We are reaching that point in the summer where it is easy to slump into the fall. Summer is here, and the days are at their peak; the Fourth of July and all the parades with fireworks are right around the corner. 

This time of the year is the absolute worst for Church attendance. Our Church shuts down most of its activities during this stretch since no one seems to have time or be interested. 

So you can blow off this time and spend the next few weeks away from anything religious and slump into fall. You could also use this time to have a bump in your faith.

Here are a few suggestions:

1. Invite a new person at Church to your Fourth of July gathering.

2. Open your home up for some friends from Church to come over and connect.

3. Pick up a Christian book and read something meaningful while traveling.

4. Visit a Church when you are out of town and share any insights and ideas with your pastor.

5. Start listening to a new podcast, or catch up on one, that helps inspire your faith while you are outside.

6. Catch up on listening to all the sermons from your Church this summer through YouTube or a website.

7. Serve a neighbor and share the love of Jesus by helping with an outside project.

8. Download an app like Gottman Card Deck and use the chance to learn more about your spouse while in the vehicle.

9. Register your children, grandchildren, or neighbor’s child for Vacation Bible School (VBS).

10. Walk out into nature and spend some time in prayer.

These are just a few of the hundreds of ways to connect to God while on vacation, enjoying the holiday, or making the most of these long warm summer days. 

This season could easily be a time for you to move away from God, or it could be a time for you to grow in your faith. The only question is about how you choose to use your time.

The easiest person for you to fool is yourself.

Have you ever watched a sport and convinced yourself you could do it? In fact, it looks easy, and you could do better than the people you are watching. And then you walk out of the stands and try it. Only to find out that it is much more complicated than it looked.

In your head, you knew that this task should be easy, but the reality was much more difficult.

We do it with officiating, coaching, managing, and playing when it comes to sports. We do it with almost every other activity in life too. If we had that job, we could do it better. If we were building that thing, we could do it better. On and on it goes.

We are experts in things we have never tried.

That is, until we do it. Then it suddenly becomes much more complex than we imagined.

This is even true in matters of faith. If we had their job, we would handle it in a more Godly way. If we had that spouse, we would never be unhappy. If we taught that class, led that small group, had given that communion thought, preached that sermon, served those people, or organized that thing, we are sure we could do it better.

Just because you think you can do it better does not mean you can. Doing it is always more complicated than you realize.

Let me begin by stating that I am a Bible-believing Christian. I trust it as God’s infallible, inerrant word that is authoritative for our lives. I preach and teach it as the foundation of all I know to be true.

With that said, I need to address my thoughts on John chapter 8 and the story of the woman caught in adultery. Even the most conservative Bibles have a mark denoting that the story recorded in John 7:53-8:11 are not found in most manuscripts. Basically, that means that when you get the oldest Bible copies, this story is not present, and it was added in later centuries as something Christians thought might be true. Once a few accepted it, addressing its presence in the scriptures was difficult. But I want to do that now, knowing that some will be angry and others disappointed in me. I am convinced I need to do this more and more as I hear this story quoted in Christian teaching. 

I am convinced this story is NOT an original account, and we must be cautious in using it. Let me give you some reasons I have developed through the years. 

1. The story is not found in the most reliable manuscripts. Just because we like the story is not a reason to keep it. The 1800-year-old documents give us the Bible as the first Church read it, and we must accept that as reliable.
2. Upon careful investigation, this one story gives us numerous words only used here in the gospel of John. John uses simplistic writing throughout the rest of the book, and this section reads thoroughly differently (you will have to trust me here).
3. The passage says there was a “woman caught in adultery.” That implies she was caught in the act. Basic knowledge of human reproduction would inform you that she was not alone in this. So where is the man? He would be as responsible as her, possibly more in their society. The Old Testament law required they both be stoned and not her alone.
4. The Old Testament law did not require a person to be sinless to perform capital punishment. Since we know all have sinned, that would make humanity unable to execute the law. And if Jesus lets her off the hook, is he not violating the law he came to fulfill? 
5. The Pharisees considered themselves flawless. The Apostle Paul describes himself this way, “…circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the Church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. (Italics added / Philippians 3:5-6 – NIV 2011). No respectable Pharisee would have hesitated to stone her.
6. Roman law forbids the Jews to kill someone without their consent. Remember the trial of Jesus and how Pilate needed to give the final approval? So even if Jesus provides the mob with the green light, there are other things to consider before the story moves forward.

These are some of the reasons I do not preach and teach this passage. I cannot do it with a clear conscience. Romans 3:23 is still valid and tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Perhaps this is a good illustration of that truth. Definitely do not build a theology based on this passage alone.

I believe the words of the Bible are true and good, but this story made it in when it should not have been allowed. Now that we know, we move forward using the other 99.5% of scripture.

The children’s Church song leader taught the kids in our Church a simple praise chorus.

“I’ve got joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart. Where? Down in my heart.”

There were more repetitive verses with the lyrics, “I’ve got the peace that passes understanding” and “I’ve got the love of Jesus.” Always followed by that one question, “Where?” The children shouted the robust response, “Down in my heart!”

What is in your heart?

Over a lifetime, it is easy to move from that enthusiastic child to a cynical adult. We fill our hearts with guilt, shame, hurt, failure, and pessimism. Life teaches us to replace joy with skepticism, peace with anxiety, and the love of Jesus with the pain of sin. And we bury it down in our hearts.

One challenge of someone who follows Jesus is to replace the junk that fills our hearts with God’s truth. The song possibly reminds us of an easy way to do that: Repetition. Maybe we need to wake up daily and say, “I’ve got joy, peace, and love in Jesus.” Then repeat it in the morning, at lunch, in the afternoon, at dinner, in the evening, and before bed. Continually reminding ourselves of what God’s word teaches is a helpful strategy to get the truth down into our hearts. Where?

