tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-301936626286896332024-03-13T22:28:25.439-04:00The Village PastorMy blog primarily for the family and friends of Grace Baptist Church in Cedarville, Ohio, but open to all (this is the internet, after all). I follow up on sermons, add notes of interest to the church, and reflect on matters great and small.Cyberparsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14578047776905293835noreply@blogger.comBlogger351125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30193662628689633.post-36415372825429612152020-01-07T15:18:00.002-05:002020-01-07T15:18:45.614-05:00Reality and Hope in 2020<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Turning a calendar page hasn't changed much--and that's both a very bad and a very good thing.</h3>
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As I write this, the U.S. is dealing with the fallout after our military carried out a strike that killed iran's leading general in Iraq, prompting promises of furious retaliation. This follows Iran's sending its Iraqi allies to storm the U.S. embassy the week before.<br /><br />2020 is already a year of war and bloodshed amid intractable conflicts.<br /><br />I also read of a Chinese pastor sentenced to nine years in prison on false charges, due to his public objections to government crackdowns on his congregation and on believers in China. His message to his people stirs my heart. Here is part of it:</div>
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<em>“I hope God uses me, by means of first losing my personal freedom, to tell those who have deprived me of my personal freedom that there is an authority higher than their authority," the church quoted Wang, "and that there is a freedom that they cannot restrain, a freedom that fills the church of the crucified and risen Jesus Christ.</em></div>
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<em>“Jesus is the Christ, son of the eternal, living God. He died for sinners and rose to life for us. He is my king and the king of the whole earth yesterday, today, and forever," Wang said on Facebook. "I am his servant, and I am imprisoned because of this. I will resist in meekness those who resist God, and I will joyfully violate all laws that violate God’s laws.”</em><br /><br />2020 is already a year of persecution and the need to bear faithful witness to Jesus.<br /><br />Our political leaders and processes have filled the media with charges and counter-charges, shrill statements, and hyperbolic attack or support of the president and his adversaries. This has poisoned public discourse, even among Bible-believing Christians, and causes many of us to despair at the lack of both discernment and charity expressed by believers. I can't even write about it without knowing that some in our congregation will be offended no matter what I say, beyond a call to pray for our nation and its leaders that gives no indication what I think.<br /><br />2020 is already a year of political turmoil in need for biblical clarity.<br /><br />I could go on. January 1 has come and gone, but aside from restarting a calendar and our attempts to link that with making personal changes, we continue to live in a world filled with the evidences of sin's dominion and the advance of evil, in fulfillment of every "last days" warning passage we find in Scripture.<br /><br />But (and you knew there had to be a "but," right?) we woke up January 1st, and then the 2nd, and then today, in the Father's world. He made this universe, and is guiding it by his good providence to an incredible end.<br /><br />We begin each day in the Father's care. As the psalmist celebrated, the God who keeps his people "will neither slumber nor sleep" (Psalm 121:4). God is up all night and awake all day taking care of us.<br /><br />In the uncertainties of our world, its conflicts, and its politics, he still holds the hearts of kings in his hand and turns them as he will (Proverbs 21:1). He raises rulers (Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Augustus, and Herod for example) and nations (Egypt, Rome, the nations today) to accomplish his will, and then he takes them down, and their fates have no impact whatsoever on the continuing of his kingdom purposes, which will always stand firm.<br /><br />And in those circumstances you are facing that didn't end with the coming of 2020, as God's child you have his promise of wisdom when you ask (James 1:5), strength when you are weak (Isaiah 40:29-31), and rest when you are overburdened (Matthew 11:28-29). He still wants you to give your anxieties to him (1 Peter 5:7), and promises his provisions as you seek his kingdom first (Matthew 6:33).<br /><br />All of this is true today, just as it was in 2019, and as it will be tomorrow, and the next day, until he comes and makes things much, much better!</div>
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Cyberparsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14578047776905293835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30193662628689633.post-27060024611501791682019-12-16T13:21:00.000-05:002019-12-16T13:21:07.528-05:00The Word Came... to the Sasak<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">This summer, Kathy and I visited the Museum of the Bible during our sabbatical stop in the Washington, D.C. area. It was well worth the day spent there. We saw all sorts of displays and records of the transmission of God's Word to people. But an unexpected joy was the discovery of a room filled with translations of the Bible. As impressive as it was, there was one translation that stood out for us. It was the Sasak New Testament, produced on the island of Lombok in Indonesia. And we felt incredible joy to see it there.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Why?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Because from 1990 to 2005, we were eyewitnesses to the process that led to this translation's completion and printing in 2007. The Sasak live on the island of Lombok, Indonesia, and number at 3.5 million people. They are, in the latest report only .001% Evangelical--99.99% are Muslim. That translates to less than 400 known believers, even though gospel outreach has gone on most recently since the late 20th century. But that is up from the less than 50 believers in 1991 when I first visited the island.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">I was traveling with a missionary worker sent by our church who, along with his wife and two other couples were seeking to begin work there, in partnership with some Indonesian believers. Other than Indonesian literature (Indonesian is a trade language spoken throughout the country, but not the "heart language" of most people living away from the major population centers), there were only portions of scripture that had ever been translated into Sasak and they were not readily available.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Over the years I made five more trips to Lombok (three with Kathy) where we visited our workers and their teams. These teams continued to change as persecution and efforts that failed to take root kept removing some, even as others arrived. Workers would often arrive brimming with hope but leaving discouraged. Some would change fields. Others came home to do something else. Still others, through various attacks (some physical), found themselves having to leave due to government pressure. None of the workers in place when I started visiting were there when we last came to the island.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">We remember the first major team working on the translation. They did so in secret and were very fearful of discovery by the Muslim authorities. But they were continuing and showed us their work. Their leader, Anna, was tenacious, but shortly after our visit, she perished when her gas stove exploded and her burns were beyond medical help. Losing Anna was devastating to our friends (it would not be the only death they experienced) and seemed to be something that might end this project.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">At that time, persecution had broken out throughout the island. Christians' homes were targeted and were burned. As mobs arrived, they would drag all the family's possessions into the street and burn them, even as they ransacked the house. Sometimes they left the house standing because it was a rental owned by a Muslim. As we drove the streets, we would see places where the asphalt had buckled from the heat of a fire</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0px;">, and this was how we would know that a Christian had lived in a house on that street. The main victims were from other ethnic groups (including our team of workers) who live on the island and are identified as Christians since so few Sasak are believers. The persecution and then Anna's death seemed like it might shut the work down again.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">But in 2004, our last visit to Lombok, we were welcomed by the translation team (they had a new leader and had been joined by others). Where a few years ago their demeanors had demonstrated their fear in their faces, now they were smiling, happy, and excited at what God had done in enabling them to complete their drafts.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Most startling of all, one of the U.S. workers there told an amazing story about the checking of the translation. It seems that they needed Sasak speakers to read the draft and then translate it back into Indonesian to see if they had gotten the translation right. But native speakers were Muslims, and there was no certainty how they would respond. This worker had befriended a Muslim Sasak man who was very interested in knowing more about Jesus. After much prayer, the worker approached the Sasak man and asked him if he would be willing to do this work. What happened next was miraculous.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The Sasak man told the worker, "I had a dream and in it, I was told that I would soon learn my life's purpose. And now you have asked this of me. This must be what I have been born to do." And he accepted.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Later, another Sasak man was asked to help in making Sasak corrections, and eventually, these men were able to talk together about the Scriptures.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Most amazing of all, the first man was so moved by what he read (he was reading Romans), that, without the worker's permission (this could be dangerous), he started having his neighbors over to read it to them and talk about it--a Muslim Sasak leading a Bible study in Romans! Through this a number of people became believers and a house church began.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">In fact, a number of house churches began. Meanwhile, the translation of the New Testament went to the Indonesian Bible Society for further refinement and preparation for publication, which finally was completed in 2007 (there still is no complete Bible in the language).</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Seeing this volume in the ranks of all these translations was such a joy and brought back so many memories of the faithful workers we knew who over those years sought to bring Sasak people the knowledge of the gospel. There are still workers (precious few) who are there continuing that work, but now they have the New Testament as their key tool!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Why tell this story now, in Advent? Well, the Sasak people have been waiting in spiritual darkness for even longer than the people waiting for Jesus' birth. Finally, the light is dawning and the Word made flesh has given them his written word. Let the story of the Sasak, and the reminder that there are still well over a billion people still waiting for that message in their language, give this season of "waiting" even greater significance.</span></div>
Cyberparsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14578047776905293835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30193662628689633.post-73223785921031773832019-10-05T14:00:00.000-04:002019-10-05T14:00:02.022-04:00Two stories give different but not contradictory evidence<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Reasons to Believe</h1>
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This morning I did what I do after breakfast (hopefully not before). I looked at my Facebook feed, and quickly discovered two stories, both of which I had seen before (one numerous times). The more familiar one was the story of a hole in the ground, and what was found there. The newer one was the story of a hug.<br /><br /><img align="left" class="CToWUd a6T" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEj5siePrYj0SyYvsxEq-p7Cr7HV04nB0E-sP8KNlTT6ErgZx3DMWatycAiYXKujpP4N9ca5a2Zbriu3600-JsR_WqKeYYxVLqRDkcOAS2SsJ0tvbnkJYif1_OoXkmEuF63vu2U8FPvDd1CbHApTU0b5Xm9ZmeUFjowEIqrxYZxheYkqW38UOMSoenGiwWoVjpY5xAY_i_DPiUpqQJMV7heqI_U0H4pZ=s0-d-e1-ft" style="border: 0px; cursor: pointer; height: 225px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 3px; margin-top: 3px; outline: none; width: 400px;" tabindex="0" width="400" />The hole in the ground is in northern Israel, where archeologists found a church dating from the 5th century A.D. that had been burned and later buried over the centuries. As they excavated, they found that the floor of the church was covered with beautiful mosaics, including one of the the feeding of the 5,000 by Jesus. This is yet another evidence from the first centuries of gospel proclamation that the stories of Jesus were well known and understood by his followers. Similar murals and mosaics are found in various places attesting to the use of the New Testament to inform faith. Of course, this is only the latest in a massive number of recent discoveries that offer convincing evidence that David ruled in Jerusalem, that Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the city if 586 B.C., and that Semites (Israelites) lived in Egypt and left suddenly around the time of the Exodus. Archeology gives us much to rejoice in as verification of scriptural records. We don't need "proof" that God's Word is true since we accept it by faith, but outside verification is a wonderful, faith-encouraging way to let others know about our glorious God and his revelation's reliability.<br /><br />The hug was just two days ago. It took place in a courtroom, as Amber Guyger was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the shooting death of Botham Jean in his apartment. Ms. Guyger, a Dallas police officer at the time, had entered his apartment by mistake--hers was one floor away, thought he was an intruder on her couch, and shot him fatally. The facts were never in doubt, but in the trial certain details of her past were brought out that made her look worse as prosecutors sought to assert more motive to the shooting than just fear. The jury sentenced her to 10 years, although the prosecutor asked for 28 and she could have received life in prison. As Mr. Jean's family were allowed to give victim impact statements, his brother, Brandt, stunned the courtroom (and the nation) by saying that he forgave her, wanted the best for her just as his brother would, and said that she would find it by turning to Christ an<img align="right" class="CToWUd a6T" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEh5KP4WzhnoZ8crhxK50Rv_TNc_UViiBRRPaLGOnLBDlSlXy6RVWBVs24H5tkoCCO0wKboMKI4o4i4W3nmueiNmRkxFvCn9JSmlCo-Wuo5lRLoAm5csqD-qOprtEAy7AFtcwWyCeW4ODQHPfi8kQSFoGH14e9Z5PffICHw-l16ItYnkkblApASxmFmpqYN9H8p1g7oNXNK3AW-4aZC6qc1ZwKAB9Yq1=s0-d-e1-ft" style="border: 0px; cursor: pointer; height: 224px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-right: 3px; margin-top: 3px; outline: none; width: 400px;" tabindex="0" width="400" />d seeking God's forgiveness. The judge, wiping tears from her eyes, then allowed him his request to give Ms. Guyger a hug. Later, the judge gave Ms. Guyger her personal Bible and urged her to live in light of John 3:16. (Here is a <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://gracecedarville.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3Da84b9d0094a0b226a11d50fed%26id%3D7f97ca313e%26e%3D0ac751232d&source=gmail&ust=1570287730319000&usg=AFQjCNEQXAeRpRN4TAEz7vduD3XhVnB-mw" href="https://gracecedarville.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=a84b9d0094a0b226a11d50fed&id=7f97ca313e&e=0ac751232d" style="color: #007c89;" target="_blank">link to the video</a> of his remarks and the hug.)<br /><br />This story has swept throughout news and social media, with many praising Mr. Jean (rightly so) and marveling at the grace and forgiveness he has shown.<br /><br />What I find amazing is that both of these stories are powerful testimonies to the saving, life changing power of Jesus and his message. But only one grabs the heart--it is the one that doesn't look for factual corroboration of biblical claims. Instead, it clearly reminds us of just what Jesus did for each one of us, and what he calls us to do, as hard as that may be, and however much it may cost. And it reminds us that the mercy and forgiveness of Christ can flow through us to those who don't deserve it, just as it did to us in the first place.<br /><br />Thank you, Brandt Jean, for not just honoring your brother's memory, but for walking in the footsteps of Jesus. </div>
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Cyberparsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14578047776905293835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30193662628689633.post-15574979847426445052019-10-04T08:02:00.000-04:002019-10-04T08:02:04.715-04:00In the World of St. Kanye<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Wondering about faith, creativity, and celebrity</h3>
