Nathan's Notes

It turns out I am my brother’s keeper.

2012-01-17T16:52:00.000-08:00

“For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord.” (1 Thess. 3:8)

Paul makes this hefty statement to tell the people in Thessalonica how he felt when Timothy reported back that they were doing really well and in fact they had great affection for Paul.

Is this statement representing a healthy point of view? Is it hyperbole? Let’s just say yes and no! It is a healthy thing to say and think, and it probably is not hyperbole. Paul is expressing the wonderful thing about human relationships. The way God has made us is to be in a covenant community. We should care deeply about people, and know that they care about us. Paul says his life depends on their faith. He has risked his life to bring them the good news, and he is exuberant that they are sticking with it. They need to know that it matters so much to Paul that they stay with the Lord. They need to feel the pressure of having Paul dependent upon their walk with God.

The famous statement of John surely fits here too: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” (3 John 4) John could take a lot of suffering in his exile if he heard that his investment in the lives of his “children” was producing fruit. He was dependent upon them for joy.

I believe that God has made us to be social beings and interdependent on others. It is a very good thing to care about others and have others care about you. Who is encouraged when you are standing fast in the Lord? They would be so disappointed to hear that your faith was falling apart and that you are not walking with the Lord. Allow this to be a healthy motivation to stay faithful to the Lord. People are watching you. They may know of a trial that you are undergoing and they are watching how you take it. Think of the whole network of your family and friends who would be impacted negatively by your slipping away.

On the other side of things, do you have people for whom you care deeply? Pray for people. Fervently intercede for their spiritual life. If you can, serve in a teaching role or somehow directly contribute to the spiritual growth of a few people. We are designed to care for others. It is healthy and righteous to love others and be effected by their standing fast in the Lord.

Tidings of Comfort and Joy

2011-12-06T12:48:00.000-08:00

I think there is nothing more amazing than to know that God desires for all of his creation to come together in blissful joy and glorious harmony. Like the final chord in a great orchestral piece, God’s creation is heading for a marvelous goal. When we enjoy our inheritance we will have more than an overwhelming sense of wonder at God’s eternal goal for his creation. At Christmastime we celebrate God’s enactment of his central plan to bring perfect comfort and joy. The angel said to the shepherds, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11 ESV)

The simple and bold proclamation is that because of the birth of Christ the Lord believers have no reason to fear. God’s active intervening love casts out fear! What kind of love has the Father given to us? It is an effective saving love. It is an all-powerful love. We can trust his steadfast love forever. In Christ God’s love is made real to us forever! Tidings of comfort and joy!

One baby pulls this off. This baby is the only Son of God. He is God with us. He exceeds all specifications for a savior. He is the perfect and only God/man. He is the one mediator between God and man. Trust no substitutes or auxiliary savors. Jesus Christ needs no help being our Savior, El Salvador! He is Christ the Lord.

Think of this section from Psalm 85 as a Christmas worship reading. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of God’s every promise. He is what the LORD has spoken! In Jesus Christ steadfast love and faithfulness meet, and righteousness and peace kiss each other. To us a child is born, to us a son is given! He brings it all together in blissful joy and glorious harmony. Worship HIM!

Let me hear what God the LORD will speak,

for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;

but let them not turn back to folly.

Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,

that glory may dwell in our land.

Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;

righteousness and peace kiss each other.

Faithfulness springs up from the ground,

and righteousness looks down from the sky.

Yes, the LORD will give what is good,

and our land will yield its increase.

Righteousness will go before him

and make his footsteps a way.

(Psalm 85:8-13 ESV)

Ihope Christmas: Wait for it!

2011-11-29T14:58:00.000-08:00

Christmas is a wonderful season to anticipate a glorious future. This is our hope: a glorious future. “…waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ…” (Titus 2:13 ESV) At Christmas we celebrate the first advent of Jesus, but we also look forward to his second advent. The promise of the incarnation of our Lord will be fulfilled completely when he returns in glory.

One aspect of hope is the acknowledgement that we are missing something now. Believers in Jesus are forward looking people. We are waiting for glory. Jesus himself is waiting for the glory of the future. “But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.”(Hebrews 10:12-13 ESV) Jesus too has hope. He hopes for the day when his enemies are fully subject to him. The enemies of Christ are still running rampant in God’s kingdom. One great day they will be overcome. Victory in Jesus forever! We wait with Jesus. There is nearly an unending list of things that are missing. We are made for completeness, for wholeness, for shalom, but in this world we have tribulation. Nothing is perfect here. We are reminded of the curse daily. Maybe we are reminded through an illness, through a violent crime, or through a natural disaster. We might carry a deep sorrow everyday. Many sorrow over their children. As it says of David “And the king was deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he went, he said, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”(2 Samuel 18:33 ESV) This is a deep sorrow. When we are with the Lord forever we will no longer have such sorrows. He will wipe away every tear! We will understand God’s gracious plan.

We long for a day when there is nothing horribly wrong. That day is coming for the believer. All our hopes and longings will be fulfilled in our Savior, Jesus Christ. Just wait for it! Here is the hope stated in bold terms: “Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:25 ESV)

At Christmastime let us acknowledge our need of God’s hope. Let us draw near to God through Jesus in order to be saved to the uttermost.

Merry Christmas!

A Thanksgiving Meditation

2011-11-08T15:06:00.000-08:00

In Colossians 3: 15-17 Paul talks about thanksgiving three times. The whole paragraph is superb, but let’s just isolate the thanksgiving words. He says, “be thankful,” sing “with thankfulness in your hearts,” and finally “giving thanks to God the Father through him.” These three are a good way for us to prime the pump for Thanksgiving.

First of all, the Bible always commands us to be thankful. God has given us the ability to direct our thoughts. We can develop the discipline to look at the bright side of things. We can force ourselves to be thankful. For a believer in Jesus Christ this is always true. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. We have eternal life. No matter what comes up we are going to be fully blessed forever. Jesus tells us that he knows us and gives us eternal life. Then also, almost all of the time, we can be thankful for temporal blessings too. The old song says, “Count your blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.” The truth is, by and large we live very blessed lives. Do you have a family who loves you? Be thankful! Are you anticipating seeing some loved ones this holiday season? Be thankful! Perhaps you can think of a time when God delivered you from a temptation. Be thankful! It is too easy for our fallen minds to think about all the failures, the trials, the painful times, and to begin to be grouchy and bitter. God tells us to be thankful.

Next Paul commands us to sing “with thankfulness in your hearts.” The heart is the seat of our feelings. Here the command is for us to feel thankful as we sing in worship to God. Probably you will have an opportunity to sing some during this holiday period. Try to sing with your whole heart. No one likes to hear a song sung with no true feeling behind it. If you are thankful in your heart it will show up in the sincerity, the zeal, and energy with which you sing. If you are singing in worship and praise to God, how would that look?

The final command is “giving thanks to God the Father through him.” I love these direct statements of how to pray. This is how you do it. We come to God the Father through Jesus Christ. When we come to God we bring our thanksgiving to him through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the mediator between God and man. He is the only sufficient and fully adequate mediator. He is the infinite advocate. He needs no help to bring us to the Father. He is fully capable to get us to God. He alone. Do not come in the name of anyone else. To do so is to insult Jesus Christ. We can be fully thankful that the only Messiah is our savior. Trust him! He is our access to all the blessings of God. Thank you LORD!

Please Build This House!

2011-10-26T15:44:00.000-07:00

One of my joys is serving as a volunteer chaplain at our local hospital. I serve about nine hours a month. Yesterday I was making visits there and met a patient and her husband. I’ll call her Marie. She was diagnosed with cancer a little more than a year ago. She had a nominal connection with a Christian denomination from her youth, but had no real relationship with the Lord. When I walked into the room she was reading her Bible, which I commented on. It turns out that about a year ago she began to read and study her Bible. She has spent a great deal of time reading it since then. Her husband commented that she is “such a student of the Bible!” The glorious thing is that I have rarely met someone with such a strong, sweet faith. She now KNOWS the lord. She has a love for our Lord Jesus that one can sense just by being in the same room. This informed faith did not come through other human agency. She came to know the Lord by reading his word! We had a great conversation.

Her coming to saving faith in Jesus Christ by reading the Bible reminded me of a verse I have been thinking about in Colossians 1. It is verse twenty-six: “the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.” God revealed his mystery (Christ in you, the hope of glory) to Marie. She is a saint of God. He chose to reveal himself to her, proving that she was a saint by God’s choice and making her a saint by God’s power. I told her that she was a saint of God because he had revealed himself to her through his word. It is pretty wonderful to be one of God’s saints! Marie is rejoicing in the Lord, despite her serious health situation.

