Tag: rejoice

Rejoice In Everything

Carl Pollard

Kentucky used to have several species of wolves, but in the 1980’s they were officially labeled extinct. Back in the 70s and early 80s there was a special bounty offered for wolves caught alive. Each live wolf brought into captivity would bring $5,000! 

That turned two men, Sam and Jed, into fortune hunters. They headed for the forest. Day and night they looked for their $5,000 wolf, but they couldn’t find him. It was hopeless. One night, as they camped in a clearing, Sam awoke to find more than 50 wolves surrounding the camp. 

Their eyes were flaming and their teeth were bared. He nudged his friend and said, “Jed, wake up! We’re rich!” That’s a pretty good attitude to have despite the situation. 

A positive attitude will take you far in life. What about the day when attitude won’t carry you through? What about the day when life’s circumstances are simply overwhelming? We tend to lose sight of Who our God is in these times. That’s when we need encouragement the most. Encouragement is “the action of giving someone support, confidence, or hope.”

In the days that we are overcome with troubles, sometimes a good attitude alone isn’t enough. The peace that passes all understanding is one of the most precious forms of encouragement that God has ever given us. It’s the solution for the pursuit of peace. It’s the peace that comes when we avoid impure actions. And it’s the satisfying answer in our chase for contentment, for the ability to truly enjoy life. If your desire is to experience the peace of God that surpasses understanding you must 

Choose Joy (4) 

Before Paul ever wrote his letter to the church at Philippi discussing the idea of unity, he had already been there in person. 

When Paul first visited Philippi, it didn’t take him long to find trouble. He and Silas were arrested, stripped of their clothes in front of a crowd, and brutally beaten. (Acts 16:22) 

When Paul and Silas regained consciousness, they were in the most secure portion of the Philippian jail, surrounded by prisoners. Their wounds were fresh, and the dirt of the prison floor must have added to the torment. With their feet in stocks designed for discomfort, it made for a day when Paul and Silas needed encouragement about as badly as they ever had.

So what is their reaction to a really bad day?

Acts 16:25 says, “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,”

I’ve always found that passage of scripture nearly unbelievable. Two men serving God were singing praise to God, on a day when God was apparently nowhere to be seen. 

Paul had seen God’s power before. 

In fact, a miracle of God was what led to all the trouble. So where was the miracle during the arrest, the humiliation, and the beating? 

Why had God let His missionaries sit in the rot of a prison dungeon all afternoon, and half the night? The bigger question: is, “Why would Paul and Silas sing praise to God under such conditions?”

This is rarely our reaction when we face trials. While they are praising God an earthquake shook the prison, Paul and Silas were freed from their chains, but the prison didn’t collapse upon them. By morning, their wounds were clean, and the gospel was sweeping across the city and the guard of the prison believed and was baptized. There must be a connection between what happened to Paul in Philippi on his first visit, and what he wrote to the church there several years later.

“Rejoice in the Lord always,” Paul wrote 4:4. 

Could they have forgotten Paul the prisoner who sang at midnight? “Don’t be anxious about anything. Instead, pray. And God’s peace will cover your heart.” Choosing joy in the midst of anxiety is faith lived out.

Paul and Silas used an opportunity that most would see as rock bottom to spread the word. Their response to choose joy led to the establishing of the church that Paul is writing to. They aren’t just being told to rejoice always, they saw firsthand two men who were anxious about nothing, and they had God’s peace! If you want this same peace that lets you rejoice in the worst of circumstances, choose prayer instead of worry. Choose to rejoice, because we have the ability to control how we respond. 

God can take you through your hardest moments.

Resolving Conflict

Gary Pollard

Philippians 2.12 says, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” What does Paul mean by this? He just used Jesus as an example of selflessness, positing him as the ultimate authority. He just told them that they needed to put others above self and correct several issues. So this verse is a warning — if they didn’t work out their problems, they would die spiritually. 

