A Special Kind of Love

{Hebrews 6:9-12; ISV}

Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case, things that point to salvation. For God is not so unjust as to forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have ministered to the saints and continue to minister to them. But we want each of you to continue to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to give full assurance to your hope. Then, instead of being lazy, you will become imitators of those who are inheriting the promises through faith and patience.

The central command of the Christian faith is love. Love is what sets us apart from the world and makes us beacons of light in the dark world. If we are going to be lights in the world we need to love.

In this passage we notice the writer of Hebrews encourages his readers to love their fellow Christians. It is through this love, he says, that we demonstrate our love for God. I find it very interesting that he states that we are to “minister to the saints”. After all shouldn’t we love everyone equally?

This is a valid question since we have been taught that God loves the world. I have no doubt that God loves everyone and He desires them all to be saved. The Bible tells us this much. The Bible is also very clear that we are to love other Christians first and foremost. So does this present us with a contradiction?

Perhaps we can find the answer by looking at our lives. A teacher can love all the kids in her classroom, but the love she has for her students pales in comparison to the love she has for her own children. A guy can love all his friends and buddies, but that love is nothing compared to the love he has for his wife. The fact that God loves the Church differently, and expects us to love other Christians differently, doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love the rest of the world, but simply points out the special relationship that the Church, and thus the Christian, has with God.

Remember that Jesus didn’t die for just a person, but Jesus died for a people. Jesus died for the Church, and that makes us very special to Him. We are God’s Children and we are the Bride of Christ and those two realities indicate that we have a special relationship with God.

This might seem unfair to those who are not Christians, but the reality is that when Christians love each other then that makes that Church very attractive. One of the reason the Church grows during times of persecution is because the outside world can witness the love Christians have for each other in time of suffering. Everyone desires that type of love. The world is a hard place filled with rejection and heartache. So many people are searching for a place to belong and place to be loved no matter who they are or what they have done. By loving each other, rather than bickering and fighting with each other, the Church becomes a place of hope in a land of hopelessness.

It also appears from this passage that by loving each other we grow spiritually. The best way we grow in our faith is by applying the truth of Scripture to our lives in the context of service and obedience. It is the experience of life that helps us understand that we can trust Jesus with our lives. Plus, when we are able to do things with other Christians because we enjoy their company and have their best interest at heart we begin to develop the heart of God. We desire the things God desires and we become spiritually sharp and full of passion.

It is by having this heart of God beating in our chests which helps us down the road of becoming the people God created us to be. When we care about the things He cares about we become a little more like Him. The people of faith of old were set apart because they had this heart. They were willing to sacrifice in order to do what God wanted them to do, because they wanted the same thing God wanted.

In our quest to become more like the people God wants us to be we have to start loving other people, first other Christians, and then the people around us. This is how we learn what is most important to God and allow that truth to become part of our hearts.

Has Capitalism Failed?

It is no secret that our country, the entire world for that matter, is experiencing economic turmoil. Is this turmoil brought about by the greed of capitalism? Take some time to read Dr. Ron Paul's thought on the subject.

As the government takes over more and more functions of the economy many see the rise of socialism as an antidote to this failure of “capitalism.” However, the fact remains that our economy has been increasingly running on debt, not capital. Capitalism does not exist without capital and debt is not, has never been and will never be a form of capital. Only now are we seeing the more dire implications of an economy without capital.

Capitalism without Capital

Education and Democracy

The representative democracy that we enjoy in the United States requires two things from the voting population. First, it requires morality. The people who vote must have a code of ethics which informs their sense of right and wrong. This isn’t really about having a particular religious affiliation, though I believe that helps, as much as having solid world view that influences the way you live. If you ask me this is something that is lacking from our society as a whole. People do what they want to do, not because they have reasoned things out, but because it seems to be the best idea at the moment. The world view of many people in culture is contradictory and ill-thought out. This is a topic for another day.

The second thing our Republic requires from the voting populace is education. People must be knowledgeable about the foundation of our government (the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution), informed about how government is supposed to operate, and have an understanding of the present day issues.

Not only does our voting populace lack the fundamental morality needed for our government to be successful (we are moved too easily by emotion), we also lack the proper education that is required to properly maintain our Republic. Am I ripping the American public? You bet I am, just as I rip the American church for not valuing holiness. You see the fatal flaw in our government is not in the Constitution, rather it is in the reality that government depends on the people, and the people have ignored their responsibility. The responsibility we have ignored is the need for us to be educated about the government. The result is that we have a government that doesn’t pay attention to the Constitution (The Patriot Act and the Bailout are just two examples), and we have a public which is clamoring for more government aid and intervention.

We are poorly educated in this country. That doesn’t mean we are not schooled. The percentage of people who have finished high school and hold college degrees shows us that we are a nation that has gone to school. In the process of all this schooling we have learned very little that is of any value. It should be amazing to all of us that with our technology, our sophisticated teaching styles, and the billions of dollars given to schools that we are so poorly educated. Yet, we don’t even give it a second thought. The result of all of this is the loss of our liberty and ultimately our country.

Screwtape Proposes a Toast is an essay by C. S. Lewis in which he uses the demon Screwtape, made famous by The Screwtape Letters, to comment on the strategies Hell uses to keep people from repentance. The setting of the essay is the annual banquet for young devils as they graduate from Tempter’s College. Screwtape is the the guest of honor and is speaking to the young devils. The senior devil, Screwtape, has just finished explaining that they must confuse the word democracy so people come to believe that it means “I am as good as you” regardless of people's behavior or achievements. Screwtape goes on to say:

“For ‘democracy’ or the ‘democratic spirit’ (diabolical sense) leads to a nation without great men, a nation of subliterates, full of the cocksurreness which flattery breeds on ignorance, and quick to snarl or whimper at the first hint of criticism. And that is what Hell wishes every democratic people to be.” (The World’s Last Night, p. 67)

When I read that paragraph I couldn’t help but see it as a fitting description of the United States. We are a nation of subliterates. Sure we can read, but we don’t read. We are a nation that is cocky and sure, and so we don’t take the time educate ourselves they way we should. We think we are informed because we listen to talk radio or watch CNN at night! We are ignorant because we have ignored history, not only the study of history, but also reading the writings of the great individuals from history (this also applies to the church). Think about the reaction people have when their ideas or beliefs are questioned. Often times they are quick to reply with a vicious attack or they go off to find a sympathetic ear to explain how people are being mean to them.

I still find reasons to have hope. One reason there is hope is because of home schooling and private schools. In the essay Lewis, talking through Screwtape, explains that this lack of education is due to state run schools. Parents, challenge your children, help them to be disciplined in their study, and make them readers. I think this is so vitally important.

Another reason for hope is because we can choose to become educated. Throughout history many of the great men and women were self-educated. We don’t have to waste thousands of dollars on a college degree. If we have the discipline we can read and study on our own and gain the knowledge that we need. This will also provide a wonderful example for our children to follow.

A third reason for hope is because the American Church is waking up to the reality her members aren’t growing. I am hopeful that the Church will encourage Christians to be disciplined in reading and studying, so they will have a solid foundation upon which to build their faith. It is this discipline which teaches us to think and how to apply our world view to our lives. What matters most is not what we read and study, but that we are reading and studying. If the Church can encourage her members to read and study Christian material that will ultimately benefit society as a whole.

