Ridgell's Originals

So our Jamie -- Joe Don's wife -- turns 42 tomorrow.  She really is our daughter even if it is by marriage.  So here are a few reasons I love her and am so proud of her.

Jamie treats us like her parents.  Calls often.  Keeps us in the loop. 

She is really hospitable.  Their house is always open.  Kids and their friends.  Family.  Small group.  People from church.  Missionaries.

She does real ministry.  Encourages young wives and Moms.  Serves as a great example.

Keeps the house centered and functional. 

Loves my son.  Works really hard on their relationship.

Loves my grands.  All three of her kids are incredibly different but she manages to mother them all in amazing and incredible ways.

She passionately loves the Lord.  Studies.  Prays.  Teaches.  Does ministry. 

Joe Don did well when he picked Jamie.

And I am eternally grateful she said yes.

God, thanks for Jamie.  For the way you loves you and loves others.  Give her health and strength for her family and the way she pours into others.  In the name of Jesus.  Amen

I have a very clear identity as a Christian.  My identity is Christ follower.  So as a believer, there are things that become core to my lifestyle.  They become who I am.  I think it is very clear what our identity is -- to be a disciple who walks in the steps of my Master.  Do what Jesus did.  Treat people the way Jesus did.  Talk the way he talked.

Living out my identity is summed up in two things:  Love God.  Love others.  These are the two greatest commands.  These are the filters for all my life decisions. 

But who I am is not the same as my mission as a Christian. 

My mission in this world is to make more followers of Jesus. 

But I try to never confuse my identity and my mission.

If I see my identity as my mission, then it is very easy to make the Christian life a series of do's and don'ts.  You stress the outward acts because your mission is to be like Jesus.  It then becomes so easy to forget the reason for the actions.  If how you live becomes mission instead of identity, it can result in a legalistic, superficial Christianity.  Do it enough and you become like the Ephesus church Jesus wrote to in Revelation.  They were commended for their hard work and good deeds, but they had forgotten their first love.  Making identity into mission.  Do good because that is what you are supposed to do.  Not because that is who you are.

Live forgiven.  Serve others.  Do good.  Because that is who you are.  Because you love God and others.

But don't make your mission your identity.

When you start making disciples your identity, you can easily begin to count numbers.  How many baptisms?  Making the results the core of whether you are pleasing God.  Bigger buildings, more programs, more staff because our mission has become our identity. 

So be who God intended you to be.  Love him and love the people in your world.  But do not get off mission.  We must tell our world the good news about Jesus.  But also remember that mission grows out of identity. 

Focused on Jesus life.  On point in mission to offer life to others. 

Christians are not always popular or well liked in culture.  We feel strongly about living the Jesus way and that puts at odds with our surroundings.  Always has.  Always will.  We are accused of being unloving, judgmental, hateful, and hypocritical. 

But to all the non-believers in our communities, you want -- you need -- Christians in your neighborhood.  And here are a few reasons why.

We are going to love our neighbors.  We want to share Jesus.  We believe that there is a lifestyle that Jesus expects.  We are not perfect.  But the second greatest command in our faith is to love our neighbors just as we do ourselves. 

So even if you are not a Christian, we are there for you. 

Sick?  We're the ones mowing your yard, bringing over a meal, taking you to the hospital. 

Out of work?  We will buy groceries, help with the bills, even get you a job if we can.

Down on your luck?  We will loan you our car, share our clothes, and treat you with respect.

We'll help watch your kids.  Need a place to stay while your house is being fixed after the storm?  We will let you have a room.

You may not believe it helps, but we will pray for you.  And expect God to answer.

We are the home in your neighborhood that does not think your worth is based on race or economic status.

You may not agree with our convictions on many issues, but we will be there. 

So next time you are in trouble, here is my advice...

When we show up, let us help.  If we do not get there first, ask us.  We will respond.

Just know we will do this because of the one we follow.  We will give God the credit.  And we will not be shy about sharing our faith.

Even if you don't listen.  And we will still help even if you don't believe.

Because Jesus matters.  So do you.

I hope someday you will join us.

So I have been thinking quite a bit about what it means to be led by the Holy Spirit.  I know the Holy Spirit lives in each of us as believers.  And I believe he also lives in the body of believers.  Acts 2, Ephesians 1 and 2, I Corinthians 6.  I still absolutely believe the Spirit is active in the church and in my life. 

But I have been working on figuring out exactly how I know when I personally, or when the church, is being led by the Spirit.  I have people refer to decisions confidently as being led by the Spirit. I know you can blaspheme the Spirit, grieve the Holy Spirit, and even oppose the Holy Spirit. 

And I really appreciate Jesus talking in John 4 about not seeing the Spirit but seeing the evidence of where it is.  I know that I John 4 talks about testing the spirits to see if they are of God or the antichrist.

So here are my two conclusions for right now about how to know if I am being led by the Spirit.  And how to evaluate whether a church is being led by the Spirit.

I am convicted that the Holy Spirit will never lead anyone to do or believe something not in harmony with the Bible.  Certainly not in contradiction to the Bible.  I am not a "Word only" believer concerning the Holy Spirit.  After all, if the Spirit only operates thru the Bible, then the whole living in us would seem a little redundant.  And the Bible itself says a lot about the Spirit working in our lives, so...  But I do believe the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit and I don't think he would ever lead me to do something contrary to what he inspired as true.  So when trying to discern what the Spirit is leading me to do, I check with Bible teaching.  If the Bible is the story of God and his relationship with us, I don't think the Spirit would make me the exception to the story.

Here is just one example.  When deciding if the Holy Spirit is leading you to talk to your neighbor about Jesus, ask yourself:  is this in harmony with Scripture?  Sharing our faith is pretty core to the story, so.  And Phillip and the Ethiopian would sure agree. 

