Back in March…

…COVID-19 became a new term in our vocabulary globally… and personally, my daily devotions had me deep in Daniel and Revelation. Adding to the unsettling concern inside, my social media news-feed followed all the major news networks exposing my eyes to compounding news reports on the current circumstances. It was a rough patch to say the least. I began to feel insecure about what was happening in the world and my devotions only seemed to amplify the awful feeling ramping up. As Becky and I were talking one evening about all this, I came to a clarity that I needed to disconnect some of my news intake and bump the record player in my devotions and go someplace fresh for at least part of my reading. I pressed the eject button on Revelation and turned my New Testament reading to Matthew.

Red Letters

A lot of the Bibles I own are what are known as “red-letter” bibles. On one of these troubling days I was listening to the radio and a David Crowder song came on called “Red Letters”. I’ve heard this song a hundred times but, like many of the songs on this station, I paid little attention to the words or the meanings of the songs… until this day. This song got me thinking about the red letters in the scriptures. They are words that were actually spoken by Jesus. It seemed to really hit me just how significant that is. Jesus opened his mouth, moved his lips, air passed his vocal cords to form the very words written in red letters in the bible.

Now, theology and bible literacy both confirm God spoke through the writers of the bible and His voice is behind the written text of scripture to a level unparalleled anywhere else in the world. But the red letters made me think about all the times people in biblical history heard the very voice of God. Moses always comes to mind for me first… glowing face. Then I think about Peter when he suggested the construction of three tabernacles; one for Moses, one for Elijah, and one for Jesus… I remember what it was like when I first heard God speak… “Who was with you when you were dying?” Most of those who found themselves before the unmistakable Voice, fell immediately to their knees.

Consider the red letters. As I jumped in my devotions to Matthew, I found the red letters extremely significant. Jesus is speaking… the Voice is presenting truth, comfort, peace…

Matthew 6:25-34

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

The quelling of anxiety comes with instruction on how to not be troubled. Spoiler alert, it’s not in your power to obtain… it’s “added unto you” by the One we seek.

-=Pastor Tom

“Where does your security lie? Is God your refuge, your hiding place, your stronghold, your shepherd, your counselor, your friend, your redeemer, your saviour, your guide? If He is, you don’t need to search any further for security.” – Elisabeth Elliot

Grow up

These days, at least with the older generation, it is culturally imperative that one becomes self-sufficient. I think most of us would agree that a capable and able person should have the capacity to stand on their own two feet. One should be able to take care of herself vocationally and pay her bills. One should be able to hold a job, keep a home-life, feed and clean himself. While this is all good and beneficial for everyone involved, I wonder if any of that affects our great need for God.

That said, we have such odd dichotomies in our society. Young people remain under their parent’s roof and protection much longer than they used to. They rely on parental-bailouts much longer than before. They’re still found under their parent’s insurance and cell phone plans into their early 30’s. And yet, they are so quick to claim in adulthood over their sexual practices, vocations, and life choices. Something’s wrong here. Time to get real.

The Missing Factor

One missing aspect of my pre-adult years was a tangible understanding of God’s presence. Though I went to church as a kid, this was never shown me on paper or in practice. I did learn about responsibility, morality, stability, and consequences. However, when these qualities remain untethered to righteousness and the cross, they develop some pretty distasteful pride and self-assurance. When you grow into adulthood with a strong foundation of responsibility, but miss out on learning our need for God, you naturally doubt God. “What do I need him for? I’ve made it this far without him.” I have come to believe that children must be trained to know God and shown how to rely on God so that when they depart the oversight of their parents, they’re prepared to walk dependent on God. Sadly, this is not usually the case.

Feeding at the Trough of the Culture

One of the popular axioms of our day is, “You Got This!” It’s like giving candy to a little kid, isn’t it? When someone says, “you got this”, it makes us feel strong and capable, but whoever stops to ask whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing? We have different personalities in our culture: those who plow ahead thinking they can do anything and those who do little because they are incapacitated by fear. One is admired/ridiculed for their fearlessness/recklessness, and the other for their overt caution/lack of gusto/laziness. Whether you are an extreme risk-taker or the bastion of life-safety, you arrive at both of those places on your own. It requires no other influence but your own power. Given enough time however, we all discover none of us have ultimate control over either of these lifestyles. The risk-taker will someday go too far and the fearful one will atrophy. Which will we be? At this point, it really doesn’t matter because they are both flawed.