The preservation of our Republic depends, not on a nation that has been to school, but on men and women who have been disciplined enough to become educated. Education, unlike school, is not something we are forced to do, but something we choose to do. In the end education will make us a benefit, rather than a drain, on society.

Guaranteeing Rights and Losing Liberty

One of the purposes of law, at least in our society, is to make everything fair. We want to see people treated equally and fairly, but the reality is that law cannot do that. What happens is that as law tries to compensate by guaranteeing the rights of one group it begins to infringe on the rights of another group. Consider this example taken from Philip Howard’s book The Death of Common Sense:

Handing out rights like land grants has become the preferred method of staking out a place for those who feel disadvantaged. Lawmakers and courts, confronted with evidence of past abuses, scramble over each other to define and take credit for handing out new rights. When refused entry to a movie because his two-year-old son might disturb the other patrons, Rolando Acosta, then deputy commissioner of New York City’s Human Rights Commission, had an easy fix; the commission ruled that banning children was age discrimination.” (p.117)

In granting a right to Mr. Acosta and his son, the rights of paying movie goers was infringed on. Sure this might not be a huge deal, but when we start to apply this principle to other areas of our lives we begin to see that it has some dramatic and costly effects.

Here is an example of what could happen with this emphasis on rights. Suppose the federal government goes ahead and grants homosexual couples the right to be married (as if our rights come from the government, but that is another issue for another day), and a homosexual couple comes to me and asks me to marry them. I refuse, based on my right of religious freedom (since my religion identifies homosexuality as a sin and marriage to be between a man and a woman). This couple then sues me and the church because we have infringed on their right to be married. How does the court decide that case? Whatever the court rules someone’s rights will be said to have been infringed on.

We live in a culture where individual rights are the most important thing. The problem is that the greatest good is not the individual right, but what is best for society at large. The rights of an individual shouldn’t trump the good of the community. While similar sentiments can be offered to justify communism, that is hardly what I am advocating. Because there are some basic individual rights, given to us by our Creator, that are essential for the good of the community. This is precisely why the Bill of Rights was a necessary addition to the Constitution, individual liberty is needed for the community to thrive. It is good for the community for the individual to be free, but that freedom shouldn’t take away from the rights of other people. That is why my right of free speech has limits to it: slander and libel. It is good that I am able to speak my mind, but that should never come at the cost of someone’s reputation.

C. S. Lewis in his essay Screwtape Proposes a Toast has the senior demon giving a speech to young demons. This is one of the points Screwtape makes:

“Democracy is the word with which you must lead them by the nose. The good work which our philological experts have already done in the corruption of human language makes it unnecessary to warn you that they should never be allowed to give this word a clear and definable meaning. They won’t. It will never occur to them that Democracy is properly the name of a political system, even a system of voting, and that this has only the most remote and tenuous connection with what you are trying to sell them. Nor of course must they ever be allowed to raise Aristotle’s question: whether ‘democratic behaviour’ means the behaviour that democracies like or the behaviour that will preserve a democracy. For if they did, it could hardly fail to occur to them that these need not be the same.” (pp. 59, 60; The World’s Last Night)

Individual liberty is the basis of democracy, and so we want to make sure that everyone has their share of “rights”. The problem is that you cannot guarantee the rights of one group of people without infringing on the rights of another group of people. So while it seems to be the heart of democracy to make sure everyone is treated equally, the reality is that by guaranteeing special rights to certain groups and individuals we are bringing about the end of democracy and liberty.

No One Like Him

{Mark 1:21-28; ESV}

And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God. But Jesus rebuked him, saying, Be silent, and come out of him! And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him. And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

Living two thousand years after Jesus and in a totally different culture it is easy to miss just how amazing and different Jesus appeared to those who saw and listened to Him. Sure we see Jesus as special, but He isn’t the radical and the pioneer that His original audience saw Him to be.

The validation for the teachings of the scribes and rabbis of Jesus’ day were found in the traditional teachings of Judaism. They would constantly refer back to what the teachers of old had to say. While there is a lot to commend about this practice, for it reminds us that those who have gone before us had wisdom, it can also lead us not to look at Scripture in a new and fresh way.

Jesus came preaching and teaching, and the people were impressed. They weren’t impressed with His scholarship, sought validation for His teachings in the teachers of the past, but with His authority. He taught and His teaching carried with it personal authority, as if He knew the meaning of the text, without the aid of the wisdom of the ages. Jesus was able to teach with authority, because He knew the true meaning of the text, and so He was able to teach the truth of it rather than someone’s interpretation of it.

There were exorcists in Jesus’ day. To deal with unclean spirits they used elaborate prayers, chants, and special instruments. There was a certain ritual that had to be followed if a person was going to be free from the harassment of a demon,

Jesus comes along and He confronts demons. He doesn’t resort to some ritual, but He simply speaks and the demon leaves. There is something about Jesus which compels the demons to obey. Jesus has authority even over the dark forces found in this world.

The Jews of Jesus’ day, if they heard His teaching and witnessed His miracles, understood that He was not an ordinary man. They recognized that Jesus was a man of authority, and so many people labeled Him as a prophet, a man chosen and used by God.

On this side of the resurrection we recognize that Jesus’ authority came from the reality that He is in fact God in flesh. That His authority of the text was the fact that He was God’s Word incarnate and that His authority of demons was due to the reality of being the Son of God. The authority of Jesus is evidence that He was more than a good teacher, but that He was the Promised One. There is no one that can match His authority of Scripture or over the spiritual world. With that thought in mind I want to leave you with this question: Do you recognize Jesus’ authority in your life?

Paul's Ponderings Presidential Endorsement

This has been an interesting presidential election season. It began for me a year ago as I started looking at the Republican candidates. I was very disappointed with the offering to say the least, then my brother told me to check out Ron Paul, and I did. It is no secret that through the caucuses and primaries I supported Congressman Paul, but his campaign didn’t amount to much (aside from raising money). That means I was stuck with two options: Senator McCain and Senator Obama. The problem is that the principles of following the Constitution, liberty, and limited government that I had grown found of because of Ron Paul’s campaign are nonexistent in the policy of either mainstream candidate. There was a time, centered around Senator McCain’s pick of Governor Palin, that I thought I would go ahead and vote for Senator McCain, but when it came down to it I knew that he is pro-big government. His vote for the bailout confirmed my decision not to vote for the lesser of two evils.

This meant that I had to find a new candidate to endorse. I thought for a time of writing in Ron Paul, but after checking out my options I decided that I would vote for Chuck Baldwin. Paul’s Ponderings is proud to support Chuck Baldwin for president. I know that there isn’t a chance of him being elected, but I have come to understand that it is best vote based on your principles rather than on party affiliation.

I know it seems like I am wasting my vote, but I want to ask you; “How will things every change if we keep doing the same thing we have always done.” Both Democrats and Republicans complain about the condition of our country, but who has been in power? It is insane to put the very people with the same ideas that have been ruining this country back into power. My vote is part protest vote and part principle vote, but it is not a wasted vote.

Go check out Chuck Baldwin and then ask yourself this question: “Who lines up better with my principles: Chuck Baldwin, Barrack Obama, or John McCain?” If Chuck Baldwin lines up better with what you believe in and you still vote for party affiliation I would say it is your vote that is wasted.

