Pray, read, fellowship, worship, repeat…

Mark 10:43

“But it shall not be so among you…”

How far does this go? How different is the church called to be from the normal of those that walk by, drive by, or skip church on Sunday? The context of the verse is that of greatness. Who is greatest in the kingdom, Jesus tells us that the servant is the greatest. That is very different from those outside the church but is leadership the only call to separation and antipathy to the world?

The old hymn tells us that “they will know we are Christians by our love” taken from John 13:35 where Jesus tells us that this is to be one of the marks of his church. How far will we go in that love? Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 8:13 that if his brother struggles with food sacrificed to idols he would never eat meat! Becoming a vegetarian simply because his brother struggles with sin brought in from his life prior to Christ. How much do we love? Do we love enough even to be annoying? I read a book about the dangers of raising nice kids. In the book Timothy Smith outlines the reality that children focused to much on not making waves simply won’t be able to change the world. Since world evangelism is the call of every Christian (even if the world starts only across the fence between Tim Taylor and Wilson), those kids won’t even change their neighbors. To concerned with not upsetting people and being nice they never love enough to make a wave that would push their neighbors away from this world and to Christ. Do I love my fellow church members enough to annoy them by helping them see their sin? Do I love them enough to forsake the internet for them?

“You shall be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44, 1 Peter 1:16). When we gather on a Sunday morning are we distinct, separate, and set apart for God, as something different from those outside our assemblies? Is it uncomfortable for the unsaved but they keep coming back because they can’t find “it” anywhere else? Are you parched and desperate when you aren’t with the assembly for a week? Better speakers, better music, better media, and better facilities are all available, the only thing we have that the world does not is Christ. The gathering of the living should feel different than the gathering of the dead. Frankly it should feel uncomfortable for those not raised to “walk in newness of life”. Will we start to pursue Gods holiness such that the light is so bright it draws the moths, and so hot, that they start to burn with us?

Not white knuckling it, as if we could force holiness, or win our salvation, but rather simple, resolute, persistent pursuit of God. Seeking him with the ordinary means he has given us. The brother and sister to pray with. The weekly gathering of family to walk beside us, holding our arms when we can no longer walk it alone. The reading of the word to remind us of who our God is. The eating of a meal in remembrance of what God has done for us.  Let our church be such a fellowship that when men and women forsake family to follow Christ they will find us a hundred times better than what was lost, even when they gain persecutions as well. (Mark 10:30)

Coram Deo

Those Not Present

Deuteronomy 29:14-15 ESV

It is not with you alone that I am making this sworn covenant, but with whoever is standing here with us today before the LORD our God, and with whoever is not here with us today.

Just so everyone is on the same page, there are only 10 kinds of people those that understand binary and those that don’t, or in this case, those that are present and those that are not. As the LORD is establishing his covenant with the people of Israel we are told that those not present are still bound by the covenant. It is a sworn covenant that those present are representing all of humanity, and that includes us. The dead are not present nor are those not yet born (i.e. us) and yet God still counts this covenant as applying to them. To this covenant of works all of mankind is to be held. Will they show themselves righteous and prove themselves worthy of God and eternity or is failure lurking at the door? Yet, those present were not long before sin had completely engulfed them. As the dust of Jericho settles sin enters into the heart of Achan and corrupts the people of Israel.

That corruption persists and envelops the entirety of the people within one generation. Moving like the blob in an old black and white move. Sticking to everything it touches like tar on a hot day. No, our current generation was not present but we were represented and the first covenant is written on our hearts as surly as the existence of God is written upon them (Rom 1:19). What more proof is needed than the persistent desire of man and woman to be “good” or “highly favored” by those they esteem. All in an effort to try and prove themselves to have done the works necessary to merit salvation. Yet, the weight of sin anchoring them, drawing them to the depths of abyss, persistently revealing the deficiency of the actions to bleach the stain of sin from their souls. What then is to be done? What hope have we to cut our chains and lift us up from the depths to which our hearts reveal we have sunk?

The yearbook, or annual for those of a more experienced generation, often had an index of every place the person is mentioned. All though the bible does not have such a thing it is prudent to not stop looking at all the places you are mentioned before giving yourself over to despair. Those not present are directly mentioned by Christ. As Jesus is preparing for the cross he delivers his “high priestly prayer” those not present are mentioned. In John 17:20, Jesus says “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word”. You see we believe that Christ has come, that he has died, and paid the debt we owed, and that he rose again, that we might rise with him, not because we have heard his words or saw the signs but because we believed his disciples who recorded these things that we might believe. Not only this but we are blessed by Jesus when he responds to Thomas “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Christ has given us a special blessing simply because we did MORE than the disciples, we have believed without seeing! The second covenant is as superior to the first as the person is superior to his shadow. Let us not despair, failure is sure and certain when based on our works, in any amount, but the new covenant shows that our failures have been paid for, and our joy is that our standing in that new covenant is not based on our works but rather on CHRIST ALONE!

CRUCE, DUM SPIRO, FIDO

Succession Planning

2 Kings 23:32, 37, & 24:9 ESV

And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father(s) had done.

Planning for the future is a really difficult thing. Even as humans are compelled to look into the future and plan the way they should go or the path they should take (Proverbs 16:9) it doesn’t take many years of those plans falling through before the realization that such things should be held lightly. One of the great travesties of our age segregated culture is being denied the reality of watching as those so influential in our lives are taken from us and ushered into eternity. Watching as those left behind try and cope with the world they are given. As we read through the text of scripture we continue to find ourselves in the “cycle of apostacy” as Gods people repent follow but are seemingly completely inept at conveying their faith to their children.

