Addition By Subtraction

“The unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.”

Proverbs 11:3

With a horrible record after the first 28 games of the season, the Detroit Pistons decided to release one of their best players, despite still having to pay him over $20 million in the coming years. Now, we would all expect that getting rid of a top player would make a team worse but the opposite happened; the Pistons started playing better and actually winning more after that move was made. Many reasons were given for the improvement in basketball terminology but the final commentary always seemed to include this: addition by subtraction.

The principle is not new. Someone is removed from a team at work who causes chemistry problems among the staff and the work environment improves dramatically. A person who constantly complains and finds faults drops out of your circle of friends and a heaviness is lifted and the fun of spending time with friends almost instantly returns to the group. An addictive habit or a destructive attitude is finally conquered in your life and you feel free as a bird, ready to take on life with a new excitement that has been missing for years. In every case, the breakthrough we are experiencing is the result of addition by subtraction.

Hebrews calls us to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Progress in life is not always from trying harder and doing more. We will all find ourselves in situations where the next step in our growth is getting rid of something that is hindering us. Letting go of a relationship that is pulling us back toward the world and sin, waking up to a negative attitude that is poisoning our own well and feeding discontent in our lives, or quite simply getting victory over an area of sin in our lives that has gotten control of us and stands in the way of our going on with the Lord. Far too often we come to the point where we are at a standstill, that place where we aren’t going anywhere in life until something goes.

The Detroit Pistons releasing a star player still under contract was unprecedented, a move never before made in the history of the NBA. But did that stop them? No, doing what everyone else has always done is not why you play the game; you play to win! In the same way, you may be a candidate for a spurt of growth and serious breakthrough in your life. But is may require the hard step of addition by subtraction. Figure out who you want to be as a person and as a Christian, and get rid of anything that doesn’t fit with your accomplishing those goals!

God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church

Expiration Dates

“Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.”

Joshua 23:14

One of the things that changed when the kids moved out was that we had to be more aware of expiration dates on bread, milk and other food products. Before that, we went through food fast enough that it was never an issue. In fact, I’m not sure we even knew that milk had an expiration date until John moved out. But no amount of preservatives can make food last forever, and for our information, and maybe our protection, an expiration date if printed on all perishable food products. And so if you see Nancy or I in the bread aisle at Kroger, you’ll see us reaching for the last loaf of bread in the back that has the farthest out expiration date.

Peter’s words on the day of Pentecost stand in contrast to that thought. When people saw the disciples after God had filled them with the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room, they were “amazed and perplexed” at the way they spoke and how they acted. Peter, however, stood up with an explanation, “This is what was promised by the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people..’” Peter returned to a promise given over eight hundred years earlier to explain what was happening to the followers of Jesus. Or look at it this way: Peter quoted a promise given by God that had no expiration date.

In a world of expiration dates, we serve a God who honors His promises. He had promised Abraham that “all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever.” The mistakes of Isaac, Jacob and Jacob’s sons didn’t cause it lapse, and the four hundred years in Egypt didn’t move the promise past its expiration date for one simple reason: the promises of God do not come with an expiration date!

My twenty-five percent off coupon to Family Bookstore had an expiration date of last
Thursday, January 8^th. I know that because I went shopping on Friday, January 9^th, and found out it was no longer of any value. But, thankfully, we never have that problem as we kneel in prayer or as we read the words of the Bible. There, we find great encouragement in knowing that the exceedingly great and precious promises given by a loving God thousands of years ago are still valid for you and I to stand on and to trust in today. Yes, there are no expiration dates when it comes to the love God has for us and the promises that flow out of that incredible love.

God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church

Stop Underestimating

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all

we could ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church.”
Ephesians 3:20-21

In a prominent location in downtown Detroit, an abandoned construction site, with the concrete pillars and floors poured but with no exterior walls built, sits as a sad display to what can happen when the costs of a project in the hundred million dollar range are grossly underestimated. The new Wayne County jail was supposed to solve the problems of the antiquated, overcrowded facilities currently being used to house prisoners but instead it had to be abandoned because of the costs far exceeding the estimates. Underestimating the proposed costs of the jail project to help ensure legislative approval turned out to be a bad strategy.

Of far less consequence was the underestimating of how much wine the guests would drink at a wedding that took place in Cana around 2,000 years ago. With the guests gathered and the festivities in full swing, the somber message, “they have no more wine” must have been a real cause for stress and concern to the embarrassed hosts. Thankfully, they had invited the only possible guest who could remedy their situation; a guest who could turn the water that was readily available into the wine desperately needed for the wedding feast to not be spoiled.

