. Sadly, many Christians who sincerely desire to seek to rear their children for the Lord fail to do so, because they do not understand Biblical judgment and therefore, instead teach their children to have a critical spirit. While many well meaning Christians believe in their heart they are standing for what is right, because they fail to understand Biblical judgment, they have taught their children to have a critical spirit without understanding the spiritual damage they have done. When the children leave the home they do not live for God and in fact in many instances turn on their parents with a critical spirit and the parent is devastated because they sincerely do not understand where they went wrong. Many churches have been destroyed because of this lack of understanding as well.
First of all let me say, I believe in standing for what is right, Biblical separation and practice it. However, there are Biblical guidelines that should be practiced in the matter.
Years ago, after studying every Bible passage that deals with marriage and child rearing, my wife and I decided to home school our children, because we understood from the Scripture it was our responsibility to bring them up in “the nurture and admonition of the Lord”, Ephesians 6:4. We highly recommend home schooling. Let me say to you as a parent, just because you decide to home school your children, does not mean they will leave your house and serve the Lord. Our responsibility as a Christian parent is to encourage and teach our children to have an intimate, personal, passionate relationship with the Lord. The sadness is that many folks have been deceived in thinking that in their desire to stand for what is right that we teach by their own example to have an ugly, critical spirit. I have found that many of these folks believe they are like Elijah of old “that I even I only, am left”, I Kings 19:10.
Folks Elijah had just had the greatest victory of his life and a day later he was living in discouragement, defeat, and despair running away and hiding by himself. He had a spirit about him that was not godly here. God asks him twice, Elijah, “What doest thou here”? I Kings 19:9, 13. When God asks a question twice he normally asks it because he did not like the answer the first time. Elijah’s answer was all about what he had done to stand for God and how spiritual he was and no one else is left and I am the only one.
People with a critical spirit are walking alone, are miserable and in their pride and arrogance will continue to tell you how they have stood for God. Their pride and arrogance makes them feel like they are really standing for God. The question I always ask someone who has the Elijah syndrome is, “What are you doing for the cause of Christ?” Generally the answer is like Elijah’s answer. Unfortunately, it is the wrong answer that will affect many others.
Many times folks have lived this way so long they have allowed a spirit of bitterness to well up in their heart, Hebrews 3:12-13. Verse 13 here tells us, “But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today”. Folks you will not exhort anyone including your children and spouse to really walk with God if you are in verse 12 here “with an evil heart of unbelief”. Hebrews 12:15 is where a critical spirit starts. “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled”. I hope you see the issue. Bitterness in your heart will cause many to be defiled including your spouse and children and it will affect many others as well. In essence, whoever they come in contact with.
If you will remember, I said earlier a person with a critical spirit is not out to encourage others to walk with God, they do not want to exhort anyone else, they want to prove they are right at the exclusion of all else. Do not misunderstand, God does want us to stand for what is right, but he wants our relationship with him to be right. The motivation behind the stand is where the answer lies.
Hebrews 12:15 explains it very well, “Looking diligently (at who or what? the answer is me), lest any man fail of the grace of God”. How do you fail at the grace of God? “Lest any root of bitterness” gets in your life. To get this out of course you have to pull it out by the root and that is not an easy task.
Folks, I am convinced much damage has been done to our children, spouses and others lives by the “root of bitterness”. Let me give you an example, I am thankful for godly mothers, but I have also found that some mothers who decide they are going to rear their children for God, which is an admirable desire, are doing so with the wrong motivation. In my travels in preaching and teaching on the family, I have found some pretty ungodly spirited mothers who are teaching their children to have a critical spirit. They think they are separated and spiritual. They dress right and have the right look, but internally there is a serious issue going on. (I believe in dressing properly as well). Generally, there is role reversal in the home and the wife is the spiritual leader and she is in control. She also wants you to believe that she is a humble person, who is in submission to her husband, Pastor and is teachable. The farthest thing in the world is true. “Many are being defiled” her husband and her children, other church members. etc. Through her critical spirit teaching, her children leave the home and do not serve God and she is devastated. In essence what she wanted to accomplish and took many hours, days, and years to try to do and sacrificed to do failed, because of the “root of bitterness” in her life.
Quite frankly, if you approach her about any issue she is not comfortable with she immediately explodes and attacks you and you are not a spiritual person, and we have to separate from them. “Thereby many be defiled”. Internally, she is a miserable discouraged person, like Elijah, who is constantly in turmoil, but has decided she will stand by herself. In fact she is the only one standing!
The failure is truly understanding God’s plan and purpose and having a real spiritual relationship with God.
Let me give you a test here, and let’s see how we do? Maybe right now you are reading this and it is becoming uncomfortable. Your desire is to rear your children for the Lord, but you are finding yourself in my description. When was the last time you actually engaged a person in a conversation about their salvation? If you cannot remember or it has been quite a while or not all, then why not? A person with a “root of bitterness” “critical spirit” believes they are super spiritual but they rarely ever witness to anyone. They are standing for right, but they fail to see the world as God sees it. The world is lost and you have the answer. God desires us to have compassion on the lost. These are people for whom Christ died.
I think you remember the story of the Priest and the Levite, in the story of the Good Samaritan. They walked on by. They were spiritual people in their own eyes, but not in God’s. You see folks many of these people are really pretty miserable inside. They have no joy, and they are teaching their children that as well. God does not want us to walk on by. He wants us to have the joy of sharing our faith with others and seeing them come to Christ. Balance is the key word. How do you see people? Do you see them as someone you do not want to get involved with or do you see them as someone for whom Christ died?
All of this goes back to what is happening in our heart and what our real relationship with Christ is. Do not misunderstand there are things we need to separate from and there are things we should not be involved in. However, it is the motivation of the heart that is the answer for this.