As I was speaking with her I told her one of my favorite Psalms was number 127. Verse one applies to all our human efforts. “Unless the LORD builds the house those who build it labor in vain.” I explained to her that there is no dichotomy between medicine and faith. We believe that God must bless and use our efforts for any good to come of them. Certainly God can work without our help, but we cannot work without his help! Marie found this very reassuring as she was feeling tension between her faith in God and needing so much medical intervention. She had been wondering if it showed a lack of faith for her to follow her physician’s advice. After all, she thought, “Can’t God heal me without their help?” It was good to be able to briefly explain God’s sovereign work in and through our efforts. I also explained that God does not expect us to buy a pile of lumber and sit back to watch him build the house. We need to be laboring as we have opportunity. We need to take the steps we can.

At the end I was privileged to pray with Marie and her husband. I prayed that God would build this house: that he would work though our efforts. I did get a little choked up thinking about this dear sister and her great faith and her great need.

Two observations: 1) Jesus knows his sheep. He will reveal God the Father to them. He reveals his truth to his saints. Jesus will build the church! Pray for this in the lives of people whom you know that do not seem to know the Lord. 2) When we take time to visit with people and listen to their situation, God will guide us into what we should say to them. This too is God building the house through our humble efforts.

Useless?

2011-10-11T15:09:00.000-07:00

Useless and Obsolete

These are two words used in Hebrews to describe the old covenant. Find them in Hebrews 7: 18 and 8:13. These are very strong words to describe part of God’s Word. Many of the people to whom he is writing are very emotionally tied to the Hebrew Bible. They might even say, “I was born a Jew, and I will die a Jew.” Why does the author risk hurting the feelings of his audience? There is much as stake!

One of the biggest threats to the good news of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ was the imposition of legalism. The earliest Christians were aggressively pursued by those who taught them to go back to keeping various aspects of the Law of Moses. Many of the epistles are written to combat this threat. What could possible be so dangerous about observing a feast or keeping a Sabbath? The false teaching is based on a basic idea that mankind is capable of working just a little harder, and in a more organized fashion, in order to please God. They indirectly teach that man still has a basically good nature, and the false teachers claim that they can train people to please God. Since we all have some level of guilt they also teach that we may need to practice some asceticism or severity to the body in order to find purity. The problem with this is that it distracts from the truth. It can very quickly divert one away from faith in Jesus Christ alone. Note the stern warning of Paul in Galatians 5: 2-4. Paul states that if they accept circumcision they are severed from Christ. Do our religious practices matter? Why not just let people enjoy their cultural heritage? Well, it is because these religious and cultural rituals can prevent an individual from saving faith. People do trust in the ritual and their own goodness, without even understanding why Christ had to die for their sins.

Some from the evangelical church are converting to high ritual churches. They act like they see no harm in the strictly formalized rituals. Sadly, true believers can understand the rituals in light of true faith, but millions of others in those religions do not know how to be saved. By testimony they trust themselves. Ask them. “Do you think you will go to heaven?” They will say something like, “I hope so, I am not sure I have done enough. “ This is not the new covenant faith.

Every time I baptize a believer I emphasize that baptism does not save them. I shudder to think of the untold millions who have been deceived by “Christian” baptism. Literally many are condemned because they have faith in a ritual, rather than Christ. God help us!

So the writer of Hebrews wants his Jewish audience to know that the old covenant, the law, was weak and useless because it made nothing perfect. Using the same word “perfect” he says that the appointed Son has been made perfect forever. (Hebrews 7:28) This perfected son has accomplished the purpose of his incarnation and is now able to “save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him…” (Hebrews 7:25) Keeping various legalistic regulations will not bring you to God because you are still sinful.

Only Jesus can save to the uttermost! Trust him and him alone! Every other religion teaches some form of legalism. Every other religion is weak and useless.

2011-10-04T15:08:00.000-07:00

Theological Balance: Faith or Works?

God has revealed himself so that we can know the truth. There is such a great balance in God’s revelation. God is peaceful, whole, and balanced.

Comparing the main arguments of Colossians two and Hebrews six represents a prime example of this. In Colossians two Paul is arguing that we are saved from our record of moral debt only by being united with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection. He says in verse thirteen that God made us alive together with him. There is nothing we could possibly add to this. God does not depend on us to raise ourselves from the dead! In fact Paul is building to the point that if you add anything to simple faith in the completed work of Christ you will be “disqualified.” Persuasive and deceptive people were trying to convince the new gentile believers that they needed to add to faith in Christ a list of dos and don’ts. They were telling them that faith in Christ was a good start but they needed to add certain works. They needed to keep the Sabbath, celebrate the festivals, and keep a special diet. Think of it this way. You smartly go to Starbucks early for a nice bold cup of coffee. When you take that first highly anticipated sip you are horrified. The taste is horribly wrong. You politely say to the barista, “Hey, ah, there is something seriously wrong with this coffee. “ She explains that they have decided that coffee is not enough by itself, so they have added equal parts of tea, chicory, oregano, and thyme. “Humm, I think you have destroyed the coffee!” Trust the coffee alone. If you add to it you destroy it. If you add to Christ you do not trust his sufficiency. If you add anything to faith in Christ you destroy Christ’s salvation for you, because you have a lack of faith. Who is the savior? Is it you or is it Christ? Trust God, the designer, to design a fully sufficient means of salvation, and then to communicate it perfectly.

OK, so here is the question, since this is true, “sola fide”, then why would anyone walk with God? Why would anyone obey God and live a moral self-sacrificial life? This is where the argument of Hebrews six comes in. The author is urging the troubled believers not to fall away from the faith. If they fall away it may be impossible for them to be restored to repentance. So he tells them in verse twelve that they should imitate “those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” It is not faith without patience. True saving faith declares itself through an enduring patience. This word patience, macrothumia, is the word for long-suffering. It is a strong durable faith. It is a faith that demonstrates itself by a life of perseverance in good works. God is saying that he wants his people to be robust. He is not interested in people who have a fair-weather commitment. Also in Hebrews six verse eighteen it says that “we who have fled for refuge” need to “hold fast to the hope set before us.” What happens to the person who does not hold fast, who does not have an enduring commitment? Well, you do not want to find out. It may well be that their apostasy demonstrates that they never had true saving faith. Saving faith declares itself with a life of obedience. If there has been a birth, then there will be life.

This then is the balance. Yes, we are saved by faith alone, but it is faith that works. We should never try to convince anyone that they are at peace with God because some years ago they confessed faith and were, perhaps, baptized. As Hebrews six verse twelve says, it is those with faith and enduring commitment who inherit the promises. This faith and enduring commitment are not really two things, but it is as James says “…I will show you my faith by my works.” We should, therefore, try to convince a wanderer to return to a life of faithful obedience. If you are a sheep of Jesus you should and will follow Jesus!

2011-09-27T11:35:00.000-07:00

God’s Big Rubber Stamp

Imagine you received a document that recorded all your sins. As you read through it you were more and more ashamed. You knew it was all true. You had no excuse, your goose was cooked. Just holding this book in your hands would make you sick. Layer after layer you were guilty. It is hundreds of pages of single spaced type. You are in trouble, big trouble. The problem with life is that it is linear. It is sequential. One thing follows another. You simply cannot go back and undo what is in the past. The Disney movie Lion King has a song that talks about life as a circle. But for us as individuals it is not a circle at all. It may seem cyclical, but it is still linear. So our past is real, and we cannot change it. Time travel is a fiction.

The Bible often refers to our sinful self as our flesh. It is even called “this body of death.” This is the baggage we received from Adam and all our own sin too. The gospel is that God has a way of completely removing this thing that is dragging us down to hell. It is a miracle surgery! “In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,” (Colossians 2:11 ESV) This “circumcision of Christ” is a reference to his crucifixion. The flesh can be totally cut off by our uniting with Christ by faith. The Bible says we are crucified with Christ. The book of the record of our sins is canceled and nailed to the cross. Listen to this “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:13-14 ESV)

What a fantastic promise. The record of debt is canceled and nailed to the cross. Canceled and nailed, yes! We cannot go back and “un-sin” the sin, but God can cancel it by nailing it to the cross of Christ. We can, by faith in Jesus Christ, be fully free from our record of debt. Oh, what a relief. God will cut off your body of death when you turn to Christ. All your recorded sins can be canceled by the power of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Imagine that book with all your sins recorded in it. Imagine God stamping it with a huge rubber stamp dipped in the blood of Christ “CANCELED!” Praise God!

2011-09-20T14:19:00.001-07:00

Stereos and Carnivores

Wow, the words of Colossians are so good! Here is from chapter two.

“Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. 5 For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.”

Paul has been talking about how amazing Christ is when he describes him as the one “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Do you want to know the truth? It is in Christ. The image is as if Christ were a mine with diamonds and gold hidden within. The deeper you dig into the mine the more treasures you find. The mine is infinitely deep. All the treasures are hidden in this divine mine. He is the creator, the sustainer, and the ruler of all. If we spend our effort pursuing the knowledge of Christ we are pursuing the uniting factor of all wisdom and knowledge. We are never called to dumb it down or to know less. We are always called in Scripture to more knowledge.

