Tag Archives: Christianity

What Shall We Do

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - What Shall We Do?

Prostrate. Repentance. Praise.

These are proper responses to God.

I thank God for my dear sister Stephanie Atkins Arnett who regularly challenges me with her bias toward love in action. She asked a question that reminded me of the believers’ response to the pouring out of the Holy Spirit during Pentecost in Acts 2:37,

“Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?'”

In a previous post, I admonished us as a church, declaring that we have a problem.

The problem is we don’t love each other.

Sister Stephanie replied,

“You cited a challenge of our community…
Several have accepted the premise…
My question to you… what are actionable steps we can take, in addition to prayer?”

Thank you, dear sister, for that question and challenge!

This is what I believe God has put in my heart:

First, we need to become and operate as disciples NOT as members of an organization. Each of us, every one of us, should be functioning and expressing the life of Christ everywhere, every day and not just at club sanctioned activities.

Then, my answer [to the question] would first be the answer of the first century church, to come together at every opportunity (Acts 2:46), and labor intentionally to remove everything that separates us (Ephesians 4:1-5).

The idea is simple: by the grace of God, love each other the way Christ loves us, which flows out of the way He loves the Father, and then invite others into that love.

I have a vision of various fellowships across our community being held by disciples (not as a club recruitment function but as a sharing the love of Christ function) in their homes and businesses every day where we share the love of Christ and learn how to grow it (different people hosting at different places on different days. I personally want to attend one every day). Praise God that this is already happening to some degree.

We should then look around our fellowships and ask, “Is this representative of the makeup of my community, and moreover is this representative of the Kingdom of God?” If it is not, repent and strive to correct that. As Christ left heaven to get us, we should leave our comfort zones to get them (those that are lost or missing).

We should then connect those fellowships, using that network to identify and address needs and seize opportunities to grow the family of God.

Let’s start by dropping any such fellowships (not as a club recruitment function but as a sharing the love of Christ function) that we’re aware of in the comments.

If you’d like some training on this, let me know and we’ll make that happen.

Thanks again dear sister for the call to arms and action!

I love you.

Why I Hate This Cross

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Why I Hate The Starkville Cross Of Christ
Photo Courtesy Of Columbus Dispatch

Someone asked me privately why “I hate this thing” referring to the Starkville Cross of Christ as I mentioned in a previous post.

The ultimate point of that post was not the cross but how those of us in Christ can, by His grace, push past even very strongly held positions to fight toward each other in love.

Notwithstanding, I think it would be helpful to the cause of “fighting toward each other in love” to understand why I disdain this monument.

Despite a lot of responses to the post focusing on it, for me, it is not about the money or what it could have been better spent toward. That’s tertiary, at best.

But as I have written previously, I find the giant cross problematic, “not because of what it is but because of what it was erected in the absence of”.

The absence I’m referring to is love, basically.

Everything else is derivative.

It’s unfortunate that this cross was erected during one of the most divisive times in history, meanwhile:

there is no concerted effort by the Christian community here to address the schisms in the church. Sunday remains the most segregated day of the week.

there is no concerted effort by the church to address schisms in our community. We remain very divided.

and, there are a host of community challenges we, as the church, are well equipped and well resourced to address, yet no concerted effort.

We seem happy with the level of suffering around us, but erect a giant cross to symbolize Christ’s love.

Sigh.

Love is the primary thing.

And, that is what I find absent.

Building shelters, providing food banks, or erecting giant crosses will all be ultimately unprofitable without love.

As the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13, I can do all sorts of amazing and even extreme things like selling everything I have to feed the poor or even giving my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).

Christ’s love is supernatural because it’s God’s love.

That love will transform our community and us.

That love will engender the response appropriate to meet the specific need of each individual and branches properly to connect them all (to God).

It’s only something that those of us who are called by Christ can do.

Tactics ain’t gonna get it.

At the very most basic application, I can tell you that no one I love is going without anything if I can help it.

The problem is we don’t love each other.

