Saturday, July 04, 2009
Monday, May 04, 2009
Keeping It Simple!
I had to wash my hair. It seemed unfair – I was on vacation after all. I figured I was clean and didn’t need a shower. I spent an hour in the chlorinated pool. Chlorine bleach is a cleanser, right? How much cleaner can I be? But the chlorine had turned my hair to straw, so it seemed best to hit the shower for a shampoo.
Thats not such a big deal at my house. I buy a large jug of shampoo at Sam's and use it till it runs out. But I was a guest and the bathroom had a collection of shampoos. And that was where the problem started.
I remember when shampoo just cleaned hair. But none of the shampoos in the shower were satisfied with simple cleaning. They wanted to change my life. One shampoo promised to “amplify” my hair. I didn’t want big hair, just clean. Another assured me it could “correct and restructure” my hair. I like my hair. I don’t claim it is the best in the world, but does it need to be corrected? My grandpa was bald in high school, so since I am nearly 52 and still have hair which is only partially gray, I feel I am ahead of the game. Restructuring seems extreme. Another shampoo would “clarify” my hair. But isn’t clear hair about the same as bald? What is an old-fashioned old-fogy supposed to do? My hair is clean now; volumized, amplified, corrected, restructured, and clarified!
Only in America does someone need a doctorate to understand shampoo. I long for the days of “lather, rinse, repeat.”
What makes us take simple things and complicate them? We have complicated the Christian life as well. The Christian life may not be easy, but neither is it complicated.
God’s Word is amazing in both its beauty and its simplicity. Some scholars forget the doctrine of the simplicity of scripture. Because of the power of the Holy Spirit, you don’t need a degree to read God’s Word. You don’t need a secret decoder ring to understand its truth. Sound theology is built on a clear and simple reading of God’s Word.
Scripture is God-breathed and is therefore useful. It teaches us the ways of God – who he is, how he works, what he desires. It rebukes us when we go astray, showing us wrong doctrine or aberrant behavior. It does not just condemn a sinner, but corrects him, showing him how to leave the wrong path and return to the right one. Finally, God’s Word trains us in righteousness, teaching us to walk on the right path and break the old patterns of sin. That is the glory of God’s Simple Word.
When the Word does its work, we are prepared for every good work – ready to be all God wants us to be and do all God wants us to do.
Do you want to grow as a Christian? It is not complicated. Immerse yourself in God’s Word and the Holy Spirit goes to work. Read what God says about your life, then by the power of God’s Spirit, do it! God renews your mind with the truth and begins to change your behavior to conform you to the image of Christ. The Holy Spirit enables you to obey what God’s Word commands, and strengthens you to endure in obedience when things get tough.
Maybe I’d better take a shower after all. If only I can find some clarifying soap.
Only in America does someone need a doctorate to understand shampoo. I long for the days of “lather, rinse, repeat.”
What makes us take simple things and complicate them? We have complicated the Christian life as well. The Christian life may not be easy, but neither is it complicated.
God’s Word is amazing in both its beauty and its simplicity. Some scholars forget the doctrine of the simplicity of scripture. Because of the power of the Holy Spirit, you don’t need a degree to read God’s Word. You don’t need a secret decoder ring to understand its truth. Sound theology is built on a clear and simple reading of God’s Word.
Scripture is God-breathed and is therefore useful. It teaches us the ways of God – who he is, how he works, what he desires. It rebukes us when we go astray, showing us wrong doctrine or aberrant behavior. It does not just condemn a sinner, but corrects him, showing him how to leave the wrong path and return to the right one. Finally, God’s Word trains us in righteousness, teaching us to walk on the right path and break the old patterns of sin. That is the glory of God’s Simple Word.
When the Word does its work, we are prepared for every good work – ready to be all God wants us to be and do all God wants us to do.