I am a planner.

That is why I love Jesus’ words to those who wish to follow him in Luke 14. He pictures a man going out to build a tower. Will he not estimate the cost before starting the work to see if he has enough money to complete it? Imagine a king going out to war against another king. Will he not calculate the size of the armies before going into battle? Jesus is underlining to those who wish to follow him that they need to think and plan before they leave home.

If you want to be a disciple, first, you need to think through all the ramifications of that decision and how you will handle them. In other words, even discipleship requires a plan.

Many people prefer to live organically. Just let everything happen naturally, after all, God is involved, and the book of Proverbs underlines that he directs a person’s journey. God is the one who ultimately determines the direction of our lives. 

Here is my argument, God can direct your steps while planning. Reading, praying, seeking advice, and thinking things through are ways God can guide your future. God can work in us to develop the plans needed to accomplish his will. Too often, people use God as an excuse to be lazy and thoughtless on our journey of faith.  

The biggest question you must answer is, “What is your plan to grow in your faith?” 

Not having a plan is not a sign that you are “trusting God with your future,” instead, it is a signal that you are not growing spiritually because you usually give into the tyranny of the urgent. The acts of prayer, reading, fasting, and giving are called spiritual disciples because it takes discipline to do them. And discipline does not exist without a plan.

Through the years, I have understood that what I do as a preacher on Sunday morning is vital to a Church. Preparing to preach, planning a worship experience, and ensuring all the pieces come together into one functioning team are all part of my job.

In the past few years, I have pushed myself to step out of my shell and become better at dealing with people, especially on Sunday mornings. I have listened to lectures, read articles, and learned to be better with people. Now, I do everything within my power to connect with guests who come to worship on Sunday mornings.

One thing I have learned over the last 12 months is that while people like a friendly preacher when they come to Church for the first time, my encounters matter very little. Upon investigating the results of my Sunday connections, I heard a similar phrase used several times. People said, “Yeah, but you are paid to be friendly.” Guests know that I work for the Church, and if it is successful, it reflects on me. That, in turn, forces me to be kind to everyone who walks through the doors. “Of course, you are nice. That is your job.”

I suppose I could be upset about this, but I choose to see it as an opportunity. That means the Church’s connection to guests is not in my hands. Instead, it is the work of everyone to make the new people feel welcome. Every single volunteer and attendee represents the Church in their interactions.

The success of a Church in reaching people for Jesus is connected to the friendliness experienced by every person who attends. Perhaps, the people who show kindness simply out of the goodness of their hearts are the most significant factor in a Church community leading people to faith in our Savior.

Recently I stumbled upon a short video clip from Jordan Peterson about his 12 rules for life. They have been around for a while, but this was my first time hearing of them. Upon further inspection, I found the complete list; several are simple, practical advice.

Number four captured my attention: “Compare yourself to who you were yesterday.”

This one is beneficial to most people in their faith, including myself. The tendency is to compare ourselves to other people. If we look at ourselves in light of people who are further along on their journey of faith, we can feel like a failure. If we compare ourselves to those behind us, we can develop a sense of pride in our spiritual development.

What if you took a long look at yourself and compared your progress against yesterday?

I am not where I want to be, but thanks be to God, I am not where I once was.

The preacher said something that I am sure he was repeating from someone else. He stated, “The Bible says, ‘Do not be afraid’ or ‘Have no fear’ 365 times. There is one for every day of the year. So go out into the world without fear.” 

At first, this sounds true; after all, the Bible does seem to use that phrase repeatedly. A preacher who uses his Bible has probably verified this; it is an easy connection to the days of the year. One verse for every day of the year, the application of the scripture is complete.  

Upon further inspection, there are several problems. First, I can only find 161 times in the NIV translation of the Bible where the words “Fear” and “Not” are used in the same sentence. The term “afraid” only appears 212 times in total. No matter how many ways I search, there are not 365 places in the entire Bible that say these phrases. 

Second, not all those passages are people being told “do not fear” before attempting to do something. Several of those passages are angels talking to terrified people at their angelic appearance. So there is no application to us today unless you see a legitimate Biblical angel. 

Finally, it doesn’t matter how many times the Bible says anything. If there were 365 statements, it would be sheer coincidence. By the same token, if believers are told one time to move forward in life without fear, then it is true whether it says it more or not. 

None of this is my point. I want believers to recognize the danger of repeating something without searching the scriptures to verify it’s true. I first heard this statement in college almost 30 years ago. And it keeps getting used in sermons when it is clearly not true. I encourage all believers to listen to their preachers and teachers closely and then check their sources to see if what they say is accurate before they repeat it. Your favorite Church leader, even if it is me, might very well be wrong.

Find one scripture this week about what God desires for your life, and then do it. Do it every single day for the next seven days until it becomes second nature. Then do it again the following week: one verse, one application, and one week of living it out.

That is far more beneficial to you than learning a hundred Bible things this week and doing none.

Don’t mistake information for transformation.

Being well-rounded is a myth.

You have the gifts, abilities, passion, and experience to do very few things well. For most people, there is only one thing they can do with skill.

Most of the great musicians you know are not skilled at art with oil or clay. Very few artists are great at accounting. I don’t know of any accountants who excel at public speaking.

Michael Jordan was not a great baseball player. Tim Tebow was a below-average professional baseball player too. They were both excellent in their roles as professional basketball player and college quarterback. 

The challenge in life is to find the area where God has gifted you and do it well. 

I must continually remind myself that it is okay not to be well-rounded and waste my energy in areas where I will never excel. People are most blessed when you do your one thing, as only you can do it. I thank God that Da Vinci focused on his art and not accounting.

If you apply yourself to one thing, I believe people will thank God for you using your skills for his glory.