Notice that Paul says he is motivated by a sense of security. Going to an airport, courthouse, or any government building has changed since 911, hasn’t it? We are very aware of security these days. In our spiritual lives our sense of security must be even higher. There are people out to try to ruin us. Paul says that he was concerned that people in the church could be deluded by plausible arguments. Without a solid, deep, knowledge of Christ we are vulnerable.

Paul next says that he is happy about their “good order and firmness of faith in Christ.” He is confident even while he is warning and teaching them. Being absent, still in spirit he sees their firmness and it brings him joy. I love this word “firmness.” It is the Greek word stereo. Yes, we get our common word “stereo” from this word. It means firm, steadfast, and has the sense of three dimensional or spread out. In the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the OT) it is the word in Genesis 1 for space. Space is like a tent: spread out with expanse and depth. It is three-dimensional. In a stereo the music is split into left and right sides. Some of the music comes out of one speaker, and some out the other, so it sounds deep and three-dimensional. 3D movies have an amazing sense of space in them. You can almost touch the images and see them spread out in depth. This is what our faith needs. It needs to be deep and multi-dimensional. When we are boring deeply into the mine of Christ we will have a faith that is firm. To withstand difficulties, our faith must be stable and deep. It cannot be simply one or two-dimensional, it must be spread out with some expanse to it. Otherwise we will be easy targets to those with plausible arguments.

I am preaching from Hebrews these days. The same Greek word, stereo, is used in Hebrews 5: 12 & 14 to describe the “solid” food that we should all be able to digest. The author of Hebrews is lamenting the fact that the church is unable to understand deeper teachings because they are only used to feeding on milk and not stereo food. Good teaching does not dumb it down, or “put the cookies on the lower shelf.” Good teaching seeks to elevate the learners so that they can become teachers too. Deep multi-dimensional teaching is the means to achieve this goal. The evangelical church has failed in this effort to a large extent over the last thirty or forty years. I really think that the message of Hebrews is completely current for our day. “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food…” (Hebrews 5:12) Are we raising a generation of dependent vulnerable infants, or a generation of eager self-defending meat-eaters? Let’s raise some carnivores for Christ!

God's Health Care Delivery System

2011-09-08T17:26:00.000-07:00

Health Care Delivery System

In Colossians 1:24 we find an amazing statement by the apostle Paul. Here is the verse: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,”

As always the entire passage is marvelous and needs to be carefully examined, but let me just get to the point of this verse. It begs the question, “Whatever could be lacking in Christ’s afflictions?”

From the context we find Paul rejoicing in being a “minister” of the church. The word “minister” is the word diakonas in Greek. It is the word from which we get deacon. It means servant or waiter. Paul is the servant of the church as a stewardship from God to “make the word of God fully known.” This word of God is the mystery that God has chosen to reveal to his saints. Paul says it is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” So how is this service position of Paul’s filling up some lack in Christ’s afflictions?

Christ’s afflictions are perfect. As it tells us in Hebrews, Christ’s death was a once for all action. It needs nothing added. The only thing we, or any servant, can add is bringing the good news to those who need to hear. God has chosen to make it known to certain individuals, and he chooses to use us in that delivery system. Paul found that being a part of God’s delivery system is very painful. There are many obstacles. There are enemies everywhere we look. Satan does not want us to fill up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions. He will do all in his power to stop you and discourage you. The obstacles can even be “well meaning” members of the church!

Paul says he rejoices in his sufferings for the sake of the people in Colossae. The church is worth our large or small sacrifices. Listen, whenever you try to be a part of God’s delivery system you will run into opposition. Let us follow the example of Paul. He kept reminding himself of his calling. God called him to the lofty task of proclaiming Christ! He calls this task toil and struggling. Let’s keep at it though, because God is working through us to reach his saints. He is using us to be his health care delivery system. He has secured all the healing anyone needs, but we bring that healing to a sick world. God uses us!

Love Wins

2011-08-30T13:19:00.000-07:00

How is that good news?

If all we had was Colossians 1:20 (“and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”) we would be universalists. That is to say if the only word from God was that the cross made peace for all and all things are reconciled to God, then how could we ever teach that some are not saved, that some do not spend their eternity with God? Well a local answer is found right in the same context. Here is Colossians 1: 21-23. “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.”

Notice the “if” clause I emphasized. While it is true that the best interpretation of this “if” is in the sense of “if, and I am sure this will be the case…”, still the “if” carries a sense of uncertainty. There is a distinct possibility for even church participants to miss out on the eternal rewards of salvation. Some participants are not true believers. (For further understanding on this read 1 John 2:19.) Only the sheep of Jesus are believers and will follow him and will receive eternal life, and they will never perish. (John 10:26-30) Again, the clear teaching of John 10 is that there are people who are not a part of Jesus’ flock. They do not believe; they do not receive eternal life.

This may not be the emotionally satisfying answer, but it is the truth. You cannot get to San Francisco by heading south to Los Angeles. You cannot have eternal life by ignoring the gospel, disobeying God, and establishing your own way. The victory of God’s love will be forever demonstrated in the contrast between those who receive his love and those who do not. “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” (Romans 9:13, quoting Malachi 1: 2-3) God says “I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” (Romans 9:15)

So how is this good news? Anyone, everyone, who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Those who do not call on him will not be saved. If we developed a drug which would cure prostate cancer 100% of the time, this would be good news. However, it would only be good news to those who take the medication. If you do not believe and deny the treatment it will do you no good. Jesus saves his sheep. His sheep believe and follow him. His sheep continue in the faith. Their continuing in the faith demonstrates their sheep nature. Are you his sheep?

Learning from Gary

2011-08-23T12:42:00.000-07:00

Unfathomable

I want to tell you a little about Gary. Gary is a man I have gotten to know a little through a Bible study I conduct at a living facility near my church.

Some years ago Gary was very severely injured in a motorcycle accident. He is mostly unable to walk and speaks very slowly and unclearly. I don’t really know his whole story, because it is difficult to talk with him. He comes to the Bible study almost every week. He will often chime in with one word here and there or even break out into a familiar song associated with the particular passage. His comments are always right on the point. He had been an active part of a church at some point in his life.

A couple of months ago I was teaching Philippians 3: 21 “who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body.” I remember how poignant it was teaching this to someone who obviously needed it so badly. I am sure, on the other hand, that all of us need this transformation to the same extent, we are just not as aware of it as Gary. At that time he worked hard to repeat “lowly body?”

The funniest thing he ever said to me, was one time that Jorgen, my son, was with me at the study. I was talking about the exciting time when Jesus appeared to the disciples after his resurrection. John 21 records that when Peter heard that it was the Lord on the shore, “he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.” I mentioned that Peter had taken off his outer clothes for the fishing and was only wearing his underwear. Then Gary said something loudly. He said “bunuggers, bunuggers.” I paused looking puzzled at him. Then I realized he was saying “bun huggers” as a reference to Peter’s underwear. We all roared with laughter. I will never forget “bun huggers.”

Today though was the sweetest ever. I came in as usual and just three men gathered around the table to read with me. I was reading from Colossians 1: 15 – 20. (My previous blog came from this study.) I am feeling a little down today, and fairly weak. So I was relishing the beautiful strong words about Jesus. As I was describing the greatness of Jesus, Gary worked up to say “unfathomable.” Yes I agreed that Jesus Christ is beyond our ability to fully understand. Well, when the study was over, I closed in prayer and said my good-byes. As I was leaving the room Gary called me back as he was rolling toward me in his wheelchair. When I got close to him he looked at me and said “Hey, I love you.” Strangely, this is exactly what I needed to hear today. I asked Gary to pray for me today, and he said he would. What a joy and a privilege to know Gary.

2011-08-23T10:59:00.000-07:00

The Powerful Cure

Colossians 1:15 – 20 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”

You simply cannot say enough about Jesus. I was thinking about all the billions and billions of dollars spent on trying to heal human beings. The value of a powerful medication which would CURE cancer would be inestimable. But every medication we have is limited in effectiveness. Everywhere people are still sick and dying. No matter how much we invest, the best we can do is postpone death and make our lives more comfortable for the present. But, Jesus is the CURE. He is infinitely wonderful. His value is unfathomable. He is our redeemer and creator. He is the one who makes God known. He is the image of the invisible God. Now if we look out the window we do not see God. We can be discouraged by circumstances and our weakness. But God has revealed himself in Jesus as being full of grace and truth.