I also know there is evidence of where the Spirit is operating.  You can tell where he has been.  He leaves behind fruit.  Where the Spirit is you will find love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Galatians 5.  And by extension, if these things are absent, then the Holy Spirit is not there.

I think that is a real quick test to see if your home is filled with the Holy Spirit.  Or your church.  Or you life.  And also a real quick way for others to know. 

So for right now, here are my two ways to test the spirits.

Is this in harmony with Scripture?

What kind of fruit does it produce?

So God thanks for giving me the Holy Spirit.  I want to be more holy.  I want to be open to your Spirit.  I want more fruit to show in my life.  And in your church. So make it clear to me.  I ask in the name of Jesus. 

So the Houston Astros won a World Series the year they cheated.  They were not the only team that cheated, and they may have been good enough to win without cheating.  So if I am an Astro fan then everyone is making way more out of this than they should.  If I am a fan of most other teams, we got cheated.

So I listened to the Astros owner, Jim Crane, make a statement.  He basically said it was the manager and general manager who were at fault and they have been fired.  He really didn't know anything so should not be held accountable.  They won because none of the cheating really affected the game anyhow.  And so forth and so on.

I listened to a baseball team owner basically take no responsibility for the cheating done. 

So it made me think about sin, repentance, and confession.

"It may have been wrong, but it really wasn't my fault." 

"It was the fault of someone else."

"Everyone else is doing it."

"It is not as bad as everyone is making it out to be."

God is a God of grace, mercy, and forgiveness.  If we confess our sins, he will forgive them.  He will restore us.

But confessions and repentance must be genuine.

So here are the four things I think God wants to hear from us when we sin.

I did it.

It was wrong.

I am sorry.

I am going to take action to see that I do not do this again.

There it is.  No excuses.  No blaming someone else.  No acting as if it is no big deal.

So in the long run, a baseball cheating scandal really does not matter.  They Astros will never be accorded the respect they seek for winning a World Series.  But I doubt anyone cares 1000 years from now. 

But sin does matter.  And I want God to know my heart.  Confession and repentance.

I did it.

It was wrong.

I am sorry.

I am being active to see that I change.

I believe the Bible is the word of God and inspired by the Holy Spirit.  So I believe it to be true.

I do not believe the Bible is God so I do not worship Scripture.  I love it, I read it, I study it, but I do not worship it.

God will not contradict himself so God's will and God's word are in harmony. 

The Holy Spirit will not lead you to something that is contrary to the Scripture he inspired. 

Following Jesus will never put you at odds with the Bible.

Some things in the Bible are hard to understand.  Peter said that about Paul's writings so I assume I don't have to figure it all out.

Some people will twist Scripture because they are unstable and ignorant.  Read the end of II Peter.

Twisting Scripture to fit your own desires can result in your destruction.

I think it is really easy to claim the Bible means things it doesn't say.

And easy to claim the Bible does not mean what it does say.

That is a dangerous thing to do.  Read the end of Revelation.

I believe you can understand the Bible.  You can read it and know God's will. 

If your church or a preacher says things not in line with Scripture, trust the Bible.  So I trust the Bible over any church or preacher.  Including this preacher.   

Use the Bible.  It will help correct you, even rebuke you.  It will teach you what you need to live a righteous life.

Scripture will always be a guide to help you know what God wants for you.

Always.

Some weeks are just harder than others. 

He was in his late 40's when he died.  Incredibly gifted.  Loved God and people.  Fought his demons.  Sometimes they won.  But he wouldn't quit.  Not on Jesus.  And he is home.

It was a youthful mistake.  Wrong.  Sin.  But she got caught and there were some legal consequences.  She loves God and wants to serve him.  It's hard sometimes. Especially when you are honest about things with people who are not trying to help you.  Now facing worse consequences.  Still determined to live the way God wants but life looks bleak now. 

Teenagers have a hard time figuring out life and Jesus.  It is harder for some than others.  And sometimes they die.  His family is heartbroken.  Asking hard questions for which there are no easy answers.

He was away from the Lord for a long time.  But he came home.  Tackled his demons and pushed them out of his life.  Sober, working hard on his marriage, active in church.  And having to deal with the consequences of things done before he returned to the Lord.  Determined to figure out how to honor God.  Determined to remain faithful.  And ashamed, guilty, and devastated by things that happened not that long ago but a long way from the life he now lives.

I hadn't seen him in 40 years but I knew him when he was a teenager.  Christian, really good at his career.  And battled his addiction demons.  Sometimes he won, could hardly stand it when he lost.  Made it hard to figure out what his purpose in life really was.  Hard to see the mountains when he slid into the valleys. And he is dead at 60.

I knew all of these in some way.  Deeply involved with some of them.  I don't know that I have answers or wisdom, but here are some things I am thinking about...

Jesus is the only answer.  For all of us.  We have got to help each other focus on loving God with all we have. 

We have to love each other and hang on to each other.

Life is hard and we need to be cultivate an environment in our faith community where it is OK to ask for help. 

We have to share our stories of sin forgiven, of restoration.  Living grace.  Wounds that are now only scars.  Healing. 

Christians can really put on a mask.  I don't mean hypocrites.  I mean hiding the pain, the struggle, and the need for help.

Real community.  Messy church.  Maybe more crying, confessing, and holding on to each other.

Lots more prayer.  More listening to God's word.  Real fellowship.  Tough love, but maybe tough LOVE, not TOUGH love.

This world is not -- and never will be -- our home. 

I don't know.  I just hurt for those who are fighting battles.

So I am going to ask how people are doing.  Pray more.  Ask what I can do.  Be with people.  Model grace and restoration. 

And pray every day for the Lord to come back.