Returns: One Happy, Many Tragic

It has been too long! To my readers, my friends, I bid each of you a fond hello. The last 15 months have been very exciting. Every day has been a new adventure! It has been for me a time of great growth, but not without often greater struggle. Perhaps it has been the same for you. Conversations for another day, I suppose.

Tonight I return to my writer's desk for just a few brief minutes. As I was reading this morning, I was struck by what may be, in my humble opinion, one of the saddest verses in Scripture. Take a look at Psalm 106:43:

"Many times He delivered them, but they were bent on rebellion and they wasted away in their sin."

This text is a theological reflection on the journey of God's people, beginning its chronology during their time in Egypt. While recounting history, the author hits on a recurring theme: people really don't change that much. As their fathers had, they continued to run to sin.

I dare not speak for anyone else, but I feel as though this is probably true for us today. We all run to our own sins. May God help us to chase after Him instead.

I hope that it will not be another 15 months before we meet again. Times are busy, but it is in these times we most need to encourage each other. All the best to you, friends!

Bibliography

NIV Archaeological Study Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005. Print.

Words, Thoughts, Actions

In preparing to teach recently at Ouachita River Fellowship in Malvern, I was debating what translation of the Bible to use. In the end I decided upon the New International Version.

Six years ago, I was using this copy of the Bible to preach through the Psalms. It was enjoyable flipping through the pages and seeing some of my notes. Because of my markings, I know exactly where I was at in the Psalms when God called me to pastor elsewhere. More importantly, I can see some of the exact things that I was thinking about and teaching on during that time.

In Psalm 19:12-14, we find these words:

"Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer."

We all have sin in our lives. This is something that neither individuals nor society as a whole particularly like to acknowledge. But we know that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). For those of us who have come to know the power and grace of Jesus Christ, we know that those sins have been forgiven. That does not mean, however, that we never did them, only that we will not be held accountable for them because of the sacrificial love of Jesus; it also does not mean that we will not struggle with them in the future.

As I look over my notes from teaching on this passage years ago, I want to share a couple of thoughts that I see in the margins. I do not take credit for these; sadly, the margins left little room for citing the original sources. Nevertheless, I feel that the reflection and sharing is necessary:

• secret sins may do deadly mischief; it is well to be in much prayer concerning them
• the final verse addresses both expressed ("words of my mouth") and unspoken ("meditation of my heart") words
• words are a mockery if the heart does not meditate

Sin draws our attention from God. It is relentless in doing so. And it can be fun, though that fun is short-lived. The sins which we think are hidden from men are exposed fully before God. Upon reflection, I think that it is those sins which we believe no one sees that draw us farthest from God; often these are the ones that we willfully choose, which increases their capacity to take hold of us.

That's why David offers the prayer which he does: "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." If our words and thoughts are God-centered, our actions will be less inclined towards sin. None of us are perfect, but God has offered to make us a new creation through Jesus Christ. Today, let's turn our eyes towards Him and His divine purpose.

Bibliography

NIV Archaeological Study Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005. Print.

Monkey See...

I am not a parent. My wife and I have no plans to change that in the immediate future. However, I am a son. My parents are amazing: they have always set an excellent example for me. The lessons that I learned from them are innumerable, and I can never thank God enough for them both.

That is the perspective which I bring into today's discussion. Parents, your children learn from you. They learn not only the wisdom that you teach, but they learn behavior from watching you. This is not inherently a bad thing; in fact, God ordained it that way. Take a look at the following passage:

He decreed statues for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which He commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so that the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget His deeds but would keep His commands. They would not be like their forefathers- a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him.

Psalm 78:5-8 (emphasis mine)

If you continue reading through the chapter, you find that the parents

• "did not keep God's covenant, and refused to live by His law" (10)
• "continued to sin against Him" (17)
• "kept on sinning in spit of His wonders" (32)
• "put God to the test and rebelled against the Most High; they did not keep His statutes"(56).

Here's where the point hits home. Immediately following the last reference above, we find these words: "Like their fathers they were disloyal and faithless, as unreliable as a faulty bow" (57, emphasis mine). The story that is recounted in this chapter spans generations; each successive generation follows the example taught to it by its predecessors.

If we want future generations to follow God, we have no choice but to model that lifestyle for them. This is a responsibility not just for parents, but for any of us who have influence on those younger than ourselves. The fact of the matter is simple: we cannot teach them to live as disciples of Jesus Christ if we are not doing it ourselves.

Bibliography

NIV Archaeological Study Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005. Print.

Abide in Me

Following Jesus puts us in a peculiar situation. Of utmost importance, it means that we have a relationship with Him. This relationship goes deep, reshaping our lives both personally and publicly. It also means that the world will hate us.

"If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world- therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, 'Servants are not greater than their master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also."

John 15:19-20

How then are we to bear fruit when the world is hostile to the Gospel? Take a look at Jesus' words in John 15:1-11. It is no coincidence that Jesus gave these words just before the passage quoted above. It is a very hard thing for us to hear that people are against us. So He offers a prescription: to be fruitful, abide in Me.

