I sit here at my kitchen table with an open laptop and a smart phone. I have done much work already this morning. I find these tools helpful for productivity and connectivity. Also sitting at this table is my 18 year old son and a 20 year old semester missionary who both have the same posture, an open laptop and smart phones. We are connected in many ways: social media, internet browsing, online education, phone calls, text messages and the occasional funny video or picture. Totally engaged and totally "CONNECTED". I wonder about this sometimes... we seem so "connected" yet DISCONNECTED. Disconnected from each other and others in a personal way. True "face time" seems to get lost in the midst of digital face time. Look around you... at restaurants, standing in line somewhere, even at movie theaters people seem to have glowing faces from the gadgets they hold in their hands all the while waiting to watch a bigger screen. We seem to be a society that does not know what to do with ourselves if we do not have the "comfort" of being conveniently distracted. Watch out! You may actually have to make conversation with someone if your eye contact lasts longer than 2 seconds. If you have ever observed a group of teenagers, you will see my point. They text each other in the same room. Some of the parents are just as bad. I have found myself having to be more intentional in protecting meal time at the table and lingering after the meal to have real connections and conversations with my family. I am thankful that these times are still filled with laughter and great conversations. I find myself wanting this life-giving time more and more. It is like we have a deficiency and our bodies crave this personal connection. But we protect ourselves and only seem to let our guard down when we have a "safe zone" provided. Recently, Chic-fil-A has awarded customers with a tasty ice cream if they put their phones in a basket and not answer it while they eat their meal. They seem to be trying to help bring people back together for real time interaction. I certainly hope that our society is not becoming a bunch of "Zoned-Out Zombies" who are socially awkward and disconnected.
On another note, I am encouraged to know the great resources this digital world has provided for the advancement of the Gospel and the connection with our faith families all over the world. I have posted pictures on Facebook and within minutes I had hundreds of "likes"from all over the world! We are able to share in the life experiences of many missionaries and ministers in many different places. This connectivity is amazing and encouraging. A prayer network is created in an instant through social media. Our prayer need for my youngest daughter who had some health struggles right after birth went over 10,000 likes and hundreds of shares. People that we did not even know spoke kind words and prayers for us and our precious Lydia Joy during a very uncertain time. Wow! What a resource! I am encouraged daily by other friends who post great articles, devotionals, and pictures. I discover links to incredible Bible tools and helps through social connections of the digital kind. I have become a better pastor and missionary as a result of having these disciple-making tools at my fingers. They are always available, portable, and most are free! What a day to learn and teach others! Online Bible college and seminary, Bible apps, Bible software with thousands of books at a click, and friends on social media who love and follow Jesus. I have access to over 10,000 video bible studies in an online library formatted for disciple-making. (www.rightnow.org/media) We have no excuse for not growing in the wisdom of the Word and making more disciples who will make more disciples. This is the mission of the church. Digital disciple-making is here so let's use it to the glory of God!
But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.
(Luke 12:48 ESV)
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
(1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV)
Monday, May 9, 2016
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Working Like A Boss: A Red Cup of Joe
Working Like A Boss: A Red Cup of Joe: This red cup controversy has me hard pressed and brewing with great disappointment. The plain red cup has a purpose, to hold hot liquid for ...
A Red Cup of Joe
This red cup controversy has me hard pressed and brewing with great disappointment. The plain red cup has a purpose, to hold hot liquid for consumption. It is not to be a soap box for you to spout off your mouth for sound bites. I wish that followers of Jesus everywhere would filter their words with biblical conviction and accuracy. The social media platform has become a place where bullies can pour out their cups of venom on everyone. They seem to have a course ground batch of selfishness in a hot cup of bitterness sleeved in a jacket of arrogance. Please people, if you actually sat down with others over a cup of Joe, you would not be so bold. This kind of bullying has to stop. Your fingers and thumbs are not strong enough to back you up when confronted in reality. Instead of stirring up trouble and serving steaming cups of sarcasm let's thirst for respect and start sipping sweet friendship with real face time. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are not a replacement or an upgrade for your real life relationships. They can be great tools used for bringing us together more often and for better expressions of gratitude and love. Let us not forsake getting together. The power of presence changes people. God has made you to desire the real life contact with others. No one truly likes loneliness. Stop roasting your beans with the burning of anger and unforgiveness. God is your creator and He knows you and loves you. You are His creation and He has more purpose for you than the red cup. He has designed you for His glory. You are to be filled with His Spirit and poured out to serve Him. Your identity and value comes from Him not you or others. So lets brew some great coffee and stir up each other toward godliness.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:23-25 ESV)
But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. (1 Peter 3:14-17 ESV)
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. (Galatians 5:13-15 ESV)
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:18-21 ESV)
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:23-25 ESV)
But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. (1 Peter 3:14-17 ESV)
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. (Galatians 5:13-15 ESV)
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:18-21 ESV)
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Banning Words Part 1
Banning Words...
