Would Jesus Wear a Rolex?

Friday I got a little long-winded (OK, very long-winded) waxing elephants about false doctrine. I suggested that in the NT sense, there is a difference between being wrong on a doctrine and teaching false doctrine. False doctrine (literally “unhealthy teaching”) is that which in some way perverts the gospel of God’s redeeming act at the cross. If every mistake in theology is a false doctrine that makes one a false teacher, then every teacher is a false one! The only other alternative is for us to be perfect in what we believe and teach, and we can’t do that any more than we can be perfect in our lives.

But the fact that not everything is false doctrine does not mean than nothing is false doctrine! Any religious system that perverts the basic nature of the gospel of Jesus Christ is false doctrine. I think Cindy Fleenor was taken in by false doctrine. Fleenor is a 53-year-old accountant from Tampa and a believer in Jesus who got into the habit of watching well-known television preachers, and that for her became church. The message that she heard preached was basically the same— be faithful in your living and in your giving, and God will shower you with great material prosperity. This led here to give regular and large donations to Benny Hinn, Joyce Meter and Paula White.

Well, not only did Fleenor nor become wealthy, she went broke. She was reduced to borrowing money from friends and even going to those shady payday loan companies just to buy groceries. And just as bad, she accepted the stock answer as to why the blessings of God didn’t overflow into her life—she didn’t have enough faith. She said, “I wanted to believe God wanted to do something great with me like he was doing with them. I'm angry and bitter about it.” Coincidently, the ministries to which Fleenor contributed are three of those that are currently being investigated by the Senate.

As mentioned yesterday, one of the characteristics of false teachers is that they “think that godliness is a means to financial gain” (1 Tim 6:5). Can you twist some NT passages to make it appear that Christian faith will bless you with overflowing prosperity? How about Luke 6:38?

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

That is a favorite verse of the Rolex and Rolls-Royce religion set. Of course, that pesky thing called context makes it plain that Jesus is talking about forgiveness here and not money. But then, what’s a little proof-texting among friends?

It is one thing to point to verses talking about God’s blessings and make it appear that this always means money. But it is another thing to show how this prosperity gospel worked in the lives of the first Christians. Jesus Himself died penniless with only the clothes on his back. Did He not have enough faith? Paul was rich and successful BEFORE he met Jesus on the Damascus Road, but he counted all of that as garbage (Phil 3:7-8). The only material “wealth” Paul mentions are some books and a coat he wanted Timothy to bring to him before he died in prison. And the only shot the Apostle Peter had at wealth and prosperity was before he was an apostle when his boat was miraculous filled with fish to the point of sinking. He walked away and left them there to rot so that he could follow Jesus (Luke 5:11).

Christianity didn’t make Jesus materially rich. It didn’t make the first Christians rich. In fact, they were hounded and persecuted because they dared to wear the name of the Nazarene. To preach that “God wants us to be prosperous and we will if we have enough faith” perverts the gospel of the cross. And that is the essence of false doctrine.

False Doctrine

I grew up hearing a lot of sermons about false doctrine, a label branded on just about any teaching that was different from that of our fairly conservative Church of Christ. Those sermons were generally gentle and loving (rather than bombastic and cutting) because the man who preached them was a gentle and loving man. But there was no doubt that we were the only true church, and that all other churches were guilty of false doctrine.

The term “false doctrine” was applied to just about any divergent practice or belief from using instrumental music in worship to believing in a literal indwelling of the Holy Spirit to believing that Jesus would one day literally reign on earth for 1000 years. And even more strict (we called them “anti”) churches that condemned things like multiple communion cups, eating in the church building or having Sunday School classes—they were guilty of false doctrine. I had someone accuse me of false doctrine once because the church where I attended, though it did not actively support an orphan’s home, thought that it might be OK for other churches to do so!

The expression “false doctrine” was thrown around much like some throw around the word “liberal.” Most people who use that term have little idea of what it means. In theological terms, a liberal is someone who does not take the Bible as literally true; a conservative is someone who does take the Bible as literally true. It would be hard to see how anyone in a Church of Christ could be a theological liberal. Ironically, two of the positions that we condemned as “false doctrine” (the literal, bodily indwelling of the Spirit and a literal millennial kingdom reign by Christ on earth at the endtime) are actually more “conservative” views since they take a more “literal” approach to scripture.

In the NT, the term “false doctrine” is not used like the word “Gentile.” A Gentile is someone who isn’t Jewish; some use the term “false doctrine” to mean any doctrine that isn’t mine. In the NT, the term is used much more narrowly of teaching that perverts the basic gospel. Most often that would mean either Jewish legalism (adding human works to the cross) or “pre-Gnosticism” (as in Colossians and 1 John) that basically denies the incarnation and/or atonement. Having a difference of practice in how one cares for the needy or how many cups are used in communion is never called false doctrine.

2 Peter 2 has an extended discussion of false teacher who were causing problems with their false doctrine. While Peter never gives us full description of what they taught, we can clearly see what it was that made their doctrine false--

• First, they are evil men who “follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature” (2:10a). These men are not spiritually motivated; they followed the dictates of the sinful, fleshly nature. Paul and Jude talk about godless men who change grace into immorality (Jude 4). They don’t serve Christ, but their own appetites (Rom 16:18). Their god is their stomach; their mind is on earthly things (Phil. 3:19). The motivation of these false teachers is not to glorify God, but rather to serve the appetites of their flesh. Peter will get even more specific later in the text.
  
  
• Second, Peter’s false teachers “despise authority” and are “bold and arrogant” (2:10b). They slander celestial beings in arrogance and ignorance. We don’t exactly what Peter is describing, but part of the problem with these false teachers is their pride and arrogance.
  
  
• Third, the false teachers have “eyes full of adultery,” they “never stop sinning” and they are “experts in greed” (2:14). These false teachers are immoral and greedy, not just honestly mistaken in their theology.
  
  
• Fourth, the real motivation of these teachers is money. That the point of “the way of Balaam”(2:15-16). Balaam prophesied for financial reward, and that led him to destruction. These guys have Balaam’s motivation and share his fate. Paul says that false teachers “think that godliness is a means to financial gain” (1 Tim 6:5).
  
  
• Finally, they prey on those who are “just escaping from those who live in error” as “they promise them freedom” (2:18-19). These false teachers had their success with new converts who were not firmly grounded in the truth. Their immoral doctrine led to these new converts returning to the immorality of the world.

This is how false teacher who preach false doctrines are described. One of the orphans in Annie described her abductors to Daddy Warbucks by saying, “These are not good people, Mister.” That is what Peter is saying about these false teachers. Honest, honorable Christians who seek God with their heart and life but who gets a bit twisted around the axle on some aspect of theology or interpretation is not a false teacher. At some point, that describes us all! We are all limited by backgrounds, maturity, presuppositions, prejudices, and our fallen humanity. We are all wrong about some things, no matter how certain we are that we are right. That’s why we need a cross!

OK, this lasted MUCH longer than I intended. In fact, I started writing on a whole different topic, and this was the introduction. I’ll just save that for another time.

Boxing Day

Tis’ the day after Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature is stirring… except me because I gotto go back to work— so I’ll grouse! OK, awful attempt at poetry. But here we are with Christmas behind us, and it’s back to the old grind (except for teachers and students... in other words, everyone else at my house). One of the benefits of the kids growing up and Christmas ceasing to be such a big deal is that the day after Christmas is not so much of a let down. And besides, I kinda like my old grind.

If you lived in Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand or Australia, you would also get today off because it is Boxing Day. Two guys in the AMC parking lot thought last night was Boxing Day. These two “gentlemen” decided that, being Christmas and all, they needed to get into a fist fight right in front of the theater. We had just seen “The Great Debaters” (BTW, outstanding movie) that stresses using one’s “righteous mind” and words as a weapons of change; these two nitwits were evidently unarmed for a battle of wits, so decided to have a boxing day. Perhaps it was too much Christmas cheer, but then I digress.

