We Must Forgive

It seems people are more easily offended with each passing day.

Assuming that we are on the receiving end, how are we to respond?

That depends on whom you choose to listen to,

The world tells us one thing.

It will tell us we need to stand up for ourselves.

It will tell us that we need to respond in kind and exchange hurt for hurt.

In stark contrast, Jesus tells us to forgive.

He does this in the Sermon on the Mount.

We might be tempted to say to Him, “But Jesus, You just don’t understand!”

“You don’t know what it’s like.”

Really?

Think again,

Jesus was often insulted, though not always to His face.

When the disciples were first called, Philip told Nathanael about his encounter with Jesus.

How did Nathanael respond?

John 1:46 (NET) - Nathanael replied, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip replied, “Come and see.”

Then there was the time Jesus was teaching in the synagogue,

Some heard His teaching and were amazed.

Others were offended.

Mark 6:3 (NET) - Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And aren’t his sisters here with us?” And so they took offense at him.

In the male dominant society of the day, one can read the insult that was intended.

Finally, there was the matter of His crucifixion.

Crucifixion is perhaps the cruelest and most painful form of execution ever devised by man.

Prior to this he was beaten without mercy.

Throughout this ordeal, people hurled insult after insult at Jesus.

As an additional insult, Jesus was executed with common criminals.

Did Jesus retaliate?

No. Jesus forgave even as an angry mob continued to insult Him.

Luke 23:34 (NET) - But Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”

Jesus tells us to forgive and that in and of itself is sufficient reason for us to do so.

Beyond that we must ask ourselves one final question.

If Jesus forgave so very much, shouldn’t we be willing to forgive so very little in comparison?

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com/ on Friday, September 1, 2017.

I will be back here on Friday, September 8, 2017

Roles

1 Peter 4:10 (NET) - Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of the varied grace of God.

Every church loves to have visitors.

My church is certainly no exception,

Returning visitors are a special blessing.

I was doing my very best to welcome a returning visitor.

One of his questions took me by surprise.

“What is your role in the church?”

There really is no easy answer to this question.

Just like many people who attend church, I have taken on a number of roles over the years.

God blesses each of us with different talents.

He has also gives us different passions for service.

We each utilize our particular combinations of gifts and passions to fill a number of roles.

This is how the work of the church gets done.

I wish the world outside the church would adopt a similar attitude.

Often in the secular world have I have asked for assistance.

How disappointed I am when the response I receive is: “That’s not my job.”

In most cases, people in the church are happy to help out.

If unable to help, they can usually direct you to someone who can.

None of us can do everything.

Each of us is capable of doing some things.

Working together and combining our abilities is how the work of the church gets done.

This also helps us in another way.

We strengthen our existing skills and might even learn new ones.

That is how we grow as a Christians.

God blesses us.

Motivated by love, we then serve both God and others.

Hebrews 6:10-12 (NET) - For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name, in having served and continuing to serve the saints. But we passionately want each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of your hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and perseverance inherit the promises.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com/ on Friday, August 18, 2017.

I will be back here on Friday, August 25, 2017

Father's - Earthly and Heavenly

Proverbs 20:7 (NET) - The righteous person behaves in integrity; blessed are his children after him.

My father’s birthday was just the other day.

I thought about him a great deal that day and the days since.

I was not yet a man when he died.

It is hard for me to believe that almost 40 years have gone by since the day he died.

I thought about the road I have traveled without him.

I thought of the questions I never got to ask him.

I pondered the fatherly wisdom he never got to give.

I thought of the many Father’s Days, birthdays and Christmases we could not celebrate together.

I reflected on the career I chose which he did not witness.

I thought of my personal successes he could not delight in.

I thought about many other things.

In the grand scheme of things, we did not have as much time together as we would have liked.

One thing is certain, neither of us knew that his last day on earth would be just that.

My father never saw the man I became.

Although I am by no means perfect, I am happy with the man I have become so far.

I give my father a good deal of the credit for that.

In the time we had together, he taught me many things.

He taught me the importance of work.

He taught me the importance of ethics.

He also taught me about the importance of relationships.

He taught me how to establish and nurture relationships with others.