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<br /> We have been introduced to a new moment in our culture as Kanye West has been very publicly invoking faith in Jesus--not in the clearest terms, but still...<img align="right" class="CToWUd a6T" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgC5JTEfGvqr_o2hzJ0QsAX5Od4-CxMlJg7VVBhNZ8fei6PAQIa6392Akn8fPd1R5VZHxvzsq0n6rw4dX5NTVuoUuKUn0L6nTBeTlkPWtoq7NesuIGZIUPoPI2QTsK4xbEngAL95w-bf61o8sJ_dx7kMn5sYvloYmDQB1kemELL1QyDCU9GbBRnW_cMnAu4ZC9pu1C6OWNLJi1QwWBT3MZdeFMhz2Sh=s0-d-e1-ft" style="border: 0px; cursor: pointer; height: 300px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-right: 3px; margin-top: 3px; outline: none; width: 300px;" tabindex="0" width="300" /><br /><br />Recent news is that his long promised album, "Jesus is King," did not release as originally promised. That may or may not be a big disappointment to you, and knowing most of my subscribers, you probably weren't even aware that the album was coming. And some of you aren't sure who Kanye West is. Suffice it to say that he has been a one man celebrity and music dynamo, along with his wife, Kim Kardashian West. His music is hugely popular, and his antics are legend. But if you don't know about either of them, that's O.K.--this is Cedarville. I've included a picture for reference.<br /><br />Anyway, he has been throwing a lot of religious language into his lyrics and posts of late. For all of his career, along with all of his other themes he has had occasional references to Jesus and faith. But recently he has been much more intentional, doing weekly "Sunday Service" musical settings, and openly calling himself a Christian. The most recent one was a remarkable gospel experience with a solid Bible message from a godly pastor (from my old hometown).<br /><br />Reactions to all of this are pretty predictable. Some are ready to embrace him as the next Christian spokesman to the world, as various other musicians and celebrities have been. Anybody remember that young Christian sensation, Miley Cyrus? Or Katy Perry? Or Bob Dylan's Christian period? Or Jane Fonda's conversion (younger people won't recognize that last name)?<br /><br />Others, because of the list above, simply dismiss it and assume it can't be real. My natural bent might be in that direction, too.<br /><br />But, then I remember the story of Chuck Colson, the noted aide to President Nixon who pled guilty and served time in prison after the Watergate scandal. He, too made a public confession of faith before he was sentenced to prison, and many thought it was to get a lighter sentence. But when he came out of prison, he slowly built a ministry to former prisoners, reaching out to old friends who saw the change in him and helped him along in creating Prison Fellowship. By the time of his death, many never knew (other than by his own testimony) about the before picture of his life.<br /><br />So, with Kanye, I am agnostic but hopeful, and even encouraged by early evidence. Agnostic means "I don't know," and that's really true. Lots of people use Jesus as a marketing tool, and he may be doing so. At the same time, I'm aware that there have been truly Christian influences in his life in the past and even more in the present, and that the music industry has insiders who are solidly committed believers seeking to win people to Christ. I also know that people who have had their share of problems and crises (as Kanye certainly has) are exactly the kind of person that the Lord has chosen in the past to redeem (can I get an Amen on that?). So I can hope--not just for him, but his wife, and those he loves.<br /><br />And for all of us, we need to realize that our temptation to grab onto a celebrity testimony and say--"there, see, Christianity is great, because my celebrity says so." That is similar to hoping the cool kid in school will like us and that will make us cool, too. It doesn't usually work that way at school, and the credibility of Christianity will never be established by the latest celebrity who embraces it. Let's be careful to only let there be One that we choose as the best example of our faith, and that is the One for whom it is labeled in the first place--our Lord Jesus Christ.</div>
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Cyberparsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14578047776905293835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30193662628689633.post-6980529467975497342019-09-14T10:56:00.000-04:002019-09-14T10:56:20.730-04:00Worship is Heart Work<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i><b>“This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.”</b></i><o:p></o:p></div>
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—<i>Matthew 15:8, quoting Isaiah 29:13</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span>Jesus quotes himself (as God’s revealer) from Isaiah’s prophecy, indicating that both the people of his own time, and the Israelites of 700 years prior had a shared condition. They each knew how to say the right things about and to God, but they were words devoid of conviction. While speaking of God in ways that sounded like praise and obedience, they actually were not occupied with thoughts of him at all. The next verse in both contexts says that they replaced God’s instruction with the “precepts of men”—rules that were made up for them (and often by them).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span>It is easy to find illustrations of this in our contemporary setting. I see this every time I watch mainline “Christian” services for special events that take place in the media. The recent funeral for the late former President George H.W. Bush would be one example. Readers of scripture and of some of the historic and orthodox parts of the Episcopal liturgy were done by people who, in some cases, deny the core truths of the Scriptures they are reading or summarizing. The words were great, but neither the speakers nor most of their hearers believed them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span>I cringe when liberal (and sometimes conservative) Christian clergy are being interviewed about major social issues of the day, and try to use Scripture as their proof that Jesus was a social justice warrior/feminist/political revolutionary/traditional values advocate/free market supporter, etc. The fact is, Jesus was all of those things and more, but in ways <b>far different </b>than the speakers I hear quoted understand. But the real travesty is that they trot out their image of Jesus when it suits them but ignore the New Testament witness to all he is and all he says and have no sense of submission to him or his gospel whatsoever. They do the same with the rest of Holy Scripture; use a dollop of the Bible when it fits but ignore its context and other content. This hard-heartedness toward a loving, holy, and speaking God manifests no true worship of him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span>But then, I must stop and ask myself, “is my heart focused on God in my worship?” Now, sometimes it clearly is—in fact I think this is the norm. But there are still too many times when I’m singing to or about God and I’m thinking about something else. At other times I’m supposedly listening to what God is saying as I read or hear a sermon, but my mind is wandering to other interests. When I give my offering, do I think about this as truly given to show my love and honor for God, or am I just doing it as duty, or to be seen by others, or to get a greater tax break (which many of us will discover is less than we think due to new tax laws—so our faulty worship in this may even be flawed economic strategy, too)? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span>It’s easy to see the flawed worship that comes from those we know are not serious about it, or those we know are devoted to false gods or false understandings of the true one. But we must also be honest about our own struggles to worship. Our hearts may be far from God in outright rebellion, but it may also be distraction, or self-concern, or the pursuit of lesser pleasures (which can be our own personal idols). We wouldn’t want others (or even God!) to think we weren’t interested in worship, but sometimes, we just aren’t. That’s when we need him even more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span>Worship springs from the heart, and while we can “fake it” in the sight of others, we know that God sees and searches the heart. This is not a cause for fear, but honesty, sometimes repentance, and always hope. He will strengthen our hearts as we yield them to his Spirit’s work. He seeks worshipers, but he knows that for us to be one, he must also save worshipers and shape worshipers and sanctify worshipers. He’s ready to help and awaits your coming to him with your need of a strengthened heart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span>Two actions steps you can take:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span>Right now, go to God in prayer and ask him to help you worship him better today. Ask for eyes to see his working, a mind to recall his truth and his promises, and a will that is shaped toward his desires for you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span>On the next Lord's day, if you can, join others of us here or wherever you are in a time of corporate worship, letting the presence and voices of others be a prod to join in, a reminder that you are not alone, and an encouragement that, all together, you are acknowledging the worthiness of God to be our single greatest focus.</span></div>
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</style><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Let’s do the heart work of worship together.</span></div>
Cyberparsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14578047776905293835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30193662628689633.post-52567477078341744332019-09-11T15:44:00.000-04:002019-09-11T15:44:23.055-04:009/11 Memories--Eighteen Years Later<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span data-offset-key="426s2-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">Eighteen years. </span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="426s2-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">Incoming freshmen at the university up the street from my office have no memory of a pre-9/11 world, of a time when our nation was not at war. That day (and those that followed) are etched in my memory, disbelief turning to horror in a few hours after waking up (we lived on the west coast then). Watching and rewatching the footage of planes used as missiles and towers dropping to the ground. Watching the Pentagon in flames. Hearing of the passengers on a doomed plane thwarting their hijackers' plans at the cost of their lives ending in a field in Pennsylvania. Images of people jumping out windows to escape flames. </span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="426s2-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">In the days ahead mourning proceeded next to the barricading of public buildings and airports. Everyone was stunned, no one could fly anywhere and many discovered they knew people who knew people who were either lost or spared by circumstance (a pilot friend was supposed to be on board one of the doomed flights the next day). It was days before some aspects of life began to return to a new "normal." </span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="3r6sa-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">For a few days, people prayed and asked for prayers, and some thought revival would follow. A national prayer service had good words from many, including Billy Graham. But soon the prayers diminished, with most coming from military families for loved ones who would soon be going into harms' way. Some expressed anger that God would let this happen, others said it was God's judgment on America for whatever sin the speaker especially hated. There was no mass repentance.</span><br />
<span data-offset-key="3r6sa-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">The name "Osama bin Laden" became known and hated very quickly. It was just a month later I was boarding a flight (slowly) when the announcement came that we were sending troops to Afghanistan, ostensibly to root out the terrorists in this safe haven provided by the Taliban government. Most of us knew little of the Taliban or al Queda back then--we didn't even know how to spell or pronounce them. We know that now.</span><br />
<span data-offset-key="3r6sa-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">Soon our politics took over. The war in Afghanistan became the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, with massive support quickly deteriorating into accusations and argument. Victory has yet to come--we don't seem to be sure what that would even be at this point. We are so ready to be done that we almost were treated to the presence of Taliban leaders at Camp David last week--even as they continue a war against the government we put in place.</span><br />
<span data-offset-key="3r6sa-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">9/11 was a day that changed everything, much of the change being in the way Americans conducted their lives and viewed the world. But the day itself needs to be remembered in honor of those who were its victims and as a lesson to us all. Evil threatens us. Danger surrounds us. But God is with us and for us. Surprise attacks don't surprise him. "Senseless" violence and suffering is not outside his control or plan, even when it makes no sense to us. And people used to not acknowledging God are not moved even by great tragedy to change their ways on their own.</span><br />
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Cyberparsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14578047776905293835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30193662628689633.post-14101214753096172392019-06-04T15:59:00.000-04:002019-06-08T16:42:42.318-04:00Strong, Crushed, Renewed?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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What is the condition of your spirit?</h3>
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Proverbs 18:14 says "A man's spirit will endure sickness, but a crushed spirit, who can bear?" This offering from the wisest of teachers lets us know a few things about that part of us that we can't see but governs the whole of our life--our spirit.<br />
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First, it tells us that our spirit can "endure sickness." Infirmities, diseases, and illnesses are hard for us to take, especially when they linger and when their symptoms are severe. Even so, we know that people find ways to endure such hardships. We tell stories of people who dealt with such things in ways that inspire in their perseverance. Some of you have gone through such hardships and been an example to me and to others.<br />
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But second, this proverb tells us that while the spirit is resilient in the face of this and other adversities, it can still be "crushed." The word here comes from a root that speaks of being broken, stricken (by a blow), or wounded. It is the condition of something that, when whole, is powerful enough to endure hard things like cancer or physical injuries. But it can be wounded, and such wounds can be debilitating.<br />
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That's the third truth--the crushed, broken spirit is something we cannot live with. As the writer says, "who can bear it?" The answer is, no one can. In fact, Proverbs 17:22 says "a crushed spirit dries up the bones"-- a metaphor for the loss of vitality, hope, and ultimately, life.<br />
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What kinds of wounds crush the spirit? This book gives us some clues. Though not an exhaustive list, I think we can see how these things can or have wounded spirits, including ours.<br />
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Perverse, evil words are one such destructive tool. Proverbs 15:4 says, "...<u>perverseness in [the tongue] breaks the spirit</u>." We have all had people say things to us that were hurtful, and meant to be so. When such words come from those we have loved and trusted, they can be devastating. Believing them can forever shape a child's heart, and they can cause adults to shun situations and people under their influence. Of course, perverse words can also be lies, such as those Satan used at the beginning: "has God really said? You will not surely die!" These kinds of perverse words may not hurt immediately, but become deadly once accepted.<br />
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Later in the same chapter, the writer of Proverbs says, "A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by <u>sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed</u> (15:13)." This is not just a disappointment, but an abiding sense of grief at a fundamental level. It comes when what we have built our life and sense of meaning and purpose on is taken from us. It can consume us when those idols we have trusted fail us. We experience it when the things we are counting on to make us happy fail to do so. It is the opposite of the joyful heart that is like good medicine (17:22)<br />
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In 16:18 we get another clue to a way to damage our spirit -- it is through "haughtiness" of spirit (an inflated view of ourselves). This, we are told, leads to a "fall"-- again, not just a simple stumble, but a crushing, fatal collapse. When we allow our spirits to be "puffed up" with pride and arrogance, we create the situations that will lead to our being not just humbled, but potentially crushed.<br />
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How is your spirit today? If it isn't enduring the hard things of life as well as it should, perhaps you should ask whether or not one of the following is true?<br />
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1. Are you allowing evil words and lies to shape your beliefs and attitudes about yourself?<br />