Some time ago, I ran across a mother like I mentioned above who had several children including teens and was home schooling her children. Looked right, talked right, but does not have a clue about what God’s desire is. Through interaction I asked when the children got saved? No one could give a clear answer on that one. The children were not saved, but we are raising them for the Lord? How utterly absurd! Of course, she had a critical spirit, root of bitterness, and a non teachable attacking attitude. Some of the children had the same attitude as well. The husband did what the wife said to do. She was the spiritual leader of the home.
I suspect I have heard more people use Matthew 7:1 to justify sin in their life more than any other verse. “You know you should not judge”. Or they use these verses to rationalize sin in the lives of others. Most generally, this is their children’s lives, family members, or friends.
However, if the Scripture here is saying that we should not judge sin, then there is a load of Scripture we would have to throw out of the Bible. On the contrary God tells us to live for Christ and separate ourselves from those who will not live for Christ. By the way that takes spiritual judgment. II Thessalonians 3:6, 14, 15, I Corinthians 11:31-32 and John 7:24.
The key to Matthew 7:1-5 is in I Corinthians 11:31. “The judgment of ourselves”. Most of us have a real problem with that area. Quite frankly to have a real spiritual relationship with Christ we must do self judgment every day. Our responsibility is to make sure our relationship with God is correct. The devil is very subtle and he uses our own pride and old nature against us. We must be sure our heart is right before God daily.
Let me give you a thought that I hope is helpful. Every day before you start your day, ask God if there anything that stands between you and me today? When God shows you something that is standing between you and Him, confess the sin and ask God to help you not to have any root of bitterness in your heart. Quite frankly, not only is our own relationship with God at stake, but those we come in contact with.
Have you ever noticed the ugliness of a Christian with a critical spirit? Not a pretty sight. Surely, that is not where you wish to be.
Matthew 7:3, “And why beholdest thou the mote that is thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is on thine own eye? The question is what is the beam here? The beam here folks is a critical spirit. This is the key to this section. You have met Christians who never think they have done very much wrong. However, they have constantly got something to say about other Christians or those in authority. In essence they are always looking for something. Matthew 7:3 tells us they cannot see the sin of their own life.
Let me mention here that if you really want God to work in your life and you desire that, you will see things about your life you do not like. Spiritual growth and maturity says I will judge my own life. Immaturity says I will judge the life of others without first looking at my own life. Many times God shows folks the need of their life and the changes that must be made and they reject that. But in their rejection of what God shows them they will judge another. They will not see the need they have. Thus the beam that is in their own eye. That beam is a critical spirit that comes from a heart that has the root of bitterness. Notice the promise of God in this matter in, Matthew 7:2. Your life will be judged in the same manner as you have judged others, critically. Of course the person with a critical spirit cannot understand how anyone could or would judge them because after all they are living for God.
In Matthew 7:4-5, the key to remember is he is not talking about here the true judgment of evil and sin. He is speaking about those who are blatant and arrogant in their criticism of others and they don't see that as sin in their life. Folks he has a name for that person in Matthew 7:5, “Thou hypocrite”.
God is interested in us cleaning up our own life. Did you notice in Matthew 7:5 it says, “Then thou shalt see clearly”? In essence the mote that is in thy brother’s eye we may see differently, correctly, or not at all. This all comes back to the beam which is a critical spirit.
If you have a critical spirit in your life, you will grieve the Holy Spirit and you will hinder souls being saved and you will not have much interest in souls being saved. Of course, you will not engage anyone in a conversation to seek to lead them to Christ. This spirit also hinders the spiritual growth of others you come in contact with and it is devastating to you own family. Our children need to see us actively witness to others and they need the experience of sharing their faith as well.
Years ago a Pastor friend of mine told me about a deacon in his church. The man, his wife, and two children a son and daughter came faithfully to every service of his church for years. Their children grew up in the church. On the outward appearance everything “looked” right. Dress right; smell right, outward appearance acted right. The children went to the churches Christian school and graduated. As soon as they left the home they got involved in all kinds of sin. The daughter was involved in drugs and prostitution. The son was involved in drugs, robbery and eventually was put in jail. Dad and mom were devastated. Pastor, “where did we go wrong”? The Pastor went down to the jail to visit the son. He looked horrible and the Pastor asked the boy why did you do this thing? The son shocked him by saying, “I don't want to talk to you, I hate you”? The Pastor said, “Why do you hate me? What have I done to you that you would hate me so much”? The answer was revealing, the son said, “Every Sunday going home from church, my sister and I listened to my dad and mom discuss how much they disagreed with you and how bad you were”? Critical spirit! These stupid parents who attended a fundamental Baptist church destroyed God’s work in the lives of their children, little by little every Sunday, because of their critical spirit. They did not even realize what they were doing. I am sure there were many Sunday’s when the Holy Spirit spoke to their heart to change this behavior, but in their mind this was part of their spirituality. Obviously, their lives were miserable and they made their children’s lives miserable and affected their lives for all eternity. Think about the poor testimony for God and the many others that were now defiled by the “root of bitterness” in their heart.
I am convinced that many Christians live with the “root of bitterness” and critical spirit that affects many. Parents who think they are doing what they can to see their children grow up for God are actually defiling their children by their lack of Biblical understanding of what Biblical judgment is and the critical spirit of their life.
Remember, God’s promise if your life is critical in nature rather than cleaning up your own life and looking to God you will be judged in the same manner in your life.
Folks, this is not a command not to judge sin in the life of another. It is a warning about having a critical spirit in your life without regard to the sin in your life. It will come back to get you.
Make sure you understand the principles, pointed out here, because you may feel you are doing everything right and it turns out all wrong. This type of sin always shows up in the lives of your children. It is epidemic in the church today and God wants us to understand He loves us and wants us to have His presence in our lives.