He also taught me the importance of having a relationship with God.

Most importantly, he taught me these things by example.

As a result, I know that my Heavenly Father has shared with me in all the things my father could not.

I also know that I can turn to Him in any situation.

I know that He is an active participant in my life and not merely an observer.

He continues the work He started so many years ago.

Philippian 1:6 (NET) - For I am sure of this very thing, that the one who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com/ on Friday, August 4, 2017.

I will be back here on Friday, August 11, 2017

Old Car Seats

I am likely revealing my age with this piece, but that’s okay.

When I was very young the seats in my parents’ car and other cars were more like benches.

Seat belts were not yet standard equipment.

Child seats had not appeared on the scene either.

It’s a wonder people my age managed to survive childhood, but survive we did.

I remember sitting in the front seat with my parents.

My father drove and was seated to my left.

Mother sat on the passenger side and was seated to my right,

I was not even big enough to see out the windshield.

My view was confined to my parents and the dashboard.

There is one other thing I do recall with great clarity,

Whenever my father would have to brake suddenly to avoid an accident there was one thing I could always count on,

My father’s right arm would immediately shoot out and go across my chest.

At the same instant, my mother’s left arm would shoot out and go across my waist.

This was a perfectly orchestrated maneuver on their part.

It happened without a single word being said between them.

It was automatic.

With their combined strength, they kept me from moving much like seatbelts do today,

Working together, they kept me safe.

In time, I realized that this was just one way in which they demonstrated their love for me.

When I was a bit older, I moved from the front seat of the car to the back seat.

Having grown I was also able to see more of the world outside the car.

One thing I noticed was that very young couples in other vehicles tended to sit right next to each other.

Slightly older couples gave each other a little more space.

Old couples (from the vantage point of a child) tended to sit far apart,

I imagine that there was a time when my own parents sat right next to each other in the car.

When I came along, they made room for me,

Even when I was old enough to sit in the back seat, my parents kept on sitting where they did before.

I was thinking about those old car seats and how parallels can be drawn to our relationship with God.

First, when I was quite young and danger threatened me in the car, my parents tried to protect me as best they could.

They wanted to make sure they did their utmost for me even if it meant a big sacrifice on their part.

God made a huge sacrifice for us when He gave His Son for us.

John 3:16 (NET) -- For this is the way God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

Second, I remembered that when couples first fell in love, it seemed they could not get close enough.

In time, space grew between them.

When we first come to know God, our love is such that we want to get as close to Him as we can.

Perhaps, over time, we may notice that we don’t seem as close as we once were.

One of us has moved,

Care to guess which one of us that was?

Psalm 136:26 (NET) - Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his loyal love endures!

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com/ on Friday, July 21, 2017.

I will be back here on Friday, July 28, 2017

Why Church?

A question often asked is, “Why Church?”

This can be another way of asking, “Can a person be a Christian without going to church?”

There are, of course, a number of ways to look at this.

Perhaps the best place to start is by asking another question.

What exactly is church?

When some people think of church, they think of the church building.

It is important to understand that the church and the church building are not the same thing.

The word church is far more about the body of believers and whom they choose to worship.

Last Sunday when I arrived for worship I discovered that the neighborhood was without electricity.

We could have chosen to worship outdoors and still have been a church.

Matthew 18:20 (NET) - For where two or three are assembled in my name, I am there among them.

Some people move around, trying one church then another.

If asked why, they might tell you that they are looking for “the perfect church”.

Frankly, that is something they will never find because it does not exist.

The church on this earth is imperfect because it is composed of imperfect people.

People like me.

Even on my best day, I am anything but perfect.

The church can help us with that.

Philippians 3:12 (NE) - Not that I have already attained this—that is, I have not already been perfected—but I strive to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me.

A church must be about worship.

It must help point people toward God and strengthen their relationship with Him.

Now it goes without saying that there are a number of different churches out there.

Just last week, I attended a wedding at a church that was not my own.

They do things differently than we do them.

That’s okay.

It does not matter that we each do things differently.

What matters is that we each, in our own way, strive to bring glory to God.

Another question asked is: “Can someone attend church and not be a Christian?”

Absolutely!

