DESPERATION: "Desperate Measures"

Here are the notes from the message Sunday at New Life Community Church.  If you desire to listen to this message, you may do so by going to our website at www.newlifesite.com.  God bless!

Desperation, Part 1                                                      Sunday, August 3, 2014

“Desperate Measures”

Just completed series Turning Points:

1. Turning Points for our Nation

2. Turning Points for the Family

3. Turning Points for the Church

4. Turning Points for You

We need an encounter with God the Holy Spirit.  We need a touch from His presence.  We need to be built on God’s Word.  We need to have a burning passion for people.

²⁸ “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.  ²⁹ Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.  ³⁰ I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke.  ³¹ The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.  ³² And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.  Joel 2:28-32 (NIV)

“Desperate times call for desperate measures.”

Hippocrates:  "For extreme diseases, extreme methods of cure, as to restriction, are most suitable."[1].

Erasmus:  "Malo nodo, malus quærendus cuneus"  which means “for a hard knot a hard tool must be sought.”

Lowe’s Commercial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzwLSVJTCWc

A.    Desperate

1.      Definition:  des·per·ate

adjective

adjective: desperate

                  feeling, showing, or involving a hopeless sense that a situation is so bad as to be impossible to deal with.  "a desperate sadness enveloped Ruth"

synonyms:

despairing, hopeless; More (of an act or attempt) tried in despair or when everything else has failed; having little hope of success.  "drugs used in a desperate attempt to save his life"

synonyms:

last-ditch, last-gasp, eleventh-hour, do-or-die, final; More (of a situation) extremely bad, serious, or dangerous.  "there is a desperate shortage of teachers"

synonyms:

grave, serious, critical, acute, risky, precarious; More (of a person) having a great need or desire for something.  "I am desperate for a cigarette"

synonyms:

in great need of, urgently requiring, in want of; More (of a person or fight) violent or dangerous.  "a desperate criminal"

synonyms:

violent, dangerous, lawless; More

2.    Full Definition of DESPERATE

Ø  1        a :  having lost hope <a desperate spirit crying for relief>

          b :  giving no ground for hope <the outlook was desperate>

Ø  2          a :  moved by despair <victims made desperate by abuse>

o   b :  involving or employing extreme measures in an attempt to escape defeat or frustration <made a desperate leap for the rope>

Ø  3          :  suffering extreme need or anxiety <desperate for money>

Ø  4          :  involving extreme danger or possible disaster <a desperatesituation>

Ø  5          :  of extreme intensity

Ø  6          :  shocking, outrageous

3.      des·per·ate

adjective

1.  reckless or dangerous because of despair or urgency: adesperate killer.

2.  having an urgent need, desire, etc.: desperate for attention.

3.  leaving little or no hope; very serious or dangerous: a desperateillness.

4.  extremely bad; intolerable or shocking: clothes in desperate taste.

5.  extreme or excessive.

Desperate Measures:

Desperate measures either push you toward God or away from God – toward good or toward bad.

Example: 

TV Show Breaking Bad on the Dangers of Pride

The critically-acclaimed TV show Breaking Bad centers on the story of Walter White, a bored high school chemistry teacher who discovers that he has stage III lung cancer. Desperate to provide for his family, Walter decides to start manufacturing methamphetamine to create a nest egg. Initially, his goal is to make about $750,000; enough to cover the mortgage, college for both his kids and to cover any other major expenses that might arise over the next 20 years.

But as the series moves forward, the drama focuses on Walter's transformation from a frustrated middle-class American male to a drug kingpin and a cold-blooded killer. The central question of Breaking Bad Becomes this: What makes a person "Bad"? As the story develops we get a clear answer: at some point, Walter decided to become bad.

Specifically, Walter succumbs to the sin of pride. Initially, his pride was submerged under a thin veneer of suburban respectability. But as the show progresses, Walter's pride rises to the surface. In one of the show's most stunning scenes, Walter chillingly explains to his wife Skyler why he's the man in charge when it comes to Mexican cartels and the drug trade. He says,

Who are you talking to right now? Who is it you think you see? Do you know how much I make a year? I mean, even if I told you, you wouldn't believe it. Do you know what would happen if I suddenly decided to stop going in to work? A business big enough that it could be listed on the NASDAQ goes belly up. It disappears. It ceases to exist without me. No, you clearly don't know who you're talking to. So let me clue you in. I am not in danger, Skyler. I am the danger. A guy opens his door and gets shot, and you think that of me? No. I am the one who knocks.

Walter is no longer the frustrated, somewhat bumbling and basically good genius of season one. He's changed, and we're encouraged to look at him the way Diane Keaton looks at Al Pacino at the end of The Godfather: "What's happened to you?" It's a mixture of horror, deep regret, and revulsion. It's a disturbing picture of the evils of pride.