Today is Boxing Day. Boxing Day is a traditional time to give gifts to the poor. It dates back to the Middle Ages, but there is some disagreement concerning the specific origin of the name. Some suggest it comes from the practice of the lord of the manor giving boxes of used clothing and food to his serfs. They had to work on Christmas Day; someone had to make the figgy pudding and wassail. So the day after Christmas was their day off, and they received their gifts. Other say the name comes from the practice of workers who carried boxes to their employers on the day after Christmas to be filled with coins or other items, the forerunner of the Christmas bonus. Others suggest that churches opened the donation box (or “poor box”) and the money was distributed to the poor on the day after Christmas. Whatever the exact origin of the name, our British cousins have another day off from work. But then, they likely don’t celebrate July 4, so it all equals out.

So Boxing Day is a time for giving, not to family and friends as on Christmas, but to the poor and less fortunate. It is a time to do what Jesus tells us to do, to give to those who have no opporunity of returning the gift. It is a time to give for no other reason than it is good to give. At least that is the theory, In practice, Boxing Day is a time when "family and friends to gather with lots of food and fun. Outdoor sports such as soccer, horse racing and hunting are popular on this holiday. Retailers offer huge savings on many items on this day, making it the biggest shopping day of the year in Canada."

One problem with our traditional Christmas season is that it is all about families and gifts. We travel to be with our family, and we lug the presents along with us. Christmas morning is often an almost sacred time when families gather around the Christmas tree to open gifts and then giggle and gripe (depending on what you got) with those closest to us. We then gather around a special family dinner that usually consists of enough food to feed several families. It is a very special time for families.

So what is the problem? What about those who have no families? Some people are separated from their family by space and circumstance. Some people simply have no family at all. And then, what about those who do have families around them, but they can’t afford to give gifts or even have a special dinner? Sometimes the very things where we isolate ourselves in families actually serve to exclude and isolate others who have no family. Maybe the church needs to be better at becoming that family. Maybe we need more traditions like “Boxing Day” that point us outside ourselves and focus us on the needs of others.

Redefining Christmas

Yesterday I talked about my Christmas past which embraced the secular parts of the season (giving/receiving gifts) while denying the religious aspects (the birth of Christ). Obviously, many still choose to opt out of seeing Christmas as religious holiday. Paul says out choice of whether to observe or not observe special days is not nearly as important as our motivation to praise and glorify God (Romans 14:5-6). My own opinion is that a yearly focus on "true meaning of Christmas" in the coming of Jesus into our world and God's mighty work through Him is a good thing. OK, so Jesus wasn't really born on December 25... but he was really born!

I think the real danger that we face from our traditional observance of Christmas has to do with our acceptance of the secular part, not the religious. We may complain from time to time about the crass commercialization and rampant materialism of the holiday season, we we generally dive right in and participate in it. We spend so much holiday energy buying things for family and friends, things that they often really don’t need. And we go into debt to doing that almost without thinking about it. We wander through stores and websites because we gotta get stuff for people who already have stuff. They don't need more stuff, but we gotta get it. I remember Tony Campolo talking about “spending money we don’t have on things we don’t need for people who already have everything.”

Check out Redefine Christmas for a refreshingly Christian idea for the Christmas season. The idea is to encourage people to give to charity rather than spending so much on one another. The website suggests—

What is Redefine Christmas? It's simply the idea that our holiday gift giving could be more meaningful and do more good. In addition to the gifts we enjoy shopping for and giving, we're often compelled to give gifts that aren't so meaningful. Imagine if we replaced those gifts by giving others donations to their favorite charities. And we requested that others do the same for us.

What a great idea! Instead of buying someone electric socks or executive dart board or a block of fruit cake (does anyone really eat that junk?), why not make a donation to some worthy charity. Wouldn't the absolute perfect thing to get for the person who already has everything be a contribution in their name to something like Churches of Christ Disaster Relief or Christian Relief Fund or our own "At My Gate" program? If we all started doing that for each other, Christmas might just become a more meaningful time of year.

Remember Jesus’ instructions on how to throw the perfect banquet of which God will approve? OK, so Luke 14:12-14 isn’t really talking about Christmas giving, but there may be an application here somewhere.

“When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Who do we tend to give Christmas presents to? People who give to us? Have you ever had to go out and buy someone a gift you didn’t intent on getting a gift for because they gave you an unexpected gift? Jesus tells us to invite people that can’t invite us back. So how about we give to people who can’t gift in return. Maybe we need to turn Christmas into a true time of giving.

Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

I was walking to the auditorium the other day to retrieve something out of the sound booth when I skidding to a halt in the foyer. There was a tastefully decorated Christmas tree set up in our foyer. I have no idea where that came from or how long it has been there. I’m not the most perceptive of people, so the tree may have been there for 3 weeks for all I know. It is large enough to touch the ceiling, and set up in a corner of the lobby—so I should have noticed it. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw it.

You see, when I grew up it was taboo for the church to acknowledge the Christmas season. There was no mention of it at church, except to insist that there should be no mention of it at church. Oh, it was OK to set up a tree at home; it was great to exchange gifts at home. But the Bible doesn’t mention (“authorize”) Christmas as a religious day honoring the birth of Christ. So we thought it was wrong to give any religious significance to Christmas as a special day. (It was OK to preach about motherhood on Mother’s Day, but that was different somehow).

We were free us to participate in the crass commercialization and major materialism of the gift-giving season, but we were not free to give it any religious significance. In effect, we were multicultural before multicultural was cool. Today many approach the season with “Happy Holidays” and decorate with winter themes and avoid any hint of religion. Well, that was basically our approach long ago. We were trendy before it was trendy!

Well, I’m glad we have a Christmas tree in our foyer. No, Christmas decorations are not some kind of indicator of spirituality. But when I think back, our old “Bah, Humbug” view of the holidays was not very helpful. This is the one season of the year that people are thinking about the story of Jesus. I think we need to celebrate that. So, I’m glad I can preach on the birth of Jesus (without spending 5 minutes defending why that is OK). I’m glad we can sing carols like “Silent Night” and “Angels We Have Heard on High” during this time of the year (we sure don’t sing them any other time of the year). And I’m glad we can point to “the reason for the season” without feeling obligated to point out that December 25 is a traditional (not historical) date and Christmas is a traditional (not Biblical) season (although I’ll probably point that out too).

But maybe the most important part about redefining Christmas is what I’m going to talk about in tomorrow’s blog.

On Expiration Dates

One of the magazines that I read is call Rev!. As you can probably tell by the title, it is a magazine for preachers (and it attempts to “Rev!” up our engines, I guess). I usually have to wait awhile to read it because Lynn snaps it up as soon as it comes to the house; funny, but I don’t have that problem with PC Magazine! The January-February issue came Friday, and this time I beat Lynn to it.

I was reading it Saturday morning when I came to the back-page article, a humor piece (“Off the Sanctuary Wall”) by James Wadkins entitled “Check the Expiration Date.” The article is an impassioned plea for preachers to update things in their ministry that should have a “Best if used by 1950” label on it. It talked about things like comb-overs worn by many TV preachers and preacher jokes that begin, “Three guys were sitting in a rowboat…” Of course, the part that really caught my attention was this—

How many times does poor Horatio Spafford, the author of “It is Well with My Soul” have to lose his daughters in a sinking ship? (He eventually moved to Israel to await the Lord’s return, but not many worship leaders mention that).

As it happens, I was to tell the old Horatio Spafford story in yesterday's sermon before we sang “It Is Well With My Soul” (it was recorded with the sermon if you want to listen to it). Well, so I guess I’m old fashioned. OK, but several people did mention how much they liked the story, so maybe it works OK even with the expiration date. (I found a box of salad croutons in our pantry last night while getting ready for our small group dinner that had a Sept 03 expiration date; that is a real expiration date!) Oh, and I did tell the part about Spafford moving to Israel… I just didn’t share the part about the mental illness that he suffered near the end of his life that caused him to think he was the second Messiah. It’s a good story and I’m glad I used it even though it’s old! So there! It was funny that I read this article the day before I mentioned ol’ Horatio.

But then, some old stories hold up pretty well. Like the one that we remember in a special way during this time of year—the one with shepherds in the field and angels singing and the star and the stable. Watkins is right—some stories need to be updated because some stories get outdated. But the old, old story still holds up after all these years. And because it does, it is still well with our souls.

New Guy in Fayetteville

The big news in the world of sports is that the Arkansas Razorbacks have found their new football coach. It was announced yesterday that Atlanta Falcons coach Bobby Petrino was leaving Atlanta and the NFL to become the new guy in Fayetteville. One would assume that it was not his something less than stellar 3-10 record as the Falcons front man that won him the job. No, it was his something more than stellar 41-9 record while at Louisville where he was the offensive genius that produced some of the highest-scoring teams in the country. It has been awhile since Arkansas has had an offensive genius for a coach… like never.