This week in the news there has been discussion about banning the word "bossy", because girls are called this when they are assertive, thus making them look bad rather than striving for success. Well, any one of us in my family would be "Bossy" because that is our name! lol :) I was thinking... can we just ban words and make them no longer exist? Because there are some words that I would like to add to the list! How about "hashtag"; it is a word that is the equivalent to scratching a chalkboard when spoken. We must lose this word much like when people finally stopped saying "www." when giving a website. It is now just assumed or understood. Or how about words that are mash-ups? I do not like them either, like "framily" by Sprint to describe friends and family. Yes, lets ban them, ban them all. All those in favor, say aye! So why make a big deal out of nothing? Well, it is not nothing; they are words and words matter. If someone called you a blankety blank then you would know how much words can hurt and destroy. The children's rhyme song about words can never hurt me.... yeah... that's not true. Words do hurt, sometimes more than physical.
Why not just ban all the bad words? The four-letter words of cussing and the rest of the ugly and lacking of intelligence words. Cussing is just the language of those who lack intelligence and self-control. It is the talk of those with very limited vocabularies or creativity. People can certainly understand if we "ban them". When men are at work or sport they spout off these ugly words to prove their testosterone still flows through their veins. Hey guys, actions speak louder than words! If you're a man's man then prove it by living a life of self-control and discipline. The next generation is watching and listening. The course of one's life can be set and navigated by words. James 3:4-5 says, "Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things." So let me ask you, what kind of direction are you setting for your listeners with the words you choose? James 3:6-10 says, "And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so."
We must think before we speak and proceed with great caution in choosing the words we say. We need to say what we mean and mean what we say because the fires of hell set ablaze the tongues of those who have loose lips and many words. James 1:19 says, "Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteous of God." Proverbs 12:6 says, "The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the mouth of the upright delivers them." So let us ban words that destroy and speak words of life. Let us have a drive and determination that honors the God who gave us breath with the words we breathe.
Pastor John Boss
This week in the news there has been discussion about banning the word "bossy", because girls are called this when they are assertive, thus making them look bad rather than striving for success. Well, any one of us in my family would be "Bossy" because that is our name! lol :) I was thinking... can we just ban words and make them no longer exist? Because there are some words that I would like to add to the list! How about "hashtag"; it is a word that is the equivalent to scratching a chalkboard when spoken. We must lose this word much like when people finally stopped saying "www." when giving a website. It is now just assumed or understood. Or how about words that are mash-ups? I do not like them either, like "framily" by Sprint to describe friends and family. Yes, lets ban them, ban them all. All those in favor, say aye! So why make a big deal out of nothing? Well, it is not nothing; they are words and words matter. If someone called you a blankety blank then you would know how much words can hurt and destroy. The children's rhyme song about words can never hurt me.... yeah... that's not true. Words do hurt, sometimes more than physical.
Why not just ban all the bad words? The four-letter words of cussing and the rest of the ugly and lacking of intelligence words. Cussing is just the language of those who lack intelligence and self-control. It is the talk of those with very limited vocabularies or creativity. People can certainly understand if we "ban them". When men are at work or sport they spout off these ugly words to prove their testosterone still flows through their veins. Hey guys, actions speak louder than words! If you're a man's man then prove it by living a life of self-control and discipline. The next generation is watching and listening. The course of one's life can be set and navigated by words. James 3:4-5 says, "Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things." So let me ask you, what kind of direction are you setting for your listeners with the words you choose? James 3:6-10 says, "And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so."
We must think before we speak and proceed with great caution in choosing the words we say. We need to say what we mean and mean what we say because the fires of hell set ablaze the tongues of those who have loose lips and many words. James 1:19 says, "Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteous of God." Proverbs 12:6 says, "The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the mouth of the upright delivers them." So let us ban words that destroy and speak words of life. Let us have a drive and determination that honors the God who gave us breath with the words we breathe.
Pastor John Boss
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Mardi Gras A Religious Holiday?
Tonight I sit contemplating my thoughts on Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday if your French is rusty. I grew up in Southeast Louisiana from the age of 9 when my family moved from the windy city of Chicago to Grand Isle, Louisiana. I know that makes me a Yankee by birth, but I am indeed an Island boy reared in the Cajun Bahamas of Grand Isle, Louisiana. Grand Isle is home for the Boss Family where we are missionaries on mission to connect the Island and Bayou communities to the Cross of Jesus. Sharing the Gospel of Jesus is what we do and we work hard doing it all for God's glory. Mardi Gras has been in my life since I was a boy, but I have been thinking.... this is to be a religious holiday... so much so that the schools let out for days and offices and businesses shut down to observe the celebration of this last big bash before Ash Wednesday where humility and repentance with fasting is expected. Tomorrow many people will walk around unashamed of the ashes on their foreheads and wear them as a badge of humility and submission. But to whom are they submissive to? Jesus? or Religious Observance?
