My How Time Flies

Lynn and I were blown away yesterday as our church honored us for our 31st anniversary at Denbigh with a dinner after church (including two HUGE cakes) and a painting-style picture of our Denbigh church family (now hanging in my office). Lynn and I came to Denbigh as the associate/youth minister in May of 1980 (this picture was taken a few months after our arrival).  Lloyd Unsell, the pulpit preacher, left about 2 months later to return to Oklahoma, and I received very quick and unwelcome promotion. (My Dad was one of the elders at the time, and some expressed concern that this was a conflict of interest; we decided that nepotism was OK… as long as you kept it in the family.) Technically, I served for several years as the "Interim Evangelist" while the elders looked for a new pulpit guy. But they hated going through a selection process and kept putting off actually looking for a new guy. After several years, they decided I was doing an OK job… and no one else was willing to work for $200 a week. After 31 years, Lynn and I are still here.

Denbigh is an area dominated by military and government service workers, so while we’ve been here 31 years, almost no one else at church has been. We did a survey several years ago and found that almost half of our people had been at Denbigh less than two years! That is one of the secrets of our longevity… the church keeps changing. Another secret may be wrapped up in an old “preacher story.”

There was once a church which had a reputation of firing their preacher every year. But then they hired a new guy and after his year was up, they extended his contract. They extended it again after his second year. And after the third year, they offered the guy a lifetime contract. Well, he was flattered and asked them why they once changed preachers every year and now had offered him a lifetime contract. One of the elders said, “Well, to tell you the truth, we don’t like preachers and we don’t really want a preacher; you are about as close to no preacher as we have been able to find!"  

So there may be several explanations for my ministerial longevity. Whatever the reasons, Lynn and I feel so blessed that we have been able to work with the Denbigh Church of Christ for all these years. From the very beginning, Denbigh has given me the greatest blessing a preacher can every hope to receive from a church—an openness to preach messages from scripture even when those messages don’t necessarily fit within our comfortable church tradition. The church has not always agreed with what I have preached, but they have always been willing to listen and to love me anyway. Sermons that at some places would have been “moving sermons” (sermons where the preacher has had to move afterwards) has been met at Denbigh with “you make me think today and I’ll have to do some more study on that.” There is no greater blessing a church can give a preacher than the willingness to listen and be driven back to the Book. Many preachers have to move all over the country in order to grow in their understandings and change their basic stances on basic issues; I have been blessed to stay at one place and grow and change and watch the church grow along with me.

Jesus said that “a prophet has no honor in his own country” (John 4:44). But then sometimes a preacher can be honored in his own country... much more than he deserves to be. “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Cor 13:14).

A Pinch and a Sip

OK, so maybe I’m not the brightest bulb in the chandelier. The clock ran out on my class Sunday before I got to this controversial point, so instead of being thankful that I was this “providentially hindered” and dropping it, I'm going to bring it up on my blog.  As they say, fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

First, some background. We practice baptism by full immersion in water, not sprinkling or pouring water. Paul in Romans 6 speaks of baptism as a burial, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Baptism is a recreation of the Christ-event in our lives as we die to sin, are buried in water and then rise out of the water to a new life. The Greek word “baptizo” from which we get the transliteration “baptism” originally meant “to dip repeatedly, to immerse, to submerge.” Sprinkling or pouring a little dirt is not a burial; sprinkling or pouring a little water is baptism.

I never know who (if anyone at all) ever reads this blog, and this emphasis on immersion may be news to you. But everyone in my class Sunday would have “amened” this point on baptism. Churches of Christ really stresses baptism; it’s a good thing someone else already had the copyright on “Baptist Church” or else we may have been tempted to call ourselves that! We stress baptism!  I remember listening in on a conversation while some of our folks debated whether or not a baptismal candidate who was standing in the water waiting for his turn to be baptized and then was eaten by a crocodile before his turn came would be saved, (After all, the croc pulled him completely under the water, so…). We do stress baptism, and baptism (baptize) means immersion.

Here’s the question for which I ran out of time and that I now foolishly ask. The word “Supper” as in “the Lord’s Supper” is the Greek word “deipnon” which (using the same lexicon I used above) means “supper, especially a formal meal usually held at the evening.” In other words, the word “supper” means “a full meal” just like “baptism” denoted a full immersion. So (do you see what's coming?) why is it NOT OK to use a little water sprinkled or poured on someone as a symbol of a burial but it is PERFECTLY OK to use a little pinch of cracker and sip of grape juice as a symbol in the Lord's Supper? Do we lose something of theological significance when we replace a meal eaten communally around a table (the model Jesus used) with a symbolic “pinch-and-sip” which we eat in private meditation with no real sharing or communion going on around a table?

For further study, let me recommend a book by my friend John Mark Hicks (most of my friends don’t even read books let along write them) entitled Come to the Table. His take is that we have, to our detriment, turned the Lord’s Supper from a table into an altar.

If you'll excuse me, I have to get ready for the new class I'm teaching Sunday based on Rob Bell's book Sex God.  His first chapter is entitled "God Wears Lipstick."  What on earth was I thinking?

Looking Back

I recently had reason to dig out the original contract that I signed with the Denbigh church in 1980 when I first started my work here. I was shocked that I could find it; I was also a little surprised by what was in it. My starting salary in 1980 was $200 a week and the contract stipulated that it was to be given to me "on each Lord’s Day." What was not stipulated in the contract was how often Jack Dulaney, our treasurer, would give me the check on Sunday and then ask me not to cash it for 2-3 days until he made sure that there was any money in the account! Additionally, they gave me $350 a month housing allowance (which was enough to pay rent and utilities for our apartment… our Section 8 government housing apartment!). They also kicked in $140 a month for insurance, but for some reason the $5 a week book allowance that was typed in the original contract was struck through (in pencil) as if disallowed at the time the contract was signed. (Boy, if I had that $5 a week now, I could buy a new book every other month or so!).

The contract gave me one day a week off, two weeks of vacation per year (not to include more than two Sundays), and one week per year to work at Idlewild Christian Camp (not sure whether that was a benefit or a hazardous duty assignment). With those exceptions, the contract stipulated that “the preacher shall be available in his work with this congregation twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week.” The only other contract I remember signing with the church was when Roger was hired (he had one, so I had one). The new one gave me all national holidays off, which I had never had before. (Lynn and I couldn’t decide whether to go to Colonial Williamsburg or to the pool yesterday for Memorial Day, so we stayed home and rearranged furniture). Our elders at that time of this second contract (which I can’t find) worked for the government, so it made sense that they would give me national holidays. (Of course, they frowned on me taking the whole long weekend off like everybody else!)

Section 5 of my contract stipulates my work responsibilities—all pulpit duties, teaching two classes, conducting Ladies Bible class (which was every awkward back when I was 23 and the class was made up of mostly older church ladies), edit the bulletin (which meant type it on a stencil and run it off on a mimeograph machine). Curiously, no mention was made of PowerPoint slides, maintaining the church website, or writing a blog… but then again, they are now paying more than $200 a week!

What is the point of all this? I’m not sure there is one. Well, except maybe this—I have no clue how I got from May 1980 to May of 2011.  How can 31 years seem to be such a short period of time? What a blessing these years have been for Lynn and me. I hope there are a few people who have been blessed in return.

What Your Car Might Tell Others About Jesus

We’re just finishing up a Wednesday night study of Francis Chan’s book Crazy Love. I’ve done several past posts (here and here) on Chan’s book, so I won’t spend time here giving background on the book. If you haven’t read Crazy Love, it would be worth your time to do so. Chan has also posted several videos that go along with chapters in the book on YouTube. Here is the short clip I showed last night--



Chan’s take here really stands out in contrast to what some of the popular TV preachers say and do about concerning money. Can you imagine Creflo Dollar driving a 15 year old Subaru clunker (he drives a Rolls Royce) and sending the excess to support an African orphanage? Joel Osteen owns a 17,000 square foot, $10.5 million dollar estate. Kenneth Copeland flies his own $20 million Cessna Citation jet, the fastest private jet that money can buy. There was a Senate investigation launched into these excesses, but the millions of people who routinely donate to these ministries have not been discouraged. Contrast the video above with this one from Inside Edition--



The contrast between these two different views of money raises two questions, one of them easy and one of them much harder. First, which of these two videos looks more like Jesus? Or maybe even more to the point, which of these two projections of the use of money by Christians looks more like Jesus to our non-Christian world. To tell you the truth, the church looks pretty much like a joke to many non-Christians precisely because of those television preachers and their lifestyles.  If we are going to get the world to take a serious look at Jesus, then we'd better take a serious look at ourselves.