2. Are you discovering that you have trusted in the wrong things to give your life meaning and purpose, and now finding that they are failing to deliver what you have relied on them to give?<br />
3. Have you put all your confidence in your own ability to make it in life as the captain of your soul?<br />
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Brothers and sisters, take heart. There is a cure for the broken spirit and these three causes of it.<br />
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Rather than let the words and lies of others, including Satan, hold sway, run to the Word and hear the promises of Jesus, who speaks grace to you, his child, and tells you of his everlasting love. He speaks peace, and forgiveness, and whatever else you need to hear. Listen!<br />
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Put away your idols, and seek Jesus and him alone. Let that pursuit lead you to experience how he will add all other things you need into your life (Matthew 6:33). Idols are deadly, tricky things. Often they are, as has been said, by others, "good things, turned into ultimate things" -- which then makes them a bad thing.<br />
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Humble yourself before the Lord. Confess your tendency toward self-sufficiency. You can't fix everything, nor should you try. You are not God and don't have access to his plans and ways. You cannot even cause your hair to grow faster (or at all) or even stay in place! God has them all numbered. Let God be God, and let him bring balm to heal your spirit.<br />
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Pray, with David, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." God will hear and answer that prayer -- every time.<br />
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Cyberparsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14578047776905293835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30193662628689633.post-72098049825364463122019-05-31T10:00:00.000-04:002019-05-31T10:00:04.038-04:00Ascension Day: When Christians Should be Looking Up!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Today is Ascension Day, forty days after Resurrection Day (Easter). The Bible tells us that it was after forty days on earth, during which time Jesus appeared publicly twice in the upper room to his disciples (John 20:19-29), once in Galilee to a large crowd of followers (Matthew 28:16-20), picnicked with some of the eleven after a night of fishing on the Sea of Galilee (John 21:4-14), and met with them again in Jerusalem (Acts 1:6). Luke makes it plain that during these days he offered "many proofs" that he was, in fact, the same Jesus who was alive again (Acts 1:3). He also told them that great power was coming for them from heaven, but that they must wait in Jerusalem now for it to come.<br />
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After all of this, according to the book of Acts (1:6-11), he led them for their final "study session" (where he laid out once again the plan for worldwide witness once their power had come to them), to the same hillside east of Jerusalem where he had, weeks before, told them about the end of the age--the Mount of Olives. He repeated the plan (you remember what it is, don't you?) and as he finished, with the eleven watching, he began to rise bodily into the sky, a glorious, shining cloud of glory enveloping him as he rose so that they could no longer see him. He (and the cloud) were gone! But in the meantime, two angels stood next to them, and gently told them that staring was not their occupation. But hope was theirs--this same Jesus, will return in just the same way.<br />
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In his glorified body.<br />
Visibly.<br />
Carried back on the cloud of God's glory.<br />
To the Mount of Olives, where he will stand on earth.<br />
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We've been studying a little bit (OK, a lot) about what the Bible says will precede this return, but never let us lose sight of what the signs point to.<br />
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Our Jesus is alive, and he is coming back.<br />
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Can it happen? Just as surely as he went up, he will come back down. Until then, don't lose hope, even though you can't see him yet.<br />
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Happy Ascension Day!</div>
Cyberparsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14578047776905293835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30193662628689633.post-62515172207339566202019-05-21T16:00:00.000-04:002019-05-21T16:00:19.373-04:00Significance, Suffering, and Sovereignty<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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We want the first, avoid the second, and ignore the third</h3>
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An<em>d James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”<strong><sup> </sup></strong>And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized,<strong><sup> </sup></strong>but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” </em>Mark 10:35-40 (ESV)<br />
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This story always intrigues us, for many reasons. One is that in Matthew's gospel we discover that James and John used their mom as the one to make the request--how bold of them!<br />
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There are many lessons to be gathered but there is one specific lesson that has been on my mind this week.<br />
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Note that James and John wanted special seats in the kingdom of Jesus--on his right and left hand. These would be prominent places indeed. If the rest of the disciples were on thrones as well, and in a line, they would be the ones seen most prominently, closer to Jesus than anyone. And these seats would identify these two disciples as especially significant--as if no one was closer to Jesus. It wasn't exactly what Peter would have thought.<br />
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We look at them and feel sorry for them--after all, the entire church for 2,000 years has heard of their prideful move and its failure. We know that the other disciples were angered, perhaps because they didn't ask first. Being important in the kingdom was a big deal to them. They wanted, they craved significance!<br />
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Interestingly, Jesus doesn't just put them in their place with a withering response. Instead, he points out two issues.<br />
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The first is whether they are able to drink the cup that he is about to drink. We have the advantage of history and the biblical record to know that this was the cup of his suffering and death. They brazenly answer, "we are able." They weren't at that point, although Jesus tells them they will, in fact drink from that same cup. James would be the first martyr and first of the disciples to die for Christ. John would be the last, after numerous attempts on his life, dying as an old man after living in exile because of his faithfulness.<br />
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Why does Jesus say this? Because the road toward significance in the service of Jesus is, invariably, the road of suffering. It is, after all, the way of the Cross. A path that emphasizes death to self, putting others first, sacrifice, loss, giving up familial relationships, and a cost to pay is not an easy, rosy one. It is good--incredibly good--and we know its ultimate joys. But it is still a road of suffering. Were they willing to embrace suffering? They said yes, but when Jesus prepared for his, they slept, and when he underwent his, they ran in the other direction.<br />
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How about us? Are we willing to run toward suffering, and chaos, and all the mess involved in invading strongholds of sin to, as the old song says, "rescue the perishing?" The followers of Jesus must embrace suffering on the path to significance.<br />
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Jesus doesn't dwell on their actual inability, but he moves to a second issue--sovereignty. He says that it is not his prerogative to award those seats, but that right belongs to the Father, who will give them to those for whom they are prepared. Not only will the Father give them out, but he has prepared the seats for particular people and people for those seats. Was it James and John? Jesus doesn't say--only that he won't do it.<br />
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Why does Jesus reveal this truth? I would suggest it is because we must remember that it is the Father's will that matters, and sometimes that will is not for us to be made prominent or significant in the eyes of others. You can indeed serve faithfully, and suffer bravely, and yet God's plan for you may not involve being seen as significant. Your role is perfect for you, and brings glory to God (as we are all made to do), but it may or may not be appreciated and valued by others. This creates another question: are we willing to be faithful in serving and even suffering, if God's plan for us does not involve being recognized as "a great servant" or "a noble sufferer for righteousness?"<br />
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By the same token, we have to decide if it is enough to be "significant" in the eyes of God alone? Will we walk the path of obedience, knowing it brings suffering, hoping only for the joys in Christ we are promised, and not worried about whether we will be recognized for doing so? True significance means trusting the sovereign determinations of God as to when or whether earthly eyes will know of us and our faithfulness.<br />
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I think James and John were a bit out of control in their request, but if we are honest, it can be easy to want to be significant--to be recognized, even if it is for our humility! May God help us serve, and live, and worship for the approval of the only One who matters. The path of true significance in God's sight is open to all his children--it will involve both suffering, and sovereign direction, but also divinely promised reward at the time we hear, "Well done!"<br />
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Who will get those two seats? I don't know. But the question reminds me of a story I read about the death of George Whitefield, the great evangelist. John Wesley had been an early friend and co-worker of Whitefield, but they differed sharply on doctrine--with Whitefield being a strong believer in the sovereignty of God in salvation and Wesley taking a strong view in favor of man's free will. Their letters back and forth on these issues were argued with passion and heat. When the news of Whitefield's death reached Wesley, a lady who was one of Wesley's followers asked, "Mr. Wesley, do you expect to see dear Mr. Whitefield in heaven?"<br />
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"No madam" replied Wesley after a lengthy pause.<br />
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"Ah, I was afraid you would say that," she answered.<br />
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To which Wesley added, "Do not misunderstand me, madam; George Whitefield was so bright a star in the firmament of God's glory, and will stand so near the throne, that one like me, who am less than the least, will never catch a glimpse of him."<br />
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I think that we may be surprised to find that God has a way of making significance in his eyes much more rewarding that significance in the eyes of others. And learning to rejoice in the recognition that others may receive (even if you don't for the very same service) is one of the greatest preparations of our hearts for a destination we rightly call "Glory."</div>
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Cyberparsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14578047776905293835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30193662628689633.post-25370784442075877122019-05-08T08:00:00.000-04:002019-05-08T08:00:06.029-04:00Out of Control!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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We are reminded daily that we are not in charge.</h3>
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<span style="font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">This week, I have had nearly a dozen conversations with people that have in some way pointed out that plans made did not happen. Things thought certain turned out to be illusory. Decisions that seemed to be no-brainers turned out to be wrong. As one person said it, "Nothing here seems to be going according to plan." Even my devotions sounded this note during the week.</span><br /><br />That should not be a new discovery for us, but an acknowledgement of settled reality. Oh, I don't mean that there isn't a plan that is being carried out. It's just not yours, or mine. Does that bother you? Why? After all, it's been the truth as long as we've been alive.<br /><br />The longer I live, the more I realize that the moments when my plans for me and others come to fruition are more happy exceptions than a regular rule. How many times have I envisioned the way a conversation should go, only to have it not go that way? How often have I thought that things should work out a certain way for me or those around me, only to have them be different? Would anybody really think that I'd create a plan where I'd live in Ohio and my married kids and grandchildren would be all over the country? No way.<br /><br />Yes, I can decide to go to the store, and then go. Even then, however, I'm warned to take an "if the Lord wills" approach to those details. And that's a clue to the greater reality we must see. There is a master planner, and it is not any of us.<br /><br />We live in a God-created world where everything follows the Creator's plan. And it is set: look at Isaiah 46:8-10</div>
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<em> “Remember this and stand firm,<br />recall it to mind, you transgressors,<br /> remember the former things of old;<br /> for I am God, and there is no other;<br />I am God, and there is none like me,<br />declaring the end from the beginning<br />and from ancient times things not yet done,<br />saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,<br />and I will accomplish all my purpose,’<br />calling a bird of prey from the east,<br />the man of my counsel from a far country.<br />I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;<br />I have purposed, and I will do it."</em></div>
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<br />That is just one passage of many that speak of God's directive power over his creation, including us. But that is not the only truth about his plan that we must hold on to, lest we go crazy with fear and doubt.<br /><br />The second great truth is that the God who is all powerful is working things for his glory and the good of those he has redeemed. Even in the passage above he makes sure we recognize that his control points to the glory of his name. Consider also Isaiah 42:8:</div>
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<br /><em> I am the Lord; that is my name;<br />my glory I give to no other,<br />nor my praise to carved idols</em></div>
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And then that verse we glibly quote but don't dwell on its depths: Romans 8:28-30</div>
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<em>And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. </em></div>
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Taken together, these texts (along with many others) point us to three realities:<br />1. God is in control of everything, not us.<br /><br />2. God's plan lines up with his character of holiness and love, bringing him the glory he is due as God.<br /><br />3. The people who have been called by God into his family (and become those who love God) can be sure that all things are working out what God knows is good for us.<br /><br />The fact that I'm not in charge of things should become great news. After all, the One who is in charge came up with the plan of redeeming sinners through the death of his Son and making us righteous by faith alone. If he can do that, then I can rest in knowing the rest of his plans are equally good.<br /><br />However, it's tough to live in that reality when things go badly, or what we perceive as badly. We don't get the job, our relationship falls apart, a loved one gets very sick. These aren't good circumstances, and they will be our lot in a world still marred by sin. And we face the sinful choices of others (that God's plan includes--even when we can't figure out how such freedom to defy him can be harmonized with his control) that bring pain and suffering--these are not good things.<br /><br />But all of the bad that we acknowledge is not outside his directive plan, and will yield ultimately good results for us and glorious results for the name of God, even when he exercises judgment over his enemies; this glorifies his justice.<br /><br />This is where faith comes in. We must believe what we know to be true. God's control is always good for us. My thinking that things are bad may be true about the circumstances, but not about the outcome. And it's really, really good that you and I are not ultimately in charge of our lives. I've made enough wrong moves in my life to know that I don't get things right all the time, and I don't want to imagine what my life would be if my failures were fatal on my own, instead of tools in a good Father's plan for me!<br /><br />"A person's heart plans his way, but the LORD determines his steps."--Proverbs 16:9<br /><br />I taught Christine a song from that verse, and it's what I hold onto now and I seek to make the decisions in front of me. You can, too!</div>