The Self-Examined Life

{1 Corinthians 11:27-32; ESV}
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

A week ago I received in the mail a notice from the city code enforcement that I need to trim some bushes. These lilac bushes are on the far east side of the property and the backside of them faces an alley. The issue was that some of the branches began to hang over the alley, which of course is a problem for people who use the alley, which include garbage trucks and snowplows.

Until I received the notice I did not realize there was a problem. Since those bushes face away from the house, and since I don’t use that alley, I was unaware of what had happened. I neglected my responsibility of taking care of the property.

As I spent the next day trimming the lilac bushes I thought about the fact that I do the same thing with my heart. I don’t examine it, and the result is that I don’t know what is taking root and branching out. This means I am not caring for my heart: nurturing the good and pruning the bad, like I should. This means that my heart is often a tangled mess of good intentions and evil desires and so I am unable to understand who I really am.

I believe that God wants us to examine our hearts. One of the purposes of communion is to provide us with an opportunity to examine our hearts and lives. This self-examination, according the the apostle Paul, is one of the requirements of properly participating in the Lord’s Supper. Communion gives us the chance, not only to remember the sacrifice of Jesus, but also to recommit our lives to Him.

What the Apostle tells us in this passage is that by not examining our hearts we become weak and ill. The reason we become sick is because we don’t understand what is happening in our hearts. We become oblivious to the temptation, to the deception, and to the dreams that are taking root there. These things, because they are fertilized by the world, will grow and grow, and eventually push out our commitment to Jesus. Spiritual maturity requires constant attention: the nurture of truth and the weeding of lies.

The examination of our hearts is essential to spiritual growth. If we are not pay attention to what is happening in our hearts then we will allow Satan to regain a foothold in our lives. By not being vigilant we pay the price and ultimately we fall way from Jesus.

Take some time this week and examine your heart. Are you dedicated to Jesus? What temptations lurk in your life? Is the love you feel in your heart for God seen in the life that you live? If you are interested in spiritual growth then self-examination is a must.

Being Respected

There is a great responsibility that goes along with declaring we are Followers of Christ. It puts us under the microscope and either validates or refutes the message we love we have received for God. This is why it is very important that we are intentional in the way we live. Consider what the apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 1:20; as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death (ESV).

Paul tells us that we have to be concerned about our image as well as the message we offer through the way we live. The perceptions of other people matter. Sure we cannot ultimately control how other people view us, but there are steps we can take to put our best foot forward.

First we have to be concerned about not doing anything that causes us shame. The apostle Paul was concerned about this. He was public figure and people knew what he stood for, and so Paul wanted to make sure he didn't do anything that would cause him shame (which would bring shame to Jesus as well) and lose the respect of people. We need to be conscious about the words we use and the things we do. Remember we might not think doing this or that is a big deal, but by our participation in it might cause others to lose respect for us.

Second we have to have a code of ethic to live by. If we don't have standards (a code of ethic) then we will find ourselves in a position where we get caught up in the situation and we will make decisions based on what seems best at the moment. Often times the people others respect are those that stand by their convictions when the going gets tough. A person of conviction will stand out from the crowd.

Third we need to be bold. Courage is essential if we are going to stand apart for the crowd. It isn't easy being different because we feel so alone and vulnerable. That is one reason why people have a hard time breaking free from the influence of the world. It is important to remember that respect doesn't come by being like everyone else, but it comes from having the courage to be different. Why is that so? I believe it is because many people want to be people of convictions, but they don't have the courage to separate themselves from the world. Respect is giving to those that do.

Being respected is very important if we are going to make an impact this world. When we are respected by others then they will listen to what we have to say and follow where we lead. Respect is a precious commodity, are you making sure you are holding on to yours?

The Cost of Paperwork

Do you wonder why medical care is so expensive? Consider what Philip Howard wrote in The Death of Common Sense. Talking about all the paperwork that comes with governmental regulations Howard writes:

The medical care industry is the hardest hit. Everything—every aspirin, every simple lab test—requires that a form be filled out. How else, the theory goes, can we assure that everything is in order? But hospitals now spend on the order of 25 percent of their budget of administration, mainly to comply with these procedural requirements. The machines that bind the forms at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City can no longer accommodate an average patient file. In the middle of a medical care crisis, it is unsettling to consider all the time spent by doctors, nurses, and staff on paperwork. Supposedly, the goal is to make sure that money isn’t squandered, but the process itself squanders the money. Forty percent of all doctors say they would not choose the profession again, the main reason being “the ‘hassle factor’—the growing levels of paperwork.” (pp. 93-94)

One of the things that is absolutely killing the United States is regulation. It increases the cost and reduces the quality. Medical care and education are two examples that we are able to encounter on a regular basis. The more government gets involved, the worse off we will be.

Jesus for President

Who is Jesus? That is an important question for us to answer. In this presidential election it will help us remember what is really important and who we really can trust. Dr. Mark Moore, a professor of New Testament at Ozark Christian College, has this wonderful sermon on the Lordship of Christ Jesus: Jesus for President.

To Die For

In my sermon series on the seven letters to the seven churches found in Revelation 1-3 I am on letter number 2, the letter to the church at Smyrna (Revelation 2:8-11). The church at Smyrna was being persecuted severely. It appears that this persecution dealt with discrimination, extreme and life threatening poverty, as well as imprisonment and death. Through all this hardship the Christians in Smyrna remained faithful. Even though they had been through a lot, Jesus urges them to remain faithful, because more is on the way.

Persecution, life threatening persecution, is not something that we have to face in the United States. We may be discriminated against at time, but the reality is that persecution is not one of the weapons Satan has leveled at us as a whole. In some ways it is very easy to be a Christian in the United States.

It is so easy to be a Christian that it could be argued that the vast majority of “Christians” in the United States are simply church goers and not true Disciples of Christ Jesus. Ministers are looking at their congregations and realizing that they are failing in the discipleship process. I know I am. That is why what Craig Keener wrote in his commentary on Revelation intrigued me so much. Dr. Keener writes:

“If we have not prepared ourselves and our congregations to die for Christ’s name if necessary, we have not completed our responsibility of preparing disciples (Mark 8:34-38). Like Daniel and his friends, we prepare best for more strenuous future tests by passing the ones we are given in the present. But when we remain faithful in the face of rejection and persecution, Jesus promises us a reward far greater than the power and status our oppressors now enjoy.” (p. 121; The NIV Application Commentary: Revelation)

Wow! That adds another level to our evaluation of our discipleship ministry. We are happy if a person comes to worship, gives, and serves somewhere in the ministry of the church an hour a week. That isn’t discipleship. True disciples are willing to die for Jesus. How many in our church families are willing to do that? How many of us are willing to die for Christ Jesus?

Mark 8:34-38 reads:

34 Then Jesus called the crowd to himself along with his disciples and said to them, “If anyone wants to follow me, he must deny himself, pick up his cross, and follow me continually. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel will save it. 36 For what profit will a person have if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? 37 Indeed, what can a person give in exchange for his life? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes with the holy angels in his Father's glory.” (ISV)

This all starts with our personal commitment, for we cannot call people or lead people further than we are willing to go ourselves. Take some time today and ponder this question: Am I willing to die the death of a martyr? That is the type of faith Jesus expects us to have.

Teaching Respect for Life

I would like you to take a moment and consider something Congressman Ron Paul wrote about abortion.