The Wake of Disaster Without God

How many disturbing life-events or habits will it take before we realize that Jesus meant what he said in John 15? Wrong turns. Terrifying crashes. Ruined marriages. Lost jobs. Premature declining health. Virtual bankruptcy. Heartbreak. Sexually transmitted diseases. Perversion. Unwanted pregnancy. Hellacious godless children leaving the house. Credit card boat anchors. Extravagance. Fashion trend pressures. The need to be liked by everyone. Drunkenness. Substance abuse. Tobacco addiction. Uncontrolled temper. Depression. Hopelessness. Untamed selfishness.

John 15:4 “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

The point Jesus makes here is that we’re to be “continually” dependent on God. He clearly explains that life apart from Him is no life at all; it’s worthless! It makes no difference whether you are the risk-taker or fearful. Apart from Him, we can do nothing! In fact, unattached branches are meant to be picked up and burned because they are withered and lifeless (risk-taker or fearful). Do you want life? –remain in Him… continually.

The Prize at the Bottom of the Box

Stop thinking about dependence on God as something that is situational and contingent upon the difficulty of an issue. It’s our tendency to only seek him for “big” things. We reach for God like he’s in the medicine cabinet next to the Advil. “When that pain sets in, reach for Christ-afed.” [insert cheesy radio voice]. Instead, think about it in terms of relationship. It’s eye-opening when we come to realize that Christianity is not about knowing what God can do for us so much as it is to know God; the real prize. When we know him well, we see the world for what it really is. Because of that, we take his hand and begin to step through this life with his guidance, experiencing what he wants for us. Without him, we may do many things that seem exciting, fun or safe but they have no meaning; no purpose. Sure, you’re independent… Good for you! But is it worth anything in the Kingdom?

Galatians 6:8 “For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”

Ok…so I’m a bit uneasy. Perhaps knowing that fact does little to endear myself in the hearts and minds of my church brothers and sisters. I guess I feel like as the Pastor that I am supposed to be the bastion of enduring strength.

As I look out “across the river” at 2020, I wonder now where we are to go from here. Is it our destiny as a church to plod down that well-paved road of religion in America? It’s not that I am disappointed in how far we have come over the past 30 years as a church. Nor am I saddened by the lack of advancement into the territory of the enemy. It’s really not that at all. In fact, the journey has been extraordinary! Yes, bumpy for sure, but what a ride!

It’s more of a trepid feeling of the future, really. The idea that it would be very easy now to settle into a spiritually comfortable rocker on a porch somewhere and wait for Jesus to come pick us up. But I also have a real sense that there is more to do. MUCH more to do really! Maybe it’s my age and strong desire to finish well, but I don’t want to rest and I still have fight inside me. But is that how my church family feels?

Over the past year it seems on various levels and multiple platforms that God has been questioning us as to our personal and individual lifestyles. We’ve talked a lot recently as a church body about simplicity and priorities, but has His message gotten through? After all, the pull of the world is strong, and our tendency will always be that we deserve our comforts and possessions. So we indulge and we accumulate. And over time…subtly and quietly we start to look just like the world. We dress the same, drive the same cars, listen to the same music, and watch the same movies. We raise our kids the same… (failing at the same rate), our marriages are the same, our vacation time is the same, our houses look the same, our time and priorities are spent the same. Most of all, just who is our model? Because most often the ‘bar’ is set by the next guy in the pew beside us!  2 Corinthians 10:12 (NLT) speaks of such saying “But they are only comparing themselves with each other, using themselves as the standard of measurement. How ignorant!”

Somewhere along the way…if we are under the belief that we are actually still in the game, we have to stop and evaluate. And most of all, be honest with ourselves…

There are many “mirrors” that we can utilize in scripture for this task. One of which is in Luke 7…the story of Jesus’s visit to the house of the Pharisee. Jesus was “in the house” but it wasn’t the Pharisee who was receiving the kudo’s… it was a woman who had every reason to see herself us the last in line for the attention of the Son of God.  Verses 37 and 38 tell us that “she brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil… and stood at His feet behind Him weeping. She began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.”

I wonder how long it has been that each of us have put ourselves in her shoes? No, not philosophically, but in reality! How long has it been since you embraced such a radical manifest of love toward our redeemer? Or maybe…there is no ‘radical’ left in you? Do we remember…like that woman, the magnitude of what we were forgiven of? Have we embraced a soft “suburban-style” faith?