This is something of a “history-repeats-itself” deal. In 1976, Lou Holtz coached the New York Jets for 13 games, going 3-10 before he left the team before the end of the season. He quit to become the head coach at Arkansas. I hope this is history repeating itself. Arkansas went 11-1 in Holtz's first season, including a New Year's rout of Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. The big obstacle in the way of a Holtz-type debut for Petrino is that Darren McFadden (most certainly) and Felix Jones (most likely) will be leaving Arkansas early and with them goes 98% of the Hog’s offense. It is hard to be an offensive genius without an offense!

So Very Sad

Last Sunday while we were enjoying a day of worship and fellowship as usual, Matthew Murray walked into New Life Church in Colorado Springs. Earlier in the day, Murray had murdered two people at a church mission training center 70 miles away. And he had just killed two teenage sisters and gravely wounded their father in the parking lot before entering the church. He was intercepted by Jeanne Assam, a former policewoman who was volunteering as a church security guard, exchanged gunfire with the killer. He missed; she didn’t. After being hit several times, the gunman went down. He then killed himself.

In an CNN interview, Assam, who is also a member of the New Life Church, gave an interesting perspective on the incident. She said that she was thankful she was able to end the tragedy before it go worse. She believed that God was with her and used her to end it. She prayed for the Holy Spirit to give her strength. She had been fasting for three days and was weak--

“I was weak, and where I was weak, God made me strong. He filled me and he guided me and protected me and many other people. And I'm honored that God chose me.

She said that believes God kept her calm and focused even though the shooter was more heavily armed—he had two handguns, an assault rifle and 1,000 rounds of ammunition. She said that she has prayed both for the families of the victims and the shooter.

This incident will almost certainly be used by BOTH sides of the gun control debate. I say that because every gun tragedy is used by both sides in this highly charged political debate.

• The anti-gun people will likely point to the mentally unstable gunman who because of current gun laws (or lack thereof) was easily able to arm himself to the teeth and murder innocent people at two different church sites.
  
  
• The pro-gun side will just as certainly suggest that it was an “armed response” that put down the shooter. If the church security force would have had whistles or walkie-talkies rather than a gun, many more people would have died.

Which side in the dedate is right? Both? Neither? Pat Paulsen's solutions was to give everyone a gun and require thery wear it... and lock up all the bullets. That makes about as much sense as what the non-comedian politcians are suggesting.

Personally, I just don’t think that what we need in our world are MORE people with guns. I think what we need are more people who have GOD. But sometimes it is good that the people with the guns also have God.

I hope that the next thing the elders have to decide is NOT which of our deacons we need to arm!

Not Quite Finished

This morning as I started my daily Bible reading, Lynn said, “You should be about finished with that....” And then she added, “… it is December already, right?” Of course what she meant was that I am about done with this year’s read-through the Bible plan. It is about time to come up with a new daily plan or start all over with this one. But really, no matter how many times we read through the Bible, we are never really finished with it. There is always something new to learn, some new perspective to gain. And not only are we never through with the Bible, but the Bible is never really through with us. That is the point, right? We continue to learn more and more of what God wants of us.

If we ever get to the point where we already know “the truth” and there is no possibility that we could possibly learn anything new, then there is no reason to continue to read the Bible. But if God is constantly revealing Himself afresh in His word, if there are parts about Himself that He has revealed but which we have not yet mastered and if God’s Spirit within us is constantly prodding and probing us, well, then maybe we need to keep on reading.

We don't read the Bible just because we gotta— we don’t get a chip or gold star or something for being a “Daily Bible Reader.” We read scripture because God has revealed Himself there. And God in scripture calls us to grow and change and become more like Him. So, no I’m not quite yet done with the Bible yet… and it’s not quite done with me.

Me and Paul and Contentment

I got “stuck” here at the building during lunch today. I dropped Tressa’s car at the mechanic this morning for her, and Cathy gave me a lift back to the building. I was going to drive the church van home for lunch, but the battery was dead. Lynn is home with laryngitis, so I don’t have to go let the dog out. So we decided that I would just skip lunch and keep on working. That was a good plan, except it wasn’t long until the bowl of cereal that I had at 5:00 a.m. had long ago worn off. I was really hungry.

Fortunately, someone had left a loaf of (rather stale) bread in the kitchen. And there was some individually-wrapped cheese slices (or was it imitation cheese-like food product) in the fridge. Have you ever noticed that individually-wrapped cheese slices taste a lot more like the cellophane wrapper than they do cheese? And we even had a couple of squirt jars of mustard left from our last church cookout… probably in 2005? It tasted a little funny, but I had a cheese sandwich for lunch.

So I was going to write about how I can make do with just about anything for lunch. Like Paul, I can make do with a little or a lot. “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry…” (Phil 4:12). Yep, me and Paul. But my object lesson on contentment sorta fell apart. After all, I did complain a bit about the bread, cheese and mustard that made up my sandwich, didn’t I? Is that really contentment? And then I went back and made a second sandwich!

Contentment is a lot easier to write about that it is to practice. Excuse me me while I go hunt around for a left over cookie or something for dessert!

An Inconvenient Truth

A recent study suggests yet another reason why divorce is bad—it harms the planet. Two researchers at Michigan State University found that divorced households used much more electricity (73 billion kilowatt-hours) and water (627 billion gallons) than married households. They found that about 38 million extra rooms were needed with associated costs for heating and lighting because of divorce. Divorced households use 42-61% more resources than their married counterparts, and they spend 46% more for electricity 56 % more on water. So this study reveals another inconvenient truth-- divorce is not green.

Divorce has many negative impacts, and this is only one surprising one. Of greater concern is way divorce impacts children. Paul Faulkner points to a study that shows that adolescent boys from families that experience divorce begin sexual experimentation at a much earlier age. Teenaged boys who had not experienced divorce were 59% more likely to be virgins, and only 18% of teenagers who acted out in antisocial or delinquent behavior came from intact families. So the ripples of broken marriage vows spread to affect more people than just the two people getting the divorce.

The simple fact is that everyone believes that divorce is a bad thing. Perhaps those who have been through it will be the first to say that divorce is a bad thing. But then, those who have had root canals will say that it is a bad thing—it is just that sometimes it is necessary to get one done. I think that may be the inconvenient truth for many Christians and divorce. We know it is a bad thing, but we also suspect that sometimes it may just be unavoidable. That attitude just might keep divorce on the table as an option for us. It must—the national divorce rate and the divorce rate among Christians is virtually the same rate. That is another inconvenient truth.

In God We Trust

Sacramento atheist Michael Newdow sued the Elk Grove Unified School District in federal court for forcing public school children to recite the Pledge of Allegiance because referring to one nation "under God" violates children's rights to be "free from a coercive requirement to affirm God.” I guess that if nothing else, Mr. Newdow is consistent. He also has sued the federal government to remove "In God We Trust" from our currency, claiming that it violates the separation of church and state. One can only hope that when the Supreme Court makes a final ruling (and there seems to be little doubt that eventually the high court will have to rule), the court will allow “In God We Trust” to remain on our money and forbid Mr. Newdow from having or using money, thus not offending his conscience. That would be consistent!

Should the courts stay out of all issues that relate to faith? The courts recently ruled that a Jehovah’s Witness family could refuse blood transfusions to a critically ill child-- the child died not long after the ruling. Is it a misuse of scripture to forbid transfusions as a violation of Leviticus 7:26-27, "You must not eat the blood?" Yes. Should the feds be able to step in and force treatment against the religious beliefs of the family? Does that violate the “in God do we trust” for that family? Would that not allow the feds to step in and prevent me from following what I believe the Bible teaches (which, of course, would be the truth)? I think I have strong feelings both ways on this one!

One thing is certain—the stamp of approval of the federal government on religious beliefs will not make them any more or less right or wrong. We must see to live faith even as doing so falls out of favor in our culture. Of one thing I am certain-- we must continue to trust in God whether or not that continues to be printed on our money!

What a Day!

