From the Pastor:
6-5-11
A great deal of controversy has been swirling after President Obama’s speech on Israel and the prime minister of Israel’s (Benjamin Netanyahu) response to a joint session of Congress. Christians have all kinds of contradicting opinions about how we should think and act toward the Jewish people and the modern state of Israel. Thankfully, scripture gives us the proper prescription.
1. We are living in a time in history called the Church Age. God is no longer working through any one nation or family, but rather through people who have been born of the spirit--a group that transcends any earthly nationality, race, or gender (I Peter 2:9,10; Galatians 3:26-29), called “The Church” (Ephesians 1:22,23). So, there is absolutely no spiritual advantage for someone who is a physical descendant of Abraham today. I am not Jewish, but as a believer in Jesus I have full access to all of God’s spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus, and do not have to take a backseat to anyone, even a Jew (Ephesians 1:3; 2:11-3:7).
2. We should treat all people justly, whether they are Jews or not (I Peter 2:17; Micah 6:8).
3. We should express gratitude to Jewish people since we owe them for giving us God’s Word and our Savior Jesus. Some would argue that they don’t deserve this gratitude, because God simply used them—they didn’t do it all by themselves. They might even argue about the wickedness of the Jews we see in the Bible and in the lineage of Christ. But God does not accept these arguments. We are always to honor the people God uses to accomplish his purposes—we are in their debt (Romans 15:27). Thus, we are to honor our parents whom God used to give us life, regardless of their spiritual character (Ephesians 6:1-3).
4. Cruel regimes and ideologies always go after the Jews first, but they never stop with the Jews. Thus, God has made the descendants of Abraham his canary in the coal mine, and He has given this warning, “those who bless you I will bless, and those who curse you I will curse (Genesis 12:3).” Beware and avoid anyone who “hates Jews”.
5. Criticizing Jews who are doing wrong is not the same thing as hating the Jews. Throughout scripture God used His prophets to constantly criticize Jews for unrighteous behavior. Today, a large number of Jewish people are atheists. Only a few have trusted Christ. While the state of Israel is the freest nation in the Middle East (including for the 1 million Arab citizens of Israel who vote, have equal rights, and worship freely even though they are Muslim), Israel does not do everything right—for example, Christians may worship freely but face fines if they try to witness to orthodox Jews. America need not say “yes” to everything Israel’s leaders do to avoid “cursing” Abraham’s offspring (Isaiah 6:5).
6. God has not voided his covenant promises with Abraham’s physical descendants…he has merely put them on hold. He has not utterly forsaken Israel (Romans 11:1,28,29).
· Some people are anti-semitic (against Jews) because they believe that Jewish people control all the levers of power in the world—banks, entertainment, politics, etc. While conspiracy theories like this are hogwash, it is a fact that Jewish people do exercise an influence way out of proportion to their worldwide numbers (about 20 million). It is easy to see why, since God told them that they would be blessed physically and would bless all nations (Genesis 12:1-3). This promise has not been voided! God has given Jews a great influence as his chosen people, which sometimes they use for good, and sometimes for bad. It is interesting that three out of the four most influential people in the last century were Jewish: Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein, and Karl Marx. We should also expect to see the Jewish people suffer unusual tribulation as well, as God promised them they would if they were not walking in His ways (Deuteronomy 28:15-68). However, we should do our utmost to make sure that neither we nor our nation is the one God is using to punish Israel, since God always ends up paying those nations back in the end (i.e., Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Rome, Jeremiah 30:11).
· Anti-semitism and the existence of the Jews are evidence that they are God’s chosen people. Why are Jews so universally hated, if not for the fact that Satan despises them because they are uniquely associated with God? Why has the UN condemned tiny Israel (the size of Belize) scores of times more than it has condemned any other nation in the world? Yet, despite all the Hitlers, God’s promise that the physical descendants of Abraham would never be wiped out has been confirmed, even while most other ancient peoples have disappeared from the earth. Every time I see a Jew, I think, “his existence is evidence the Bible is true, and God’s promises are unbreakable.”
