WFA.org

opening The Church in Ephesus was the kind of church you’d have wanted to attend. About them, Jesus says, “I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false.” (Revelation 2:2) So far, so good. Who can argue with orthodoxy? But all was not well. Jesus continues, saying, “I have this against you. You have left your first love.”

John Stott writes, “They had fallen from the early heights of devotion to Christ which they had climbed. They had descended to the plains of mediocrity. In a word... the hearts of the Ephesian Christians had chilled.”

This word, “chilled” puts a shiver up your spine. What a horrible way to describe the heart of a Christian! Stott continues, “Their first flush of ecstasy had passed. Their early devotion to Christ had cooled. They had been in love with Him, but they had fallen out of love.”

How much had changed since Paul penned his last letter to that church, saying, “Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love.” (Ephesians 6:24) Then Stott concludes, “they toiled with vigor, but not with love. They tested their teachers with orthodoxy, but had no love in their hearts.”

Wow! You can go to church, read your Bible and pray daily, yet not truly love God. Loving God is a commitment, an attitude resulting in action, a focus, a daily decision to acknowledge Him in all you say and do.

So, do you love God?

Here is your copy of firstIMPRESSIONS, Volume 10.07. Live for God, on purpose, and love God with all your heart.

Testing the Sincerity of
Your Love

Florists, chocolate sellers, greeting card companies all love this coming weekend. Hundreds of thousands of dollars will be spent on roses, creme-filled candies, and sentimental love sonnets for that one special person, on that one special day – Valentine’s Day. Men may not buy a flower on any other day, may not purchase candy any other time, may not look at the “mushy” Hallmark offerings on any other occasion. But, annually on February 14th, all that will change – for at least one day. On Valentine’s Day, these things are expected, even if they are not practiced on any other day.

True love goes beyond a single day of expectation, but involves a continual commitment. Gifts of candy, flowers, cards and jewelry may be nice and appreciated, but they are hypocritical if they are not accompanied by a lifetime of commitment. Anything less is just insincere.

Sunday is Valentine’s Day. It’s also the Lord’s Day. Many will go to church, sing the songs, raise their hands, pray the prayers, say the amens... but if they only do it on that one day, it may be nice... but its just as hypocritical as an annual gift of candy.

In 2 Corinthians 8:8, the apostle Paul makes an interesting statement to the church. He tells the church at Corinth that he wants to “test the sincerity of your love.” A “love test” for sincerity. Sound strange? It shouldn’t, because the very test that is shared in this chapter is the same test that we need to take today.

Be sure to join us on this special day of love – Valentine’s Day – as we look at 2 Corinthians 8, and begin “Testing the Sincerity of Your Love.”

you-too I Love You!

by Russ Lawson

Well, “Love is in the air” as the saying goes! Here we are as a nation (and really in many nations around our world) about to celebrate “Valentine’s” day. It is a day that has come to signify love relationships and especially reminding us of our love for some special person in our lives.

A good while back, I remember seeing a Charlie Brown cartoon that made an impression on me. In the cartoon strip, Lucy is shown talking to Charlie Brown and says something completely out of character for her, she tells Charlie Brown, “I love you”! Charlie Browns response is, “No you don’t”! Lucy repeats louder, “Yes I do, I really love you”.

The problem is that Charlie Brown has been rejected so many times that he can’t imagine anyone really loving him and keeps saying, “No you don’t” to her every time she says she loves him. Finally in the last frame of the strip in total frustration Lucy screams, “Hey stupid, I love you”!

I think that cartoon is a parody of our lives far too often. I have sat and pondered sometimes – until my “ponderer” is tired – about why so many people refuse to become intimately involved with God. What I have decided is that many people really can’t get a hold of the idea of how much God loves them! We just have a hard time with the idea that the creator of the universe would actually love us as individuals. Yet, that is exactly what the scripture tells us He does!

Even if we don’t feel “worthy” of being noticed, much less loved by our all-powerful God, he loved us anyway. This is exactly the point the apostle Paul tries to make in Romans 5:8 where he writes, “But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us – while we were still sinners”.