Second, and this is a much tougher question, what does the way that you and I spend our money say to the non-Christian world about Jesus? OK, so I don’t drive a Rolls Royce, but I do drive a five year old Honda CR-V which I do like quite a bit and still owe some money on,  And that means that I DO NOT  drive a 15 year old Subaru and send the difference to support African orphans. Does my CR-V say anything to others about Jesus?  I wonder.  Is it possible that our lifestyle says more than we realize about how seriously we take Christ… and how seriously we can expect the world to take our message? We suggested last night that the reason that many Christians can’t even consider supporting one orphan (let alone an entire orphanage) is because we are so heavily in debt paying for things we really done need that we don’t have the money to give away for more important… and eternal… things. Paul told Timothy to teach the rich folks in Ephesus (1 Timothy 6:17-19)

17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

How are we to not be arrogant or put our trust in wealth (v. 17) and lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven (v. 19)? By doing good, being generous and sharing with others in need (v. 18). If we aren't doing that, then maybe were looking more like those rich televangelists than we'd ever like to think!

The Great Disapointment

In the same year that Alexander Campbell and Barton W. Stone merged their restoration movements, another preacher was making a name for himself on the American religious scene. His name was William Miller, and his followers were called (oddly enough) “Millerites.” Miller came to believe that Bible prophecy held the key to understanding God’s timetable for the end of the world (sound familiar at all?). Based upon the so-called “day-year principle” (“with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” see 2 Peter 3:8), Miller set the date for doomsday as October 22, 1844. He attracted quite a following—somewhere between 50,000 and 500,000 (you know how those preacher counts go). There are reports of Millerites

As you may have noticed, the world did not end, and to his credit, Miller responded publically, saying, "I confess my error, and acknowledge my disappointment; yet I still believe that the day of the Lord is near, even at the door."  The time following October 22, 1844 was known among Millerites as “The Great Disappointment.” Most of them simply disappeared, and Miller himself faded from the scene and died a few years later. Some of his followers, however, were a bit too invested in Miller’s doomsday scenario, and they modified his predictions came to form two different groups, the Seventh Day Adventists (who believe Jesus began an “investigative judgment” on October 22, 1844 when he entered the heavenly Temple to open the books) and the Jehovah’s Witnesses (who kept right on predicting the end of the world every four or so years or so right up through the 1970’s).

This week, the followers of Harold Camping are experiencing their own “Great Disappointment.” Camping first tried the “investigative judgment” route and said the date was right, but the judgment was spiritual and “invisible” and that the actual end of the world is now October 21. Later he admitted that maybe he just figured it up wrong. What he should have said was what one journalist said for him, “Ok, so I got the Apocalypse date wrong; it's not the end of the world.”

There is a lesson in here somewhere. To humbly seek the mind of God with a determination to follow what you believe to be His will is called "faith." To proclaim that you have the fully understood the mind of God and that you can speak authoritatively for Him is called "arrogance."  There really is a huge difference the two, but it is amazing how often we get faith and arrogance mixed up. We must seek the mind of God (faith) but we cannot calim limit Him or obligate Him by our understandings (arrogance).  Paul ends a pretty difficult section of Romans (which commentataries either see as a parenthetical interruption of Paul’s main point or the actual main point of the book, take your pick) with a with a doxology we really need to keep in mind—

33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?”
36 For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

Anytime we think we have the mind of God figured out (as to the end of the world, how God works in baptism, what kind of church music He prefers or any other topic), we are setting ourselves up for a Great Disappointment. In the words of the great theologian "Dirty" Harry Callahan, “A man’s got to know his limitations.”

What If Rover Is Left Behind?

This post will make better sense of you've read the one from Monday. What if Saturday, May 21 really is Judgment Day? After all, it could be, right? What if LaHaye and Jenkins are right and the church gets raptured and all the non-believers get “Left Behind?” Some prophetic (or maybe profit-ic?) genius has come up with the perfect solution to those who worry about their left-behind friends and family. For the bargain price of $14.95, you can pay a website to send emails to your non-believing loved ones after you have been raptured. According to some prophecy experts (see the definition of expert in the earlier post), the post-rapture world will be a time of both great evangelism and great tribulation. So if you are gone and you want your friends and family clued-in to what is going on, then what better way than to send them a post-apocalypric post? How does it work? According to the website

We have set up a system to send documents by the email, to the addresses you provide, 6 days after the "Rapture" of the Church. This occurs when 3 of our 5 team members scattered around the U.S fail to log in over a 3 day period. Another 3 days are given to fail safe any false triggering of the system.

Clever, huh?  Set up your account (250 MB of documents and 62 different email addresses) and you can evangelize after you've vaporized.  (OK, I'm being a wee-bit sarcastic, but I'm having trouble believing this is for real.)

But what about your pets? If you are suddenly raptured, who is going to be there to take care of your pet?  Well, you can contact a company called Eternal Earth-Bound Pets which was founded several years ago to care for pets left behind by the Rapture. For $135, this company promises to come and pick up your pets and take them to their 20-acre compound in New Hampshire and care for them. How are they going to do that for $135? The trip from New Hampshire to Virgina get our little Maltese Bella (Maggie is too old; and Marley, well buddy, you’re on your own) and transport her back to New Hampshire would cost more than $135. So why are these people willing to be left behind and care for pets so cheaply? Because owner and operator Bart Centre (why didn't he call his business “The Centre Center”) doesn’t believe in the rapture. But he is willing to honor his contracts for the 10-year period that they are valid. And he is also willing to take free money from the over-gullible.

Hey, the world could end Saturday. The world will end Saturday for about 153,000 people (that’s how many people in the world die each day according to the Population Reference Bureau's "2010 World Population Data Sheet"). After Jesus assures us that even he doesn’t know when the end will come (Matt 24:26), He tells us, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.”(Matt 24:42). The point for Christians is that we are supposed to live each day ready for Jesus to come. Each day we pray, “Maranatha,” “Come, Lord Jesus” (Rev 22:20). Yes, one day Jesus is going to come, blow His whistle and say, “Everybody out of the pool.” But people have been predicting when that day would be from earliest of Christian times. And the one thing that these end-time dates have in common is that they always had a tomorrow… and they always gave unbelievers one more reason not to take Christians seriously. If we really want to be ready for Jesus when he comes, setting up emails and taking care of pets isn’t the way to do it. Jesus says this is the way—

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ (Matthew 25:34-40)

Suing the Devil

Last year at Pepperdine, we had pie and coffee one evening with a Hollywood producer and movie actor.  Really.  We were in the cafeteria when two guys asked if they could join us, and they introduced themselves and said. "We just made a movie."  I thought they were kidding, and no one at the table said anything.  So one of the guys said, "No really, we just finished making a movie and we are looking for about $7 million for distribution and advertising.  We heard about this place and thought we'd come."  The movie they had just made was "Suing the Devil" staring veteran actors Malcom McDowell, Corbin Bernsen and Tom Seizemore. The actor we met (sorry, I have forgotten his name) is the last in a series of lawyers who represent the devil (played by McDowell) that are introduced in a segment of the trailer below.



The producers evidently had a little trouble finding the money for distribution and advertising. Many of the people who come to the lectures are either preachers or retirees, so they weren't going to get $7 million in the cafeteria that night! The film has missed several release dates earlier this year and it is currently set for release on August 26. I'm planning on going to see it... IF it ever comes out.

On Mowing the Lawn and the End of the Word

I’m thinking about waiting until next week to mow my lawn. After all, according to some pretty widely reported predictions, the end of the world is coming on May 21, 2011. And who wants to waste time mowing the lawn when the end of the world is right around the corner? So why is the world going to end on May 21? Well, it’s right there in the Bible, plain as the nose on my face (which is pretty plain).