Resolving conflict is not just a good idea, it’s unequivocally necessary. Paul wanted Euodia and Syntyche to appreciate how dangerous their feud was for their spiritual health. They were to be so afraid of eternal consequences that they drop everything to fix the issue. 

2.14-16 has even more imperatives — do everything without complaining about it so you’ll be blameless in God’s eyes. That’s the second time he’s said this, the first was in his prayer in chapter 1. In 2.16, Paul reminds them of how much he invested in them and hopes that he hasn’t wasted his time. 

We’re all familiar with Philippians 3.1, “Rejoice in the lord.” This isn’t a generic, feel-good reminder. This is an imperative! They weren’t finding their purpose in God, so Paul had to demand that they make a change. 

Then he uses three more imperatives in a row — keep an eye out for people who try to undermine your faith. This might seem like a typical ADHD tangent for Paul, but this is where he uses himself as an example of sacrifice and selflessness again. 

This is the heart of confrontation: 3.12-16 — “I don’t mean that I’m exactly what God wants me to be. I have not yet reached that goal. But I continue trying to reach it and make it mine. That’s what Christ Jesus wants me to do. It is the reason he made me his. Brothers and sisters, I know that I still have a long way to go. But there is one thing I do: I forget what is in the past and try as hard as I can to reach the goal before me. I keep running hard toward the finish line to get the prize that is mine because God has given me a higher calling through Jesus. All of us who have grown to be spiritually mature should think this way too. And if there is any of this that you don’t agree with, God will make it clear to you. But we should continue following the truth we already have.” 

The worst part about confrontation is that our own faults are at the front of our minds. Who are we to correct someone else’s imperfections when we have plenty of our own? Paul addresses that with this section. We’re never going to be perfect, but that shouldn’t keep us from trying. Our own imperfection also shouldn’t keep us from watching out for the spiritual health of our Christian family! 

Confrontation By Encouragement

Gary Pollard

Philippians is a very misunderstood letter. We often go to it for encouraging passages like “rejoice in the lord always” and “I can do all things through Christ”. We usually think of Philippians as being a book about joy because the word does appear several times. But the letter is much deeper than that. It is extremely encouraging, but maybe not for the reasons we often cite.

There are many similarities between Philippians and II Timothy. Paul takes a similar approach to correction in this letter, but it’s focused on two women: Euodia and Syntyche. In Philippians, though, Paul seems to take a far gentler approach. For example, he starts the letter by addressing it to everyone, not just those two women (1.1) — “to all of you in Philippi who are God’s holy people in Christ Jesus, including your elders and special servants.” 

Confrontation is uncomfortable and uncertain. Philippians is a masterful example of confrontation by encouragement and tact. It’s not political and convictionless, but it’s also not aggressive or rude. Even though the letter is primarily addressed to two people, Paul is very gentle in how he corrects them. 

This teaches us two things — one, correction is necessary. It’s often very unpleasant, but critical for the health of the church. Two, it teaches us to be careful when we correct. We’ll need to choose our words carefully, keep our emotions in check, and be mindful of why we’re correcting. Correction has nothing to do with superiority, it has everything to do with preserving a soul. 

This isn’t unique to Christianity — when a part of our body fails, we get medical care. Sometimes that care is invasive and uncomfortable, but we do it for the health of our bodies. Correction within the church is no different. We don’t seek medical care for fun because it’s nearly always unpleasant. We don’t seek confrontation for fun because it’s nearly always unpleasant. 

The theme of Philippians is simple: others above self. This letter is structured pretty simply — Paul gives several examples of people who put others above self. He talked about his own experiences at the beginning of the letter, then uses the examples of Jesus, Timothy, Epaphroditus, and himself again. It might seem strange to us that Paul used himself as a model to follow twice, but it makes sense when we take a closer look. Since he was the one writing the letter, using himself as an example of selflessness twice essentially communicated, “I’m not asking you to do something I’m not already doing.” 

