Godly Grouping.

Dodger:  Hi!  Thanks for coming by again.  I'm so glad you're here.  Lilly and I were about to read a letter from a friend down in South Dakota.  He goes by the name Clauly, and he does a lot of volunteer work.

Lilly:  He has all sorts of experience in helping people from working at homeless shelters to assistance in the middle of natural disasters.  The number and kinds of things he's done are so amazing that I can hardly wait to see what he's up to now.  What does the letter say, Dodger?

Dodger:  I'll show you.  We can all read it from here-

Lilly:  That sounds tough.  He asked us for advice.  Can you think of anything?

Dodger:  Well, to be honest...I'm not sure what to do.

Lilly:  They're building a church.  That's a great idea.  The real question is how they work out their public relations.

Dodger:  You know, all this talk about churches made me think of the book of Acts in the Bible and how the early church worked.

Lilly:  Let's look there!  Maybe there's some help for Clauly in it.  Oh, by the way, his name is pronounced CLAW-lee.  It's spelled kinda weird.

Dodger:  Let's see here.  Jesus is going into heaven in Acts 1.  Before He leaves, He tells His disciples to wait in the city of Jerusalem until after He sends them the Promise of the Father and they are baptized in the Holy Spirit.  So first He makes a promise, then He leaves them and goes into heaven.  They do as He says and then...we'll pick up the story in Acts 2.  Would you read, Lilly?

Lilly:  Sure.  "When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.  Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."  (Acts 2:1-4 NKJV)

Dodger:  Wow.  Could you imagine?  These people were just sitting there and all of a sudden, WHOOSH and the Holy Spirit gave them the ability to speak in other tongues!

Lilly:  That is pretty amazing, but you know, they weren't just sitting there.

Dodger:  How do you mean?

Lilly:  They were obeying Jesus and waiting for His promise.

Dodger:  That's true.

Lilly:  Plus, they were doing it as a group.

Dodger:  Right.

Lilly:  God blessed their obedience and fulfilled His promise.  It doesn't say in the Bible that it happened right away.  It may have taken some time, but God blessed the fact that they were serving Him.  As a result of the Holy Spirit's work, the people around Jerusalem took notice of what Jesus' followers were doing, and after a sermon from Peter, roughly 3000 people were saved.

Dodger:  Wow!  That's a lot of people in one day!  

Lilly:  It is, and it was possible because of their obedience to God.  He worked through them as a united group to fulfill His promise and save a ton of people.

Dodger:  I get it.  They may not have been worried about failing to finish, but they had to rely on God and be united.  They weren't squabbling or arguing or being harsh with one another.  They waited together to see what God would do.  I think the same advice could be given to Clauly.  Just keep waiting and trust that God will bless your team's efforts.  You'd be surprised what God can do through even a small group of people who come together to obey Him.  If you believe God meant for you to build the church don't give up. Who knows what God has waiting right around the corner?  In fact, Jesus Himself said in Matthew 18:19,  “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven." (NKJV)  How well this applies to obeying God!

Lilly:  Seems to me like the Bible knows how to give advice on everything important.

Dodger:  Well, it is God's Word, and He knows what's more important than anything.

Dodger:  Well, I gotta get ready for school.  In answer to Clauly's question I'd better write and tell him that things are good.

Lilly:  Me too.  I'm really happy our friend came by today.  Thank you so much for stopping here and hanging out with us.  Have a wonderful week!

Dodger:  Remember, Jesus loves you, and that's never going to change!

Lilly:  আসি!









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 NKJV Means New King James Version)

Stand Out, Stand Up.

Dodger:  Hello again!  I hope you had a Merry Christmas and are enjoying the new year!  I was very happy during those two holidays, or should I say, joyful, actually.  Knowing that 2014 is here fills me with anticipation for the future.  Lilly is going to be here pretty soon...wait.  I think my phone is ringing.  Please excuse me while I answer this a moment.  Hello?

Lilly:  Is anyone there?

Dodger:  Lilly?  Where are you?  I thought you'd be here by now.

Lilly:  I'm riding in the car.  I meant to get there on time, but traffic is terrible!  So I was just calling to let you know I'd be a bit late.

Dodger:  Oh.  Well, our friend's already here.  Should I dive right in to our discussion?

Lilly:  Yes please...hey, wait.  Why not just put me on speakerphone, and I can talk to you from here?

Dodger:  That's a good idea.  It just wouldn't be the same without you.  Hope we see you soon!

Lilly:  I'm still about forty minutes away.  I don't think I'll be there before we finish.  But at least I can share in the conversation!

Dodger:  Okay.  Say, I just realized I don't have a copy of our e-mail.  Do you have a copy on you?

Lilly:  Um...let me look here.  Oh there it is!  Should I send you a copy?

Dodger:  Or you could just read it to us.

Lilly:  Okay, that works too.
     "Dear Dodger and Lilly,                                                                                                                        I have some friends who like to watch movies I can't watch.  They recently invited me to the movie theater, their treat, but it's another film I can't watch.  My parents don't know about the invitation or the movie choice, but my friends suggested I just ask if I could see a movie with them.  I can't exactly say why, but for some reason this doesn't feel right.  Maybe it's because I'm afraid of the movie, but I think there's more.  On the other hand, I'd like to go hang with my friends.  Except for their movie choices, they're really nice people.  What ought I to do?  Thanks for your help

Sincerely,

Togo Orno"

Dodger:  Well, this is a little bit sticky, but the answer, it seems, has already been suggested by Togo's conscience.  Togo, you aren't supposed to watch the movie.  Additionally, if your parents knew the whole truth, they wouldn't agree to let you go.  Your friends are asking you to be sneaky and deceptive and lie to your parents, not by telling a lie, but by hiding the truth.

