Turn,turn turn

Sometimes the Bible seems to contradict itself. 

That's right...Mr. "innerancy of Scripture" said what you've been thinking for years! But before you start formulating your fiery responses or letters off to my DP, don't miss the key word in my statement...SEEMS!

Moses writes that our jealous God is "visiting the iniquity (sins) of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate" Him. (Exodus 20:5) Yet the prophet Ezekiel in Chapter 18 of his prophecy says something quite different, freeing the sons from the sins of the fathers by simply stating "the soul who sins shall die". So which is it? SEEMS contradictory, right? Until we take another look at that little clause on the end of the Exodus verse, "of those who hate him".  I recently met a young man whose father was a confirmed atheist (as if there could be such a confirmation made!) This guy was concerned that the hatred his father had for God would somehow stick with him forever. In fact, up until recently it had - keeping him suspicious and wary of the church and the faith. But then there was a moment, a spark, something inside that told him to turn around and look at the faith from a different point of view. He needed to abandon the eyes of his father and see God with those glasses only the Holy Spirit could provide, God's precious Word. I see God's Word as never contradictory, just specific. It speaks to us in places and stages of life that none but our own soul can understand. God's Word touches our hearts and helps us to see that He alone can  love the unlovable, those who continually turn from Him and disappoint Him. I always say, if God could love me He could love anyone. that's the point. He loves you for what He's done, not who you are. He loves you because He gave you Jesus, the one who never sinned, never disappointed. He's the one who died for you and rose for you that you can have a life free from the history of sin that plagues all generations since Adam and Eve. Turn a pray to Him, not that He SAVE you - that's a done deal - but that you come to the true heart of the faith, a life lived freely in His abounding love for you!

Exercise Your Faith

Alright...I admit it. I didn't work out this morning! My feeble excuse is that I believe yesterday was enough  of a workout. Digging and forming, mixing and pouring a concrete slab in the backyard was more of a physical challenge than I had bargained for. Add to that moving wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of rock and gravel and I found myself absolutely exhausted. Bleary eyed and looking at the clock at 5:00 a.m the decision was made- no gym today. Here's another confession. There have been times I felt that way about my faith.  Sometimes I work so hard getting worship or classes together that I find myself spiritually exhausted - without even the strength to pray. I know some of you feel that way sometimes too. You put tremendous amounts of effort into all that goes with "church". All the meetings, planning and execution of ministry can leave your energy spent. I heard it put this way, that in the struggle of ministry we find ourselves Church people who are trying to love God rather than those who love God living our lives in the community of the Church. It's times like these that we need the renewal of God more than ever. When we least want to pray, these are the times when we must. Reading Psalm 25 is like hitting the reset button on your faith. Lifting up our souls to God is a gift we have been given in Christ Jesus. Trusting in this God to make His ways known to us, leading us in truth, teaching us salvation - remembering that even in the driest of times it is God who gives His mercy and steadfast love - the love that is the foundation of our work, the love that is only in Jesus. Watch and pray friends, it is God alone that wil give you peace and re-energize your life in service to one another!

Generic God?

Mmmmm...looks good, huh? Make no mistake, I love beer. Just about any kind of beer is fine by me. Though the can says to the left says "beer", even I might think twice about grabbing a cool one of these bad boys! Notice you don't see this stuff on the shelves anymore. The generic craze has been replaced by the store brand. Now at least you sort of know what you're going to get! I wonder, will there come a day when the real God will replace the generic one our culture so readily embraces? This generic god is a god who is everywhere.  This is a god that fits our mold, our box, our black and white can that is simply marked "love".   Fact is, if our focus is on some generic god who is everywhere, he's is nowhere. We're bound to ask "Where's my everywhere god when..." fill in the blank with any tragic event in our lives and relationships. If we want a god that generically loves all, then it stands to reason that he loves none. If our god says "I love you...I love everyone." it's so generic that we're left asking, "what about ME? Do you really love ME?" We have an EVERYWHERE God and a LOVING God, but He is far from a generic god! Isaiah 55:6-9 - Seek THE Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near." This is no generic god - this is a God who is may be found - who's nearness is an expression of His love. Where we really grab hold of God is in the physical nearness, His Son given to us in the flesh. The real Jesus who really lived and really died so that we could really have life is the real God - no generic here! He's specific! The way! The truth! The life! FOR YOU. And for me, and for all those who call upon and confess the name of the one true God -Father, Son and Holy Spirit! Amen! 