Genesis 7:4 says, "Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made." When God says 7 days, he obviously meant both 7 days and 7000 years. I mean EVERYBODY knows that "one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."  The flood occurred in 4990 B.C. (go with me here).  So 7000 thousand years since God God destroyed the world the first time is 2011. So that’s gotta be the year. Also, the Mayan calendar ends in 2012, which shows that they were in the right ball park, but that is another conspiracy theory altogether.

So if the year is plainly 2011, then why do we know its going to be May 21? Well, there are 722,500 days between the date of the crucifixion and May 21, 2011. 722,500 is a highly significant number because it is composed of the significant numbers 5x10x17x5x10x17. Five signifies redemption; ten signifies completion; and 17 signifies heaven. The numbers represent the day of redemption (5) and the end of the Christian era (10) and the ascent to heaven (17) -- and these factors are doubled for added significance. So that proves that the world is going to end on May 21.

Well… of course, unless it doesn't. I have my own theory about the exact date for the end of the world.  I predict that Jesus will come on any day EXCEPT one that has been predicted as the end-time date by self-appointed end-time sooth-sayers who torture the text to come up with a date even though Jesus Himself warned us not to listen to people making such claims (Matt 24:23) and no one knows when the date will be (Matt 24:36). There have always been “experts” (my Dad says that the definition of “expert” is that an “ex” is a has-been and a “spurt” is a “small stream under pressure”) who knew when Jesus was coming and the only thing they have in common is that they were wrong. (See a previous blog for some examples).

Here are some more of my predictions.  I predict that I WILL cut my grass today (unless it rains or the Lord comes TODAY). I’ll predict that I will run this blog in our bulletin Sunday, the day AFTER kingdom-come (because I’m a bit of a smart aleck). And I also predict that the young lady in the picture above WILL be getting her car painted very soon.

More Mixing Ice Cream and Manure

I read an interview with Donald Trump and concerning his political aspirations… and how he combs his hair. I would like to say that this article showed great insight into the mind of a great political thinker… but I can’t. The fact that a reality-TV star can be taken seriously as a candidate for the highest office of the world’s last remaining super-power is a sad commentary on what our political process has become. In order to be elected president, one must court the cult of celebrity, so if one begins the process as celebrity (especially as the boss on Celebrity Apprentice), then so much the better. To tell you the truth, I am beginning to wonder if the quote attributed Eisenhower might be right on target, “Any man [or woman] who wants to be president is either an egomaniac or crazy.”

Eugene Peterson suggests that the world “politics” has come to mean “what politicians do” and thus the word “often carries with it undertones of displeasure and disapproval because the field offers wide scope for the use of power over others, which power is often abused.” This past week, Lynn and I were talking about one of her co-workers who goes to a church where the “pastor” is paid an insane amount of money and can do whatever he wants and never has to answer to anyone. Lynn said, “Power does often corrupt people… it’s just a good thing you don’t have any.” (I just haven’t let her in on my plan for world domination!) The word “politics” actually comes from the Greek word “polis” or “city” and represents what people do as they live together in community and work together for some common purpose. And that, Peterson suggests, is a very Biblical concept. God is working in “politics” to accomplish His will in ways that we don’t and can’t understand. We join with God in His work in the “political” process in prayer. Peterson writes,

For Christians, "political" acquires extensive biblical associations and dimensions. So rather than look for another word untainted by corruption and evil, it is important to use it just as it is so that by it we are trained to see God in the places that seem intransigent to grace. The people who warn that "religion and politics don't mix" certainly know what they are talking about. The mix has resulted in no end of ills— crusades, inquisitions, witch hunts, exploitation. All the same, God says, "Mix them." But be very careful how you mix them. The only safe way is in prayer. It is both unbiblical and unreal to divide life into the activities of religion and politics, or into the realms of sacred and profane. But how do we get them together without putting one into the unscrupulous hands of the other, politics using religion or religion using politics, when what we want is a true mixture, politics becoming religious and religion becoming political? Prayer is the only means that is adequate for the great end of getting these polarities in dynamic relation. (Where Your Treasure Is, p. 9)

We need to lose the hand-wringing and worry over what is going to become of our country and our world. If God really is God, we need to know that he has our back. God is God if President Obama is re-elected and if he is not, God is God even if the Donald becomes president. God is in control, and He listens to our prayers. It's good to remind ourselves of that occasionally. Psalm 2 begins--

Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together
against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
“Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.”
The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.

If we believe that God is on his throne, that God CAN change things and that prayer CAN change God, then the most political thing we can do is pray. (See Ezra 6:10, Jer 29:17, 1 Tim 2:2). I am reminded of the Tony Campolo quote, “Mixing politics and religion is like mixing ice cream and manure; it really doesn't affect the manure much, but it really messes up the ice cream." One great way to mix the two and improve both is through prayer!

Back From the Left Coast

Well, it is back to the old grind after our trip to the left coast.  Our  sojourn to the Pepperdine Lectures has been a highlight for the last 21 years, and we are already looking forward to next year.  But then, we really enjoy our “old grind” as well.  It's a good thing.  This past Sunday marked 31 years at Denbigh!  It was hard getting back in the swing of things, especially since I woke up this morning with a migraine.  The drugs knocked it down enough for me to come into work only 4 hours late, but they also made it a little hard to concentrate.  So if this blog is a little more goofy than usual, it’s the drugs.  I don’t know what it means if the blog is a lot better than usual!

So what happened while I was gone?  Well, Osama bin Laden is no longer on the most wanted list!  Getting bin Laden does not end the war on terror.  In fact, most people seem to think that (in the short term anyway), bin Laden’s death makes another major terrorist act more likely.  But it is hard to imagine any resolution in any form to the war on terror without bin Laden being brought to justice.

So what immediately went through your head when you heard that he had been killed?  To be honest, the first thought that I had was surprise.  I didn’t think he’d ever surface; in fact, I thought it was likely that he was already dead (there had been reports that he had cancer).  So what SHOULD Christians think or feel at the death of an “evil mastermind” like Osama bin Laden?  Well, one indication of what many of us DID think is the Bible verses that were tweeted following the announcement of his death.  According to an article on Christianity Today, the top ten Bible verses tweeted over Twitter were…

• Proverbs 24:17 "Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice."
• Psalm 138:8 "The LORD will make PERFECT the things that concern me"(KJV). (NIV: "The LORD will vindicate me; your love, LORD, endures forever—do not abandon the works of your hands.") 
• Proverbs 21:15 "When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers." (Rick Warren started this one):
• Ezekiel 33:11 "Say to them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?"
• Ezekiel 18:23 "Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?"
• Isaiah 1:18 "Come now, let us settle the matter," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."
• Proverbs 11:10 "When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices; when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy."
• Proverbs 24:18 " … or the LORD will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from them." (The popularity of this verse is due to it finishing the sentence begun by the #1 most popular verse.)
• Proverbs 24:1 "Do not envy the wicked, do not desire their company;" (probably an effort to quote Proverbs 24:17)
• Proverbs 28:5 "Evildoers do not understand what is right, but those who seek the LORD understand it fully."

So should we remind ourselves not to gloat over the death of the wicked or should we rejoice that justice has been served?  The answer is “Yes.”  All those verses are in the Bible, and they all do bear some application here.  God is a God of justice; God calls us to be people of grace.  There should be no joy when hell gains another victim.  But there is joy that “the judge of all the earth does right.”  I don’t do Twitter—too much pressure to have thoughts and remember to tweet them (I’m doing well to update my Facebook status once a week).   But if I tweeted a verse related to bin Laden, it might be Romans 13:4, “But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he [the king] does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.”  We should have faith in God’s justice, but that means that we will “leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. (Rom 12:19).

Justice will be served.  In fact, it is already being served, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness” (Rom 1:18).  We don’t gloat in it.  For one thing, we never know what it is that God is going nor how he is using the events around us to do His will.  For another thing, do we REALLY want God to bring His full justice to bear in the world… or do we want GRACE as well?  If we want grace for ourselves, then we need to leave God enough space to do His work.