Is there truly a God?

I believe there is.

Prove it.

Love miracuously.

This month the Laymen Fellowship worshipped together at Spring…

Originally posted on Facebook on Friday, April 21, 2023.

This month the Laymen Fellowship worshipped together at Spring Hill (we meet together with a different fellowship for each month). And, these words were dropped in my heart during our Bible study,

[I paraphrase]

"Jesus said, 'And, I will build My church…'

The word that Jesus uses for church ἐκκλησία or ekklēsia was a common word of that time. It is not an exclusively Christian word. Simply meaning "the called out ones", there were a lot of ekklēsias, assemblies that were gathered for various purposes.

So, what differentiates an ekklēsia is who is called out, what they are they called out for and by whom are they called out.

We are called out by Christ, but how do we know that we're in Christ church [ekklēsia] (versus the many other varieties of 'churches')?

We will know that we are in Christ's church because Hell is loosing.

Jesus said, 'I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.'"
-Tony Evans

Hell is losing because we're standing on faith in Jesus.

Join us.

The Prescription For Discouragement

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - The Prescription For Discouragement

Notes from my time in the Word this morning:

Psalm 42 reveals that the prescription for discouragement is praise.

But, it requires remembering.

“O my God, my soul is cast down within me,
Therefore I will remember…”
-Psalm 42:6

It is essential to chronicle the true good you’ve enjoyed.

If I don’t celebrate the good, I am more susceptible to discouragement, readily deceived into believing that I’ve never had any.

And above all, it is essential to recognize Who is responsible for that good.

From there, true praise emerges as our hearts are lifted to where He is, and not long after our circumstances.

“Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
For I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God.”
-Psalm 42:11

I Came Anyway

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - I Came Anyway

I hate this thing.

I’ve shared about it before, so I won’t rehash it here. But, suffice it to say it’s ominous and does not convey love to me -not because of what it is but because of what it was erected in the absence of.

Nevertheless, this is the point and the most important takeaway:

I came anyway.

Despite my revulsion, I came to this monument because there were people I love who were meeting there, people who do not share my view on this issue and people who truly love God.

Nothing separates us from the love of Christ. Therefore, I refuse to let any thing, including my hurt, suspicions or preferences, separate me from those He loves.

If you’ve got one toe on Jesus, I’m trying to meet you there. And, if you don’t, I’m trying to get you there.

Christ has given us the power to prevail against the very gates of Hell.

Very often we have to fight through those gates to get to each other.

We must fight toward each other, like Christ fought for us.

Go. Make war.

Love.

Versus: Cheap Vs Deep

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Cheap VS Deep

There are cheap laughs:

crude jokes or stupid videos that illicit a laugh reaction only for me to shortly return to my gloom.

Then there are deep laughs:

experiences or memories rooted in relationship that swell within me into a smile or laughter. It causes me to live [it] again, to ponder people, revisit places and abide in that joy.

Likewise, there are cheap experiences:

things we do that bring us immediate satisfaction but a satisfaction that ends as soon as the activity is over (and often result in a worst state than before we engaged in the activity).

Then there are deep experiences:

things we do that cause us to love, learn, and grow. Things that yield results that will remain with us for the rest of our lives.

When it comes to God, we often want to just “feel”, to have a momentary “spiritual” high (which are often counterfeit –not real) to carry us for a week or so while we busy ourselves with worthless things that do not satisfy and actually cause us more harm [cheap experiences].

Where God wants us to “know” Him –an abiding and an awareness that results in a confidence which only comes from obedience to Him [deep experiences].

“And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!'”
-Galatians 4:6

The deep experience is to know God (awareness, obeying, abiding) which is very different and much harder than just feeling (encouraged, excited, inspired).

There is nothing wrong with emotions. Emotions are God given and often result from an experience with Him. But God is a Spirit and therefore we primarily experience Him, not emotionally but, spiritually. This is about order, seeking to experience God spiritually and enjoying whatever emotions result, instead of the other way around. The order, what I seek first, largely determines whether my experience is cheap or deep.

