The Gifts of Christmas

Jesus didn't just give His life as a ransom for many, but He also left behind gifts for His followers. This Christmas, consider how Jesus provides us with not only the gift of salvation, but life everlasting.

For believers, we have the gift of salvation. This is the gift of the Cross. This is the main gift given by Jesus to His followers. This is the gift of life only found through the Savior. The only other option available is death. As a Christ follower, we must keep the cross our central focus.

When we examine the other benefits or I'll call them gifts, we realize how much greater the sacrifice was to bring man back into fellowship with God. There isn't enough weight given to just say they are other gifts because they are ONLY found within THE GIFT of Christ. In some ways, you could say it's the gift that does keep on giving. So let's examine the Gifts of Christmas

Some of these other gifts of Christmas are found in the Holy Spirit. When Jesus ascends, He said He wouldn't leave us or forsake us (a gift). This is the Holy Spirit. By reading John 14, we can get lost in the abundance He bestows on those who love Him. To review them, let's begin with verse six, then work our way through the entire passage:

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6

So in which ways do we experience these gifts (blessings)? The passage in John 14 includes the following:

1. A Place: I go to prepare a place for you. (John 14:2)
2. He Will Return for us: I will come again and receive you to Myself (John 14:3, 18)
3. Know the Father: ...and from now on you know Him and have seen Him (John 14:7)
4. Greater Works: the works that I do he will do also (John 14:12)
5. Answered Prayers: If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. (John 14:14)
6. Receive a Helper: that He (the Helper, the Holy Spirit) may abide with you forever (John 14:17)
7. Take up Residence within: We will come to him and make Our home with him (John 14:23)
8. He will Teach us All things: He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. (John 14:26)
9. Gift of Peace: Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you (John 14:27)

Jesus provides us with confidence and assurance. He provides His followers with Peace.

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27

So while we spend time wrapping gifts to give to others, the best gift we can share with another is the gift of love. That is found in sharing THE GIFT with another: Jesus.

If you haven't received the free gift from Jesus, let today be that day for you. How can you receive Jesus and His gift?

Jesus gave this gift to those who follow Him. He didn't attribute salvation and the gift by name only ("I am a Christian") but towards one who follows (we call them a Disciple). We call ourselves followers because it's not just receiving, but also putting your faith into practice. It's a process that's confirmed both verbally (mouth) and through receiving Him in your heart (which only God can judge). Read more about What is the difference between a Christian and a disciple?

For now, you must simply respond to Jesus:
...that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Romans 10:9-10

Simply pray: 
Jesus, I believe you came, you died and rose again for me. I thank you for the cross and ask you would come now to take residence within me. Give me faith to not only believe you at Your Word but to follow You. Teach me Holy Spirit your ways. And lead me toward life eternal. Amen.

Now that you have received the gift, congratulations, you just received the ONLY, one, true and holy gift given from above: Jesus. Spend time with Jesus. Cherish Jesus. Grow with Jesus and share your gift with others. It's free and accessible to everyone who will call on His name.

Blessings and Merry Christmas,
Dave

Contend for Your Faith or Defend Your Church

Sola Scriptura
2 Timothy 3:16

Sola Scriptura

Recently my wife had a heated dialog on Facebook with a few reformed believers in the faith. First, we are Christians (followers of Christ). Our church, which we attend, love and serve, is affiliated with the Assemblies of God churches yet it would appear to many as a non denominational church. We believe in the Word of God (Sola Scriptura  - "by Scripture alone"). We believe in the Holy Spirit and that He is alive, active and at work today. Yes, gifts are for today, in order, of course.

So when a question about Fog machines (haze) used during a worship service quickly took a crazy turn to worship styles and church affiliation, the dialog got interesting. What happened next was eye opening. The lines were drawn and you were either reformed or not. The moment I heard Michelle read me the response, I quickly realized this wasn't going anywhere productive. Why? Because once our identity in Christ is no longer to Christ but a denomination or the loosely thrown around term - theology - you create new battle lines that are outside the true map of reason. It becomes very fruitless in a majority of occasions (from personal experience).

It's simple: Christian in fighting is not our mission. The Great Commission is the mission of the Church:

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Matthew 28:18-20

Contend for Your Faith
or Defend Your Church

While some consider taking sides and defending the faith as to what Jude shares (Jude 1:3-4) he talks about contending for our faith only when certain men creep in who turn grace of our God into lewdness & deny Jesus. This isn't the case for the Reformed, Baptist, Pentecostal, etc... because regardless of affiliation, you should and must contend for our faith with Jesus. Notice it DOESN'T say to DEFEND YOUR CHURCH AFFILIATION. Rather we must CONTEND FOR OUR FAITH in Jesus.