What a day! Our friends and family “Jubilee Sunday” went great. OK., so maybe the title “Pig-Out-After-Church-Sunday” really would have been a more descriptive title, but it also felt like a Jubilee! I have never seen so much food before! We added about 30-40 chairs to the auditorium… and that is about how many extra folks we had… and most stayed for the meal afterward. It was a great day. I really appreciated all the folks who stayed afterwards to help clean up. It was a great day. We need to have special days like that more often, I think. Here’s an idea—what if those who prepared food (which was most of our members) donated the money spent on food preparation and then we catered the whole thing? Would that work? What do you think?

I have to say something about the BCS mess! What a fitting end to a bizarre college football season—both #1 (Missouri) and #2 (West Virginia) lost on the last week of the season. I feel bad for Roger (WVA is his team), but I never thought that Missouri and West Virginia were the best two teams. Of course, I never thought that OSU and LSU were the two best teams either? I guess that if you have to choose two teams at random, those are as good as any… except maybe USU and OU. I hope the mess continues until they come up with a playoff system.

One more football observation. I enjoyed watching the Giants play last night.... Not because they are the Giants (nobody really like the Giants). Not because it was a good game and the Giants came back to win, although both of those are true. I enjoyed it because Tank Daniels from Harding was activated to the Giants main roster and played last night. Tank (#52) is a linebacker and plays on special teams, so keep an eye out for him.

I did have a sudden flash of insight after we watched several of the players after scoring touchdowns or making tackles. Lynn said, "That reminds me of Jaxon." Jaxon is Tank and Courtney's very animated 3-year old Jaxon who does indeed act just like NFL players, mimicking their jumping around and strutting antics. Here's my flash of insight. It's not so much that Jaxon acts like NFL players... it's more that NFL players act like 3-year olds! I liked the good old days then Dick Butkus and Mike Curtis just tacked people and got up and glared at 'em without having to dance around like Fred Astair. But that's just me.

On Being Productive

Yesterday was not my most productive day. It all started with my morning cup of coffee… which I couldn’t have because my coffee cup was missing. I have a special Arkansas Razorback mug that one of my former deacons gave me in the early 80’s. And now it’s gone-- it was here Wednesday afternood; Thursday morning it was MIA. Obviously some disgruntled LSU fan is holding it hostage. But I spent 30 minutes walking all over the building looking for it… and all before I had my first cup of coffee!

I went by the new Lifeway Bookstore after lunch (used to Norfolk rather than 5 minutes from the house). I wanted to look for some Bible class literature... and pick up a copy of the new Casting Crowns album for Lynn’s birthday. Lifeway didn’t have it, so I went by Heaven and Earth on the way back to the office—they were out of it too. So I decided to download it for her. iTunes Store wouldn’t work for some reason, so I downloaded it from Walmart.com. To make the long story short, the DRM file got screwed up and Media Player crashed. After two hours and three downloads, I finally was able to burn a CD in time to rush out to get Lynn’s pizza and get home by 5:00 p.m.

So yesterday was not a productive day. What struck me as I meditated on that fact (OK, as I griped about it) is how much of the things we do every day are really not all that productive. Maybe it seems productive-- you paid all the bills, mowed the lawn, cooked several meals, washed the car, cleaned out all the gutters and got all your spring cleaning done. That would be a productive day, right? Except all that stuff will need doing again next week, next month, or next year. Isn’t that the point of Ecclesiastes 1:3-11?

So many of the things we do day-to-day aren’t all that productive when you look at eternity, right? We spend so much of our time on things that at the end of the day have no staying power. They aren’t ultimately productive. John says, “The world and everything that people want in it are passing away, but the person who does what God wants lives forever” (1 John 2:17, NCV). We need to be better at two things— (1) spending more time doing things that will last for eternity and (2) looking for God in the ordinary things of life so they are transformed into eternal encounters as well.

It seems to me that we all will end up being more productive if we spend more time looking for God, not just despite the daily grind, but in the daily grind!

Happy Birthday, Lynn!

Today is Lynn’s birthday. I won’t tell you which one because I want to live long enough to see my next birthday! It is not one of those special birthdays numerically (like 30), but it is special because she is such a special lady. I can divulge the fact that she was only 16 when we started dating, and I was older. So that would make her younger than me right now, a fact that she often points out. As you can tell from this picture of her and Tressa, Lynn really hasn't changed a bit!

So what am I going to get her? Very early on in our marriage, we came up with this arrangement—we rarely buy each other anything. We give each other permission to buy ourselves stuff. Hey, I don’t want Lynn picking out my electronics and she doesn’t want me picking out jewelry! So it just works best if we pick out our own gifts. Hey, that doesn’t sound very romantic, but neither is it romantic for her to have to decide whether she will take back something I bought her or settle for something that she really doesn’t like. It’s not very romantic for her to open a gift, force a smile and say, “Thank you… did you keep the receipt?” But that has happened more than once, so we decided it was just best to cut out the middle man and have her buy her own gift. So now it is a card from Big Lots and “Happy Birthday, Sweetheart; buy yourself something nice.”

The one thing she did ask for is “Pan Pizza Supreme” from Pizza Hut. So I guess now I’m cooking for her birthday too. What a guy!

The All-Sufficient Christ

Why are there so many different Christian denominations? It's not because some people just don't read the Bible or don't care what it says. In fact, the opposite is the case. Most of the denominations got started when people, through serious study of the Bible, found something that no one else was stressing. Luther found "by grace through faith." Calvin found sovereignty. Wesley found sanctification. Campbell found baptism for the remission of sins. Most denominations were reformations (Campbell's term for our movement) of existing churches that were not stressing some Biblical doctrine or practice. Just read about (or better from) Luther, Calvin, Wesley or Campbell and you'll see some folks who were very serious about the Bible and the Lord Jesus Christ!

The problem is not a lack or seriousness in Bible study or honesty and integrity before God. The problem is the mistaken belief that salvation can ever come through finding the right theological system. Because our pursuit of Biblical truth always begins with human minds and is filtered through our own human experiences, our understanding of that truth will always be limited and flawed. Every time we go to scripture with open hearts and minds, we will learn something new. And if we learn something new today, then our understanding was flawed yesterday.

But we can know the truth and the truth will set us free! The saving truth of God is not found in a theological formula or an ecclesiastical structure. It is found in Christ. He is the way, truth and life. As Paul calls the Colossians away from "hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition" (Col 2:8), he points them to the All-Sufficient Christ. Our salvation never depends on us knowing the correct theological formulas but on knowing Christ. Paul theological formula is wrapped up in a person--

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:15-20).

Theology matters. We must continue to study, to be unashamed workers "who uses the true teaching in the right way" (2 Tim 2:15, NCV). "Sound doctrine" literally means "healthy teaching," and it leads us to a healthy life in Christ. But we must never think that our salvation depends upon us getting it all right. We never will. But Jesus got it right once and for all. We must continue to diligently search the scriptures, because they testify about Him (John 5:39)

Freedom!

The word “freedom” means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Sometimes that word applies to the highest of principles that lead men and women of conviction to fight and die for others. Freedom sums up those inalienable rights (“life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”) that Thomas Jefferson said had been granted to all people. But sometimes freedom is no higher or nobler than just the desire to do what I want when I want. Hey, it’s a free country, right? Freedom means a lot of things to a lot of people. Notice just a few—

• “Freedom” is a city in California, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
  
• “Freedom” is a magazine (Freedom Magazine) and newspaper (Freedom Newspaper) and a publishing company (Freedom Press).
  
• There is the Space Station Freedom and the Freedom Tower (new Word Trade Center Tower #1).
  
• “Freedom” is an album by Carlos Santana, Neil Young and Michael W. Smith (his all-instrumental album).
  
• “Freedom” is song by Jimi Hendrix, Paul McCartney, Alice Cooper and at least 35 other singers.
  
• Kris Kristofferson wrote and Janis Joplin sang (actually a cover of a song first done by Roger Miller), “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.”
  
• “Freedom!” is the last line and most memorable line by Mel Gibson in his Oscar winning Braveheart.

Freedom is always a good thing. We are always in favor of more freedom… unless we are the parents of teenagers. Very rarely will anyone ever say, “You know, what we need is a little less freedom.” Freedom is good.

