Merry Christmas

Today is Christmas and we had a great time with the family of kids and grandkids.  It was wonderful to be with them as we only see some of them a few times a year.  Alison and Cam came in a week early to attend a wedding for one of Ali's high school friends and then had to go back to Colorado.  And Valerie and Tim came in last Thursday with Michael and Graham, and we are sharing them with Tim's parents for the holidays.  That's still great to have them in town for a few days.  Andrew came in yesterday afternoon, Christmas Eve, and then had to go back to Chattanooga again today in order to be back to work tomorrow morning.  But it was great to have him even for a short time.

Each year I like to read a passage from Scripture and this morning I read from Luke 2:8-20.  This is the story of the shepherds when they were greeted by the angels announcing the coming of the Christ child.  Luke 2:9 captures the essence of the passage, "And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid."  The shepherds were low-income, unskilled workers given the small responsibility assignment of tending the sheep.  And yet the angel came to them initially to announce the birth of Jesus.  Needless to say, they were "greatly afraid," and even terrified.  The appearance of a supernatural being out of nowhere, appearing in the great glory of the Lord, must have been spellbinding.  The glory of God is something very few of us have experienced.

But this is the essence of Christmas according to the Bible.  Further on we see in v.13, "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"  Not only did an angel of God come to announce the coming of the Messiah to the world, but then "a multitude of the heavenly host" came to declare the glory of God coming into the world as a man.  This is big news, it is some of the most amazing news that ever happened.  The heavenly host is the heavenly army of angels of God, all praising God for this baby Jesus.

The baby Jesus would grow in stature and wisdom and live a perfect life.  He would spend just three years ministering to a handful of disciples to teach them the gospel of grace and truth, that we all need for our salvation.  He would lay down his life deliberately for the atonement of our sins, and rise again to conquer sin and death for all who receive him.  His disciples in turn would teach us all to live for this Jesus as he is the Christ, in devotion for the salvation that he has given us.  This life of Jesus began in Bethlehem and it was announced with the great glory of God as He was the Christ, the Messiah, and the Lord who will also come again to earth in great glory.

FAITH TODAY:  Luke 2:10-11, "Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.  For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."

Happy Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving and I for one have a lot to be thankful for.  First, I'm still relatively healthy although I am beginning to feel the aches and pains of being sixty years old instead of thirty or forty.  Secondly, I have a wonderful family with a beautiful wife and six particular children, and four amazing grandchildren.  Thirdly, I live in a free country that is still relatively free from the corruption of socialism and communism.  So far at least.  Lastly, I am a Christian with the gift of salvation in Christ, and I have a Bible that I can read and study every day.

It is the Bible that I want to highlight today in my thankfulness.  I don't give thanks for my Bible all the time but I should, for it is the Word of God that gives light unto my path.  Just now I was reading in Mark 4, as our Sunday School class is studying the book of Mark this year.  In this chapter, Jesus teaches the parable of the sower and the seed.

It is an amazing story if we take the time to read it and listen carefully to what Jesus is saying.  He tells of a sower who sowed the same seed that fell on four different types of soil.  There was the path which represents ground that was packed down and trodden upon so that the seed didn't penetrate the soil, and the birds came and devoured the seed.  There was the rocky ground that didn't have much soil, so the seed sprang up but it wasn't able to push down deep roots, and the sun scorched the seed and it withered away.  The other seed was sown among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked the seed, and it yielded no grain.  But other seed fell among good soil and it grew up and produced grain, some yielding thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold.

Jesus then went on to explain the parable, and to describe the purpose of parables.  The parables are earthly stories that explain heavenly realities.  They are tangible illustrations that reveal Spiritual truths.  Jesus teaches us in Mark 4:11-12, "And he said to them, To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven."  Here we see that Jesus references OT prophets who also spoke to people who did not hear the Word.  This parable is about the power of the Word of God, to bear fruit among different types of soil.