Good people under pressure can go good or break bad.

Desperate Measures:

1.     An EYE-OPENING Encounter

“O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am!  Psalm 39:4 (ESV)

Andy Stanley:  Everybody ends up somewhere in life.  A few people end up somewhere on purpose.

2.     A LIFE-TRANSFORMING Experience

Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.  Hosea 10:12 (ESV)

3.     A CYCLE-BREAKING Decision

¹³ Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. ¹⁴ For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” ¹⁵ Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, ¹⁶ “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.” ¹⁷ Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.  Esther 4:13-17 (ESV)

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: the Purpose of Prophecy

¹ Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” ² And I looked, and behold, a white horse ...  ³ When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.” ⁴ Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; …  ⁵ When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. … ⁷ When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” ⁸ So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, Revelation 6:1-8 (NKJV)

The 6th chapter of the book of Revelation tells about four horsemen.  These four represent the great enemies of mankind, and have been called “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.”  Historically, they have been interpreted as plague, war, famine, and death.  Events of the past few weeks make these prophetic images seem far more than symbolic – they are in the news.

PLAGUE

The outbreak of the Ebola virus in Africa demands our attention.  In case you don't know, Ebola is what is referred to as a hemorrhagic fever.  That means it causes hemorrhaging in its victims.  They literally bleed out as the virus attacks the vascular system.  Death can come rapidly.  It has a 90% death rate for infection!  One day a slight headache; that night fever; then bleeding; sometimes within 24 hours the victim is dead.  

The World Health Organization tells us that the Ebola outbreak in the West African nations of Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia is “out of control.” Time will only tell how far the disease will spread and how many lives will be lost.  This past week, Dr. Kent Brantly was flown out of Africa to Atlanta to be treated at Emory University Hospital under the care of the Centers for Disease Control.  Dr. Brantly is a Christian missionary doctor who had been treating Ebola victims and has now contracted the disease.  He is the first infected individual to arrive in America.  P.S. please pray for Dr. Brantly, for his recovery and for his family.

As Christians, we see prophecy being fulfilled before our eyes.  Plague and epidemic are scattered through the pages of history.  The Black Death of the 14^th Century took as many as 200 million souls.  The influenza pandemic of 1918 killed between 75 and 100 million.   Experts tell us Ebola could be as bad.

The fragility of life always points us toward God.  In a moment’s time, the world as we know it could be radically altered.  Revelation 9:18 says that by these apocalyptic plagues “a third of mankind was killed.”  I am not saying Ebola is the fulfillment of this horrific prophecy.  I am saying that such an epidemic lies ahead in world history. 

What we are witnessing in West Africa reminds us of what’s truly important – our upward relationship with God through Jesus.  In an unsafe world, He is our security and our hope.

WAR

Another horseman is showing himself.  The dual situations of Israel and Ukraine put us on the brink of serious conflict. 

I am by no means an international expert, so my words here are nothing but the observations of a concerned individual.

It seems that the spirit of Adolf Hitler has resurrected in the person of Vladimir Putin.  No longer German, instead it is Russian nationalism and supposed superiority at work.  It seems that President Putin is dead-set on Russian “manifest destiny.”  He wants to re-gather the old Soviet Union and perhaps more.  This was the course of Hitler in the 30’s to restore Germany’s pre-WWI lebensraum (“living space”).  My prayer is that calm and deliberate intervention will prevent Mr. Putin from following through on his grandiose goals.

Alongside the Russian/Ukrainian debacle is the distressing developments between Israel and Hamas – the Gaza conflict.  It is tragic in that civilians are dying.  But the upshot could be massive criticism and isolation of Israel.  AMERICA MUST NOT MOVE AWAY FROM ISRAEL. 

The prophetic implications are huge.  Once again, I do not know if the current conflict will escalate.  I pray it will not.  But, the destiny of Israel lies in the balance.  Echoes of Armageddon may be in the air.

DEATH and FAMINE

Genocide hit new depths during the 20^th century.  It is almost unthinkable.  The most widely known is the 6 million Jews of the Holocaust, but actually there is a bigger story around Hitler’s atrocities.  The 6 million does not include the Gypsies, the Soviets, the Polish, the disabled, the mentally deficient, and others.  Totals reach as high as 17 million. 

Stalin’s Russia of the 1930’s killed upwards of 7 million.  The worst was Mao Ze-Dong’s China from 1949-1969: 50 million!  Add to these the Killing Fields of Pol Pot’s Cambodia – the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo – the list goes on.  The Horseman of Death has gone out into the world.

 The fourth horseman is famine.  There is absolutely no reason why tens of thousands die from malnutrition – whether it be China, Somalia, Ethiopia, or India.  It is an evidence not of crop failure, but of human failure.  The depravity of man – the greed of leaders – has produced frequent images of frail bodies dying of hunger.  One of the worst was the Irish famine of 1849-50.  Underneath this and other such tragedies was politics.

