Crying in church

My daughter caught me crying in church yesterday.

I work every Saturday night, and my Sundays are tough days. I choose to work every Saturday because it means I never work a Sunday. I get off work with enough time to get home, shower, help get the kids dressed, grab some dinner on the way and get to church. I fight to listen to every word preached without drifting to sleep, and sometimes I fail in that quest. Regardless, I end up entering Sunday morning physically tired, mentally taxed, and spiritually thirsty.

This Sunday was exceptionally so, with the time change, plus an emotionally trying night that included joining a family in singing Amazing Grace over their loved one as they lay dying in a beautiful moment, I was drained.

Though, I tend to be pretty emotionless in life (to a fault, probably), I am generally a mess when I get really tired. I was hopeful that yesterday wouldn't be a big problem though, it was the first sermon in a new series in Revelation. Introductory sermons are rarely the type that stir deep emotion. There was something else I did not account for... Lord's Supper

One of the most heart-wrenching things to go to on a good day, a trip to the Lord's table will generally make me grateful, introspectively aware of my continued depraved nature at war with the work of God in my life, and generally filled with a sense of purpose and peace.

The twist on this day: it was the first time that a handful of newly baptized brothers and sisters.were able to approach the table, and to top it off, one of them happened to be our pastor's daughter. Father-child relationships are always good for getting me a little misty eyed anyway, but to take this up a notch, the look on our pastor's face as he knelt down next to his daughter to pray with her before taking of each sacrament, I couldn't hold back tears. I wrapped my arms around my own little lady, sitting on my lap, and kissed her head, praying earnestly for the spirit to work in her own life and heart. I see signs in her life, even at her age, of work being done, a hunger for knowledge, a growing enjoyment of studying the word, and I long for the day when she first gets to taste the remembrance of her Savior's sacrifice, the foretaste of glory to come.

Tears welled up in that moment. She caught me, her sweet voice asking me if I was ok. It was hard to find the words to explain the range of feeling raging through me at that point. I explained the best I could that I was just thinking about the day to come when she would get to join us in the Supper. She wrapped her arms a little tighter around my neck and laid her head on my shoulder. She is growing so fast, and I know I have made many mistakes (with many more to come). But I hope I will manage to have the courage to continue to willingly cry in front of my children, and even more so to help them understand why. I hope both my kids grow up knowing that there are things in this life that are worth their tears.

White-washed Babylon

That title is stolen from a statement made by our pastor this weekend, and struck me as a deeply insightful launch point for a little discussion.

I have, for the most part, kept my thoughts and opinions to myself this past week following the SCOTUS decision. Today, I thought maybe I would share a couple of thoughts about not only this topic, but also the state of our country as a whole:

1) The USA is not the land of promise, or heaven, or Zion-
      It is not like this decision is the first time, and it will not be the last, that the US government has passed laws that condone sin. There are a lot of sins in our life that are perfectly legal. We, in the US, became so coddled in our democracy that some Christians (and especially "Christians") who fell into a false sense that we were living in some kind of vast wondrous paradise. They believe the lie that we are a Christian nation. This is, has been, and always will be, patently false. We are nothing more than the white-washed Babylon alluded to before. We are a country of sinful men and women, who do sinful things, that are glossed over because somehow we have gotten into our heads that we are better or different than the world. We are a Pharisitic nation, made to look good on the outside, but are filled with dead men's bones and all matter on uncleanliness (to steal Jesus' description). Why are we surprised that the governing body of such a country would pass laws that are not in keeping with our Biblical worldview?!
Generations of American Christians fell for the twisted lies of Satan. He allowed us to get comfy cozy, nestled up next to our chosen secret sins. He lured us into a false sense of protection from the evils of the world. And now, when that bandage has begun to crack, and we have been forced into realizing that maybe our Zion is in fact just another piece of broken creation, we cry out that its not right!?
We live in and among the world, our country is not a Christian nation. We are not ruled by Christian men and women, and we are not governed by a Biblical government. We can't expect our government to rule any differently.

2) God is still God-
     A court of men cannot overrule the law of God. That being said, we are commanded, as followers of Christ to obey the law of God. The law of God governs how we live, being summed up by Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew,
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Love, in this way, is defined by obedience to the teachings and example of Jesus. This means that we are to be honest, caring, compassionate. It means that we are to call sin out for what it is, but to use that aspect of the Law as a light in the darkness, revealing the path to salvation, peace, and righteousness that is only found in Christ. This means that when we point out a sin, be it an issue of sexual immorality, pride, deceit, etc. that we ensure that we are seeking the eternal good of those to whom we are speaking, and not simply seeking to judge and condemn. Jesus shows how we do this in His many interactions with sinners, dining with them, teaching them, etc. Over and over in his ministry, we see that he has compassion on a person or people, and out of that inner-surging of love he calls forth their sin, speaks about it plainly, and offers up forgiveness which is given only through Him. We see this with the woman caught in adultery, at the well, Jesus speaks openly with her about a multitude of sins, he offers her forgiveness, and when she acknowledge him as Lord, he tells her to go forth and sin no more.