As we read this parable we should ask ourselves if we have accepted the Word of God appropriately.  Is the "soil" of our hearts packed down and hardened, so that the birds take away the Word?  Is our heart shallow so that the seed does not penetrate and push down deep roots to grow from?  Or is our heart filled with thorns that choke the Word from growing?  Hopefully, our hearts will accept the Word and find good soil so that it can develop good roots and bear a great crop.

As Jesus explained this parable he asked the disciples a question.  In Mark 4:13 he says, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?"  It is the Spiritual realities of the parables that Jesus was asking if we understand.  Jesus uses everyday examples of the truth that we can see and understand to illustrate Spiritual realities that we need.  In this parable, it is the seed, the Word of God that makes all the difference in our lives.  And he asks us, do we understand?  We need to accept the Word and cultivate it in our hearts to grow Spiritually and bear fruit for everlasting life.

This is a great message of how great the Word of God can be in our lives.  This is another reason why I am thankful today to have the Bible, for it to cast light upon my path and truth for my life.  Let us give thanks to God for his Word and for his illumination of it in our lives.  Amen.

FAITH TODAY:  Mark 4:20, "But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

Prophet, Priest and King

When Christians describe Jesus as the Messiah, the King, or the Lord, they are referring to his titles as being the Son of God, the only begotten of the Father.  He is the incarnation of God, the embodiment of God, the God-Man, who has come into the world to be the Savior of all who believe.  He has many offices and he has many names in the Bible and a great one is found in John 8:58, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am."  By saying this he identified himself with God as we know from the burning bush story with Moses, as the great "I AM," from Exodus 3:14.

Jesus is the promised Messiah and he also fulfilled the offices of Prophet, Priest, and King.  In the Old Testament, we see that the Prophet spoke forth the Word of God for instruction for the people of God, and also spoke prophecy of coming events of God in the future.  The Priest interceded for the people of God in prayers and sacrifices for their sins and needs.  And the King led the people of God with a vision of God and away from the brokenness of the world.  The prophets were primarily teachers, the priests were primarily spiritual caretakers, and the kings were the leaders of the people of God.

Each of the offices of prophet, priest, and king is still important for the church today, and the elders of the church usually have one primary ministry in one of these roles, even though we are called to uphold them all.  But the prophet I believe is the essential office for the health and well-being of the family and church.  For if we do not understand what the Bible says correctly and we are led astray from the primary teaching of the gospel, our leadership and caring for people we run amiss.  If our caring becomes the desires of the people, or the leadership becomes like the world, then the people of faith will be led astray from God and his kingdom.  We can only understand these offices from the gift of teaching and a commitment to truth, which the prophets must uphold truthfully.

To care for and lead the family of faith with grace, we must accept the truth of Christ as our first priority.  Then the other ministries will come together under the Word of God for the glory of Christ.  To really care for people in the long term we must teach them graciously about the grace and truth of Christ, (John 1:14).

FAITH TODAY: Matthew 22:31-32, "And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  He is not God of the dead, but of the living."

Death Is Not The End

Yesterday I lost a good friend and brother in Christ.  Charles Duggan was a fellow member with me at our church and he was a ruling elder.  He was a conservative in his theological perspectives and a devout Christian.  We both attended the same Sunday School, called the Westminster Class because it focused on the historical Reformed theology of the church.  One point that Charles often made was that the Bible is the authority, it describes the clear word of God despite what the culture may believe.  Charles was always an encouragement to me because he never compromised the truth, he always stood for the truth of the faith once and all delivered to the saints.  Charles and his wife and family have attended and served our church for many years.

This "untimely" death has shocked us all as Charles was in his late fifties and apparently died from a heart attack.  We all know that God has each of us in his hands and his time for us is predetermined before the foundation of the world.  But in a short time, another ruling elder of our church, Clint Early, died not even two weeks before Charles.  Clint was in his early eighties and although it was truly sad to see him pass away, it wasn't altogether surprising.  He died in his sleep one evening and probably also had a heart attack or stroke.  And he was honored for his long-standing service to our church as he also had been serving there for many years.