But freedom has responsibility. It is not free... and it is never just another word for nothing left to loose. Paul tells us in Galatians 5:1, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” We are give freedom in Christ, and we are called to live in that freedom. But Paul also warns us against the modern idea that freedom means that we can do anything we want. Freedom means living so that we are not enslaved, “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature" (Gal 5:13). Our freedom does not permit us to live however we want! That is really bondage and slavery. Freedom in Christ sets us free to live by the law of Christ, the “perfect law that gives freedom” (James 1:25). Ultimately, becoming free from sin gives us the freedom to lives as the slaves of righteousness (Rom 6:15ff).

Freedom is a lot of things… it is never an excuse to do exactly what it is that we want.

The Permanent Record

Several years ago, Bob Green of the Chicago Tribune came up with a theory about what's wrong with the world-- he calls the “Death of the Permanent Record.” (I remember referring to his column several years ago in a sermon; I couldn’t find the column on the web, but I found a jillion sermons that refer to it. I can’t believe people stole my sermon idea… after went to all the trouble to steal it from someone else!) Anyway, Green recalls that grade-school children used to live in fear of having bad behavior noted on their permanent record. That was the threat, “You don’t want this on your permanent record.” Green suggested that a lot of bad behavior was avoided, not because kids were good moral beings in the good ol' days, but because they did not want their actions written down and preserved on their permanent record.

Today we have decided that there is no such thing as a permanent record. In fact, we believe that no one has a right to even keep track. Never mind skippinmg school or smoking in the boys room, the record of serious felonies are expunged at age 18; there is no permanent record. Witth today's emphasis on our rights to privacy, if a schoolchild were ever threatened with something going on his permanent record, he would probably file suit under the Freedom of Information Act and gain possession of his files before recess!

Does Green have a point? Where there is no fear of a lasting record, people tend to do what they think they can get away with. But the problem with that is this-- there is a permanent record. And the record is kept by God.

• But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. (Matt 12:36).
  
• So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. (Rom 14:12).
  
• Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare(Heb 4:13).
  
• But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. (1 Peter 4:5)
  
• And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. (Rev 20:12).

According to scripture, there clearly is permanent record. There will be a final day of reckoning, a day upon which all accounts will be balanced… and then closed. Our words and deeds will be called into account, and we will have to accept responsibility for them. If we really believed that, then that would change the way we live our lives now. Remember Peter's take on the implications of the reality of the end of time?

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. (2 Peter 3:11-12a)

Strangers in the World

Peter addresses his first epistle to “God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia…” The word for "scattered" is the Greek word diaspora. The diaspora or "dispersion" is often a technical expression for Jews who were living throughout the Roman world. These Jews were scattered in tiny isolated communities who looked forward to a future time when they would be reunited with the people of God.

For Peter, Christians are God's true diaspora. So he writes to encourage us to live boldly and faithfully as strangers in the world—

• We are to live our lives here as strangers in reverent fear (1:17).
• We are to resist temptation as aliens and strangers in the world (2:11).

We live today as God’s people scattered throughout a world that is not our own. We live in America, but we are first of all citizens of the kingdom of heaven. Thus, to live as a Christian is to live as an alien, a stranger and a pilgrim.

This status of Christians as a minority group in a world that is not fully theirs comes across vividly through an unknown apologist in the second century who wrote a work known as The Epistle to Diognetus. Let these words inform how you live today in this world in which you are a stranger and pilgrim—

For Christians cannot be distinguished from the rest of the human race by country or language or custom. They do not live in cities of their own; they do not use a peculiar form of speech; they do not follow an eccentric manner of life. This doctrine of theirs has not been discovered by the ingenuity or deep thought or inquisitive men, nor do they put forward a merely human teaching, as some people do. Yet, although they live in Greek and barbarian cities alike, as each man's lot has been cast, and follow the customs of that country in clothing and food and other manners of daily living, at the same time they give proof of the remarkable and admittedly extraordinary constitution of their own commonwealth. They live in their own country, but only as aliens.

On Getting Directions

Two times in as many days I’ve gotten lost driving to places where I’ve been many times before. Tuesday night I was on my way to the Blackwell’s for small group. Traffic was terrible, and at one point I needed to make a left turn and just couldn’t get over through traffic into the turn lane. Rather than cut someone off, I decided just to make the block. Except there was no block—I had to wind around for about a mile and ended up almost dumped back on the interstate. The more I doubled back trying to find my way, the more lost I became. I finally threw in the towel and called Ashley for directions.

The next morning I was giving Kenneth Hawley a ride to the airport. I don’t know how many times I’ve been to the Hawley’s home in the last 15 years—maybe a 100 times or more? But I was in a hurry, the traffic was bad and nothing was looking very familiar, and I was afraid I had missed my turn. So I called the office and Cathy assured me I was on the right road. The problem with getting turned around a lot is that you start expecting be to be turned around!)

I would suggest that these incident are proof that I’m getting older, but the truth is that I have always had a horrible sense of direction. If I come down with Alzheimer’s (which does run in our family), no one will know it for a long while because I'm like this all the time. You would think that Newport News is the hardest city in the world to get lost in—everything is built between Warwick Boulevard and Jefferson Avenue so all you have to do is head in the right direction and you’ll eventually get there, right? Well, that’s the hard part—heading in the right direction. I can get turned around going down the street. If anyone is a candidate for a GPS system, that would be me. I almost always print out a Google map before going anywhere.

I think many of us have my sense of direction when it comes to spiritual matters. The world is a confusing place—there are all these mixed messages about values and what is important in life. The siren songs of a thousand different voices bombard us constantly, telling us what is important and what we need to make us happy. On the one had we are told that money can’t buy happiness; but on the other hand Madison Avenue pitchmen offer a thousand different baubles that are money-back guaranteed to satisfy us... until the next thing comes along. We live our lives going in so many different directions at once, and that has to mean that at least some of the time we are going in the wrong direction. Right?

Sometimes when I get lost (and this is contrary to my Y chromosome), I just gotta pull over and call someone. If you are going the wrong way, it doesn’t matter how good the time you are making! We need to spend more time getting life directions from our life map. The Bible has things to say about our life choices—our relationships, use of money, how to treat difficult people, etc. Scripture is not a handbook for running a church. Actually few of what we connect with “running church” are directly mention-- church committees, Sunday Schools, bulletins, order of worship, building programs or even church buildings. What the Bible does reveal is the mind of God, and that is pretty important when it comes to the direction of our lives. Some obscure prophet named Jeremiah said something about “it is not for man to direct his steps” (Jer 10:23). We need directions.

And we also need to be more involved in helping one another with directions. Have you ever had another Christian humbly approach you, meantion a wrong direction your life seems to be be taking, give you wise counsel based upon their own past mistakes and then offer to pray with you? Well, me either. But isn’t that what we should be doing? Isn’t that one of the safeguards God gives us to keep us from ignoring or misinterpreting Scripture and making destructive life choices?

We need to be more open to getting directions along the way of our lifewalk. And we need to be more open to giving directions.

My Name in the Paper

A man from St. Johns County, Florida was recently found dead, stuck in the "doggy door" at his girlfriend's house. The 32-year-old man had had an argument with his girlfriend, and she threw him out of her house. He tried to use a small pet door (used by the woman’s cat) to get back into the house. He had his head and arm through the door like he was trying to reach the lock, and he evidently got stuck. His girlfriend found him dead several hours later. The exact cause of death has not been released, but it is speculated that he passed out rather quickly. There was no sign that he struggled to get free, and the girlfriend was in the house and did not hear him call out.

That is a strange and sad story, but that is not why it caught my eye on the news. What caught my eye was that the man’s name was Charles Tucker Jr.! OK, the fact that he was 32 years old, lived in Florida and had a girlfriend clued me in that this probably wasn’t me. But it sure was my name in the paper! I hope that when my demise will not come from a pet door. And if it does, I hope that the fact won’t be carried in the national news.

There is an old joke about the preacher who reads his name in the obituaries one Sunday. He checks the bio information, and sure enough it sounds like him. He calls one of his elders and asks, “Did you read the paper?” The elder said, “Yep.” The preacher asked, “Well, did you read the obituaries?” The elder said, “Yep.” Then after a long pause the elder asked, “Where are you calling from?”

One of these days, my name will be in the obituary section for real. I have no idea when that will be or what it will say about my demise. I kinda hope its will read something like, “Newport News man killed when hit by a spaceship while hang gliding on Mars” or something like that. But there indeed be a doggy door out there with my name on it. The only certainty in this uncertain world is that, unless Jesus comes first, some paper somewhere will carry our obituary. Nobody gets out of this life alive. The secret is living a life where you are ready to go whenever it (and however it is) that you go!