We’ve all experienced underestimating how long it will take us to get somewhere, how much time it will take to accomplish a home repair project and other areas of varying degrees of consequence. But I want to encourage you to avoid one area of underestimating that can have the most serious consequences of all: stop underestimating God! Here are a few thoughts:

• Stop underestimating what God is able to do through you!
• Stop underestimating the power of prayer to bring change and breakthrough!
• Stop underestimating the value of God’s Word to give guidance and direction! 
• Stop underestimating what the future holds for you because you only see yourself and have lost sight of the greatness of the God who created the universe.
• Stop underestimating the willingness of God to move in your life. The Jesus who reached out his hand and touched the leper, saying “I am willing,” is still the same today!

As we rightly honor God by our proper estimating of His love, His goodness, His power, and His willingness to help us, His moving in our lives is going to be clearly visible in the coming year and we will see Him at work as He completes the good work He has begun in each of our lives.

God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church

Veneer, Flattery & Righteousness

“We commend ourselves in every way ….. with weapons

of righteousness in the right hand and in the left.”
II Corinthians 6:4,7

The desk and one of the filing cabinets in my school office have the appearance of being made of well polished oak but that’s only until you take a closer look. The wood grain look is in reality the thinnest of veneers, a surface illusion of quality and beauty that cannot stand up to the slightest bit of scrutiny or inspection. You’ve heard the saying that beauty is only skin deep? Well, it’s true of my office furniture but that matters very little compared to when we start to talk about spiritual matters, when a thin veneer of righteousness is covering our hearts, and when our commitment to the Lord and to His kingdom is only skin deep.

Every study out there says that the number one reason for people, and especially young people, leaving the church and not continuing in the Christian faith is hypocrisy, not seeing what is spoken about in public and declared to be right, lived out in the personal lives of those they are closest to. Living out Christianity in a condition where “these people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Isaiah 29:13) is the most destructive situation we can find ourselves in. David warned of the danger of the person who “in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin.” (Psalm 36:2) Self flattery, being so taken with ourselves that we’re not able to see ourselves clearly and honestly, can be an insurmountable obstacle to change and growth and, in the end, to having any real and lasting positive impact on the lives of others.

The apostle Paul made an interesting statement in describing his ministry and its source of strength, saying that he was equipped with “weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left.” There is such incredible power in righteousness, in doing what God has said is right. One man said “God’s laws are parameters to live by – the truths he knows are going to provide blessings, strength, a future and hope.” Spurgeon said that “God’s law is a gift of great kindness for it tells us the wisest and happiest way of living.” Are you looking for a sure formula for success and blessing? How about trying to live out everything God has said is right and true! And add to that requiring of ourselves anything and everything we require of others. Let’s approach the New Year committed to there being no veneer in our lives, to not giving in to a self flattery that fools only us, and to immersing ourselves in a righteousness that is so incredibly powerful that we will find ourselves armed and ready for God’s very best!

God Bless
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church

Spawned

“Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder

the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.”
I Samuel 14:6

When I hear the word spawn, I immediately think of salmon swimming upstream, and of the annual salmon run in streams and rivers back in New York where the salmon return home to deposit their eggs. And while the primary definitions of the word “spawn” relate to this process of depositing eggs, the word also means “to give birth to,” or “to give rise to.” You could say, for example, that school shootings have spawned many security changes in our schools. Or that recent terrorist attacks have spawned new concerns around the world.

But my thoughts are turned to Godly men and women whose acts of faith, courage, love and generosity have spawned similar actions in other believers. Some are found in the pages of the Bible and others are modern day believers willing to swim upstream if that was what it took to see a breakthrough and exact change. Phinehas was one such man who, in the face of rampant immorality among God’s people, took a stand for what was right and was honored by the Lord for his actions. Many years later, Jonathan climbed up to a Philistine garrison, with only his servant following behind, with faith in what God was able to do through one man, and brought about an incredible victory. Martin Luther was another who, in confronting the popular religious thought of his day, showed the courage of his convictions by speaking the truth regardless of the consequences. William Tyndale was so moved by the need of the common man to possess the scriptures in a language that he could understand that he risked his life and was eventually burned at the stake for his life’s work.

I can’t help but think that the courage of a Phinehas spawned similar courage in Jonathan and, thousands of years later, helped to inspire Martin Luther and so many others. In the same way, Luther’s stand for the truth spawned and emboldened not just Tyndale but many others to be true to their faith in Jesus Christ. In more recent times, Mother Theresa has spawned an army of people bent on doing good works, on ministering to the poor and relieving suffering wherever possible. Billy Graham has in like manner spawned an army of people whose vision is for evangelism and rescuing the lost from the enemies hold on their lives. And we too have an opportunity – every act of kindness, every stand for the truth, every display of faith has within it the seed to spawn similar actions in others who are waiting for someone to set the tone, to take the first step, to show that it can be done by men and women in our day!

God Bless
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church

Filled Up

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for

righteousness, for they will be filled.”
Matthew 5:6

Powdered sugar covered pizzelles, white fudge covered oreos, frosted sugar cookies in all the shapes of Christmas, and the family favorites with affectionate nicknames such as “the white cookies” and “Aunt Joanne’s cookies” only begin to tell the story of why, this time of year, I am rarely hungry when it comes to sitting down at meal time. My capacity, the room I have for food, whether junk food or that which has real nutritional value, is limited. And so enjoying one unfortunately comes at the expense of the other.

We don’t often look at it this way, but our ability to take in spiritual, mental, and emotional input into our lives is also limited. We have a capacity for the things that we can process in a given day, how much we can take in. If it was a recipe, it would include defined amounts of time used, of energy expended, of thoughts processed, and of emotions juggled. We have only so much time to divvy out, so much energy to use up before we collapse, so much mental strain to endure and so many emotions to control in a given 24 hour day. Take into consideration the absolutes, parenting and family responsibilities and the demands of our employment, and the pie gets even smaller for what’s available before there’s no room left for one more thing.

Two scriptures speak to this issue, having room for God. Psalm 10:4 speaks of the ungodly and says, “…in all his thoughts, there is no room for God.” And Jesus said this to his fellow Jews, “…..because you have no room for my word.” While their issue was motivational, we can find ourselves in the same place. And so we are faced with asking a couple questions. First, what are we filling our lives up with? Is it with junk food, with those things that have no intrinsic value but provide a temporary escape from facing life real issues? Are we putting first things first, as in eating the chicken, rice, green beans and salad of life before downing as many Christmas cookies as we have room left for? Are we finding there’s no room left for God because we’ve put watching our favorite television show, movie, sporting event or home project ahead of him. 

When our personal discipline aligns with our spiritual desires, we come to a place where we use the time and energy we’ve been given in ways that help us grow as individuals and that prepare us for all that life will bring our way. Maybe with every Christmas cookie we eat, there’ll come a reminder that spiritual junk food, time wasters and failed priorities, will cause us to lose our appetite for the true spiritual riches that are reserved for us.

God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church

That's Not A Buick!

“We can say with confidence and a clear conscience that we

have been honest and sincere in all our dealings with you.”
II Corinthians 1:12

The television commercials should have been replaced by now, an elderly woman looking out her window at her neighbor’s shiny new car and, upon finding out that it’s a Buick, exclaiming her surprise with the catch line, “That’s not a Buick.” But the reason that Buick continues to air those commercials is that they’re resonating with viewers and with car buyers. Between favorable acceptance ratings and the resulting increased car sales, the message that the stereotype of Buicks being for older buyers no longer applies is hitting home.

Stereotypes are a sad thing because they impose images on people’s minds of what others are like that are passed along from one generation to another with little or no thought for their applicability, relevance or truth. Now, some stereotypes are well earned. For example, in 2006, the average age for a Buick buyer was over 66, the highest in the auto industry by far. (You’ve heard of underage drinkers; so I was an underage Buick buyer all these years. Let’s keep going!) In order to survive, Buick has had to consciously break the stereotypes of their products’ appeal with sporty new car designs and an aggressive advertising strategy, in the process lowering the average age of a buyer to 57 in 2013.

In much the same way, Christianity has some stereotypes that we have to see broken, stereotypes that have only been fed by the political workings of “the religious right” in American. Stereotypes that Christians are one thing on the outside and another on the inside, one thing in church and another at home, one thing to your face and another behind your back, can only be broken with a new and stronger commitment to sincerity and honesty in all aspects of life. Paul had to write to the Corinthians believers and tell them, “We have conducted ourselves in our relations with you in the honesty and sincerity that come from God.” The problem is not new. Spurgeon asked this, “Who wounded the fair hand of godliness? Was it not the professing Christian who used the dagger of hypocrisy?”

Maybe it’s time for a new stereotype of Christianity to be formed, a stereotype of men and women who love their neighbors with sincerity and earnestness, a stereotype of men and women who are compassionate when confronted with the shortcomings of others, and a stereotype of people with unquestioned moral integrity. The task has fallen to our generation to impress on the minds of others a stereotype that is befitting a Savior who came to live among us and who gave His life on the cross that we might have the gift of eternal life.

God Bless
Pastor Joe