Possibly the most encouraging teaching we know from the Bible is that death is not the end.  We all seek to understand life and we really cannot truly know what life is all about until we tackle the question of death and eternal life.  We know that Jesus taught in John 5:24, "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life.  He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life."  Jesus teaches us that if we believe in his word we will have eternal life.  This is really good news because we all do not want to come into judgment but have life for evermore.

We find tremendous blessings by walking with Christ in faith in the here and now in this life.  But even more, death is really the beginning of eternal life in heaven with God.  Following Christ in faith will bring us to life which is truly life indeed.

FAITH TODAY:  John 11:25, Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."

The Obedience Question

Christian faith is often described as comprising – knowledge, assent, and trust.  We must have the knowledge of the Bible and then assent or agree with this knowledge.  But also there’s the important step of trust for true faith.  In all three steps Jesus is the object of our faith, he is the one of whom we learn as we gain knowledge that he is the Christ.  Jesus is also the one whom we must trust as Lord.  But is obedience required for true faith? 

We can look to Scripture to understand faith and obedience and see Jesus taught in John 14:21, “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me.  And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”  Faith at this point is to know, accept and trust the doctrine of obedience as Jesus taught.  God calls all Christians to obedience to him through Christ as a matter of faith and love for him.  This is an obedience of the heart as well as the mind.  It is not legalism to an external code or man-made set of rules.  It is an expression of true faith and love for the God of creation and our salvation.    

Obedience is the key to loving God with both the heart and the mind.  And obedience to God’s commands also prevents many of the troubles and sins that beset people in their faith.  To be truly faithful and to truly trust in Christ, we are called to obey him in every aspect of his teaching.  This includes the command to love God as our first priority, and then to love our neighbor as ourselves.  We are called to obedience to all doctrines and it is for all people of faith.  It is a paradigm of trust for the Christian faith that all people of faith need.  

To develop this in our everyday life I believe we need to have a premeditated obedience to grow in faith and sanctification.  We must decide ahead of time that we will seek to obey the teachings of Christ because the tyranny of life will distract us if we don’t.  Granted no one can obey the teachings of the Word perfectly, but the Bible is the key to knowing our calling.  With a goal of obedience, and with a mind that actively seeks after God, we can achieve far greater obedience than if we don’t.  

Our lives will also be more consistent if we are focused and determined ahead of time to keep in step with the Holy Spirit as we know in the Scripture.  It’s more than, ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.’  It’s a life of commitment to God through obedience to his teachings, and receiving the Spiritual blessings of walking faithfully to his Word.  Being filled with the Holy Spirit will lead us to live in obedience.  There's no question we need His help to live in obedience and faithfulness.  

FAITH TODAY:  John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

The Ancient News

In comparison to the daily news as I described last time, the Bible is a great book for many reasons, not the least of which is that it is not new.  There are two great qualities of this book and that is that it's timeless and it's true.  To show how we need this book for growing in our faith let's take a look at Genesis 1-3.

The creation account is often overlooked in our contemporary world because the theory of evolution reigns so much in our culture.  But after watching a great documentary recently called, "Is Genesis History?", I'm convinced there's so much more we can learn from Genesis.  Our thinking has been so clouded by modern philosophies that often we can't imagine the creation story in the Bible is actually a true historical account.  But it is, and the Bible is trustworthy in its content and worth our complete attention and devotion.

The Book - to highlight just a few important ideas we get from Genesis we see there is the creation by God, the purpose and provision of God, the protection from God, the brokenness by the enemy, and the promise of redemption.  This ancient story is just as relevant today as it has always been.  It's imperative that we learn how to think biblically for that is exactly why God gave us the Bible, for our instruction, salvation, edification, and sanctification.  We need this book to understand reality.