7. There is only one nation in the world—Israel—to which God Himself give land forever (Genesis 13:14-17). We should never ask the Jews to ever give up any of that land to anyone—who are we to say that they should give away that which God has given to them forever? (Lev. 25:23).
8. All efforts at securing a comprehensive and lasting peace for Israel are doomed to fail (Daniel 9:26). We should pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6) but realize that prayer will only be answered by Israel corporately turning to the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.
9. Israel has not totally forsaken Christ. A small remnant of Jews believe in and worship Jesus as their Messiah (Romans 11:3-7). However, the vast majority are hardened toward the gospel—why? Originally, Jesus was sent as a Jewish Messiah to deliver Abraham’s physical offspring, according to God’s promise to them--only after they corporately rejected Him did the message of grace go on to us Gentiles (non-Jews) (Romans 11:11). Thank goodness for our sake that their unbelief allowed mercy to be poured out on us! In return, we should show them mercy by sharing with Jewish people the good news of their Messiah, who has become our Messiah as well (Romans 11:30-32; Acts 4:12).
10. When the full number of the Gentiles who will be saved is reached, God will at last turn the hearts of Israel corporately to finally accept Jesus as their Messiah (Romans 11:25-27). When that happens, God will deliver Israel both spiritually and physically (Deuteronomy 30:1-10), and her Messiah (and ours) will put an end to all her oppressors, inaugurate the golden age of peace on earth, and reign on David’s throne as King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:11-20:6). That is God’s comprehensive plan for peace in the Middle East! And it will be accomplished!
8-8-10
If I could nail down the number one reason people are opposed to Christianity in America today, it would by far and away be the Christian position on human sexuality. Whether it is Christians saying that adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, pornography, or abortion is wrong, everything falls under that one topic. This is not surprising as scripture tells us in Romans 1 that after a society rejects God it first commits sexual sins, and then all the others. But I still think that a lot of people don’t fully understand the Christian viewpoint on these sins.
First, Christians do NOT condemn people for having urges to engage in any of the above behaviors. For example, there is a lot of debate about whether homosexuality is something one is born with or chooses to do. For the Christian, the answer is yes—to both. We are all naturally born sinners, and that means we all have certain innate temptations. While some homosexuals are introduced into that lifestyle by their environment, I have no doubt that some are born with that sin as a naturally occurring temptation to them—just as some of us are born having problems with anger, or stubbornness, or laziness, or heterosexual lust. We all are born with a sin nature that shows itself in different ways. But we are also fully accountable for our actions. Someone who is naturally angry doesn’t have a pass to murder, a lustful man doesn’t have the freedom to sleep with every girl in sight or commit adultery, etc. We all have sinful urges…it is what we do with them that makes us guilty or not guilty before God.
Secondly, Christians do not think that people involved in sexual sin are any worse than any of the rest of us. Jesus said, “Except you repent, you shall all likewise perish.” We do not look down our noses at prostitutes, adulterers, pornography addicts, or people in same sex relationships—we instead see fellow sinners who are in need of the same grace we have found!
Thirdly, we don’t think someone is saved by stopping the above behaviors—instead all of us are saved when we admit that what we are doing is wrong, and then trust Christ to save us from our sins.
Finally, we don’t believe that simply becoming a Christian eliminates all of the old urges, habits, and temptations we face. Someone involved in homosexual behavior doesn’t suddenly lose that desire instantly, an alcoholic doesn’t suddenly have no urge to drink, a lustful person doesn’t suddenly lose all attraction to the opposite sex, and an angry person doesn’t suddenly become someone who never struggles with his temper. Instead, we believe that a new nature that desires to do what is right and hates what is wrong is added to our old nature—so that now a great war is started inside of us between the new person we are in Christ, and the old person we were before. It is only by God’s grace, by His Holy Spirit, and by spiritual disciplines that we are able to grow into the image of Christ and cast off the works of darkness. God delivers us from practicing big sins of conduct right away, but He doesn’t take away the temptation to sin, or make us so that we can never fall into any sin no matter how big; and sometimes we struggle for years with the little sins of our thoughts, words, and even some deeds.