If God speaks to your heart about this do not just let it roll off because it will have great consequence in your life, your spouse, and children. It will affect the lives of many. If after reading this you desire true Biblical change in your life, go to our web site www.fortheloveofthefamily.com, and click on the message, “What to Do Now That I have Failed” or "What Do I Do With A Child Outside The Home Not Living For God?" These messages will give you a step by step procedure to correct this matter.
If you need help because you are caught in the sins of the spirit because of a critical spirit and do not know what to do, feel free to contact us. May God help you today seek and have a real relationship with Him.
Dr. Terry L. Coomer is the Pastor of Hope Baptist Church, and the Director of For the Love of the Family Ministries. He has also served as the Publisher of the nation’s fastest growing daily newspaper. Pastor Coomer holds Family Conferences in the local church. To have a meeting at your church or other needs he may be contacted at (501) 819-0446, tlcoomer@juno.com. There are many helpful articles and material on our web site to help you change your life at www.fortheloveofthefamily.com. We serve the God of answers. If you need help finding those answers you may contact us at tlcoomer@juno.com. To be removed from our mailing list send an e-mail to tlcoomer@juno.com.
Monday, January 24, 2011
General Thoughts
Hey Life Group family. It's been too long since I have provided updates, so here we go.
We have some exciting opportunities coming in the near future.
First, we have adopted a people group at the request of the IMB and our church leadership. The people group is the Iraqi Turkmen. You can find some information about them here, although I don't necessarily vouch for the accuracy of Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_Turkmens. I'll be looking into this people group and providing further details, but for now, what you need to know is that they are one of approximately 6,000 people groups who are unreached by the Gospel. As I was trying to learn a little more about this people group, I discovered that my brother Jeremiah is currently about 100 miles south of where this people group is centered and his squad has been operating in that area. The IMB is seeking to ensure that every unreached people group is being prayed for, so add the Iraqi Turkmen to your daily prayer list. I'll be pushing this in class as well.
Second, our class is seeking to adopt a home room at Taft Middle School down the street from the church. Here are some facts about Taft Middle School:
- 850 students, 40% Hispanic, 30% African-American, 20% Anglo
- 1 of 7 students have one or both parents incarcerated
- 1 of 4 students live with someone who is not their biological parents (grandparents, brother or sister, relative, foster care, Grace Rescue Mission)
- 1 of 3 live in a single parent household
- 71% live in a home we would consider “parentally distressed”
- One homeroom at Taft is for students who are in America for the first time. This homeroom has 22 students, with 8 foreign languages spoken in the room.
Obviously, there are some needs at Taft that we can be part of meeting. I think this will be a great opportunity for our families to develop relationships with those in need. I would like to take this task on in addition to the mission projects our Life Group families come up with. It is my understanding that NWBC will put us in touch with the home room teacher, and we will work through him or her to meet needs within the class. This could range from collecting school supplies to providing test monitoring.
I believe we'll have at least one opportunity to minister in the neighborhood of one of our Life Group families in the coming weeks. I'll provide more information on that as I receive it.
The Holder family has agreed to coordinate our Life Group's prayer ministry. We need to work out some logistics as they step into this role, but expect an email with details in it on how you can contact them with prayer requests and how they will be distributing those requests to the members of our Life Group.
We want to be sure that each of you feel connected and part of the Life Group and our church. In order to accomplish that, we've enlisted some volunteers from the Life Group to start calling you each week to find out what's going on in your lives and if there are any needs we can pray for and meet as group...so be expecting to hear from one of your fellow Life Group members in the coming days and weeks.
I hope each of you are working together as a family to put your testimony in writing. Each of you has gone through trials and tribulations that the Lord has rescued you from. I encourage you to memorialize these events, not just for use in reaching the lost, but also to encourage your future generations. Will your great-grandchildren know about what God did for you? Not if you don't record it. I would love to hear some of these testimonies in class in the coming months (I'll be asking). I want you to have a goal to be ready to use these testimonies by the Holiday Season.
Lastly, if you have any feedback regarding the class, please feel free to send it over to Jill or I. We want to know your thoughts, ideas and concerns. To be perfectly honest, Jill and I don't have time to run a Life Group by ourselves without the input, help and support of all of you. If you see a need that is being neglected, let us know.
Thanks for serving with us. I look forward to seeing you Sunday.
Josh
We have some exciting opportunities coming in the near future.
First, we have adopted a people group at the request of the IMB and our church leadership. The people group is the Iraqi Turkmen. You can find some information about them here, although I don't necessarily vouch for the accuracy of Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_Turkmens. I'll be looking into this people group and providing further details, but for now, what you need to know is that they are one of approximately 6,000 people groups who are unreached by the Gospel. As I was trying to learn a little more about this people group, I discovered that my brother Jeremiah is currently about 100 miles south of where this people group is centered and his squad has been operating in that area. The IMB is seeking to ensure that every unreached people group is being prayed for, so add the Iraqi Turkmen to your daily prayer list. I'll be pushing this in class as well.
Second, our class is seeking to adopt a home room at Taft Middle School down the street from the church. Here are some facts about Taft Middle School:
- 850 students, 40% Hispanic, 30% African-American, 20% Anglo
- 1 of 7 students have one or both parents incarcerated
- 1 of 4 students live with someone who is not their biological parents (grandparents, brother or sister, relative, foster care, Grace Rescue Mission)
- 1 of 3 live in a single parent household
- 71% live in a home we would consider “parentally distressed”
- One homeroom at Taft is for students who are in America for the first time. This homeroom has 22 students, with 8 foreign languages spoken in the room.