The deep experiences are sometimes hard and uncomfortable but they result in life.

In everything you do and in how you do it, prefer those things that don’t often come naturally and are usually harder but that result in us being with God more.

Don’t go cheap, with fleeting pleasures that are ultimately unsatisfying and unprofitable.

Seek the heart of God through prayer and His Word, and seek to be with God through obedience to what Christ reveals –the One who gives us life and causes us to love learn and grow.

Make the extra effort to be with God.

It’s harder, but it satisfies and will be so worth in the future.

Go deep.

This Is Going To Hurt

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - This Is Going To Hurt

I’m going to be real.

I have oriented my life around avoiding pain.

It’s evident even in the little things.

I cling to the sheets of my bed a little longer waiting for the chill of the morning to subside.

But there is nothing that hinders growth more than avoiding pain.

When I look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, He was literally in paradise.

But, unlike me with my bed covers, He didn’t think paradise was anything to hold on to (Philippians 2:5-8).

Rather, He considered the will of His Father to be greater.

“He became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross,” Philippians 2:8 says.

Doing that demonstrates a love that’s greater than His comfort.

It also demonstrates an unwavering trust of His Father.

I imagine Jesus, my Elder Brother, loving the Father and knowing His will to be perfect, steps forward without flinching, completely willing to take on the challenge.

God the Father asks, “Who will go for us?”

Jesus, God the Son, says, “I’ll go.”

As He goes, I can imagine Him thinking,
“This is going to hurt, but this is going to be good.”

I repent.

I aspire be like Him, to love God more than my comfort, to trust His plan, to go –to cast aside comfort and take on the day, fully embracing the challenges, pain and suffering before me to grow, and to be made like Christ, fit to rule.

I go. I attack the day out of love for my Father, trusting and executing His plan, thinking,

“This is going to hurt, but this is going to be good.”

MEN: There is 2X the opportunity for fellowship this Thursday,…

Originally posted on Facebook on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.

MEN: There is 2X the opportunity for fellowship this Thursday, April 20, 2023:

Men's Lunch Fellowship – 12:00 PM
New Horizons Christian Fellowship
1010 Victory Lane
Starkville, MS 39759

Men's Laymen Fellowship (with dinner) – 6:30 PM
Spring Hill M.B. Church
1692 Louisville Street
Starkville, MS 39759

NOTE:
The men of the Laymen Fellowship are seeking to aid some of the smaller communities in Mississippi like Wren and Vaiden that sustained significant tornado damage but did not receive the same attention as areas like Amory and Rolling Fork.

Leadership has asked each man to come prepared to donate $25 or more to this effort.

Join us.

Always Winning

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Always Winning

When we misunderstand what Christianity really is and the desire of our hearts are amiss, we can often think and feel that we’re losing when we’re actually winning.

In the biblical account of Acts 16 we observe how Paul and Silas have devoted themselves to the work of the Lord. There is no question that they are where God would have them to be, doing what God would have them to do.

Yet, by verse 22 of the same chapter, they find themselves having their backs beaten open, their feet shackled and being thrown in a dark jail cell.

Admittedly, were it me, I would have thought,

“What have I done wrong?”

“I’m trying to do the right things.”

“Then, why is this happening to me?!” as though obedience and living for Christ should only result in pleasant things and a life of ease without hardship.

But where did that idea come from? Jesus certainly did not teach that.

By the Spirit of God the Apostle Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:12,
“Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”

This, I believe, was born out of Jesus’s own words in John 16:33,
“In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Obedience and living for Christ as a means of gain, attaining worldly pleasure and a life of ease without hardship is an insidious deception that Satan harvests from our own unregenerate, fleshly hearts so he can inoculate us with it later, a deception that can be reintroduced casually, subtly and imperceptibly –even from the pulpit as preachers tickle our itching ears with what we want, which infects our heart and causes our desire to be amiss.