Jesus is the highest honored one of all creation. He is the creator and sustainer of all things. He is the potent CURE for all that ails us. How powerful did the cure have to be? How valuable did the payment have to be? How much did it take to satisfy the wrath of God? It took the Messiah Jesus. He is God and man. He is the perfect sacrifice for us. We needed that much salvation. He made peace by the blood of his cross.

It remains for us to only trust him. We are called to believe in the Lord Jesus. Do not be fooled by the gap between the promise and the fulfillment of the promise. God is true to his word. Hear Isaiah 46: 12 – 13:

“Listen to me, you stubborn of heart,
you who are far from righteousness:
I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off,
and my salvation will not delay;
I will put salvation in Zion,
for Israel my glory.”

Jesus Christ is that salvation. He is available to all who call on his name!

2011-07-21T16:56:00.000-07:00

Rejoice in the Lord Always

Paul writes the book of Philippians from prison. He has no assurance that he will survive this imprisonment. He is confined because he has spent many years preaching the Lord Jesus Christ. Now he tells us to rejoice in the Lord. Paul is demonstrating tremendous personal discipline. Although he suffers according to God’s will, he continues to serve and trust God. Not only is he teaching us to have God’s peace and the God of peace himself, Paul is living this discipline. One goal of faith is to have self-control. No matter the anxiety we are experiencing we are to find peace through faith in God’s sovereign rule over everything.

The command to rejoice in the Lord does not say that we are happy for whatever difficulty we face, but we are happy that we know that God is working his perfect plan and we can trust him fully. As the song says “Those who trust him wholly, find him wholly true.” “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” (Is. 26:3) This great verse describes the believer’s mind as having a firm hold on God. When you stay your mind to God you are secure. On a ship the mast is stayed firmly so that it withstands the gale-force winds. If your mind is blown by the winds, check your stays.

The powerful mental attitude words of Philippians all fit together. Here is a sample of these words: joy, peace, glory in Christ, and contentment. Paul is living and teaching a lifestyle of personal self-control in actual dependence on the Lord of all. These mental attitudes are the stays to hold us up in the storms. How can we do this? “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:13)

The power of this faith is demonstrated by CONFIDENCE. Paul says we are citizens of heaven. Nothing that happens to us here can touch that! From heaven we “await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” (Phil. 3:20 & 21) Like Paul we will most likely die in weakness here on this earth. But we can even be positive even facing this possibility. A Savior will transform our lowly bodies. No problem!

Paul closes his letter to the Philippians with this demonstration of CONFIDENCE. “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4: 19) As Jesus taught, God provides for the birds and the lilies; we must trust his provision for us. He has infinite riches to draw upon. Trust him!

Dear friends, are you growing in your actual trust in God. If you claim that Christ is your Savior, do you demonstrate CONFIDENCE in him? How is your joy, peace and contentment?

2011-07-06T16:41:00.000-07:00

The Transformer
What will it take to fix us?

Philippians 3: 20 & 21 “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

To be a Christian means that you are an alien on this earth. We are citizens of another country: heaven. We are waiting for a Savior to come from our homeland to rescue us. A big part of that rescue will be that he will transform our bodies. He is the transformer and we will be the transformed. Our bodies will be like his glorious body. We now have a lowly body; then we will have a glorious body.

Our bodies have been made lowly not because of their original design nor construction, no, we have lowly bodies because of God’s curse on sin. Since we are only accustomed to living in these cursed bodies we have no idea really of the extent of the damage that sin caused. We can get a clue as to the extent of the damage by the effort it takes to fix us. The entire incarnation, life, crucifixion, burial, resurrection, ascension, and return of Christ Jesus is dedicated to our salvation. We are waiting for rescue.

The power to transform our bodies is described as “the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” He has infinite power. He will subject everything to himself. Our transformation requires infinite recourses to complete.

Down the street from our church there are about three abandoned houses right together. Often I think that it is a shame to see these houses like this. They have been empty for twenty years or so. I think how it would be nice to buy a couple of them and rebuild a nice big house for my family. What would it take to actually do this? All told it would probably take two or three million dollars to build a very nice home there. It takes power to transform a small, dilapidated house into a beautiful, large, and comfortable home.

God has the capacity to subject all things to his will. He could transform every house on every property on the entire globe. He is the God of infinite capability. In Jesus Christ he displays his infinite capability and will transform the body of every believer of every generation that has ever lived.

I don’t know about you, but I am looking forward to that day. What will it be like to be free from our lowly bodies? It will be even better than moving from a dilapidated abandoned shack to a gorgeous new home.

2011-06-23T15:48:00.000-07:00

Anxiety Disorder

We must constantly make the effort to surrender to God and obey him. Our society is always wondering why people do bad things. Is it nature or is it nurture? We know the answer. By nature we are rebels against God and we live with a pack of rebels. Both our nature and our nurture give us the propensity to do evil. Even if we increase the size and boldness of the warning label we still mutiny against God.

While this is true of all sin, one common sin that we all struggle with is anxiety. Many believers are disorderly because they live lives of anxiety. They have an anxiety disorder. The solution is to be a believer. Do not profess faith, exercise it!

We are looking at Hebrews on Sunday mornings. It is a LARGE and BOLD warning label. “Believers” were drifting away from the faith to their own harm. The first preventative measure for drifting is to see Jesus. Who is he, what has he done, what is he doing? Hebrews 1: 6-9 is a great example of the evidence that the author utilizes. The evidence is so strong it utterly spikes any opposing thought! Why would I stay with Jesus? Think about this:

But of the Son he says,
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”

Now, can you find something better; someone better? NO! You say Amen? OK, then why do we worry? Jesus Christ, the chosen messiah, is the God-King forever. He is a righteous King, and he is covered with the oil of gladness. God is “over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:6) Does “all” include you and everything in your life? Since the answer is yes, our spiritual practice should be to rejoice in the Lord always. We profess faith, but do we exercise it? Trust him. Philippians 4: 4-9 is the prescription which we need for our anxiety disorder. Because he is LORD of all, the sovereign sustainer of everything, we are commanded to rejoice, be reasonable, not be anxious about anything and be people of thankful prayer. He is God forever, he has a rule of righteousness, and we are his people.

You can have the peace of God and the God of peace by faithful obedience. No matter what is happening, no matter how overwhelming our problems he is Lord of ALL! His peace, shalom, passes all understanding.

Unchecked worry, grumpiness, angry arguments and accusations all grow out of a heart that has not submitted to the Sovereign of all. Are you a believer? Can you confess Jesus as Lord?

2011-03-28T13:51:00.001-07:00

Resurrection: The Joy of The Lord Is Our Strength

As we prepare to celebrate on Resurrection Sunday what we continue to celebrate everyday, that is the bursting victory of God over our sin, hear the words of Saint Paul in Ephesians two.

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:4-7 ESV)

The believer has been made alive, we have been raised up, and we have been seated in heavenly places. God has done it when we were dead! He did it because of the great love with which he loved us! This is reason to celebrate; in fact we will worship God forever for this reason!

Timothy Keller in his book on what is often called the parable of the prodigal son says this: “Jesus shows the father pouncing on his son in love not only before he has a chance to clean up his life and evidence a change of heart, but even before he can recite his repentance speech. Nothing, not even abject contrition, merits the favor of God. The Father’s love and acceptance are absolutely free.” (Timothy Keller, The Prodigal God, pg 24.)

On Resurrection Sunday we celebrate this absolutely free powerful love. The Father pounces on us in love. We need this triumphant love because we are hopeless without it. We need God’s victory because we are impossibly overwhelmed by our predicament. Even as we live our day-to-day lives we can feel so overwhelmed by all our stresses. This is when we need to take joy in God’s mighty love and victory on our behalf. “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8: 10) Trust his love now!

That Mary was an OPEN LIBERAL

2010-12-09T16:40:00.000-08:00

As we celebrate Christmas once again let us meditate upon the words of Elizabeth’s blessing to Mary on the occasion of their meeting when they were both expecting miraculous babies.

“And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” (Luke 1: 45)

Here Mary is blessed because she heard the Word of God and believed it. Even though what she heard seemed completely impossible, she believed it. Mary is a great example of What God expects of all of us. His promises to us are no less wonderful. The offer of the gospel is heaven. We are offered eternal life if we believe. A Christian is a BELIEVER. If God says it, we believe it!

Mary did not have lingering doubts. When she first heard the promise she did question it, but when God simply stated the enormity of what he intended to do, she responded with “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” When a person hears the Word of God and walks away doubting it, that person is not blessed. Faith is a blessing. Faith is the evidence of God’s gracious work in a sinner’s heart. Elizabeth knows that Mary is blessed because Mary believed the Word of God. The enemies of men desire for men to go away in unbelief. The World the Flesh and the Devil will do all that they can to keep you in unbelief.