Obviously, there are some needs at Taft that we can be part of meeting. I think this will be a great opportunity for our families to develop relationships with those in need. I would like to take this task on in addition to the mission projects our Life Group families come up with. It is my understanding that NWBC will put us in touch with the home room teacher, and we will work through him or her to meet needs within the class. This could range from collecting school supplies to providing test monitoring.
I believe we'll have at least one opportunity to minister in the neighborhood of one of our Life Group families in the coming weeks. I'll provide more information on that as I receive it.
The Holder family has agreed to coordinate our Life Group's prayer ministry. We need to work out some logistics as they step into this role, but expect an email with details in it on how you can contact them with prayer requests and how they will be distributing those requests to the members of our Life Group.
We want to be sure that each of you feel connected and part of the Life Group and our church. In order to accomplish that, we've enlisted some volunteers from the Life Group to start calling you each week to find out what's going on in your lives and if there are any needs we can pray for and meet as group...so be expecting to hear from one of your fellow Life Group members in the coming days and weeks.
I hope each of you are working together as a family to put your testimony in writing. Each of you has gone through trials and tribulations that the Lord has rescued you from. I encourage you to memorialize these events, not just for use in reaching the lost, but also to encourage your future generations. Will your great-grandchildren know about what God did for you? Not if you don't record it. I would love to hear some of these testimonies in class in the coming months (I'll be asking). I want you to have a goal to be ready to use these testimonies by the Holiday Season.
Lastly, if you have any feedback regarding the class, please feel free to send it over to Jill or I. We want to know your thoughts, ideas and concerns. To be perfectly honest, Jill and I don't have time to run a Life Group by ourselves without the input, help and support of all of you. If you see a need that is being neglected, let us know.
Thanks for serving with us. I look forward to seeing you Sunday.
Josh
Mrs. PJ
For those of you who missed this morning, here is the video we watched. Enjoy and Happy Mother's Day.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6Ge0m-MXEg&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUNf8UBd_3s&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6Ge0m-MXEg&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUNf8UBd_3s&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999]
Has God Become Blase?
Last week we discussed the details of the Lord's Tabernacle and the establishment of the Priesthood. God provided Moses and the Israelites with incredibly detailed plans that included the types of materials to be used, measurements and instructions for the ceremonies to be held at the Tabernacle.
The whole process was set up to incur proper respect and awe in who God was (and is) and to facilitate a relationship between the Lord and His people. This was obviously needed as the children of Israel, and people in general, show an amazing propensity for becoming accustomed to the most incredible things.
Just a few chapters before we studied about how the Israelites came to Moses and accused him of leading them into the desert to die because they did not have any food. Just imagine that moment for a minute. It's evening. The people have just finished a long day of walking. Tents have been set up. Children are being put to bed. Some leaders get together and decide to go complain to Moses. Their people have been grumbling for days now, and mass unrest has taken the camp. They walk over to Moses's tent. Of course, they don't need a light to see, because God has manifested himself as a massive pillar of flame that watches over the camp at night. Moses comes out of his tent, and the leaders of Israel tell Moses that they were better off in Egypt and they're all going to die in the desert as the light from the massive pillar of flame reflects of their faces.
It sounds pretty absurd. We all think, "If I had a massive pillar of flame from God there's no way I'd lack faith to follow His lead." I disagree, we all have the ability to become accustomed to the most amazing things. Remember when your child went from "most amazing miracle ever" to "thing that cries all night?" It doesn't take long for us to forget the miracle of a child, and it doesn't take us long to become blase about God.
Gratefully, we don't have the ceremonies that the Israelites practiced. At the same time, most modern Believers fail to have physical memorials in our lives that are constant reminders of who God is and what He's done for us. So I'm encouraging all of you, make a memorial for your family, whether it be something in your home or a regular "ceremony" with your family where you remind yourselves and each other of who God is, how powerful and majestic He is, and what a miracle it is that He wants to know us and love us. Just like the Israelites, He has brought us out of slavery so that He could dwell among us. We would do well to keep that in the forefront of our minds.
If you want to do some Beth Mooring around, you can get some good info about the Tabernacle and the meaning behind it at these sites:
Cross Rhythms
The Tabernacle Place
(Caveat: I haven't read everything in these sites, so I'm not vouching for it all, but they appear to have solid historical and spiritual analysis of the Tabernacle)
The whole process was set up to incur proper respect and awe in who God was (and is) and to facilitate a relationship between the Lord and His people. This was obviously needed as the children of Israel, and people in general, show an amazing propensity for becoming accustomed to the most incredible things.
Just a few chapters before we studied about how the Israelites came to Moses and accused him of leading them into the desert to die because they did not have any food. Just imagine that moment for a minute. It's evening. The people have just finished a long day of walking. Tents have been set up. Children are being put to bed. Some leaders get together and decide to go complain to Moses. Their people have been grumbling for days now, and mass unrest has taken the camp. They walk over to Moses's tent. Of course, they don't need a light to see, because God has manifested himself as a massive pillar of flame that watches over the camp at night. Moses comes out of his tent, and the leaders of Israel tell Moses that they were better off in Egypt and they're all going to die in the desert as the light from the massive pillar of flame reflects of their faces.
It sounds pretty absurd. We all think, "If I had a massive pillar of flame from God there's no way I'd lack faith to follow His lead." I disagree, we all have the ability to become accustomed to the most amazing things. Remember when your child went from "most amazing miracle ever" to "thing that cries all night?" It doesn't take long for us to forget the miracle of a child, and it doesn't take us long to become blase about God.
Gratefully, we don't have the ceremonies that the Israelites practiced. At the same time, most modern Believers fail to have physical memorials in our lives that are constant reminders of who God is and what He's done for us. So I'm encouraging all of you, make a memorial for your family, whether it be something in your home or a regular "ceremony" with your family where you remind yourselves and each other of who God is, how powerful and majestic He is, and what a miracle it is that He wants to know us and love us. Just like the Israelites, He has brought us out of slavery so that He could dwell among us. We would do well to keep that in the forefront of our minds.