Creation - we see this from Genesis 1-2 how God created the heavens and the earth in six days.  Each day had a specific design for what was created, for there was order and structure as life was brought forth.  The length of the days is a huge debate as modern philosophies teach us a very old earth and universe that came out of nothing.  But don't miss that God created all things in a particular order and with great design.  This is not a random collision of chance and matter.  In 1:26 we see that God created humans with specific dignity, "Then God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness."  Mankind is not the same as the animal kingdom as we are image bearers of God.

Purpose - God not only created the heavens and the earth but as we also see from 1:26, "And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."  This command to have dominion is repeated in 1:28.  We see at the outset God gives man a calling and a purpose to have dominion over the earth.  This includes many things but essentially it is to work for God in filling and subduing the earth.  We have a calling to work, as we also see in 2:15, God put man in the garden to work it and keep it.

Provision - the story moves quickly as we see in 1:29, "And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit.  You shall have them for food."  God gives great provision with every kind of food as he also describes in v.30, and also in 2:9.  There was an abundance of food, vegetation, and animals in the garden of Eden.  But, even more, God gave Adam provision with a wife as he created humanity male and female, both in the image of God, as we first see in 1:27.

Protection - not only did God give Adam and Eve a purpose and provision, he also gave them instruction not to eat of a particular tree in the garden.  This may seem like a restriction on mankind and that God gave them something that is not good, but in reality it was good.  In 2:16 God says they are to eat of all the trees of the garden which were given for food, but in 2:17, he says, "of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."  God gave this commandment to them so that they would not die.  It was so they would live abundantly in the garden that he had provided for them.  It was for their protection.

Brokenness - often we look at the world and see its brokenness everywhere and we think how could there be a God if there is so much suffering and death?  How can we understand the evil in the world?  The Genesis account explains it completely.  God said we "would surely die" if we broke his commandments, and we surely did.  We have an enemy that is seeking to destroy us and everything that God created to be good.  In 3:4 we read, "But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die."  From this first deception, we have all fallen into sin and death.  The brokenness of the world confirms as much as anything the truthfulness of the Genesis account.

Promise - here's the good news.  Despite the fall into sin with its many devastating consequences of brokenness, we have the greatest news in the world with the promise of redemption from God.  In 3:15 God curses the serpent and says, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."  God gives us the first description of the gospel of Christ, as he would be born of a woman, and he would bruise or crush the serpent's head.  Christ has defeated Satan by bringing the death of death in his own life and resurrection from the dead.  The gospel of Christ brings redemption back to the initial purpose and provision of God to fill the earth and subdue it.

This ancient news is really good news.  It is not a deception, it is not a myth, it is not a legend without evidence or fact, nor is it a virtual reality in our imaginations.  It is the very word from God that explains the truth of life.  There is no technology, philosophy, or artificial intelligence that can explain life like this.  This ancient news is timeless and has more relevance than the morning paper as each of us are children of Adam and Eve.  Each of us needs redemption in Christ, and without the Genesis account, there's no need for salvation.  Let's not be deceived again to believe, "You will not surely die."

FAITH TODAY:  Genesis 1:28, "And God blessed them.  And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.""

The Daily News

Have you read the paper today?  It really doesn't matter which one you read but if you look carefully you may be able to recognize the worldview that each paper promotes.

For instance today, June 2, the USA TODAY newspaper opened with a front page article entitled, "Apple could alter reality" and states, "The reality is augmented reality is slowly seeping into the everyday use of technology by millions of Americans.  Now it just needs an iPhone power boost."  This sentence took me by surprise and I had to read it a couple of times.  Sadly, many people may actually believe this.

This worldview is quite amazing in my view for it makes some pretty big assumptions about reality.  It brings into question the nature of what reality really is or could be.  For starters I believe the author should have placed a comma between the words, "is augmented," for he is distinguishing two different types of reality.  

