News from September 2009
The Second Coming of Christ seems so Inconvenient!
Posted on September 30, 2009 by Pastor Tom
It is hard to think about the Second Coming of Christ because its so disruptive! I have so many things I want to accomplish, important errands to run and dreams I hope get realized. But the Second Coming of Christ interferes with all of that. Ha. I mean it puts everything into perspective. At that moment, life as we know it on this planet will be forever changed.
But for Christians it will be the realization of all our dreams and infinitely more! My “errands” will pale in comparison to what we see and become. Sometimes, when I think about the Second Coming, I only think about seeing Jesus in His glory. But I won’t only see His glory, I will share in it.
John Stott writes this in his commentary on 2 Thessalonians:
“The glory of Jesus Christ will not be objective only (so that we see it), but also in his people (so that we share it). We ourselves will be glorified. This will entail a complete transformation into Christ’s image. Our bodies will become at the Resurrection ‘like his glorious body’ (Phil.3:21). Our characters will become Christ-like. ‘What we will be has not yet been made known.’ But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him.’(1 Jn.3:2). Finally delivered from all sin and selfishness, we shall instead be filled to capacity with love for God and others. In consequence, we shall discover our true human identity. We, who all our lives have been pathetic apologies for human beings, will at last be fully human and fully free because fully Christ-like.”
Whoa. I think I can deal with that kind of interruption!
Company's staying . . . . forever!
Posted on September 29, 2009 by Pastor Tom
We have been preparing to host overnight company. You know the drill. Tidy areas that might not be so important to have tidy when its just the family. Ensure lots of things are in place. Prepare the guest room.
But what might we do different if we had to prepare space for permanent company? I was reading in John 14 this morning. There Jesus says “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him.” In other words, company’s coming and moving in, in the person of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Now this is both comforting and a little unsettling. It’s comforting because it means Jesus sees all my stuff and still loves me and lives in me. It’s not like I have to clean house in preparation for Sunday and then let things go until the next Sunday. Its unsettling because Jesus is not okay with the clutter/mess/sins remaining. He and the Father and Spirit are in us to bring wholesale transformation. The question is will I let Him into every area of my life or treat him as an unwelcome house guest when He approaches certain doors?
But there’s one more good thing about this permanent house guest. He loves me, wants the best for me and will never leave or forsake me. (I guess that’s three things). So I’ve got company staying for the rest of my life. Then I get to move in to His house!
Can God weep and rejoice at the same time?
Posted on September 23, 2009 by Pastor Tom
This week, we received news of the sudden passing of a 15 year old girl closely connected to some friends of ours. We also received news about the successful surgery and cancer free prognosis of one of our church member’s nieces. We sorrow and rejoice at the same time. How do we deal with these conflicted moments? We need to turn to God who does the same thing. Joni Eareckson Tada writes on this in today’s thought.
Man of Sorrows… Lord of Joy
”...I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.”
—John 17:13
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering….
—Isaiah 53:3
Can God laugh and weep at the same moment? Jesus himself was “full of joy” yet Isaiah called him “a man of sorrows.” We mortals know joy and pain together. A father stands at the altar and sighs deeply as he gives his daughter’s hand in marriage. A woman finally lands that long-coveted job, but in taking it must leave behind familiar friends and the town she loves. A mother watches her son languish behind prison bars, but sees the experience bring the rebellious young man to repentance and salvation. We are “sorrowful, but always rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10).
This is understandable for humans, but how can God be sorrowful yet always rejoicing? My friend Steve Estes comments: “Perhaps the answer lies in his ability to know all things and to see the eternal picture. God does look down on this world and weep. But the world’s twistedness did not catch him by surprise. He knew that humans would fall into sin. He knew that immeasurable sorrow would be let loose. He knew the suffering it would cost his Son. But God decreed to permit man’s Fall because he knew how he would resolve it: that Jesus would die, that his church would eventually triumph through innumerable trials, that Satan’s fingers would be pried off the plant, that justice would be served at the final judgment, that heaven would make up for it all, and that God would receive more glory – and we would know more joy – than if the Fall had never happened.”
Jesus is “man of sorrows” and “Lord of joy” because, as the Son of God, he sees enough of the coming ecstasy to make up for the present agony. And God sees this glorious end as clearly as if it were today. This is why God can be truly and utterly happy and yet actually and really grieve.
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Lord, help me to learn to live in you today, so that I may see the coming ecstasy and realize it makes up for my present hurt and heartache. Help me to be rejoicing while I am sorrowful.