Being a Christian means having a relationship with God.

A relationship made possible through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

This relationship has a profound impact on how we choose to treat others.

Without this relationship where we are at any given time is not the issue.

The church can help, but it is the state of a person’s heart that matters most.

Mark 12:29-31 (NET) - Jesus answered, “The most important is: ‘Listen, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

The church experience provides the Christian with a number of things.

It gives us a small taste of what heaven will be like.

It connects us with a body of believers who are united in spirit.

It provides us with opportunities to serve in ways that would not be possible on our own.

There are other things as well.

So, the next time someone asks me the question, “Why church?” I just might ask in return, “Why not?”

I wonder where that might lead.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com/ on Friday, July 7, 2017.

I will be back here on Friday, July 14, 2017

Opportunities

The church I attend just finished five days of Vacation Bible School.

This is primarily a program for children.

We also offer a class for adults.

It has been my privilege to teach the adult class for several years and I take this seriously for good reason.

James 3:1 (NET) - Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, because you know that we will be judged more strictly.

One thing is certain, one must teach adults differently than one teaches children.

As human beings, we continue to grow throughout our lives.

As we grow our needs change.

You would not feed a toddler what you feed an infant.

You would not feed a teenager what you feed a toddler, and so on.

As Christians, we continue to grow as well.

Our spiritual needs change as well.

They should anyway.

Paul discovered this was not the case with the Christians in Corinth.

1 Corinthians 3:1-2 (NET) - So, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but instead as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready. In fact, you are still not ready,

Fortunately, I did not have this problem with the adults in my class.

In fact, I was able to challenge them and even gave them some things to consider on their own.

No matter how much I enjoy teaching the adult class I do miss not being around the children.

God must have known that this was on my mind.

He made it possible for me to work with some children but not in a traditional classroom setting.

When the program ended, most people went home.

A few of us remained to put things back in order.

I was busy with bigger items like tables.

Also present were a boy and his little sister.

Their mother told them to “Go help Mr. Jim.”

As they ran to me I knew this was a teaching opportunity.

I gave them some really light tasks while I continued with the bigger ones.

While we worked, I spoke with them and even made them laugh a time or two.

I must admit they made me laugh as well.

Once the work was complete, we all went our separate ways and I thought about a number of things.

First, their mother did well by encouraging them to help.

Second, I was able to teach not with words but by example.

Third, although I was busy, I made time for them.

Jesus made time for children as well.

Matthew 19:14 (NET) - But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com/ on Friday, June 16, 2017.

I will be back here on Friday, June 23, 2017

We Each Have a Message

Most of my driving happens to be on the highway.

One particular stretch of highway used to take a while to get through due to the volume of traffic.

Not long ago two lanes were added in each direction to ease traffic flow.

This had unintended consequences.

With congestion eased, many drivers tended to drive well above the posted speed limit.

They also tended to leave less room between their car and the one immediately in front of them.

This led to more traffic accidents and at such time traffic barely moved at all.

In an effort to cut down on both unsafe driving and traffic accidents, message signs were erected.

At first the messages were positive.

One day the message asked drivers to “Share the Road”.

Not much changed.

Later, the signs asked drivers to “Drive friendly”.

Again, not much changed.

One day the traffic was particularly harrowing.

The message for that day was, “Move accidents to the shoulder”.

On yet another day, the signs were experiencing a technical problem.

On that day, there were no messages at all.

It’s almost as if those in charge of the signs changed strategies.

In the beginning, it was the equivalent of “We are trying to help all of you.”

Then it was the equivalent of “You’re not listening, so just move accidents out of the way.”

Finally, although unintentional, the blank signs seemed to be saying “You are all beyond hope.”

Part of our Christian walk is similar to those signs.

We are supposed to be telling others about Jesus.

Sometimes we do.

Sometimes we don’t.

There are several reasons why we should.

One reason is the most important of them all.

Jesus told us to.

Mark 16 15 (NET) - He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”

There is no better reason than that.

We don’t always need to use words to tell others about Him.

One of my favorite hymns put it this way…

“They will know we are Christians by our love.”

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com/ on Friday, June 2, 2017.

I will be back here on Friday, June 9, 2017