Do you want more of God? Do you want to experience more of His presence? Do you desire a breakthrough in your relationship with God or in a certain area of your life? If so, here’s what you need to do: ask for a musician!

That’s right. Ask for a musician. There’s a great story found in the third chapter of 2 Kings. Judah, Israel and Edom are at war against Moab. They have a vision for victory, have implemented their strategy, and have run up against obstacles. There is no water. And they begin to doubt the likelihood of victory. So they summon the prophet Elisha to intercede on their behalf.

Elisha’s initial response was “bring me a musician…” (2 Kings 3:15). Elisha, the prophet who had received a double portion of the mighty anointing that rested on his predecessor Elijah, needed to get his worship on before he could access the wisdom and counsel of God. The psalmist says the same thing: “Come into his presence with singing…enter his courts with praise” (Psalm 100:2, 4). Worship is a gateway to experiencing the presence of God.

Let’s take a closer look at how Elisha got his worship on:

Elisha Had The Right Expectation

I don’t believe Elisha was expecting the musician to perform a concert or put on a show. I don’t believe Elisha put the musician on a stage. I do believe he put the musician on a platform. What’s the difference? A stage is where one performs. A platform is where one wields influence. The performer on the stage says, “Look at me!” The influencer on the platform says, “Look at God!” I am guessing, however, that the musician gave it his very best. Why? Because we should never apologize for using our God-given gifts and talents with excellence. Is God not worthy of that?

Elisha Had The Right Spirit

I believe Elisha had a spirit of surrender. I imagine he conceded his preferences, opinions, and judgments and instead yielded himself to experiencing the presence of God. I don’t think he whined to the musician that it was too soft or too loud, too fast or too slow, too short or too long. I don‘t think he moaned, “Another new song?” I think he yielded a critical spirit to spirit of surrender. What would happen in our worship if we put aside our preferences, opinions and judgments and surrendered to experiencing the presence of God?

Elisha Had The Right Audience

We are not told whether Elisha was alone with the musician or if others were present. It doesn’t really matter, because Elisha had an audience of one. He was only focused on experiencing the presence of God, not what everyone else was doing.  Were they singing or not singing, sitting or standing, crossing their arms or raising their hands, falling on their face or falling to their knees? It didn’t matter. Elisha was fixated on God and God alone. What would happen with our worship if we put our attention on God and not on those around us?

“But now bring me a musician.” And when the musician played, the hand of the Lord came upon him.

2 Kings 3:15

In last week’s blog, we considered the art of handling conflict. If you are a living human being, you will encounter conflict. It’s not the conflict that is the problem, it’s unresolved conflict that is the problem. Ultimately we aim for a resolution to the conflict and a reconciliation of the relationship. But what if that is not possible? That’s where forgiveness comes in.

In Matthew 18, Peter asks Jesus,  “How many times do I forgive? Seven times?” Peter was probably expecting Jesus to commend his response as that was beyond what was expected. Rabbis used to say there was an obligation to forgive three times (Amos 1:3-13). Peter doubled that and added an extra forgiveness for good measure. Imagine Peter’s response when Jesus says “seventy times seven!” Of course, Jesus is not to be taken literally here. He’s not saying to forgive 490 times. Jesus is making the point that we can’t “over-forgive.”

So what exactly does forgiveness look like?

Let’s start with what forgiveness is NOT…

1. Forgiveness is NOT excusing. It doesn’t mean we pretend the offense didn’t’ happen. It did. And it hurts. It hurts bad.
2. Forgiveness is NOT forgetting. Forget the cliché you have heard for years. It’s impossible to “forgive and forget.” The human mind doesn’t work that way.
3. Forgiveness in NOT Reconciling. Forgiveness doesn’t necessarily mean the conflict is resolved or the relationship is reconciled. For example, a business owner doesn’t re-hire someone who embezzled from his business. A battered wife doesn’t move back in just because she finds forgiveness for her abuser.