It’s a Christianity that makes God merely a means to an end (“the good life”), when He should be everything.

This is why it is imperative to stay immersed in the Word, to submit to the Word, to stand on the Word and watch, guarding against my own heart because it is deceitfully wicked. His heart should be the pursuit and the Word is the seed of His heart being formed in me by the work of the Holy Spirit.

So, I repent.

The true aim of Christianity is TO BE WITH GOD.

That results in us:
Going where God goes,
Doing what God does,
Loving who God loves,
Wanting what God wants.

Where does God go? Everywhere. (Psalm 19:1-4, Matthew 24:14, Mark 16:15 )

What does God do? Making Himself known and giving life by doing so. (Isaiah 11:6-9, Habakkuk 2:14, John 17:3)

Who does God love? The world, especially those who love Him. (Exodus 20:5-6, 33:19, John 3:16)

What does God want? His creation redeemed, all things reconciled to Himself, Us conformed to the image of His Son, His children to be part of His work. (Genesis 12:3, 2 Corinthians 5:18‭-‬20, 2 Peter 3:9, Ephesians 2:10)

He did that.

All that He desires, He has done. (Isaiah 55:11)

Jesus’s last words from the cross, “It is [was/is/shall be] finished” recorded in John 19:30 was the cry of victory.

God has won.

And it is this reality and Jesus’s words in the latter part of John 16:33 that I believe Paul and Silas have confidence in and that allow them to respond to tribulation in the manner that they did -“praying and singing hymns to God” (Acts 16:25). Again, those words from Jesus were,

“In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” -John 16:33

“I have overcome the world.”

The hearts of Paul and Silas were not amiss. Their desire was not for a nice house, a successful career or easy going. Like Jesus, their heart was to be with God, to the extent that they WANTED to share in Christ’s sufferings to be with Him and to see God’s will done –a will they were confident was being accomplished even in the midst of what appeared to be a setback.

And, God’s will was being accomplished.

“Then he [the jailer] called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?'” -Acts 16:29-‬30

That night, the entire prison was witnessed to, the jailer and his entire household (which may have extended well beyond his immediate family, potentially including servants and their families, etc.) were saved and baptized.

Hallelujah.

Would this have occurred if Paul and Silas were sulking, crying, complaining and begrudging their circumstances?

No.

But Paul and Silas were operating from a position of winning.

Their example in Acts 16 encapsulates Romans 8:28-29,

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

“We KNOW…”

Paul and Silas were confident in the victory of Jesus Christ and they knew that even their imprisonment would work together for good.

And, what was that good?

That “whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

Said another way, Paul and Silas knew that the good that would come of a seemingly bad situation was that either they (or another) would be made to look more like Christ (“conformed to the image of His Son”) and/or the family of God would grow (“that He might be the firstborn among many brethren”) which pleased God and therefore pleased them.

The Apostle Paul writes victoriously,

“So [at the end of the day] when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written:

‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’
‘O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?’

The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
-1 Corinthians 15:54-58

When my heart is amiss, it can feel like I’m losing even when I’m winning.

But when I center my hope and expectation in Christ, seeking those things which are above and eternal such as being with Him and being like Him, rather than seeking those things below and temporary such as worldly goods and pleasure, I can live joyfully in any circumstance to His praise and glory, knowing because He’s won, I’m always winning.

What do you see?

A prison cell to complain about or a platform to glorify Christ and secure a crown?

For those of us in Christ, everything is an opportunity “for we know ALL things work together for good to those who love God.”

Whether we seize it, depends on how we see it.

Delight yourself in the Lord, make Him alone the desire of your heart and you will see

Because He’s won, I’m always winning

Resulting in growth and life in Christ.

#perfectourlove #winning

The Thief On The Cross And What It Really Means To Be Saved

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - The Thief On The Cross And What It Really Means To Be Saved

I am so thankful for the cross because religious people try to complicate salvation and create hoops for people to jump through, but the cross demonstrates the simplicity of Christ.