The Conversation

In a few short years I have already lost track of how many times I have had the conversation. It's usually in the context of a hospital room or an nursing home. It always starts with the same words. "Pastor, I'm just not sure why I'm still here." As we rocket through life, seeming to never have enough time to do all we need do or to get done all we need to get done, it's ironic that toward the end many are forced to wait. The times ticks by - "wait on the Lord" the psalmist says, "more than watchman for the morning." Some of us may look forward to the slow down, the last days that precede our blessed rest. But for many, waiting on the Lord is a test of patience and of will - always questioning, "why God" - and always praying "come Lord Jesus." Paul debated in his soul this very issue. In the letter to the Philippians he writes about the struggle. ""My desire," Paul says in Phil 1:23, "Is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account." Paul understands that while we may desire to be with Christ, the lives we now live in His name are an act of confession. By living a life of hope, we confess that we are hopeful. By living a life of forgiveness, we confess that we have been forgiven. By living a life of confident joy, we confess that through the gift of the cross of Jesus Christ we can confidently hope all things, endure all things and have joy in the gift of seeing others share in that hope as well! Convinced of his forgiveness, Paul says "I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith." We confess, friends, with our mouths and our lives with Paul and all the saints - knowing in our hearts that the confession advances the Gospel of Jesus to all we touch! When you ask "why God" - remember your confession of faith. It touches more than you can ever imagine or hope for as the Holy Spirit brings it to the hearts of those who struggle and continue to need your witness the most.

The Body

1000 years before Luther. 1500 years before us. The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem has stood through the assaults of Holy Wars. Today it stands behind a 40 ft wall topped with razor wire and marked by guard towers. Look at the picture. Kind of looks like a ship turned upside down. A vessel. The words of Psalm 27:4 echo in this ancient vessel of God's people. "One thing I have asked of the Lord, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple." what a beautiful image of the powerful presence of God in a simple old building. But we know friends, the church is so much more than sticks and bricks. Look at the picture again. Kinda looks like bones, like a ribcage viewed from the inside out. Recalling that we have been assumed into the very body of Jesus - the beaten body, the broken body, the body crucified and the body resurrected. In Christ God has placed us inside of Himself as a shelter, a temple of His love. Again, Psalm 27:5, "For He will hide me in His shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of His tent; He will lift me high upon a rock." Friends - you're the body - the church. Live in your call to be in Him and for one another!

Guilt 101

We have a laundry stealing dog. Given the chance Wrigley will snatch a sock, take a towel or wrangle some underwear. His habit seems to rear it's head after we've been gone all day - sort of a canine plea for attention. What I find absolutely hilarious is the look on his face when he has stolen an article. He'll try to get the whole thing in his mouth, and then act as if there is nothing wrong. His doggy cheeks puffed out, ears laying back and eyes averted immediately betray his crime...HE'S GUILTY! And he knows it! There's no doubt that for us humans guilt is a strong emotion. The fear of getting caught and called out prompts us to build up systems of hiding away our indiscretions. Guilty fear causes us to make some interesting choices. If you take a look at Genesis 50:15-21 you'll see a bit of guilt in action. Joseph's brothers are afraid. When Jacob dies they fear that the sins of their past will be revisited upon them now. That selling their brother into slavery in Egypt was not such a hot idea after all - and even after years of carrying around this sin, the guilt remains, and this guilt feeds their fear. As they bow before Joseph, seeking his forgiveness, they must have remembered the dream they mocked so long ago. "Behold, we are your servants!" the men cry. When we have wronged another, the guilt is often crippling. In fact, unless we are suffering some sociopathic brain malfunction, the guilt we feel can actually be viewed as a good thing! It is the law of God working within us to show where we have failed. It is our God given conscience that holds up a mirror to our sin and prompts us to relive the guilt, to seek forgiveness, to be reconciled to our neighbor. When Joseph claims that he is not in the place of God he is making a bold statement to his brothers. Even in the light of tremendous sin, God has used a perfectly awful situation for good. He forgives his brothers not because he has forgotten what they have done, but rather that he and they have been blessed even in spite of their actions. In the same way, God Himself relieves our guilt. Even in the light of our failures, our sins, He gave us Jesus. He was treated shamefully, He suffered and He died - and that awful moment God gave us our greatest good. As we look upon the cross we know that God has taken our guilt into the grave and given us hope in a new life in Jesus. It's a life like the promise of Joseph, "to provide for you and your little ones" - a promise of the comfort and kindness that has turned your shame to joy, your guilt to gladness! Friends, are you in the place of God? Learn from Joseph and learn from Jesus, the forgiveness of your sins and the release of your guilt leads you to forgive and release others as well! Go and do likewise, o servants of  God!