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Cyberparsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14578047776905293835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30193662628689633.post-36307884514306194742019-04-30T08:00:00.000-04:002019-04-30T20:45:13.014-04:00Words that Heal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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During my devotional study in Proverbs last year, my readings often focused on the power of words. Tim Keller's devotional book on the Proverbs has been my guidebook through the wisdom we find, and for a successive number of days, the various proverbs relating to speech were in view.<br />
<br />
I've considered the nature of words from the many types of speech discussed there. Solomon speaks of words that are true, and not just factually true, but honest--without any attempt to mislead. Words should be faithful in their intent, reflect integrity in the speaker, and bring grace to the recipient (I was going to put all the references in here, but all you would see would be parentheses and numbers!).<br />
<br />
Words can be kind or cruel; they can have power to hurt or even kill. They can encourage and build up, or they can wound and tear down. They can refresh or cause anxiety. Sometimes they can be both needed and hard to hear when they contain the faithful rebuke of a friend. Even as I say these things, some of you are remembering various verses from the book that say these things.<br />
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Recently, I have been impressed by the discussion of words that heal. In 16:24 we read, "Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." That's an image that requires some experience. Mine comes regularly in Israel.<br />
<br />
On our Israel tours, the hotels we use provide very large breakfast buffets. One of my favorites features a large section of fresh honeycomb, dripping with honey. It is a treat to enjoy and I do almost every morning we are there. Spreading it on some of the wonderful breads available makes the morning meal a "sweet deal."<br />
<br />
In a culture that didn't have the abundance of sugar in everything that we have, honey and the honeycomb were a treat, and came to symbolize a special refreshment. We are told that both Samson and Jonathan found themselves refreshed and sustained in eating from it.<br />
<br />
Similarly Solomon says words that are empowered by grace ("gracious words" are not just "nice," they are reflective of grace to others) have a similar effect. They can bring a lightness to the soul that may be weighed down. More than that, they can bring healing--a restorative power--to the person who may be suffering.<br />
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I think most of us would want our words to be able to have this kind of impact on others when they are hurting, and perhaps even when they just need to be encouraged. So, how might we make sure our words are restorative and healing when that is needed?<br />
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I started working on a list of the other characteristics I find in Proverbs that give healing power to words. Here it is--you can probably add more.</div>
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<li style="margin-left: 15px;">They should be true. You don't help anyone or show grace in any real sense by not being honest.</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">They should be "hear" able. What I mean by that is that what I say needs to be both understandable and receivable by the hearer. Sometimes I may have a gracious message, but the person I address is not in a state of mind to hear it. I should gauge the moment to see if I can speak in a way that will be heard in the right way.</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">They should have credibility. That means that the person has reason to believe that I am a credible witness and a trusted voice. This is especially true if the healing needed involves any measure of correction.</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">They should have the effect of "blessing." The way they are spoken and the aim in the speaking should be seen as seeking the good of the hearer. When we say something "for their own good," that is what we mean, but sometimes the way such messages come across is less healing than harsh.</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">They should reflect and line up with wisdom. Many of the proverbs extol wisdom, and healing words will bear the evidence of flowing from wisdom we have gained through our experience of God's truth and his work in us.</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">They should be regular. Just as we may need multiple doses of a medicine, healing words sometimes need repeating and regularity to have their desired effect. </li>
</ol>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 15px;">That's my initial list. As I said, you might add to it out of your experience. But this has become my personal challenge--to find ways to make my words and conversation a greater source of healing to those around me. </span></div>
Cyberparsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14578047776905293835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30193662628689633.post-50443177845492065922019-04-22T16:49:00.001-04:002019-04-23T08:52:13.330-04:00A Tale of Two Easter Sundays<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKqO8Qw6N7wTyUY7k0GwssZFQTadNQkVLJEEWwvSuikLr4aLWWUgXbzKXMtE1cGbhtHGnS5uM_xU8CLpy-s4t71SdGMmJjDI47Z61uUDY-3YL5eCao57foXLs5BvL7ooIYrdDqhs9New/s1600/unnamed-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKqO8Qw6N7wTyUY7k0GwssZFQTadNQkVLJEEWwvSuikLr4aLWWUgXbzKXMtE1cGbhtHGnS5uM_xU8CLpy-s4t71SdGMmJjDI47Z61uUDY-3YL5eCao57foXLs5BvL7ooIYrdDqhs9New/s320/unnamed-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can see me facing the congregation with the orchestra<br />
in the foreground and the choir in the distance.</td></tr>
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Yesterday here in Cedarville, the Grace Church family celebrated the Resurrection with two services filled with music and Word--we have our children worshiping with us on this day, and so the whole service was geared toward the whole family. We considered three themes together, "Lost, Waiting, Rescued" as we recounted the story of Jesus death and resurrection in the context of the Bible's grand story. It was a great day of worship and celebration. We arrived and left without incident. We always do. Surprisingly, last week, the new Chief of Police, a believer himself who attends a sister church, stopped by on Sunday morning to speak to our safety team here and ask if there were any ways that he could be of any assistance to us. It was a very kind gesture. We haven't had any need for the police to protect us, and in my tenure here, we have not had to have the police intervene during a service or offer us assistance, other than in an occasional medical emergency when they accompanied EMS workers who came to help.<br />
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In contrast, the Zion Church in Sri Lanka did not have their expected Easter Sunday. Instead, a bomb ripped through their building killing dozens of people. The pastor, a graduate of Singapore Bible College, lost his son in the blast. The picture you see was taken at Zion Church just ten minutes before the bomb exploded and killed half the people you see in that room. The authorities are convinced that this was the work of terrorists targeting Christians, but they have not yet named the group responsible <i>[UPDATE: The government has named a known Islamic terror group as the perpetrators, but says they could not have acted alone and must have had outside help from other like-minded groups. The government was warned of these attacked by the US and other intelligence services weeks in advance but did not issue warnings or take steps to protect Christians]</i>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE_X901Zc80yD_RG19uGc3nTF2KdOCxYpphnxjLkQPHBWYWi6AbGf7fs9Xjdkiuc6DbTuc_P7sW7NIsuIrS3u09npyNmnETFU85_efpIsfcqJ19FuurT7Qr46ldbN5eIF4SaNnZw3Ifw/s1600/57460095_10218120995046746_4381230322570756096_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="720" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE_X901Zc80yD_RG19uGc3nTF2KdOCxYpphnxjLkQPHBWYWi6AbGf7fs9Xjdkiuc6DbTuc_P7sW7NIsuIrS3u09npyNmnETFU85_efpIsfcqJ19FuurT7Qr46ldbN5eIF4SaNnZw3Ifw/s320/57460095_10218120995046746_4381230322570756096_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is a picture of the children of Zion Church in Sri Lanka,<br />
ten minutes before half of them were killed in a bomb<br />
blast that targeted the church along with others across<br />
Sri Lanka, on Easter Sunday morning.</td></tr>
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Sri Lanka is an island nation where the majority religion is Buddhism, and the next largest is Hinduism. These groups were at war for decades ago, as the minority Tamil Tigers, made up of members of the minority Hindu people, waged a guerrilla war against the Buddhist Sinhalese majority. It was a terrible time, but a peace agreement ended such terrible carnage over a decade ago, and Christians were not in the crosshairs then. No one expected such large scale violence again in the country, and especially not against Christians on Easter. But the longstanding Catholic presence, along with a small but fast-growing Evangelical presence, has brought opposition from the larger religions, including Islam.<br />
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Sometimes these stories make us momentarily sad, but they are easy to hold at a distance. Not so this time. We have two members of our own Grace Family from Sri Lanka, and each of their families was touched by this string of church bombings, losing members of extended family. I spoke with them Easter Sunday at our services, and they were still awaiting word on the rest of their families. Thankfully, no immediate family members were harmed.<br />
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I see some Christians who seem to be reacting with anger toward those who did this: anger that probably is due, at least in part, to being taken by surprise in both the incident and its violence toward people we know were not a threat to anyone. I'm troubled, but not angered. Here's why.<br />
<br />
Jesus told us a number of truths about being his people. One is that we should expect hatred, just like he himself faced. Further, he told us that we are blessed when we are persecuted for his name's sake, and that is clearly what was happening here. Speaking to the church in Smyrna about the persecution they would face, he did not urge anger or retaliation, but rather, "be faithful to death, and I will give you the crown of life." These martyrs will receive that special gift from Jesus himself.<br />
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We grieve the loss of life, and we weep with those who weep. This was not deserved, nor was it anything other than criminal and evil. But it really should not surprise us that it happened--even if the particular occurrence was a surprise. It has been happening throughout Asia for years, even as the evangelical church is growing rapidly there.<br />
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Those who plotted these bombings believe they can silence Christians and stop the gospel from moving forward by their actions. Not only are they wrong, but they will find what many before them have discovered--"The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church." And in what might be one of the most ironic of results, some of those who plotted this deed may themselves come under the conviction and saving power of the One they were trying to fight. Just ask Saul of Tarsus.<br />
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We had a great Sunday, but it was a bit more sobering than normal, for the events in Sri Lanka had already occurred and we noted them, praying for our brothers and sisters there. But right after we prayed, we sang a song that included the following words:<br />
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<i>There's a reason why our hearts can be courageous,</i></div>
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<i>There's a reason why the dead are made alive,</i></div>
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<i>There's a reason why we share his resurrection,</i></div>
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<i>Jesus is alive."</i></div>
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(From "Praise the King" by Shane and Shane)</div>
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Believers in Sri Lanka and other places need that courage right now, and God will give it. And we may need it sooner than we realize--may we seek it in the power of Christ's resurrection!</div>
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Cyberparsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14578047776905293835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30193662628689633.post-52290422156202609802019-04-21T05:30:00.000-04:002019-04-21T05:30:04.762-04:00"Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed!"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td>[Originally published on Easter, 2014]<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpUMLqnhTwBuQt8Gc-yxeu88jCivqQkpeHPt3SLowA_EKd93M3kixZMax5t8cmVm62FOSS-6K-w_C3u1borPC635MO6UGZf129vyp19bRqb6A4Xbll2P32knB6VmVTROUJBSgz1CArYQ/s1600/timthumb.php.png" imageanchor="1" style="color: #6699cc; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpUMLqnhTwBuQt8Gc-yxeu88jCivqQkpeHPt3SLowA_EKd93M3kixZMax5t8cmVm62FOSS-6K-w_C3u1borPC635MO6UGZf129vyp19bRqb6A4Xbll2P32knB6VmVTROUJBSgz1CArYQ/s1600/timthumb.php.png" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 11.88px;"><i>I've actually been to this tomb in Israel many times--a rolling stone tomb along the road that is probably the closest we<br />will get to a good representation of what Jesus' empty tomb would have looked like.</i></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">A very well known "cutting edge" Christian famous for his iconoclastic life and writings wrote a book a number of years ago that was every "wanna be cutting edge" Christian's favorite book. In it, the writer echoed one of his mentors in saying that the beauty of the teachings of Jesus is so great, and the power of his instruction so overpowering, that even if the whole story of Jesus wasn't true, and there was no heaven ahead, he would still want to be a Christian because of these qualities.</span><br />
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At that point as I was reading the book, I threw it across the room.</div>
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Why? Because that is what Paul the apostle would have done.</div>
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Actually he says, in 1 Corinthians 15 that if Christ is not, really and truly, raised from the dead, we Christians are "most to be pitied." That is Bible talk for "losers," "idiots," or just about any term of derision and foolishness you would want to pin on us. Why, Paul says, would we go through all the self-denial, the enduring of wrongs in hopes that they will be made right some day, the offending of others, and who knows what else, if this whole matter of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus isn't real? Good question! </div>
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Christianity, thankfully, is not just a self improvement program because, let's face it, even if I improve myself to my highest potential, I am still falling short of God's glory, still selfish, still thinking more about myself than I should, only now I'd just have more about me to brag and think highly about. And I can't save myself from myself--from my sinfulness. </div>
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Christianity is about resurrection, not just reformation. It is not just weak becoming strong, but dead coming to life. The resurrection of Jesus figured much more prominently in the apostles' preaching in Acts than it often does in our thinking. We focus on his death--a vital focus to be sure. But they loved to proclaim his resurrection--his power over death, and the guarantee of right standing before God forever in his presence. His death, without the resurrection, gave his followers only grief. They didn't think about how noble it was, or even of it as a possible appeasement of God's wrath. Only the resurrection made it real to them.</div>
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And it keeps making it real to us. He is risen. He's alive, now and forevermore. And as he ascended into heaven the message of the angels at that event was the same as he had been giving--he is coming back!</div>
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Cyberparsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14578047776905293835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30193662628689633.post-28974759191022577412019-04-17T14:39:00.001-04:002019-04-17T14:39:56.403-04:00Links to the "Holy Week" posts up to this point...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's Wednesday of Holy Week. You can find the post about it <a href="https://gbcvillagepastor.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-wednesday-of-holy-week.html">here</a>.<br />
<br />
The Tuesday post is <a href="https://gbcvillagepastor.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-tuesday-of-holy-week.html">here</a>.<br />
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The Monday post is <a href="https://gbcvillagepastor.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-monday-of-holy-week.html">here</a>.<br />