Neither Super Nor Natural?

I’m enjoying teaching a class based on Francis Chan’s book Crazy Love on Wednesday nights. I’m using short clips (many of which I’ve edited to make a little shorter) of him teaching on the material. OK, I didn’t love the fact that I spent $25 buying the teaching DVD only to discover that most of it is available on YouTube for free. And I’m not sure I like how much some of my class rave over how great he is. (Last week there was an audible groan when I announced we’d run out of time and wouldn’t have time for Chan’s video). Chan was pastor of Cornerstone Church, a megachurch in Simi Valley California, until he walked away last year to travel in China working with persecuted Christians and orphans. With life change as background, it is easy to see where this article.  Here's some of the article; you can read the full article here.

Church today has become predictable, says bestselling author and influential preacher Francis Chan. "You go to a building, someone gives you a bulletin, you sit in a chair, you sing a few songs, a guy delivers maybe a polished message, maybe not, someone sings a solo, you go home," Chan says in his latest "BASIC" video.

The Crazy Love author is concerned about the big disconnect between what the church looks like today and what it looked like 2,000 years ago. "When you read the New Testament, you see the Holy Spirit was supposed to change everything so that this gathering of people who call themselves Christians had this supernatural element about them," Chan explains in the video series, produced by Flannel…

Chan observes what church looks like today and what it's supposed to look like, according to the Bible. "I heard one person say the church nowadays is neither super nor natural," he says. "Everything is predictable and everything is expected."

"There's a truth to that," he admits. "I feel bad about it. Being around a church culture, even leading a gathering of believers, I've gotten pretty good at predicting what's going to happen in a church service. Was that the way it was supposed to happen?" 

"When Jesus said this power (of the Holy Spirit) would come upon you, it really did come upon them and they were powerful beings (Jesus' disciples)," Chan points out. "Why is it that in the church so many people are weak or defeated or we get so insecure because we look at ourselves rather than God? It doesn't make sense."

Though Christians believe in an almighty and all powerful God who places His spirit in believers, the response among His people today is: "Hi, welcome to church. Here's your bulletin. We'll get you out in an hour. Come back next week. I mean, really? Is that all God intended for us?"

Neither SUPER nor NATURAL?  I have felt the same frustration he expresses here. I grew up in a church that said it was serious about restoring the New Testament church (and that said it was the only church interesting in restoring the New Testament church). But what we talked about was restoring the forms and formats of “the ancient order." But even as we stressed a cappella church music and the place of baptism in the conversion process (which Chan does a good job in this sermon clip and this clip from his Crazy Love series), I never remember hearing too much about the the radical life of New Testament Christianity.  I mean, I grew up in a church that claimed to restore the church of the book of Acts but NEVER even mentioned the Holy Spirit?  Really?

So I’m looking forward to Chan’s new series “BASIC.” I'm sure that I won’t agree with everything he will say (but then I don’t always agree with everything that I say).  And I'm sure he’ll beat me up even better than he did in Crazy Love. May God help us to be more eloquent at living out His call to be His church in the world today.

Between Doubt and Faith

I think that the apostle Thomas just needed a better publicist. OK, so he struggled a bit with believing that the resurrection of Jesus had really happened. He wasn't there the first time Jesus appeared to the apostles, and  when they told him “We have seen the Lord,” he was a little skeptical.  OK, he was a lot skeptical, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” (John 20:25). So we call him “Doubting Thomas.” We use his name to chide people anytime they are skeptical about anything, “The Redskins are going to be good this year; don’t be such a Doubting Thomas.”

Doubting Thomas? Remember when Jesus decides to return to Bethany after the death of Lazarus? Some of the apostles pointed out to Jesus that this might not be such a good strategic move, “A short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?” (John 11:8). When Jesus insists on making the dangerous trip, it was “Doubting Thomas” who speaks up and says, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” (John 11:16). That doesn’t sound like doubt, does it?

And really, can we BLAME Thomas for being skeptical about the resurrection? After all, how do we respond to people (usually interviewed in those supermarket tabloids) who claim to have seen Elvis down at the 7-11 buying a Slurpee? Didn’t Jesus himself warn the apostles about false claims about people seeing Him? (See Matt 24:4). And don’t forget-- Peter and ALL the apostles doubted when the women first came to them with the report of the empty tomb, “But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense” (Luke 24:11). No one calls Peter “Doubting Peter.” But here Thomas does what all the rest of the apostle did when told about the resurrection, and he is forever known as “Doubting Thomas.”

The story of Thomas in John 20 doesn’t end with his doubt-- it ends with his faith. Jesus appears and offers “Doubting Thomas” exactly what he had said he wanted—“Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe” (John 20:27). We don't know if he really put his fingers in the scars, but he did believe.  The last words recorded from Thomas in scripture are these, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28). The strongest and clearest words of worship and praise given to Jesus from human lips in all of scripture comes from the man we call “Doubting Thomas.” Yep, he needed a better publicist.

The power of the resurrection transformed “Doubting Thomas” in “Worshipping Thomas.” And that power of the resurrection can transform us as well. The resurrection is not just a doctrine to believe, it is the source of power in our spiritual lives. Paul said, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.” The same power that raised Jesus from the dead also gives us spiritual life and eternal life forever.

His Love Endures Forever

I recently finished reading Rob Bell’s new (and controversial) book Love Wins. When I say “controversial,” that is really an understatement. Before the release of the book, Twitter and the Blogosphere lit up with condemnations and denunciations because Bell (an influential preacher) seemed to be suggesting that hell would be empty and that everyone would be saved. (The theological term for this view is “Universalism”). For many Christians, the very suggestion of such an idea is heretical, and Bell was written up and written out by many because of the book.

To tell you the truth, I was disappointed, not by Bell's conclusions, but because I was left without a really good grasp of why he held them.  Or maybe, what I really wanted was a couple of chapters showing how texts like 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 fit into his thesis that eventually at the end of the final day, love wins and God has his way so that none shall perish but all come to repentance. I really liked a lot of the book, but as they say—“The devil is in the details.”  I wanted to see how he worked out some of those details.  Roger is reading it now; if you have any questions about it, ask him.

Haven't we have all struggled at times with understanding how a loving and gracious God could condemn people to everlasting torment in an unending hell? We had visitor one Sunday who was returning home after the funeral of a beloved uncle and who had stopped at Denbigh for church. She described how loving and giving her uncle had been and all the good works he had done to care for people and better his community. She then said, “It is such a shame that he had to go to hell because he was a Baptist and was so wrong on baptism.” Yikes! Any deviation from the "gospel" truth is enough to condemn?  And that's good news?  There is a great quote on the back cover of Bell’s book that says this--

“God loves us. God offers us everlasting life by grace, freely, through no merit on our part. Unless you do not respond in the right way. Then God will torture you forever in hell.” Huh?

OK, maybe I’m the only one (except Rob Bell) who has ever struggled with that question. What about people who never hear the gospel (OUR fault more than theirs)? What about honest and honorable people who love God as they know Him and seek to follow Him as they best understand Him but have just been misinformed about some issues of doctrine? That describes a lot of people, doesn't it? Actually, that describes ALL people to some point! How do we believe in a God of love and mercy who is also a God of vengeance and destruction?

 Well, the historical way to do that is quite simple-- you make sure the God of love and mercy is FOR YOU and the God of vengeance and destruction is AGAINST THEM. That was the technique of the Pharisees and the hard-shell Calvinist. God loves us (holy Jews, the elect) and God created them (Gentiles, non-elect) so he’d have enough fuel to keep hell burning for eternity. You might see how this idea might not play in postmodern Peoria. In fact, this image of the hating God (so graphically advertised by those Westboro idiots  and their signs) is perhaps the single major reason why so many Gen-X and Gen-Y people are rejecting the whole idea of Jesus and His gospel today. Those are the folks to whom Bell is writing. I don’t know that he is right; I do hope he get their attention and focus it on Jesus long enough for them to see Him.