An Irritating Question...

Here's a question that's bound to bug you as much as it bugs me. It comes from the great professor and theologian Gerhard Forde. I can tell you from experience that most of Forde's writing is cryptic at it's best and confusing at it's worst! But this question is quite simple in it's form - and it's the very simplicity in which it's posed that makes it so irritating! Here it is...ready?

"Now that you don't have to do anything for salvation, what are you going to do?" 

Think about that for a minute. You have heard and you know in you heart that you cannot by your own reason or strength believe in God or come to Him. You don't have to do anything for salvation - this is the main thesis of the book of Romans. Paul goes to great lengths to describe how it is our faith in the promise of God to deliver us that is in fact credited as righteousness. It is the faith of Noah, the faith of Abraham and the faith of you and I to rely on God and God alone to do His will for us. This will, perfectly sealed on the cross and affirmed in the resurrection of Jesus that gives us hope and strength. After a few chapters of proclaiming what God has done, Paul turns to the second half of the question - what are we going to do. Funny thing is, Paul begins with what we are NOT to do. Check out Romans 14:1-12. 

It seems that Christians are bound to struggle with what is lawful and unlawful in the eyes of God for those who stand in the light of Jesus gift. It's easy to criticize expressions of the faith that we don't share - to mock those who raise their hands in praise or fold them in their lap to pray. It's easy to think that those who dress in shorts and flip flops are any more or less connected to God than those who choose suits and dresses. God forbid one should worship on any day other than Sunday - or, on the other hand, use a Hymnal and follow a liturgy. All these things are irrelevant in the eyes of God.  Paul says "who are you to pass judgement on the servant of another?" Who are we to pass judgement on the servants of God? We are we'll reminded as those who are saved by the blood of Jesus that He in fact died for the WHOLE world, flip flops and all! When we worship, we worship the Lord! When we pray, we talk to God! When we study, we hear His Word. And when we love, we love because He first loved us, died for us and gave to us a gift of everlasting life that exceeds the bounds of our cultural bias. Friends, what do you do? You love. Unconditionally and fully - maybe not fully understanding the expressions of others, but looking upon them with the eyes of faith and forgiveness that have been given to us as His precious gift!

Of Grace and Gratitude

I'm not the most coordinated individual you'll ever meet. In fact, my wife may tell you that if there's an accident waiting to happen...I'm it! For me if I'm riding a skateboard or simply walking the dog it's an adventure in awkwardness, a distinct lack of grace! Thanks be to God TRUE grace doesn't depend on a sense of balance. In fact, our lives seem to be hopelessly out of balance, terribly awkward and absent of any grace at all! Take a look at our prayer life - we ask and ask and ask of God, completely out of balance and awkward given the tremendous gift God has already given to us...namely His Grace! What does this mean? Well...take a minute and read Psalm 103. See how the Psalmist blesses God from the depths of his being. This means that he is holding God's work, past,present and future far above any immediate benefit he may receive through his prayer. The Psalm is graceful in it's recognition of God's Grace - His steadfast love which endures forever! This overwhelming sense of God's Grace comes forth in gratitude - the simple thanks for all that God has done, is doing and will do in the future. God the Father made a promise to forgive and to heal, In the cross of Jesus He has redeemed us and in His resurrection crowned us with His love and mercy. Through the power of His Holy Spirit we are satisfied with this GRACE and renewed every time we remember His presence in our lives.  There's a method of prayer I've used and taught called ACTS. The pattern works like this: AFFIRM who God is - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. CONFESS who you are, a broken human being. THANK God for His Grace and forgiveness in Christ Jesus and all God has provided for you. Then, if necessary, offer your SUPPLICATIONS - asking God's favor in a Spirit fed by a soul touched by His Grace. Grace and Gratitude, Gratitude and Grace - friends, they're inseparable in the life of faith!

Cha-Ching!

"Money makes the world go round", so the song goes. If this is true, then it is credit that makes the world go backwards! "I owe, I owe, it's off to work I go!" I kind of picture the life of debt as being in a deep hole. All your given to get out of the hole is a shovel. Many try to dig down deeper, hoping to come out on the other end. Others use the tool to dig steps in the wall, in order to climb out of debt and begin earning once again. Paul says, keep out of the hole in the first place! "Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law." (Romans 13:8) That's great, but just try and find someone in our day and age that is not somehow indebted to another. It seems that the nature of our relationships is kind of a credit/debit affair. That is to say, sometimes I'm in good graces, earning reward and favor or credit for my good behavior. Other times, time too often to mention, I mess things up and end up trying to work myself out of the hole. Many of us see our relationship with God as a balance between credit/debit.  Yet with his goodness and our failures we're much worse off then we can ever imagine, digging deeper and losing hope. It's interesting to me to see how Paul equates a lack of debt to the fulfilling of the law. Law is what we owe God. We owe Him our undivided devotion and the support of our neighbor. Well, the only one I can think of that did all this was Jesus Himself. He paid the price. He owes nothing because He loved God with all His heart, soul and strength and loved His neighbor (us) MORE than Himself! We are recipients of His debt free life through the cross, by His resurrection there is no more debt for us! We have the glory of eternal credit with God.  It is living in this debt free reality that we, through the power of the Holy Spirit, love our neighbor. Not because we have to, but because we have been so loved by Him!  

The Forgiven

Back in March of 1964, a woman named Kitty Genovese was brutally attacked near her Queens New York home. While she screamed, trying to fend off her attacker, some 38 people heard and subsequently ignored her cries for help. The 38 remained silent. Called the "bystander effect", there is apparently a psychological component to our being that prevents us from assisting when we rationalize that there are others there who will step in to help. Take a look at Ezekiel 33:1-9. These were the words spoken at my ordination which, quite frankly, scared me to death! They are words that speak of the responsibility of those who carry the Word of God in their hearts. It's the responsibility to speak when others may remain silent. It's the responsibility to be more than mere bystanders and we live our lives in the faith. When I read Scriptures like Psalm 32 (you might want to take a look at this one as well!) I find a man of faith like David who struggled with himself as he kept silent. "My bones wasted away through my groaning all day long", David writes. Why? Well, David knows that even in the face of outrageous difficulties that he has been blessed by God. His transgressions, his sins, his iniquities against God have been forgiven. In this forgiveness, David must speak. In the forgiveness that is Christ Jesus, the Son of Man who sacrificed Himself for your life, you have not only the honor but the opportunity to speak with God Himself. You can, by the power of the Holy Spirit, turn from your troubles and praise God for His deliverance! This lives in a holy responsibility - not one that earns points with God, but an opportunity to speak of the hope that lies within your heart. Believe me when I say that the world needs to hear a message of forgiveness and love, of hope and bright future that breaks through the darkness of cynical hate and despair. Share O watchman! Stand tall and speak of the forgiveness of a God who has touched you, taught you and called you to be His own!