If you want to do some Beth Mooring around, you can get some good info about the Tabernacle and the meaning behind it at these sites:
Cross Rhythms
The Tabernacle Place
(Caveat: I haven't read everything in these sites, so I'm not vouching for it all, but they appear to have solid historical and spiritual analysis of the Tabernacle)
Outlining A Vision
Jill and I began to feel several months ago that our time teaching the college Life Group was coming to a close. We were excited to be moving on to something new and ministering in an as yet unknown area. We were also excited to head back to the Nuthman's Life Group. Lance is one of the best Bible teachers I've ever had, Shawna does an awesome job serving those in their class and organizing the group into a cohesive unit, and we were excited to be involved with friends and families we had come to appreciate in our the department. We were really ready to get back to the Nuthman Group.
As you now know, things worked out a little differently and we came back just in time to fill a need in our department for a new class.
Vision: "Lets go over there!"
Jill and I do have a vision for this class, and I believe it is in congruence with the vision established by Jerry and Marylin that filters down through all of the classes in this department. We believe that as a class, we should serve each other and hold each other accountable to follow the commands of Christ, especially when it comes to reaching the lost and raising our children...or raising your children. I guess what I'm saying is I don't expect you to hold others accountable to raise my children. That would be strange. We'll hold each respective person accountable for the raising of each persons' respective children. Anyways, here is a quick outline of our vision:
1. To have a class filled with Christians who are truly committed to fulfilling the Great Commission (leading the lost to salvation and discipling them to do the same) and are evidencing that commitment by actually fulfilling the Great Commission.
That's it.
Because of our age and the age of our families, having a family that is organized and allows us to have time to reach the lost is going to be a big part of fulfilling that vision, so we'll look often and hard at how we're raising our children and what the Bible says about it. We'll also look at the roles of individual members in making a family as effective as possible in fulfilling the Great Commission. In essence, we're going to talk a lot about your family, but all with the goal of turning it into a Great Commission fulfilling dynamo. Then we're going to do stuff together in fulfillment of the Great Commission and encourage you to do things on your own in fulfillment of the Great Commission. It isn't novel, but I think its time tested and anything else isn't all that worthwhile. We'll also eat, watch football games and celebrate holidays together, but that isn't really part of the vision. To clarify, if it comes down to a choice between fulfilling the Great Commission and watching OU v. Texas, we'll fulfill the Commission and DVR the OU/Texas game to watch later while we eat.
Christianity is not complicated or difficult to understand. It isn't a crossword puzzle. In essence, it's a simple belief that Christ is who He says He is and did what He said He did. Once we establish that belief, our lives change as we act on the belief and seek to become more like Christ. Every belief modifies behavior. We're looking forward to acting on our belief with all of you.
As you now know, things worked out a little differently and we came back just in time to fill a need in our department for a new class.
Vision: "Lets go over there!"
Jill and I do have a vision for this class, and I believe it is in congruence with the vision established by Jerry and Marylin that filters down through all of the classes in this department. We believe that as a class, we should serve each other and hold each other accountable to follow the commands of Christ, especially when it comes to reaching the lost and raising our children...or raising your children. I guess what I'm saying is I don't expect you to hold others accountable to raise my children. That would be strange. We'll hold each respective person accountable for the raising of each persons' respective children. Anyways, here is a quick outline of our vision:
1. To have a class filled with Christians who are truly committed to fulfilling the Great Commission (leading the lost to salvation and discipling them to do the same) and are evidencing that commitment by actually fulfilling the Great Commission.
That's it.
Because of our age and the age of our families, having a family that is organized and allows us to have time to reach the lost is going to be a big part of fulfilling that vision, so we'll look often and hard at how we're raising our children and what the Bible says about it. We'll also look at the roles of individual members in making a family as effective as possible in fulfilling the Great Commission. In essence, we're going to talk a lot about your family, but all with the goal of turning it into a Great Commission fulfilling dynamo. Then we're going to do stuff together in fulfillment of the Great Commission and encourage you to do things on your own in fulfillment of the Great Commission. It isn't novel, but I think its time tested and anything else isn't all that worthwhile. We'll also eat, watch football games and celebrate holidays together, but that isn't really part of the vision. To clarify, if it comes down to a choice between fulfilling the Great Commission and watching OU v. Texas, we'll fulfill the Commission and DVR the OU/Texas game to watch later while we eat.
Christianity is not complicated or difficult to understand. It isn't a crossword puzzle. In essence, it's a simple belief that Christ is who He says He is and did what He said He did. Once we establish that belief, our lives change as we act on the belief and seek to become more like Christ. Every belief modifies behavior. We're looking forward to acting on our belief with all of you.
My Father's Testimony
Below is the testimony of my Father, Jerry Wells. I'll make some comments on it at a later date, but in the meantime, give it a read.
The Testimony of Jerry Wells
My name is Jerry Wells. My parents were Wilbur and Opal Wells. I was born in December, 1954. I grew up in Oklahoma City. My Mom Opal died just before my 4th birthday. My Dad Wilbur was devastated by her death as was our whole family. He turned to alcohol to escape his pain. For the next 14 years of my life, I lived with an alcoholic.
My Mom Opal died just before my 4th birthday. My Dad Wilbur was devastated by her death as was our whole family. He turned to alcohol to escape his pain. For the next 14 years of my life, I lived with an alcoholic.
Wilbur was a bad drunk. To his credit he maintained his job and only drank after work and on weekends. He attended clubs where he met various women and slept with them. I was five the first time I saw my Dad sleeping with another woman in our house.
Dad met a good woman at work and married her when I was six. But he did not stop drinking. His substance abuse eventually drove her away. One night he got mad at her, stripped her naked, and through her out in the front yard.
