A wonderful Counselor

“Wonderful Counselor” is one of the four names here describing the character of Jesus. But because we hear this every Christmas it may have lost some of its meaning. Hebrew, (the original language this verse was written in), actually describes an adviser, guide or counselor that is amazing beyond understanding or description. Today we hope to rediscover the meaning of this verse as we spend time with our “Wonderful Counselor.”

Over the years of being a pastor I have provided counsel to many situations. From personal to professional there is one common factor involved in a person getting better. Will that person listen and act on the counsel given them? You and I can be given the most accurate information possible but if we don’t act on it, that information is useless. The doctor tells you to stop eating doughnuts and instead each cheerios for breakfast is giving you great information, but come the next morning what makes the difference is what that person chooses to put in their mouth.

Jesus is our counselor for life and has equipped us with the Holy Spirit in order to live wisely.

• Read the following verses: John 14:16-20; John 16: 7-15

When Jesus left the earth, He sent his Spirit (a.k.a. The Holy Spirit) to continue as our Wonderful Counselor. So how do we receive this guidance, this advice, this counsel? God speaks to us different ways but most can be grouped into these 4 categories.

• The Bible

• Through our experiences

• Through others

• Through a still small voice ( 1 Kings 19:11-13)

These different way God speaks provides us many opportunities to get it right with what He desires for our lives. It’s wonderful to think that God cares for us so much that He finds different ways to communicate with us His life giving messages..

• Read these verses: Matthew 18:20; Luke 5:31-32; Isa 61:1

So He promises He will be with us and in that He will set us free. And this is really what it comes down to if we are ever going to find God’s life here on earth as He calls it a more “Abundant life” we need to listen to His counsel and do what He says we are to do. Take a few moments today and pray these life changing questions.

-Jesus, what one thing do you wish to change in me today? (Depression, hopelessness,

stress, materialism, financial issues, family tension, anger, loneliness, addiction,

your marriage, relationships, intimacy, fear, etc.)

-Jesus, What is keeping me from changing? (Be open to whatever He says)

-Jesus, what one thing can I do today to begin changing?

The Life of Church

What is the life of the church? In other words what is the very basic element that makes the Church an actual church? Is it the ministries we engage in on a weekly basis, such as LIFE groups, Sunday activities, or administration? Is it the name, the logo, the marketing? Is it the people that lead such as the pastors or elders? Is it those that attend services, activities and give money and call it tithing?

Well, I am certain you have a great answer to that question as do I, but is our personal opinions really what makes the church the church? For the past few years I have noticed that we seem to be becoming anything but the church. A coffee house, a concert, a children’s consortium, all things that typically come from preconceived notions of what we bring with us in church experience and or our conclusions as to what will be interesting to those around us and those are just the new things, lets not bring up the traditions we carry into church each week!

So to answer the question from my viewpoint I think the life if the church is actually what is not in the church to begin with. I believe the life blood of any church is the person(s) that are not attending. What I mean is that those that don’t know Jesus personally or maybe they do and have given up on experiencing who He really is in the context of other people. We call them unbelievers, the lost, seekers, visitors, new comers. You can name them whatever you wish, but bottom line is they are the life blood of a church.

When they come through the doors, people change. When they come to know Jesus for the first time, the atmosphere becomes electric. When they step into baptism and publicly commit their lives to Jesus those around them are ecstatic. I have seen one unbeliever light up a room of dead Christians faster than that “twinkling of an eye” thing.

Don’t believe me, put just one unbeliever in the middle of a bunch of believers and see what happens. Right or wrong, positive or negative there is energy in the room, there is vigor in the church when unbelievers show up!

So if I am right that those we tend to not care about are the answer to our own mission of existence then why are we not busy connecting, reaching and sharing with them? Why are we so tied up in our own lives? Maybe it’s because we never thought about church this way. Maybe it’s because we never realized that it is consumerism that keeps us from Christ. That sucks the life out of our churches while confusing us with personal growth.

Maybe it’s due to fear. Fear that we will lose what we so desperately love! What we love about church, or the American dream church is keeping a standard of “meism” that drives consumerism to higher points each week. Often it is that dream of our comfortable church life that it keeps us from connecting with those that will help us find our true lives in Jesus. Jesus told us in a hard bit of words that He has come to draw a line in those areas, that “…Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. ³⁸ Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Matthew 10:37-38)”

Difficult words to read and even more difficult to experience. See I realize that when I ask God for a vision for my life and truly want His vision then it will be followed up with a mission that I and ONLY I can fulfill through obedience to Him. On that path I have to learn what Jesus states six chapters later.

“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. (Matthew 16:25)”

What are you placing in your life or in your “idea” of church is so important that it’s actually killing you?

Our Mission

The other day my son and nephew where doing science experiments in the kitchen (to my wife’s chagrin) and they put milk in a plate and dropped food coloring in randomly. The fun part came when they dropped liquid soap in the plate. The colors scattered all around like a color wheel instantly. (Do try this at home it was so cool)

It’s funny how I have noticed this same scatter reaction in church, when believers are mixed with unbelievers. When the sacred meets the sinful, the reaction is often sadly priceless. The typical reaction is that they first need to be like us in order to sense they are welcome among us. Sure we might tolerate them for some time, but we personally feel they need to be “saved” in order to “stay”. There is often an unwritten code that governs the way people treat unbelievers in most churches across America. I call it the “B” code, here it is in order:

Behave (standards a placed from men’s ideas of holiness, we try to make them like us)

Believe (sin is mis-defined and a person often accepts religion not really Jesus)

Belong (staying in the group is based on how well you can believe and behave)

In order truly belong you first need to clean up your act. We place such a high commodity on the external that we often miss the mark. (1 Samuel 16:7 “The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”) We want people to behave according to our traditional standards of human Christian existence and place that as the entrance exam to knowing Jesus.

Now once we get them to clean the outside of their lives, we offer the chance to become a believer. Jesus had a few words on how people of religion treat those that seek to belong this way. (Matthew 23:24-26) “You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. “Woe to you, Christians of America and religious folk, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Believer! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.”

Then finally a properly behaved person that believes can then truly belong on our group (or so we think). What we don’t realize is that we messed the whole process up and it’s often because we ourselves are not really connecting with Jesus. See our problem is that we actually don’t enter the kingdom of heaven and gain the heart of the Father. (Matthew 23:13) “Woe to you, Christians of America and religious folk, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.”

Let me just say that this is messed up! First off it’s obvious that is not how Jesus wants us to embark on His mission to share His love with the world. As a matter of fact we need to flip those three “B’s” to get it right. It should be like this:

Belong (accepted no matter what a person has done or looks like or acts like)

Believe (able to see the true love of Jesus, accepts Him for who He really is)

Behave (actions are adjusted in moments of instant miracles as well as day by day)

Let us commit to share and open our arms to those that are like us and not like us. Let’s commit to letting people sense the heart of the Father through the atmosphere of belonging even though they don’t behave the way we would want.

Given enough time any person will soften to Jesus if they are accepted by men. Rejected by men the chances are they will never come to see who Jesus really is. Believing occurs when a person knows they have a place to belong. And of course if you truly become a believer then a person’s behavior will change as the Kingdom of God comes in greater measure into their lives. When spiritual, emotional and physical needs are met first, then the Kingdom of God will land deep in a person’s heart.

(Luke 10:8-9) ““When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’”

(PS I changed a few words in the Matthew texts and bolded them to update it for us so we won’t think it’s spoken to someone else, thanks for the liberty)