3) Governments are still ordained-
      In Romans, Paul exhorts us
"Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment."

There is two sides to this, the first is that, as Christians, we must submit ourselves to our government. This does not mean that we sit idly by and do whatever the government says we are to do, but that we respect the authority of government. We abide by the governing authority so long as it does not violate the Law of God. If the government is forcing its people to violate God's law, then yes, we resist, God's Law supersedes man's laws. However, if the government passes a law that in itself does not force a Christian to violate the Law of God, then we have no need or reason to resist. In the direct case of this SCOTUS decision, the government is not forcing us to break the Law of God, though there is threat of punishment for God's people if we do not fully embrace the decision. In this instance, we are still free to practice as we believe is right, we might just have to face persecution for doing so... just like the Bible tells us we will.
I do also want to mention that the Bible is clear about repercussions on those who condone, promote, and institutionalize sin. Which should cause us to pray more fervently for our country.

4) We are not left without guidance-
      We are given detailed, Biblical accounts of how to handle living in and among a country like ours. We are given the book of Daniel. Daniel is a man (really an adolescent) who finds himself, a devout follower of God, being made to live among a culture and country that did not meet his worldview (to put it mildly). Throughout the story of his captivity, we learn by Daniel's example that it is possible to live in perfect peace and harmony with the world, without compromising your heartfelt convictions in following God. We are also shown that in order to do such things requires reckless obedience to the sovereign will of God, and a willingness to suffer (and possibly die for) those choices. Daniel spoke boldly, proclaiming that he would not defile himself under the directives of the king. He worked diplomatically to ensure that he could live according to the expressed will of God, and was willing to pay whatever the cost would be for his choice. He was obedient to God, and lived at peace with his government. He did not compromise on how he would live, he didn't snuggle up to the edge of sin, he lived a bold testimony of his faith. We, as Christians, can learn a ton from this... we can live according to our faith, standing firm on our convictions, and still live at peace with those who disagree with us. Paul instructs us in this as well, telling us in Romans 12, "If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all." Paul was a staunch proponent of living by the Law of God, under the grace and mercy of Christ, so if he also tells us to live at peace with all (so far as it depends on us), then we must deduce that we can do both. We can live as Jesus instructs us to, boldly holding fast to our convictions, and still seek to live at peace with all people. We have commands and examples to follow to allow ourselves to live at peace in such a way that if there is conflict among us, it be because of them and not us.



So, to wrap this all up, I want to say one last thing:
  I am so tired of the mass delusion of so many that our world was somehow shattered this week. I am thankful and grateful for the SCOTUS decision. If for no other reason than this:
 Throughout scripture, especially throughout the earthly ministry of Jesus, we find that it is those who are truly able to accept their brokenness and their need of a savior who see the most powerful miracles done. It is not the pharisees, those who believe they are good and righteous, through whom Jesus does his greatest works. So, if this decision is finally breaking through the white-washed facade of the distorted reality, and allowing churches and their people to realize that there is work to be done within our cities, then hallelujah! God works all things for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose... that includes decisions made by our governments. It is time for us Christians to stand up, and live as we have been commanded to live, following the examples given to us.

Sunday morning is for the church

Sunday morning is for the church.... it's a phrase I have heard many, many times over the past year or two, and it's a phrase that carries a ton of weight in my mind.

When Christians gather into their local churches on a Sunday morning, they are doing so to worship, exalt, and praise the risen Lord Jesus Christ. We gather so that we may be filled, that we might empty ourselves of all the accumulated filth of the week so that the Spirit can then refill us with Himself. We gather to sing holy songs to God, to raise our hands in surrender to His will. We gather to meet with fellow believers that we can lay down our burdens, and multiply our joys. We gather to hear the Word of God proclaimed that we might better grasp His unfathomable grace towards sinners like us. We gather to learn His will that we might better love and serve. We gather to fulfill the words of Hebrews 10:23-25 that we might better hold fast the confession of our faith, that we will assemble together that we might stir up one another to love and good works. We gather so that by the deepening of our understanding of God's instruction and will for our lives we can better become not only hearers of the Word but also doers of the Word.

We gather to be edified, encouraged, filled, equipped, trained, sharpened, rebuked, and ultimately to be sent out. We gather for the glory of the Father, and that it may be manifested through the faithful obedience of His people. That we would leave, having been witnesses to the resurrection of Christ, that we may then go into all the world, proclaiming His gospel to people of every tribe, tongue, and nation. We gather that we can fulfill the call of the church.

That is why Sunday morning is for the church. It is also why Sunday morning is not for those who are not of the church. This is not to say that we should not be open, welcoming, loving, missional, and intentional with those who visit our churches on Sunday morning. But it is to say that the primary goal of the church on a Sunday morning is not to be singularly evangelistic. Too many of our churches have gotten this priority out of focus and out of order, creating an "experience" on Sunday morning that is tantamount to a spectator sport. We file the people into the seats, we put on a show, they drop their payment in the offering, and they go about their lives... unchanged. These churches have traded deep, theological, powerful exegesis of Scripture for anecdotes and story-telling. We have traded preaching for evangelizing. In turn, we have traded pastors for evangelists. In turn, we have traded local bodies of equipped saints for morally self-righteous social clubs.