In summary, Christians aren’t judges going around condemning people, we are doctors going around diagnosing the problem and offering a cure—one that changes everything in an instant, but one that takes a long time to fully work its magic. The cure isn’t a formula, idea, or resolution, it is a relationship with a person, Jesus Christ.
3-21-10
During the spring of the year, the Israelites in the Bible were commanded to offer God an offering of first-fruits—their first sheaf of ripe grain, etc. I was thinking this week about what the present day implication of that is for us. Of course, most of us are not farmers, and none of us are under the Old Testament law, but everything in the Bible is there to teach us a principle. So what is the principle of giving God our first-fruits all about?
A helpful way of understanding this is to think of its opposite. The opposite of first-fruits are left-overs. For example, when we cook a meal, you and your family sit down to the “first-fruits”; later in the meal you get “seconds”, finally, you give the “left-overs” to your dog.
So, is God our Lord and Master—does he get the “first-fruits”, or do we treat Christ as if he were our dog and give him the “leftovers”?
Time. Is it, “God gets His time first,” or “I’ll go to church or read my Bible if I have time left over.”
Money. Is it, “God gets His money first” or “I’ll give to God if I have any left over.”
Life. Is it, “God gets first dibs on my life today,” or “after I’ve graduated, sown my wild oats, got the kids raised, retired, etc. I’ll give God what’s left over of my life.”
I’m afraid most of the time He gets the leftovers, doesn’t He? Here’s how to make sure He gets our first-fruits:
1) Sunday morning is for God—the first day of the week, the first part of that day, is the first-fruits; Guard it, and say no to opportunities that will pull you away from meeting with God’s people then.
2) Give God the first part of each day as well—get up 15 minutes early, grab some coffee or whatever keeps you awake, and read a few verses, say a prayer to God for the day, and give Him thanks. If you don’t do it right off the bat, you probably won’t get around to doing it at all.
3) Don’t be random about what you give to God each week. Determine with your spouse what percentage of your income will be your giving, and write your very first check each pay period to God. The percentage you give isn’t as important as the commitment to say that God will get that percentage we have purposed to give no matter what other bills are due—God gets the first-fruits.
4) Always seek God’s will and His Kingdom first in your life decisions: where you’ll go to school, who you’ll marry, what career you’ll have, what to volunteer to do at church—seek Him early and let His will and His Kingdom--not money, pleasure, or position--be your determining factor.
Never say, I’ll start living for God tomorrow—start today.
If everyone knew what part of your time, money, and life God received, would they know He was your Savior, or would they think he’s your pet? Let’s give Him our first-fruits.
2-28-10
Every time I watch the space shuttle successfully take off and reach orbit, I am amazed at the brilliance it takes to make that happen—rocket science. And yet as complicated as rocket science may be, it really boils down to something very simple—if you get the simple thing wrong, your rocket will crash and burn. The simple thing that makes the shuttle reach space and the rocket science work successfully is the four basic operations of mathematics: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Everything else in math is just fancy combinations of these four. Even the most complicated formula thought up by an Albert Einstein is just the proper combination of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. If you know how to do these four operations, there is hope that you could someday be a brilliant mathematician, physicist, or chemist—or write a formula that will make a spacecraft fly. But if you don’t have these four operations down, you not only won’t be brilliant, you’ll be absolutely unable to effectively function in your daily life at the grocery store or on the basketball court.
We are living in a time of History where God’s people are under the authority of the Holy Spirit. In this unique age of time, He indwells every Christian, oversees and empowers the Church, and is available to help us know what to say or do in every situation. But how do we know the difference between what the Holy Spirit’s will is and what our own impulses are saying?
The answer is that the Holy Spirit always uses the written word of God to explain, enlighten, or encourage us to a course of action. Just like Einstein can show us brilliant formulas for physics, the Holy Spirit can show us brilliant formulas for our lives—but just as any formula by Einstein will and must always use addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, the Holy Spirit’s wisdom must always use the written word of God. An Einstein formula that defied or ignored the four basic laws of math would be absolutely useless; and a life formula that defies or ignores the written Word of God is useless as well. The Holy Spirit can never tell us to do anything that defies or ignores the written word of God—instead, He combines, illustrates, and applies it to our lives in such wonderful ways that when followed, make us seem like brilliant people—and can make our life soar to unimaginable heights.