Let us remember, though, that the law can do only so much. The law isn’t what allowed abortion; abortions where already being done in the 1960s against the law. The courts came along and conformed to the social and moral changes that were taking place in society. Law reflects the morality of the people. Ultimately, law or no law, it is going to be up to us as parents, as clergy, and as citizens—in the way we raise our children, how we interact and talk with our friends and neighbors, and the good example we give—to bring about changes to our culture toward greater respect for life. (Ron Paul, The Revolution, p. 61)

Dr. Paul tells us that law reflects the morality of the people. If that is true then what is most important: changing the law or changing the culture? I think we need to remember that law has its limits, because if we don’t then law become an unbearable tyrant that is ineffective. You cannot pass enough laws to change the morality of people. That change is a personal choice.

So one limit of law is that it will not change people. It might reduce the behavior, but the heart of the person is the same. Those willing to end a life because of convenience will still do so if given the opportunity. Their heart isn’t changed because of the law, they have to be persuaded that life matters. The Church has a responsibility of letting people know that human life is to be respected, regardless if abortion is legal or illegal.

A second limit of law is that law doesn’t put an end to illegal behaviors. What law does do is that it criminalizes certain behavior, it takes away public monetary support, and it makes access to certain things more difficult. Even though these things are illegal there is still the opportunity out there to do them. This is plainly seen with illegal drugs. It is a criminalized behavior, that is not supported by our tax money, but people still know how to get a hold of them.

What I want to do is to remind us that what is most important is not the law, but the message that we have to take to the world. As the Church is able to influence and impact the world the number of abortions will decrease, even if it is never again made illegal. We should never see this as just a political fight, but we should recognize it as part of making disciples and teaching people the love God has for people, all people, even those yet to be born.

The Right Example

The way we live our lives is very much determined by the examples we have had in life. This is why parents are so influential parts of our lives. They give us an example, which is so much more influential than their teaching, to live by. If they are good examples then we have a positive model to follow, but if they are bad examples then we are faced with overcoming the negative model they have provided for us.

Just as parents provide us with an example on how we are to live life, so does God provide us with an example for how He expects us to live. The apostle Paul wrote:

Follow God’s example in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love for others, following the example of Christ, who loved you and gave himself as a sacrifice to take away your sins. And God was pleased, because that sacrifice was like a sweet perfume to him. (Ephesians 5:1-2, NLT)

The Apostle tells us that we are to follow God’s example, and that example is personified in Jesus Christ. Jesus represents God perfectly and He shows us how God would live if He was confined to a body. This is the example that we are to follow.

But how do we follow the example of Jesus? There is only a small group of people that were able to witness the way Jesus lived His daily life, but we are not part of that group. It is one thing to follow the example of our parents who raised us, but it is another thing to follow the example of a man who walked this earth 2,000 years ago. How do we do it?

There are two important actions that we must be part of our lives if we are going to follow Jesus. In the absence of Jesus physically walking with us we have to be away of the tools He has left behind so we can follow where He leads.

The first action that we must do is that we must be students of the Bible. The apostle John wrote: I write this to you who believe in the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life (1 John 5:13; NLT). Reading through 1 John you realize that John emphasis is to explain how Jesus lived. John is writing so that we might know how we live this new life, this eternal life, that we have received from Jesus because of His death and resurrection.

The entire Bible is useful for helping us understand how Jesus lived and how we can follow His example. The Old Testament is full of stories of people of faith and how they lived their lives. It also contains God’s Law that He wanted His people to live by. The Gospels are the record of how Jesus lived, the book of Acts is a record of how His first followers lived, and the rest of the New Testament explains how we can make Jesus’ example the model for our lives.

The second action is observing the lives of mature christians. That is why the apostle Paul wrote; And you should follow my example, just as I follow Christ’s (1 Corinthians 11:1; NLT). Paul had experience in following the example of Jesus, and thus he became a live example of what it means to follow Jesus. While his readers may not be able to see Jesus, they could see Paul and how he lived.

From reading biographies of men and women of faith to spending time with mature Christ Followers we are able to see how Jesus would respond to the challenges that we face everyday. These people help flesh out the words of Jesus and we can begin to understand how we should live our lives.

How we live our lives is influenced greatly by the examples of living that we have had. God wants us to follow His example as seen in His Son Jesus. It is when we start to follow Jesus that we begin to see how life is really meant to be lived.

Can the Polls Be Trusted?

Here is an interesting post about polls. This is a little taste:

So, could I be wrong? I have to be honest and admit that I could. But in that case, we'd have to ask why the polls do not generally agree with each other, why Gallup is trying to spin three different models at the same time to get a grasp of the picture, why McCain and Obama are both so interested in Pennsylvania, yet neither is working very hard in Ohio right now. We'd have to explain why McCain-Palin rallies are now attracting thousands more people than Obama-Biden rallies, why Letterman suddenly found it cool to have McCain on his show and SNL decided they wanted Palin on theirs. We'd have to explain why there are not a lot of Obama signs visible, but we hear about his army of lawyers getting ready. We'd have to explain why McCain and Palin appear to be so relaxed while Obama and Biden look like they're worried.

Something to consider.

So This is what the Pot said to the Kettle

Here we have Keith Olbermann (the pot) calling various Republicans (the kettle) black. I laughed and laughed as I watched this. The self-righteousness of Olbermann blinding him from the reality that he was doing the very same thing he was criticizing the Republicans for doing. Maybe if I paid attention more to the liberal media I would find this whole election process far more entertaining.

Let me explain to Mr. Olbermann why the liberal political class is anti-America: they don't follow the Constitution. Our country is falling down around us, and we totally ignore the foundation on which it is built. If that is not anti-America I don't know what is.

That being said the Republicans for all their talk about being pro-America and country first aren't any better. In fact under a Republican President we have seen the Constitution literally ignored and personal liberty taken away. The Republicans are just as anti-America as the Democrats, they just do it in a more Patriotic way.

The problem is that neither side realizes it. Why? They don't realize it because they are doing all of this for the common good; they tell themselves they are helping America. They have come to believe in the innate goodness of their agendas and policies. Neither party is out to destroy America, but that is what they are doing. We have to look no further than the economy to see this happening. Good intentions by politicians and political parties are not enough. Real hope for America is found in returning to the Constitution (plus, it wouldn't hurt for the Church to actually be the Church).

What Matters is What God Has Revealed

Over the weekend I followed a discussion about the humanity of Jesus on Scot McKnight's blog Jesus Creed. The discussion began with Scot recommending a book that focused on the human side of Jesus. The fact that Jesus was man who lived at a specific time in history is something that is very important for us who follow Him, for it is His example, how He lived, that helps provides direction for our lives (as well as His teaching and the teachings of His disciples which make up the New Testament).

As I read through the comments that formed the discussion two things bothered me. The first thing that bothered me was the declaration of a couple of the commentators that most Christians don't think about the humanity of Jesus. We love to make blanket statements, especially if we can escape being covered by them. These type of comments imply that because we do contemplate the humanity of Jesus we are better than other people. Besides that how do we know people don't think about it? It is impossible to read the Gospels and not get the sense that Jesus was indeed a man. I think what most people have trouble with, and the reason it maybe isn't talked about, is because it is hard to contemplate the humanity and divinity of Jesus. I don't know about you, but that is something I continue to wrestle with (not that I don't believe it, but how is it possible and what does it mean).