But while I was reading Bell (and many of his critics and apologists), I was also reading the Bible. In fact, nothing gets in the way of theology quite like reading the Bible. The Bible seems to have no problem whatsoever in laying paradoxical images right beside each other without attempting to reconcile them. Our reading for today (readings that go along with our theme for Sunday) is from Psalm 136 that unashamedly gives thanks to God because his love endures forever—

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever. (136:1-3)

God is glorified because of his creation (136:4-9) and his protection of Israel (136:10-22). The psalm ends with a doxology that praises God for His care and mercy (136:23-26). After every single point is made about the glory of God, the creation of God, and the protection of God of His people, the refrain is repeated over and over in every verse, “His love endures forever.” I know that “His love endures forever” isn’t exactly “love wins,” but I think the psalmist and Mr. Bell could sit down and have a cup of coffee together. Except that right in the middle of this ballad of God’s love is the proclamation of his judgment on His enemies.

To him who struck down great kings, His love endures forever.and killed mighty kings— His love endures forever.
Sihon king of the Amorites, His love endures forever.
and Og king of Bashan— His love endures forever. (139:17-20)

God has enemies. God’s enemies don’t fare too well in the end (although they may seem to fare well for short amount of time). No one in scripture talks more about the love of God than does this Psalmist, but God’s love is presented with something of an edge. It always is. I am reminded of a quote I ran across years ago from P. T. Forsyth--

“God is love” is not the whole of the gospel. Love is not evangelical till it has dealt with holy law. In the midst of the rainbow is a throne.

I just read a great article in the current issue of Christianity Today by Linda Falter entitled, “A Beautiful Anger.” (sorry, no link; CT wants to be paid before you to read their stuff).  On the other hand, Richard Beck (a professor at ACU) argues quite eloquently for Christian Universalism on his Experimental Theology blog. (You'll have to scroll back through his blog for more in this series).  I thought I had other things to say here, but it is Wednesday and I want to have some things to say in my class tonight. Let me end this already too long blog with a quote from Patrick Mead on Tentpegs

And when I get to heaven … if I happen to look up and see every single person there who ever lived on earth — I will not feel cheated or lied to. I will rejoice and there will be no voice louder in praise and joy in all of heaven than mine. For who could fail to praise a God who loved that much?

When You Are As Mad as... Turn to Heaven

Think about the last time that you got really, really angry. Someone cut you off in traffic or cut in front of you in the checkout line. Maybe someone at work took credit for something that was really your idea. Or maybe you were watching either CNN or FOX News and that blowhard news person that you really can’t stand (take your pick) said something that was really, really dumb. You maybe it was your spouse or parent of child who said or did something that was extremely insensitive or hurtful. I don’t know what it was that real got you torqued, but chances are that you don’t have to look too far back in time to find a time when that happened.

Now, that did you do? How did you handle your anger? Most of us aren’t like Mr. Spock who finds emotions illogical. No, when we get mad, we become illogical. We often say or do things that we normally wouldn't. It is no accident that the term we usually use for being insanely angry is the same term that was meant to just be insane—mad.

So what is the best thing to do when you go insane with anger? Paul tells us as Christians that while we will become angry, we are not to sin in our anger… and we are not to hold onto our anger (see Eph 4:26). OK, that is good (and inspired) advice. So HOW do we do that. Frankly, some of us are wired to explode into anger more readily than are others. I remember the funeral of my Uncle Randolph where his kids, closest friends and co-workers all said, “I never saw him lose his temper or even get particularly angry.” I hope my kids and friends will say some nice things at my funeral, but THAT won’t be one of them. Most of us are going to get angry… so what are we supposed to do?

According to a research team which included Ohio State University communications and psychology professor Brad Bushman, one of the very best things you can do when you are very angry is to pray. The researchers found “that people who pray when they are angry feel less angry, behave less aggressively and are less likely to think that others are out to get them.” The group performed three different series of tests (using college student s as their guinea pigs) and all three studies indicated that prayer “has the power to quell anger.” Of course, the researchers did not attribute the power of prayer to God answering prayers; they found that the process of prayer itself helped people reinterpret what made them angry in the first place. Hey, God works through prayer in many ways; the point it, He works.

Next time someone or something really ticks you off—pray. Pray for God to soften your heart and fill it with the grace He gives. Pray for the person that has made you angry. After all, Jesus said “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:44) and “Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:28). Pray for those suffering from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and Christians suffering persecution in the Middle East (that may help to put your anger in perspective). We need to pray continually (1 Thess 5:17), but maybe especially when we are angry.

Harbingers of the End-Time or Opportunities to Help?

A recent poll (done by Public Religion Research Institute and Religion News Service) found that nearly six in ten evangelicals (a term always open interpretation) believe that recent natural disasters are signs from God that point to the coming end-time. By comparison, only about one-third of Catholics and mainline Protestants see natural disasters are signs from God. About half believe that natural disasters are the result of God’s judgment and punishment. You may recall that last year, Pat Robertson suggested that the horrific earthquake in Haiti was God’s curse on the country for its history of voodoo. (Robertson made similar remarks about Katrina and God’s punishment for abortion). I haven’t heard of any church leaders baling the Japan disaster as punishment from God.

Can God use natural disasters to punish his people and give them opportunity to repent? The message of the prophet Joes was an impending horde of locusts that would punish Israel for her corporate sons. The plagues on Egypt were a series of natural disasters that were God’s judgment on the various deities of Egypt. The difference in these Biblical examples of natural and the modern disasters in Japan, Haiti and the Gulf Coast is that in the former case, we have the commentary of inspired Bible writers telling us what it is that God is doing. Mr. Robertson, I’ve read Moses and Amos’ I’ve studies Moses and Amos. And Mr. Robertson, you neither Moses nor Amos! To presume to speak for God in what God is doing in the world today is the height of arrogance.

The message for the church in earthquake and tsunami ravaged Japan is precisely the message that millions of God’s people are getting. Here is an opportunity for the people for God to heal hurting people , to model the love of Jesus Christ and in the process to share the good news and the world sees that we are Christians through our love for others.

You can be a part of the ongoing relief efforts in Japan being done by our fellowship by giving to Healing Hands International.

Some Heavy Thoughts

And article on CNN Health yesterday entitled Frequent Churchgoers Frequently Fatter reports on  research that suggests that religiously active people (those who attended church once or more each week) are more likely than their non-religious counterparts to be obese. In fact, regular religious involvement almost doubles the risk of obesity compared with those who don’t go to church at all. That linkseems clear; what isn’t so clear is WHY church folks are so much more likely to more hefty than non-church folks.

My response was, “Sure... it’s all those potlucks!” And that really is a big part of the problem— church potlucks, small group dinners, prayer breakfasts, and the variety of setting for table fellowship. An old joke has as its punchline that our best know religious symbol is the casserole dish.  Erik Christensen of St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Chicago is quoted in the article as saying, “There's certainly a church culture around eating. What I see among congregants in their 20s and 30s is they are very fit and what I see among congregants in their 50s and 60s is disproportionate obesity." So the longer you stay in church, the more pounds you pack on. Christensen goes on to say that the virtual disappearance of church sponsored softball, basketball and volleyball leagues adds to the fact that active church members are no longer so physically active.

Another possible explanation is marriage. I gained 15 pounds the first 6 weeks I was married after I moving from Gano Cafeteria at FHC to Lynn's home-cooking (she was already an accomplished cook when we married). Kenneth F. Ferraro of the Center on Aging and the Life Course at Purdue University suggests that “weight gain is common after marriage and that marriage is highly valued in most religious groups. Thus, one wonders if the results could be partially due to religious people being more likely to get married earlier and then gaining weight." I like that explanation better than blaming the whole thing on church potlucks.

It is a bit surprising that the church has not been more active in addressing the issue of obesity. For years we preached against things like cigarette smoking and social drinking from the perspective that these are harmful to the body which is the temple of the Holy Spirit. It is becoming undeniably clear that obesity is one of the major health concerns in our society, the cause of all kinds of deadly things from heart disease to diabetes. And yet not only does the church say nothing about this danger, but we allow church to add to the problem.

