What Is Your I.Q.?
Years ago I googled…actually I think this was before google…so I searched in AOL and found a free online IQ test. I started the test and within a few questions I quit, why because I could tell by those first few questions I didn’t want to know my IQ. I also rationalized, “I’ve made it this far without knowing my IQ I should be good for the rest of my life.”
I have a great family. Good friends. I love my job. I’ve achieved some success in school. I believe I was correct in the above assessment. But there is one IQ test out there I believe all of us should be aware of.
It is not your Intelligence Quotient it is your Invitation Quotient.
There is an old book I came across by Gary McIntosh & Glen Martin, and when I say old I mean it was written when I was in 7th grade; in my reading of this book I came across a test that helps us asses if we are being faithful individually in inviting people to Jesus.
I want to share this test with you and invite you to take it:
- Have you spoken to anyone in the last month to share with them what Jesus and His church mean to you? YES NO
- Did you speak to someone in the last month who has been absent from your church services to express your concern for them? YES NO
- Have you invited a newcomer to your community to come with you to church any time in the past four months? YES NO
- Have you encouraged or invited anyone who does not attend any other church to visit yours with you in the last month? YES NO
- Did you speak to someone last Sabbath you did not know personally who was in the church services to extend your personal word of greeting and welcome? YES NO
- Have you taken time to greet the people who sit next to you in the pew before or after church services? YES NO
- Do you pray for opportunities to be abel to speak about Christ and His church to others? YES NO
- Do you pray that the Holy Spirit will burden you with the souls of the lost people around you? YES NO
Now the purpose of this little I.Q. test is not so that I can know your score. In fact it is not important for me to know your score. What I am hoping is that if you are unable to answer “YES” to all 8 questions that you will ask God to help you begin to work on the areas where your invitation quotient is a “NO.”
There are people out there that YOU are the best opportunity God has to reach them. It is true. That is a big responsibility and one we cannot turn away from. So take the test and then begin living out the questions within the test.
I don’t care if my Intelligence Quotient is high. I do care if my invitation quotient is high.
“And you shall be my witnesses…to the ends of the earth.” Acts 2:8
The Best Argument for Women’s Ordination Without Using Words
Let me speak directly to those who stand firmly in the belief that women should be ordained. In the course of the last 5 years I believe one of our greatest weaknesses in our “struggle” to affirm the rightness of women’s ordination (WO) is the use of too many words!
As I studied Acts chapter 5, specifically verses 33-42 I realized the answer to proving the validity of our cause is not primarily in trying to fight policy with words or vote, or to try and convince others with words of the justice of our position. Our position would be greater served if we grew!
Gamaliel in verses 35-37 points out the many causes that had arisen over the years and how each of those causes had ultimately failed as they failed to grow and the followers of these movements were eventually scattered. He then makes the famous statement,
“So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God you will not be able to overthrow them, You might even be found opposing God!” -Acts 5:38, 39
I will confess I have read this text many times over the last 5 years and I’ve applied this text to Elder Wilson and others that seem so set against WO. This week as I read it my heart was reminded, “the easiest application of any text is to apply it to someone else.” So today I want to apply this text to me and my position.
If I read this story in Acts chapter 5 with me in mind I must then ask myself, “what would be the application of Gamaliel’s words to me. To the cause I stand for.” And the answer that convicts my heart: GROWTH!
Let us acknowledge one of the greatest reasons the territories that oppose WO have the upper hand is GROWTH! I don’t mean that they just have a larger voting bloc than we do, but they are growing and in the majority of territories where we affirm WO not only are we often times NOT GROWING, we are shrinking!
Imagine this, what if 5 years ago when Mid-America Union voted (and then rescinded) their position on WO, and then Columbia Union voted to ordain women and then Pacific Union voted to ordain women–we didn’t change any of our votes but rather than fighting a defensive battle trying to defend our position we simply committed in our hearts that we are not going to fight, we are not going to try and prove our just position (that has already been done in committee after committee since 1973), we are not going to get in the debate. We’ll keep voting our conscience, but we’ll expend our energies only on growing. And what if now 5 years later we could look back and see exponential growth in our territories and we could stand before the body and as they condemn the votes on WO we could say like the South American Division reported the other night,
“We have three state capitals where there is a church in every neighborhood.” “We have started 91 centers of influence in our major cities.” “We have planted 440 churches in our urban centers alone in 2016.”
Would that not be a better argument based on Acts 5:38, 39 for WO than an abundance of words to try and convince people we are right?
Now I know already some people have discredited what I just said because they would point out that places like Brazil and Africa are different cultures and “growth” is easier there. But before you get to comfortable in that position of defense, let me say that argument, which I have also used, is only valid if we never mention the growth of the Seventh-day Adventist movement in China as position of support for the cause of WO.