Have you memorized your multiplication tables? Do you know how to add and subtract? Do you follow the laws of math? More importantly, do you know your Bible? Have you memorized and hidden its teachings in your heart? Are you willing to follow its rules and authority? If not, you’ll find it very difficult to effectively function as a Christian in every day life. If so, you’ll be amazed at how the Holy Spirit, the Master Teacher, can use the Word to formulate the answers to all of your problems of living.
And always remember that any life formula that doesn’t agree with and use the Word is either nonsense or fatally flawed---so much so that it can cause you to crash and burn!
2-7-10
For almost 12 months now, one word seems to define almost everyone who works, volunteers, or leads in our church—“discouraged”. As I’ve talked to people, they seem tired, worn out, dispirited, and discontented. I’ve had elders and deacons tell me they feel worn out and ready to quit, I’ve heard the same from volunteers and workers and, to be honest, I’ve even felt that way myself!
Some people have been going through some annoying health problems—not life threatening, just draining. For some, problems in their family have been depressing; for others, it’s either exhaustion or a sense of despair—that their work is not accomplishing anything, or that no one is helping them, or that no one cares. Most have hung in there, but a few have stepped back, and some have even left the church seeking for rest and refuge somewhere else.
As I have experienced the same thing, I think it feels like an invisible wall is there resisting my efforts and infecting me with discouragement. I, too, have thought of quitting. Thankfully, people have encouraged me at just the right time! But I have seen enough to know that almost of all of us have battled this in the last year.
When a problem is this widespread, there must be a cause. What is the source of the weariness, discouragement, and distress that seems to surround us? Has God left us? Is there gross or rampant sin or some fatal flaw that has caused Him to stop supporting our efforts, or is the resistance of a diabolical—demonic—source?
As Pastor, it is my responsibility to analyze this. First, I don’t know of anyone in key positions in our church who are involved in defiant sin—now, we aren’t perfect, but I don’t know of any rebellion—if it’s there, it’s hidden beyond my sight. Second, as to our church, we don’t seem to be actively engaged in doing harm to Christ’s name, nor do we seem to be sitting idly doing nothing for Christ . There are plenty of areas we need to improve—we need to be a praying church, more pure, more passionate for Christ than we are—we need a lot of improvement in those areas! But I have seen that those affected by the discouragement are often the most prayerful, pure, and passionate for Christ among us.
That can only lead me to believe that these difficulties are from below, not from above. I think timing is critical to understanding what’s going on. Last March we were running nearly 300 on Sunday mornings, and that was an impetus for the elders to ask the church to pray and fast with us about what our next step should be to deal with these wonderfully large numbers! It was at that exact time—last April—that the weariness, discouragement, discontentedness set in, and that trouble went to a whole new level! We have taken some bold steps as a church since then, and trouble has followed in the wake of each one: 1) we determined to pay off the debt and hire ministry staff—both very Biblical, righteous goals: yet right after the elders decided to do that, I became so discouraged I was ready to quit! 2) the deacons decided to have a volunteer fair to help more people get involved, yet as it approached the deacon leading it was so discouraged he was ready to quit. 3) A whole new wave of discouragement and stress hit at the same time we started passing out the DVDs with the gospel message to our community.
It seems that each time we embarked on something Biblically right, that’s when the problems or feeling of distress hit key people and key volunteers. As we have been moving to hire Joshua to minister to our children and our community, I have noticed another wave of discontent and discouragement sweeping over people—not about his choice—people seem happy about that—but about other things relating to our church and work for God.
Folks, I may be wrong, but I sincerely believe we are on the brink of doing something amazing for God here at Charlestown Independent Church—and Satan knows it. I think he is trying to weaken, dispirit, and discourage as many people as he can, while he can. But I believe his time is running out, and we are about to get out of this bottleneck into a wide place of unbelievable blessing from God!
Here’s what we each need to do till then:
1) Hang on! David was running from Saul, Joseph was thrown in jail, but all the time God had something big waiting for them. David remembered his anointing, Joseph remembered his dreams—hang on to the promises of God!