Lilly:  Wait Dodger.  Deceptive?

Dodger:  Yeah.  You know, not really honest.  Trying to hide something. 

Lilly:  I see.  I also agree with you.  Togo's friends aren't giving him good advice.  I guess the real trouble is that he wants to keep those friends and maybe fit in.

Dodger:  Sounds about right to me.  Of course, the Bible says something about doing wrong things on the advice of others.  It also shows what happened when an entire nation ignored what was right to do what felt better.  Lilly, I think it's in Proverbs 1.  Would you look quickly through the chapter and find the verses for me?  My phone can't do that.

Lilly:  Um...here it is.  It's Proverbs 1:10-19, which talks to a son, but is meant for daughters too!

"My son, if sinners entice you,
    do not consent. 

If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood;
    let us ambush the innocent without reason; 

like Sheol let us swallow them alive,
    and whole, like those who go down to the pit; 

we shall find all precious goods,
    we shall fill our houses with plunder; 

throw in your lot among us;
    we will all have one purse”— 

my son, do not walk in the way with them;
    hold back your foot from their paths, 

for their feet run to evil,
    and they make haste to shed blood. 

For in vain is a net spread
    in the sight of any bird, 

but these men lie in wait for their own blood;
    they set an ambush for their own lives. 

Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain;
    it takes away the life of its possessors."  (ESV)

Wait, Dodger, Togo's friends aren't trying to have him kill anyone!  They want him to lie to his parents and watch a bad movie.  I don't think that's quite as intense.

Dodger:  But it is, Lilly.  All sin is sin, period.  You aren't more guilty before God for killing someone than you are for lying to your parents.  The truth is that Togo's friends are enticing, that is, trying to convince him, to sin.  Although they aren't promising precious goods, they are promising a good time, trying to make sin look rewarding and worthwhile.  Proverbs issues a clear warning that we can't let ourselves fall into that trap.

Lilly:  Good point.  But what about the nation you talked about?  

Dodger:  Oh, right.  Well, that would be Judah.  You see, there was a long time in the Bible during which the children of Jacob, or Israel, were split up into two nations, Israel and Judah.  However, Israel did not serve God, and Judah only did at times.  The result was that God sent them both warnings urging them to serve Him and not the gods, or rather, the idols of their neighboring nations.  They didn't listen.  Sometimes they worshiped God, but it was along with other gods.  One day, Israel ceased to be a nation and was carried away by a hostile foreign power.  Judah remained a while longer, but they repeated many of Israel's mistakes, often ignoring God just as badly.  So God pronounced judgment on them.

Lilly:  Oh, that seems kind of sad.  Judgment is kind of a tough word.

Dodger:  It doesn't mean that God was criticizing them; it just means that He had to finally punish them for their sin.  One of the men God sent was named Zephaniah, who has a book in the Bible.  Let's take a look at some verses in chapter one, starting with verse 2.

Lilly:  Alright.  Here it is.

“I will utterly sweep away everything
    from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
“I will sweep away man and beast;
    I will sweep away the birds of the heavens
    and the fish of the sea,
and the rubble with the wicked.
    I will cut off mankind
    from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.
“I will stretch out my hand against Judah
    and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal
    and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests,
those who bow down on the roofs
    to the host of the heavens,
those who bow down and swear to the Lord
    and yet swear by Milcom,those who have turned back from following the Lord,
    who do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.”  (1:2-9, ESV, emphasis added)

Yikes!  That seems kind of harsh!  Was God that angry?

Dodger:  Well, God was probably angry, but that wasn't why He pronounced judgment.

Lilly:  Okay.  So what was the problem, besides what we mentioned?

Dodger:  The people were claiming to worship God, but they also worshiped other things, and God wasn't buying it.  Instead of doing what was right and obeying the rules God had given them years and years ago (with all sorts of wonderful promises attached to them),  they had allowed themselves to let other nations and their lifestyles become acceptable.  They pursued what was wrong, on purpose, because they thought it would make them happier in the end.

Lilly:  Oh, that's a sort of sad story.

Dodger:  Yeah, kind of.

Lilly:  Wait.  Are you saying that if we don't do what God says, He'll do all the stuff to us that He did to Israel?

Dodger:  Lilly, I can't really claim to know what God will do.  I do know, though, that the people in Judah lived under the Old Covenant before Jesus Christ came to take away the sins of the world.  So the mercy factor may have been different then.  However, that's besides the point.  Whether God has to punish us, or we trip ourselves up, our sin can never pay off.

Lilly:  Because God puts standards in place to protect us?

Dodger:  Yes.  He loves us too much to just let us do whatever we want.  Although he won't force us to do what He wants, that path is much more rewarding.

Lilly:  Togo's friends aren't the only pressure he gets to make him do what's wrong.

Dodger:  No.  Temptation, the wish to do what we know is wrong, keeps coming back, whether through our friends, our culture, or just our own sinfulness.  The key is to keep resisting it and fix our eyes on Jesus Christ.  We'll all fail at times, but we shouldn't let failure to obey God become a part of the way we live our lives.  Better a short life spent for God than a really long one of wrongdoing.

Lilly:  I just passed the block.  I'll come in in just a second, so you can hang up, if you want.

Dodger:  All right.

Lilly:  Hi there!  Thanks for coming.  Sorry it took me so long to get here.

Dodger:  That's fine.  I just realized, we need to get ready for school again tomorrow.  Well, I hope you have a great week.  Lilly and I will see you later.  Remember, Jesus loves you, and that's not about to change!

Lilly: O dabọ!



(ESV Means English Standard Version)