You see we in the core of our beings we understand GROWTH is powerful evidence for the cause of WO, which is why Spectrum, Adventist Today, etc. have made videos & written articles on the women pastors of China and the evidence of GROWTH in support of our cause; it is why so many of us have shared on Facebook and retweeted on Twitter so many of those videos and stories about women pastors in China. GROWTH is the greatest evidence in support of the cause of WO.
After Gamaliel made his speech the Bible tells us that the disciples were beaten and told to stand down, “they charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus.” And what did the disciples do? Did they argue for another hearing? Did they try and convince the leaders to accept what they were doing? No they went out and GREW!
“And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number…” -Acts 5:42-6:1a
No matter what happens today (October 9th, 2017) or tomorrow or at Spring Meetings or at the next General Conference Session. Let us make a commitment to reserve our words for voting and requesting TIME and TIME and TIME again for WO to be on the agenda, but beyond those meetings let the argument of our cause be the GROWTH of each territory that stands for WO!
Scripture Memorization 15 of 52: Psalm 139:13, 14
“For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.” -Psalm 139:13, 14
This is the rejoicing of my heart today. At various stages in my life I have not taken very good care of the wonderful contraption known as my body…one of those stages were the two years after we moved to Maryland. In those two years I gained 22 pounds which led to many issues the least of which disturbance in my wife’s sleep with all my snoring 🙂 I lost some weight for my neck surgery in January (surgery not related to the snoring ;)), but almost immediately put it back on. Then in March I received word that my name had been drawn, after I randomly entered the New York City Marathon. That was a ‘bit of the kick in the pants I needed to get going!
Well today I’m 16 lbs lighter than I was at my highest point. Today I also had the privilege of checking off one of the items that was high on my list to things to do when I moved to Maryland, I ran D.C.. Eight miles around all the Capitol, The White House, all the monuments and back up to the Supreme Court and over to Union Station.
I am glad that I have a body that though it moves a lot slower than it did a few years ago and has more aches after all I’ve put it through, at the end of the day it can still get out there and pound the pavement…truly wonderful are God’s works, my soul indeed knows this very well!
“For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.” -Psalm 139:13, 14
WATCH THIS! PLEASE!
This sermon is by one of my dear friends and one of the best preachers. Find an hour and watch this message…I have not been moved, convicted, rebuked, encouraged more by a message in years!
Scripture Memorization 14 of 52 John 3:17
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
-John 3:17
I don’t see them as often as I once did, but growing-up watching a lot of sports I saw a lot of signs like this:
I don’t know how many people that saw these signs actually knew what they meant…but I went to church and church school so I did know it was a reference to the Bible and I even had that Bible reference memorized.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” –John 3:16
Such a wonderful text. However, I wish more people would have memorized the text immediately following it and believed it as well. John 3:16 tells us that if we believe (more than just a knowledge), trust in Jesus we won’t perish we’ll have eternal life. But many in this world have chosen not to believe, trust in Jesus/God, because the God they were raised to believe in is a God that is looking to condemn, a God that sets up arbitrary rules and if you don’t follow those rules and live exactly “so” you will be condemned. And therefore people don’t believe. That is the story shared with me by a former Catholic now agnostic on my recent plane ride and I have unfortunately heard this same sentiment from many others throughout my life, and yes I have even felt the same sentiment in my own heart in the course of my journey. If only people would have shared the text immediately following.
The god they were taught about isn’t a true god, the god many were taught to fear and shirk from if they messed-up is a god with a little “g” he isn’t real. How do I know, because the real God didn’t send Jesus into this world as the perfect example so that we would feel bad about our blemishes, the real God is a God that isn’t looking to condemn. God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world…
The message of Jesus and thus of God was never one of condemnation, it was always one of hope and a way out to a better place.
Do you struggle with condemnation in your life? Memorize John 3:17 and rebuke the devil because it is he, the fake god that condemns, not the ONE TRUE GOD.
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” –John 3:17
Scripture Memorization 13 of 52: Psalm 107:8
“Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!”- Psalm 107:8, KJV
Take a moment right now to write down this verse on a piece of paper or a notecard, maybe type it into the notes of your phone, and then under it begin to list the attributes of goodness you see in The Lord and more specifically write down a list of His wonderful works in your life. I find most our prayers are 90-100% ask and often very little if any praise. Today and this week and every week let us praise His goodness and His wonderful works.
Here are few of the things I am praising The Lord for today:
- Christina, my companion in life, who is one of the hardest workers I know.
- Christina and the amazing decor she did for HIS Team and in our sanctuary this past Sabbath.
- Three healthy boys that teach me daily about Jesus’ love for me.
- Dayton and his commitment to the Bible
- Landon and his great sense of humor
- Levi’s helper attitude
- A successful surgery that has helped me to have a better back than I’ve had in years!
- The ability and joy of running again
- The doors that have been opened that have enabled us to purchase a house
- A great staff to serve with at Spencerville Church
- My list could go on and on…but those are just a few praises that are owed all to Jesus this week.
“Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” –Psalm 107:8, KJV