Do you want to grow as a Christian? It is not complicated. Immerse yourself in God’s Word and the Holy Spirit goes to work. Read what God says about your life, then by the power of God’s Spirit, do it! God renews your mind with the truth and begins to change your behavior to conform you to the image of Christ. The Holy Spirit enables you to obey what God’s Word commands, and strengthens you to endure in obedience when things get tough.
Maybe I’d better take a shower after all. If only I can find some clarifying soap.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
The Mother of All Baptists
Baptists like to trace their history back to New Testament days. The unbroken line of baptistic groups is called “The Trail of Blood.” Recently, as I read my Bible, I discovered the actual origin of Baptists. No, it was not John the Baptist, or the Apostle Paul. I am convinced the roots of Baptist life can be found in Martha, sister of Lazarus and Mary; the Mother of All Baptists.
First, she was more comfortable with working for Him than waiting on Him. While Mary, probably a proto-charismatic, was sitting at the feet of Jesus basking in His presence, Martha was in the kitchen frying the chicken, and getting the Styrofoam plates and plastic forks ready. We have always been an active bunch, we Baptists. We are the worker bees of the Kingdom. Often, like Martha, we are more comfortable working for the Lord than walking with Him. As one denominational leader said, “Get out there and do something for God. Whatever. It doesn’t matter. Just do something.”
But notice something else in John 11:24. Martha’s brother Lazarus was dead and buried four days earlier. Finally, Jesus showed up. Martha thought he was running late, but Jesus was right on time. She gently remonstrated him, “If you had been here, he would not have died.” Then Jesus told her that her brother would rise again. She nodded and said, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
The mother of all Baptists. She believed in Jesus, and in His power to save souls and raise the dead. She just did not believe He would do it today. We believe in the finished work of Christ for the salvation of souls, and in the certainty of heaven, the resurrection, and eternal life. We have charts detailing the end times. We just struggle with believing that God will work His power in our lives today. We are great with the beginning and the ending of the Christian life, but can be a little challenged in between.
But, wonder of wonders, Jesus still loved Martha the Baptist. He told her who He was, and she believed Him. “I believe you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” The Mother of All Baptists knew the Word, and confessed Jesus without shame or doubt.
But she was still the Mother of All Baptists. When they got to the tomb, Jesus told them to roll the stone away. “But, Lord,” Martha said. “That’s not the way we do things.” As the King James says, “Lo, he stinketh.” It is hard for us to step out of the normal and expected, the proper and respectable, to follow Jesus in a walk of faith. Jesus gave them a strange command. Roll away the stone. Sometimes, Jesus calls us to strange and difficult things. There is always that difficult step of obedience. We want God to open the door, then we will walk through. God calls us to walk through the door, trusting Him that it will open before we run into it. God told Israel to walk into the Jordan and then He would stop the river. We stand on the banks saying, “God, if you will stop this thing, I will walk through it.”
But God still worked. He showed His awesome power to the Mother of All Baptists. Is there any miracle greater than the raising of the dead? God raised Lazarus from death, and showed Martha that His power is still real. May we know His awesome power, and His presence.
First, she was more comfortable with working for Him than waiting on Him. While Mary, probably a proto-charismatic, was sitting at the feet of Jesus basking in His presence, Martha was in the kitchen frying the chicken, and getting the Styrofoam plates and plastic forks ready. We have always been an active bunch, we Baptists. We are the worker bees of the Kingdom. Often, like Martha, we are more comfortable working for the Lord than walking with Him. As one denominational leader said, “Get out there and do something for God. Whatever. It doesn’t matter. Just do something.”
But notice something else in John 11:24. Martha’s brother Lazarus was dead and buried four days earlier. Finally, Jesus showed up. Martha thought he was running late, but Jesus was right on time. She gently remonstrated him, “If you had been here, he would not have died.” Then Jesus told her that her brother would rise again. She nodded and said, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
The mother of all Baptists. She believed in Jesus, and in His power to save souls and raise the dead. She just did not believe He would do it today. We believe in the finished work of Christ for the salvation of souls, and in the certainty of heaven, the resurrection, and eternal life. We have charts detailing the end times. We just struggle with believing that God will work His power in our lives today. We are great with the beginning and the ending of the Christian life, but can be a little challenged in between.