Mary was liberal in her faith too. She fully believed that there would be a full filling of what was spoken to her. The Greek word here is “teleiosis.” The words spoken would reach their goal. They would reach their end, the purpose of the Lord. You know, I say some things that I hope I can do, but will actually never be able to finish. God always finishes what he says he will! Mary liberally believed this!

How did Elizabeth know that Mary had believed the Word? Mary had taken action on her faith by going to see Elizabeth. The Bible doesn’t say that Mary had even had a chance to explain the whole thing to Elizabeth; it simply says that Mary greeted her. It is quite possible that Elizabeth just knew by Mary’s visit, her greeting, and by God’s revelation, that God had promised wonderful things to Mary. To quote a Christmas movie “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is to sing out loud for all to hear.” Mary sang by her visit, and by her greeting. Elizabeth knew she was a believer by the way Mary conducted herself. After Mary’s greeting she spoke out a beautiful testimony which we call the Magnificat. Find it in Luke 1: 46-55.

Do you believe the Word spoken to you, and do people around you know it?

Holy Days!!!

2010-11-23T14:40:00.001-08:00

Holidays! Holy Days

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble Psalm 107:1 & 2

I don’t know about you, but I love the holidays. I know it is often so stressful that it zaps the joy, but I think we could build a nice argument supporting the idea that God prescribes holidays and has made us to revel in them. Yes they take effort, but slow down enough to enjoy it all. Take time to smell the turkey, marvel at the decorations and smile with your family. The effort we put into the holidays makes them Holy Days. It makes them different and wonderful. Let us make them holy unto our Lord!

Sometimes people feel an urge to grumble about traditions and point out how some have abused various parts of God’s creation in the past. True enough, but can’t we take advantage of the hoopla and use it for God’s glory? I believe we can and should!

It is a fantastic time to express your faith to others. If we are eternally saved by God’s kindness, which we celebrate at this time of year, we should be the first to say how much we appreciate his kindness. Hallelujah, our Lord God omnipotent reigneth! Sing it out!

Are you redeemed? Did Jesus Christ pay the ransom for your sinful soul? Did he die for your sin, paying the price for your forgiveness and giving you an eternal inheritance? Would you praise him? Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Oh what a debt of worship we owe! Allow the fun and celebration of the season to be an opportunity to tell others of your appreciation for his unspeakable gift!

2 Corinthians 9:15 Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!

1 Peter 1: 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Choose Your Mother

2010-08-09T12:08:00.000-07:00

Recently I met with a few local pastors for prayer. As an introduction we were asked to give our basic approach to ministry, or our church purpose statement. The lead pastor from one of the largest churches around said something startling to me. He explained that he had been reared in the same church association in which I had been reared. He described it as "Jewish, with a thin veneer of grace." He was contrasting law and grace. As a result of this he now emphasizes grace as often as he can. This really got me thinking. In our desire to live for God, and inspire obedience in others, have we developed our own "Law of Moses?" Unessentials become a litmus test for spirituality in a legalistic culture. Strange issues are used as indicators of spiritual life and "maturity." Things like clothing, hairstyle, innocent entertainments, style of music, version of the Bible, day of worship, consumption of alcohol, use of tobacco, and many other issues become the "standards."

This was a huge issue as the Gospel was preached in the first century, and has continued to be huge through the centuries. Paul is not fond of artificial moral standards, to say the least. One example of his attitude about this is when he calls such artificial moral standards "weak and worthless elementary principles of the world." (Gal. 4:9)

I love the allegory in Galatians four.

Galatians 4:23-26 "For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. 23 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. 24 Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother."

In terms of spiritual life we must choose a mother. He says that law keepers are choosing to be children of the slave woman, Hagar. This applies to all false religions that teach salvation by works, but in the context of Galatians it is a caution for believers. Many are following a legalistic slavery thinking that they are pleasing God. Let us be sure that our moral standards are God's. Let us be sure that we are not judging ourselves or others by "weak and worthless elementary principles of the world." Choose your mother!

Why We Preach

2010-08-09T12:03:00.000-07:00

Nathan’s Notes

1 Corinthians 1:21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

This is a precious passage of Holy Writing.

Here are some of the highlights, which I love:

1. It pleases God to reveal himself in Biblical preaching.

2. All those who believe will be saved through what we preach.

3. It does not matter whether you prefer signs or wisdom; our message is the same: Christ crucified.

4. If you are called, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

5. Christ is God’s weakness in humiliation and death, but he overcomes our enemies of sin and death.

Psalm 65: 3 When iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions.

Many times we can feel that we are wasting our time continuing to talk to people about Christ. We can think that there is no hope for them to come to faith. But, faithful prayer and witness do bring results. Our gospel is foolishness to the worldly wise but to those who are called by God it is power and wisdom!

Recently Lars Jorgensen had the joy of leading his elderly father to faith in Christ. The Jorgensens had prayed for him for several decades, and had spoken with him over and over. He had never really showed any interest. But, as he is getting older and weaker, God opened his heart, and he believed in Jesus for his salvation!

Thanks also for praying for our Vacation Bible School. It was one of the largest we have had in a few years, and the response was very positive. Our teachers are so good, and we wrapped them in a very exciting package! Several of the children prayed to receive Christ, and many hid God’s word in their hearts. Even though the program and packaging are different, we are still preaching Christ crucified.

2010-04-27T14:44:00.000-07:00

No Room for Self-Pity

I have been continuing to think about the post resurrection appearances of Jesus. I love the story of his third visit with his disciples. It is recorded in John 21. It’s the story of Peter leading his six friends out on an all night fishing trip. As you probably recall they catch nothing. Jesus displays his power by the miracle of the big catch. When Peter is told the obvious by John that “It is the Lord!” he throws his clothes back on and jumps in for the football field length swim to shore. He leaves his friends in the boat to deal with the fish.

After an awesome breakfast of charcoal braised fish, the disciples and Jesus were probably sitting around feeling pretty good about the whole situation. Jesus decides that this would be a great time to drill Peter with the toughest questions and biggest challenge he would ever face. When Jesus was on trial a few weeks ago, Peter failed a three-question test miserably. He got a big fat zero on that comprehensive. But, Jesus has another exam for him! Praise God for the mercy of another test!

So in this after breakfast test Jesus asks Peter if he loves him “more than these?” The “these” is somewhat unclear. Most likely Jesus is asking Peter if he loves Jesus more than he loves his close friends, but what is even more invasive is that Jesus asks him two more times if he loves him period. Peter keeps saying yes, and then, grieved at the repetition, he finally says “Lord, you know everything: you know that I love you.” Peter definitely has his feelings hurt through this interchange, but wouldn’t you? Jesus asks us if we love him at all. Are we so caught up in so many other things that we do not even begin to live the great commandment?

“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” (Deuteronomy 6:5 ESV)

Now each time Peter answers yes to Jesus, Jesus gives him a command. Each time he tells him to feed and take care of Jesus’ sheep. What a glorious commissioning for Peter. He denied Jesus three times, yet Jesus commissions him three times over!

This whole poignant interchange ends with Jesus telling Peter that when he gets old he is going to be led out with outstretched arms to be killed to glorify God.

So think about this a moment… do you struggle with the question “Why did God bring this difficult situation into my life, and why doesn’t he take it away?” It does not seem fair. Can’t our lives go smoothly? (Isn’t this the whiny, self-centered prayer of Jabez?) Well, what was the destiny of Peter? Love Jesus more than all else, do his work with all your strength, then you will be brutally killed. But here is the amazing thing; I cannot even imagine Peter complaining about this destiny. Maybe I’m wrong, but I believe that Peter counted it a privilege to follow the Lord no matter where the path led.

Let’s ask the Lord for strength to follow Peter’s example.

Jesus says love me, work for me and follow me.

2010-04-08T15:24:00.000-07:00

Centennial: With Joy, and Fear

We are filled with gratitude for being able to mark our centennial. God has been graciously using First Baptist Church of Monterey for one hundred years, and I count it as a great honor to be the pastor at this time. I am the fourteenth pastor and the number two in length of term. I have been the pastor for 13% of our history! This is an honor and a fearful responsibility.

It is an honor is to be riding the wave of faithful service of the hundreds who came before us. Certainly there were grave mistakes, and grievous sins committed along the way, but God saw fit to preserve this church and continues to use it for his glory.

In just a few weeks from now, at the end of May, we plan to celebrate God’s goodness in a reverent and raucous way. We are a family church, and we are Baptist! We will worship with a few shouts of joy, moments of tearful praise, and several bounce houses for the kiddos! We’ll top it off with a big family feast! All you can eat beef tri-tip and grilled chicken. It is going to be a blast!

But I also use the word “fearful responsibility.” The marking of a centennial is wonderful, but our work is too important for any slackening in our efforts. We are still in the battle. Let us mark our blessings and successes, but let’s keep our powder dry! Remember how Nehemiah directed the builders of the wall of Jerusalem to build with one hand and keep your sword in the other? This is always necessary.