She made an excuse to leave. She said she was going to visit some relatives. She never came back. I never saw her again. Dad was served divorced papers by the courts and a restraining order. He had a nervous break down and checked into the mental ward of a local hospital. I was 8 years old.
Dad playing basketball for Oklahoma Baptist University
By this time, my older brother Jim had been married for several years and my sister Sandy was a senior in high school ready to leave for college. By the fall of 1963, it was just Dad and me.
Dad rented a room from two ladies and we moved in with them. We lived there for about six months. We then moved into a one bedroom rent house that Dad owned in one of the poorest areas of Oklahoma City.
Dad met a woman at a club when I was 9 and married her. We moved into a nice home in Del City, Ok. But he did not stop drinking. She could not take the abuse. She and her teen age daughter moved out when I was 12.
My older sister and brother decided that I had been through enough. They took me from Dad. Dad begged them to change their minds. He told them I was his life. He promised to change. He did for two weeks. But one evening he started drinking. He locked me out of the house and made me set outside for hours. When he let me in he was in a drunken stupor. He told me that I was wrong for leaving him. He threatened me and told me to never leave him again.
Dad then started drinking even more. He would disappear on Friday nights and not come home until Sunday. He would normally call me from some girl friends house. To his credit he always made sure that I had money. He bought me a motor cycle when I was 15 so I would have my own transportation.
When I was 15, Dad married another woman that he met at a club and she moved in with us. It lasted six months. She divorced Dad and moved back to her home town. One night Dad got drunk and drove to see her. She called the police and they arrested him because he tried to break into her house. He called me with his one phone call from the local jail. I did not have a driver’s license but I drove a couple of hours and got him out of jail. I then drove him back to Del City. Dad had the shakes all the way home.
Then Dad’s driver’s license got suspended for drinking and driving. He was afraid to drive without a driver’s license so he made me drive even though I did not have a license.
By the time I was 15, I hated Dad. I had no respect for him as a man or as my father. I told him I was leaving one day when he was drunk. He tackled me in the living room and threatened me again.
Why didn’t I leave? I did not think I had anywhere to go. I didn’t think any of my friends parents knew about my Dad’s problem. My family did not talk with me about it anymore. Everyone has their own problems.
We went to church occasionally. Dad always wanted to be a member of a church and he always tithed as far as I know. But I was bitter at Wilbur and at God. I could not see any use for either one of them in my life. To express my anger at God, I would go to the cemetery where my Mom was buried and literally shake my fist at God.
Amazingly, I was good young man by the world’s standards. I was a very responsible student. I treated adults and peers with respect. I respected the law. I did not get in serious trouble. I did not drink. I was not promiscuous. I did not see a need for God in my life. I had the attitude that I did not need anyone and that I could succeed without God’s help or anyone else’s.
When I was 16, I met a young lady. We saw each other for more than a year. I cared a great deal for her and I also cared a great deal about her parents. But as time passed, I did not show her or her parents the respect they deserved. I was deceptive. I was not a good leader. I did not keep my word. I hurt her enough until she finally rejected me. She told me what an evil person I was. From that day forward, she would not have anything to do with me.
This hurt so much because I cared so much for her. I had hurt my Dad. But I had never hurt anyone that I really cared for. It was this experience that caused me to take an honest look at myself.
What I saw was not very pretty. Over time, I saw that I was selfish. I also saw I was proud. I saw I was deceitful. I saw how bitter I was at my Dad and at God. I saw that if I did not change I was going to hurt people just like Dad hurt me and so many others. I could see we both deserved to go to hell.
This scared me. I could see where I was headed and what kind of life I was going to experience if I did not change. I wanted to change but I did not know how. I also felt that I was powerless to change, especially my selfish motives.
This led me to start a spiritual journey. I started reading the bible. I started attending church more often and listening closer to sermons from the bible. It started making sense.
I was sinner. I was dead in my transgressions and sins. I was separated from God. I was powerless to change my heart, who I was, or who I would become.
God’s son Jesus was God. He loved me. He wanted to have an eternal relationship with me. He wanted to save me from my sin.
For that to occur, because God is just, Jesus had to suffer for my sin. He had to pay the debt I owed because of my sin and the sin of my forefathers. His death on the cross proved that He loved me and paid that debt in full. His resurrection was proof that He was God and that the debt was paid.
If I would accept that payment by faith in Jesus, I would be reconciled to God forever. He would change me. He would give me a genuine His love for others that was free from selfishness. He would live within me through His Spirit and give me power over sin.
It was a struggle to believe that God loved me. The circumstances of my life worked against this truth. By the time I graduated the sixth grade, we had moved six times and I had attended six different grades schools. I had witnessed things that my Dad did to me and others that no child should have to experience. How could God love me like the bible says and allow me to suffer so much? Why didn’t I have a good stable family with two parents that loved me? Why did God let my mother get sick and die when I was so young?
This struggle with faith lasted for six months, but God was faithful. Finally, on New Years Eve, 1971, just before midnight, I believed. The Lord spoke to my heart when I asked him why I had suffered so much. He said, “It was what I personally needed to see my need for Him.”
The Wells Family: Christmas 2008
It was true. I was so proud of what I had achieved in spite of the circumstances in my family. I was self righteous.
My family suffered because of sin. But God let me be a part of it and then fail so that I would see my need for Him and His righteousness in my life.
I believed that night just before midnight and shortly thereafter I was baptized as a testimony to my faith in Jesus Christ.
Looking back, there have been so many blessings that are too numerous too recount. My life changed. My Dad died of lung cancer in the fall of 1977 when I was 22. He was 66. But before he died, we were reconciled. Jesus changed my heart toward my Dad so that I loved him and forgave him and did not hate him anymore. The last five years of his life we were able to talk openly about things for the first time.