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The Palm Sunday post is <a href="https://gbcvillagepastor.blogspot.com/2018/03/palm-sunday-first-day-of-holy-week.html">here</a>. </div>
Cyberparsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14578047776905293835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30193662628689633.post-29459132245570460512019-04-12T10:30:00.000-04:002019-04-12T10:30:00.134-04:00Dangerous!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Sometimes just being a witness to Jesus' power is dangerous</h3>
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<em>"When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.<br />So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as </em><em>well,</em><em><sup> </sup>because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus."</em></div>
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John 12:9-11</div>
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The Saturday night before Palm Sunday (tomorrow) is the anniversary of Mary, the sister of Lazarus, anointing Jesus with costly ointment in an extravagant display of her love for him. Jesus said it would always be remembered about her, and obviously, it is.<br />
<br />
The setting of that special gift was at a dinner that Lazarus and his sisters gave for Jesus in their home that evening, as the Sabbath was coming to a close. It wasn't just a meal for the family, the disciples, and Jesus, although they are clearly in focus. Apparently others of their neighbors came--and not just a few. The clearly stated reason is in our text. It was only a matter of days (or at most a few weeks) since Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead. Talk about a rock star! Had this happened today, Lazarus would have been on every news and talk show imaginable. They didn't have such things then, but people had heard about it, and then heard that Jesus, the miracle worker himself, was back at the home of this family in Bethany. So they came in large numbers. I don't know if they fed them all, but I wouldn't put it past Martha.<br />
<br />
However, some of those who knew all about it were not there and were not fans. They were the religious leaders of the Jewish nation in Jerusalem. What they saw distressed them greatly. People were moving toward Jesus because of the newly raised Lazarus. Rather than let the miracle touch their hearts or even challenge their thinking, they came up with what they believed was the only sensible solution. Since they didn't want people believing in Jesus, they didn't want them to see evidence that he should be believed in. Lazarus was, right now, Exhibit A; therefore, Jesus had to die, but to make sure his legend didn't live on, Lazarus had to go back to the grave, too.<br />
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Imagine that. People hate you because a miracle gave you life. Just his being alive was enough to want him dead.<br />
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Reading the story again made me think. All around each of us are other believers, and we all are those who have been raised from spiritual death by Christ (and with Christ). We are, in a real sense all a "spiritual Lazarus," called out of the grave. And in a real way, our lives ought to be just as much a testimony of the power of Jesus as his--so that we would become dangerous to the kingdom of darkness.<br />
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Now I know, you can't see being spiritually raised to life like you can see a physical raising. But just a minute. It was the fact that Lazarus was showing all the signs of life that made him the miracle. Are there signs of spiritual life that should be evidence that we have experienced the miracle of new life? I think you know there are.</div>
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<li style="margin-left: 15px; text-align: left;">Faith in Jesus</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px; text-align: left;">Trust in his Word</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px; text-align: left;">Love for other Christians</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px; text-align: left;">Faithful witness to the gospel</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px; text-align: left;">Growing hatred of sin</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px; text-align: left;">Increasing joy in holiness</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px; text-align: left;">The fruit of the Spirit</li>
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That is just a start. And I might suggest that these signs may be enough to put you in danger! Not from Jewish religious leaders, but from a greater enemy. Satan hates to see the evidences of spiritual life, and he will do all he can to kill them off in you. He may stir up unbelievers to persecute and threaten you, as he has done in so many places and eras. But he may also throw all sorts of temptations, discouragements and challenges your way as well. He hates you for the life you show. If he can't keep Jesus dead (and he couldn't), he will do his best to stop you and your life from being seen. Why? Because just like Lazarus, your life might also be enough to draw others to Jesus.<br />
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Let's live out the reality of what we are--alive from the dead, to the glory of our Savior!</div>
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Cyberparsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14578047776905293835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30193662628689633.post-52874777641533406022019-03-25T16:04:00.001-04:002019-03-25T16:04:37.992-04:00In the Aftermath of ISIS<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: 20px;"><span id="goog_1611804657"></span><span id="goog_1611804658"></span>In terrible circumstances, making an eternal difference, one child at a time.</span></h1>
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I spent a week in Colorado Springs recently for meetings with the Board of Indigenous Ministries, International (John and Dee Cook’s agency, and the ministry through which we support Grace Bible College in India, provided them with a van through the Harvest Offering, and provided Iraqi refugee families and children with trauma kits containing food, clothes, and stuffed animals). Actually I spent more of my week than I planned as a “worst in memory” blizzard hit the eastern slope of the Rockies socked. Freeways were closed, vehicles unable to move, and flights canceled—God made his will clear that I stay longer, and learn more.<br />
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Anyway, I serve on this Board (it’s a small one right now, with four of us in the meetings), and what I have been learning about two of our ministries is both incredibly disturbing and extremely encouraging.<br />
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<u>From northern Iraq</u>: What is disturbing is the continuing deterioration of conditions for millions of refugees in and around the Kurdish region of northern Iraq. While there are many NGOs (non-governmental organizations) in the region, and a few large Christian relief organizations, they are not visible to the people IMI is serving in the camps, cities and towns that were once in ISIS-controlled lands. It is in these regions and these people that this small mission is focused.<br />
The stories of these refugees are horrific, and the suffering they have experienced has left entire populations with physical and emotional scars—everyone seems to have some form of PTSD. The horrors of ISIS and the utter destruction of every bit of infrastructure breeds hopelessness. In the midst of these overwhelming needs, IMI has the privilege of bringing the light of gospel message and presence.<br />
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IMI has helped plant the Baptist Church in Irbil, and that church’s pastor, Sabre, oversees care for a fast-growing congregation of converts from Christian and Muslim backgrounds. In one evening last summer, 125 people trusted Christ. This church is overwhelmed with trying to help these new converts and other refugees to be able to find stable living. When John and Dee come, they bring more resources, encouragement, and Dee’s ministry to the women is having a large impact. Members of the church become the ministry team to others.<br />
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One young couple, Fadi and Myrana, lead our efforts among refugees. Fadi handles the logistics of getting food supplies, while Myrana works with children, helping provide basic needs and building a unique child sponsorship program. IMI’s program doesn’t just provide for a child, although that becomes the entry point. Each child receives enough food for their family for a month, a monthly kids club similar to a Sunday school, the families are visited by team members from the church, and each child is linked to another program IMI has initiated that provides backpacks with school uniforms, shoes, and supplies. And right now nearly 300 hundred children are being sponsored. But we have almost 200 profiles of children still waiting.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfk5e68GiJqos8bXXNHqlMNi5XuT4b-DRxZL8u_JvVmaYNWhaBusRFaOj72nSY1CIsh1MksGidPZs4k-m9V8UmJyog1H9cCqsOBN5Zw6Uo8NZKGI934uvnc6r_mKwqbDR6sh6O82SS0A/s1600/unnamed-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfk5e68GiJqos8bXXNHqlMNi5XuT4b-DRxZL8u_JvVmaYNWhaBusRFaOj72nSY1CIsh1MksGidPZs4k-m9V8UmJyog1H9cCqsOBN5Zw6Uo8NZKGI934uvnc6r_mKwqbDR6sh6O82SS0A/s320/unnamed-1.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
What is encouraging is that we can do something in the name of Jesus that changes the circumstances of a child, and in many cases is introducing them to the gospel that can change their lives for eternity. All for $39 a month. [Pictured: John Cook holding one of the refugee boys outside of Mosul on the last trip].<br />
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<u>From Egypt</u>: Following tremendous persecution, Christians in Egypt are experiencing a moment when the government is friendly toward them even as Muslim extremists still attack churches. In recent weeks, churches have been surrounded by militants with automatic rifles, firing at them as the people huddled inside. And still, they continue to worship and witness.<br />
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IMI has hosted pastor’s conferences (Don Callan has actually spoken at one) and helped plant 10 churches in Egypt. Here the great pressing need has been to help widows in the churches who cannot work because they have children to care for. IMI has launched child sponsorship here as well, providing these “half-orphans” food for their families, clothing, and all that is necessary for school. Because they are all connected to IMI’s church plants, both mothers and children find spiritual support, and a number of the teenage children have decided they want to serve the Lord Jesus with their lives. IMI is helping them go to Bible college. Again, the amount of support works out to $39 a month.<br />
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I don’t mean for this to be just a commercial for IMI, but I do want to ask you to consider whether being a part of changing a child’s world by helping their family, linking them to a church, and exposing to the gospel is something you could do. IMI's program provides a profile, picture, and description of the child and family, as well as the strong encouragement for you to write to your child (these letters are so prized, John and Dee asked if we have people who might write letters to give to kids whose sponsors don't write, and also to the other children in a sponsored child family--these children often feel terribly sad when someone writes to a sibling but not to them). Iraqi refugees are often staying for the long haul. Syrian refugees in the region often hope to emigrate and so may have months rather than years to be reached in this way. Like other sponsorship programs, this one feeds and clothes children. But what excites me is the close connection of these precious children to Christians who are present in their lives and able to bear continuing witness. Pastor Sabre is doing amazing follow up work with teams from his church.<br />
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If you’d like to help a child in Iraq or Egypt, you can do so by going to IMI’s website—<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://gracecedarville.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3Da84b9d0094a0b226a11d50fed%26id%3D529067b1da%26e%3D0ac751232d&source=gmail&ust=1553629382718000&usg=AFQjCNH9-huS0hipZFZ6MGqgXyobJSGtNg" href="https://gracecedarville.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=a84b9d0094a0b226a11d50fed&id=529067b1da&e=0ac751232d" style="color: #007c89;" target="_blank">http://<wbr></wbr>indigenousministries.org</a>—and go where it says “Sponsor a Child.” Unless specifically requested you will be given a refugee child to sponsor. <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://gracecedarville.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3Da84b9d0094a0b226a11d50fed%26id%3D3802b1992b%26e%3D0ac751232d&source=gmail&ust=1553629382718000&usg=AFQjCNGMWGUaO5iEdipLee_HnZeAbw0I2A" href="https://gracecedarville.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=a84b9d0094a0b226a11d50fed&id=3802b1992b&e=0ac751232d" style="color: #007c89;" target="_blank">Here is the link to the sponsorship page</a>.<br />
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More than this, though, I want you to know that the Gospel is having great impact in some of the darkest corners of the earth. Men, women, and children who have experienced horrors that we cannot begin to imagine have been met in their deep pain and loss with the greatest love ever known—the love of Jesus. There is so much to be done, and it does feel overwhelming even as we anticipate adding 600 more refugee children to our program. That is a huge leap for such a small organization, and it seems so little, knowing that the need is so much larger. But while we can’t solve it all, we can be agents of gospel change, one child, one family, one refugee camp at a time. And it is happening!</div>
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Cyberparsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14578047776905293835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30193662628689633.post-24671426517900073382019-03-09T12:02:00.001-05:002019-03-09T12:08:10.551-05:00Shame On You!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;">One of the burdens we were not designed to bear.</span></h3>
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The last verse of Genesis 2, just before the Fall, tells us of the state of the first man and first woman having been brought together and set loose in God's garden to create and shape and play and love and fill it. It says "the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed (Genesis 2:25)."<br />
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As a kid, I remember when that would be read and thinking how silly that was, walking around without clothes outside! And then as a bit older kid thinking that they may not have been ashamed but what about embarrassed. My juvenile self felt that reading this story made us witnesses and somehow that was embarrassing to them. And besides, all the angels were looking!<br />
I now understand so much more about that statement, and the profound truth it holds. Adam and Eve were naked and that speaks of having absolutely nothing to hide from God or each other. Total exposure that was totally safe. Most significantly, it says they were "not ashamed." I don't think this means they had a good body image of themselves, although they did since there was nothing to lead to anything else. I think it lets us know that there was nothing in their lives that would generate shame. That was as it was meant to be. But that would change.<br />
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After the Fall, Adam and Eve know evil--eating the forbidden fruit gave them that experience. Knowing evil in this way led to a state and an emotion that came with it. The state was "guilt." They were now guilty of violating God's command to them. They had transgressed their one law. But this led to an accompanying experience no one had ever felt before. They were ashamed. Now, they didn't identify the shame with the guilt, but with their nakedness.<br />
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The connection of material and immaterial in our creation is so strong that the apprehension of guilt led to identifying shame with nakedness--they no longer sensed the freedom to be seen by God as they were, because they were no longer what they had been. This is seen when asked by God where they were (and the accompanying appearance they make trying to cover themselves with leaves). When Adam answers, he says they hid because they were naked--something that had previously shown their lack of shame. Now, nakedness could not be endured before God. They were now doers of evil, and their created state carried the awareness that this meant something stood between them and God. They knew they were guilty, and they felt shame.<br />
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Much more could and should be said about all this entails, and the relationship between guilt and shame, the existence of false guilt, the fact that in our broken world we can feel shame about things where we are not guilty of wrong, and so on. But what got me thinking about this was listening to a couple different podcasts talking about guilt and shame, and the power that shame continues to have over us.<br />