This past Sunday was a glorious Resurrection Celebration. While we had a great attendance there were many that were not there because they are living in open defiance of our risen Lord. I learned just before our first service that one of our young ladies has been swept into the degrading life of drugs and street level evil. Another family in our fellowship is reeling from the evil of drugs as well. Satan is not taking any time off in observance of our centennial! The enemy is real, and evil is powerful. Lord help us! Some of our families have fallen away from fellowship and a few are splitting up. The need is great.

The Bible tells us how to do Christian ministry. For example, in 1 Corinthians 3 we are challenged to build with the right materials in order to produce lasting results. This passage also emphasizes that our work will be tested. It certainly is my prayer and continual desire to make sure we are using God’s good precious materials in building his house!

“Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”
(1 Corinthians 3:12–15 ESV)

It is also a great encouragement to be reminded by Psalm 127 that when all is said and done it is our powerful Lord who builds his house! This thought is also contained in the statement of Jesus: “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
(Matthew 16:18 ESV)

2010-03-10T16:41:00.000-08:00

I have two great ministry associates. Today I've invited one of them, Alex, to be my guest blogger!

THE Goal of Life

What is your goal in life? Is it to have a happy and healthy family? Is it to help others? Is it to attain property? Have a successful business? Travel? To be well educated? To be well known? Well liked? What is your goal?

According to the Bible, you have one goal in life, and that is to know God. In fact, it’s not only your goal in this life…it’s your goal in the next life as well! In John 17:3, Jesus says: “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” So according to Jesus, knowing God is not even the goal to eternal life, but it is eternal life! Wow! God is so huge, and complex and wonderful that knowing Him is eternal life. To know God is an eternal endeavor. It’ll never end. We’ll never get to the bottom of His greatness or His goodness! The apostle Paul says “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!” Each day we spend in eternity we will get to know God more. Each day we will come to know His attributes and His ways with deeper and fuller understanding, and we will fall down in awe of how great He is! Then the next day, we will repeat the process! We will forever and constantly be getting to know God better, and He will forever and ever constantly be blowing our minds and extracting worship and praise from our hearts and lips.

C.S. Lewis, loved this concept and used it often in his books. In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader C.S. Lewis likens getting to know God to the image of a ship sailing on an endless sea. The further on you travel, the sweeter the water gets, and the brighter the sun becomes…yet the brightness doesn’t hurt your eyes. The further on you row upon this endless sea, the better your body is able to handle the brightness, and as it becomes brighter it also becomes sweeter and sweeter to your soul. In The Last Battle Lewis also likens eternally getting to know God more to the image of people traveling up a beautiful but endless mountain. The farther up and in they trek, the more vivid everything becomes. The air becomes fresher and sweeter. The grass looks greener, and the sky a deeper, “farther” shade of blue. In fact, the farther in they travel, the more colors start to become shades that they’ve never even really seen before. And the farther in they travel the steeper the hill becomes, yet this does not hinder their travels. In fact the farther on they go, and the steeper the hill becomes, the faster they are able to move, until pretty soon they are flying over fields so truly green that the eyes of this earth could not set a gaze upon them. And this process goes on forever!

C.S. Lewis surely paints us a beautiful picture of what it will be like to eternally get to know God better. God is that big!! We will forever be knowing Him and enjoying Him. It will be a beautiful time that we can look forward to. The challenge for us today, however, is this: If we do not want to get to know God better here and now, is heaven really a place for us? If we don’t care about knowing Him now, we definitely won’t want to be there forever. Let us begin training for our “real” life by getting to know Him now. Get a head start on a never ending joy. The field is in front of you…Get to trekking.

-alex

Hosea 6:3 “Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD”

2010-02-04T06:24:00.000-08:00

One Hundred Years and Quilting

A few of our truly wonderful ladies spent a truly wonderful amount of time making a truly wonderful quilt in commemoration of our Centennial. It has nine panels depicting outstanding aspects of our church’s history and life.

From top left you see a panel that honors our great nation and our military personnel. We have always been very blessed to have a significant military presence in our body. Next over is a panel that depicts our first building at Prescott and Laine. We built this building sometime within the first two years of our existence! Imagine how exciting that must have been. This building still stands about two blocks from our current building, and is now owned by a Coptic congregation. In the next row down you see a square commemorating youth ministry, then our new baptismal cross. The larger square on the right demonstrates our faithful commitment to world evangelism. One of the very first organizations of our church back in 1910 was a woman’s missionary circle!

Back on the left you see a lovely cypress tree, so prevalent on our peninsula, and next a smaller nameplate. Over on the right on the bottom is a wonderful lighthouse, long a beautiful symbol of the reason we exist. We exist to proclaim the Lord, until he returns. Finally, you see on the bottom left a great depiction of our current building. We built this from 1949 through 1952. The designers used the space very well, as it is always wonderful how useful our current home still is. Weekly it rings with the sounds of love and laughter. You might hear our children screaming and running in Fellowship Hall, our pastor whacking the pulpit or playing a horse’s whinny, or the low murmur of a group earnestly seeking God’s face in prayer.

This quilt is wonderfully symbolic of our church. The ladies made this in love. It took a group effort. It is made of many different pieces. It will warm you, cover you and keep you safe. It is relevant to Monterey, celebrating our neighborhood, our seagulls, and mostly it celebrates the joy of being a part of the body of Christ! Many thanks to Donna Shaffer, Anita Harriger, and Virginia Albert. God bless you for your loving work! Praise God for yet another demonstration of his faithfulness to First Baptist Church of Monterey since 1910!

A Christmas Wish: Big Government

2009-12-11T10:20:00.000-08:00

Hooray for BIG Government! (A Christmas wish)

“Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end,”

(Isaiah 9:7 ESV)

As I was preaching from this text this past Sunday (see it here) I had a wonderful insight. We, as God’s people, should be constantly praying that the government of the Prince of Peace would continue to grow. We should pray for his big and good government to increase. Certainly we desire Christ to have dominion both now and forevermore. We should desire this globally as well as personally. We want his will to be done in increasing ways. We ourselves want to increasingly submit to his rule in our lives. We ought to be supporters of the big government of Jesus!

Christ brings to us all the best values in life, since he himself is the source of all life. Ephesians 1:23 describes Jesus as “him who fills all in all.” Nothing would exist if it were not for Jesus. Not only is our reality fully dependent on him, he fills it all with himself! He fills our reality with infinite good!

At advent we have been emphasizing some of the lasting values that Jesus brings to his own. Jesus brings to his sheep hope, peace, joy, and love. He is called the everlasting father. His government not only protects us but provides for us as well! It is the ultimate in paternalism. He is the best daddy ever as he supplies all our needs according to his infinite capabilities. This is his everlasting role. As a daddy myself, there is no greater joy than seeing my children happy. But, since I am so limited and faulty I can only do so much. Jesus is unlimited and perfect! May his government increase!

There is a direct connection between his government and peace. The more his government increases, the more peace we will know. If you are not enjoying peace in the deepest way it is because you are not submitting to the King. Trust his government: trust him!

So my Christmas wish this year is for the increase of his government! I hope that you will submit to the Prince of Peace now and forever! I hope that his Kingdom will come and that his will be done on earth as it is in heaven. May glory and majesty, dominion and power be unto him forever!

2009-09-01T15:34:00.000-07:00

Why not Roman Catholic?

I have been meditating on the message of the book of Galatians, and thinking of how it applies to us today. It occurred to me that it fits pretty well as an argument against leaving the free church to join the Roman church.

The mixed Galatian congregations of Jews, Gentiles, slave and free, were being convinced to join or rejoin the Jewish community. There was a strong cultural appeal to do so. Paul admits to being perplexed about this trend. (4:20) He says “Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? You observe days and months and seasons and years! I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.” (4:8-11)

Paul describes following a legalistic cultural ritual as slavery. He says that rituals, even those given by God himself, are worthless elementary principles. He is dumfounded that those baptized into Christ would return to worthless legalistic formalized rituals.

I am sure there were many people pressuring them with arguments about the beauty of the old ways, and the disorganization of the new free church. But in this strong little book Paul argues that we must maintain our freedom. “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (5:1)

Paul goes on to argue even more strongly. He states that people depending on a legalistic formalized ritual will actually lose any benefit from Christ. This, sadly, is exactly what happens in the ritual churches. While some are simply worshipping using the symbols of the rituals, others are actually depending on those rituals for their salvation. Legalistic formalized religions are massively misleading many of their adherents. Some, in the name of Christ, are condemning millions.

It is not wrong to make rituals, but we must watch them carefully. The Bible is formula free. There are no set rituals for communion, prayer, worship services, baptism, or anything else, for that matter. We are free to create our own rituals. There is no indication that the early church followed any centralized authority when it comes to rituals. There is an inspired silence on these things. We are free.