THE PURPOSE OF PROPHECY

The purpose of all these prophetic events is not to frighten us.  Rather it is to confirm us about what is truly important.  While the world rocks on its axis, Christians have the responsibility of reminding the world of the only One who does not shake, does not waver, does not fail. 

The purpose of prophecy is to keep us from being shaken while everything around us falls apart.  As our world hurtles toward its ultimate destruction, we serve a God who prevails, who wins, whose Kingdom is forever.

There is one other Horseman in the Book of Revelation.  We find Him in Chapter 19:11-16.  When He comes riding on His horse, all the pretenders will be dismounted and defeated.  This is the promise of Scripture.  This is the reality underlying human history.  This is what holds us steady while famine, plague, war, and death seem so powerful.  We are riding with a different horseman.  He is called the Word of God.  He is named Jesus.

Romans 1:1. The Freedom of Slavery

The Freedom of Slavery

Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God.  Romans 1:1 (NKJV) 

An Explosive Word

"Slavery" is an explosive word.  This practice nearly destroyed our nation 150 years ago.  We still live with the shame of that era.  The word "slave" carries so much baggage that translators of the New Testament have almost uniformly refused to use it in our English editions.  Instead, they use "servant" or "bondservant."

In a world full of egotists, Paul's first description of himself is radical.  He calls himself a doulos -- a slave. Though he has ample reason to boast of his many accomplishments, he describes himself first in humble, almost humiliating terms.

There are two main words in the New Testament usually translated "servant."  They are diakonos (from which we get the word "deacon") and doulos.  Diakonos means to render service to someone -- literally "to run errands" -- something like a table waiter.  Doulos goes further and carries the meaning of subservience and ownership.  R.C. Trench in his word studies says of doulos, "the will of the servant becomes swallowed up in the will of the master."  

Give Me Some Respect

Doulos challenges us!  Our culture is fueled by hype and hubris.  Self-image, self-respect, and self-worth are center stage.  Self, self, self!  In the words of Andre Agassi, "Image is everything."  We fight for our rights and refuse to be used.  "Nobody is going to tell me what to do!"  "I deserve a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T."

Yet, the greatest apostle of all time calls himself a doulos -- a slave, a bondservant.  Jesus set the pattern.  In Matthew 20:27-28, He says, "27 And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave (doulos)— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

True Freedom

When we understand the true meaning of doulos -- servanthood -- it is an incredibly liberating truth!  When we bow as slaves to Jesus, He elevates us in ways unknown to the world. When we stop fighting, He fights for us. When we surrender, He defends. When we yield our rights, He upholds our worth.

"Slavery" is transformed from a despised term of humiliation to a cherished description of dignity -- of one owned by the Lord, directed by the Spirit, and controlled by God's Word.  My rights are no longer my own, but God upholds me.  Such is true freedom.

Questions:  
How is servanthood opposite to the way the world operates?
Why are many people afraid to become a doulos?
How can you be a servant to someone today?

The Second Most Controversial Person in the New Testament

The Second Most Controversial Person 

in the New Testament

Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God.  Romans 1:1 (NKJV)

I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise.  Romans 1:14 (NKJV)

Some people seem to always be at the center of a storm.  They are lightning rods. The most controversial person of history is Jesus.  He is certainly the most controversial in the New Testament.  The second most divisive has to be the Apostle Paul. Like Jesus, he still stirs strong emotion today.  He is either loved as a great apostle or hated as a pious imposter -- studied as the prime interpreter of the Gospel or disdained as a corrupter of truth.

The Apostle Paul by Bartolomeo Montagna

Paul Then

In the early church, there was a teacher by the name of Marcion who so admired Paul that he re-arranged the entire Bible -- nearly declaring Paul to be divine.  But there were others who called him a devil, accusing him of destroying Moses and the Law.  An entire church council had to be called in Acts 15 to face the fuss Paul was stirring up as he preached to Gentiles.

Paul Today

Today, we find Paul just as provocative.  I have had individuals tell me they simple do not like Paul!  Jesus, YES.  Paul, NO.  (As if you can cut up the New Testament cafeteria-style)  "Paul is anti-women," they say.  "Paul is anti-gay," they shout.  "Paul is anti-Jewish law."  There is a line of thought that says Paul wrote all the divisive parts of the New Testament while Jesus only spoke of love and peace.  So -- AWAY WITH PAUL!

What Do You Think?