Casting Crowns

Last Saturday night, Lynn and Hannah Bean and I went to the Casting Crowns concert at Scope. Lynn and I don’t normally go to many concerts (Hannah is an old pro), but we really like Casting Crowns and Lynn’s birthday is this month. And because this was more or less Lynn’s birthday present, I went ahead and sprung for the most expensive tickets. After all, she’s worth an extra $15 bucks, right? Well, we weren’t exactly on the front row. No, we were exactly on the second row! We were just right of the stage and right in front of an eight foot tall speaker array! I brought the pair of small binoculars—didn’t need them. If we would have been any closer, we’d have been on stage!

I love being on the front row; we’re always on the front row for praise and worship. At Pepperdine, I have literally run from the field house all the way up the mountain to Smothers Theater to make sure we had a front row seat for Hallal or Zoe. But there is a difference in being down front for a rock concert. We were sitting 10-15 feet away from a huge bass sub-woofer, so every time the drummer hit the base drum, someone punched me in the sternum! I could feel the breeze from the air driven by the sub. Not sure how to do that a cappella, but it was great. Very, very loud, but it was great.

Here’s a YouTube video of “I’ll Praise You in This Storm.” This powerful song captures the frustration and the faith that we have all felt at times when going through the storms of life. Like Job we wonder why God doesn’t just step in and take the rain away; but like Job, we decide to trust, and to worship, the God who gives and takes away. The chorus says,

And I'll praise you in this storm and I will lift my hands
That you are who you are no matter where I am
And every tear I've cried you hold in your hand
You never left my side and though my heart is torn
I will praise you in this storm

Until we learn to worship God despite and during the storms of life, then we will never really worship, right? All Satan has to do to divert our praise is bring another storm. But once we learn to really praise God in the storms of life, then Satan looses power over us. “And as your mercy falls, I raise my hands and praise the God who gives and takes away.”

BTW, on the video near the end, there is a girl on the front row in a bright green shirt with one hand raised and the other over her heart. That was my pose much of the night Saturday. The hand raised is worship, but the hand over the heart is to block the punch of that sub-woofer thumping you in the chest!

Look, A Squirrel

Back in the olden days, preachers usually worked out of their homes. Church buildings were often so small that they didn’t include an office, so the preacher’s office was a corner of his bedroom or a closet converted for that purpose. That worked out OK, because the preacher’s home was usually right next to the church building so he was always convenient for everyone. Ah, the good old days!

I don’t think I would do so well with a home office. I’m working at home today (at least a big part of it) so I can be here for the Verizon guy who has to get into the house to hook up the new FiOS goodies. Hey, some very nice young men worked in 100 degree heat this summer to rip up my yard to lay fiber optic cable; the least I can do is give them a try! Anyway, I’ve been working on a sermon (or trying to) while working at home (at the table in the den on the laptop. First, as bad as my desktop keyboard was until I found the right one, laptop keyboards are horrible. How do people use these things all day long?

But the real problem is distraction. I’m working where I am looking at the refrigerator, so every time I have a hunger pain, I have to get up and see if anything good has magically appeared in there. And then I saw the mirror frame I kept telling Lynn I’ll glue back together—it’s sitting right there. So I got up and glued it back together. And Maggie keeps barking at someone doing something outside, so naturally I have to get up and see what is distracting her that is distracting me. Randy Tanner told me an idea for a T-shirt that surely he had me in mind as his first customer—“ADHD is not a real disease… oh, look, a squirrel!”

Perhaps one of the biggest spiritual struggles we have is in this area of distraction. We don’t have such trouble identifying the most important things in life—God, family, others. What we have trouble with is being distracted by other things that aren’t bad, just not as important. We spend much of out time on things that we know aren’t central to out being, important to God or critical for our true welfare… but they are so distracting. We can’t seem to focus on the most important things like, “Seek ye first of the kingdom of God…”

I need another cup of coffee. I wonder if the Verizon guy has the phone hooked up. Oh, look, a squirrel.

Lifesong

Lynn, Hannah Bean (our resident Casting Crowns groupie) and I are going to the Casting Crown concert at Scope this Saturday night. I’m no music critic, but the first Casting Crowns CD— cleverly titled “Casting Crowns”— is the best CD ever. At least, some of my favorite songs ever are on that CD. The second one is good too, but about half of the songs on the first CD are on my "greatest hits of all time" folder in my mp3 player. To paraphrase Jim McQuiggen, “I think every Christian should be forced to listen to Casting Crowns… if they want to!” They have released a third album which I don’t have yet, and that is likely what they will be playing at the concert.

Anyway, I was listening back over the two albums getting ready for the concert. A song that stuck out for me is the title song off the second CD, “Lifesong.” The song starts like this--

Empty hands held high, such small sacrifice
If not joined with my life, I sing in vain tonight
May the words I say, and the things I do
Make my lifesong sing, bring a smile to You
Let my lifesong sing to You
Let my lifesong sing to You
I want to sign Your name to the end of this day
Knowing that my heart was true
Let my lifesong sing to You

One of the things that keeps coming up in our sermon-n-small group series on Jeremiah was Judah’s insistence on seeing worship as most important to God. If they will just did the Temple thing with all the right rites, then their idolatry, adultery, and abusing the poor doesn’t really matter. Jeremiah tried hard but could never quite disabuse them of that notion... so this guy named Nebuchadnezzar rode into Jerusalem and puntuated the point by destroying the Temple.

Christians struggle under the same illusion that God is intensely interested in is our worship and doctrine, the things we do and say the one hour a week when we’re in church. Isn't that what Christians have fouight over through the centuries, the church stuff? Our lives the rest of the time may look little different from the world around us, but that is OK as long as we get the church think down right. The sound you hear is Jeremiah clearing his throat and trying to get our attention, “Hear the word of the Lord…”

After all, “empty hands held high” in worship really isn’t that big of a sacrifice, is it? If our worship and beliefs are not combined with how we live, then we “sing in vain tonight.” The song that God is most interested in hearing us sing is our “lifesong.” May my lifesong sing to you!

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. (Romans 12:1, NLT)

Resting Our Weight

When John Paton was translating the Bible for a South Seas island tribe, he found they had no word for "trust" or "faith." How can you translate the Bible without having a word for faith? One day one of the natives came running out of breath into Paton's house, plopped himself in a large chair and said, "It's good to rest my weight." A light bulb went on in Paton's mind; that was his word! Paton translated the Bible word faith as "resting you weight on God." Faith rests itself in God, it changes our way of looking at life.

We will never have peace with God through our own ability to either figure out all the rules much less keep all of them. If we really believe that to please God we must be able to sift through all the Bible as if it were a codebook, figure out all the of its hidden messages, rules and regulations, and then keep all of those rules perfectly-- well, it's kind of hard to really rest our weight in that, isn't it? Despite our best intentions, such an approach is destined to bring conflict within ourselves and with others. Such an approach rests our weight on ourselves-- on our intelligence and ability. We simply can't bear up under that kind of weight.

Peace with God comes when we rest our weight on God-- on his wisdom and on his accomplishments. That is the message of the cross. We are saved through what Jesus did for us there... and ONLY because of what Jesus did for us there. The cross is the only structure in the universe that is sturdy enough to hold us under the weight of our sin. That is why Paul refused to boast in any of his many accomplishments. They all paled before the glory of the cross.

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. (Galatians 6:14)

Trunk-N-Treat 2007

Well, Lynn missed her chance at her 15 minutes of fame yesterday. The Daily Press was supposed to have run the picture at right from last year’s Trunk-n-Treat in a special Halloween section of the paper yesterday. Lynn is Snow White surrounded by her seven dwarfs. Will King took the picture, submitted it to the paper and it was selected (probably front page above the fold). Unfortunately, Nosey Dwarf (far left) is our own Lisa
Deaderick, who in addition to being a member of our church, part of our Sunday night small group and all-around great gal is also a reporter for the Daily Press (hence “Nosey Dwarf”). For some silly reason, the paper saw this as a conflict of interest, and so the picture didn’t run. So Lynn will not be discovered and offered some big modeling job at Disney. Well, it would have probably just complicated our tax return anyway!