Today, we show our love for one another through words, poems, songs and gifts. God does the same thing for us. Yet, much of the world, just like Charlie Brown, just doesn’t get it – do they! God is not going to stand up and scream, “Hey stupid, I love you”, but He never gets tired of telling us or showing us that He does. The apostle John wrote those ever-so-famous words of John 3:16 to tell us about it. He wrote, “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Did you catch the part that God gave His son for everyone, not just a worthy few? That’s you and me, whether you feel worthy or not – and for me personally, most of the time I am in the “not feeling worthy” category. John wrote one other thing that I think might apply here also. In 1 John 4:11, he says, “Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other”.

So, if you are gearing up to let someone know how much you love them, don’t do it just because it’s “Valentine’s” day. Do it because that’s the lesson we learn from God. So, just in case no one else tells you, even if we have never met personally, “I Love You” – because God loves me and has given me that example! May God help us all to understand that He loves us even if at times we may seem unlovable!

as seen in Russ Lawson’s “Messages From the Heart”

anyway I Love You Anyway

The fear of rejection may be one of the most basic fears of the human experience. Dr. Joe Harding tells a heart-warming story of a man who finally decided to ask his boss for a raise in salary. It was Friday. He told his wife that morning what he was about to do.

All day the man felt nervous and apprehensive. Late in the afternoon he summoned the courage to approach his employer. To his delight, the boss agreed to a raise. The man arrived home to a beautiful table set with their best china. Candles were lighted. His wife had prepared a festive meal. Immediately he figured that someone from the office had tipped her off!

Finding his wife in the kitchen, he told her the good news. They embraced and kissed, then sat down to a wonderful meal. Next to his plate the man found a beautiful lettered note. It read: “Congratulations, darling! I knew you’d get the raise! These things will tell you how much I love you.”

While on his way to the kitchen to get dessert he noticed that a second card had fallen from her pocket. Picking it off the floor, he read: “Don’t worry about not getting the raise! You deserve it anyway! These things will tell you how much I love you.”

Total acceptance! Total love. Her love for him was not contingent upon his success at work. In fact, just the opposite. If he were to fail there, if he were to be rejected by his boss, he’d be all the more accepted at home. She stood behind him no matter what; softening the blows, healing the wounds, believing in him, loving him. We can be rejected by almost anyone if we’re loved by one. That’s the way families can be with each other.

That’s the way God is with us, too! “We love Him because He first loved us.”

God Loving Us Perfectly

by Jon Walker

Perfect love desires communion, the sharing of life together, and so it cannot be expressed from a distance. God so perfectly loved the world that he came up close in Christ, stepping into the brokenness of our lives (1 John 1:1-3):

Into our emptiness, Jesus brings fullness and completion (Colossians 2:9-10).

Into our deficit, Jesus brings supply (Philippians 4:19).

Into our death, Jesus brings life (Ephesians 2:1, 5).

Into our separation, Jesus brings reconciliation (Romans 5:10-11).

Into our imperfect love, Jesus brings his perfect love (1 John 4:10).

When we know, and believe, that God is determined to love us perfectly, we can stop being self-absorbed and we can start being conformed to Christ (Romans 12:2). When we don’t believe God is determined to love us perfectly, we end up living like our best choice is to take care of ourselves.

And then, we become so busy taking care of ourselves that we have little time for authentic, transparent, loving community with others.

sunday-teacher It Started with a Sunday
School Teacher

In 1858 Mr. Kimbell, a Sunday school teacher, prayed with one of his students (a shoe salesman) to become a Christian. The salesman, Dwight L. Moody, became a great evangelist. In 1879 Moody was sharing the good news of Jesus and a young man, F. B. Meyer, met Christ; this young man became zealous for preaching the “good news.” While preaching on an American college campus, F. B. Meyer brought a student, J. Wilbur Chapman, to Christ. Chapman later employed an ex-baseball player, Billy Sunday, to do evangelistic work.

Billy Sunday became one of the greatest Christian preachers and evangelists in the early 1900s. Once after Billy Sunday preached in Charlotte, a group of local business-men were so enthusiastic, they decided to bring another man, Mordecai Hamm, to preach. In that revival meeting a young man, Billy Graham, yielded his life to Christ. Billy Graham has since preached to more people in person than any person in the world. And so, the story goes on and on.