2009-08-20T11:11:00.000-07:00

Self-Love or God’s Love

“…who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” (Galatians 2: 20 - 21)

Paul is emphatic that there is no middle ground. There are only two possibilities. One either pleases God by working a little harder with what he has, or he depends on the death of Christ. Our faith is not about helping people to live more morally. We do not want to tell people to live by the Ten Commandments. You can do really well at being good and living by the Ten Commandments or the Five Pillars or whatever moral code you can imagine and you will not please God. God will still be very angry with you. We simply do not have the ability to please him.

There are only two basic approaches to God. Either you believe that he is a little miffed at you and you can make it better by doing little things to make him happy, or you believe that your moral debt is so massive that only the death of Jesus will save you. All world religions can be understood in one of these two categories.

The verse above is powerful because it says that if a person were able to work hard enough to please God and make it into heaven on his own then it was a waste for Christ to die. Jesus Christ did not die because we are just a little too lazy to save ourselves. He did not die for people who have the ability to please God if only they find the right mix of rules to keep and kept them. No, he died for sinners because that is the only way they could get right with God.

This is why the Bible is so insistent that there is only one way of salvation. “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

(Acts 4:12) Anyone who is not trusting in Christ is trying to save himself, and since that is impossible they are going to be unsaved when all is said and done.

But here is the rub when talking about this to our culture: most Americans are not really trying to work hard to save themselves. We are pretty convinced that we’re in pretty good shape already. We are not at all worried about the wrath of God. Christ’s death does not make sense to us, really. Thanks but no thanks. It seems to me that we are pretty convinced that we just need to show up and it will be OK. Our religion is self-love. When you really love yourself, why do you need God’s potent love? One popular song of our culture was sung by Whitney Houston in 1985 and written by Michael Masser and Linda Creed:

I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone's shadows

If I fail, if I succeed

At least I'll live as I believe

No matter what they take from me

They can't take away my dignity

Because the greatest love of all

Is happening to me

I found the greatest love of all

Inside of me

The greatest love of all

Is easy to achieve

Learning to love yourself

It is the greatest love of all

Our moral standards are pretty low. I saw a bumper sticker that said “Born OK the first time.” Later I saw that the car had been totaled in an accident. Hmmm. Maybe there is hope.

So how do we go about convincing our neighbors that Christ died for a very important reason: their salvation? That, thankfully, is ultimately the work of the Holy Spirit of God. We are called to preach Christ, and him crucified. Most people think it is foolishness, but that is our call. The more you think about Christ’s death the more you can understand your problem.

2009-06-25T16:43:00.000-07:00

Must I Be Carried to the Skies On Flowery Beds of Ease?

Joshua 23: 4 Behold, I have allotted to you as an inheritance for your tribes those nations that remain, along with all the nations that I have already cut off, from the Jordan to the Great Sea in the west. 5 The Lord your God will push them back before you and drive them out of your sight. And you shall possess their land, just as the Lord your God promised you. …10 One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the Lord your God who fights for you, just as he promised you.

This is a very instructive teaching at the end of Joshua. Joshua is giving his final instructions to the tribes of Israel. What he tells them here is that by his design they still have enemies to face in their tribal areas. The battles are not over. They too must fight to enter into the promised rest. This is exactly why God has each of us here on the earth. He has allotted us enemies that we must conquer. Notice that neither does God ever say “Let go and let God.” No, he calls us to face our enemies. Notice verse ten above. It tells us that the enemies that God allots to us will overwhelm us, if God does not fight for us. We will at least be out-numbered by a thousand to one! God designs that we will be overwhelmed so that we will work and trust at the same time.

As James says, “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” We are called to faith and action. We know that our action cannot achieve the victory unless God in his grace chooses to bless us.

Be encouraged in your struggles. Our Good King allots the troubles you face. He commands us to work for solutions and pray for victory.

Remember the old Isaac Watts hymn:

Must I be carried to the skies

On flowery beds of ease,

While others fought to win the prize,

And sailed through bloody seas?

Are there no foes for me to face?

Must I not stem the flood?

Is this vile world a friend to grace,

To help me on to God?

Sure I must fight if I would reign;

Increase my courage, Lord.

I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain,

Supported by Thy Word.

New Video

2009-06-10T17:59:00.000-07:00

Hey! I found a decent section of a sermon of mine from 2006. Its 6.5 minutes long. I called it "Vision for Ministry."

Also I posted a nice (simple) video of Alex singing one of his great songs, "You Break My Will."

Find them here!

http://www.fbcmonterey.org/video.php

2009-04-28T14:58:00.000-07:00

Why a “Local Church?”

If our vision is to be a local church truly living for the living God how should we strive for that?

Paul trains Timothy exactly for this. It may never have occurred to Paul that he could just write up a series of lessons and sermons for Timothy to use. Then he could be assured that Tim’s teaching would be perfect. God could have handed down prepared presentations and lessons for us to use for the generations to come. But, this is not at all what Paul or God did. Instead God through Paul trains Timothy to spend his time working hard at teaching his people the Word of God. He tells him, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)

If you take the picture as a whole the Biblical plan for church leadership is to be men who are walking with the Lord in victory and are growing. They devote themselves to study and understanding of the Word, they are good examples and are involved in the lives of the people. Then they talk to the people. They teach, preach and train all using the Word of God that they themselves have been studying.

A pastor should be like a good parent feeding his children. Presenting fresh cooked food out of fresh ingredients. They need to know what their children need and desire, and try to serve them the appropriate food. They should not always serve the same thing either. There needs to be variety. It is the parent’s responsibility to serve wholesome food as well. The parents would zealously defend against dangerous food too, and they would not be tolerant of enemies who tried to poison their children.

It seems to me that the Biblical pattern is for local pastors to be feeding local flocks whom they are getting to know, locally prepared food which they have labored to produce.

I wonder if “a worker” who does not work this way needs to be ashamed?

2009-02-23T16:18:00.000-08:00

Learning From Rahab

Trust in Troubling Times

Hebrews 11: 31 “By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.”

The story of Rahab is another great reminder that God works his plan in surprising ways. If you read her story in Joshua two, you discover that she had great faith that God was going to bring victory to Israel. She says that the people of Jericho had heard all about the crossing of the Red Sea, and the defeat of Sihon and Og, and that because of this they knew that God was going to give his people the Promised Land. This is so remarkable because Rahab expresses more faith than God’s people have been doing! The events she refers to occurred more than forty years before! The generation of God’s people who experienced these miracles firsthand did not trust in their LORD, so he destroyed them in the wilderness. They did not trust but Rahab believed!

Isn’t it remarkable that the truth of God’s power survived the failure of his people? God’s people are always imperfect, and sometimes they fail miserably. We often groan thinking of all the damage done to God’s kingdom. But, isn’t it wonderful to know that God is still working his plan! We ought not give up. We should have faith that he will still keep his promises. Let us not allow Rahab to have more faith than us! God is grieved when we are people of little faith.

Listen how Rahab expressed her faith: “…for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.” (Joshua 2:11) She knew that God could and would accomplish his will. The mighty walls of Jericho did not deter him. She said this as she stood in her house in the walls. She knew that God was bigger than Jericho. We must learn a lesson from this Canaanite prostitute. Trust in God no matter what else is going on. As we go through these troubling times let’s keep our trust in the LORD!

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,

whose hope is in the Lord his God,

who made heaven and earth,

the sea, and all that is in them,

who keeps faith forever;

who executes justice for the oppressed,

who gives food to the hungry.

Psalm 146:5-7

2009-02-03T14:21:00.000-08:00

My Friend John

I attended a memorial for a friend of mine this Saturday. His name was John. He was a few months younger than I, but he had many health problems. I met him in 1985 when I was the chaplain at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose. A car hit him while he was walking across the street. The accident was so severe no one really expected him to live. His head broke the windshield and he was carried along until he flew off the car! There are so many details about this accident that I cannot possible tell you. But at the end he was so broken and twisted that his head was literally facing the wrong way.

This “accident” happened just days after he had truly committed himself to God at a retreat.

John survived after many specific answers to prayer. He then faced the long ordeal of rehabilitation. After something more than a year he kept his commitment to God and WALKED back into the hospital and came my office. He asked how he might serve as a volunteer with me! It seems to me that John is a living example of 2 Corinthians 1:4: “who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

He ended up working as a volunteer chaplain for several years, and then as a staff chaplain for about fifteen years! He went through many struggles, but he would not stop. The lessons John learned through his painful ordeal he used to comfort hundreds of others. Many in John’s circumstances just end up living a life of leisure, for lack of a better term. They watch TV waiting to feel better. John would not do that. He got up and got going!