But what really got me thinking was this comment:

Bob, “Did Jesus curse like a Phoenician sailor when he smashed his thumb with a hammer? Did Jesus have eyes for the ladies? For the men? Boxers or briefs?”

Are you being sarcastic? Because I think these are legitimate questions. Maybe not boxers or briefs (he wore a seamless garment, right?), but certainly the way Jesus dealt with sexuality, anger, and pain should teach us a lot with how we are to deal with those things. (Comment #9)

The reason why this statement bothered me is because it implies that we don't have information to really follow Jesus. As I have pondered this statement this is the question I kept coming back to: "What would Jesus struggle, or lack of struggle, teach me about sexuality that I don't already know?" Part of the fallacy of this thinking is that because Jesus was a guy and I am a guy then He struggled with the same things that I struggle with. We don't know if Jesus struggled with his sexuality, the Bible doesn't tell us, and therefore it isn't very relevant as we follow Jesus. What is relevant is His teaching on the subject. Maybe if we spent more time studying and meditating on His teachings His humanity wouldn't seem to be the missing piece of the puzzle.

What is more valuable than knowing more about Jesus' humanity? I think there are two realities that are more valuable to our lives as disciples than knowing more about Jesus' humanity.

The first reality is the presence of the Holy Spirit. Think about what Jesus said the night He was betrayed concerning the Holy Spirit: "However, I am telling you the truth. It is for your advantage that I am going away, for if I do not go away the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you" (John 16:7; ISV). Jesus said it was for the disciples benefit that He leave and the Holy Spirit comes. I realize there are a couple of layers to what Jesus is saying here, but one thing is that Holy Spirit in our hearts is more important to our spiritual maturity than Jesus continued physical presence on the earth. Spiritual maturity isn't the result of observing how Jesus handled His life in the flesh, but it is about listening to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will teach us the truth that we need to grow.

The second reality is when the New Testament writers wanted to encourage people they pointed the struggling people to the Glorified Christ. Hebrews 12:2 is such an example:.. looking off to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of the faith, who, in view of the joy set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (ISV). When we are going through struggles we need to have hope. That is what focusing on the Risen Christ gives us. It reminds us that although this life is a struggle there is something better that awaits us.

In our journey of faith, as we follow Jesus, we shouldn't be distracted by things God hasn't revealed to us, such as the questions we have about Jesus' humanity, but instead we should focus on what we do have: the leading of the Holy Spirit and the truth of the Risen Savior.

Maybe We Aren't Following the Constitution

I want to share with you this thought from Congressman Ron Paul. In his book The Revolution: A Manifesto Dr. Paul wrote:

If our government were scrupulously faithful to the Constitution, we would not need to be especially concerned when a person who represents a philosophy different from our own takes political office. Our Constitution delegates relatively few tasks to the federal government, so it should almost be a matter of indifference who is elected. We wouldn't have to worry that a social policy of which we disapproved would be imposed on our neighborhood at the whim of the new president and his court appointees, or that more of our money would be stolen to fund yet another government boondoggle. And we would also be spared the spectacle of countless American individuals and corporations frantically donating to candidates for political office during election years in order to reserve a place on the federal gravy train if their favorite should win. (p. 66)

As we look at the current presidential election we discover Republicans who are terrified at the thought of Senator Obama being elected president. They fear his nomination of liberal activist judges will dominate the moral climate in our country for the next generation. They also fear that his huge massive government social programs will increase the tax burden and bring our country closer towards socialism.

The Democrats fear a Senator McCain presidency because they believe he will be just like President Bush. They believe that he will give tax cuts to the rich, but do nothing for the middle class. They believe that he will continue to leave us in Iraq and perhaps get us involved in another war.

The reason that presidential elections continue to be the "most important" election of our life time is because we allowed the president to have too much power and we have gone away from the Constitution, which is the law of the land.

Not So Cool

Randy Alcorn has a well-thought-out post about Senator Obama and his stance on abortion. This is part of what Randy had to say:

A year and a half ago, when I first heard about Barack Obama, I got excited. I really wanted to support him. An evangelical Christian told me Obama was prolife. I didn’t care that Obama was a Democrat. I wanted a pro-life, pro-environment, pro-racial equality president who took seriously our need to care for the poor and defend the needy.

Granted, I also wanted someone who wasn’t a New Age anti-industry activist with a “Meat is Murder” bumper sticker. I wanted someone who is committed to national defense, but knows when not to go on offense. I wanted someone who doesn’t hear every Douglas fir screaming when it’s cut down.

But, frankly, I relished the opportunity to show I wasn’t a lockstep Republican. I was, and still am, tired of the Pat Robertson sort of Republicanism that supported proabortion-Republican-who-publicly-cheated-on-his-wife Rudy Giuliani because he's the only guy who could beat Hillary. (This was a non-prophetic endorsement on too many levels to count.)

That Barack Obama is an African-American was a real plus to me, and not for superficial reasons. I believed it could help further the vision of Martin Luther King in my favorite speech of the modern era, in which he said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” I get tears in my eyes just hearing that speech in my head.

I want to encourage you to finish reading what Randy Alcorn wrote: Not Cool.

It Isn't So Scary

I have a dog named Barkley. Barkley is an 11-month-old rat terrier and I have had him for 9-months. One of the reasons I got Barkley is because I like to walk and I wanted to have a walking companion. Rat terriers need the exercise of long walks (we walk between 3 and 6 miles a day) and they are small dogs so they don’t take up half the house. Barkley is everything I was looking for in a dog.

Yesterday while we were out walking we walked past one of the many Storm Lake parks. This park has a little section devoted to memorials: World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War all have little stone monuments, about the size of a tomb stone. As we walked past the World War II memorial Barkley started to growl, at first I couldn’t figure out what he was growling at, and then I noticed he was staring straight at this stone. I began to lead him over to the stone, and he arches his back and digs in because he doesn’t want to go, and so I drag him over to it as he hides behind me. Eventually he starts to sniff around it and he realizes that it isn’t a threat at all.

The biggest obstacle I face in walking with Jesus is fear. I am a coward. There is a long list of things I am afraid of (amazingly public speaking isn’t one of them, it is one of my passions) from one on one conversations to managing money. Fear keeps me from living the life that God created me to live and it keeps me from really enjoying life.

I was thinking how nice it would be if I had someone who would walk with me and show me that my fears aren’t all that scary. You see, intellectually I know that, but get myself to believe it is another thing. I need the experience to show me that it isn’t scary. It is this reason I think mentoring is so vital for the disciple of Jesus, so we can have someone who walks alongside of us as we face the scary things of life.

Vote for the Guy with a Calm Demeanor

I am so tired of the presidential election. Do people just lose their common sense when it comes to their candidate? Take this for example: Senator Obama's calm demeanor is the product of his deep spirituality.

It seems to me that BO could not maintain this unshakeable calm were he not an exceptionally grounded, centered, and spiritual person.

First of all what does it mean that Senator Obama is a spiritual person? Let us remember being spiritual is not synonymous with being a Christian (a Christ Follower). So it doesn't impress me that he might be a spiritual person, after all Oprah is a spiritual person and I think she is dangerous.