2) Don’t quit! If God calls you to ministry somewhere else, then go; but don’t leave CIC because you’re discouraged—stay at your post, we will come out of this storm, and we will be a much better church when we do!
3) Encourage one another--now, more than ever! I can’t talk to all of you personally—but encourage the person on your right or left, call the one you haven’t seen, send cheerful cards, and be positive when someone else is drowning in negativity: it has helped me, and it will help them!
4) Pray, pray, pray, pray, pray. Pray alone. Pray with a friend. Come to church on Sunday evening and pray with your Christian family. Our church isn’t perfect, but prayer will fix bad things, strengthen good things, and produce amazing new things.
5) Believe. A lady in our church sings a song: “He didn’t bring us this far to leave us; He didn’t teach us to swim to let us drown; He didn’t build His home in us just to move away; He didn’t pick us up to let us down.” And that is the truth. Where we are wrong, He will show us, He will perfect us, all this as long as we are willing for Him to take control for His purpose, and as long as we love Him (Rom 8:28)—and I know I do want His will above anything, and I think we as a church want this as well!
Our head deacon wrote a letter this week He entitled, “The Tide Is Turning!” When I saw that title it really spoke peace to my heart. The tide is turning; it’s always darkest just before dawn; “weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning”. We’re almost there, folks. Don’t give up, don’t give in, and don’t drop out: something amazing is right around the corner!!!!!!
1-31-10
Maria fixes this awesome tilapia recipe where the baked fish is covered with this amazing topping. Anyhow, my mother-in-law came over one night to try things and Maria made the mistake of telling her one of the ingredients blended in the topping was crab meat. So, while we were eating, Maria saw Becky picking apart the topping, and asked her, “Mom, what are you doing?” Becky told her that she was trying to pick out the crab meat, and Maria said, “but you can’t—its all ground up and blended with the cheese and other toppings—you can’t sort it out.”
That illustration is something we always have to keep in mind when it comes to the church. Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven is like leaven (or yeast) (Lu. 13:20,21). In one way this is good—yeast spreads throughout bread, and the kingdom is spreading throughout the world. But yeast, to a Jewish person, represented corruption and sin—after all, yeast is a bacteria—an infection in the bread! So it is with the human-side of the spreading of the kingdom of God. It is accomplished by yeast—by corrupted, infected people who still have a sin nature and still sin. That is why everywhere you see the Church has spread, you will also find corruption.
Now, this means two things. First, we shouldn’t be lackadaisical about sin. Just because sin and corruption is everywhere present in every church and in every Christian, doesn’t mean that’s a good thing! Much of the world rejects the gospel, even though it is spreading everywhere, because they see the corruption and sin that spreads with it. Thus, it behooves us Christians to pursue holiness (II Co. 7:1; Hebrews 12:14), to strive to be pure in heart (Mt. 5:8), and to work to purge out the leaven in our lives and churches (I Co. 5:6-8)—we shouldn’t turn a blind eye to sin!
But the second thing this means is that we must realize that no matter how hard we try, and how much yeast we purge out, some will always remain in each of us and in every church. Just like my mother-in-law trying to purify her meal of blended-in crab meat, we can never purify a church or a Christian of all blended-in sin. Sometimes people get disheartened and lose faith in churches when they discover there is yeast throughout their loaf—but they don’t realize that the same is true of their own life. So, when you see corruption and sin and imperfection in your church, work to make it purer, but don’t give up because it isn’t pure—it never will be in this world. There is no perfect church—anywhere. When you see leaven in your own life, work to become more holy and pure (Ph. 2:12; 3:11-14), but don’t get discouraged and give up serving God because you realize you are flawed—every Christian has been also, and yet God uses us, leavened loaves (Lev. 23:15-17), to spread the message of the kingdom until it permeates the world. Pursue perfection, but don’t demand it. God will separate all of the yeast from the loaf some day—but that’s His job, not ours (I Cor. 3:11-15; Rev. 19:7-10).
1-24-10
Worshipping God is what we do when we give Him glory for Who He is, rather than for what He has done. The other day as I was worshipping God, and going over many of His wonderful attributes, I glorified Him for one that I have never thought of before—and never heard anyone else worship Him for—God is brilliant.