There may be professing Christians but they must confess Jesus to contend. The Greek word for contend comes from an athletic setting - as in a wrestling mat. Yet does this mean in church fighting? Look a little deeper and you will find it's wrestling with lewd and Christ deniers. Not followers. It's a big distinction.

It begins and ends with Jesus. Our church affiliation feeds into the old rhetoric Paul shared with us from the Corinthian church (1 Corinthians 1:12) where it appeared divided by leaders in the church:

"I am of Paul"
"I am of Apollos"
"I am of Cephas"
"I am of Christ"

Let us get back to Christ and make our affiliation in Jesus Christ. Our common language should lie in the Word of God and not church fathers and their various writings. While some may be good and profitable or better than others, we always must rely on the Word of God. Read, Study and Walk out your faith. Paul states that we are not divided but united. Let's have an undivided faith!

I love this Spurgeon sermon given over 150 years ago (March 25, 1861) encapsulates a position we should all hold if you're of the Christian faith. Read his words below:

"I would propose that the subject of the ministry of this house, as long as this platform shall stand, and as long as this house shall be frequented by worshippers, shall be the person of Jesus Christ. I am never ashamed to avow myself a Calvinist, although I claim to be rather a Calvinist according to Calvin, than after the modern debased fashion. I do not hesitate to take the name of Baptist. You have there (pointing to the baptistry) substantial evidence that I am not ashamed of that ordinance of our Lord Jesus Christ; but if I am asked to say what is my creed, I think I must reply: "It is Jesus Christ."

My venerable predecessor, Dr. Gill, has left a body of divinity admirable and excellent in its way; but the body of divinity to which I would pin and bind myself for ever, God helping me, is not his system of divinity or any other human treatise, but Christ Jesus, who is the sum and substance of the gospel; who is in himself all theology, the incarnation of every precious truth, the all-glorious personal embodiment of the way, the truth, and the life."

Charles Haddon Spurgeon - "The First Sermon at the Metropolitan Tabernacle". Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Preached Monday, March 25, 1861 (369).

In other words, we can quickly take words from a particular position from a Theology Book or just we can wrestle with His Word ourselves. We must contend for the faith and the only way to do such task is to take Him at His Word, trust His Word, apply His Word and walk in such manner worthy of the calling He placed over our lives.

My wife ended her comments after the discussion began to cool back down with the following:

"Let's not forget that we are on the same team! We all love Jesus and although we disagree about somethings, none of us is worthy- AT ALL- and certainly non more worthy than the other." - Michelle Geipel

I do hope and pray that we as believers can get past much of the arguments and move toward Christ and His mission at hand. If we are not growing in the grace and knowledge of our Savior, what are we doing? Just a question to depart with in hope you draw near to God... and not Calvin, Luther, Spurgeon, Bonhoeffer or other great writers and preachers. Draw near to Jesus.

My Time of Devotion

Life is busy.

One of our truly limited resources is our time. Yet we can easily forget to guard or protect it. If we mismanage time, it will escape and like sand through the hour glass, once it's gone, it's gone.

When I was recently having a quiet time with the Lord, I reflected on a few things about my time with Him. I find myself leading a bible study or two each week. I make it a goal to have my own bible studies throughout the week when I open and let it speak to me. I find that I spend time praying (never enough) and yet something is missing.

I sensed God speaking to me and reminding me of one important aspect of our time - and that's our time of devotion. In Christian circles, we called it Devotions or Devos. However, I find it easy for me to end up studying or praying and miss the middle time of worship & devotion.

The simple reason why I am prone to not spend time in devotion is due to the way that time is structured. I like checkboxes... check/done... next. The time I spend in prayer is monitored by minutes. Time in the Word is often to study a passage. Both can be very pragmatic for me. Yet it's the middle space, devotional space, I need to enter in to worship the Lord.

While it's likely not a true dichotomy, I find that for me, picking up my guitar gets me right into a devotional mode. The same can be said in how I read the Word by just reading a passage several times rather than opening another person's work (commentary or sermon). I can enter it as well when I change my posture during prayer - getting right on my knees.

When we study others in the Bible they too entered into a time of private devotion.

Isaac meditated in the evening (Gen 24:63)
Daniel prayed three times a day (Daniel 6:10)
David prayed three times a day while meditating on his bed at night (Psalm 55:17; Psalm 63:6)

Jesus also sought to be alone. He went out from the others. He went to a place where He wasn't distracted. And Jesus did it both in the early morning and late at night (Mark 1:35; Luke 6:12).

I was challenged in the past about how I worship. I will pass the same one on to you. Since I am a worship leader, I can often be found spending time to technically learn the song - worship leaders never want to miss a note or the words - but that's not worship. Worship takes place between you and God. It's congregational for the body of Christ when we come together to worship as one. While I can check that activity off each week by attending and participating in worship at church, that's not to replace my time of devotions.

Let us press in to the Lord.