An illustration from the article. One church wanted to get involved in helping to deal with the growing problem of childhood obesity. They called a meeting to discuss ways to help with this issue… with a potluck supper to start things off!  Maybe we should have fewer church feasts and more church fasts?

Lame Opinions

I remember Bruce Jackson telling the story of a man who came to be a leader in a church largely because everyone always thought that he agreed with them. He was actually an accomplished politician much like the one my Dad likes to tell about who says, “I have friends on one side of this issue and friends on the other side… and I always stand by my friends!” This guy lived by that credo. But there came an issue that needed resolution, and an emergency meeting convened. After arguments pro and con, a vote was called, “All in favor stand up!” This brother squatted uncomfortably in a half-crouch! He wanted it both ways.

The whole nation of Israel was that guy during “the days of Elijah.” Israel wanted to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Queen Jezebel made the worship of God a little problematic by killing all the prophets of God she could get her hands upon, but Israel still had warm feelings for the God of their ancestors. But then there was this Phoenician fertility god named Baal who promised to make their land, their flocks and herds, and their wives, and they wanted to worship him as well. They were in a half-crouch between God and Baal; if they were uncomfortable in that awkward position, you would never know it by looking.

Well, these were the days of Elijah, and he came along to stir things up in 1 Kings 18 (our Bible reading for today). Elijah confronted Ahab with a little proposition, “Let’s have a little contest to see just who really is the true God.” So they gathered the entire nation together on Mount Carmel for the ultimate game of survivor. Elijah throws down the gauntlet in verse 21--

Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing.

The NCV  frames the question as, “How long will you not decide between two choices?” The NRSV puts it “How long will you go limping with two different opinions?” That image is helpful, I think.  Israel had been crippled by their indecision; having two opinions was really lame. Elijah wants to force their hand and demand that they choose which god is truly God.

But no one said anything. No one would commit themselves one way or the other. No loudmouth in the crowd screamed, “Baal, Baal, he’s our god; if he can’t do then put us in the sod!” And no one was willing incur the wrath of Jezebel by saying, “The LORD is God; besides him there is no other” (Dt 4:35). They just stood there in a half-crouch saying nothing! A blurb in Reader’s Digest once said, “Pity the person with no opinion for they will go through life with no bumper sticker.” Well, Israel had no bumper sticker for their chariots. No one had an opinion. Or they shared both opinions. No one was saying anything. It was better to have it both ways that to make a choice either way.

Does that sound familiar at all? We live in a culture with competing and contradictory truth systems, each claiming to be valid. We live in an age when many believe at the same time that nothing is ultimately true and that everything is equally true. For many the only absolute truth is that there is no absolute truth. Christianity once enjoyed a favored status in our culture. The Bible was seen as “The Good Book” even if everyone didn’t try to live by it. Today, Christianity is seen as just one among many truth systems in a crowded marketplace of ideas. And frankly, it is easier to get along in our world if you just accept that some of your friends believe in God and other friends don’t believe in God… and then always stand by your friends. It is easier to just waver between two opinions.

In 2002, I took a graduate seminar class under John Warwick Montgomery, the noted theologian and apologist. He suggested in that class that liberal and fundamentalist churches have responded to the post-Christian, postmodern world that sees everything as equally true and nothing as objectively true in radically and entirely different ways.

• Liberal churches say, “If you can’t beat ‘em, then join ‘em.” They accept the philosophic presuppositions of the culture and dismiss the contrary parts of the Bible as myth and legend. They dress up social change and politics in religious ritual, and they differ from the secular world only in their religious vocabulary. This version of faith is so very thin that there is little to pass on the next generation.
  
• Fundamentalist churches tended to say, “If you can’t beat ‘em, then withdraw from them.” The secular world is such a threat to their faith that they insulate themselves from that world. Their kids go to Christian schools or are home-schooled in a “safe” environment. They socialize only with members of their church. They listen to Christian music, read Christian books and go to Christian movies. Their points of contact with the world “out there” are as limited as they can make it. They have circled the wagons to protect the faith that they live largely in a vacuum. But, Montgomery suggests, that kind of faith is usually pretty fragile and soon crumbles if it is exposed to the outside world.

Montgomery suggests that the right response (in other words, his response) is not either “If you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em” or “If you can’t beat ‘em, withdraw” but rather to just “Beat ‘em!” We are to live the truth of the gospel without compromise or apology. We are to preach the gospel as true. We are to be ready to give reasons why we believe it to be true (see 1 Peter 3:15). And we are to point to Jesus as the way, the truth and the life… and the only way, truth and life!

We can’t have it both ways. If Jesus is Lord, then he is the only Lord. If He isn’t, then we’re just wasting our time with all this church stuff. To live between these two opinions is just lame.

Live Like You Were Dying

The song running through my head right now is Please Mr. Postman... except in my head, it's "Please Mr. FedEx-Man (or "FedEx-Person"). According to Mr. Jobs and the FedEx tracking site, my new iPad is on the truck out to be delivered. Well, it's not a new iPad-- it's actually a refurbished old iPad that was marked down $150 to get rid of it to make room for the iPad2. I could have gotten one of those, but it would be worldly and ridiculous to spend that much money on a new something I really don't need. It just seems somehow more holy to spend $150 less on an old something that I really don't need. At any rate, here's the song that should be playing in my head--



The song is Tim McGraw's "Live Like You Were Dying." That is the point of the Bible class I'm teaching tonight (based on chapter 2 of Francis Chan's book Crazy Love). You see, once we understand who God really is (our last lesson), then we need to understand that today may be the day that we meet Him. In other words, we need to live like we were dying. In McGraw's song, he is talking to a man that found out in his forties that he just might be dying. So McGraw asks, "How’s it hit you when you get that kind of news? Man whatcha do?" The chorus is the dying man's answer and the point of the song--

An' he said: "I went sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,
I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.
And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,
And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying."
An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,
To live like you were dyin'."

The man sees it as a blessing to know that he's dying, because that allows him to live more like
he was meant to live. Well, not that he was necessarily meant to go mountain climbing, ride a bull named Fu Man Chu, or jump out of a perfectly good airplane. It changed him in more important ways as well.

He said "I was finally the husband That most the time I wasn’t.
An' I became a friend a friend would like to have.
And all of a sudden goin' fishin’ wasn’t such an imposition,
And I went three times that year I lost my Dad.
Well, I finally read the Good Book and I took a good long hard look,
At what I'd do if I could do it all again."

So the secret to living is really living like we know we are dying. There's something that rings true there. David says this in Psalm 39:4-5

4 “Show me, LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days;
let me know how fleeting my life is.
5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
the span of my years is as nothing before you.
Everyone is but a breath,even those who seem secure.

If we really see that we are dying, that should change how we live. If we know that our days are numbered, then maybe we'd use the time we have left doing things more even important than rising bulls or jumping out of airplanes... or sitting around waiting for the FedEx-Person. My Dad used to quote Eccl. 9:10 ("Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might") as if to say "Whatever is worth doing is worth doing well." That text has a much finer edge on it if you complete the author's thought, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom." In order words, whatever you do, do it now because now may be all the time you have left. Live like you were dying.

To quote Forrest Gump, "That's all I have to say about that." Excuse me while I go look outside one more time... I think I just heard a truck!"

If You Can't Say Something Nice...

“God said it. I believe it. That settles it.” I remember that being pounded into me when I was a college student being taught to take the words of scripture both literally and seriously. The Bible and the Bible alone was the rule of faith and practice for Christians. To be faithful to God, one had to “read and study and then obey the B-I-B-L-E.” as the old children’s song declares. And, by the way, I still believe that.

The problem is that we tend to be pretty selective of the part of the Bible where “God said it, I believe it, and that settles it.” Jesus said a lot of things that makes us pretty nervous, and we tend to come up with explanations as to why what He said really wasn't what He said. Surely he doesn't expect us to sell all that we have and give it to the poor… like he said to the Rich Young Ruler. Surely he doesn't want us to give away our jacket when someone tries to take away our shirt… like Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. And when Jesus tells us to love our enemies, surely He doesn't expect us to take that literally.