Second is the reality that a calm demeanor is product of many different things. I am for the most part a calm guy. I remember a time in college when guys messed up stuff in my room just to see me get angry, because they never had seen me lose my cool (which I didn't then either, partly because I knew what they were up to). I attribute my calmness to my personality more than my spirituality. So it is by no means an indicator of a spiritual person.

Third, it is a superficial reason to support a candidate for president (I realize that Tony Jones has other reasons for supporting Senator Obama). Shouldn't we support a candidate based on his/her agenda? That is why I am not supporting Senator Obama or Senator McCain, I think they are both equally bad for the United States, because of their big government solutions.

"Hey, I am supporting the guy with the calm demeanor!" No wonder our country is in trouble.

A couple more thoughts I had about the calm demeanor of Senator Obama while I was walking my dog. If Roger Hedgecock is right, perhaps Senator Obama's demeanor masks a passive-aggressive bent that people wouldn't want to cross.

During the primaries Governor Mitt Romney was running on the Republican side of things and I think people would look at Governor Romney as a calm, got-it-together type of guy. My problem with Governor Romney was I never felt like I could trust him, he seemed to be a snake oil salesman. I get the same feeling from Senator Obama. So perhaps his calm demeanor comes from the fact that he is running a con?

The Church's First Love

The book of Revelation begins with seven letters to seven churches from the Lord Jesus Christ. These letters contain both praise and reprimand to these churches. The first letter is addressed to the church family in Ephesus, and what we discover is a model for church families everywhere, except they were missing a very important element of what being the church is all about.

1 “To the messenger of the church in Ephesus, write:
‘The one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands, says this:

2 ‘I know your works, your toil, and your endurance. I also know that you cannot tolerate evil people. You have tested those who call themselves apostles, but are not, and have found them to be false. 3 You have endured and suffered because of my name, yet you have not grown weary. 4 However, I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Therefore, remember how far you have fallen. Repent, and do the works you did at first. If you don't, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 But this is to your credit: You hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

7 ‘Let the person who has an ear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To everyone who conquers I will give the privilege of eating from the tree of life that is in the paradise of God.’” (Revelation 2:1-7; ISV)

The Ephesians were lacking love, more specifically they were lacking love for Christ Jesus. Here was a church family that had functioning ministries which kept people busy, they stood their ground as they were persecuted, and they did not tolerate false teachings, but they had lost their love for Jesus.

I have been pondering this reality today, because it is hard for me to get my head around the fact that here was a “model” church family, even by today’s standards, but they were in danger of losing their place in God’s Kingdom. Their lampstand would be removed if they didn’t repent and return to Jesus. Here is what I find difficult to understand: why does a church family do all these things if it isn’t out of love for Jesus?

Here is what I have come up with: these Christians were more loyal to the church than they were in love with Jesus. I see this reality in so many struggling church families. Their passion isn’t so much Jesus as it is to keep the church building doors open. Tradition and comfort is what motivates them, not love for God or love for people. They are busy, they demand to be taught the Bible, and they constantly express a desire to see the church grow, but their love for God is superficial at best.

I think the same thing can be said for large, mega-churches as well. They might have a growing attendances and well functioning ministries, but it is all done in a very corporate or business like manner that love for Jesus is pushed aside. They maybe church families look to as models, but Jesus looks on them in a very different way.

How can we make sure we love Jesus? Remember Jesus told the Ephesians that they needed to repent and to those things they did at first, so Jesus was telling them to work up an emotion in their heart, but instead to choose to do the right things. Here are three actions I think will help us hold on to our first love, both as individuals and as church families:

1. Keep our eyes on Jesus. I believe that our preaching and teaching need to constantly refer people back to Jesus. We need to remember Jesus isn’t just a piece of Christian doctrine, but He is the hope we have in the future and the solid rock that we build our lives on. It is no wonder that in Colossians the apostle Paul constantly points people to Jesus and reminds them of who He is and what He has done. In the first chapter of Revelation John is given this wonderful vision of Jesus, and one purpose of this vision is to remind John (and eventually his readers) of who Jesus is and what He has done. Doctrine is of no use if we don’t love Jesus.
2. Seek out God’s will. I think we get ourselves in trouble, as individuals and as church families, because we decide what we want to do and then we ask God to bless it. The model prayer Jesus gave to us shows that we are to seek out God’s will, ask for His kingdom to come and that His will be done, rather than just asking God to bless what we have decided to do. This helps us to remember that the church isn’t about us and our plans, but it is about entering into God’s plan to redeem all of creation. In other words we join our love to the love of God.
3. We serve the needy. Many churches have different ministries that take up the resources that they have, and when it comes to helping the poor or someone who has fallen on tough times there is nothing there to help them. We have delegated this responsibility of helping the needy to the government so we can have big fancy buildings and do flashy programs designed to bring people through the doors. Yet, Jesus told us that when we serve those people in need, then we are serving Him. How can we truly love Jesus if we are not willing to help those who are in need? When attendance, programs, and buildings become more important than serving people, especially those in our church families, then we have lost our first love.

I think it would do all of our churches good to evaluate themselves by the seven letters of Revelation. Those seven letters will help us understand what Christ thinks about the church, and the real changes we need to make in order to accomplish His will.

The Benefit of Temptation

This morning as I was doing my devotional reading I read from William Barclay’s Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel of Mark. The section I read covered Mark 1:12, 13 which is Mark’s account of Jesus’ temptations in the desert. This is what got me pondering:

“In this life it is impossible to escape the assault of temptation; but one thing is sure—temptations are not sent to us to make us fall; they are sent to strengthen the nerve and the sinew of our minds and hearts and souls. They are not meant for our ruin, but for our good. They are meant to be tests from which we emerge better warriors and athletes of God.” (p. 21)

One thing I would disagree with Barclay about is that temptation, from Satan’s perspective, is sent to make us fall. Temptation, the siren song of the world, is meant to ruin us and to take us away from God. Temptation is dangerous.

I would agree with Barclay on the fact that from God’s perspective temptation is a means of strengthening us. The choices we make when faced with temptations either helps us become the person God created us to be, or it damages our spiritual growth. Temptation provides us with an opportunity to trust God or to trust ourselves.

James writes:

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you are involved in various trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 But you must let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. (James 1:2-4; ISV)

Maturity is the result of how we respond to troubles and trials, which includes temptation. This is the experience side of spiritual growth. Learning and knowing Scripture is a vital part to become more like Jesus, but temptation, along with other forms of trials, provide the opportunity to put that knowledge into action, and in the process learn that God can be trusted. Experience is a very effective teacher, especially when it follows practical instruction, so the student has the right context in which to interpret the experience.

When we are tempted we should see it as an opportunity. Yes, it is an opportunity to sin, but it is also an opportunity to follow Jesus. Temptation provides us with a choice, and the choice that we make reveals the condition of our faith. What does temptation reveal about your faith?

Be Holy - Trust God

The past couple of weeks God has been hitting me with the idea of holiness. I have recognized the need for a personal commitment to holiness, and I have seen a need to call the Church to commitment to holiness. I am absolutely convinced that the problem with the Church in the United States is a lack of holiness, and that holiness begins with those of us who are leaders.