Just six months before my Dad died, on August 12, 1977, I married a wonderful Godly Christian woman named Debbie Mills. We have six sons and two daughters. Jesus gave us His heart of love for one another. My relationship to Debbie and our ministry together gave me happiness that I did not know two people could share on this side of heaven.
But after more than 29 years of marriage Debbie died. She was 53. She was diagnosed with cancer in September of 2006. On May 3, 2007, Debbie left us for heaven.
Following Debbie’s death, I understood for the first time what my Dad felt when my Mom died. I struggled all over again with having faith in God’s love for me. But Jesus kept one of His promises. He says, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” After Debbie’s death, Jesus kept assuring me of His love for me and my children. He hung on to me when I had no strength or little faith to hang on to Him.
My faith has grown deeper as a result of our loss. When I think that I cannot depend upon Jesus more, I discover a whole new dimension of trust that always changes me and sets me free.
I am not an alcoholic. Through the same circumstance in my life and my Dad’s life, Jesus has proved what a difference He can make if you know Him and trust Him.
My life verse is Psalms 40:1-3. It says…
I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
2 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.
KJV
Jesus can and will do for you what He has done for me. You will not be able to avoid all the horrible pits in your future. Life is so hard. But with each new trial your faith in Jesus Christ can grow as you learn to depend upon Him more. If you can find your way to the Rock, He will give you a new song. He will then use you to cause others to trust in Him.
To receive Jesus Christ as your savior from sin like I did, the scripture says…
You need to understand that you are a sinner separated from God and you are powerless to change your nature.
You need to understand that God’s penalty for sin is death and separation from God in a place of eternal torment the bible calls hell.
You need to understand that Jesus is God and that He died for your sins on a cross to pay your sin debt.
You need to understand that Jesus rose from the dead and that He is Lord of heaven and earth.
You need to put your faith in Jesus Christ to save you from sin and be willing to give testimony to your faith by following the Lord’s command to be baptized in water.
(Jerry Wells is currently the Pastor at Western Hills Church in Oklahoma City. Western Hills Church is located at 401 S.W. 44th in Oklahoma City. You can reach the church and Pastor Jerry by phone by calling 405-634-1454. Pastor Jerry is now married to Saundra Wells. They married in November of 2008. Saundra’s husband John Cobbs died in January of 2007. Pastor Jerry and Saundra have twelve children from their previous marriages to Debbie and John.)
The Testimony of Jerry Wells
My name is Jerry Wells. My parents were Wilbur and Opal Wells. I was born in December, 1954. I grew up in Oklahoma City. My Mom Opal died just before my 4th birthday. My Dad Wilbur was devastated by her death as was our whole family. He turned to alcohol to escape his pain. For the next 14 years of my life, I lived with an alcoholic.
My Mom Opal died just before my 4th birthday. My Dad Wilbur was devastated by her death as was our whole family. He turned to alcohol to escape his pain. For the next 14 years of my life, I lived with an alcoholic.
Wilbur was a bad drunk. To his credit he maintained his job and only drank after work and on weekends. He attended clubs where he met various women and slept with them. I was five the first time I saw my Dad sleeping with another woman in our house.
Dad met a good woman at work and married her when I was six. But he did not stop drinking. His substance abuse eventually drove her away. One night he got mad at her, stripped her naked, and through her out in the front yard.
She made an excuse to leave. She said she was going to visit some relatives. She never came back. I never saw her again. Dad was served divorced papers by the courts and a restraining order. He had a nervous break down and checked into the mental ward of a local hospital. I was 8 years old.
Dad playing basketball for Oklahoma Baptist University
By this time, my older brother Jim had been married for several years and my sister Sandy was a senior in high school ready to leave for college. By the fall of 1963, it was just Dad and me.
Dad rented a room from two ladies and we moved in with them. We lived there for about six months. We then moved into a one bedroom rent house that Dad owned in one of the poorest areas of Oklahoma City.
Dad met a woman at a club when I was 9 and married her. We moved into a nice home in Del City, Ok. But he did not stop drinking. She could not take the abuse. She and her teen age daughter moved out when I was 12.
My older sister and brother decided that I had been through enough. They took me from Dad. Dad begged them to change their minds. He told them I was his life. He promised to change. He did for two weeks. But one evening he started drinking. He locked me out of the house and made me set outside for hours. When he let me in he was in a drunken stupor. He told me that I was wrong for leaving him. He threatened me and told me to never leave him again.
Dad then started drinking even more. He would disappear on Friday nights and not come home until Sunday. He would normally call me from some girl friends house. To his credit he always made sure that I had money. He bought me a motor cycle when I was 15 so I would have my own transportation.
When I was 15, Dad married another woman that he met at a club and she moved in with us. It lasted six months. She divorced Dad and moved back to her home town. One night Dad got drunk and drove to see her. She called the police and they arrested him because he tried to break into her house. He called me with his one phone call from the local jail. I did not have a driver’s license but I drove a couple of hours and got him out of jail. I then drove him back to Del City. Dad had the shakes all the way home.
Then Dad’s driver’s license got suspended for drinking and driving. He was afraid to drive without a driver’s license so he made me drive even though I did not have a license.
By the time I was 15, I hated Dad. I had no respect for him as a man or as my father. I told him I was leaving one day when he was drunk. He tackled me in the living room and threatened me again.
Why didn’t I leave? I did not think I had anywhere to go. I didn’t think any of my friends parents knew about my Dad’s problem. My family did not talk with me about it anymore. Everyone has their own problems.
We went to church occasionally. Dad always wanted to be a member of a church and he always tithed as far as I know. But I was bitter at Wilbur and at God. I could not see any use for either one of them in my life. To express my anger at God, I would go to the cemetery where my Mom was buried and literally shake my fist at God.