Faith AND Intelligence
Posted on September 18, 2009 by Pastor Tom
Are faith and intelligence mutually exclusive? So often, I hear or read about people dismissing Christianity because it is so naive. “Thinking people know that the miracles aren’t true or that the Bible is mostly myth,” they say. It’s like they’re convinced rigorous thought and Christians cannot coexist.
Bill Crowder points this out: “David McCullough’s biography of John Adams, one of America’s founding fathers and early presidents, describes him as ‘both a devout Christian and an independent thinker, and he saw no conflict in that.’”
Crowder then says “I am struck by that statement, for it carries a note of surprise suggesting that Christians are somehow naive or unenlightened, and that the idea of a “thinking Christian” is a contradiction.”
I agree. Christianity was never meant to be an excuse to shut off our brains. In fact we are commanded to “love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls and MINDS.” (Matthew 22:37).
If someone presents an argument we can’t yet answer, we must not blow them off or plug our ears saying “La, La, La.” It’s okay to say “I’ll have to think about that.” That’s showing love for God and our questioner!
The blessing of hard Bible texts
Posted on September 17, 2009 by Pastor Tom
When something is hard, do we give up? I am working on a hard Bible text this week. Romans 1:18–3:20. It speaks against homosexual behavior, uses some difficult words and is very uncomfortable for 21st century readers. Why did God include a passage like this in the Bible.
Consider Pastor John Piper’s wisdom on this.
“Let me mention four things and then balance them with the less complex side of the gospel. Four things: desperation, supplication, cogitation and education.
1. Desperation (A sense of utter dependence on God’s enablement). I see this in 1 Corinthians 2:14, “A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.” The natural man (all of us without the Spirit’s work in our lives) should feel desperation before the revelation of God. He needs God’s help. Well the same thing is true of spiritual – but finite and fallible and sinful – people like me, when I meet difficult texts of God’s Word. I should feel desperation – a desperate dependence on God’s help. That is what God wants us to feel. That is something he has unleashed by inspiring difficult texts.
2. Supplication (Prayer to God for help). This follows from desperation. If you feel dependent on God to help you see the meaning of a text, then you will cry to him for help. I see this in Psalm 119:18, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Your law.” Seven times in one psalm the psalmist prays, “Teach me your statutes” (119:12, 26, 64, 68,124, 135, 171). Or as Psalm 25:5 says, “Lead me in thy truth, and teach me.” By inspiring some things hard to understand, God has unleashed in the world desperation which leads to supplication – the crying out to God for help.
3. Cogitation (Thinking hard about Biblical texts). You might think, “No, no, you are confused, Pastor John. You just said that God wants us to pray for his help in understanding, not to think our way through to a solution.” But the answer to that concern is, No, praying and thinking are not alternatives. I learn this especially from 2 Timothy 2:7, where Paul says to Timothy, “Think over what I say, for the Lord will grant you understanding in everything.” Yes, it is the Lord who gives understanding. But he does it through our God-given thinking and the efforts we make, with prayer, to think hard about what the Bible says. So when God inspired texts like Romans 3:1–8, he unleashed in the world an impulse toward hard thinking. Alongside desperation and supplication there is cogitation. Which leads finally to . . .
4. Education (Training young people and adults to pray earnestly, read well and think hard). If God has inspired a Book as the foundation of the Christian faith, there is a massive impulse unleashed in the world to teach people how to read. And if God ordained for some of that precious, sacred, God-breathed Book to be hard to understand, then God unleashed in the world not only an impulse to teach people how to read, but how to think about what they read -how to read hard things and understand them, and how to use the mind in a rigorous way.”
(For the full text of this message see http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/1999/1074_Why_God_Inspired_Hard_Texts/)
Lord, help me not to shy away from the wealth of riches in difficult texts.
Anonymity is for cowards
Posted on September 16, 2009 by Pastor Tom
In one of my daily readings this AM I found this statement – “Anonymity is the last refuge for cowards.” I think that is a true statement. Take blogs, forums and discussion groups for example. They can be a great tool to facilitate discussion in our busy world. But people can hide behind false identities and screen names. So though they’re saying something, they might not have the courage to truly identify with that saying.
I sometimes read comments after sports articles. It’s quite humorous hearing fans from different teams blast each other or brag on their teams. Some of the comments are pretty outrageous. Some are funny. But some are downright rude. If these folks were face to face, the comments might be quite different.
Here’s a test this same article laid out – if I’m tempted to write something anonymously because I don’t really want to be identified with the words STOP! I need to read it again. Then I need to toss it or rewrite it in a way that would be helpful rather than hurtful.