Let us know,
Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord.
His going forth is established as the morning;
He will come to us like the rain,
Like the latter and former rain to the earth.
Hosea 6:3


~ Dave Geipel

The Gospel Message

The Gospel Message (in Genesis)

The Bible is not just a collection of good teachings. They are not books written by a single man. They are a collection of 66 books penned by 40 men with one author - God. It's a single account yet told from a variety of characters who walked this earth and knew God. In the end, today we have two primary sources: the Old Testament (Hebrew) and New Testament (Greek) which have been translated for us in our languages today.

Within the Bible, we learn that Jesus is the central figure from the first page till the last page - Genesis to Revelation. The story is told every possible way so we, the reader, can hear from God. If you ever question what the Bible is speaking to you, simply pray and ask the God the Holy Spirit (Trinity is Father, Son and Holy Spirit - A triune God - three in one) - He will open your eyes so you can see & hear from Him. When you turn to Him, you can have assurance of your salvation.

My favorite gospel message was given to Moses when he penned the book of Genesis (Beginnings). The Gospel Message was given to man in Genesis Chapter 5. These are the first ten people in the Old Testament. Check out their names. Each one is specific having deep meaning and pointing to Jesus - the one who came down and whose life brings life.

Hebrew       English
Adam          Man
Seth            Appointed
Enosh         Mortal
Kenan         Sorrow;
Mahalalel   The Blessed God
Jared           Shall come down
Enoch         Teaching
Methuselah His death shall bring
Lamech       The Despairing
Noah           Rest, or comfort.

Man (is) appointed mortal sorrow; (but) the Blessed God shall come down teaching (that) His death shall bring (the) despairing rest.

Yes, this is taken from Genesis and the names of each father. It starts with Adam and ends with Noah. What occurs with Noah? God delivers him (man) from judgement & destruction brought on this sinful world. God must judge this world (man) and its sin. He is righteous. It's His only response. And yet His only Son was sent to provide a way of escape - a way to God the Father, through Jesus, His Son.

Still don't believe God? He gave us the Gospel Message in the Old Testament. He gives it to us in the New Testament with His Son Jesus. Yet you can open & read His Word - the Bible. You will soon realize that Jesus is on every page figuratively and He is speaking to you today. Will you listen?

Learn more about the gospel message.

Spoken Word by Isaac Wimberley “Forever” (Live) by Kari Job

WOW - you gotta listen to this live song, sung by Kari Jobe, with a special message by Isaac Winberley. The song is called Forever and was written by Kari along with others at Bethel Church (Brian & Jenn Johnson)... Definitely check out the middle of the song!

Spoken Word by Isaac Wimberley

If there are words for Him then I don’t have them.
You see, my brain has not yet reached the point where it could
form a thought that could adequately describe the greatness of my God,
and my lungs have not yet developed the ability to release a breath
with enough agility to breathe out the greatness of his love,

and my voice, you see,
my voice, is so inhibited, restrained by human limits
that it’s hard to even sing the praise of…
You see… if there are words for Him then I don’t have them.

My God,
His grace is remarkable, mercies are enumerable,
strength is impenetrable, He is honorable, accountable, favorable,
He is unsearchable yet knowable, indefinable yet approachable, indescribable yet personal,
He is beyond comprehension, further than imagination, constant through generations,
king of every nation.

But if there are words for Him then I don’t have them.
You see, my words are few, and to try to capture the one true God,
using my vocabulary will never do,
but I use words as an expression,
an expression of worship to a savior,
a savior who is both worthy and deserving of my praise, so I use words.

My heart extols the Lord, blesses his name forever,
He has won my heart captured my mind and has bound them both together,
He has defeated me in my rebellion,
conquered me in my sin,
He has welcomed me into his presence,
completely invited me in.
He has made himself the object of my sight,
flooding me with mercies in the morning,
drowning me with grace in the night.

But if there are words for Him
then I don’t have them.
But what I do have is good news,
for my God knew that manmade words would never do,
for words are just tools that we use to point to the truth,
so He sent His son Jesus Christ as “The Word”, living proof,

He is the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation,
for by Him all things are created, giving nothingness formation,
and by His words he sustains, in the power of His name,
for He is before all things and over all things he reigns, holy is his name,
so praise him for his life…

The way he persevered in strife,
the humble son of God becoming the perfect sacrifice,
praise him for his death…

that He willingly stood in our place, that he lovingly endured the grave,
that he battled our enemy and on the third day rose in victory

He is everything that was promised,
praise Him as your risen king,
lift your voice and sing for one day he will return for us
and we will finally be united with our savior for eternity, eternity.

So it’s not just words that I proclaim,
for my words point to “The Word” and “The Word” has a name,
hope has a name,
joy has a name,
peace has a name,
love has a name
and that name is Jesus Christ.

Praise his name forever!