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One particular woman I was listening to talked about having survived years of sexual abuse, but in her survival feeling great shame over what happened to her. That shame led to years of destructive behaviors which were often guilt-inducing because they were evil, which would then add more shame to the mix. She talked about confessing her own sins, finding forgiveness, but still struggling with shame over abuse, not realizing that this was Satan's tool to keep her in bondage. She didn't understand that such sins committed against her were not hers to confess, and that the shame was something she could bring to God and seek freedom from. She posed a very interesting question. Pointing to Genesis 2 and the lack of shame in our creation, she said we were never meant to experience shame, and yet it dominates so much of our lives. We are ashamed of the people we have been, but also of the things that mark us over which we have had no control. She wondered at the negative power of shame to continue to plague us, even when any guilt for sin has been atoned for by the sacrifice of Christ. How many of us still feel the shame of sins forgiven and forsaken? We believe we are forgiven, but we know the pain we've caused others.<br />
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And how many of us still feel shame at things done to us or that were a part of our lives, not by choice--the young man ashamed that he still can't read, the girl who feels broken and unworthy because of unspeakable evil done to her and being told she deserved it, the men and women who hate the lusts that continue to plague their minds even as they beg God for deliverance, the parent who has confessed to God their failures in child-raising but continues to feel the shame of their wayward one as a personal diminishment of worth to God and the church?<br />
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Shame is a good thing when it leads to our seeing where guilt abides brings us to confession. But it can be a barrier to our growth in Christ and our relationships with others--we cannot be relationally "naked" with anyone, even our loving Father, because there is still too much shame over our failures. In part, this is exacerbated by our pretending things are good, and our assumptions that what others present as a healthy and whole façade is real.<br />
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Is shame still at work in you? Is there still that memory of a past failure that haunts you too frequently, or a battle you fight that you fear would make you "less" in the eyes of others you love? Do you live in fear that your shame will be exposed?<br />
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Let me encourage you to remember that your Savior has taken your guilt. By grace, you are declared not guilty, and the righteousness of Christ is yours by gift. The Father who sees you "naked" also sees you as righteous. This happened because your redeemer Jesus hung naked on a cross for you--"despising the shame" as the writer of Hebrews puts it. He felt about that shame what you feel about yours. And he endured it to set you free from it.<br />
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My prayer is that we will become a people who, having been freed from the guilt of our sin, would walk in holiness that keeps us from experiencing guilt and shame, but also that we would lay the shame of already confessed sin at the cross. And we would recognize the places where Satan is seeking to control us with a sense of shame over things that we did not do, that are not our moral responsibility, rejecting Satan's lies and taking hold of the truth that brokenness is not always our fault, that shame is not always the right response to it, and that we can see ourselves as God sees us.<br />
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To get there, we may need the help of the Body. If this is where you are, begin to pray that God gives you someone you can trust that can bear this burden with you. That's what we are meant to do, and often it is hearing someone else speak words of grace and truth to us that help us hear what we cannot seem to hear from ourselves.</div>
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Cyberparsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14578047776905293835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30193662628689633.post-34138259589990911272019-03-02T07:30:00.001-05:002019-03-02T07:30:09.909-05:00Faithful God, Unfailing Grace<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Musings on the only way through our fallen world.</span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Dementia. Cancer. Parkinsons. ALS. Heart failure. Leukemia. </span><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">I'm watching friends of all ages battling diseases and conditions that seem such cruel robbers of health and vitality. </span><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Divorce. Estranged Children. Broken friendships. Betrayed trust.</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Friends and family are experiencing the gamut of relational collapses and calamities, with little hope in sight.</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Dreams dashed. Plans abandoned. Efforts failing. Requests denied.</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">So many people I care about are dealing with losses and disappointments over hopes that will never come true.</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">If you've read this far, you must have a strong constitution, because the realities I've just listed about this fallen world are hard to stomach. And the longer you live, the more of these you encounter more often.</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">How do we make it in such circumstances? How can we carry on?</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The only way I know is to cling to what we know about God and about grace.</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">God is faithful.</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Grace will never run out for us.</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">There are no easy answers for any of the things I've just listed. But if, in the occurrence of each, we can keep reminding ourselves that the God who is love and who has called us into his family is always faithful to his stated plan, we can continue on. He has determined to set us free from the power and presence of sin by making us like Jesus. Any or all of these things can be the very needed to move us that much closer to that goal. And in those trials we discover both God's provision of and demonstrations of his grace.</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">A friend with ALS has lost her ability to move and is about to lose her ability to speak. Her husband is about to lose his partner of nearly 50 years. But she posts about thankfulness, as she sees her husband and family's care for her, or her opportunities to share the gospel with medical workers through tracts, and her requests for prayer that she keeps her eyes on the Lord and not on her failing body.</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">A faithful God gives parting grace.</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">A sister who has survived years of abusive treatment speaks of the blessing of learning to trust spiritual leaders to help her when circumstances would leave her vulnerable and when others' counsel was often to go her own way. She is grateful for those who helped her along the path of faithfulness and accountability.</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">A faithful God gives guiding grace.</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">A brother I care for has experienced brokenness, loss and, at times, despair. Life was disrupted and trajectories changed. But he tells me he has also seen God sustain and bring healing as he does the work of daily repentance (what we talked about during our 40 days of fasting and prayer). He says he is learning to let go of dreams for the future to experience the joys of a very different but meaningful present.</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">A faithful God gives daily grace.</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Where are you hurting right now? Have your dreams or desires been thwarted? Are your plans in shambles? Is your future uncertain or your past filled with shame? If you are God's son or daughter, know this.</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Your God is faithful to his plans and purposes for you. He will see you through.</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 32, 32); color: #202020; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">And every day, he will give you the grace that is needed for that day, that moment, that circumstance. And as you receive it, others will see it and marvel, just as I have been over these dear ones and the grace they have shown.</span></div>
Cyberparsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14578047776905293835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30193662628689633.post-55380786410118879942019-02-15T15:50:00.003-05:002019-02-15T15:50:56.542-05:00Marie Kondo's Messy Approach to Tidy-ness<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: 20px;">What the Netflix sensation gets right, and gets wrong</span></h1>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT35E6JtBbmq0ZJyZMeuk3J72Ojwr_0H6ikG5j5YKF-Iib0Tp_aviSOMA0b07v0-_Ab3gPNUS6pt_xRvKKJVEPK0DkuTBv0L4_GipS1j9WUB6o-GHvgLzZJ8BAE-FMYRGVyUD7_Z19pQ/s1600/Unknown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="246" data-original-width="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT35E6JtBbmq0ZJyZMeuk3J72Ojwr_0H6ikG5j5YKF-Iib0Tp_aviSOMA0b07v0-_Ab3gPNUS6pt_xRvKKJVEPK0DkuTBv0L4_GipS1j9WUB6o-GHvgLzZJ8BAE-FMYRGVyUD7_Z19pQ/s1600/Unknown.jpeg" /></a>A very winsome and kind demeanor characterizes Marie Kondo, TV host from Japan whose "Tidying Up with Marie Kondo" is a huge "thing" right now, thanks to Netflix. This petite wizard of cleanliness comes into American homes that are stuffed to the gills with stuff and helps them manage to sort through it all, purge much, and after at least one cathartic moment leave the family rejoicing for being freed from the weight of so many clothes, kitchen utensils, books, or other possessions.<br />
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Kondo promotes minimalism--a long taught philosophy in Japan that seeks to limit one's possessions to what is necessary. Her approach is blended with an eastern view of life that considers objects as having some kind of consciousness. Thus, she gets on the floor and prays/greets/thanks the house for its shelter. She encourages holding objects to see if they "spark joy" (her big catchphrase)--if so, you keep them, if not, you thank them for what they provided you before discarding them. She is non-judgmental in the choices people make, and through her guidance, it seems that each week's family manages to shed a lot of excess baggage (literally).<br />
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I've watched a couple episodes, and here's what I have taken away.<br />
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First, she has any number of practical pieces of advice for any of us who need to organize or purge our homes and closets. She has some pretty nifty ways of folding and storing things--full disclosure: I used her method to organize a bunch of t-shirts and now can access what I want more easily. And the process of going through them all caused me to eliminate some that I realized I had not worn for a while and had no plans to do so. So, she has some good advice.<br />
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Some of her advice is much more preferential. For example, she recommends limiting the number of books you keep in your house. For some of us, her 30 book limit might require a few purchases to add more, but many of us have more books than that in each room of the house, and couldn't imagine getting rid of some of these treasures. I say this not in praise of books, but in noting that one person's easily "pare-able" possessions are another's priceless ones. She has a whole system for what to do with sentimental objects, but I'm not sure my library would qualify.<br />
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Is there a problem with the program? Well, yes. It isn't tidying or even a more minimalist approach to possessions that is bad, it is the idea that things can be thanked or produce joy for us. It seems bold (and perhaps harsh) to say, but this very likable lady is encouraging a form of idolatry that most of us would not see as such. Thanking a house for its protection may seem quaint, but seeing a house as personal and not as a provision of God for its occupants is a biblically condemned error. I can't "thank" a house, because "thankfulness" can only be experienced by a personal being. I <u>can</u> thank the God who graciously provides a house or any other shelter for this kindness he has shown, but when I give thanks to the created thing rather than the Creator, I am doing exactly what Romans 1 says is the mark of sinful human rebellion against the knowledge of God. This is idolatry--making a good creation a source of blessedness and not a result of it.<br />
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Similarly, the idea of an old sweatshirt "sparking joy" is a mistaken notion of ability given to inanimate fabric. Perhaps that old sweatshirt reminds me of my glory days as an intramural sports champ (that is definitely not my old sweatshirt, by the way), and wearing it is not only comfortable but a source of good memories. That's fine. But that isn't the same as being the source of joy. The joy comes in the memories of life lived, the people we were with during those special moments, and perhaps the comfort is linked to having been washed a few hundred times. The joy is not in the shirt, even if certain joyous moments were linked to wearing it. And her idea is much more visceral, You hold the shirt (or other object), close your eyes, and see if it "sparks joy." Frankly, if that actually happens, you may be holding a demon-possessed sweatshirt! (I'm kidding but trying to make a point). It isn't the shirt, but the circumstances, the history, etc. Her instruction really is more about whether you have any good associations with an object--that would be a more legitimate way of talking about it. But she sees the object as "subject"--because before you can discard it, you must say "thank you" for what is has provided for you while you've had it. Trouble is, it didn't "provide" you with anything--it was a "provision" of a giving God.<br />
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Does this mean I couldn't watch the show without becoming an idolator? Of course not. But if you watch with a careless attitude, and start thinking of your things more like "beings," or allow yourself to lose sight of the unbreakable connection between your possessions and their true Source, you will begin to live out a view of reality and the world that is idolatrous. And that would be very <u>dangerous </u>indeed. Are people really doing that? Just watch the tears and emotions flow as people look at their piles of clothes, and their talk of being controlled by them. Watch people assert a sense of greater self-worth because they tossed out kitchen utensils, but thanked them before they were thrown away.<br />
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Marie Kondo was a worker at a Shinto shrine in Japan before she became the Netflix queen of cleaner closets and kitchens. Hers is a worldview that is far from biblical reality and she has no hesitation preaching it in her gentle, winsome way. Some aspects of what she espouses touch up against biblical truths about life not consisting in our possessions, and the danger that overcame the rich fool who only built larger barns for his stuff. But it never embraces the existence of the Great Giver of All Good Gifts, diminishing the divine to that spark of joy your favorite slippers might give.<br />
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So, I'll take her folding tips, and listen to her strategy for reducing clutter, but my joy and my thanks must head in a very different direction. </div>
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Cyberparsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14578047776905293835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30193662628689633.post-92195290017173435622018-12-17T19:33:00.000-05:002018-12-17T19:33:00.393-05:00Christmas in the Dark<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: -0.5px;">Candles and lights aren't just pretty, they're pretty symbolic</span></h1>