Fred Baur

Thursday’s Column: Learning From Lehman

bwilsons

Braden Wilson

It was 2008, just 20 days shy of his 90th birthday, when Fred Baur died. On the way to the funeral home, his kids decided to stop at a nearby Walgreens to pick up some salty snacks. They debated for a bit, should it be sour cream and onion, cheddar cheese maybe? Larry and his siblings finally decided on Original. 

You see, Fred adored his kids, but his passion was snacks. His accomplishments included a variety of frying oils and freeze-dried ice cream. 

Fred was an American organic Chemist that had received both his masters and PhD at The Ohio State University, and it was 1966 when P&G came calling. Evidently, in the 1960s, there was a problem with the packaging and shipping of potato chips. By the time the consumer would pick up potato chips at a store, well, they were merely in pieces. This is where P&G thought Fred could help solve this problem. 

After two years of experimentation, Fred developed a chip of dried potato flakes, added a bunch of unpronounceable ingredients, and cut them into thin hyperbolic paraboloids. With this shape, Fred could neatly stack his chips into his vacuum sealed tube. 

By this time, you know that I am referring to Fred’s invention of Pringles, but the story doesn’t end there. Fred still wasn’t done with his invention. 

There were problems:

First and foremost, they tasted like sawdust, so Fred spent another 2 years to improve the taste. Then, another issue. Frito-Lay sent lawyers because they said Fred’s chips weren’t potato chips at all because they were just 42% potato. 

After some time and haggling, they decided to call them potato crisps. 

Fred persevered.

He gave birth to an iconic brand that many of us still enjoy today. Through years of experimentation, development, and disappointments, lawyers-at one point P&G wanted to trash the idea. 

But Fred persevered. 

He was able to see his brand break 100 million in sales. He was able to see it break 500 million in sales. However, he wasn’t there in 2011 when P&G sold Pringles for almost 2.5 Billion Dollars. 

That brings us back to 2008 when Fred’s children showed up to the funeral home with the Original flavored can of pringles. Fred’s wish was to have his ashes be placed in a Pringles can when he passed. 

Fred got his wish.

As great as this story is, we wouldn’t have this story if it wasn’t for Fred’s perseverance. And as great as Fred’s perseverance was, we have so many examples of greater perseverance in the Bible. 

Consider Joshua, Job, Jeremiah, Nehemiah and our greatest example of perseverance, Jesus. These are just a few of the many examples the Bible gives us. 

Two points I want to quickly make about Perseverance, and the lesson is yours. 

Number 1. WE HAVE A NEED FOR PERSEVERANCE.

It’s not a matter of if, but when…Christians Will Face Tribulations in Life. Jesus says in John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” 

Christ never promised us that this life would be a bed of roses. The Gospel never said we’d go to Heaven on “flowery beds of ease.” Rather, we are promised that we shall have hardships and tribulations in this life, especially if we are faithful Children of God.

Only those who persevere receive the reward. Revelation 2:10-11 tells us, “ Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

Number 2. PERSEVERANCE IS DEVELOPED IN TRIBULATION.

Romans 8: 18-28 can be summarized as this: Viewed in faith, tribulation is a friend rather than an enemy. I don’t know a lot of adversity that is necessarily fun, but we can learn from it, and we can grow from it. 

In Deuteronomy 8, the Israelites failed to see the benefits of their trials. 

In Numbers, we see there was an Exodus of over one Million Israelites. 

We later see that only two Persevered and reached the promised land. 

In 1 Corinthians and Hebrews, Paul admonishes us not to imitate the Israelites.

Rather than complain, rejoice in God’s work in your life. 

Difficulties and trials would not normally be considered an occasion for joy but think about James and Paul and how they exhort us to look beyond the immediate pain and discomforts of trials to the lasting effect they have on the character of the Christian. 

It is the development of our character, that should cause us to rejoice in adversity. Always remember who wins in the end. 

We all have mountains to climb and sometimes holes to dig ourselves out of. Perhaps you want to begin to persevere and put on the armor of God through Baptism. There is no better time than now. Perhaps you’ve been baptized, and you’re currently trying so hard to climb the mountain that you’re on and you’ve had setbacks. We would love to help you reach the peak.