Amazingly, I was good young man by the world’s standards. I was a very responsible student. I treated adults and peers with respect. I respected the law. I did not get in serious trouble. I did not drink. I was not promiscuous. I did not see a need for God in my life. I had the attitude that I did not need anyone and that I could succeed without God’s help or anyone else’s.
When I was 16, I met a young lady. We saw each other for more than a year. I cared a great deal for her and I also cared a great deal about her parents. But as time passed, I did not show her or her parents the respect they deserved. I was deceptive. I was not a good leader. I did not keep my word. I hurt her enough until she finally rejected me. She told me what an evil person I was. From that day forward, she would not have anything to do with me.
This hurt so much because I cared so much for her. I had hurt my Dad. But I had never hurt anyone that I really cared for. It was this experience that caused me to take an honest look at myself.
What I saw was not very pretty. Over time, I saw that I was selfish. I also saw I was proud. I saw I was deceitful. I saw how bitter I was at my Dad and at God. I saw that if I did not change I was going to hurt people just like Dad hurt me and so many others. I could see we both deserved to go to hell.
This scared me. I could see where I was headed and what kind of life I was going to experience if I did not change. I wanted to change but I did not know how. I also felt that I was powerless to change, especially my selfish motives.
This led me to start a spiritual journey. I started reading the bible. I started attending church more often and listening closer to sermons from the bible. It started making sense.
I was sinner. I was dead in my transgressions and sins. I was separated from God. I was powerless to change my heart, who I was, or who I would become.
God’s son Jesus was God. He loved me. He wanted to have an eternal relationship with me. He wanted to save me from my sin.
For that to occur, because God is just, Jesus had to suffer for my sin. He had to pay the debt I owed because of my sin and the sin of my forefathers. His death on the cross proved that He loved me and paid that debt in full. His resurrection was proof that He was God and that the debt was paid.
If I would accept that payment by faith in Jesus, I would be reconciled to God forever. He would change me. He would give me a genuine His love for others that was free from selfishness. He would live within me through His Spirit and give me power over sin.
It was a struggle to believe that God loved me. The circumstances of my life worked against this truth. By the time I graduated the sixth grade, we had moved six times and I had attended six different grades schools. I had witnessed things that my Dad did to me and others that no child should have to experience. How could God love me like the bible says and allow me to suffer so much? Why didn’t I have a good stable family with two parents that loved me? Why did God let my mother get sick and die when I was so young?
This struggle with faith lasted for six months, but God was faithful. Finally, on New Years Eve, 1971, just before midnight, I believed. The Lord spoke to my heart when I asked him why I had suffered so much. He said, “It was what I personally needed to see my need for Him.”
The Wells Family: Christmas 2008
It was true. I was so proud of what I had achieved in spite of the circumstances in my family. I was self righteous.
My family suffered because of sin. But God let me be a part of it and then fail so that I would see my need for Him and His righteousness in my life.
I believed that night just before midnight and shortly thereafter I was baptized as a testimony to my faith in Jesus Christ.
Looking back, there have been so many blessings that are too numerous too recount. My life changed. My Dad died of lung cancer in the fall of 1977 when I was 22. He was 66. But before he died, we were reconciled. Jesus changed my heart toward my Dad so that I loved him and forgave him and did not hate him anymore. The last five years of his life we were able to talk openly about things for the first time.
Just six months before my Dad died, on August 12, 1977, I married a wonderful Godly Christian woman named Debbie Mills. We have six sons and two daughters. Jesus gave us His heart of love for one another. My relationship to Debbie and our ministry together gave me happiness that I did not know two people could share on this side of heaven.
But after more than 29 years of marriage Debbie died. She was 53. She was diagnosed with cancer in September of 2006. On May 3, 2007, Debbie left us for heaven.
Following Debbie’s death, I understood for the first time what my Dad felt when my Mom died. I struggled all over again with having faith in God’s love for me. But Jesus kept one of His promises. He says, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” After Debbie’s death, Jesus kept assuring me of His love for me and my children. He hung on to me when I had no strength or little faith to hang on to Him.
My faith has grown deeper as a result of our loss. When I think that I cannot depend upon Jesus more, I discover a whole new dimension of trust that always changes me and sets me free.
I am not an alcoholic. Through the same circumstance in my life and my Dad’s life, Jesus has proved what a difference He can make if you know Him and trust Him.
My life verse is Psalms 40:1-3. It says…
I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
2 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.
KJV
Jesus can and will do for you what He has done for me. You will not be able to avoid all the horrible pits in your future. Life is so hard. But with each new trial your faith in Jesus Christ can grow as you learn to depend upon Him more. If you can find your way to the Rock, He will give you a new song. He will then use you to cause others to trust in Him.
To receive Jesus Christ as your savior from sin like I did, the scripture says…
You need to understand that you are a sinner separated from God and you are powerless to change your nature.
You need to understand that God’s penalty for sin is death and separation from God in a place of eternal torment the bible calls hell.
You need to understand that Jesus is God and that He died for your sins on a cross to pay your sin debt.
You need to understand that Jesus rose from the dead and that He is Lord of heaven and earth.
You need to put your faith in Jesus Christ to save you from sin and be willing to give testimony to your faith by following the Lord’s command to be baptized in water.
(Jerry Wells is currently the Pastor at Western Hills Church in Oklahoma City. Western Hills Church is located at 401 S.W. 44th in Oklahoma City. You can reach the church and Pastor Jerry by phone by calling 405-634-1454. Pastor Jerry is now married to Saundra Wells. They married in November of 2008. Saundra’s husband John Cobbs died in January of 2007. Pastor Jerry and Saundra have twelve children from their previous marriages to Debbie and John.)
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