So maybe when God says it, that doesn't always settle it? I was reading an article by Catholic priest James Martin who suggests that Christians today really need to take Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:22 much more seriously. To refresh your memory, this verse reads--

But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

When I was a kid calling a playmate “Dummy!” was OK; I got into only slight trouble if I called them an “Idiot!” But if I called them a “Fool,” then all the vengeance of heaven would come down upon me (in the person of my parents) because “Fool” was the very thing that Jesus said not to say. Personally, I was never tempted to say “Raca” to someone, but sometimes “Fool” seemed particularly like a relevant commentary on someone’s comments or behavior.  What is Jesus saying here?

The word “Raca” is generally explained in the footnotes of our Bibles as “an Aramiac expression of contempt.” The word literally meant “empty headed” or “fool.” Well of “Raca” meant “fool” when why did Jesus use the Greek word for "fool" in his very next line? Maybe it's not the particular words we choose that Jesus is trying to get us to change; maybe Jesus just doesn't want us using words of contempt in our speech at all. In fact that is EXACTLY what Jesus is saying. The question is, “Do we believe it and does that settle it?”

Communication in what is supposedly the “communication age” has gotten progressively less and less polite and more and more disrespectful. I don’t listen to cable news or talk radio anymore because I've grown so tired of supposed “pundits” shouting at each other and calling each other names. (OK, I also don’t watch cable news anymore because we don’t have cable, but that is beside the point). Is it possible to disagree with someone and be respectful at the same time? What is more, isn’t that exactly what Jesus tells us to do? Let me just end my tirade against tirades by quoting a section from Martin’s piece--

It's especially important to hear Jesus's words in our digital age, when snarky blogs, terrible texting, snotty Facebook posts and mean-spirited Tweets zip around the Web and cause serious harm. And it's essential to hear in our 24/7-radio-shockjock-TV-talkshow-endless-gabfest age, when the easiest way to get people to tune into your show is to call someone else a jerk, or worse. "Fool," raca, is probably the mildest of imprecations that you've heard lately.

That goes for Christians speaking about other Christians, believers speaking about other believers, and anyone else with whom we disagree on religious matters. Take a look at any opinionated religious blog, on the right and the left, and you'll see all manner of terrible name-calling -- again, much worse than raca.

We ignore the invitation to practice personal charity, to treat one another with respect, to give people the benefit of the doubt, to avoid name-calling, to curb our tongues and to simply be kind, at our peril. And this is not simply feel-good religion. It's not simply wishy-washy niceness. It's not an excuse to avoid tough conversations. It is at the heart of the Christian life.

Speaking charitably about others is a simple thing, but hard to do. Trust me, I've engaged in this kind of trash talk myself from time to time. I gossip. I may even call people names, like "fool," behind their backs. It's a terrible thing to do.

How do we know this? Jesus tells us in no uncertain terms. So don't overlook this overlooked passage, which contains a word that we can be certain comes to us directly from the lips of Jesus. Listen to his words and allow them to change yours.

My New Bible

For the first time since 1982, I am switching Bibles. Actually, I staying with the Holy Bible; I am just changing English translations.  Two years into my preaching career I noticed that I spent a lot of my sermon time explaining the various nuances and personality quirks of the KJV, so I started preaching and teaching from the NIV.  I still used the KJV (actually I still thought in KJV) and the NASB in my study, but the Bible I read from in class and the pulpit was the NIV. I took some flack from my KJV-only preaching buddies, and one area preacher wrote us off as an unfaithful church when we bought a case of NIV pew Bibles. (This was the same guy that kept a tally of every time the speaker at our men’s retreat “perverted the word of God” by reading from a non-KJV Bible. When I told him that the speaker was teaching from a Greek text and translating on the fly, he said, “Well if he’s smart enough to do that, he should be smart enough to use the KJV.” You think I’m making that up, but I'm not!)

The NIV was updated and revised in 1984, which meant the little pocket NT I used in preaching was slightly different in places from the whole Bible I used in study and class. (Fortunately, our pew Bibles were bought after the revision and that saved some trouble). Today I use multiple translations in my computer study Bible— the NIV, NASB, ESV, NET, NLT, and KJV all open automatically and I have 15 or so more I can open if I need them. But the NIV has been my main teaching and preaching text for almost 30 years.

But this Sunday all that will change. My new main English version is (cue the trumpet blast)… the NIV!!! (cue the applause). OK, perhaps some explanation is needed here. A new revision of the NIV was released online at Biblegateway.com last October and is now available in print form.  I received my pre-ordered $14 thinline bonded-leather NIV (2011) from Amazon yesterday... too bad the print is so small that I can’t actually read it. Logos Bible Research (my computer Bible folks) sent me a free update to my computer Bible this morning, so my total expense for the upgrade to the new NIV is $14! Not bad. (Of course, to get the  links to all the Greek and Hebrew tools in the new version, I have to pay $289.75… which is 3/4 of the iPad. I still haven’t bought. Those links work just fine in the ESV.)

So what do I get for $14? I don’t want to do a full review of the NIV(2011) because it’s Wednesday, and I really need to be working on my class for tonight. Patrick Mead did a good job introducing the NIV(2011) in his Tentpegs blog last week, (To steal a line from Jim McQuiggen, “Everyone should be forced to read Patrick’s blog… if they want to.”) Also, here are the translator’s notes on the NIV revision.

In my computer Bible anyway, new version of the NIV is known as “NIV” and the old NIV is now NIV1984. So when I quote from the NIV and it sounds different from your NIV, that’s because you are hopeless out of date and I am way cool.

Just Fine

“Just fine.” How many times do you hear that on Sunday mornings? You ask, “So, how you doing?” And (almost) everyone answers, “Just fine.” OK, there is the occasional person who looks at you, raises an eyebrow and asks, “You really want to know?” (And do we?).  But most people are “Just fine.” You may personally greet 50 different people (you can’t really talk to everyone) and everyone is “Just fine.” What are the chances of that? Just about zero!  No one is doing “just fine” all the time, and that means that no one is always “just fine” every Sunday morning. Now we might answer the question “How you doing?” with “Compared to what?” Compared to the homeless person with no teeth that I met begging in the Wal-Mart parking lot yesterday, I really am doing "Just fine."  But we all struggle with things, right? Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble…” And we do.  And sometimes, we're not doing "Just fine: at all!

Barbara Crafton tells of meeting a Christian young man at a restaurant who was very obliviously not doing just fine. He was struggling with some deep emotional and psychological issues, but when she suggested he see a therapist, he said, “I could never witness to anybody again if I were in therapy. I'd feel like a fraud.” Faith should make all of our problems go away, right? The joy of the Lord should overwhelm all depression and emotional issues right? Crafton suggests that many think that the gospel is “supposed to be a happy tale.”

Although you're allowed many trials along the way, it must end up with your accepting Christ, and then things are supposed to be all right with you. You're not supposed to be hopeless and want to die. There's not a lot of room in this narrative for despair, so people committed to it who find themselves staring despair in the face tend to keep that fact to themselves.

Is there any room in the life of a Christian for depression? Isn’t the struggle with depression sign that one’s faith is defective, ineffective or at the very least weak? Is the believer who prays to and worships God but who also struggles with depression or emotional issues really, like this young man assumed, a fraud and hypocrite?

No! Most of us will go through difficult situations and struggles that will lead to “situational depression.” Others will suffer through chemical imbalances that (unless God chooses to work a healing miracle) that will not be praised or prayed away, no matter how genuine a person’s faith may be. Pick up the Bible and read the laments in Psalms and the words of Jeremiah (one of his books is entitled “Lamentations?”). Read the story of Elijah and his dark cave of despair (1 Kings 19). Read the book of Revelation and ask yourself how “happy-clappy” the first readers of this book must have been. Faith helps us “walk through the valley of the shadow of death” (“Even though I walk through the darkest valley,” NIV2011). But there will be dark valleys. And we should not suppose that faith has failed because I don’t feel just fine at the moment!

Church should be a safe place for those struggling with feelings of loneliness, depression and despair. But sometimes we make such people feel worse because of the implication that if people had the right faith, they wouldn’t feel that way—they would be “Just fine” like the rest of us! Well, Isaiah said that the Messiah would be “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” It just seems to me that it should be OK for His followers to feel the same way at times as well.