What do we have to do if we are going to be holy? I think the story of the rich young ruler can give us some insight:

17 As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to him, knelt down in front of him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? Nobody is good except for one—God. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Never murder.’ ‘Never commit adultery.’ ‘Never steal.’ ‘Never give false testimony.’ ‘Never cheat.’ ‘Honor your father and mother.’” 20 The man replied to him, “Teacher, I have kept all of these since I was a young man.” 21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. Then he told him, “You're missing one thing. Go and sell everything you own, give the money to the destitute, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come back and follow me.” 22 But the man was shocked at this statement and went away sad, because he had many possessions (Mark 10:17-22; ISV).

This is one of my favorite stories from the life of Jesus. The reason I like it is because I identify with this wealthy young man. I identify with this young man because we both share the security of wealth. While I am not wealthy compared to most people in this country, I am wealthy compared to most people who have every lived.

I identify with this young man because we both grew up knowing right from wrong and doing our best to do what is right. We have failed, but the moral life is something that we both desire. I appreciate his desire to live according to God’s standard.

I identify with this young man because he had a desire to know God and to get to heaven. That desire burns in me as well. I want to strengthen my relationship with God and to eventually be with Him in heaven. This is a guy I think I could have gotten along with.

It is because of this identification that I see this story as a warning. It is a warning because after his encounter with Jesus he went away sad. He was not willing to trust God, to get rid of his security, and follow Jesus. In other words he was not willing to be separate from the world. When we follow Jesus we separate ourselves from the world. We are no longer guided by its value system, we no longer pursue its goals, and we no longer accept its version of truth. This young man was not willing to live a holy life, instead he chose to remain part of this world.

I bring this up because what gets in the way of holiness in our lives are those things we cling so tightly to right now. Those things that we think make life worth living. For the rich young man it was his wealth, for me it has been freedom. I want to have the freedom to watch what I want to watch and buy the things I want to buy and go to the places I want to go. What is it for you?

Holiness is the result of following Jesus. Until we give up our security, our life, and follow Jesus we will never be holy. By not following Jesus we allow ourselves to be influenced by the world and thus we remain part of this world. Holiness requires a separation, that is why it requires giving up our security and following Jesus. If all we do is give up our security, whatever it is, then sooner of later we will find some other worldly value to replace it with it. Following Jesus is the act of replacing the old security with faith in Christ. Remember this: Following Jesus makes us holy.

When the rich young man left Jesus he went away sad. Why? The Bible really doesn’t say, but I imagine it is because he realized that his attachment to this world cost him eternal life. His unwillingness to separate himself from this world meant that he would forever be a citizen of it. He lacked the faith to trust God with his life. Do you?

Under Assault

Currently I am preaching a series of sermons from Revelation 1-3. Those chapters speak directly to seven churches in the Roman province of Asia as they faced persecution, false teaching, and seduction by the world. As I have studied and prepared I keep wondering: are we aware of how Satan is assaulting us?

We aren’t faced with death so we tell ourselves that we aren’t being persecuted. We tolerate false teaching by telling ourselves, “Who am I to judge?”. We justify giving into the siren song of the world as we watch hour after hour of television. We are being assaulted, but we don’t take the time to recognize it.

I want to share with you an extended quote by John Stott from his book What Christ Thinks of the Church. Stott writes:

“Persecution, error, and sin, These were not inexplicable phenomena. John recognized their source with a clarity and insight which we badly need to recapture today. The devil was at work. Behind the outward situation in the Asian Churches an invisible conflict raged between Christ and Antichrist, between the Lamb and the Dragon, between ‘the holy city’ Jerusalem (the church) and ‘the great city’ Babylon (the world). The devil’s assault upon Christ’s church was a multiple movement. He attacked from several directions. Now the onslaught was physical, through a persecuting emperor and his deputies. Now it was intellectual, through false cults, and now moral, through sub-Christian ethical standards. These were the devil’s three strategies, symbolically represented in the Revelation as the dragon’s three allies: the beast from the sea, the beast from the earth (or the false prophet) and the harlot.


“In every age it has been the same. The devil’s tactics do no change. As we look round the world today, the same pressures are harassing different churches. In some areas of the world open hostility to the gospel is accompanied by physical violence. In others, the church is wrestling in intellectual combat with an insidious ideology or a materialistic philosophy with which it cannot come to terms. Elsewhere the struggle is in the moral field, as the world seeks to cajole the church into conformity to its own ways.” (p. 13)

We are under assault, as individuals and as church families, and we desperately need to wake up to that reality. Until we do Satan will continue to wreck havoc in the Church. How is your church family being assaulted? What can you do to stand against it?

We Need Holy Leaders

Last Monday I attended a minister’s meeting for the Nebowa Camp area churches. There was something that greatly disappointed me. Ray Boltz was brought up, who has been a contemporary Christian music singer and has recently revealed that he is a homosexual, and the rest of the meeting little jokes and snide comments were made. I don’t know what disappointed me the most, that a group of ministers found that to be funny or that I didn’t say anything about it. The Ray Boltz situation is a sad situation because of the temptation and struggle he faces on a daily basis has allowed him to be deceived that homosexuality is not a sin. Instead of praying for a fellow brother we decided that it was appropiate to make fun of him.

That experience reinforced something that Henry Blackaby wrote in Holiness:

“I believe there will be no revival without holiness in the leadership. None. Cry unto God all you want. He will not hear you. Pull together all the phrases that revivalists of other generations have all quoted, and it will not make an ounce of difference to the heart of God. God is looking for holiness!” (p. 72)

It is not surprising to me that the Church has lost influence in the United States. We are so compromised, and it begins at the leadership level. This is so clearly seen by the percentage of ministers who look at pornography on a regular basis or the percentage of pastors who have affairs with people in their congregations. As leaders we may be committed to many things, but being holy is not one of them.

The Church in the United States will continue to decline, not because atheism and liberal university professor, but because of unholy leaders: preachers, elders, and teachers who are more influenced by this world than by God’s Word. There will be no revival until church leaders commit to holiness and truly seek to be separate from the world

And for that to happen there is only one place to start: with the man in the mirror. While I can call people to holiness, the only person I have control over is me. Regardless of whether or not people will follow, I have to choose to be holy, to be a good steward of the miracle of transformation God is working in my life through the blood of Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit. If I don’t choose to be holy, why should I expect other people to be holy?

I am alive

This past week I spent time in a house owned by my aunt and uncle in the Little Sioux River Valley near Sutherland, IA. I was able to create a preaching plan for 2009 as well as do some personal goal setting. It was a great week and I was glad I had the opportunity to do it, as well as an aunt and uncle who allowed me to use their Iowa house to get away from regular life.

With all that being said, I didn't have the distraction of an internet connection so I didn't have a chance to post this past week, but now I am back and you can expect some brand new ponderings this week.

We are the Problem

I want to share with you another quote from Henry Blackaby taken from his book Holiness. This is what he writes:

“The salvation of the nation has little to do with Washington or Hollywood—it has to do with the people of God! If God’s people do not sense that the problem is with them, then America does not stand a chance of revival or survival.” (p. 21)

Those are strong words, but I think they are absolutely correct. The problems of the United States—from a decline in morality to our current economic mess—are the result of the Church not being Church. Some of us have formed an unholy alliance with a political party which forces us to spend time defending them and their policies. Others of us have refused to be good stewards of the miracle of transformation God is working in our lives, and we have been caught up in the things of this world. Until we change, both as individuals and as church families, our great nation will continue to decline.