It's a play on words and causes us to stumble at first as we aren't sure which reality he is referring to.  Perhaps it could have been written, "the reality is, augmented reality..." to emphasize he is talking about a different reality.  He's first referring to the real reality we live in, and then the not-so-real reality that can be developed through computers and the Internet.  Not only is augmented reality "slowly seeping into everyday life," but so is the belief that there are many "realities" seeping into our thinking.  Just how many realities are there?

The development of technology is advancing quickly throughout our society, and AI - artificial intelligence, is on the cutting edge of this evolution, so to speak.  But as we learn about "augmented reality" and virtual reality, AI, the Internet, and the Cloud, we need to step back and take a deep breath and ask, what is reality, anyway?  What is their reality, and our reality, and ultimate reality?  Is there an ultimate reality?  The answer to that question usually comes down to which worldview, or perspective of reality you accept.  But we should also ask, which reality is ultimately real despite our worldview?

I believe all the "realities" that can be imagined or developed come from the one true, ultimate, and objective reality of the universe, and that is the reality of God.  That's more than a worldview, it's more than a philosophical and epistemological necessity, it's the universal reality we all live in.  If there was no ultimate objectivity from a supreme being that doesn't change or evolve then we couldn't understand anything.  But we are not going to get that perspective or worldview in the daily news, they just assume that reality behind the scenes.  Instead, we are going to hear of an evolving idea of reality that opens the doors for anything real or imagined.

Contemporary culture and especially the daily news and media, loves novelty, change, and evolving reality.  They love to try to change truth paradigms so that "reality" takes on new meanings.  The truth is, we humans can discover and engineer the reality and science that exists in the universe, but we cannot create it.  Technology cannot alter ultimate reality, and that reality is the one reality that defines all other realities.  We should try to learn more about that ultimate reality that would then lead us to the Creator, which is exactly what all the truth of the universe is proclaiming.

We need to always compare the worldview of the daily news with the timeless truth of God because that's the ultimate reality that we need and the one which cannot be changed.  An augmented reality augments something, it cannot stand alone nor can it redefine reality, as it is dependent upon the ultimate reality just like everything else.  We can see however that the reality of the Bible is verifiable because its truth is consistent with our everyday lives and the ultimate reality of the God of the universe.  The reality of an unchanging and ultimate God is a great worldview.

FAITH TODAY:  Romans 1:20, "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse."

A New Creation

Yesterday our pastor finished a series on the book of Galatians, discussing 6:11-18.  There were many great points but what amazed me again was Paul's attitude to the world.  It also seems that this is the pastor's attitude toward faith as well.

Paul describes in v.14 - "But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."  The world was crucified to Paul, and Paul was crucified to the world.  This is a strong language that I don't believe many people can say today.

At the outset, Paul says that he can only boast in the cross of Christ.  That is to say, he has no achievements to brag about, as we know from Philippians 3 all of his achievements he considers rubbish.  But what he boasts about is the achievement of Christ on the cross, the only thing that he counts as having any value in his life.

Because of this, Paul has left the ways of the world he considers himself dead to the world.  He has taken the way of Christ and seeks to use all his life for Him.  He is dead to the world, or he has been crucified to the world, the language that identifies with Jesus' death.  Paul is following Jesus in symbolic form speaking as if he has been literally crucified, he has been Spiritually crucified so that he can give his life in ministry for Christ.

Then Paul explains why he has taken this path.  He has departed the ways of the world, and he has departed Judaism for the Christian faith.  He no longer promotes the customs, traditions, or sin sacrifices of his former way of life.  This is symbolized by the circumcision that every male baby underwent to identify with the Jewish faith.  It was a faith that looked forward to the Messiah, and yet it was deadening because no one could keep the law completely.  But now the Messiah has come in Christ.