But, wonder of wonders, Jesus still loved Martha the Baptist. He told her who He was, and she believed Him. “I believe you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” The Mother of All Baptists knew the Word, and confessed Jesus without shame or doubt.
But she was still the Mother of All Baptists. When they got to the tomb, Jesus told them to roll the stone away. “But, Lord,” Martha said. “That’s not the way we do things.” As the King James says, “Lo, he stinketh.” It is hard for us to step out of the normal and expected, the proper and respectable, to follow Jesus in a walk of faith. Jesus gave them a strange command. Roll away the stone. Sometimes, Jesus calls us to strange and difficult things. There is always that difficult step of obedience. We want God to open the door, then we will walk through. God calls us to walk through the door, trusting Him that it will open before we run into it. God told Israel to walk into the Jordan and then He would stop the river. We stand on the banks saying, “God, if you will stop this thing, I will walk through it.”
But God still worked. He showed His awesome power to the Mother of All Baptists. Is there any miracle greater than the raising of the dead? God raised Lazarus from death, and showed Martha that His power is still real. May we know His awesome power, and His presence.
Like our Mother, Martha.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
God's Feast of Joy
It was perhaps the best object lesson ever. A youth minister had his group dress up. He picked them up in a limousine. They ate at a fancy restaurant. They toured the nice part of town. All day they reveled in the rich things of life. Then, he took them to “Mount Trashmore,” (the hill in the picture's background) the Cedar Rapids city dump. He looked at them and said, “Everything you saw today ends up here.” Wow.
In Isaiah 55, God issues an invitation to the people of Israel who had strayed so far from him. “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!” By his grace, God was inviting them to return to himself. He would give them water that would quench their thirst. He would give them bread that would feed them. It was a gift from him, given “without money and without cost.”
Then, God asks a question. “Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?”
Has anything you bought ever truly satisfied your soul? Sure, it was a thrill when it was brand new; shining and bright. But it grows old, and the thrill is gone. That new car eventually rusts, clicks over a hundred thousand miles, and ends up in my driveway. That new house grows old. Things lose their luster and their excitement.
Does work really quench that thirst in your soul? Sure, its great when you get ahead, when you make the sale, when you land the new account. Recognition, status, power; they are a great rush. But then they have to be maintained. The exciting new job becomes drudgery.
One Saturday, years ago, the soccer team I coached (a local Christian school) won a big tournament. My son scored a goal in the last seconds of the game to tie it, and he won it in overtime with another goal. We were all sky high. I was a proud dad and coach. It was a great moment. But, a few days later, the excitement has died down a little. The euphoria was gone.
That is the way life is. You get thrills and joys, but they do not provide lasting satisfaction. The things of this earth never satisfy. Not really. Not eternally.
And yet, that is precisely what so many invest themselves in. We pursue the treasures of this earth, forgetting our Savior’s warning that you cannot serve God and money, that earthly treasures can be taken away. We pursue success, forgetting that we are to pursue his kingdom and his righteousness. We seek life’s thrills, ignoring their transitory nature. Why do we invest so much of ourselves in things that do not satisfy? Why do we ignore the God who offers eternal satisfaction for our souls? No one knows why sinful souls make foolish choices.
And there is God, still beckoning, still offering. “I will quench your thirst. I will feed your soul.” Come to me. That is the kind of God we serve. Spurned by his people, he continues to hold out his hand of love. He offers the water of life, the bread of life. He offers not only eternal joy, but meaning and purpose here and now.
It’s time we stopped seeking what will not satisfy, and give ourselves to this God of grace.
In Isaiah 55, God issues an invitation to the people of Israel who had strayed so far from him. “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!” By his grace, God was inviting them to return to himself. He would give them water that would quench their thirst. He would give them bread that would feed them. It was a gift from him, given “without money and without cost.”