At the cross we find astonishingly simple clarity.

Namely, the salvation of the thief on the cross, where Jesus saves a convicted sinner in his dying moments.

There is no time for religion, no perfectly worded expression of faith, no baptism, no works, no apparent fruit in that moment.

Yet, the thief was saved.

All of our theology has to square with this fact.

I draw many things from it but the one that’s heaviest on my heart right now is grace.

What’s displayed gloriously in the interaction between Jesus and the dying thief is grace.

Not grace in the sense of leniency or merely benevolence, but grace in the sense of the sovereign, unmerited, unassisted work of God.

God does it all.

The thief was mocking Jesus along with the crowd that was crucifying Jesus and him! But, at some point something changed.

I believe what Jesus described to Nicodemus in John 3:8 happened here,
“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

I believe the Holy Spirit gave the thief ears to hear and eyes to see and at that moment he was allowed to see Who was hanging next to him.

Above Jesus’s head was written, “King of the Jews” (John 19:21) but the thief was allowed to see that He was not just an earthly king, He was the King of a Kingdom not of this world –a kingdom where the thief wanted to be.

“Then he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.'” -Luke 23:42

And Jesus responds,
“Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
-Luke 23:43

God does it all.

We like the thief are dying.

Sin is the disease that’s killing us.

We were without hope until Hope was revealed –hope established before the world was.

God had the Cure.
He promised the Cure.
He showed us the formula of the Cure (but even with that we could not grasp it).
He gave us the ability to receive (perceive) the Cure.
He gave us the Cure.
He is the Cure.
He heals us through the Cure.
The Cure is Jesus Christ.

Grace.

All the thief did was not reject it.

I feel led to take a moment and ask why would he [reject it]? At this point he has nothing to lose.

God had to bring me to such a point –of utter brokenness and despair where I had nothing else to lose. Very often it’s comfort, wealth or even just sufficiency -life being “good enough”, that’s deceiving us, holding us back and that causes us to fail to see our desperate need for Jesus.

I implore you, don’t be proud like I was, I would spare you that pain!

Humble yourself and seek the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God has come in the person of Jesus Christ. Seek the Lord while He may be found!

With a humble heart, petition the Holy Spirit to give you eyes to see and ears to hear as He’s done for the thief on the cross.

Look upon Jesus, hear Him through the Word, believe and be saved.

Grace.

God does it all.

All the thief did was not reject it.

The clarifying message of the salvation of the thief on the cross was that God does it all. Salvation is a gift that we simply receive –a gift that is imparted when we accept Jesus as He really is, just as the thief on the cross saw Him.

Dear brother, formerly called the thief on the cross, what did you see?

“I am a sinner, justly condemned (Luke 23:40-41), but this man is what is spoken of Him even though I may not know what that fully means: the Christ, King of The Jews (Luke 23:35-39), a King of a Kingdom that is not of this world –a kingdom where I want to be, He is One who will live again and who can make me live again (Luke 23:42).”

I love a commentary by Pastor Alistair Begg on the matter: “The thief enters heaven and he is asked about how he got there and what he knows about this doctrine or that and the thief replies, ‘All I know is that the Man on the middle cross said I could come.'”

Hallelujah!

The thief did everything that is necessary to be saved: He did not reject the grace God made available through Jesus Christ.

Right now, Jesus Christ, the grace and salvation of God, is being presented to you.

All you have to do is not reject it.

Accept it. Believe Jesus. Be saved.

I conclude with a caution: the thief did all that was necessary to be saved and enter life, yet their is so much more to be had. He was like a baby that was born but who’s earthly body was immediately aborted.

Yes, by all means, enter life BUT DON’T STOP THERE.

There is more life to be had.

Let us who live also continue on to maturity, enjoying and exercising the grace of God to His glory for all of our days.

Don’t live a minimal life.

Enter by grace.
Continue in grace.
Grow in grace.

Amazing Grace.

#grace #resurrection #ressurectionsunday