The Fool Test

When a disaster strikes people begin to look at their lives in a different perspective. The earth quake in Haiti has seen this. We begin to count our blessings and see what is really important. Jesus said, “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Several times people have expressed that “I have lost everything, but I am still alive.” Morris Womack “The search for meaning in life is all too often tied up in the worldly possessions.” “Almost everything you have can be taken away from you; only that which is within you is secure.” Our hope in Christ, our faith, the way we manage our lives, how we view what we have are all great determinants of what life is really about for each of us.

In Luke 12 Jesus tells the story of the "Rich Fool." As he is teaching he is interuppted by a man wanting Jesus to mediate an inheritance dispute between brothers. Jesus has no desire to be involved in this. He knows the real problem between these brothers is greed and no answer he can give will cure that.

He tells the story about a man who has a great harvest and needs to build more barns to hold all his crop.Then he can take it easy and just relax. However, he does not know that he will die later that night and will not be able to enjoy his wealth. Jesus ask the question, "Who gets all this stuff now" (Obviously my translation).

Because he was unprepared Christ calls him a fool, and he was. When you read this story ask yourself these questions. The answer will let you know whether or not you are a fool as well.

How do you respond to the wealthy farmer’s dilemma? Here was a man who had a problem with too much wealth! If we say, “I certainly wish I had that problem!” we may be revealing covetousness in our hearts. If suddenly you inherited a great deal of wealth, would it create a problem for you? Or would you simply praise God and ask Him what He wanted you to do with it?

How do you respond to the decisions of the rich man? Are you saying, “Now that is shrewd business! Save and have it ready for the future!” But Jesus saw selfishness in all that this man did (note the eleven personal pronouns), and He said the man was a fool. The world’s philosophy is “Take care of Number One!” But Jesus does not endorse that philosophy.

How do you respond to the farmer’s desires? Are you saying, “This is the life! The man has success, satisfaction, and security! What more could he want?” But Jesus did not see this farmer enjoying life; He saw him facing death! Wealth cannot keep us alive when our time comes to die, nor can it buy back the opportunities we missed while we were thinking of ourselves and ignoring God and others.

Finally, how do you respond to the death of the boastful farmer? We are prone to say, “Too bad this fellow died just when he had everything going for him! How tragic that he could not finish his great plans.” But the greatest tragedy is not what the man left behind but what lay before him: eternity without God! The man lived without God and died without God, and his wealth was but an incident in his life. God is not impressed with our money.

ARE YOU A FOOL?

Follower

This week we are speaking about what it takes to be a Follower.

Follower
Luke 9:23
The Bible tells us in Luke 9:23, “If anyone would come after me he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” In the Gospel Jesus says “believe in me” 5 times, he says “follow me” about 20. He offers us live but calls us to die. So the question to ask yourself is straightforward: “Are you a completely committed follower of Jesus?” Many of us think of ourselves as followers but when we are standing in front of God, the truth may be that we are just a fan. In Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus says, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”In Matthew 7 there are several questions that need to be addressed when determining if you are a follower:

Question 1: Do you live out what you say you believe? (Matthew 7:21)

We are saved by faith in Christ, but it is important to realize that faith without works is dead. Faith is not something to simply be confessed through the mouth, it must be confessed through our lives.

Question 2: Do you measure yourself as a follower by the good things you have done? (Matthew 7:22).

Placing confidence in works of righteousness leads to a life of simply following the rules instead of knowing and following Christ.

Question 3: Do you Know Jesus? (Matthew 7:23).

Jesus says that it all comes down to this: Do you know Jesus? Does he have your heart? Is He everything to you? Do you invest more in this relationship than in any other relationship? Have you confused knowing about Jesus with actually knowing Jesus?



What is keeping you from being a completely committed follower? Many of us settle for being a fan.



There is so much we overlook from the invitation of Luke 9:23. When Jesus said to take up a cross, it sounded completely different to the First Century Christian who had seen hundreds of people hanging bloody and naked along the dusty roads of Palestine. When Jesus said, “Follow Me,” those First Century Christians had an exact understanding of what he meant. Today, Jesus is still concerned with those who commit to doing what he asks. This is the mark of a follower.

Does God Hate Haiti?

Does God Hate Haiti?

Pat Robertson is Wrong as usual. Earthquakes happen because we live in a fallen world and they will happen until Jesus returns, which this was not a sign of. Thanks Al for this great article

Committed

I was a big fan of Herschel Walker, running back for the University of Georgia Bulldogs. He was the man. “There Goes Herschel There Goes Herschel.” Then he did something I had never heard of. He left school early. He left after his JR year not to enter the NFL draft but the USFL Draft. Some guy named Donald Trump Gave him quite a bit of money. Being young at the time I was not as interested at that point in UGA. I was a fan of the Bulldogs but not really that committed.

I was a fair weather fan. Many of my friends in College were the same way with the Bulls. They win the big games with MJ we love them. He leaves the team retools not so much.

It is our commitment that determines whether or not we are a fan of Jesus or a Follower. Jesus Calls us to Carry a Cross. Followers pick it up and go where told. Fans leave it and find something easier to do.

This week at Shoals We will discuss what our committment is like to Christ. Are we a Fan or a Follower?

Monday Monday

We had a great weekend at Church. Attendance was down a bit but it was better than I expected with the cold weather.

The church gave Tina a baby shower yesterday. We got a lot of great presents and once again was shown what a great church family we have. Robert started basketball Saturday at the YMCA. It was fun to watch the kids learn as they played.

Hope everyone has a great week.

Convicted

Kyle Idleman, who preaches at the Southeast Christian Church, preached a series on Defining your relationship with Christ. As I listened to him talking about really being a Follower as opposed to a Fan it convicted me. Over the next few weeks we will have this same "dicussion" here at Shoals.

Not preaching Kyle's sermon but the idea needs to be presented to all Christians. "Am I a fan or Am I really a Follower?"

Monday Monday

We had a great service yesterday here at Shoals. Even though it was only 4 degrees people came out for worship. The day ended the best it can with two people being baptized.

Now onto a long week. Sermonizing, meetings, buying basketball shoes for Robert and getting him to practice. Thursday is our Faculty Meeting at LBC. I am really excited about our coming semester.

Hope you have a great week as well.

Matthew