The word abide comes from the Greek word which is transliterated meno: it is a verb that means "to stay, remain, live, dwell, abide." In addition to this, it has a special annotation: "to be in a state that begins and continues, yet may or may not end or stop." The editors of the concordance referenced went on to note that "'To abide in Christ' is to follow His example of a life obedient to the will of God" (Goodrick, Kohlenberger, and Swanson, 1570).

Here's the deal: if we want to see the world redeemed, we must abide in Jesus. As His people, we need to be intentional about being close to Him and then, at the end of the day, desiring to draw closer still. There is no program or plan that will make the difference. Apart from Jesus, the Church cannot fulfill the Great Commission. Apart from Him, the Christian becomes ineffective.

But we have to count the cost. Throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus often warned His immediate followers of this; one instance was in Luke 14. Even as we look back to the passage quoted at the beginning of this post, we can see that the cost is real and is not limited to the financial realm. In fact, it may cost us everything. We who wish to follow Him today must be prepared to heed the same warning.

Bibliography

Goodrick, Edward W., John R. Kohlenberger, and James A. Swanson. Zondervan NIV Exhaustive Concordance. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 1999. Print.

The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford UP, 1989. Print.

Your Kingdom or Mine?

"For we are not peddlers of God's word like so many; but in Christ we speak as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God and standing in His presence."

2 Corinthians 2:17

When Paul wrote these words, he was addressing a prevalent fact within Corinth and his world: not all teachers were true. There were false teachers in the apostolic period who were trying to corrupt or dilute the Gospel; Paul would often discuss this issue in his writings.

Now we sit with the codified Scriptures available to us with ease: many people have a copy (or even copies) of the Bible at home, there is an app for that, and God's word is made available to us on the Internet, that great database of human knowledge and existence. Surely we've moved past this issue, right? The only reason it's important now is so that we can understand historical context.

If only that were so. The teachers that Paul was addressing were corrupting the message of Jesus for their own personal gain, either monetary or (perhaps more often) politically. Throughout his letter to the Galatians, Paul addressed the Judaizers, a group who believed that Gentiles needed to first convert to Judaism before they could truly know Jesus. He said that these "false believers" had "slipped in to spy on the freedom that we have in Christ Jesus" (2:4). While the Law of God is good, this was never the question: throughout the rest of that letter, Paul stresses the point that man is saved not by works but by faith in Jesus Christ (2:15-16). Paul drives the point home in Galatians 6:12-15:

"It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh that try to compel you to be circumcised- only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. Even the circumcised do not themselves obey the law; but they want you to be circumcised so that they may boast about your flesh. May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything!"

Today, we need to be aware of false teachers; perhaps we need to be more vigilant than ever because of the sheer amount of unfiltered data and the rapid rate at which it spreads. Jesus came to bring about the Kingdom of God. Why, then, do Christians so often use the Gospel to further their own kingdoms? Friends, I urge you to explore God's word, to pray, and to listen. As God calls us to life and freedom through Christ, He calls us to change the world, reshaping it in His image instead of our own. And this can only be done when we are firmly rooted in Him, surrendered to the fact that He is God and we are not.

Bibliography

The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford UP, 1989. Print.

Thoughts on Debt

Being in debt is hard. Sometimes, it feels like we can never get out. Though we work hard and make regular payments, there are days it feels most hopeless.

Though we do not like to admit it, this concept of debt applies to our spiritual life as well. Take a look at Colossians 2:13-14:

"And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross."

This debt, the sin debt, is one that we cannot pay off. But God erased it with the cross. We are freed from those legal demands, and are called into a new arrangement.

Over the next few weeks, we will take a look at what that means. It is a process that will take a lifetime, but God, who has called us to life, will give us what we need as we follow Him.

Bibliography

The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford UP, 1989. Print.

The Gospel

Sometimes we over-complicate the Gospel. Here are the essentials:

• We are all messed up. That includes you too.
• God loves you so much that He chose to take on flesh and reach out to you, to us.
• Jesus Christ, God incarnate, was obedient to the point of death (Philippians 2:5-11).
• He was nailed to a cross and died (John 19:16-37).
• His body was buried in a new tomb and guarded by Roman soldiers (Matthew 27:57-66).
• On the third day, He rose again (Luke 24:1-7).

Jesus came to save us: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

He came that we "may have life, and have it abundantly" (John 10:10).

He loves you, and wants to have a relationship with you. Have you met Him?

If you are walking with Christ, I celebrate with you. I pray that God would continue to grow you towards spiritual maturity. If you have not ever heard this story or you are still wrestling with it, ask questions. Start by asking God and exploring His written Word. Then find a pastor or believer and visit. You could even contact me. My prayer for you is that God would change your heart and life as I have seen Him change mine and many others.

Bibliography

The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford UP, 1989. Print.