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While I have seldom put up lots of Christmas lights outside, and been pretty "simple" (others might say "lame") when I have, I do appreciate the beauty of them. I can look out my back windows and see an illuminated pond and a couple houses with radiant and colorful lights. Looking down my street I can see more such houses, including lights along a VERY long driveway. They are beautiful<br /><br />We will have our Candlelight Christmas Eve Service this Sunday night, and I always look forward to the end where we light our candles and dim the other lights--the beauty of that moment is moving to me. And other than the wax drippings making life harder on our cleaning crew, everyone seems to enjoy it as I do.<br /><br />The large number of light displays we see go far beyond the number of people who may understand what they mean. That is true with many of the elements of our culture's more secular observances of Christmas. They have manger scenes, but don't understand their significance. They sing "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" (a very theologically rich carol) but pay little attention to ideas of being given "second birth" by the "incarnate Deity." And they put up all sorts of lights without understanding the historical and theological content.<br /><br />Tim Keller reminded me of this in his book, <em>Hidden Christmas. </em>Our celebrations took their shape in the Mediterranean world, where late December has the shortest and darkest days. Lights didn't just add beauty, they made it possible to see! Large numbers of lights would make the darkness diminish--in some cases overcoming it temporarily. And this is the idea behind Christmas lights. Isaiah 9:2-9 tells us about people walking in darkness. That is a terrible position to be in. I've had a few walks in pitch dark, moonless nights and I gained a few bruises on some of those occasions. The darkness in Isaiah's context was spiritual, and is described in chapter 8 as turning our gaze earthward rather than heavenward--looking for "light" in the wisdom of other teachings and religions made by people." The promise of chapter 9 was that a day would come where a great light would shine. This light is revealed in verses 6-7 as a child born, a son given, who would be "wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Everything would change for the better through seeing him.<br /><br />We know this Child has come--He is the light that enlightens people, and that cannot be overcome by darkness--a great light indeed (see John 1). And Christmas candles and lights are silent but visible testimony to the coming of the great light in the great darkness--a light that brings hope and life to the world.<br /><br />You cannot grasp the significance of Christmas until you realize that you live in a dark world, and that any ideas you may have about finding light or creating your own light are not only wrong, but deadly. Many people simply prefer darkness since it lets them hide their own shame (John <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_406320670" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">3:19</span></span>). But faith in Jesus means that we realize that he is "the light of the world. Whoever follows [him] will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_406320671" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">8:12</span></span>).<br /><br />Let the lights and candles remind you not just of the darkness around them, but of the true light that leads us through and eventually out of darkness into the light of life. Follow the light!</div>
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Cyberparsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14578047776905293835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30193662628689633.post-70415718166140470892018-12-03T06:00:00.000-05:002018-12-03T06:00:01.233-05:00"Hoping So" or "Hoping In"?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Two different uses of "hope" that mark two different kinds of people</h3>
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As we are in our first week in Advent and thinking about "hope" as it relates to the promised coming of a Savior, I'm reminded that we use this word in very different ways.<br /><br />When I say, "I hope so," I'm usually expressing a wish or perhaps and uncertainty about what is coming. I want it to happen, but I'm not sure it will happen. So I "hope" it will.<br /><br />But the hope we talk about with the coming of Jesus, or the salvation he has provided, has nothing to do with an uncertain wish--it is the expression of a confidence about the future that is based on the believability or certainty of the object.<br /><br />As a great example, my hope in Christ is not that "I hope he will save me," because I know that he saves the one who believes on him and calls upon his name (Acts <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1863737465" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">16:31</span></span>, Romans <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1863737466" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">10:13</span></span>). I know that he knows me and will never let me go (John 10:27-30). He will save me. My hope is the assurance that, as good or bad as the present may look, as powerful as evil may seem, and as final as death presents itself to be, Jesus has promised me a future. It is with him, in a place he is preparing, and it involves not only the forgiveness of sins that I have received, but the removal of any effects of sin that were a result of the Fall. It involves resurrection from this dying (and someday dead) body into a glorified, immortal body. It includes final victory over all God's enemies, the ability to stand before God's throne and be justified then (as I am now), and to enter into an eternally glorious existence in a totally remade New Heaven and Earth. This hope is what I receive in Christ.<br /><br />A "hope so" faith isn't really faith at all, is it? What we are offered in Jesus is a hope--a promise--of much more than I deserve, could imagine, or ever obtain on my own. Place your faith in the Savior of the world, and you no longer have to have a "hope so" approach to your future!</div>
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Cyberparsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14578047776905293835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30193662628689633.post-86997960115290145652018-08-27T14:02:00.000-04:002018-08-27T14:08:15.801-04:00The Pope and I<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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For a Baptist pastor to respond negatively to pronouncements from the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church may seem to be one of a number of things:</div>
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<li style="margin-left: 15px;">It's predictable--after all this thing called the Reformation set out some pretty significant differences, and they haven't been solved.</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">It's pointless--my people will like what I have to say, and the Pope's "peeps" will be all for Francis!</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">It's presumptuous--he has half a billion or so people in his congregation--I'm a little short of that.</li>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 15px;">That said, I want to weigh in on the current controversy surrounding him, then recent theological change he has initiated, and why I believe he is not only wrong but is demonstrating exactly why some of us think "popery" (not potpourri) is a bad idea.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 15px;">The Current Controversy.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 15px;">We cannot miss the storm created over the weekend when a high placed archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church charged that he had informed the current pope, Francis, of the history of abuse allegations and accusations lodged against former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington. Francis was already known to have ignored credible accusations while in charge of his archdiocese in South America. This news, along with the detail that the previous pope, Benedict, had sanctioned Cardinal McCarrick but Francis removed those sanctions, makes for a huge scandal. The accusations, published by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, also state that there is a "lavender Mafia" within the hierarchy of the church that protects and even promotes sympathy with homosexual behavior. This group is said to support Francis but was largely opposed to the previous Pope and his moves to limit such influence. The existence of such a group of clerics has long been talked about, but this is the most public statement offered about its existence in the controversy.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 15px;">Ironically, this recent news broke as the Pope was returning from Ireland, where he was apologizing to the nation for the abuse scandal that rocked the Catholic Church there. When asked if the charges in this latest report were true, Francis refused to comment. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 15px;">Francis, you cannot remain silent on these accusations if you hope to have any credible future in any role representing historic Christianity of any stripe. You must answer. Many are already calling this the greatest scandal in the Roman Church and potential catastrophe in the modern era.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 15px;">The Theological Change.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 15px;">Pope Francis announced that he is changing the Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church to reflect an absolute ban on the death penalty--that it is never permissible or moral in the age of the gospel. This changes the previous stance which allowed for it when no other punishment was appropriate--and that was in very rare circumstances then.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 15px;">What makes this interesting is that while the Pope can make pronouncements that are binding on the Church, such pronouncements are supposed to be clarifying, not contradictory because the Church is supposedly the guardian as well as the authoritative interpreter of the scriptures. It's hard to see how "allowed/not allowed" is anything other than contradictory. More than this, his predecessors not only allowed the death penalty, they encouraged and enforced it in previous eras of church history. Were they wrong in doing so? Roman Catholic dogma makes papal precedent (not just infallibility) pretty significant. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 15px;">My bone to pick is that Francis is very willing to ban something that the Bible does not. He knows (or at least has some pretty smart people around him who do) that the command, "You shall not kill" was not an absolute ban on taking life, but on murder. The same writer--Moses--who records the command also records the earlier introduction of capital punishment in Genesis 9 for the wrongful taking of human life. And in the theocratic nation of Israel, there were quite a number of crimes (sins) that led to capital punishment. While the New Testament introduces the gospel in the fullness of Jesus Christ, it is not as if there was no grace or forgiveness in the Old Testament. And the New Testament encourages a fear of the power of governing authorities that "bear the sword" (Romans 14). This wasn't just an ornament, it was the Roman means of execution for citizens and speaks of the power of life and death. While no nation is a theocracy, and the church is not given the right to exercise capital punishment, the practice is nowhere condemned in the New Testament, and the right is acknowledged by its writers. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 15px;">My own understanding of scriptural teaching would be that governments still have the right to exercise capital punishment if they so choose. Only in those cases where life has been wrongfully taken (murder) would I encourage its use (echoing Genesis), although a case could be made that certain activities might not be the actual taking of life but lead directly to it (sabotage of an airplane or treasonous lowering of defenses for an enemy attack could be two easy cases) would also be appropriate.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 15px;">Why is it appropriate? Because this is a matter of societal justice. Justice requires punishment that is commensurate with the offense ("let the punishment fit the crime"). The principle of justice established in Scripture and universal among people cannot be avoided. Others point to capital punishment as a deterrence of crimes. I just heard today a report on a study that showed fear of capital punishment actually kept a significant percentage of criminals from escalating their evil deeds to the point of murder. And of course, a murderer who is executed is not likely to kill again. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 15px;">I do not think that those crimes listed under the Mosaic Law that called for the death penalty require it today--we are not, after all living in a nation where God is acknowledged as King (the evidence strongly suggests that even Israel was not very consistent in applying all of God's rules in the covenant). That many of those actions were evil and immoral is beyond question, but those laws were a part of a civil society and code that does not exist today, and no government can claim to speak for God and execute his judgments. This would leave murder as the remaining case where the Scriptures would call for capital punishment as the appropriate response.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 15px;">Must it be practiced? No--I think that a government may choose to do other things, especially if there is a history of wrongful convictions in certain cases, or if the judicial system seems not to function effectively. Societies may limit their governments in such cases, which may or may not prove wise. And I believe that governments and officials can exercise clemency in cases where the punishment has been pronounced but extenuating circumstances occur. Some (including Christians) argue that the wiser course for governments may be to set aside the death penalty as a tool of justice. But for Pope Francis to weigh in as he has not only is an intrusion into the sphere of governmental authority, it is one that contradicts Scripture and places him alongside those who, rather than take the Bible seriously, seem more interested in making it bend to more acceptable, contemporary understandings. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 15px;">The Underlying Bad Idea of "Popes".</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 15px;">If this were Francis's only recent error, I'd probably not be so concerned, but having flatly contradicted Scripture here, it brings to mind his statements same-sex relationships, divorce, the reality of hell, and the necessity of faith in Jesus. As clear as he has been on capital punishment, he has been obscure--that's putting it kindly--about these matters, saying things that have sent some Catholic theologians scurrying to ask him for clarifications, and for others to rejoice and say, "It's about time--I think. Wait. What did he say?"</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 15px;">I hope you understand that as I write these things, I am not trying to attack any who are committed to the Roman Catholic Church or are sympathetic to it or its practitioners. I won't say "some of my best friends are Roman Catholics" but actually, I have had more than a few. Many Catholic scholars are important voices on matters of both the culture and faith. And I am convinced that there are many that we will see in Heaven--although I would argue that it will often be in spite of their church's dogmas rather than because of it. Roman Catholic believers still affirm the creeds and read the Scriptures which have a power all their own to be used by the Spirit to bring faith and eternal life. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 15px;">But the belief that one person (other than Jesus) can rule the church, speak in ways that cloud clear scriptural teaching or even set it aside in the name of theological progress in understanding, continues to be a dangerous dogma. And the concurrent danger of a hierarchy within the church that cannot be challenged or overruled is painfully manifested as the evil it is as we watch the headlines scream of abuse and coverup by that hierarchy over decades. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 15px;">The Reformation actually revolved around this central issue--where is the authority for us when it comes to what we must believe? The Roman Catholic answer was that the Scriptures only as interpreted through the established tradition and by the church's hierarchy--focused in the Pope--have that authority. Protestants, led by Luther, said the authority rests in the Scriptures alone--</span><em style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px;">sola Scriptura </em><span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 15px;">was the phrase. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 15px;">These contemporary disagreements and disasters for the Roman Catholic Church remind us that these issues still matter. Our authority must be Scripture alone when it comes to what we believe.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #606060; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 15px;">That said, we cannot simply point fingers at the Catholic Church as if they are the only ones with scandals. Plenty of Bible-believing churches have had scandals and failures. Having the right authority, but not submitting to it, does not help. Let's pray for those being led astray by bad leaders, and especially for those abused by those they have trusted. But let us also pray with vigilance lest we allow similar disasters through failure to guard our heart's devotion to Christ and his Word.</span></div>
Cyberparsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14578047776905293835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30193662628689633.post-82415502128771352082018-07-23T16:20:00.000-04:002018-07-23T16:20:02.208-04:00"Look for the F.A.T. People!"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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A mentor's odd sounding advice taken from the example of Jesus</h3>