The article concludes with this statement which is quite a dart to us Christians – “If you don’t want to be identified with your words, God probably doesn’t either.”
Lord, may the words of my mouth (and keyboard!) and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight!
How do you respond to hardship?
Posted on September 9, 2009 by Pastor Tom
None of us “likes” to go through hardship. By nature, we like being comfortable and enjoy easy things. But if I look back over my life, most of my growing came through hardship. However, I didn’t always grow through hardship. Sometimes I chose a negative response that hindered my growth.
I read this week about a man who asked some athletes how they normally responded to hardship. Their responses included fear, anger, self-pity, aggression, despair, abusive behavior, apathy and turning to God. As far as I can see, there’s only one positive response to hardship in that entire list.
But how easy it is to choose one of the other ones. Sometimes we have such an ingrained responses to hardship that we don’t even know our response is negative; like self-pity. Then we follow feeling sorry for ourselves with some self-comfort response like over eating, procrastinating or engaging in some escape activity like hours of TV or computer.
In turning to God, we find one who comforts us in the midst of trouble. Then He enables us to comfort others when they go through trouble. (2 Corinthians 1:3–4). Whatever hardships this day or week brings, I need to go to the God of all comfort.
Fail Day
Posted on September 3, 2009 by Pastor Tom
I once read about a college professor who showed great patience with his students. There were three papers due during the semester. When the first paper was due several students came to class pleading for an extension. The compassionate professor believed all their excuses and allowed extensions. But he warned them to be better prepared for the next paper.
The second paper came due. More students appealed for mercy. It was mid-terms. They were behind in their reading. So he allowed further extension but warned this would not happen again.
Then the third term paper due date arrived. He observed the majority of the class strolling in without their papers and with no concern. They didn’t even appeal for an extension. They assumed they’d automatically get it. The professor then called the roll of the class.
“Susie Akins, do you have your paper?”
“Yes, here it is prof.” (She was always one of those keener types).
“Robert Anderson?”
“No prof. I didn’t have time to get it started. But I promise I’ll get it to you in a week.”
“That’s not necessary Mr. Anderson. You get an F on your paper.”
“What are you talking about?” the student yelled. “You gave us extensions in the past. I assumed that you’d give another one today.”
“You assumed wrong Mr. Anderson. I warned everyone here that this would not happen again.”
The roll continued. Out of 28 students, 17 received F’s that day because they assumed the professor’s patience and grace would go on indefinitely. It became the “Fail day” for many students.
God has incredible patience and grace. “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish.” (2 Peter 3:8). But the Bible also says “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment.” (Ps. 2:12).
I am reminded not to take God’s amazing grace for granted today. Nor must I presume upon His grace and assume I’ll always have time to get things straightened out. The Big Fail day might arrive tomorrow.
Lost Friends
Posted on September 2, 2009 by Pastor Tom
I once had a friend I’ll call Jim. He was a missionary kid who had lots of great stories. He also seemed to have a great passion for Christ. But then things changed. I could sense a hardening towards God, Christians and the church. It seemed like the more he rejected all he grew up with, the happier he got. I eventually lost contact with him and do not know where he’s at today.
As a Christian who believes that in Christ we discover our greatest satisfaction and ultimate hope, it is hard to see friends turn away like that. Its hard when we see that happen in our families to those close to us. At times all we can do is pray. We hope for a gradual thawing.
But sometimes, God comes in with a 1000 degrees of heat to transform a heart that was ice cold to God into a white hot passion for Him. Such was the case with the woman at the well in John 4.
She came to the well at noon when none of the other women were there. She wanted to avoid them because of her reputation and her lifestyle. She had had 5 husbands and was now living with her boyfriend. Yet in a few minute encounter with Jesus she was transformed into a follower of Christ and boldly proclaimed it in her village.
When Jesus’ disciples returned from the town and were surprised to find him talking to a woman, they eventually get into a discussion. Jesus talks to them about harvest. “Four months more and then the harvest.”
Normal farming involves four months from sowing the seed to reaping the harvest. “Normal” thawing of a frozen heart might require 4 years or 40 years of prayer and patience. But then Jesus says “I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may be glad together!”
In other words, God has the ability to shrink down the normal time of planting, watering, weeding and harvesting from 4 months to 4 minutes! If you’ve got a lost friend or family member, God might have you on the 40 or 4 year plan of prayer for a thawing. But don’t discount the reality that God can do it in 4 seconds!
I pray that for Jim today wherever he might be.