Forgiveness IS…

1. Giving up revenge. How do I know that I have forgiven someone? I no longer have a desire to seek revenge. I don’t want harm to come that person’s way.
2. Wishing the other person well. Not only do I give up my desire for revenge but I truly hope good things for the person who wounded me.
3. Not an option. Those who call themselves Christians must forgive. Not only for the good of the other party but so that bitterness and resentment don’t take root in our hearts an out of that, we end up hurting others.

 

…bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another,

forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Colossians 3:13

 

 

A man is rescued from a deserted island where he survived alone for fifteen years. Before leaving he gave his rescuers a little tour of the buildings he had constructed as a sort of one-man town over the years. “That was my house, that was my store, this building was a cabana, and over here is where I went to church.” The rescuers inquired, “What’s the building next to it?” And the man quipped, “Oh, that’s where I used to go to church.”

Conflict is inevitable. Handling conflict in a healthy manner is optional. Left to our own vices, we typically handle conflict less than desirably. Thank goodness Jesus gave us specific instructions on how to do it right.

If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him – work it out between the two of you.

If he listens, you’ve made a friend.

(Matthew 18:15 The Message)

Jesus gives us these six steps to resolve conflict:

1. Acknowledge the Conflict

We could replace the word “if” in Jesus’ words with “when”. To be human is to be in conflict. If you are married, have kids, are part of a workplace, have neighbors, or are part of the church you understand conflict. Conflict is not the problem; unresolved conflict is the problem.

2. Own Responsibility

We tend to put the responsibility on the other party. We say, “I shouldn’t have to take the first step; let them come to me.” But Jesus says it doesn’t matter whether we are the offended or the offender. He expects us to make the first  move (See Matthew 5:23-24).

3. Go

Jesus says “go.” Most of us tend to avoid conflict. Granted there are some who do it for recreation. But most of us are avoiders. While it’s often wise to cool down if we are angry, sweeping it under the rug is never a good idea.

4. The Person I am in Conflict With

Go directly to the person you are in conflict with even though that’s the last person we usually want to go to. It’s much easier to go to someone else to vent, find others who will agree with our side, or throw-up all over social media. Jesus makes it clear we should approach the one, and only the one, we are in conflict with.

5. Attack the Issue not the Person

We tend to attack the person. But it’s impossible to fix the problem if we are consumed with fixing the blame. We must be willing to listen first and speak second (James 1:19). Did you know it’s possible to listen and not agree? Food for thought.

6. Aim for Reconciliation

The goal is not to win the argument but to make a friend – to reconcile the relationship. Is it more important to be right or to maintain the relationship? It is possible to move forward with the relationship even if we are unable to find resolution on the issue. Reconciliation means we bury the hatchet not the issue.

Yes, sometimes it is impossible to find reconciliation. If we keep reading in Matthew 18, Jesus gives us instructions on that too! Ultimately, we must find forgiveness and I will blog about that next week.

 

 

 

 

 

Return on Investment, or ROI as it is often referred to, is a performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or compare the efficiency to a number of different investments. ROI tries to directly measure the amount of return on a particular investment, relative to the investment’s cost.

In January 2019, Aldersgate Church made an investment. We replaced the incandescent light fixtures and bulbs in the Worship Center with LED fixtures and bulbs. There are over 200 bulbs in the Worship Center and we were replacing on average a dozen bulbs a month at almost $14 per bulb. Not good management of resources, would you agree? So we paid the upfront cost of transitioning the from incandescent to LED.

The payoff? We have reduced our energy usage and are saving 25% on our electric costs each month! And we haven’t replaced one bulb. At this rate, the investment will pay for itself in about 2 years! That’s a pretty good return on investment, would you agree?

Where might you need to make an initial investment today? It might seem like a lot of time, money or energy. And it probably will be. But what might the payoff be?

What would the ROI be for:

• Starting an exercise routine
• Kicking off that new diet
• Putting down the old habit
• Investing in a new relationship or community group
• Opening the new book you bought
• Beginning a Bible study
• Starting to tithe for the very first time
• Finding a place to serve

 

Give generously and generous gifts will be given back to you, shaken down to make room for more. Abundant gifts will pour out upon you with such an overflowing measure that it will run over the top! Your measurement of generosity becomes the measurement of your return.

Luke 6:38 (The Passion Translation)