This picture is from last night’s Trunk-n-Treat. This year we were the Addams Family, complete with the theme song playing over and over for an hour and a half! Don’t we look “creepy and they're kooky, mysterious and spooky?” Richard Pittman as "Lurch" was just too scary. It was also hard keeping Pugsley and Wednesday (Roger and Kati) from trying to kill each other, but then they do that when they aren't in costume! And this was the first time some of our folks have seen me in a suit and tie… and perhaps the last!

For the uninitiated, Trunk-n-Treat is a community service project where we try to provide a safe Trick-or-Treat alternative. We dress up, turn our cars into candy-give-away stations for the neighborhood kids. It has been very popular among the kids and a lot of fun for the adults. This year, Betty Tanner gave away free hot dogs just in case some of the kids or parents wanted a “nutritious” alternative to high-fructose corn syrup. The weather was great and everyone seemed to have a good time.

A Compass Pointing the Wrong Way

On December 7 (a day that, after all, lives in infamy) New Line Cinema will release the movie “The Golden Compass.” The movie will star Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig (“Bond, James Bond”), and is marketed as a “family movie” along the lines of “The Chronicles of Narnia.” In fact, the movie will have the same fantasy themes and the advertising has the same “look and feel” But don’t confuse this "Golden Compass" and Narnia, which C.S. Lewis’ wrote to teach Christian themes to children. In fact, this movie is meant to be the anti-Narnia; the writer of the books upon which the movie is based hated C.S. Lewis and the lion he rode in on.

“The Golden Compass” is the first of a trilogy of children’s novels known as the “Dark Materials” by Philip Pullman. This trilogy was an international best seller, although it didn’t do that well in the United States. Pullman is an outspoken atheist and critic of Christianity, and the fantasy themes in his novels are anti-Christian. He said in an interview, “My books are about killing God.” And in fact, in the last book, the main characters do succeed in killing “God.” At one point Pullman has a fallen angel dewscribe God like this to the young heroes of the book--

The Authority, God, the Creator, the Lord, Yahweh, El, Adonai, the King, the Father, the Almighty – those were all names he gave himself. He was never the creator. He was an angel like ourselves – the first angel, true, the most powerful, but he was formed of Dust as we are, and Dust is only a name for what happens when matter begins to understand itself.

So the anti-religious and anti-Christian point-of-view of these books are not something that some critics have read into them. This is the point of these books. The point for our kids!

Fortunately, the movie itself will likely not be all that offensive. New Line specifically ordered that the anti-God theme be removed from the movie, understanding that such a project would be economically unviable. But the danger is that the movie will become something of a commercial for the books. Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, said, “I'm not really concerned about the movie, which looks fairly innocuous. The movie is made for the books. ... It's a deceitful, stealth campaign. Pullman is hoping his books will fly off the shelves at Christmastime.” It is very possible that parents may buy the books for their children not realizing the sinister intent behind them.

Well, I won’t be going to see the movie! Well, at least not until it comes to video. I can say that with some certainty because we just don’t see that many movies in theaters. If I just have to see a fantasy movie with a hidden message, I’ll just watch Narnia again on DVD (for the 10th or so time!) Or I'll wait until March for The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian to be released, one I will go see in a theater.

Powers and Principalities?

There was an excellent (and lengthy) article by David Kirkpatrick in the New York Times with the unfortunate title “The Evangelical Crackup.” The article does an excellent and balanced job of discussing the change that has taken place in the religious right. While evangelical voters once tended to rally around single-issues (abortion or homosexuality) and national leaders (Jerry Fallwell, Pat Robertson, James Kennedy), that is no longer the case today. Younger leaders (Rick Warren and Bill Hybels) are just as likely to stress AIDS, global warming, poverty and the plight of women in developing countries. Kirkpatrick does a good job illustrating this and giving some of the reasons why this is the case. Give the article a read... I'd be interested in your comments.

A quote from Gene Carlson in the article caught my attention. Carlson was senior pastor for 40 years of the 7000 member Westlink Christian Church. He was very involved in "the Christian Right," leading abortion protests and raising money. Though he still believes that abortion is evil, Carlson has had second thought about his political activism which he says “didn’t really change abortion.” Working to elect Christian politicians never seemed to make any difference in the end. Here was his observation that stopped me, “When you mix politics and religion you get politics.” And maybe that means in the end a Chrisatian politician is a politician?

Christianity was born in a totalitarian dictatorship in which politics was for the powerful and individual rights did not exist. For the most part, those with political power and influence were the enemy of God’s people and truth. James reminded his audience that it was the rich and powerful who were exploiting them and slandering the name of Christ (James 2:6-7). Later he condemns the wealthy ruling class who have hoarded wealth and exploited the powerless (James 5:1-6). Christians were to pray for leaders... so they could be left alone to live in peace (1 Tim 2:1-2). Are the political power structures of our world part of what Paul meant by “the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil?” Is it the case that when the church joins these power structures, even for good and noble purposes, that we run the risk of being twisted by them? Lord Acton’s famous line is, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

I’m not saying that Christians shouldn’t vote on moral issues. I’m not saying that Christians should never run for public office or get involved in political causes. This world needs the leavening influence of godly people in all spheres of life! But I am suggesting that the answer to the problems of this world is the message of the cross, not any political party or candidate or agenda. We will do more to change the woes of this world by sharing the story of Jesus and living out its implications in our own lives than by our political affiliations. Who we vote for is always optional; who we live for is not!

Hey Buddy, Can You Spare a Change?

I’m sure you remember the old “Light Bulb Jokes” that were popular a few years ago. You know, like “How many lawyers does it take to change a light bulb?” Answer: “How many can you afford?” Well, I came across some that apply to church:

• How many Christian counselors does it take to change a light bulb?
  Only one, but the light bulb has to WANT to change.
  
• How many preachers does it take to change a light bulb?
  One. He holds the bulb while the world revolves around him.
  
• How many TV evangelists does it take to change a light bulb?
  One. But for the light to continue, send in your donation now!
  
• How many theologians does it take to change a light bulb?
  Three, but they're really one…no, it's three.
  
• How many elders does it take to change a light bulb?
  CHANGE?? That bulb doesn’t need changing.

Change is hard, and church change can be particularly unsettling— changing the order of worship, changing a ministry focus, changing from pews to chairs, and (nobody get any ideas) changing preachers. I have known of churches where building committees disbanded and deacons resigned over discussions over changing the color scheme in the auditorium!

Personal change is even more unsettling. When it comes to things like doing a better job at controlling our temper, finally kicking the nicotine habit, doing better with diet or exercise or spending more time reading the Bible, we often want to hide behind excuse like “I can’t help it” or “Hey, that is just the way that I am.” Or if we try to sound more pious, we may say, “That’s just not my spiritual gift.” But changing and being changed is one of the fundamental truths of Christianity. Jesus said, “Unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Luke 13:3). He said, “Unless you are converted and become like children” (Matt 18:3, NAS). The idea behind “repent” and “convert” are the same-- change.

My reading this morning was from Jeremiah 35. Here God uses the example of the Recabites to spur and motivate unfaithful Judah. The Recabites were a nomadic clan that descended Jonadab, who charged his family to not drink wine or live in houses. They had followed that charge. The Recabites followed their ancestors command, but Judah would not follow God (Jer 35:13-14). Here is the part of the reading that stuck from this morning—“Each of you must stop doing evil. You must change and be good. Do not follow other gods to serve them. If you obey me, you will live in the land I have given to you and your ancestors.” (35:15, NCV). That is how God sums up the message of the prophets to Judah—“Stop doing evil… change and be good.”

Sounds pretty simple. The message of the prophets was “change.” We must forever remain clay that is soft and malleable; we must be wineskins that can expand and stretch. Change is rarely pleasant. But it is what God constantly calls us to do.

It Never Rains in California...

The picture at right was not taken during a riot someplace just after the police let loose with the tear gas. And the background of the picture is not someone's recreation of the surface of Mercury or something. This is a picture from Time of students Emily Roth and Michael Richards last Sunday morning just trying to breathe on the campus of Pepperdine University in the midst of the nearby wildfire that would eventually lead to potions of the campus being evacuated. The fires that are ravaging Southern California are driven by dry Santa Ana winds combined with severe drought conditions that have turned the state into a tinderbox. All that was needed was a spark (a downed powerline in the case of the Milibu fire) and entire regions have gone up in a raging firestorm.

