And the greatest of these is.... - News from the Field and around the WWW
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13 about the greatest gifts that we hold as God’s children. He spoke of three things…faith, hope, and charity (love). Let’s take a look at these three items for a moment.
Faith - Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Heb 11:1). Without faith, it is impossible to please Him (Heb 11:6). Faith without works is dead (James 2:26).
We often hear the phrase “you just have to have faith.” But, how do we know what faith really is, and when do we have it? Faith is sometimes compared to the element of hope in which that we “believe” that something will in fact happen. Heavenly faith is certainly a characteristic of the child of God, in which one believes in that eternal home described in John 14 and in Revelation 21. Faith and hope have to go hand in hand in order to make a lot of sense it would seem, so let’s look at the next item:
Hope - What is hope? Hope has evolved in definition and usage over the years. Today, when we hear someone talk about hope, it is more of a “wish” being completed it would seem. But, in the vernacular of the Bible, hope is much deeper than that. Peter mentions that we must be able to give an account for the hope in which we have (1 Pet 3:15)…that doesn’t sound quite like a granted wish to me. It sounds more like an assurance of things to come. We may sing the song Blessed Assurance at times…but do we really mean it? If we have hope, we should…and we should show our faith IN our hope!
So that brings us to the last one…
Charity - often quoted as “love”. These two words are pretty interchangeable, but at the same time, the heaviness of the word charity seems to go way beyond the word of “love” in our generic use. We hear the term “love” everywhere these days. On social media, you can even “love” a thought someone has, or a picture they post, and so on. But, that love isn’t quite the same is it? Charity carries the idea of doing good for others in our modern day thoughts. Is that much different than what Paul meant in 1 Corinthians 13? Maybe not so much! Loving someone is a deep care for them. Love is much deeper than a heart emoji. Think about the words of Jesus when He said, “love your neighbor as yourself.” Sometimes, we say it is hard to love ourselves. But, with that thought, I want to share with you how much love that I have for YOU…
If I need to love my neighbor as myself, that first indicates that I need to love my self. I need to love every part of me. That doesn’t mean that I will always have every characteristic that displays the evidence that I can indeed love myself; yet, it also carries a heavy weight that I MUST love myself - why? Because I am made in the image of God! Hmm…Do I love God? Than if I am in the image of God, and I am imitating Christ (see Paul’s comment in 1 Corinthians 11), then I SHOULD be living a life in which it is much easier to love myself - not in an arrogant or a conceited way, but in the manner of loving me…because of me! God has given me me…confused yet?
Let’s all understand what it means to have “the greatest of these is love” mindset. I love your soul friend. I love your soul enough to want you in heaven with…. ME …. see where that love your neighbor as yourself idea carries over? Yes! I need to love YOU as much as I love myself. I need to love myself as God’s child as much as He loves me! If will focus on those ideas…the world will be a much better place while I am here, and my eternal home will be a much better place than this earth can ever afford.
I love you friend! Are you on your journey to heaven to be with me there?
~Joey
News from the field…
The response to our recent broadcast debut on WGN America is incredible! We are getting so many more calls and emails than ever before. What a difference we are all making together in taking the whole gospel to the whole world!
Our field reps have been able to visit a little, but like many of you, we are limited in what and where we can go. That does not mean that we cannot discuss opportunities together. Maybe we can send a packet of information to the church…maybe we can have a meeting (socially distanced of course) with the eldership to tell you more about our goals and needs. Maybe you might find that during the times we are in, that the program is a very resourceful tool. We would love to hear from you at your congregation to see how we can help more and how you can help us more!
On a major note, we have picked up a couple of new sponsoring congregations and will be returning to DTC TV in Middle Tennessee on Aug 2, as well as adding a new network (NBC) at 6 a.m. in W. Monroe, LA! That means that there will be 2 solid hours in which you can watch The Gospel of Christ in the W. Monroe market beginning at 5:30 am. each Sunday morning!
We also have extended our agreements on KSBI in OKC as well as partnered with a sponsoring congregation for the Mobile/Pensacola market to keep airing each Sunday there locally.
We have other opportunities! You may can sponsor a local broadcast in your area. We would love to talk with you about this!