So, we must decide.  What will we do with the Apostle Paul?  Here are the facts.  Though not one of the original 12 apostles, yet he wrote 13 of the 27 books we call the New Testament.  He was perhaps the greatest church planter of all time, seeding faith communities across the Roman empire.  He was the driving force that brought Christianity from being a small sect of Judaism to being a free-standing force in the world. Edgar Goodspeed writes, "When Christianity seemed in danger of withering into just another sect of Judaism ... one man appeared who saw far more."  He took Christianity to the nations.

Paul Writing His Epistles by Valentin de Boulogne

A Self-Description

Romans is Paul's greatest letter -- his magnus opus.  If we would digest the message of Paul we must know this book.  So we say, "Paul, speak to us!"  The first thing we read is, in fact, Paul's description of himself. He tells us in Chapter 1 three things about himself we should know.

He is ...
1. a bondservant.
2. an apostle.
3. a debtor.

What an introduction.  What do these mean?  If you were describing Paul, would you use these terms?  Let's take a moment to dig into these.  They contain keys to the man -- pictures of his heart.

Questions about Identity:
1. How do you see yourself?  What words would you use to describe yourself?
2. How much does pride figure into the way most folks portray themselves?
3. Why in the world would the first description Paul uses be BONDSERVANT?

Questions about Paul:
1.  Do you accept the apostolic authority of Paul, or do you see him as a little lower on the ladder than the other apostles?
2.  Do you see a disagreement between Paul and Jesus?
3.  Why do you think Jesus chose Paul to do such an important job?

TURNING POINTS: "Turning Points for the Church"

Here are the notes for the message yesterday at New Life Community Church.  If you desire to listen to this message, you may do so by going to our website at www.newlifesite.com.  God bless!

Turning Points, Part 3                                            Sunday, July 20, 2014

“Turning Points for the Church”

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven:  Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NKJV)

¹⁶ Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷ And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”  Matthew 16:16-19 (ESV)

Jesus has promised that His church will prevail. 

Yet here is the reality:

Researcher David Olson tells us that 3,500 to 4,000 local churches in the United States go out of existence each year.

Decline in church attendance.

1950’s approximately 47%

Today:  a little over 18%

Rise in internet spirituality.

The Passenger Pigeon

Once the most abundant bird in the world.  Accounted for more than a quarter of all birds in North America.  Hunting and habitat destruction led to demise.

One migratory flock in early 20^th century:  1 mile wide and 300 miles long – took 14 hours to pass – in excess of 3.5 billion birds.

Last one died Sept. 1, 1914 in Cincinnati Zoo.

Dodo

Mauritius.  Had no natural enemies.  Did not need to fly.  When man arrived, it was defenseless.

Two Simple Reasons for Extinction:

1.     Could not ADAPT.

2.     Did not REPRODUCE.

Birth-rate.

Standard replacement for population equilibrium requires that every couple produce two children and that each child does the same when they grow up. However this model is too simple and needs to consider that:
(1)    one or both children may die before adulthood
(2)    one or both children may not marry or live in a relationship, or
(3)    they may have only one child or none at all.

Hence the fertility rate to sustain a culture has to be greater than 2, and research shows it to be 2.11.
So it is stated that:
(1)    a culture can’t survive over generations if the fertility rate drops to below 2.11
(2)    history tells us that even at a fertility rate of 1.9, no previous culture has survived
(3)    at a rate of 1.3, it is impossible to recover.

Pew Research for Europe:

Non-Muslim Fertility Rate: 1.5

Muslim Fertility Rate:  2.2

It is estimated that Germany will be Islamic by 2015 if current trends continue.

The Netherlands will be a 50% muslim country within 15 years (2024), and Belgium by 2025. Even Russia will be 50% Muslim around 2050.

Will the America Church Survive?

In a recent sermon, Pastor James McDonald from Walking in the Word Ministries revealed these shocking numbers about Christianity in America:

1.      Of the 250,000 Protestant churches in America, 200,000 are either stagnant (with no growth) or declining. That is 80% of the churches in America and maybe the one you attend, if you attend at all.

2.      4,000 churches close their doors every single year.

3.      There is less than half of the number of churches today than there were only 100 years ago.

4.      3,500 people leave the church every single day.

5.      Since 1950, there are 1/3^rd fewer churches in the U.S.

Look at Western Europe.

Denominational Crises:

United Methodist Church

Episcopal Church

Rise of the Megachurch.

Rise of the None’s

1.     Powered by PRESENCE.

Worship

Holy Spirit

¹⁶ making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸ And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, ²⁰ giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,  Ephesians 5:16-20 (ESV)

2.     Built on the BIBLE.

¹³ each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. ¹⁴ If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.  ¹⁶ Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?  I Corinthians 3:13-16 (ESV)

3.     Passionate about PEOPLE.

Birth Rate

Do anything short of sin to win people to Jesus.

³⁵ And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; ³⁸ therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”  Matthew 9:35-38 (ESV)