Of course, nature isn’t only culprit here. Rampant development in areas that were never intended to support so many people often provide both the kindling and the spark that begin these fires. More and more homes are built on the edges of what was wilderness; one estimate is that more than 50% of the new housing built in California since 1950 has been built inside severe-fire zones. And not only do more people live where they are affected by the fires, but they also cause (usualy inadvertently, sometimes intentionally) many of the fires. And then there is the irony that after the fires have burned so much of the vegetation, when the rains do finally come, they will likely bring mudslides that can be as destructive as the fires.

Few places on earth are a beautiful most of the time as Southern California. And that has been the problem over the last half century. More people have migrated there than the land can support. And when nature rebels at the intrusion as it is this week, so many people are affected. Let’s continue to pray for the people out there. Let’s also pray for those who are helping and gearing up to help with the relief effort. Though they have don’t have any specific information yet on their web site (their latest web update was in June), I just have to believe that the folks at Churches of Christ Disaster Relief are gearing up and that the trucks will be rolling out of Nashville before the ashes are cool

On Yard Work and the Meaning of Life

I spent most of my afternoon off yesterday working in the yard, doing the yearly fertilize-aerate-thatch-seed deal that ensures I will have plenty of grass to mow next spring. We are also turning a big flower bed (Dad’s old garden plot) back into lawn so that I will have even more grass to cut! A big chunk of yesterday was actually spent digging at and chopping on a big stump in the middle of the flower bed that had to be removed before it could be tilled and seeded. Boy, I’m sure going to a lot of trouble to be able to cut grass next year!

I was reminded of a passage from Ecclesiastes while I was working yesterday. Not just the “vanity of vanities” part, but I was specifically thinking of Solomon’s setup in Ecclesiastes 1:3-8a--

3 What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?
4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south and turns to the north;
round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.
7 All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from, there they return again.
8 All things are wearisome, more than one can say.

He could have just as easily said, “The grass that is cut grows back again; the thatch that is de-thatched becomes thatch once more.” That kinda sounds Solomonic, doesn’t it?

How much of our daily work sounds just like this? The project we complete is simply swapped out for another project; the briefing we present is replaced by another. The house that we clean becomes messy again; the meals we prepare must be prepared again tomorrow. What is the point of doing all of these things that are done but are never really done?

Solomon’s point is that nothing means anything “under the sun.” What gives meaning to life is what comes from the other side of the sun. Nothing ultimately has a point in life unless you understanding the God that reigns over all of life. The mundane and ordinary things of life are infused with meaning because of the God that gives meaning. So Ecclesiastes can say this in Ecclesiastes 3:12-13

12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God.

Even the mundane and ordinary things of life are giving meaning because they are gifts of God and ways that that He blesses and teaches us. While the grass that I plant and cut and plant again seem like mundane vanity, the fact that all is done under the rule and domain of God changes everything. “Everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it” (Ecc; 3:14). God reigns in the mundane things of life, and because He reigns, even the mundane things are blessings form God.

People of Integrity

Someone has said that character is the kind of person that you are when no one is around to see what kind of person you are. The word that Scripture uses is "integrity." (See Deut 9:5, 1 Kings 9:4, Job 2:3, Psa 78:72, Prov 10:9, Titus 2:7). The word "integrity" comes from the old Latin word "integritas" meaning "soundness." The word is defined as "The quality or condition of being whole or undivided; completeness." This is the meaning of the word "integer" or "whole number." Integrity is used of the person who adheres to a high moral standard. I like Nehemiah's description of his brother Hanani whom he put in charge of Jerusalem-- I guess nepotism is OK as long as you keep it in the family. He said that his brother "was a man of integrity and feared God more than most men do." (Neh 7:2).

But what looks like integrity isn't always real integrity. Chuck Swindoll, in his book Growing Deep in the Christian Life, tells this story about integrity that is really not integrity at all.

Several years ago, in Long Beach, California, a fellow went into a fried chicken place and bought a couple of chicken dinners for himself and his date late one afternoon. The young woman at the counter inadvertently gave him the proceeds from the day-a whole bag of money (much of it cash) instead of fried chicken. After driving to their picnic site, the two of them sat down to open the meal and enjoy some chicken together. They discovered a whole lot more than chicken--over $800! But he was unusual. He quickly put the money back in the bag. They got back into the car and drove all the way back. Mr. Clean got out, walked in, and became an instant hero. By then the manager was frantic. The guy with the bag of money looked the manager in the eye and said, "I want you to know I came by to get a couple of chicken dinners and wound up with all this money. Here." Well, the manager was thrilled to death. He said, "Oh, great, let me call the newspaper. I'm gonna have your picture put in the local newspaper. You're the most honest man I've heard of." To which they guy quickly responded, "Oh no, no, don't do that!" Then he leaned closer and whispered, "You see, the woman I'm with is not my wife...she's uh, somebody else's wife."

God calls us to be complete, whole people. That is only true when we seek to what is right no matter the setting or situation.

There Is No Justice!

Tonight the eyes of the college football world will be on the clash between national powerhouses Rutgers and South Florida as a BCS bid and possible national championship is on the line. What? Run that by me again! Rutgers and South Florida? Come on! In one of the weirder things to come down the pike, Big East newbie South Florida— which only started playing major college football 10 years ago—is ranked #2 in the BCS rankings and would play Ohio State for the national championship if the season ended right now! All of the pre-season top 10 teams have lost, and all the current top-10 teams may lose again. This has been a crazy year.

So what do you think? Has true parity really really come to college football or is this year just a blip on the radar screne and sanity will be restored next year? Last year showed the flaws of the BCS system when there was no real #2 team to play #1 Ohio State, so Florida was chosen at random (largely because their coach whined so pitifully). Of course. Florida then pasted OSU for the title. This year there is no best team… and that means there is no second best team. As one writer put it, “There is no #1… just a bunch of #11’s that keep taking turns.” So at the end of the year, they will have to pick two teams at random to play for the national championship.

Can we not have some playoffs in D-1 football like every other sport! The current system works only if you end up with two clearly best teams, and that has happened like twice! And this year promises to be particularly pitiful because we may end up with 25 mediocre teams and no real #1. South Florida and Rutgers? The only redeeming thing about this year is that Notre Dame hasn’t won a single game!

So what is the Bible point to this rant? Little know Bible Fact: Job said, “Though I cry, ‘I’ve been wronged!’ I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice.” (Job 19:7). Well, he was talking about the BCS system!

Ode to Lice and Radar Guns

Nineteen year old Zachary Skinner was only going 101 mph in his 2006 Hyundai when he flashed past Deputy Grant Steube and his radar gun. He was probably going even faster than that before Steube finally caught up to him with his flashing lights and blaring sirens. When Steube asked him why he was driving so fast, Skinner said that he was rushing to get home before dark because he didn't want to get into trouble for breaking his curfew. As you can probably guess, Skinner was arrested and charged with reckless driving… which meant that he didn’t make it home by dark! You may be wondering why Skinner had a “be home before dark” curfew? Because he had received four other tickets (this was the 5th) in the last 11 months, including two for speeding!

It’s easy to see other people’s hypocrisy, isn’t it? Does it make sense to be so concerned that you make curfew that you drive 100 miles an hour? Not much? How about the Pharisees who so used tithing as an excuse not to care for their aging parents (Mk 7:9-13). Some Jewish women today believe that modesty dictates that their head be covered in public, and they do that by wearing wigs made of human hair and costing thousands of dollars! I heard about one big-hearted guy who robbed a local business because he wanted to give some money to a local charity (maybe he though he was Robin Hood?). Yes, it is easy to see inconsistencies and hypocrisies in others.

But those puppies are a bit harder to spot in our own lives, aren’t they? Robert Burns’ famous poem “Ode to a Louse” ends with the line “O would some Power, the gift to give us, To see ourselves as others see us!” Indeed, it is easy to be blind to our own warts and flaws. I am sure that the Priest and Levite felt completely high and holy when they passed by on the other side and didn’t help the wounded man. Hey, maybe they were on their way to church and didn’t want to be late! But how much harder it is to see when we are the Priest or the Levite!

Let’s do a better job straining out the camels in our own lives, then maybe the gnats (or lice) of others will take care of themselves.