Then, God asks a question. “Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?”
Has anything you bought ever truly satisfied your soul? Sure, it was a thrill when it was brand new; shining and bright. But it grows old, and the thrill is gone. That new car eventually rusts, clicks over a hundred thousand miles, and ends up in my driveway. That new house grows old. Things lose their luster and their excitement.
Does work really quench that thirst in your soul? Sure, its great when you get ahead, when you make the sale, when you land the new account. Recognition, status, power; they are a great rush. But then they have to be maintained. The exciting new job becomes drudgery.
One Saturday, years ago, the soccer team I coached (a local Christian school) won a big tournament. My son scored a goal in the last seconds of the game to tie it, and he won it in overtime with another goal. We were all sky high. I was a proud dad and coach. It was a great moment. But, a few days later, the excitement has died down a little. The euphoria was gone.
That is the way life is. You get thrills and joys, but they do not provide lasting satisfaction. The things of this earth never satisfy. Not really. Not eternally.
And yet, that is precisely what so many invest themselves in. We pursue the treasures of this earth, forgetting our Savior’s warning that you cannot serve God and money, that earthly treasures can be taken away. We pursue success, forgetting that we are to pursue his kingdom and his righteousness. We seek life’s thrills, ignoring their transitory nature. Why do we invest so much of ourselves in things that do not satisfy? Why do we ignore the God who offers eternal satisfaction for our souls? No one knows why sinful souls make foolish choices.
And there is God, still beckoning, still offering. “I will quench your thirst. I will feed your soul.” Come to me. That is the kind of God we serve. Spurned by his people, he continues to hold out his hand of love. He offers the water of life, the bread of life. He offers not only eternal joy, but meaning and purpose here and now.
It’s time we stopped seeking what will not satisfy, and give ourselves to this God of grace.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
A Lesson in Pre-judging
I wish I could embed this, but embedding is disabled on all the clips of this I could find. It is worth your time to watch this, and to remind yourself of what happens when we judge people based on impressions and appearances.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luRmM1J1sfg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luRmM1J1sfg
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Worship that Harms
Sometimes, God’s Word says shocking things. They run counter to what we think and believe. Often, we “interpret” them so as to soften the blow. But that doesn’t change the simple message of God’s Word.
For instance, look at what Paul says to the church in 1 Corinthians 11:17. “Your meetings do more harm than good.” He was talking about church, about their observance of the Lord’s Supper. Church attendance, worship, the Lord’s Supper, was damaging people more than it was helping them. It would be better not to go to church at all than to worship like the Corinthians. Their singing, their giving, their words of praise – it offended God, it did not bless him.
In fact, the problem in Corinth was so serious that Paul said God had sent stern discipline on that church. Some, according to verse 30, had become weak and sickly and some had even died. God brought lives to an end because of the abusive practices going on in the Corinthian church!
Does that shock you? We have conveniently overlooked biblical teachings like that. Our God is awesome and holy, and when we come to worship him, it should never be lightly, or lackadaisically. We must approach him with respect, with awe, with hearts yielded to his Lordship.
It is not my intent to scare you away from church. I believe in church. I do not believe people grow as healthy Christians without the support of a solid local body of believers. We are not spiritual Lone Rangers. We need each other.
But we must take God’s Word seriously. It is clearly possible that we can attend church and offend God in doing so. It is clearly possible to be active and involved in church and face his discipline. The answer is NOT to stop attending church; it is to honor God in all our actions when we attend church – to worship God the right way.
What did the Corinthians do wrong? They were divided. They put themselves ahead of the Body of Christ. They came to worship the Crucified and Risen Lord, to honor Christ’s death – and they treated one another like dirt while they were there. You cannot honor the body and blood of Christ if you dishonor the body of Christ, his church. You cannot fellowship with Christ when you are out of fellowship with Christ’s people.
I do not know how serious it was in Corinth, or how bad things have to get before God steps in with his hand of discipline. I just know that God takes it seriously when we cause or contribute to strife and division in the church.
Verse 28 is the key. “A man should examine himself before…” Before you observe the Lord’s Supper, before you arrive at church, before you enter worship, you need to examine yourself. YOURSELF. We are so quick to examine everyone else. “Mrs. McGillicutty gossips too much.” “Buford is so unkind.” We love to examine the splinters in other’s eyes. That’s not what God tells us to do. He says, “Examine yourself.”
Do you forgive those who injure you? Do you refuse to participate in gossip – on the giving or receiving end? Do you give honor and respect to one another? Are you angry and bitter against anyone in the body? Do you attempt to make broken relationships right?
Why does God get so upset about division in the church? Imagine if I spray painted graffiti on a crumbling old building. Now imagine if I spray painted the Mona Lisa. It would be a greater tragedy because of the beauty and value of what I marred.
There is nothing more beautiful or valuable than the body of Christ united, worshiping God in Spirit and in truth. It is so serious to spread division in the body of Christ because if you do, you deface a masterpiece painted in the blood of Christ.
That’s not something any of us wants to do.
For instance, look at what Paul says to the church in 1 Corinthians 11:17. “Your meetings do more harm than good.” He was talking about church, about their observance of the Lord’s Supper. Church attendance, worship, the Lord’s Supper, was damaging people more than it was helping them. It would be better not to go to church at all than to worship like the Corinthians. Their singing, their giving, their words of praise – it offended God, it did not bless him.
In fact, the problem in Corinth was so serious that Paul said God had sent stern discipline on that church. Some, according to verse 30, had become weak and sickly and some had even died. God brought lives to an end because of the abusive practices going on in the Corinthian church!
Does that shock you? We have conveniently overlooked biblical teachings like that. Our God is awesome and holy, and when we come to worship him, it should never be lightly, or lackadaisically. We must approach him with respect, with awe, with hearts yielded to his Lordship.
It is not my intent to scare you away from church. I believe in church. I do not believe people grow as healthy Christians without the support of a solid local body of believers. We are not spiritual Lone Rangers. We need each other.
But we must take God’s Word seriously. It is clearly possible that we can attend church and offend God in doing so. It is clearly possible to be active and involved in church and face his discipline. The answer is NOT to stop attending church; it is to honor God in all our actions when we attend church – to worship God the right way.
What did the Corinthians do wrong? They were divided. They put themselves ahead of the Body of Christ. They came to worship the Crucified and Risen Lord, to honor Christ’s death – and they treated one another like dirt while they were there. You cannot honor the body and blood of Christ if you dishonor the body of Christ, his church. You cannot fellowship with Christ when you are out of fellowship with Christ’s people.
I do not know how serious it was in Corinth, or how bad things have to get before God steps in with his hand of discipline. I just know that God takes it seriously when we cause or contribute to strife and division in the church.
Verse 28 is the key. “A man should examine himself before…” Before you observe the Lord’s Supper, before you arrive at church, before you enter worship, you need to examine yourself. YOURSELF. We are so quick to examine everyone else. “Mrs. McGillicutty gossips too much.” “Buford is so unkind.” We love to examine the splinters in other’s eyes. That’s not what God tells us to do. He says, “Examine yourself.”
Do you forgive those who injure you? Do you refuse to participate in gossip – on the giving or receiving end? Do you give honor and respect to one another? Are you angry and bitter against anyone in the body? Do you attempt to make broken relationships right?
Why does God get so upset about division in the church? Imagine if I spray painted graffiti on a crumbling old building. Now imagine if I spray painted the Mona Lisa. It would be a greater tragedy because of the beauty and value of what I marred.
There is nothing more beautiful or valuable than the body of Christ united, worshiping God in Spirit and in truth. It is so serious to spread division in the body of Christ because if you do, you deface a masterpiece painted in the blood of Christ.
That’s not something any of us wants to do.
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