Reading Revelation 1-3 shows us that the Church can often look good on the outside, and appear to be doing the right things, but be very far from where Christ desires her to be. Evaluate your church family by what Christ says to the seven churches of Asia. How do your church family measure up? It is not enough to believe the right things and to have the tradition of religion, but we must also influence the world around us. The reality is that many of our church families ceased being lights in this world a very long time ago.

This brings me to the point I really want to make and that point is this: change starts with the person in the mirror. If we are not going to change personally, then our churches and our nation have no hope. We have to make the hard choices on an individual level before we can really have influence on a larger scale.

Remember these changes are not easy. They are extremely difficult. Take for example the rich young ruler who came to Jesus with a simple question: How can I have eternal life? Remember Jesus’ answer? It was to sell all his possessions, give the money to the poor, and follow after Jesus. That was a difficult thing Jesus asked the young man to do, and because it was difficult the young man went away sad. What has Jesus asked you to give up? How has your faith in Jesus been difficult?

How about this teaching of Jesus:

29 So if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into hell.” (Matthew 5:29-30; ISV)

Paul echoes this teaching in Colossians when he wrote: 5 So put to death your worldly impulses: sexual sin, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry) (Colossians 3:5; ISV). Or a more literal translation could be to cut off your earthly members. The whole idea here is that we need to get rid of, sever our ties with, those things that keep us attached to this world and to sin. Yet for all our talk about filth on television we still have it front and center in our homes. Even though pornography has become the secret sin of the church, we don’t unplug from the world wide web or use a filter system that would protect us. We send our children off to public schools to be indoctrinated without giving it a second thought. We cling to relationships even though those relationships lead us into sin, even “small” sins such as gossip. Until we change, there can be no hope of survival in this country, let alone revival.

I don’t want to end on a negative note. There is every reason to be optimistic because we serve God Almighty. Here is the first step that we need to take in order to change: pray. Not wimpy prayers about bless me and mine, but prayers of thanksgiving and for change. Prayers like what the apostle Paul prayed in Colossians:

9 For this reason, since the day we heard about this, we have not stopped praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the full knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you might live in a manner worthy of the Lord and be fully pleasing to him as you bear fruit in every good work and grow in the full knowledge of God. 11 You are being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, so that you might patiently endure everything with joy 12 and might thank the Father, who has enabled us to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. (Colossians 1:9-12; ISV)

Pray for your pastor that he might have the spiritual wisdom he needs to teach, preach, and counsel. Pray for your children that they might be filled with the knowledge of God’s will. Pray for people who are a part of your church family that they might walk worthy of the Lord. Pray for church leaders, the men and women who are on the radio and who write books, that they will communicate God’s truth. Revival begins through prayer, and we need to pray, not that revival happens, but that we will walk in a manner that is fitting of our Lord Jesus Christ. Only when the Church begins being the Church will real and lasting revival break out across the land.

• Point to Ponder: Change begins with the person in the mirror.
• Passage to Remember: Colossians 1:9-12
• Prayer to Pray: Gracious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, I ask that You will fill me with hope so that I will not become discouraged with the condition of my nation and my church. Point out to me the areas in my life that I need to change, those ties that I continue to allow to exist which bind me to this world and to sin. Teach me to pray: for the nation, for the Church, and for others so that real change might begin to take place.

Lving in a Bubble

Here is an interesting science story about the earth being inside a "cosmic bubble." I don't think we should make to much of this, but this part did catch my attention:

When Nicholas Copernicus argued that it made much more sense for the Earth to be revolving around the sun than vice versa, it revolutionized science.

Since then, most theories have to pass the Copernican test. If they require our planet to be unique, or our position to be exalted, the ideas often seem unlikely.

"This idea that we live in a void would really be a statement that we live in a special place," Clifton told SPACE.com. "The regular cosmological model is based on the idea that where we live is a typical place in the universe. This would be a contradiction to the Copernican principle."

Alexander Campbell

Introduction to the Restoration Ideal #14

The third restoration movement founder profile Marshall Leggett shares is the profile on Alexander Campbell. Leggett makes the correct point in writing: “Alexander Campbell would emerge as the leader of the restoration movement” (p. 53). You can read a summary of the life of Alexander Campbell here.

The emphasis that Leggett gives to Alexander Campbell’s life is the call to return to the “ancient order of things.” This was a plea to restore the original practices of the church: weekly observance of communion, simple order of public worship, and independence of local church families under the guidance of a group of elders and deacons (p. 56).

I thought this story from Alexander Campbell’s life was interesting:

“However, his most famous debate came against an atheist, Robert Owen, who had called Christianity ‘an opiate of the masses.’ He had attempted to found utopian, communal societies, the most famous one being at New Harmony, Indiana. Owen sought to show Christianity as a scandal based on ignorance, and he expected Campbell to defend the established churches. However, Campbell rested his case upon the simple revelation of the New Testament. He asked and answered three questions, ‘What is man? Whence came he? Whither does he go?’ Another rout ensued. Owen turned over to Campbell the last part of the time allotted to say what he wished, and Campbell addressed the audience for twelve hours. At the end of it, he asked all those who believed in Christianity to stand. Almost everyone present arose. Then he asked all those who did not believe in the truth of the Christian religion to rise, and only three persons stood. The debate gave Campbell great exposure to and confidence from the religious world.” (p. 58)

He spoke for twelve hours! It is amazing that people stand around for all that. What is even more amazing is that he had in his head twelve hours worth of material. While it is true that people 200-150 years ago were ignorant of many of the things we know today, that by no means they were unintelligent or uneducated. I think you could make the case that in some aspects our ancestors were better educated than we are today. It boggles my mind that he went on to speak for twelve hours. Wow!

Discipleship and Change

Let me ask you a few questions: How do we change? How can we become the people we want to be? How can we truly be the people we pretend to be?

I have tried to change but it seems I have made little progress. The same sins and struggles that plagued my life five years ago still haunt me today. I have tried writing out a plan, enlisting the help of others, and just gritting my teeth as I try to white knuckle it through. Nothing seems to work.

Yesterday morning I prayed that God would help me rid these struggles so that I could become the person He wanted me to be. I hate living what feels like a double life. It makes me feel like a poser.

Feeling like we are making little progress presents a huge problem for the Church. Why is it a problem for the church? It is a problem because it will lead to discouragement, and discouragement will lead to people abandoning their faith.

There is nothing more discouraging in our journey of faith than feeling like we faking the whole thing. We compare our lives to the Christians we know and it seems like they have thing together, and so we come to believe that we are doing something wrong. While these people are the real deal, we are just imperfect copies.

How do we help people like me, to change?

I could be wrong, but in my view part of the solution is discipleship. Discipleship is not about adding another class or series of classes that explain church doctrine or what is expected from church membership. It is also not about handing people a list of "spiritual" disciplines that they need to add to their lives (though disciplines do play part in discipleship).

Discipleship is about doing life together, modeling Jesus’ love for one another, encouraging each other, and helping one another. It is about community, fellowship, or whatever you want to call it. While change ultimately is about a personal decision it always has a better chance of success when other people are involved.

The church families I have been a part of have done a very poor job in this area. Change was automatically supposed to happen as people began to study their Bibles, pray, and attend church services. Experience has told me that it just doesn’t happen that way for most people. We need the participation of other people in our lives if we are going to successfully change our behavior. Discipleship is the key to change, and discipleship takes place best in community.