The text sited above shows that this was a difficulty for one of the greatest kings in Judah, as Josiah’s reign is followed by his son who is not prepared to follow Christ, and who God records as evil. Few are the good Kings who are blest to have good kings follow them. What are we to learn from this unfortunate reality? As we look at the text it becomes plain that all great leaders eventually die and leave what they have built to others. Are we prepared to give all our hard work to someone else? Have we prepared our families, churches, and institutions, to carry on faithfully the Kingdom work that was entrusted to us? Succession planning is a business term designed around those organizations who have been given great leaders and wisely understand that nothing lasts forever, including those leaders.

As I look to the future of my family I am often overwhelmed by my love for them. How will they be provided for? Who will lead them? Who will preach the Gospel over and over that they might love it? What steps am I taking to plan for the reality of separation from them?

The Scripture makes it clear that we are to plan for the reality of departure. We are to grasp fully that this is not our home and we are not citizens of this world. We are to love our neighbors enough to leave a lasting legacy of Christian witness. How are we going to do that? How is our church going to speak into generation after generation if we are not raising up generation after generation to take the mantel from us?

CRUCE, DUM SPIRO, FIDO

Perspective

Luke 16:29-31 ESV

But Abraham said, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

The season is upon us. Graduates from Kindergarten to College are lining up to walk and shack hands. The pomp and circumstance is playing and “friends are friends forever” is playing all across the land. Sitting in one such gathering it is easy to see that something important is transpiring. Ritual attire is worn, ritual songs are played, speeches given, family and friends travel from far and wide to crowd together on uncomfortable seats for an hour to watch this rite of passage. To watch and see it would be natural to believe that this is a very important day in the life of the community, the school, and those present. Gifts are given, promises made, celebratory meals gathered around, and there is cake! Yet, this isn’t the most important thing to happen in these communities that week.

As Jesus is teaching the people about the realities of their life, he makes a rather bold and outrageous statement. That even if someone were to get up and walk out of a tomb, those who don’t believe the law and the prophets won’t believe him either. Jesus is telling his disciples that the preaching and teaching of God’s word (Law and prophets) is more convincing than a dead man walking around! As important as that graduation is, would not a grave in the cemetery opening and a person coming out telling us about how to live so as to gain eternal life be seen as more important? And yet Jesus says the preaching/teaching of God’s Word is a surer witness!

Every week the word of God is taught in our community, some weeks more effectively than others, and some locations more clearly, but it is taught. It is easy to wonder how the Israelites could grumble when God provided a miracle six days a week. Every morning giving them Mana, the bread of heaven, that they might eat and live. Yet, we have a surer witness, a more powerful sign, God’s word, all of it (Moses was just writing Genesis). The most important thing to happen in a community happens every week, Sunday morning. God’s Church gathers, his word is preached, his people share a meal, and sing songs.

How could the Israelites be so dense? How could the Pharisee’s not understand? How can people find anything more important to do on a Sunday, then gathering in the assembly of the saints, and be taught by his word? They like us have fallen into the sin of seeing and believing. Our eyes are veiled from seeing what is actually transpiring. When Christians gather more dross is burned away, more of Christ is revealed, more territory is conquered for Christ’s Kingdom. Will you see life as it is or will you see the trappings of this life and think they are more than dross? Read the Law, read the Prophets, read the Gospels and the Epistles, and watch as a surer sign is given, as the Spirit unfolds himself to you.

CRUCE, DUM SPIRO, FIDO

The Mind of God

Numbers 22:9 ESV

And God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?”

Balak was in a very difficult and scary situation. A great nation had come to his boarders. Looking at them and the mass of humanity that was camped before him and his people quake before them. Egypt had not been able to stand before them and now they were standing on the boarder of Moab. Rumors were even spreading of how a God was even among them. He had humiliated all the gods of Egypt and destroyed their army. What was he to do? How was he to preserve his people?

Balaam was a man who blessed and cursed people and it was so. He had the inside track on getting what he wanted from God, so Balak hired him to curse Israel. All this sounds reasonable. It fits well into the clean narrative that we like about God. It is not hard to believe that both sides of a conflict would recognize the spiritual warfare taking place and fight on that plain first. Yet, God makes it more difficult. God “came to Balaam”, a man who’s way was perverse before him (vs 32), a spiritual mercenary, a man who although he wasn’t allowed to curse Israel advised Balak on how to corrupt them that God would no longer be powerfully with them (Num 31:16). Why? What is God doing? Why did he send him only to try and kill him on the road? Does God really spare the wicked simply because they have faithful pets (vs 33)? Did God really allow the fall of Israel into idolatry simply because of a faithful donkey?

This sounds more like the “real life” experiences we suffer through. Never really understanding why God didn’t stop something from happening. This is when we realize that we do not believe stories invented by men, but rather the Living God who has written through his prophets what actually transpired. He has revealed himself in scripture and we see a person. Yet the problem with real people is that they don’t always make sense to us. They have their own mind and will, that doesn’t conform to ours. In the same way God is a person with a mind and will that doesn’t conform to ours but rather does as he will. Unlike the God of Balak and Balaam who is to be manipulated and is more a spiritual force to be purchased and bartered with, our God is a person to be loved, to be followed, to be adored, to be communed with, to be headed, and to surrender to.

God gives the most lost person’s opportunity to know him. He gives the most lost and wicked people mercy time and again. In his love for them he provides as many opportunities for men, lost or found, to repent and trust in him. Many like Balaam, are not disposed to this, preferring the “unknown God” to “the word made flesh” that dwells among us. Choosing to barter with God for favor, now and in eternity, rather than resting in communion with him and trusting him even when “life” doesn’t make sense, trusting that “all things work for the good of those that love him” even when how is not seen. The question then becomes will you draw close to know him or stay at the bottom of the mountain asking others to go up and bring you word?