The basic idea of “brilliant” is contained in lots of Bible terms about being all-wise, but to me there is just something revolutionary about thinking of God as “brilliant.”
The opposite of being brilliant is being dull. While none of us would boldly say that God is foolish or stupid, I do think many times we somehow get a picture in our mind of God as somewhat dull. A dull person is stuck in the past, doesn’t change, never has a new thought, is predictable and, well, boring. Be honest—have you ever subconsciously thought of God that way?
We tend to think of God as old-fashioned (“Give me that old time religion!”), set in the past, and a captive to the way He has always done things. In some ways, this is true. God doesn’t change, He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever, and He isn’t worried about being hip or involved in the latest fad. He is an old-fogey, for He is the Ancient of Days and He hasn’t ever changed His mind about what is right or wrong.
But being “brilliant” doesn’t mean someone is constantly full of new ideas and change, it means they see past all the boloney to the cutting edge of what is true, best, and most excellent. A brilliant physicist will make a rocket fly, using ancient laws. A brilliant mathematician will solve complex problems using ancient numbers; a brilliant designer will build the most efficient automobile using the same old material—being brilliant doesn’t mean being changeable, it means knowing the best way.
That’s exactly a description of our God! His ways are brilliant! He knows the absolute best way to live; He figured out the best way to save the human race; He has created every truth and every creature and every ray of light—all from nothing. He is absolutely brilliant!
So, that means that rather than arguing with Him about what’s right or wrong, I should just obey Him because He is brilliant—He knows best! It means rather than doubting the way He governs the universe I should just trust Him without worry because He’s brilliant—He is making it all unfold according to a brilliant perfect plan.
Fighting with God? Arguing with God? Doubting God? C’mon and trust Him—for when you finally see everything there is to see, you will surely say, “Wow! God was brilliant! He knew what He was doing all along—and He did it the absolute best and most brilliant way!”
1-10-10
I love the New Year! There is just something so special about starting everything with a clean slate. I know most of us don’t keep our New Year’s resolutions past Groundhog Day, but isn’t it exciting for those first few weeks when you are exercising, keeping the house clean, motivated at work, and striving to be a better Christian than you were the year before?
I think the New Year shows us a lot about potential. So often we fail to do certain things because we simply say “we can’t,” when what we really mean is that we don’t want to put the effort and time in. It reminds me of a story about Bobby Knight. The famous basketball coach was conducting a high school camp, and handed a ball to one of his campers. “Dribble this ball as fast as you can to the other end of the court and lay it in,” he told the young man. Knight got out his stop watch as the kid started, and timed his run and layup. Then the coach showed the kid the time. “Are you sure that is as fast as you can go?” and the kid said he had done his best. “Well, let’s try it one more time,” Knight said. This time, when the kid started dribbling, the volatile coach chased him down the court screaming at him at the top of his well used lungs. After the terrified teen layed the ball in, Knight looked at the stopwatch. “Hmmm, look how much time you shaved off! The first time wasn’t your best, after all.”
The amazing thing about our God is that He not only sees us for what we are, but He sees us for what we can be. He looked at a rich Egyptian kid and saw a man who could lead Israel to freedom. He looked at a shepherd boy and saw a mighty king. He looked at a farmer and saw a mighty prophet. He looked at a Jewish maiden and saw a Queen delivering her people. He looked at an enemy of the gospel and saw the twelfth and greatest apostle.
What is it that God sees when He looks at you? He sees you more holy, more godly, more loving, and more impactful for the Kingdom of God than you could possibly imagine. He sees your potential.
What if this year we chose daily to live up to our potential in Christ? What if we laid aside every weight and the sin that so easily besets us, and ran with endurance the race set before us? That is His will for your life and mine, Christian.
It’s a new year, a new beginning. You can be a better parent, a better child, a better believer than you were last year. Let’s “press on to the mark of the prize of the upward call,” in 2010. Let’s let Him make us all that He knows we can be, for His glory! And let’s do it together, so that our church and our families can reach their potential for Christ as well. Let’s not settle for less than our best. Leave it all on the court for Christ this year—and what a year it will be!