Recently Vice President Mike Pence’s gave the commencement address at Liberty University where he warned his audience they’d leave Liberty to live and work in a country that doesn’t particularly like them:

“My message to all of you in the Class of 2019 is — derives of the moment that we’re living in today. You know, throughout most of American history, it’s been pretty easy to call yourself Christian. It didn’t even occur to people that you might be shunned or ridiculed for defending the teachings of the Bible.

But things are different now. Some of the loudest voices for tolerance today have little tolerance for traditional Christian beliefs. So as you go about your daily life, just be ready. Because you’re going to be asked not just to tolerate things that violate your faith; you’re going to be asked to endorse them. You’re going to be asked to bow down to the idols of the popular culture.” [Vice President Pence via The White House]

Sadly, Christianity as a movement has largely already “bowed down to the idols of popular culture.” We have essentially made ourselves comfortable in a world that is ok with your faith as long as you don’t open your mouth about it. Are we ok with simply “fading away?”

“Give me one hundred men who love only God with all their heart and hate only sin with all their heart and we will shake the gates of hell and bring in the kingdom of God in one generation.”

— John Wesley

Pastor TIM

What’s your method?

Sometimes we need a reminder that the Bible is wholly and completely a message about God; who He is. It’s when we read it to discover Him that we gain true wisdom and understanding in this life; not because we gain Biblical knowledge but because we get God. Sadly a lot of the time we don’t read it to discover Him but to aid ourselves. In other words, we look through the pages of the bible so that we might gain temporary hope, situational comfort, or a means to a better life. With this in mind, it’s not a stretch to think we just might be putting the Bible and the power of God on par with self-help books and rehab programs. By reading the bible with that intention we come up short. God is NOT a rehab program. Neither God or scripture is a means to “self-help” betterment.

Is it working?

When we think of church this way, we invariably disconnect the living God from His teaching thus treating the Bible as a source for helpful advice, and the church as though it were some sort of self-help seminar… which might be why you’re struggling. It’s as though we’re soul-searching our way through Christianity hoping to find ourselves. It’s a misunderstanding of God and it’s why things never seem to get better for you. It’s why you wrestle with backsliding. It’s why you feel like God is powerless in your life. It’s why you think the Christians around you favor some people over others.

What’s missing?

Ephesians 1 reveals a huge list of the blessings of God toward us. It says, “He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing…” If you continue reading Ephesians you’ll discover that God did all that He did for us because of His great love, and abounding mercy and grace. The only contingency given in Paul’s letter is that these blessings are only given to those who are “in Christ”. It’s “in Christ” that His blessings mean something to us; because we’ve come to know Him. To know Him is to discover that he is love and that he has mercy and grace toward those who are His children. Mind you, Ephesians does NOT indicate more blessings for a more favored group of believers over a less favored group of believers. Additionally, Peter says we’ve [all] been “given all things pertaining to life and Godliness” and it is understood “through the knowledge of Him.”

If you don’t know the living God of scripture, you cannot even begin to understand what He does or why He does it. When you seek to know Him, that’s when the lights come on and understanding begins. And knowing Him (His ways and purposes) leads to loving Him with a growing heart of gratitude.

How does it affect you?

Giving thanks is an aspect of the life of a Christian that is often ignored or neglected. Or if it appears, it only shows up at times when we receive those things which seem to be a blessing or a benefit in the positive. Do you know the Bible commands thankfulness? …in all things (bad or good)? Ridiculous, right? (1Thess 5:18)

Additionally, speaking of the last days, Paul says, “men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,…”  Sounds about right… Don’t we often find these qualities even within the church today? Why are we like this?

Luke 17 recounts a situation with Jesus and 10 lepers that speaks to this idea. Luke 17:12-19 says,  “Then as Jesus entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. 13  And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14  So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. 15  And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16  and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. 17  So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? 18  “Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19  And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

Do you do it or wait for it?

What does it take for you to be thankful as the Bible commands? One way is by intentionally stirring up your affections for God by taking time to talk to him and reflect upon everything he’s done; where he has brought you from. Or you can just march through your life and wait until you “feel” thankful. I believe this is the reason that Christians seem to have little gratitude. If you are waiting around to feel it, the only time you will feel it is in the positive times. And even in those times, you’ll rarely connect it to the hand of God. Instead, you will attribute it to “good fortune”, “luck”, or because we’re finally receiving some well-deserved or long-overdue attention.

If you are sitting around waiting for good, you might be waiting… for good. On the other hand, if we intentionally stir our affections for God by reflecting and remembering, we can begin to exhibit some interesting levels of gratitude even in the worst of situations.

Take some time out of your week to read and reflect upon Psalm 107. Tell me God isn’t good.