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It's pretty interesting to hear "experts" on health now telling us that fat is NOT the enemy when it comes to our health--sugar is! And that's because the sugar manufacturers spent boatloads of money to convince us that sugar was good but that fat was bad--there was no "fat lobby" to fight back. So we cut fat out of our diets and products, from milk (another lobby was fighting for its survival there) to just about everything else--"low fat" and "no fat" became very important, even if made palatable in many cases with lots of added sugars.<br /><br />Now we are learning that fat isn't necessarily bad (after figuring out that sugar may be sweet but it's not healthy after all--and Mary Poppins' advice about that spoonful has been overdone). There is good fat and bad fat. And some of the fat we thought was bad isn't so bad after all. Just not too much.<br /><br />Of course, this hasn't made the word "fat" pleasing, even if it helps the taste of some of our foods. We don't like the word as a descriptor--it means overweight to us, and little else. That's too bad, because the word used to mean much more.<br /><br />It still does in a few contexts (and we're not talking about the more recent emergence of "phat"--I'm not cool enough to parse that). When someone has a "fat" wallet he has lots of money. The "fat" of the land was its bounty and surplus--something that everyone wanted to gain and that Pharaoh gave to Joseph's family (Genesis 45:18). Isaac blessed Jacob with "the fatness of the earth" (Genesis 27:28). And the psalmist complained about hard times of mourning when his body had "no fat" (Psalm 109:24), while times of blessing are marked by "fat" and "rich food" (Psalm 63:5). Even the LORD specifically asked for the fat portions in animal sacrifices throughout Exodus and Leviticus. Even today in cultures where scarcity is common, it is a compliment to one's prosperity and good looks to be called "fat."<br /><br />For me, one special meaning of the word comes from a mentor who was teaching me how to choose people to train and to lead. He told me frequently, "Look for the FAT people!" He wasn't talking physique, though; he was talking about character. The word was an acrostic for three qualities he thought were essential and tried to emphasize. To be truthful, I can't remember if he came up with the acrostic or if I did, so if you think it's a bad thing, blame me, but it stuck. What are the three qualities? I'm glad you asked, because not only did he teach them to me, but we find them looking at the life of Jesus in his choices.<br /><br />First, a good candidate for servant leadership (or any responsibility) in ministry must be <strong>faithful</strong>. Here the focus is faithfulness to what one knows to be right and true. It is faithfulness to the cause, not just personal affection for a teacher. This person is "all in," even if they aren't sure of all the ramifications. This is what makes a good friend, too--who "loves at all times"(Prov. 17:17) and whose occasional wounding of us is still faithful in seeking our good (Prov. 27:6). Gaius is commended by his mentor John, in III John for the "faithful" things he was doing. Faithful is not just believing, it is commitment to that belief.<br /><br />Jesus chose his twelve, and the faithful eleven chose Judas' replacement, out of those who were with them from the beginning of Jesus' ministry (Acts 1:21-22). Long before they were the twelve, we see Peter and Andrew and James and John and others named as being with Jesus, learning, following, and serving. He was the teacher they were looking for, they believed him, and they stuck with him--admittedly not perfectly and with some glaring failures. But they believed and that belief led to commitment to him. My mentor's encouragement was not to try to build someone's faith and commitment by giving them responsibility, but rather to find people who were marked by faith in Jesus and commitment to the gospel as a start.<br /><br />Second, someone must be <strong>available</strong>. The disciples' faithfulness to Jesus and his teaching was matched with availability. When Jesus invited them with the words "Follow me," they came. In fact the first "follow me" got them coming, but that was followed by the second, where Jesus said "I will make you fishers of men." Even after the resurrection, Peter's restoration included the reminder, "follow me" and don't worry about what happens to others. Good servant leadership begins by showing up, and then staying.<br /><br />Not everyone accepts invitations, like those invited wedding guests who had just married or just bought a field or a team of oxen. Similarly, there are times when people we know are committed believers are not available to serve or lead. It may not even be their choice at the time; circumstances, the Spirit, and even Satan can hinder us from doing work we would choose to do. Availability may be limited for a time. But sadly, there are some believers who never seem able to make themselves available. If someone always needs exceptions to the expectations of ministry commitment, it may be like the man who wanted to wait until his father died to follow Jesus (Matthew 8:21). You may be, as Matthew records, a disciple (follower), but you won't really discover what that means beyond the most limited sense. My mentor encouraged me to probe potential servant leaders to discover if they were willing to be available to do the task required, or to go through the training needed. If not, whether it was what I thought was a good reason or bad, I should move on to candidates who will be available.<br /><br />The mention of training brings up the third quality I was to look for--servant leaders must be <strong>teachable</strong>. A disciple of Jesus was, by definition a "learner." Learning requires availability, but some who may be available may not be teachable. They may always have a better idea, or believe that the instructions are just suggestions. Jesus' disciples followed his instructions in ministry, sometimes incredulous (think of getting ready to feed 5,000 with five loaves and two fish), and sometimes not understanding what they were doing (their reactions after feeding the five thousand and then the four thousand showed this).<br /><br />Unlike Jesus, we can't be perfect teachers, and sometimes our learners will have insights that may improve what we do. Servant leaders are always learning. But my mentor's encouragement was to look for people who were ready to learn, often preferring them over those who were convinced they already knew what to do. In some situations, you may know that there are many ways a task could be accomplished, but current conditions and settings make one way favorable and you hope to teach your student that way for this moment. Teachability is a must in the varying circumstances of life.<br /><br />I haven't always followed this advice, and it usually comes back to bite me. But, I am thankful for these pointers that have served me well in teaching and discipleship. My prayer today is that they might help you, too, as you either look to disciple or train others, or as you consider whether you are the right kind of candidate to serve. Are you<strong> faithful</strong>--not just "believing" in Jesus but wholly committed to his cause? Are you <strong>available</strong>--ready to put in the work and the time? Are you <strong>teachable</strong>--ready to learn, even in those areas you may think you know? Then you are ready to go, and it's time to step up and volunteer! You are the right kind of FAT!</div>
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Cyberparsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14578047776905293835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30193662628689633.post-41265782970562026002018-07-16T09:00:00.000-04:002018-07-16T09:00:06.480-04:00A Fortress and a Fountain<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Proverbs gives us a double dose of wisdom on beating sin</h3>
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I hate sin. I hate what it does in lives. I hate what it can do to me when I give in to temptation. I hate its continuing effects. Its onslaught can be so difficult to bear. I hate sin.<br /><br />But there is a part of me (my understanding of the Bible tells me it is what I should call "my flesh") that loves sin. I can crave its offers and temptations. I can feel drawn to its allure. And that voice that tells me "just this once" is so powerful. It pains me to say that part of me loves (or at least strongly desires) sin.<br /><br />I don't think I'm telling you anything that should be shocking because I have found that the people I talk to in honesty admit to a similar dilemma. We don't want to love it at all, and we want to fight it better. How can we do that?<br /><br />You may have favorite verses you go to or stories in Scripture that help you explain the battle against sin, and there are many good ones, from taking up the armor of God to fleeing youthful lusts, to saying "no" to ungodliness and worldly lusts (Bonus points if you can find all of these phrases in Scripture, and triple bonus if these passages are marked in your Bible!).<br /><br />I love all of those and more. But in my devotions this week, I was directed to two verses that present a twofold emphasis that I found very helpful and encouraging. It was, of all places, in Proverbs.</div>
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Whoever fears the Lord has a secure fortress,<br /> and for their children it will be a refuge.</div>
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<sup> </sup>The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life,<br /> turning a person from the snares of death.</div>
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Proverbs 14:26-27</div>
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<br />These two verses both talk about the fear of the Lord, which chapter 1 tells us is the beginning of wisdom. This is not just being afraid of God, although it is a healthy awe and respect of his nature. It is the feeling that God is so great and good that I would not want to ever disappoint or disobey him. When I am so concerned about God's approval that nothing else matters, I am walking in the fear of the Lord. Of course, that approval comes when God declares us not guilty (justification) because we have placed our trust in the death of Jesus in our place. We come to know God truly, and come to "fear" him in the positive, influential way we can "fear" the best of loving parents. And when that is the case, these two verses tell me it can help me in my struggle against evil.<br /><br />First, they tell me that this kind of reverent awe and honor of God above all will provide "a secure fortress." This speaks of protection, in the same way the psalmist speaks of the name of the Lord being "a strong tower" in which the righteous find safety. It can give such security that those closest to us can be encouraged to find that same security--that is the significance of the reference to our children--they can learn of it and find refuge from the dangers and attacks that would come toward those who fear God. There are spiritual forces of wickedness (see Ephesians 6) that are at work against us, but a right understanding and trust in God bring protection from attack.<br /><br />Second, the fear of the Lord is described as a fountain of life that turns us from death traps. A fountain isn't just a source of life, but a beautiful source of life. I've seen fountains that are mesmerizing in their beauty--not just water flowing, but jumping and shooting and spraying in remarkable patterns--geysers, if you will. This fountain--which offers life--is of such beauty that we are pulled away from the snares (a trap set that is usually disguised) that would lead to our downfall and toward life instead. Sin can be like that--looking so good it draws us toward it. But then it catches us and we are trapped! But the fountain is so much more attractive that it draws us away from such traps.<br /><br />What a picture we have here. Having the proper fear of the Lord is a fortress and a fountain. It protects us from attack, and it draws away from those disguised traps that would otherwise attract. We find protection and provision.<br /><br />God wants us to fear him so that we might enter his fortress of security and be drawn to his fountain of life. When evil comes after us, knowing and fearing God can be our defense. And when temptation is beautiful, the greater beauty of the fountain of life will show the shallow attractions of evil for what they are.<br /><br />Are you under sin's attack? Run to the God who is your fortress. Are you being drawn away by sin's charms? Turn your heart's eye to gaze upon the beauty of the life of God, flowing like a fountain and ready to refresh that longing you think sin will satisfy. </div>
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Cyberparsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14578047776905293835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30193662628689633.post-19682084008401132032018-07-09T07:30:00.000-04:002018-07-09T07:30:08.354-04:00Looking Beyond for Help<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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A Reminder of Where True Hope Lies</h3>
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I continue to do my best to maintain more than an arm's length from the current political "dialog," but it gets hard for a recovering political junkie in times like the present. I used to devour political news and commentary, and often felt as if election results were the sure evidence that things were getting better or worse. I've seen more than my share of political moments, but the one we are in has become more polarized than ever in my lifetime. And in such a moment news of the kind we've had recently tends to set off all sorts of excitement for those who love politics. We have had a rash of Supreme Court decisions, primary election surprises, and the retirement of an unpredictable Supreme Court judge, all in a week. Will this be a "wave" election or not? What will the President say or do on Twitter?<br /><br />At the moment speculation is rampant about what is coming next. And some who have, in the not too distant past, despaired over political developments as if things were all lost, are now talking as if we are just a moment away from total victory. The most recent election, or recent ruling, or recent law makes some seem giddy with excitement and others claiming the end is near.<br /><br />I know the feeling, because for many years my political hopes rose or fell in the same way. I knew that their were ultimate realities, and their were present ones. But all too often I could lose sight of the former in the heat of political drama. Without meaning to, I could link the success of a political candidate or cause with the triumph or defeat of righteousness. As I came to learn, righteousness and candidates are not irrevocably linked, and God’s program is neither dependent upon or determined by political winds.<br /><br />So, in another moment of heightened political excitement and speculation, I remind myself and us all that politics doesn't provide total, or lasting, victories or defeats. Judges change their minds. Laws are passed and laws are overturned. And our culture shows no signs of slowing its descent into folly.<br /><br />We are believers in Jesus who are living at a time of both great persecution in some areas and great gospel advances--even in some of those same areas. If you stop by Connection Central, you will find some copies of a magazine entitled "Iran;" you really should read it and see just how amazing the growth of the church is in a place of great opposition. I can't think of a more exciting time to be a part of God's work in this world.<br /><br />But we are also living at a time where political divides have seeped into churches, with one group telling another that they cannot be good Christians and not agree with a preferred political stance. When I was young, our Republican family worshiped in a church filled with Democrats, and no one cared. Now, too many Christians risk divisions among Bible believers over politics; busily re-posting political memes but not nearly busy enough praying, sharing the gospel, or living intentionally in ways to attract people to the message and power of Jesus.<br /><br />When we mix politics with gospel, it isn't a pretty result. If we find our greatest interest focused on political developments, we have lost sight of what matters. And if we believe that laws, rulings, or politicians are the key to our future, then we have the wrong future in mind.<br /><br />The people of Israel, on their way to Jerusalem for festivals, made their way along a number of roads from various plains to an imposing set of rugged hills where Jerusalem sat nestled. The hills provided a natural defense for the city, and they inspired many who lived in the valleys and plains by their appearance. As the pilgrims went up, they would see the hills--they called them mountains--as a symbol of God's protection--"as the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people (Ps. 125:1)."<br /><br />But the hills were not ultimate, and the Israelites knew it. "I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come (Ps. 121:1)?" The hills pointed heavenward; this was a clue, and the psalmist had the right answer: "My help comes from the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth (121:2)." It was not the hills that saved Jerusalem, or gave the pilgrim strength in his journey. It was the LORD. The hills were impressive, and served as a natural protection, but not one that was perfect on its own.<br /><br />History shows that Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians and then the Romans, and the hills didn't stop them. God had determined destruction, and it came.<br /><br />Similarly, laws, courts, and politicians can be good and do good (but not always). But even the most powerful of these are not an ultimate hope, and they cannot give us what we need most--eternal life.<br /><br />So, for those who are having a moment of political excitement, be cautious. For those in political despair, be sober. What matters most remains both unthreatening and available to all who will seek the right help for our deepest needs.</div>
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Cyberparsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14578047776905293835noreply@blogger.com0