It all started with a faithful Sunday school teacher: Mr. Kimbell. Few people will ever know his name but, in reality, look at how many people this one man’s witness has affected.

The world has yet to see what one man or woman can do for Christ if they are completely yielded to him. Will you be a person like Mr. Kimbell who was faithful in sharing the good news of Jesus? You never know what can happen. There is definitely another Billy Graham out there waiting to be converted.

Here’s what the Scripture says about those who share the good news:

“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’” – Isaiah 52:7

heaven This is Heaven

by Alan Smith

An 85-year-old couple, having been married almost 60 years, died in a car crash. They had been in good health the last ten years mainly due to her interest in health food and exercise. When they reached the pearly gates, Peter took them to their mansion, which was decked out with a beautiful kitchen and master bath suite and Jacuzzi. As they “oohed and aahed”, the old man asked Peter how much all this was going to cost. “It’s free,” Peter replied, “this is heaven.”

Next they went out back to survey the championship golf course that the home backed up to. They would have golfing privileges every day, and each week the course changed to a new one representing the great golf courses on earth. The old man asked, “what are the green fees?” Peter’s reply, “This is heaven, you play for free.”

Next they went to the club house and saw the lavish buffet lunch with the cuisines of the world laid out. “How much to eat?” asked the old man. “Don’t you understand yet? This is heaven, it is free!” Peter replied with some exasperation. “Well, where are the low fat and low cholesterol tables?” the old man asked timidly. Peter said, “That’s the best part...you can eat as much as you like of whatever you like and you never get fat and you never get sick. This is heaven.”

With that, the old man went into a fit of anger, throwing down his hat and stomping on it, shrieking wildly. Peter and his wife both tried to calm him down, asking him what was wrong. The old man looked at his wife and said, “This is all your fault! If it weren’t for your blasted bran muffins, I could have been here ten years ago!”

If only we knew what lies ahead, we might not be so hesitant to leave what lies around us. We cling so tightly to what we see, wondering if anything could possibly be better. But we have God’s assurance that His children have an inheritance far greater than anything we can even imagine.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.” (1 Peter 1:3-4)

Our inheritance is “incorruptible”. In a day of transient fads, it’s difficult to find anything permanent. But in our heavenly inheritance we’ll finally know real permanence and unending security.

Our inheritance is “undefiled.” Isn’t it disgusting when your freshly mown lawn is cluttered with beer cans thrown from passing cars? When beautiful lakes and rivers are choked with pollution? Even truth is perverted, morality is corrupted. But there will be no such defacing of our heavenly inheritance. The heavenly inheritance is for those who appreciate the beauty of being with God.

Our inheritance is “unfading.” In this world, life fades with age. Even relationships with friends and sometimes even with family members can grow stale. But, in heaven, everything remains as fresh as it is at the outset.

May the hope of what lies ahead brighten your day!

This article by Alan Smith, Senior Pastor of the Helen Street Church of Christ in Fayetteville, North Carolina. You can visit his site at http://www.TFTD-online.com

last The Last Impression

A woman woke up one morning, turned to her husband and said, “Honey, I just had a dream that you bought me a new gold necklace. What do you think it means?”

He answered, “I don’t know, but Valentine’s Day is coming soon. Then you’ll know.”

A few nights later, she again woke up after having a dream. She said, “This time, I dreamed you gave me a pearl necklace. What do you think it means?”

“You’ll know on Valentines‘ Day,” he replied.

The morning of Valentine’s Day, she again woke up telling him about her dream: “This time I dreamed that you brought me a diamond necklace. What do you think it means?”

“Honey, be patient,” he said. “You’ll know tonight.”

That evening, the husband came home with a package and gave it to his wife. Delighted, she opened it – and found a book titled, “The Meaning of Dreams.”

This winter now goes into the record books as the snowiest winter of all time here in Delaware. We have just come through two back-to-back blizzards dropping in excess of forty inches of snow on us! Although WFA didn’t cancel services last Sunday, the state of emergency dictated that we cancel on Wednesday night. We are supposed to be free and clear of any snowfall through the weekend, so make sure you dig yourself out and come worship together with us at WFA this Sunday... before the snow that is predicted for next Monday arrives!