Jesus says in Luke 9:23, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." You see, Jesus gave an invitation that demands total surrender on a daily basis. The idea behind Mardi Gras is to get all your wild living out right before the 40 day observance of Lent, a time of fasting and sacrifice before holy week and Resurrection Sunday. The police will clear the streets at midnight. The music and dancing will cease, the beads and trinkets will be laid down, and the people are expected to become serious about Jesus and self sacrifice. So why not live surrendered lives everyday for Jesus? Well that would not be religious, that would be radical! Yes! That is why Jesus demands our all everyday, not just when the calendar of religious traditions tell us. It seems to me that the traditional celebration of Mardi Gras is not about repentance to Jesus but rather an exalting of ones self and sin with the bonus of "feeling cleansed" with the religious observance of Lent.
What if we treated everyday with total surrender to Jesus rather than total surrender to self? This is the real struggle of everyone who claims to be a follower of Jesus. Now I do realize that the large portion of party animals are not true followers of Jesus and may not care about the religious side of Mardi Gras. But why do so many professing Christians sink so low to participate in the self worship and sinful activities of Mardi Gras? I am not going so far to say that just going to a parade is sinful. My family has been to parades and we observe, pray, witness, and have good fellowship with others. It really reveals much about the mission field we serve. We have seen much drunkenness, materialism, selfishness, sexually immoral behavior, and silliness and all this is promoted by a music and message that says, "Eat, drink, and be merry!". And boy, do they ever! So does it really all go away with the waving of a hand in the sign of the cross and some ashes on the head? I think not! The sinful ways of man always fall short of God's glory. (Romans 3:23)
We must live everyday in keeping with repentance (Luke 3:8). What if.... we loved Jesus more than self and sin? What if we had all the creativity, diversity, enthusiasm, and pageantry for Jesus as we do for the parades of the Mardi Gras season? Think about it.... money would be no object to fund the mission of the Gospel. If the service does not start on time or end on time the people would not complain but anticipate what is coming. What if we had people come to church rain or shine, hot or cold, and multiple times a week and even multiple times each day? I saw people brave temps in the 30's with pouring rain to celebrate self and sin today. They went to multiple parades in one day and have adjusted their life schedules to make as many as possible during the multiple weeks of celebration. Could you imagine God's people willing to do the same for His glory? What could we do with dedication and surrender like that? I long for the day when the leaders of God's church hear from the masses, "Throw me something Mister!" Then the church leaders would keep on teaching and preaching the Word of God to them throwing it as seed broadcast on good soil! I pray to the Lord of the harvest to send forth these kind of workers.
Today's date commands us to March 4th! Do not give up! Press onward and upward in Christ Jesus! (Philippians 3:14) - Pastor John Boss
Jesus says in Luke 9:23, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." You see, Jesus gave an invitation that demands total surrender on a daily basis. The idea behind Mardi Gras is to get all your wild living out right before the 40 day observance of Lent, a time of fasting and sacrifice before holy week and Resurrection Sunday. The police will clear the streets at midnight. The music and dancing will cease, the beads and trinkets will be laid down, and the people are expected to become serious about Jesus and self sacrifice. So why not live surrendered lives everyday for Jesus? Well that would not be religious, that would be radical! Yes! That is why Jesus demands our all everyday, not just when the calendar of religious traditions tell us. It seems to me that the traditional celebration of Mardi Gras is not about repentance to Jesus but rather an exalting of ones self and sin with the bonus of "feeling cleansed" with the religious observance of Lent.
What if we treated everyday with total surrender to Jesus rather than total surrender to self? This is the real struggle of everyone who claims to be a follower of Jesus. Now I do realize that the large portion of party animals are not true followers of Jesus and may not care about the religious side of Mardi Gras. But why do so many professing Christians sink so low to participate in the self worship and sinful activities of Mardi Gras? I am not going so far to say that just going to a parade is sinful. My family has been to parades and we observe, pray, witness, and have good fellowship with others. It really reveals much about the mission field we serve. We have seen much drunkenness, materialism, selfishness, sexually immoral behavior, and silliness and all this is promoted by a music and message that says, "Eat, drink, and be merry!". And boy, do they ever! So does it really all go away with the waving of a hand in the sign of the cross and some ashes on the head? I think not! The sinful ways of man always fall short of God's glory. (Romans 3:23)
We must live everyday in keeping with repentance (Luke 3:8). What if.... we loved Jesus more than self and sin? What if we had all the creativity, diversity, enthusiasm, and pageantry for Jesus as we do for the parades of the Mardi Gras season? Think about it.... money would be no object to fund the mission of the Gospel. If the service does not start on time or end on time the people would not complain but anticipate what is coming. What if we had people come to church rain or shine, hot or cold, and multiple times a week and even multiple times each day? I saw people brave temps in the 30's with pouring rain to celebrate self and sin today. They went to multiple parades in one day and have adjusted their life schedules to make as many as possible during the multiple weeks of celebration. Could you imagine God's people willing to do the same for His glory? What could we do with dedication and surrender like that? I long for the day when the leaders of God's church hear from the masses, "Throw me something Mister!" Then the church leaders would keep on teaching and preaching the Word of God to them throwing it as seed broadcast on good soil! I pray to the Lord of the harvest to send forth these kind of workers.
Today's date commands us to March 4th! Do not give up! Press onward and upward in Christ Jesus! (Philippians 3:14) - Pastor John Boss
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