Instead of the deadening pursuit of righteousness from seeking to keep the Mosaic law, Christ offers us his righteousness by grace if we shall only receive it.  If we accept his grace we receive his righteousness and thus salvation.  This leads Paul to say in v.15 - "For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation."  This is the key to the Christian faith, a new spiritual regeneration, new life in the Spirit from the grace of Christ.

The pastor explained how this is the most important part of any person's life, finding new life in Christ.  The graduating seniors from high school, college, and graduate school can all look at their accomplishments and know they've done well.  But receiving the new life in Christ is the only really important thing we can boast about, as it comes from the cross of Christ.

This is what the message of Galatians is all about.  We cannot find the life of Christ from self-righteous works of the law, but only through faith in his righteousness.  We must accept his grace to have him.  That's a great deal in every way.  Amen.

FAITH TODAY: Galatians 6:15 - "For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation."

The Truth Again

With even a cursory glance at the news in our culture with politics, sports, and entertainment we see a myriad of ugly issues.  It's amazing how little of current events include truth in any particular subject.  We often hear of the latest developments such as the progress of a supreme court nominee, the changes being made in business acquisitions, the up or down votes on a health care bill, or who is still standing in the March Madness tournament.  Very little is written however about truth even in the editorial sections.  Even today the headlines focused on the state of North Carolina changing its infamous "Bathroom Bill" under the pressure of special interest groups.  Transgender people are politicking for the right to choose either male or female bathrooms, and even locker rooms in schools, based on their gender preference instead of the natural birth identity as found on their birth certificates.  This is crazy foolishness.

There is truth all around us but if there was no true truth, then the absence of it in the news would all be quite normal.  Truth may seem quite strange in a world that is changing all the time and where it is said that the only thing that doesn't change is change itself.  Even time is a constant for everyone and it tells us that we are changing, we are getting older day by day and year by year.  But are there any unchanging ethical standards in our world?  Yes, there are, or there could be no civil society to live in.  We hear all the time about the injustice of the economically oppressed in the developing world or the immorality of sex trafficking.  We all recognize the Holocaust was horrific and evil, yet the Nazis in WWII at that time did not.  How can it be that we do not see the immorality of our culture?

Many people have succumbed to a worldview that believes all is well if things keep changing, they even say that this is progress.  Who wants to be stuck in the past?  Isn't it time to upgrade that old cell phone for a smartphone, and then for an even smarter phone?  Does anyone really want to go back to high school, or be stuck in childhood forever?  Do we really want to be trapped in an archaic mindset that had black and white non-talking movies?  Isn't it time that we took charge of our lives and made some changes?  Novelty and autonomy are in, and it sells, it gives us hope for new business, and we really do like the idea that we can change society according to our preferences.

There are some problems in our progress, however, as we can unknowingly accept a change of morality and of reality for something unreal.  I for one really do like my computer and I don't have any desire to go back to a typewriter or snail mail.  Can we distinguish however between progress in technology and regress in morality?  This is the Trojan Horse in our culture as we have been made comfortable to think that man gets to decide what is right and wrong.  Take any moral hot-button issue today and you'll be hard-pressed to find an argument from the perspective of an objective truth or eternal standard.  But if there is no unchanging truth then anything can be normalized.

The definitions of words are really important in understanding the objectivity of morality and reality.  Our culture communicates in a thousand subliminal ways that to pass judgment on another person's beliefs is a form of discrimination.  It implies that there is no ultimate Truth, there are only personal truths and preferences, and who are we to judge someone else?  Yet the acknowledgment of Truth can bring great relief to all the insanity.  Instead of thinking of personal discrimination, we need to think in terms of truth principles, that some things in essence are good or bad, moral or immoral, independent of our personal perspectives.  Two plus two equals four despite what anyone might believe.  Male and female are different for a purpose, despite the trends of society.  Absolute Truth exists even in a democracy.

We need to recover the Truth of truth, which can be done in numerous ways, in order to establish moral standards.  This eternal Truth comes from the unchanging and eternal Truth of God.  In the Truth of Scripture, we find Light for living in the darkness that can't be found anywhere else.  This Truth is also a Person, and if we call out to him in faith he will give us forgiveness, newness of life in the here and now, and eternal life in heaven when we die.  This a good news, it's true truth that we all need because we all are mortal, but it's not discrimination.  The truth of morality and immorality doesn't change by the votes of any people in any government at any age.  We need the Truth of Christ to establish a just and righteous society, and to find salvation for eternal life.

FAITH TODAY:  John 14:6, "Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.""

Forty-One Years!

Forty-one years ago today in the history of the Christian church, a very small blip on the screen occurred.  On this day I became a Christian one Sunday morning in 1976, right after the morning church service.  Pastor Dick McKeen, (Pastor Mac) wanted to talk to me about my Christian faith, and I said, "Oh, don't worry about me, I'm ok, I believe in God.  I'm not like the Biology professor at college who believes in evolution."  I was a freshman at the University of Lowell, in Lowell, MA.  That was the only open door that the pastor needed, and he went on and said graciously, "Well there's something more you need to know about becoming a Christian."

So we sat down and he explained that the Bible teaches us that we need to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior to become a Christian, and that belief in God was not quite enough.  He went on to tell me the gospel that Jesus was the Son of God and he came to the earth to live a sinless life, so that he could become the sin offering for us when he died on the cross.  And, most importantly, he described how Jesus rose from the dead three days later and conquered death itself.  Because of this, we can know that if we put our faith in Jesus as the Christ who was raised from the dead, we too would one day rise from the dead and be with him in heaven for eternity.  That was the part that hit home for me because I really wanted to know where I would be when I died.

As a young man, I had many questions running around my head as well as all the other normal stuff young guys do like playing sports, being a part of the Boy Scouts, and trying to stay out of trouble.  For me, I kept asking, 'Who am I, why am I here, where am I going, what's the meaning and purpose of life, and where will I be when I die?'  Some big philosophical questions for a teenager but they may have reflected my personality or my home situation more than anything else.  My parents had been separated and were about to be divorced while I was a senior in high school, and life was not always a whole bunch of fun.

But when I heard that there was a way to know that you could go to heaven through the gospel of Jesus Christ, I was thrilled.  When Pastor Mac asked me whether I wanted to accept Jesus as my Savior, I stopped and thought about what I really believed.  I remembered the pictures in Sunday School or Vacation Bible School when I was young, of the stone having been rolled away from the tomb where Jesus had been buried.  I asked if I really believed that Jesus rose from the dead, and I said "Yes," I did.  I believed there has to be something other than this life and I wanted to know where I would be when I died.  My conscience confirmed to me that this was the truth, this is the reality we all need to know to get right with God and to go to heaven.

Well, I'm not always a real outspoken person and it took me a while to start talking about my new faith with my friends back in school.  Eventually, I transferred from the state university and went to Gordon College, and changed majors from Biology to Biblical and Theological Studies.  I thought I wanted to be a pastor but I ended up being a pilot.  But I remember more than anything else the deepest and greatest joy of knowing the salvation found in Christ, and the joy of living in this faith all these years.

There's great theology to be found in the Bible too that has been a source of fantastic joy for me in knowing God.  In fact, one of the most influential books I've read has been J.I. Packer's, Knowing God.  We can know Christ in great ways through Scripture so that our lives are changed and transformed into his image and character.  It all began for me as Pastor Mac described it forty-one years ago today, that God has such great love for us that he sent his only Son to be our Savior and give us the gift of eternal life.

FAITH TODAY:  John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

When Helping Hurts

Have you ever tried to help someone and wondered if it really made a difference?  There are many occasions when we need to help people in mercy ministry and there are other times when we need to seek to help people help themselves.  As the old proverb goes, 'Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life.'  When we help someone learn how to fish they will be exponentially better off than if we simply give them food from day to day.  And, the long-term help of personal development is important, but the gospel is the best help of all.

Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett have written an interesting book entitled, When Helping Hurts, to address the issue of economic development in low-income areas.  They identify poverty as a matter of broken relationships for mankind with - 1) God, 2) Self, 3) Others, and 4) Creation.  We all suffer from poverty in their assessment.  There is personal and systemic poverty and both need to be addressed in different ways.  When a person has a lack of education, for instance, one form of assistance would be to provide scholarships to go to college.  But when that person grows up in a country that has no suitable primary or secondary education, there is a systemic problem that all people in that country suffer from.  Their book develops several possible solutions for tackling each type of economic problem.

The authors identify the broken relationship with God as the first problem for all mankind.  They reference Colossians 1:15-20 where Christ is described, "In him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible ... all things were created through him and for him."  Also in v.20, "And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of the cross."  This shows the necessity of the gospel and the primary redemptive work of Christ.  Yet the focus in 'WHH' shifts to the mercy ministry of helping people in low-income positions.  They often reference "community development" as a means for advancement, which they believe in turn will work toward ending poverty and advancing economic development.  I believe there needs to be a much clearer emphasis on the Gospel for Spiritual development as our root problem is our sinful nature.

Much like giving a man a fish, community development without a clear proclamation of the gospel will fall short of healing the brokenness of our relationship with God.  And there's no guarantee that economic development will lead people to Christ.  With mercy presuppositions, their perspective emphasizes several mercy passages to describe how Jesus was interested in relieving suffering.  In Luke 4 they highlight the Isaiah 58 prophecy of the Messiah's bringing "liberty to the oppressed."  And in Luke 7 when Jesus responded to John's disciples by referencing his miracles that "the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed... "  In both passages, compassion to the needy is emphasized but the primary message is that Jesus is the promised Messiah who alone can bring salvation.  The miracles he performed were to illustrate his true identity as the Messiah.

The gospel of Christ is the greater message of Scripture even though mercy is an essential part of the Christian faith.  Jesus demonstrated the gospel priority in several ways, and in particular when he questioned his disciples regarding his identity in Matthew 16:15.  Peter answered that he was the Christ, the Son of the living God.  Jesus then instructed his disciples that he needed to go to Jerusalem to be crucified, over and against their protests.  The gospel is not pragmatic but Spiritual, it is the greatest priority, and in turn, it brings Spiritual life and transformation to those who accept it.

Also in Mark 12:30 when Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment, he did not reply with mercy or compassion.  Rather he stated, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."  And then he said, "The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  There is no other commandment greater than these.”  If there ever was a place where Jesus could have clarified the priority of mercy ministry over the gospel, this would have been it.  Yet the authors of 'WHH' do not make this distinction of the priority of the gospel over all missions.  Nor do they clarify the difference between the gospel and the common grace of philanthropy and humanitarianism.

Even more there needs to be an emphasis on family and work.  In Genesis 1-2, God institutes marriage and family as the central institution for society and commissions them with the creation mandate of having dominion over all the earth.  The family has historically been the central economic unit for society in the teamwork of husband and wife caring for their children.  Yet the breakdown of the family structure has been devastating to low-income people, and in its place community development has often been the focus.  This development can easily progress into social networks and reliance on government programs, which in turn can also regress further into socialism, and even communism.

When Helping Hurts has many positive and pragmatic examples of economic development, but there is a lack of promoting personal responsibility within a Christian work ethic and worldview, and in even developing a Christian capitalism.  For God instructs us in Colossians 3:23, "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men."  Also in Ephesians 4:28, "Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need."  The mercy ministries of helping other people in need is an important aspect of our faith, for this is an example of the mercy and grace God gives to us in Christ.  But, the Gospel is the primary ministry for all Christians as there is salvation in no other name.  We can help people eternally with the gospel of Christ, which in turn can inspire us all in the here and now.

FAITH TODAY:  James 2:5, "Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?"