It's Good to Have Things Like This...

I remember the first time I used PowerPoint in making a presentation to an area preacher’s meeting years ago (it must have been years ago because we haven’t one in years). After my presentation, one of my (alleged and so-called) friends said, “Well, I guess if you can’t preach, it’s good to have something like that.” That was an accusation of the worst kind… a true one! Yesterday I used not one but two YouTube clips in my sermon (if you can't preach, it's good to have things like that). And most of the comments I received were about the clips and not about the sermon. Since people asked about them, I thought I’d post them here to make them easier to find.

The first clip is of “excessive celebration” during a ping pong competition. (Notice carefully the zoom-in on the scorer’s table at the end of the match.) The point of the clip is that most of us don’t have to worry about being flagged for excessive celebration during our worship before God. Getting carried away in the joy of the Lord isn’t really our biggest problem. You can watch the clip here (the embed code was disabled for this one).

The second clip come from the Tyler Perry feel good flick “Daddy’s Little Girls.” (Tressa brought it over for me to watch while I was recovering after my surgery). This is the story of a hard-working guy named Monty who tried hard to do right thing raising his three girls alone and dreaming of owning his own auto repair shop. His life comes apart when he loses custody of his girls to his ex-wife, who is the mistress of a drug-dealer and a truly horrible influence on the girls. The harder he tries to do the right thing, the more his life falls apart. He is about to give up when he goes to church and hears a word from God. OK, I know the actor who plays the preacher here is “Bishop” Eddie Long who has become just a bit controversial as of late, and I certainly don’t recommend everything he preaches. (Hey, I don’t even recommend everything that I have preached). But what he says in this movie sermon spoke to me and I think it spoke to some of our folks as well. (Again, I showed a much shorter version of this clip).



We sang twice as many songs yesterday as usual (most of them only one verse) and they all had to do with the joy of the Lord.  Sometimes we sing those songs because our hearts are bursting with the joy of the Lord. But sometimes we sing those songs because we desperately want to be reminded of the joy of the Lord that seems to be temporarily overshadowed by struggles and hardships and pain. Sometimes we rejoice because we know God’s joy; sometimes we must rejoice because we know that we will know it again if we hold on to our hope and refuse to give up or give in.  Either way, we need to sings those songs of joy!

Reflections on Joy

I'm preaching this Sunday morning on joy. A couple of things struck me as I was reading some of the many texts in the Bible that stress joy. First, joy is never really and encouraged suggested like, "You just need to try to be more joyful." Joy is COMMANDED. Paul says, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" You can almost see Paul here as a drill sergeant barking orders, "Rejoice in Lord always; I'll say it again, 'Get some joy!'" That's a command. That sounds way too much like my Dad saying, "You will eat your Brussels sprouts and you will like them." (I ate them, and they weren't bad!). Can you really command someone to be joyful. God evidently things so!

Second, joy is often spoken of along side times of pain, struggle and loss. Jesus promised that the apostles that despite the difficulty of the coming cross, their joy would restored in Him, "So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy" (John 16:22). The example Jesus uses is that of having a baby (John 16:21). There is great pain in childbirth, but then that pain is overwhelmed by joy when the baby is held in the mother's arms. So sometimes we must go through great sorrow, but that sorrow cannot overwhelm our joy. Jesus says, "Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete" (John 16:24).

Jesus wants us to know that joy and sorrow are never completely incompatible. Our faith that God is working in our struggle in ways that we don't understand at the moment means that we can know His joy even in the middle of the storm. He doesn't always stop the rain, but He always assures us that He is there with us. Because He is with us and assures us that He will make our joy complete, we can praise Him in the storm.

If You Can Read This... It Doesn't Apply to You

I just read an interesting blog post by Greg Boyd at his Christus Victor site entitled "Baby Universalism and Reasonable Infanticide."  I have filed this in my "Things I Have Never Really Thought About and Am Now Confused About" file... which is a huge file indeed.  His basic question is that if our free will choice to accept God's love and grace is so important (or else why didn't God create us incapable of not loving and obeying Him), then why do we assume that those who die before they can make that choice (i.e. infants) go straight to God without ever having to choose Him?  Boyd suggests that while this view is assumed by most people today, it has not been the common view held throughout much of church history.  He furthers asks if all babies go to heaven, then why not just kill them before they have a chance to reject God and go to hell?  (Some have evidently argued that point at some point in the past; we call such people "nuts").  Read his blog and tell me what you think.  Boyd wonders if infants or children who die before they can choose God in this life are not given some chance to choose in the next life.  The Bible is silent here, and that may be our best response as well.

But the point for you is (as my title here suggests), if you can read this, then you can make your choice and are held responsible for it.

The Force That's With Us

I must admit that my Super Bowl Party this year was a bit quieter than usual. I was worn out after my first day back at church after my surgery, and just didn't feel up to being at the church building for our annual Denbigh Super Bowl blow-out. (I assume that a local news crew did not cover us this year like they did the last time the Steelers were at the Big Dance because they thought Mike Tomlin had attended Denbigh Church of Christ as a kid rather than Denbigh High School next door). I did doze through parts of the first half (sorta like the Steelers seemed to) but then thoroughly enjoyed the game and even was pleased with the outcome.

 But the game was the only good part of the game... IMHO. The commercials were just not all that funny, and some were just totally inappropriate. Why don't advertisers remember that the Super Bowl is a family thing? (Lynn assumed that GoDaddy.com is a porn site rather than a web-hosting sight because of their advertising!)  And I chose to miss the half-time show, which from what I've read was a good decision.  And frankly, I wasn't nearly as upset at Christina Aguilera flubbing the national anthem as I was impressed that she got back on track so quickly!

There was one great commercial that was both funny AND came with a great spiritual reminder. It starred a pint-sized Darth Vader trying to use the power of the force to no avail until...



The pint-sized Darth Vader thought that his own power had caused the Passat the start. Of course, the real force that started it was his father (with his cool new VW autostart remote). And that is so much like us, isn't it? We think that our accomplishments, successes and possessions come because of our own abilities, talents and nose-to-the-grindstone work ethic. Sure, God does very often seem to help those who help themselves. He wants us to work hard, not just to bless ourselves and our families, but to be able to share with others in need (Eph. 4:28). We are to work hard at our work as if we were serving God and not just men... or ourselves (Col. 3:23-24).

But the force that allows us to work and succeed and bless others is from God himself. We may think the force is us, but our Father is behind us with the real power to bless us. Every good thing we have is a gift from our Father of lights (James 1:17). When we throw a light switch, the lights come on, but the real power is generated somewhere else. When we work to provide for our family, the power to earn and be blessed really comes from somewhere and Someone else. And we should always give thanks to Him. Moses gave Israel this warning as she prepared to enter into the Promised Land (Duet 7:17-18)--

You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

Ecclesiastes further tells us that not only does God give us possessions, He also gives us the ability to enjoy both our work and the possessions we have, "Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God." (Eccl 5:19).

We are the little kid pretending to be Darth Vader thinking we have the power. Thank God that we have a Father behind us who is holding the remote!

More on Forgiveness

Yesterday I completed a short sermon series on our responsibility as disciples of Jesus to forgive others who sin against us.  I started the sermon with the following video and quote from Mary Karen Read, one of the victims of the Virgina Tech Massacre.

This struggle of forgiveness was made even more poignant when a sister and good friend came forward asking for prayers in dealing with the struggle for forgiveness for an act ever bit as heinous as that committed in Blacksburg, only smaller in scope.  The message of Matthew 18 is clear-- in order for us to be forgiven, we must be willing to forgive.  To refuse to forgive others is to fail to recognize all that God has forgiven in us.

Forgiveness like this makes no earthly sense, because it comes from above.  Corrie ten Boom was confronted with being asked to forgive one of the guards that had tormented her while in a Nazi death camp.  She tried to take his hand, but her arm would not move; her heart was filled with such anger, resentment and hatred for this man that represented what had killed her family. She writes this--

Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him. I tried to smile, I struggled to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer. Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me Your forgiveness.

As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me.

And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world’s healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself.