tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70133296808601512482024-03-18T06:02:58.636-04:00Aidan Rogers | Ransomed"Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God...your Savior."Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3224125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7013329680860151248.post-21040618602256259592024-03-18T06:01:00.001-04:002024-03-18T06:01:58.489-04:00The Body<p style="text-align: justify;">With a title like "The Body," you probably think I'm going to talk about the church. Yes, of course...but not yet. I want to start out by talking about the actual body, the human body, the flesh-and-blood-and-bone body that we all have to live in. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">See, I think that we understand creation most intimately through the experience that we have with it in our own creation. And if you think about the human body, it is truly incredible. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The body is held together by...mostly itself. Its connective tissues work together with its hollow spaces and the forces of gravity, and there's so much empty space inside the human body that you wonder how it could possibly even work. Its connective tissues have different structures depending on what they are connecting and what kind of connection that needs to be. Blood is designed to flow through every millimeter of the body, but also to be circulated back in just the same way. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">There are functions for support, for sustainment, for strength, for waste management, for vitality...and every single one of these life forces is balanced by the reality of death. The truth is that our cells are dying all the time, even as we are living because of them. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And in our strength, we feel also our fragility. In our completeness, we feel the necessity of the smallest things. We are constantly being reminded of how important the little things are. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Ever had a hangnail?</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Think about that for a second. A fingernail. A part of your body you probably don't think about very often. Its function is to provide structure to the fingertip, helping to define it to enhance its ability to function as designed, while also providing some protection for the fragile flesh that does most of our handling of things in the world. But get a bit of that fingernail either growing or breaking the wrong way (or both), and it's very painful. For awhile. And it affects everything. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">It's strong, but it's fragile. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Or think about the connective tissues. They allow us great freedom of movement when they are functioning properly, holding things together without restricting them. But stress or strain or even tear one of those connective tissues, and feel how quickly things fall apart. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">They are strong and flexible, but limited. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And this is the story of the human body - it is strong, but fragile. It is flexible, but limited. It is wonderful, but prone to wear. It is the entire creation of paradoxes wrapped up in one beautiful creation, and we are designed to live in it. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">It reminds us every day of the paradoxes of God, of the wisdom of God. Of the nature of creature and Creator. Of all of these beautiful - and sometimes, not so beautiful - things. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The body is God's gift to us, but it is also His testimony. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Think about it. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7013329680860151248.post-82164360241109382382024-03-15T06:59:00.000-04:002024-03-15T06:59:01.771-04:00Preparing the Table<p style="text-align: justify;">When we come to the Communion table, we often focus on what it is that Jesus poured out here for us - the bread and the wine, His body and His blood. And for good reason. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">But remember - this table didn't start with the gifts Jesus put on it. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">As Jesus and His disciples approached Jerusalem with the Passover just a few days away, His disciples are the ones who asked where they should go and prepare the meal for the group. For Him. Jesus told them about the Upper Room, about who to talk with, about how to find it, and it is the disciples who went and arranged everything. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">I think sometimes, we think about Communion as a bit of a cocktail party to which we were only invited - a table we show up to where the food is already prepared, and we just sort of wander in at our own convenience and pick at the offerings, taking a little bit of bread and a little bit of juice. Chewing almost mindlessly as we meander about, not really making conversation but lingering a little just the same. We think of it as a spread that Jesus has put out before us. And, biblically, that's not quite true. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The disciples put the work into putting the space together. The disciples actually prepared most of the meal. The disciples made the space worthy of the celebration that was about to take place there. They painstakingly made sure all of the details were exactly right, for the Passover was no small thing. It required a high level of attention to the smallest sorts of things. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And no, we don't believe in a works-based salvation. We don't believe that our value to God is in our ability to get the details right. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">But I don't think that excuses us from being the ones who set this Table, at least in part. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">I think we have to do some preparatory work. I think we have to be the ones to get the room ready. We have to be the ones to set the tables up. We have to be the ones to say, hey, we know there's something special that's going to happen here, and we're ready for it. We're readying for it. We hear it so often from the pulpit when we approach this moment, but it's true - we have to prepare our hearts and minds to participate in this beautiful sacrament. To come to this table. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">We are the disciples who have to say to Jesus, "Where do you want us to prepare the table? How do you want us to prepare the room?" We are the disciples to whom Jesus says, "There you will find the room. Here is how you get there. Here is what you do." We are the disciples who go ahead, who set out the cups, who prepare to eat and drink so that when Jesus comes and thus comes the body and the bread, we are ready to receive it. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Come. Come hungry. Come and ready yourself. Something sacred is about to happen here, and we are the ones who set the table. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7013329680860151248.post-64533408731053177512024-03-14T05:50:00.000-04:002024-03-14T05:50:21.561-04:00God of Anointing<p style="text-align: justify;">David's life only gets more complicated the older he gets. You would think that the time he spent running from Saul would have been his hard days, but harder days were coming, as he would spend some of his older years running from his own son. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">His son, not willing to wait on David's death, starts to try to take the throne early. God hasn't chosen him; he's chosen himself. David is still the anointed king of Israel, but Absalom is gaining ground. He's building a gathering of friends. Rebels, really. Men who are going to fight with him because they believe in his kingship as much as he does. Or so it seems. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">In the middle chapters of 2 Samuel, we are actually introduced to a number of new characters. Briefly, in the case of all of them. These are men who have connections to Israel and specifically to the kingship of Israel; some even served in the administration of Saul and have moved on to David. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Now that Absalom is trying to establish himself, these men have a decision to make: who is the king? who do they follow? to whom do they pledge their allegiances? </p><p style="text-align: justify;">David tries to help them out. He tries to send them away. He tries to tell them to go ahead and go; Absalom is strong, and David is a sinful old man, and it is only a matter of time until they have a new king anyway, so they might as well get in Absalom's good graces before he violently takes over everything. <br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Nobody should start out on the wrong side of a violent man. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">But several of these men look back at David, who seems to have already given up, and said, "No." No, David. We're not going anywhere. No, David. It doesn't matter if it looks like Absalom is winning. No, David, not even if you tell us to leave. Because <i>you</i> are the anointed king of Israel.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Period. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">David's the one with God's anointing, win or lose. David's the one with God's anointing, madman on the loose or not. David's the one with God's anointing, whether his army is twice the size of Absalom's or half the size. It doesn't matter what the external looks like or how resigned David may seem to what looks like a certain fate. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">What is more certain than anything is that <i>he</i> is the anointed one. Period. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And God's anointing doesn't just leave you because things are a little rough right now. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">So whatever season of life you're in, remember: whatever God has poured out on you is still on you. Your calling is still there. Favor is still there. Grace is still there. God still deeply loves you. <i>You</i> are His chosen one. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Madman on the loose or not. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7013329680860151248.post-54370470599528958752024-03-13T05:12:00.001-04:002024-03-13T05:12:36.897-04:00God of Good Friends<p style="text-align: justify;">Who is allowed to speak into your life? </p><p style="text-align: justify;">God, of course. But who else? Do you have some close friends who can speak hard things to you and actually get the message through? </p><p style="text-align: justify;">This is something that the church really struggles with, especially in the world that we live in today when the general public is not as receptive to the Word of God as it used to be. In fact, the world is almost hostile to it. <br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Yet, this change in the culture around us hasn't much changed our approach to spreading the message of God. We go out and proclaim God's truth, as though anyone reasonable who might hear it ought to automatically respond in rejoicing and graciousness. We watch the headlines and see the sins of the world, and we step out and condemn them. We speak truth, but it doesn't seem to do any good any more. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And why not? </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Because we don't have the relationship with those we are speaking to that we need. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">David was a man after God's own heart, but he was also a sinner. Just like the rest of us. In one of his most famous sins, he sees a woman bathing from his rooftop (while he ought to be out on the battlefield leading the troops, mind you), and he decides he has to have her. He sends for her, sleeps with her, gets her pregnant, and then, to cover his tracks, he has her husband killed in battle. (And <i>that</i> wasn't easy because her husband was a genuinely good guy, and it was hard to separate him from the rest of the troops. So, in fact, many men died that day for no other reason than that David sought to kill Uriah.) </p><p style="text-align: justify;">There is no shortage of persons who could have spoken - correctly - the truth about this moral failure. I can hear you right now: "That is <i>wrong.</i>" And of course, it is wrong. Overwhelmingly, we, as human beings, recognize that. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">So the question is not whether we can speak truth; we know we can. The question is whether anyone will hear us if we do. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">David would not have heard just anyone who chose to speak that truth to him. He might have heard their words with his ears, but he would not have had "ears to listen," as the Bible often puts it. It required someone in relationship with him, someone he trusted, someone with whom he had already had many conversations and whose voice and inflection he could really distinguish. It required someone with whom he was already so intimately familiar that this person had the <i>right </i>to speak a hard truth to David - it's that right, that earned trust, that established relationship, that lets David actually hear. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Such is Nathan. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">This is why our truth is failing in the world. It's not because the world doesn't believe in truth any more, although that certainly doesn't help. The biggest problem with have with truth is that we are not first good friends. We are not first relationally invested in the world. We have not established that intimate familiarity that gives us the <i>right</i> to speak the hard truths. Just having the truth doesn't give us the right to be heard; we have to do the hard work of building the trust. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">We have to be good friends first. That's how God sends His truth into the world. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">God sends the truth through friends. (2 Samuel 12) </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7013329680860151248.post-63858624992610293412024-03-12T06:13:00.001-04:002024-03-12T06:13:57.320-04:00God of Victory<p style="text-align: justify;">One of my favorite movies has the line, "It's good to be the king." And indeed, it is. <br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">But it's even better to be God's king and to have the anointing of the Lord on you. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Just ask David. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">In the early days of David's kingship, after years of establishing himself as a warrior and finding great victories for the people of Israel, David did not know defeat. He simply didn't. He was walking in the way of the Lord, even as a man on the run, and God was truly with him. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">2 Samuel tells us, "The Lord gave David victory everywhere he went."</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Imagine that for a second. Just think about it. Imagine what your life would be like if everywhere you turned, there was victory. If every battle you faced, you won. If every time you came up against something, you prevailed. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">I think for a lot of us, it would change the way we live. It would change the amount of courage we have. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">It might even change the amount of audacity we have. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Maybe that's what I love about this story. This simple little truth - that the Lord gave David victory everywhere he went - doesn't really change where David is doing. David continues asking God for guidance; he continues praying; he continues living a life of faith. At least, at first. God's victory doesn't turn David into a warmongering steamroller, blasting out into the world, sword drawn, to stake a claim. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">He simply goes where God tells him to go, when God tells him to go there, and God gives him victory. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">It's such a simple formula. I wonder how it might work in my life...and yours. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7013329680860151248.post-20140052481786754932024-03-11T07:08:00.000-04:002024-03-11T07:08:03.077-04:00God of the Long Way<p style="text-align: justify;">You've probably heard that the best way to face your problems is head-on, that it doesn't do any good to try to go around them or to take a different angle. If something is going awry, best to straighten it out right away by coming right at it and not backing down, not taking "no" for an answer. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">But what if that's not always the way?</p><p style="text-align: justify;">David was engaged in a series of battles with the Philistines. Being a man of faith, he continually asked God for guidance about whether or not he should even go to battle and how to secure the best outcome. So he asks God, and God tells him to go into battle against the Philistines and he will win. David charges forward, attacks the Philistines head-on, and wins, just as God promised. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Another battle, another prayer, another plan, another victory. And on and on and on it goes. <br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Until...</p><p style="text-align: justify;">David is once again faced with the Philistines. He once again prays to God for guidance. God once again tells him to go, that he will win (because He will win). But...don't go and attack them straight on. Don't just march out in battle lines against them. Don't just move forward. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Rather, God tells David to take his men and to circle around behind the Philistines, then attack them from a different vantage point. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Could God have given Israel another head-on victory? Of course, He could have. That's not the point. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The point is that God wanted His people to know that sometimes, you have to take the long way. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">It's easy to trust in strength. It's easy to trust in victory. It's easy to trust in promise. It's harder to take the long way. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">It's harder to go the distance, to move around, to change your angle, to move your forces. It's harder to put your strength to a different test - a test of trust. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Think about what David and his men had to do to attack the Philistines from behind - they had to walk right past them. They had to ignore the temptation to act in their own strength. They had to forget what had happened in the past - all of their previous victories - and focus on what God had told them <i>this</i> time. They had to trust God's plan, not themselves. They had to believe in the new thing, not in the old thing. It was an entirely different ball game. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The long way is the way of trust. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">It's a lesson we all need. It's tempting for us to trust in our own strength, to trust in our track record, to trust in yesterday, to trust in the way we've "always done it" but it's harder for us to trust in a new thing, to try a new way, to walk right past and <i>not</i> be tempted to act too early. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The long way is hard for us. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">But sometimes, as the story of David shows us, it is the <i>best </i>way, too. Because sometimes, it is God's way. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7013329680860151248.post-2354335366351959782024-03-08T05:48:00.001-05:002024-03-08T05:48:04.870-05:00The King's Table<p style="text-align: justify;">After Saul and Jonathan died in battle, David took over the kingship of Israel. It didn't take long before he started missing his friend (Jonathan), and he started to ask - is there anyone left to whom I can show kindness because I loved Jonathan so much? And then someone brings him Mephibosheth. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Mephibosheth is the surviving son of Jonathan and is now a crippled man. While being saved by one of the servants, an accident occurred and now, Mephibosheth is lame. No problem, says David; you'll never have to work a day in your life anyway. He then invites the son of his friend to sit at his table and eat. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Forever. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">David pledges to take care of this crippled man for the rest of his days. He promises to feed him at his table, to provide for him out of his storehouses, to secure for him a dwelling in the holy city of God's favor, where David has made his home. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And the same is promised to us. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">We have been invited to eat at the table of the King. Forever. For no other reason than that we are sons and daughters, than that He is a friend to sinners. We are but lame, crippled, and broken...but no worries. Not a care. He has promised that that won't matter, that there is a place for us here. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">He feeds us at His table, the body and the blood. He provides for us out of His storehouses, mercy and amazing grace overflowing. He secures for us a dwelling in His holy city, where Christ Himself has made His home. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Friends, we are friends of the King. That's how we got here. That's how we came to this Table. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And because of that, this is where we will feast all the rest of our days. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7013329680860151248.post-56907254918064887292024-03-07T05:29:00.001-05:002024-03-07T05:29:17.246-05:00God of Home<p style="text-align: justify;">David was anointed king of Israel long before he actually became the king of Israel. There was the little matter of Saul, and Saul's son (David's friend), Jonathan, that had to be sorted out first. It was clear that God was against Saul, but David didn't really think Jonathan had to be part of Saul's punishment. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Of course, he did. He was the firstborn son. It's really hard to become king when you're not the firstborn son of the king, especially when the firstborn son is <i>right there</i>. Even with God's anointing on you, even with the people behind you, even with everyone believing in you, it's hard when Jonathan is still hanging around. God used the death of both Saul and Jonathan to help clear the way for David to step into his promised kingship. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">But not right away. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">After the deaths of Saul and Jonathan (on the same day), David asks the Lord - is it the time? Is now the time? </p><p style="text-align: justify;">God says yes, but first...go home. First, go establish your place. First, take your wives and settle down, settle in. Know where you're rooted. Know where you are. Know where you're coming from before you start going to where you're going. <br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">This is so important. Remember, David has been on the run for a very long time. He's been living in caves, hiding out in Philistine territory, living a double life trying to stay away from Saul but remain in the good graces of Israel. He's not had a place to lay his head, not a place that is <i>his</i> place, since he was first anointed and then called into the service of Saul as a musician. Sure, the first few years in Saul's house were not too bad, but when you're playing second fiddle (or first fiddle) in the place you're anointed to lead, it still doesn't feel like your place. Not like it's supposed to. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">So before David steps into the kingship, into the leadership of the entire nation of Israel, God tells him...go home. Make your home. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">He says the same to us. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">So many of us spend our lives floating around in the world. This place just isn't like it was even a few generations ago, where folks settled down and had their own rhythm of life. Everything is changing, all the time and really fast. It's extremely uncommon for anyone to spend their life in one place, be it one home or one town or one job or whatever. We are a people on the move, nomadic in a way that we haven't been in a very long time, and so there's something in us that is restless. Something in us that never quite settles down. Something in us that doesn't feel like it has a place. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">That's where God steps in. He tells us plainly - invites us, really - to a place called home <i>first</i>. A place of our own. He invites us to settle down, to settle in. To figure out where we are so that we know where we come from before we get to where we're going. He wants us to have roots, to have our place. And so He calls us home before anything else. <br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Can you hear Him? </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Will you go? </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7013329680860151248.post-23407030417562129502024-03-06T05:33:00.001-05:002024-03-06T05:33:39.008-05:00God of Staying<p style="text-align: justify;">Our culture is having an ongoing conversation about the value of work. What is it worth? Is some work worth more than other work? What about work that doesn't look like work? We have long been debating the nature of stay-at-home moms, at the value of what they contribute not only to a household, but to a society (and you should check out the numbers that someone finally put to everything that SAHMs do, if you haven't already). </p><p style="text-align: justify;">There just seems to be something ingrained in us that thinks that the bigger the outward action, the more valuable the contribution. The more we "do," the more we "are." </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And the same has been true, historically, in the church. We have placed a high value on the pastors, the priests, the preachers, the evangelists, the missionaries - anyone we think is going and <i>doing</i> for God as a grand act of outward obedience. Anyone whose impact seems so glaringly obvious. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">But are we right to do that? </p><p style="text-align: justify;">1 Samuel 30 suggests we are not. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">If you remember this story, David and his men were going out to fight a major battle, but not all of the men were going. Some of them, for various reasons, were staying behind. They were charged with keeping watch over all the things that Israel couldn't take into battle with them, with maintaining the homestand and the supplies. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And when David's troops came back victorious, he split all the plunder not just with the warriors who went into battle, but with all the men who stayed behind, too. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">We don't often think like this. We think that the men who raise the sword get the goods. Period. The men who put their lives on the line get the reward. Plain and simple. But that's not how God works. God understands that everyone plays a valuable role in what's unfolding, whether they're on the front lines or the homestead, whether they're leading the charge or taking charge of what's leftover. Whether they're the infantryman or the supply man. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">This is important for those of us who don't spend our lives in "the ministry," who aren't preachers, priests, missionaries. Whose headlines are not "goes out to preach the Gospel and save the world." We may not be doing the obvious things, but we're still doing the important things. There's still something holy and wonderful about what we're doing. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And when God gets the glory? We get our share, too. He doesn't forget us just because we weren't on what looked like the "front lines." We were just quietly doing our part, and God sees that. <br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">God sees you.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">So don't be discouraged if you don't think you're doing "big" things for God. You are. Right where you are, wherever you are. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The men who stay behind get a share of the plunder just the same. So do your thing, whatever your thing is, for the glory of God. That's all He's asking of you. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7013329680860151248.post-69984050603350559212024-03-05T06:13:00.001-05:002024-03-05T06:13:22.846-05:00God Politely Declines<p style="text-align: justify;">One of the narratives exploding in liberal Christianity is that God can't wait to join you wherever you are and take on your quest with you. If you love God, He automatically shows up for you, whatever you're doing. We have this idea that we take God with us and that His deep love for us is the same as a blind approval. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And that's simply not the biblical truth. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">There's a story in 1 Samuel that demonstrates this fairly clearly. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Saul was the king of Israel, chosen by God Himself to lead the chosen people. But things aren't going well; Saul's insecurities are getting the best of him, and he's slowly turning away from God's guidance. The prophet, Samuel, who guided Saul for the early years of his kingship, has died, and Saul is on his own. He's already committed a few egregious sins, and David has already started appearing on the scene as one with God's anointing on him. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Now, we find Saul on the edge of another battle with the Philistines. The Philistines, we should add, have David on their side; he's currently hiding in their territory so that Saul doesn't kill him. (But David has no intentions of actually fighting <i>for</i> the Philistines nor <i>against</i> Saul.) Saul...starts to get cold feet. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">So Saul, a man chosen by God, a man guided for so long by a prophet, a man known to prophesy himself and who has offered (albeit illegally) sacrifices to the Lord, a man who <i>knows</i> that without the Lord on his side, the battle is futile...Saul prays to God. Saul asks God to show up and give him the plan. Saul asks God to come and settle his fears. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">God politely declines. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The Bible tells us, "But He did not give him an answer, neither in dreams nor by consulting the Urim nor through prophecy." Nothing. God is simply not coming to the party that Saul is inviting him to. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">God is done showing up only when it's convenient for Saul. Saul's heart has been turned against Him for awhile, and the king doesn't want anything to do with God until he's scared. Then, all of a sudden, the Lord seems like a good idea. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">But God's not playing that game. God doesn't have a relationship with His people where you can have Him whenever you want Him and if you're not interested right now, He'll just step aside and let you do whatever, waiting to swoop in and rescue you the next time you call. <br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">No. Either you live your life fully for God or you accept that maybe He's not coming the next time you invite Him. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And that's the truth that our current Christianity needs to understand - you don't get to just take God with you. You don't get to invite Him along to whatever and wherever you've decided to go. He's not coming. Rather, it is <i>you</i> who has to go with God.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">If the chosen king of Israel can't get God to go with him when he's living in sin, what honest chance do you think you have? </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7013329680860151248.post-26459401208399232342024-03-04T05:48:00.002-05:002024-03-04T05:48:53.843-05:00How We Lost Truth<p style="text-align: justify;">I know - we're spending a lot of time on the concept of truth, and I, too, am ready to move on, but there's this heavy question that remains lingering that I want to address. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">That question is: how did we even lose truth in the first place? How did we end up in a world where so few persons still believe in truth? </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And...it's complicated. (Of course it is. You already knew this.) </p><p style="text-align: justify;">But here's how we got here: </p><p style="text-align: justify;">For most of human history, humans simply believed what seemed to be obvious. Whether or not it was actually true, it was considered true because it was plain to see. Things like - the earth is flat. Or the sun revolves around the earth, which is the center of the universe. We simply believed these things because this is what our eyes told us must be the case, and there was very little argument about it. We operated as a society on the acceptance of a shared understanding of the world that we called truth, and it <i>was</i> true, as far as we were concerned. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Then, a few keen observers started to notice things that most of us weren't noticing, and they proposed new theories of understanding. Most of these men (a few women) were persecuted for heresy - for trying to change truth. We were completely opposed to <i>changing</i> truth - what is true is true and it is obviously true so why revise it and make it false? </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Science came in and started showing some evidence of its proposals in a number of areas, and slowly, we started to accept that maybe what we thought we knew, we never really knew at all. And if science could show us the <i>real</i> truth about things we thought we knew, then we wanted to have the real answers. So we put everything on the table and told science to tell us what it is. (This is the modern period.) </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Science promised it would answer our questions, and it did a great job...on some topics. We were convinced that if we could just advance our science and spread its influence across <i>all</i> areas, we could come to control all of the realities of the world and manipulate them to our own benefit. This was the promise that this new ideology gave us. Our lives were about to dramatically improve. And we were the ones who were going to improve them. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Science started posing more questions and, honestly, guessing at more answers. It started to caution us that it could tell us what it was investigating, but it couldn't tell us any more if its discoveries were conclusive. There were a lot of questions, but few answers, but because of the faith that we had in science - especially after it proved such big things as the roundness of the earth and the proper orientation of our solar system - we accepted that what science has to say <i>must</i> be true. Hey, it's been right about so much; it must be right about everything else. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">But trusting in science didn't get us to where we thought it would. We didn't improve our world and our experience the way that we thought we would. Something, somewhere, was wrong. And this is where we took a dramatic turn. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The promise of science, and modernity, was that we controlled our own destiny based on our understanding of, and application of, the truths that we know. The truths that science told us. When it wasn't working out the way that everything promised it would, when we were finally asking what was wrong with what we thought we understood, we decided that the problem can't be <i>us</i>. It's not that we aren't holding up our end of the bargain. It's not that we don't know how to apply science and truth or exercise our dominion over the world as we know it. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And if the problem is not us and not our autonomy and not our ability, then the problem must be the truth that we're believing in. If we are acting on what we think is the truth and things aren't working out the way we thought they would, and we know (because we're convinced of our own superiority) that <i>we're</i> doing things right...then the problem must be that the truth we're trusting in is broken somewhere. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And if truth is broken, then what can we possibly believe in? Why, only ourselves. And if we believe in ourselves, we don't necessarily need truth. We have something better. We have self-determination. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And that, my friends, is how we came to live in a world that no longer values truth. We simply don't need it (so we think); we have ourselves. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7013329680860151248.post-82739045578197697602024-03-01T06:11:00.001-05:002024-03-01T06:11:38.795-05:00Linger<p style="text-align: justify;">A few days ago at work, we had a pizza party. Shortly after the pizzas arrived, I went into the breakroom to check things out and ended up sitting down for a couple of slices before returning to my desk. (A lot of the staff was in there, and I didn't want to leave the front of our unit unattended for too long.) About 20 minutes later, one of my coworkers came back around front, and I asked her if she'd gotten some pizza. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">She said, "Aidan! I was <i>right there</i>. I was actually coming to sit down by you to eat, and you were <i>gone</i>. Just <i>gone.</i>" </p><p style="text-align: justify;">She was right. I was trying to get back to work, but the truth is that I don't linger over food too much. I never have. I probably never will. Back in college, I could be through the cafeteria line and eat two bratwursts (on buns), a whole plate of fries, and a dessert before my roommate even got through the line and sat down. I was done eating and out the door before we even had a chance to say hello to each other in the middle of our day. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">I think a lot of the time, our Communion celebration is like this. Most churches who celebrate Communion regularly, as mine does, have the practice down to a science. We can feed 300 persons a little cracker and juice in under three minutes and get on with our service, back to our singing and preaching and teaching. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">"We now return to our regularly-scheduled services."</p><p style="text-align: justify;">But if you read the story of the first Communion, the Last Supper, you'll find that it was a table to linger at. Tables, in general, were places to linger, as persons were often lying down to eat. It was a place to get comfortable, to chat a bit, to let yourself relax and settle into an entirely different kind of rhythm. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Just look at all of the conversation that took place around the bread and the wine. Look at how the disciples had a full-on conversation, how they asked Jesus questions, how they nudged one another and gave a few little winks. How Jesus answered them and presented an entire lesson about the sacrifice that was to come. Together, they ate the bread, and they lingered - they lingered at the Table, and they lingered in the Upper Room. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Nobody but Judas left quickly. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Think about that for a second - for nobody but Judas was this table "quick." It wasn't just a moment; it was an experience. And an experience requires you to <i>stay</i>. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">What would it mean for you to linger at this table? What would it mean for you to stay awhile? What would it mean to be here long enough to share stories? To nudge elbows? To ask questions? To listen? How would it change your Communion experience if this Table was not just a place that you come, but a place that you <i>stay</i>? </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Will you linger a little? </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7013329680860151248.post-25724165723372474622024-02-29T05:45:00.001-05:002024-02-29T05:45:40.125-05:00A Different God<p style="text-align: justify;">Yesterday, we asked - but what if I don't <i>want</i> to go to the Father? What if I want to choose a different God?</p><p style="text-align: justify;">You can. The Lord gives humans the freedom to choose, but if you're looking for a "different" god, there is none more different than the Lord Almighty. He is truly unlike any other God. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The Lord created the world for the purpose of walking in it with His creation; there is no other creation story that suggests anything close to this. In fact, most god stories use the world for either warfare or punishment. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The Lord <i>loves</i> the world He created; the other gods seem to tolerate the world, at best, and they use it as a place to release their emotional energies, for good or for bad. In many cases, the other gods use the world as a trophy, as a prize for whatever game they are playing in their god-realm. And let's say it again - the Lord's "god-realm" <i>is</i> the world; He <i>wants </i>to be here. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The Lord loves <i>us</i>; He loves us so much that He sent His Son as a sacrifice so that we didn't have to spend our entire lives trying to appease Him, as the other gods demand. The other gods are constantly judging our performance, always changing their behavior based on a whim. God's posture toward us has always been love. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">As a reminder, I'm using the word "god" here, but what we're really talking about is any sort of worldview that attempts to account for the existence of the world as we know it. That means, yes, I'm talking about science, too. The science myths have nothing on the creation story of the Lord Almighty. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And all of these things that we're talking about that set God apart, these are matters of <i>truth</i> - a truth that the world has trouble trusting because it doesn't understand what truth is any more. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">But that's precisely why we have to keep declaring it. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">When we declare the truth of the Christian faith, it is an absolute truth in a post-truth world. I get it. The world doesn't seem to care. It doesn't want to hear it. But that's not entirely true. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The world doesn't want to hear the biblical truth; they want to hear the Gospel truth. Whatever aversion the world may claim to have to Christ and Christianity, they still actually love a story about redemption and grace and love. And so when we think about what it means to declare the truth of our faith, we have to start with the Gospel truth - the truth that reveals the loving, merciful, gracious heart of God...not by tolerance and whatever else the world thinks "love" is these days, but in the creation and foundation of the world itself, which is rooted in the very heart of God. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">There's an old saying that says no one cares how much you know until they know how much you care, and this is true about the Christian faith as well - nobody cares about coming to the Father (i.e. heaven or hell) until they know how much the Father loves them. And this is the truth that we're not talking about enough. This is the truth that we're not putting at the center of our discussions enough. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">We're out there trying to tell others they have to choose God because they don't want to go to Hell and He will send them there...what kind of God is that that someone should love Him? No wonder the world is turning away. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">But what if we tell them about the foundation of all things, the voice that speaks into the formless and void so that He has a place to walk with His creation in the cool of the garden? <i>There's</i> a God I want to go to - the One who wants to come to me. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">There's plenty of truth about God that even a post-truth world is interested in. We just have to recognize it and start to speak it.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Because it is this <i>truth</i> that makes our God the "different kind of god" the world really is looking for. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7013329680860151248.post-85800924744052860562024-02-28T06:22:00.001-05:002024-02-28T06:22:12.258-05:00To the Father<p style="text-align: justify;">As I wrote the last words of yesterday's blog, a thought came into my mind, and I think it's important to take this little detour. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Jesus said <i>no one</i> comes to the Father except through Him, and I can almost hear the world saying, "What if I don't want to go to the Father?" </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Seems simple enough, right? If the world doesn't care about our heaven, about eternal life, about the goodness of God and doesn't want any part of it, then the message of Jesus doesn't matter, does it?</p><p style="text-align: justify;">And let's be clear about something else - God doesn't say these other gods that we read about in the Bible don't exist. Paul doesn't even tell the Romans the gods they are worshiping in the areopagus are fake. Rather, the consistent message is that they aren't <i>good</i> gods. The Lord Almighty is a good, loving, benevolent, powerful God and there is no other god like Him. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">But there are other gods. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">These other gods all have their own stories and their own promises. There are promises of reincarnation and a billion life cycles to attain Nirvana. There are promises of escaping this world and no longer being bound by it. There are promises of thousands of virgins. The god of science promises blissful, simple non-existence - that you just die and that's it. Nothing more. There are as many different promises as there are gods, and if that's the god you want to believe in, that's the promise you get. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">So if someone says they aren't interested in the promise of the Lord God - what if I don't <i>want</i> to go to the Father? - then what's the Gospel answer to that? </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The simple answer is to say that they get to go to Hell. That the other gods may have offers on the table, but the Lord Almighty is Almighty Indeed and His promise trumps every other one, to the point that if He determines to send you to Hell, you're going. Whether you believe in Him or not. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">That's the answer that Christians have given for a long time. It's the answer that makes the world bristle. The problem with that answer, though, is that it brings us back to the question about truth...and a world that isn't interested in truth. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">How can God claim to have the only possible truth - especially when His truth doesn't look as plain and obvious as, say, science? </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The world struggles to believe that there is a God so powerful, a truth so real, that they will actually go to Hell if they don't believe it. They struggle to believe there even is a place such a Hell (which is really a state of being more than an actual physical location, I believe). They struggle to believe there could be a truth that exists outside of their believing in it - if they don't believe it, can it even be real? </p><p style="text-align: justify;">If I don't <i>want</i> to go to the Father, then what legitimate power does the so-called Father have over me that He could send me to some so-called Hell? </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And that is precisely why getting the truth part of the Gospel right - and not shying away from it - is so important. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Because our God truly is unlike any other. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7013329680860151248.post-90969923313288069962024-02-27T05:30:00.001-05:002024-02-27T05:30:06.936-05:00The Gospel Truth<p style="text-align: justify;">To start talking about the Gospel as truth in a post-truth world, we have to understand that the problem with the Gospel isn't new. That is, the Gospel truth was always offensive to the world. That's what got our Savior killed. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">That's what got the masses chasing Him, trying to throw Him off a cliff. That's what got the Pharisees sitting around, scheming up a way to get rid of Him. That's what got the Roman guards to march Him out to a hill called Golgotha and crucify the Son of God. None of that happened because these persons didn't like - even love - God; it happened because the message of Christ - the truth that He lived - was offensive. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">It did not get better after His death, and certainly, not after His resurrection. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And yet, this is the first thing the world tells us today - that we can't talk about Jesus or present the Gospel truth because it's "offensive." </p><p style="text-align: justify;">It's offensive for a few reasons. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The first is that we don't like anyone telling us that our good is not good enough. As I've mentioned several times in this space, most of us consider ourselves better than average when it comes to goodness (and of course, mathematically, it is impossible for that to be true). The Gospel truth says that we are all sinners and there is not one of us righteous, not even one, but in a world in which we are all convinced that we are fundamentally good persons, being told that we are not is offensive. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The second is closely related to the first - we don't like being told that we can't save ourselves. In our highly-individualistic culture, we have been given reason to believe that we are our own savior. Our lives are in our own control, and we make of them whatever we want them to be by our own hard work and investment. This is even more true in a post-truth world where we're allowed to tell whatever story we want about our life and expect, even demand, others to buy into it. No matter how ridiculous. If they don't, they are obviously full of "hate" and are the reason the world sucks. (Christianity tells us the world sucks because we are all sinners, every one of us. But I digress.) </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The third spins off of that - we don't like that, if we aren't our own Savior, that there might be another one. Nobody's going to tell us what to do. Nobody's going to make us buy into <i>their</i> little story, their little myth that they believe in to make themselves feel better. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Interesting note: for as often as the world protests against religion and declares, "Nobody's going to tell me what to believe!" it's funny to see how quickly they believe whatever the thing they <i>do</i> believe in tells them, whether that be science or media or politics or whatever. Someone <i>is</i> telling you what to believe, no matter who you are; the only question is, <i>who</i> are you letting tell you what to believe? </p><p style="text-align: justify;">But what's most offensive, and at the root of all of this, is that the Gospel truth declares an exclusivity - an absoluteness to its truth that the world just can't swallow any more. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Jesus is the <i>only</i> way? That seems really "hateful." Maybe even "racist." It certainly seems "elitist." And, the world says, it doesn't mesh with the image of the all-accepting, all-loving, all-welcoming Jesus who ate with sinners and washed the feet of His disciples and talked to a Samaritan woman. <i>This</i> Jesus that we preach as so radical could not possibly also be so dogmatic as to claim an exclusivity to the Christian faith - that it could be the <i>only</i> way. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">What about everyone else in the world, created in the image of God (whether they believe that or not) who doesn't believe in Him? Is He really just going to send them to Hell? Not much of a "loving" God. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">That's really how the world has turned so many Christians away from the Gospel truth and toward a more liberal embrace of tolerance masked as grace. They've told us that our Jesus can't be loving <i>and</i> exclusive, and we have essentially said - okay, He is loving. And we push aside the truth that He spoke, which was in no uncertain terms. <br /><br /><i>I Am the way, the truth and the life. NO ONE comes to the Father except through me.</i> </p><p style="text-align: justify;">So what now? </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7013329680860151248.post-62782709110635323572024-02-26T05:32:00.000-05:002024-02-26T05:32:02.624-05:00A Post-Truth World<p style="text-align: justify;">We left off last week talking about the truth of Christianity, in companionship with its grace. This was one of the criticisms leveled at the "He gets us" ads on television - that they were too much grace/acceptance and not enough Gospel truth. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And I said that living in a post-truth world, it's...complicated. The Gospel truth is complicated today in ways that it wasn't as complicated previously. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">I guess the place to start is to talk about what I mean when I say that the world today is post-truth. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Here's what I mean: </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Our greatest fights today are over what truth actually is. What "the" truth is. We are wrestling with a culture that is hesitant to definitively define <i>anything</i>, where truth is whatever you claim it to be, and where authorities are questioned in a way that they weren't for much of human history. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">If you look at the headlines, especially in politics, you'll see that we aren't a people who talk about policy and common good any more; we're too busy trying to find a starting point for conversation. And that starting point is truth. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">See, we can't talk about anything, as human beings, unless we have a mutual, agreed-upon starting point for the conversation. Want to talk politics? Maybe you think it's easy to start by saying that Joe Biden is the current president. But then come the accusations that the elections were stolen, our democracy is a sham, and his presidency is illegitimate. We can't have a conversation about politics if we do not fundamentally agree that the process is trustworthy - i.e. a true process. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Want to have a conversation about gender roles or the worth of a woman in the marketplace (that women should receive the same pay as men for the same work, let's say)? Well, we can't. Because we first have to define what a "woman" is and our current culture doesn't have a definitive definition. Rather, everyone is allowed to define for themselves what being a man or a woman means to them and the rest of the world is expected to go along with it. So we have biological males who believe the "truth" is that they are women (and biological women who believe the "truth" is that they are men), and we can't have a conversation about women in the workplace because there's no agreement on what a woman is. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">We hear a lot about minorities, but who is a minority? How does one become a minority? Is it statistical? Is it social? You may say the minority is the group whose power is taken away by another group or is the group that is the victim of oppression by another group, but...that's all perspective. There are many folk who are seen as the majority by others who feel like the minority because of the way the perceived minority treats them. So who's right? In a post-truth world, they both are. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Language is used as a weapon here. Whoever shouts the loudest usually wins. If you can get the most voices in your side, then your side must be "truth." Truth, as a concept, has become a matter of popular opinion - whatever most persons buy into is the "truth" that we must live by. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Here's another recent example: (and yes, I know I'm ruffling feathers. Truth does that) In 2020 when the pandemic was newly upon us, the experts in the medical field - not the political talking heads, although they agreed, but the real experts - said that research showed that cloth masks would be ineffective in limiting the spread of the virus. There was massive public outcry because most of us felt like we needed to <i>do</i> something besides just sit idly by and wait for our grandmothers to die, so after a ton of pushback from the public, they changed the message - wearing a mask <i>will</i> help. The science didn't change, but the "truth" changed somehow. Those who held onto the science, the documented research and decades upon decades of evidence were called conspiracy theorists, at best; at worst, they were told they were selfish and hated everyone else's grandmothers and that the deaths were their fault. Language was being used to force compliance with an asserted, but not proven, "truth." (For what it's worth, more studies came out a year or so ago showing, again, that our masks did not make a difference and were ineffective, but during the most recent surge, there were still many crying out for new mask mandates...and the news barely covered the new reports showing their ineffectiveness.) </p><p style="text-align: justify;">But that's where we're at - truth is whatever the masses say it is. No longer are we a people who listen to reason, who look at the evidence, who believe what we see, who believe those who have invested their lives in things we haven't even thought about before; we are a people coerced by the noise into compliance, and truth has become a <i>construct</i>, not a given. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">So what does that do to the Gospel? </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7013329680860151248.post-55117352194687362024-02-23T05:29:00.001-05:002024-02-23T05:29:59.023-05:00Cannibals<p style="text-align: justify;">Jesus said, "Take this and eat, for this is my body." Then, He poured the wine and said, "And this, and drink, for this is my blood." </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And the world looked at the Christians and asked...are you cannibals?</p><p style="text-align: justify;">This was a very real criticism that Christians faced very early on, and from time to time since then. We talk about Communion, and we talk about the body and the blood of Christ in the emblems, and this doesn't make sense to the world. What does it mean that we are eating our God? </p><p style="text-align: justify;">But of course, we know that that's not really it. None of us thinks that we are actually eating the real flesh or drinking the real blood of Christ; we understand it as a metaphor for accepting the sacrifice that He offered on our behalf, the death He suffered for us. We take this meal and eat because for us, it it the bread of Heaven and the gift of salvation in tangible, taste-able form. It's a way to remember. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">As I think about this criticism, though - that we are cannibals - I think there's an easier way to explain what's happening to a world that doesn't understand substitutionary atonement. A way that doesn't require a depth of theological thinking. A way that might help them understand what's happening at the Table. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">In the beginning, God created man in His image. He stooped down and formed man in the dust, then breathed into him the very Spirit of God. The very substance of our being is holy. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And the blood and the body of Christ, in the emblems, is holy. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The taking of the emblems keeps us connected to our substance, keeps us growing in holiness and holy things. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">So essentially, what I'm saying is - we are essentially emotionally-complicated sourdough starters. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">That's why the bread is unleavened. That's why there's no yeast in it. That's why God warned His people in the Old Testament about yeast and Jesus warned His disciples, too. We have to be careful about the things that we let grow us. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And it's the unleavened bread of the sacrifice of Christ that grows us the most. This body, this blood - this bread, this juice - it <i>is</i> the yeast. It's the thing that we keep turning over and over and kneading and knotting and growing from. Every time. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">We're not cannibals, eating the flesh and drinking the blood of another human being; we are sourdough starters, being fed by the very substance of which we were created, growing Christward every time we feast around this table. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Let us be fed. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7013329680860151248.post-19622875148523928762024-02-22T07:10:00.001-05:002024-02-22T07:10:42.739-05:00An Incomplete Truth<p style="text-align: justify;">Another criticism of the "He gets us" big football game ads was that they didn't go far enough in presenting the message of Christ. They weren't holistic. They didn't get everything exactly right in all its complicatedness. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Specifically, one of the criticisms is that the ads "only" showed Jesus loving persons. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">On the surface, that seems strange. And there are more layers of complaint that talk about <i>what kinds</i> of persons the ads specifically showed Jesus loving - those who think it was too diverse, too slanted in one direction over another, not diverse enough, not realistic, whatever. For example, one of the ads showed an entire series of the washing of feet, and there were voices that came out and said, <i>wait a minute. Can we talk about </i>these<i> persons for a second?</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">This draws us back into the grace vs. truth debate, which is as old as Christianity itself. Are we loving or speaking truth? Are we doing both? Are we doing one more than the other?</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Really, though, a lot of this boils down to the pushback against the "new" definition of Christ that's gaining traction in more liberal branches of Christianity, pushed by the world - that Jesus loves everyone indiscriminately and doesn't require anything from you for His love. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">It's...a half-truth. Kinda. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">It's true that Jesus loves you. Just the way you are. It's true that He came, lived, died, and rose again for you while you're still broken, while you're still rebellious, while you're still a sinner. It's true that there's not anything that you have to do to obtain the love of God; God <i>is</i> love, and He loves you. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">But it's <i>not</i> true that He doesn't want you to change. That's true no matter who you are, what you believe, how good you think you are, what good works you do. There's not a single example that we have anywhere in all of Scripture where either God or Christ comes to a human being and says, "Don't change a thing. You're perfect just the way you are."</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Not a single one. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">God always wants us to grow. He always wants us to change. He's always pushing us to be more loving, more gracious, more merciful, more just, more righteous, more right-hearted, more faithful, more true. He's always calling us to come closer to Him, and when we come closer to Him, we necessarily change more and more into His likeness - the image we were created in in the first place. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">God's not interested in anyone who is not willing to grow. So the idea that you can be who you are and <i>stay</i> as you are and earn God's full and wholehearted approval is a lie. We'll just call it what it is - it's a lie. No, He won't love you less if you don't change, but we can't pretend that God's love is the same as God's approval. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">There is none among us righteous, no, not one. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">So the criticism that the commercials didn't go far enough in presenting truth next to love do have some merit. They leave in the air the possibility that one might come to the same conclusions about Jesus that liberal Christianity has been trying to push - namely, that He has no standards when it comes to human beings. He just loves and is happy with everyone just the way things are. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">At the same time, we have to realize that the truth part of the Christian faith is...really complicated in a post-truth world. <br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">(To be continued)</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7013329680860151248.post-80353195518646974392024-02-21T06:00:00.002-05:002024-02-21T06:00:16.701-05:00The Great Commission<p style="text-align: justify;">So let's pick up the biggest elephant in the room as we talk about the Jesus commercials at the recent big football game - the fact that there was a message about Jesus at all. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">We live in an age when the world gets angry about Jesus "being shoved down our throats," when the world tells us, gosh, we don't have to talk about Him all the time. Any mention of Jesus by name gets a great big eye roll and the ears seem to shut. Then, the mouths open. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">If you really loved Jesus that much, you'd live more like Him. If you really loved Jesus that much, you'd spend your time and resources helping the poor. If you really loved Jesus that much, you'd affirm everyone else and love them the way that Jesus loved them. If you really loved Jesus that much, you'd know He doesn't care about attendance at church at a specific hour on a specific day. If you really loved Jesus that much...</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Anything at all to get us to <i>stop</i> talking about Jesus. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">But there are two considerations we have to make when we come upon this kind of argument. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">First, there are plenty of good folks in this world who are doing good things for marginalized groups but who <i>don't</i> love Jesus. And the truth is that when you hear about good works being done in the world, very rarely does anyone think it's because the person doing them loves Jesus. Rather, everyone just assumes it's because that person is a "good" person. (And, by the way, almost all of us think we are "good" persons.) In fact, when we see these good deeds being done, we don't turn to church; instead, we turn to ourselves and try to inspire ourselves to be better persons....because we're good, but we're not <i>that</i> good. So the idea that Christians can spread the message of Christ just by doing good works in the world is completely bogus. It's nothing but the world's attempt to continue replacing the message of Christ with the message of humanism - look at all of these "good" humans. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Second, Jesus was very clear with His disciples what He wanted them to do - go, make disciples. And the Bible follows this up by telling us, how will they ever know if no one ever tells them and how will anyone ever tell them if no one is ever sent and how will anyone ever be sent unless they actually go? Blessed are the feet of those not that feed the poor, shelter the homeless, visit the prisoner, welcome the stranger. No. Blessed are the feet of those who bring the Good News - the Gospel. The story about Jesus. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And bringing Jesus's story requires <i>telling</i> Jesus's story. And telling Jesus's story requires <i>saying</i> His name.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">There's no other way to do it. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Ours is a mission much like that among the first disciples. Remember when Nathanael was called? He came to the words, "Come and see." Come and see a Man who is the Messiah we've been waiting for. Remember the woman at the well? She ran into the town and said, "Come and see a Man who told me everything I've ever done." Not one person met Jesus and went out into the world just to do good works in the hopes that someone else might put the pieces together and figure out they had been with Him. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Every person who met Jesus went away talking about Him. Telling others about Him. Trying to get others to come and meet Him. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><i>That</i> is our mission. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Yes, we do the good works, too. Faith without works is dead, and the love of Jesus needs the flesh of the faithful. But the good works are not enough. The good works do not tell the story of the Gospel; we have to do that. So let us do that. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Say His name. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Put Him on the big screen. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Tell His story. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Bring the Good News. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7013329680860151248.post-57815669214062862402024-02-20T05:16:00.001-05:002024-02-20T05:16:45.628-05:00Sinners<p style="text-align: justify;">One of the other loud criticisms of the Jesus commercials is the outcry over the funding behind them. While the average viewer probably doesn't know who is behind the commercials, as they claim absolutely no credit for themselves, many in the church have done the digging to link the ads to a nonprofit that has members of Hobby Lobby's executive team on its board. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Whew. Glad we sorted <i>that</i> out. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">They then use this information to say that this is not the type of person that should be representing Christianity to the world, even if the ad is getting it right. This is not the type of person we want the world to be able to trace the Jesus message back to. This is a person on the "wrong side" of, particularly, the new liberal Christianity that's trying desperately to get into the world's good graces, and heaven forbid someone like this talk about Jesus in public! This type of person is exactly the reason Christianity has a bad name. (So they say.) </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Forgive me, but I'm just going to say it:</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The only humans who have ever spread the message of Christ were sinners. All of them. Every single one. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The disciples were sinners. Adam was a sinner. Noah was a sinner. Abraham was a sinner. David was the sinner of all sinners. Paul claims his own sins unashamedly (so that he can boast in the good grace of God).</p><p style="text-align: justify;">There is not one word about the Lord that anyone has ever heard from the mouth of a human being that was not spoken by a sinner. And our culture that is so intent on cancelling anyone who has ever uttered anything not completely, thoroughly politically correct or who has ever had a lapse of judgment in behavior...this very same culture would cancel every single character in our Bible. (And, if you pay attention, they're trying to. They call it "textual criticism" and snuck it into academia and from there, into the church, so that they can craft the message that really, you can't trust the Bible. Just look at the fools who wrote it...or pretended to write it...or get credit for writing it even though they didn't. Whatever.) </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And, by the way, even these holier-than-thou folks who claim to try to be protecting the message of Christ by condemning it because of who is behind it...yeah, they're sinners, too. Every single one of them. These guys who spend their lives "calling out" other Christians for getting it wrong? They are getting some things wrong, too. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">They will tell you that the things they're getting wrong are not nearly as "serious" as the things others are getting wrong, others that they are calling out. What's funny is that often, they are calling others out for having too much of an emphasis on one thing over another, on one sin over another, and well, do you see the irony in that statement? They, too, have an emphasis on one thing over another...but to them, they are right. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">As we are all right in our own eyes. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">I suppose it might be slightly different if anywhere on the ad, it said, "This ad brought to you by ______," but it doesn't. It's just an ad about Jesus. Just - and even the critics confess this - a fairly good representation of the kind of thing Jesus was all about. Not perfect, but none of us is ever perfect in our understanding or presentation of God. But fairly good. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">So don't be fooled into thinking there's something terribly wrong with this message about Jesus because it was brought to you by a sinner. Every message of Jesus is brought to you by a sinner. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">A loved, forgiven, blessed, redeemed sinner. Praise the Lord. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7013329680860151248.post-57287051322374298462024-02-19T05:11:00.001-05:002024-02-19T05:11:23.445-05:00He Gets Us<p style="text-align: justify;">If you were one of 123+ million viewers who tuned in to watch this year's big football game, you likely saw some commercials featuring none other than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The message of these commercials were that Jesus washes feet and that He's not about hate, but love. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And the backlash on social media was swift. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">It seems the viewing public had a lot of problems with these seemingly simple messages about Jesus. And overwhelmingly, the backlash was not about "pushing a religion" in America's biggest moment. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">It was...weirder than that. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">There were some who were upset because of the organization that funds these messages and its ties to another organization that some love to hate on. For them, there was a big disconnect between the kind of message that the ads seemed to present and the lived-out message those who financially supported the ads actually offer. They were, in essence, calling out, "Hypocrite!" and cautioning anyone against paying too much attention, not because the ads themselves were false but because the persons behind the ads don't do a good enough job (in the commentators' eyes) of living it out. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Never mind that most persons don't even know who finances these Jesus ads, and the truth coming out of a donkey's mouth is still the truth of God, whether you think highly of donkeys or not. (That's a Numbers reference, by the way.) </p><p style="text-align: justify;">There were others who came out and said that if the persons behind the ads really loved Jesus, they would have invested the money into actual good causes, like feeding and housing the poor, rather than "wasting" it on a few seconds of air time. The billions of dollars that it cost to show Jesus on the most-watched screen in America seemed to them to be way down the ladder of all of the good that money could have done in the world when there are <i>real</i> problems out there that that kind of money can make a <i>real</i> impact on. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Never mind that Jesus never told us to go and eliminate poverty; He told us to go and make disciples. To do that, you have to be talking about Jesus. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">There were some who said it was just a massive rebranding effort, trying to get the world to think differently about Jesus so that they wouldn't hate Christians so much. Maybe even think differently about Christians, instead of just assuming we're all messing it up. Maybe it was just an attempt to show the world that not everyone has lost the message of the real Christ. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Never mind that Jesus could maybe use a little rebranding in this world after all the ways we've messed Him up for far too long.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">There were others who said that the ads didn't go far enough into the message of Christ, that they were too much grace and not enough truth. That they created the impression of the same false Jesus that many liberal Christians are preaching these days - a Jesus who loves you just the way you are and doesn't want you to change, a Jesus who embraces anyone and everyone with no expectations for the way they live after meeting Him. He washed feet, yes, they said, but "it's important to remember that even having his feet washed by Christ wasn't enough to save Judas." There's a truth component about righteousness and life change and real faith that wasn't present in those ads. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Never mind that someone has to be really listening before you can dump a whole load of any information on them. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">There were a lot of criticisms over the Jesus ads, a lot of talking heads that took immediately to the sphere of the internet to voice their myriad concerns. And somehow, not a lot of anyone saying, "Hey, that's awesome. Someone made Jesus part of the big football game." </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And yet, it's worth saying that at the very least, here we all are, talking about Him. Isn't that something? </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And we'll keep talking about Him this week. Because I think it's important to dive into some of these criticisms and see what we turn up. If for nothing else than to keep the conversation going. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7013329680860151248.post-58019137076744349772024-02-16T05:12:00.001-05:002024-02-16T05:12:53.139-05:00Try Harder; Do Better<p style="text-align: justify;">I grew up, as many young persons in my generation did, with a disorder called "Try Harder; Do Better." It seemed to be a chronic condition. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">There were things in my life that I just couldn't seem to get control of, behaviors and patterns that I seemed to get stuck in over and over and over again, no matter how many times I got in trouble for them or how often adults in my life would step in and tell me that I really needed to try harder, that I <i>had</i> to do better. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">As I became an adult, we found other understandings for these things, and the truth that I had known and wrestled with for my entire life became absolutely clear: it didn't matter how hard I tried, I was never going to do better. Some of these things are just the way God made me, and I'm here to tell you - they are still as true of me today at 39 years old as they were when I was merely 9. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">But I think a lot of us live our spiritual lives under the same diagnosis. We live in a perpetual state before God of "try harder; do better," as though if we could just put a little more effort into things, be more diligent about them, be more disciplined, pray harder, worship louder, whatever, then we could overcome whatever it is that we believe is holding us back. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And most of us come to a point in our lives where we realize...that's just not working. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Of course it's not. It wasn't meant to. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">That's what grace is for. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">That's what Communion reminds us of. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Communion reminds us that we don't have to try harder and do better. That we're never going to get there on our own. That <i>that's okay</i>. That there's still a cup poured out for us, even right now. Even in our brokenness. Even in all of the things that we keep messing up and getting wrong, a thousand times over. That there's a body broken for us so that we don't have to live under all the pressure of try harder; do better. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">This Table isn't about trying harder. It isn't about doing better. It's about coming as you are and being thankful for what Christ has done, which is the hardest and the best thing to ever happen for you. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">So as the cup is poured and the bread broken, don't let yourself get caught up in thinking you're missing the mark. If you're here, right now, around this Table, you are right where you're supposed to be. And no amount of trying harder or doing better will change that one bit. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">No amount of try harder; do better will make grace any more or less amazing. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7013329680860151248.post-25676062034522395372024-02-15T05:20:00.001-05:002024-02-15T05:20:06.615-05:00God on Repeat<p style="text-align: justify;">A few days ago, we saw how God is content to keep calling your name until you know that it's He who is talking. Today's message is similar, but slightly different. It, too, comes to us from the book of 1 Samuel. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">David has come up against the Philistines, again. They seem to be a continual nuisance for him, almost as much as Saul was when he was persecuting the anointed shepherd-boy. But before David goes out against the Philistines, he prays, and he asks God whether the Lord will be with them. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">It's a good battle plan. You always want to know if God's going with you if you're going to wage war on someone and put your life, and the lives of your men, on the line. And God is faithful to answer - He tells David, yes. Go ahead and attack. I am with you, and I've got you. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">David heard the Lord, then looked back out on the Philistine army and a little bit of fear started to well back up in him. The Scriptures then tell us something interesting: </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><i>So David asked the Lord again, just to make sure</i>. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">One breath after the Lord has answered him and told him to go, David is sitting there, considering the enemy army, and he asks again - are You <i>sure</i>, Lord? </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Sounds like a lot of us, doesn't it?</p><p style="text-align: justify;">We ask God for guidance, and He gives it to us, and we hear Him, and we know that's what God is asking us to do, but then, we ask again. Just to make sure. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And then, we ask God if that was really Him confirming His Word when we asked Him to because, well, you can never be too safe when it comes to thinking you've heard from God. (And never too quick to just step out in faith, either, it seems.) </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The good news is that our God is faithful to answer us the second time just as He did the first. (And He will answer the third and the fourth and the fifth, too.) God doesn't resent having to tell us again. God doesn't resent our asking for confirmation. At least it means we're listening and hoping to hear from Him. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">God will give us His Word, and He will give it again, and He will give it again. He will give it when we're not sure we heard it right. He will give it when we look out and we're afraid all over again. He will give it again when we know we heard Him, but we're still reluctant. He will give it as many times as we ask because our Lord loves speaking to us, and He loves it when we're listening. He loves it when we ask, and He loves it when we're paying attention. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">So ask. Then, ask again if you need to. And if you need to ask a third time, go right ahead. The Lord is gracious to answer, every time. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7013329680860151248.post-62083695619487515332024-02-14T06:16:00.001-05:002024-02-14T06:16:43.412-05:00God of Truth<p style="text-align: justify;">How do you stop evil? </p><p style="text-align: justify;">It's a question we ask ourselves a lot, especially as the headlines look darker and darker every day. Murder, rape, war, famine, disease, sin...our world is broken. And someone once said that all it takes for evil to flourish is for a good man to do nothing, but what are we - good men - to do?</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I love the story of David and Saul when it comes to this question. It's a story that we read, but I'm not sure if it really strikes us the way it ought to. It's one of those stories that would make a great cinematic scene, if only we could picture it that way. So here it is:</p><p style="text-align: justify;">David has been told he's going to be king, but Saul is still living and Saul is still king. David spends a lot of his time running away from Saul so that the current king doesn't kill him, and that's what we find happening in this scene: David is running away, again, trying to preserve his life. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Saul keeps sending men after him, and every time the men come to the place where David is staying, God strikes them with a prophesying spirit and they stop pursuing and start prophesying. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Let's stop right here and talk about what prophecy is. It is not, as we so often confuse it in our world, the ability to foretell the future and the talking about things that are going to happen. Rather, prophecy was simply speaking God's truth. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">So these men come, sent by Saul in pursuit of David, and as soon as they reach the king-to-be, they are struck by the spirit of God and just stand there speaking truth. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And then, a second group comes, and the same thing happens to them. And another group, with the same result. Until Saul himself comes in pursuit of David, determined to kill the anointed one, and he, too, is struck by the spirit of God and stands there "completely caught up" in prophesying. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">All of the evil in Saul's heart is stopped dead in its tracks by a spirit that will let him do nothing but proclaim the truth. God's truth. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">I think the same thing would go a long way in our world. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">I think the answer to the evils in our world is not good, but truth. It's our willingness to stand in broken places and declare God's truth - that this isn't the way things were supposed to be, that this isn't how things are going to be, that there is a Savior who already died and rose again to fix things exactly like this, that there is hope, there is grace, and there is <i>love</i>. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">I think the answer to the evils in our world is to get our world "completely caught up" in speaking the truth about God. Or, if they are unwilling, then at the very least, to teach our world to hear the rocks crying out. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Truth is one way to stop evil. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Are you caught up in the spirit? </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7013329680860151248.post-88153500458404744322024-02-13T06:11:00.001-05:002024-02-13T06:11:19.721-05:00God of Salvation<p style="text-align: justify;">The "breaking news" almost every evening when I turn on the local news is another story of a shooting in our nearby metropolis. Throughout the year, the talking heads continue to update us on the statistics of gun violence...and the community organizers and compassionate volunteers keep lamenting, "Why do we think violence is the answer? Guns will not solve our problems." </p><p style="text-align: justify;">We could get into a conversation about guns, of course (and we often do), but that's not the point. The point is that we are a people who believe in solving our problems by physical force. The guy with the fastest bullet wins. The one who is the quickest draw saves himself...if by nothing else than eliminating his enemy. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">But let's throwback to a young man of God who was caught in a real battle for his life, not some mere petty dispute. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The Israelites were lined up across from the Philistines, and every day, the Philistine giant, Goliath, would step forward and challenge any man of Israel to a one-on-one battle. Anyone who could defeat him would take victory for the entire people. All it would take, it seems, is one man with a bigger sword, a faster swing, a quicker advance. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Then steps forward a little shepherd boy. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">When David volunteered for this mission, King Saul tried to outfit him for the battle. He tried to put some armor on the young man, tried to give him a big sword. And David, after stumbling around for a few minutes, threw all of that off and said it was more of a hindrance than a help. He couldn't fight like this. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">And he didn't need to. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">One of the most powerful statements made by David in this moment comes in 1 Samuel 17:47, as he stands with a few rocks in hand and a heart full of faith. David says, <i>The Lord does not need swords or spears to save people.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Read that again - God doesn't need weapons. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">We are a people who run to weapons, who think the only way to win is to have the most fire power. But God doesn't need weapons. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">He proved it that day on the battlefield with David. He proved it again on the battlefield with Jonathan. And He proved it forever on a hill outside of Jerusalem, a placed called Cavalry, and a shame called the Cross. God simply doesn't need swords and spears...or gun and knives and bombs...to save people. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Love does that. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0