So many of us with very few difficulties are allowing those we do have to derail us. This is a shame! Listen to the words of God to Joshua: “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people…” While it is day let us arise and go!

Another friend of mine, Sue, spoke a John’s memorial. She was one of his ICU nurses back in 1985. She admitted to not expecting him to live. She was shocked to meet him twenty years later still going and serving other people! After this meeting they became co-facilitators of a wonderful prayer and support group. Sue said that sunflowers, which she brought to the memorial, reminded her of John, because they always turn toward the sun. She said only that in the case of John he turned toward the Son!

John had a wonderful faith in the Son of God. It is comforting to know that John has completed his course and is with the Son now!

2008-12-10T17:34:00.000-08:00

Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!

While there does not seem to be a definitive answer as to why we give gifts at Christmastime, it really does make sense from a Christian point of view. The central message of Christmas is the gift of God. He gave his only son for us. He gave the perfect gift. It is beautiful, effective, and loved by all who receive it. Paul, in 2 Corinthians 9:15, describes the gift as “inexpressible.” It is so immensely valuable that we cannot even begin to express its value. Imagine marveling at the value of Christ for all of eternity! We will never tire of praising the value of God’s gift.

There is a “credit crisis” currently in our economy. Many have large debts, which they can no longer get credit to cover. We have borrowed so much we can’t borrow more, and we can hardly make the payments. Imagine some immensely wealthy individual paying off all the debt. Every person in the world would be exuberantly grateful. We would be dizzy with joy. All the debt gone!? WOW. We would never forget the moment we heard about this generous bailout. The joy would be inexpressible. We would want to honor the generous individual for a long time to come.

God has paid an even greater debt through the gift of his son. Jesus Christ is the Redeemer. He is the ransom for our sin. The penalty of sin is death, but Jesus has taken the wrath of God for us when he died for our sins. He paid for our freedom with his own blood.

Here is a sample of the worship in heaven…

And they sang a new song, saying,

“Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped. (Revelation 5:9-14)

Let us get started on worshipping him now! Let’s fall and worship Christ! Amen?

2008-11-24T16:20:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving and a Super-Sized God

“But I am afflicted and in pain; let your salvation, O God, set me on high! I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.” Psalm 69: 29-30

Happy Thanksgiving to you!

I heard a great suggestion last night. We should have 364 days of Thanksgiving and one day of griping. As people who are so blessed we get spoiled. One of the best ways to deal with discouragement is to obey the commands to be thankful. Stop thinking about what you do not have, and appreciate what you do have!

Think about the Psalm portion that I have quoted above. It begins with the author in pain and affliction. He is calling out for help. There is plenty for us to call out for help about. It is good and obedient to call for help. But notice that the author immediately goes into singing. He wants to meditate on the name of God with a song. Music is purposely repetitive and memorable. God made us to be able to sing. Music moves the body, soul, and spirit, even more so than does speech. God endorses music for worship. It must be good!

The next phrase is what brought me to this Psalm. “I will magnify him with thanksgiving.” Is that not a fantastic thought? We can make God bigger with thanksgiving. Certainly we make him bigger in our own minds. Obviously he is “larger” than we can ever even imagine. So to magnify him certainly means to appreciate his inherent immense size. This makes perfect sense. When we begin to list all the reasons we have to be thankful we begin to appreciate how good God is. To hold the magnifying glass up to God, be thankful. Look at him through thanksgiving and he looks bigger. As he looks bigger our afflictions will shrink in size.

Ephesians 5:20 “giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”

If we obey this command “…thanks always and for everything…” it will do us a world of good. We will acknowledge that God is all sovereign and deserves praise all the time. Thanksgiving brings God back to his proper size in our hearts and minds.

2008-11-07T15:29:00.000-08:00

‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: This is what you shall say to your masters: “It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me. Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and I have given him also the beasts of the field to serve him. All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson, until the time of his own land comes. Then many nations and great kings shall make him their slave." This is from Jeremiah 27

There you have the wonderful bold statement of Scripture that God is fully sovereign over everything and everyone. He created the earth and he gives it to whomever it seems right to him. In the days of Jeremiah this meant that Nebuchadnezzar was given political power. He is called God's servant. He would be in power doing the sovereign will of God as long as God pleased. In this case God was showing his extreme displeasure toward his precious people for their wicked rebellion. He was using the evil of Nebuchadnezzar to bring his holy judgment on his people. The wicked king would be responsible for his own actions, but God was working his predetermined will through Nebuchadnezzar.

It was God's pleasure to select Barack Obama as the leader of the United States. While I do not think President Obama will be another Nebuchadnezzar, I do want to point out that President Obama has been given this post by God Almighty. With the views of Biden and Obama on the sanctity of life and their dangerous economic theories, we may be in for further decline as a nation. From the history of Israel we know that God uses political turmoil, military defeat, and economic distress to reveal his displeasure over sin. God's call is for all people to return to him. He is the God for all people everywhere.

As the church of Jesus Christ this will give us more opportunities to faithfully witness to our culture. Let us hold forth the Word of Life in these dark times.

Why Yes on 8?

2008-10-30T11:04:00.000-07:00

In California next week we have the privilege of voting. I urge you to vote! There are several moral issues effected by our vote next week.

"On May 15, 2008, the Supreme Court of California overturned the state's ban on same-sex marriage in In re Marriage Cases. The four-to-three decision took effect on June 16, 2008. The Court declined to stay its decision until after the November elections." (This is from the Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_California)

Now, next week, we can overturn this high court decision by voting yes on Proposition 8.

The opponents of Prop 8 are arguing that same-sex marriage is an issue of equality and fairness. They say that Prop 8 is "wrong."

Truthfully their arguments are appealing. From a point of view that we have the power to define what is right and wrong, their arguments are persuasive. They are saying that human beings define what is right and wrong by a simple majority vote. If most people think something is right, then it is. They say people in favor of Prop 8 are "wrong."

What makes these supporters of Prop 8 wrong? The personal opinions of some other people.

Now I question if we really want to live in a society where the only standard for ethics is personal opinion. How can we truly say that polygamy is wrong, for example? Maybe one group of people believes it is acceptable to kill your baby two days before it is born, and another two days after it is born. Personal opinion is a very uncertain foundation upon which to build a structure.

Here is the beauty of the Judeo/Christian point of view. We believe that we receive our ethics from God. What is right or wrong is revealed to us in God's word. Now, from this point of view the opponents of Prop 8 are clearly wrong. Any fair reading of Scripture will bring you to the definite conclusion that same-sex marriage is wrong.

Actually, from a Biblical point of view this is an overwhelmingly huge issue. Homosexuality is not a casual issue in Scripture. God made his righteous condemnation of homosexuality very clear at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. In the book of Romans God tells us that homosexuality is actually an indication that God has given people over to their own perversion, as a response to their rebellion.

From a Biblical point of view we certainly should not encourage this behavior. Giving same-sex couples legal status as a married couple is dangerous. It is dangerous for the individuals and for society in general. Do you love people? Vote yes on Prop 8.

Taking it like...the son of man

2008-10-29T16:36:00.000-07:00

Living in a hostile world…

And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” (Mark 15: 34-36)

In God’s crushing of his son for our sins, Jesus endured all levels of suffering. He stands boldly as an example for us to follow. (see 1 Peter 2:21 ff) In his most ardent moment of pain he quotes Holy Scripture in his comfortable mother tongue to express his anguish, his cry for help, and a plea for understanding. He cried out “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” This is Aramaic, his mother tongue. Some of those people who had nothing better to do than to stand around gawking and mocking, did not understand Aramaic. (Or they purposely misunderstood.) They said he was calling for Elijah. They thought this was funny, so they wanted to keep him alive a little longer to see what would happen next. That seems to be the reason they quickly tried to get him something to drink. By God’s grace the suffering was just over at this time. I’m sure the “bystanders” were disappointed that the show was over.

One thing that impresses me here is that Jesus was so constantly misunderstood, but often he simply took it. He had a perfect trust in the ultimate justice of God the Father. Jesus just did not have to win every argument, or work hard every moment to correct all the misunderstandings around him. Here is the perfect one enduring mocking misunderstanding for us. He is taking our mocking for us.

In our personal guilt we deserve to be misunderstood, and mocked. Most, if not all, of our actions are polluted to some extent by our own sin. We are sinners, so when people misunderstand us we should expect no better treatment than our Lord. We should try to explain, but also allow the misunderstanding to humble us. If Jesus could take it, shouldn’t we?

How should we respond when people misunderstand us?

1) Trust God’s providence. This is his plan.

2) Patiently look for an opportunity to explain what you meant.

3) After all is said and done you will just have to live with the truth that some people will misunderstand you. Go back to step one!

4) Thank God that Jesus bore our mocking so that for eternity we will not suffer from the misunderstanding that we deserve.