Evangelists are amazing people, given a supernatural gift of proclaiming the gospel in a way that is easily understood that the Spirit is able to work through to call out to sinners that they will hear the effectual call of the Savior and will come to Him and be saved. God gifts such people for a very powerful and wonderful purpose... to proclaim, and bring unbelievers to Jesus. In short, to bring sheep back into the fold. But once they are in the fold, who is there to watch over them, to lead them, to protect them? A flock needs a shepherd, a pastor. These men are gifted, primarily, to do exactly the job of watching over the sheep. They are teachers, protectors, leaders, and they are to be placed among the flock that the sheep may learn the way to follow Christ, to obey His command, and to live. The church needs these men, and we need them on Sunday morning, when the flock gathers together.

We, as the church, need to take back Sunday morning for what it is intended to be. By doing so, we will be filled and equipped to go out into the world, using our own unique giftings from God to reach out. We need the evangelists to be there, out, with us that we can be used by the Spirit, to be doers of the Word that God can be glorified through the obedience of His people.

We need to be the church, the collection of the saints, the collection of the called. I am grateful to serve in a church that strongly proclaims this truth, and thankful that within this body of believers we have strong shepherds, evangelists, and multitudes of others. Let us be filled, let us go out and fulfill the command of the God we worship on Sunday morning.

genuine religion

A friend and I are currently reading through John Calvin's Institutes of Christian Religion. Though I am merely through the first few chapters, I am amazed at so much of Calvin's insights and wisdom. Even more so as I consider Calvin was only 27 when he wrote the Institutes and had only been converted for 4 years...

I was re-reading a portion of it just a few moments ago, and I wanted to share it here, hoping that through the typing of these words, they may grain a greater footing in my soul and ring truer in my mind:

"For, first of all, the pious mind does not devise for itself any kind of God, but looks alone to the one true God; nor does it feign for Him any character it pleases, but is contented to have Him in the character in which He manifests Himself always guarding, with the utmost diligences to have him in transgressing His will, and wandering, with daring presumptions from the right path. He by whom God is thus known perceiving how He governs all things, confides in Him as his guardian and protector, and casts himself entirely upon His faithfulness, -- perceiving Him to be the source of every blessing, if he is in any strait or feels any want, he instantly recurs to His protection and trusts to His aid, --persuaded that He is good and merciful, he reclines on Him with sure confidence, and doubts not that, in the divine clemency, a remedy will be provided for his every time of need, --acknowledging him as Father and Lord he considers himself bound to have respect to His authority in all things, to reverence His majesty aim at the advancement of His glory, and obey His commands, --regarding Him as a just judge, armed with severity to punish crimes, he keeps the Judgment-seat always in his view. Standing in awe of it, he curbs himself, and fears to provoke His anger. Nevertheless, he is not so terrified by an apprehension of Judgment as to wish he could withdraw himself, even if the means of escape lay before him; nay he embraces Him not less as the avenger of wickedness than as the rewarder of the righteous; because he perceives that it equally appertains to His glory to store up punishment for the one, and eternal life for the other. Besides, it is not the mere fear of punishment that restrains him from sin. Loving and revering God as his father, honoring Him as master, although there were no hell, he would revolt at the very idea of offending Him.

Such is pure and genuine religion, namely, confidence in God coupled with serious fear-- fear, which both includes in it willing reverence, and brings along with it such legitimate worship as is prescribed by the law. And it ought to be more carefully considered that all men promiscuously do homage to God, but very few truly reverence him. On all hands there is abundance of ostentatious ceremonies, but sincerity of heart is rare." John Calvin, 1539(ish)

   I long to be of this pious mind. I want to recline on God with the sure confidence in the divine clemency of God. I want to live my life cloaked in the righteousness of Christ, such that it is not the mere fear of judgment that prevents my sin, but that it is out of love and reverence for my Lord. I want to live in light of the glory of heaven, not of the fear of hell... I want pure and genuine religion.

I want it for myself, I want it for my family, I want it for my church, I want it for each of my brothers and sisters on this earth... I want to throw off the ostentatious ceremony for the sincere heart of worship. 

  

Welcome

Praying for a team that is soon to be leaving from our church and headed into a small country for the sole purpose of proclaiming the gospel of Jesus. As I sit and meditate on it all, I'm awestruck by the realization that right now, wherever they are, whatever they may be doing, there are people counted in the elect of God. Unbeknownst to any one of them is a stirring deep in their soul of the spirit of a lost sheep, longing to hear the call of it's shepherd. They are, likely, fully unaware of miraculous and powerful workings within them as the gardener is tilling and preparing soil for the sowing of seed. These people are just going about their day, oblivious to an intersection and intercession occurring in their midst. No matter who or where they are, physically or spiritually, God is readying them.

In the fullness of His timing and through the work of His immense grace... working through the surrendered and obedient lives of those who are going, the shepherd will call, the seeds will be sown upon the good soil, and light will be brought forth into the darkness. Those who are of God's elect, your spirit will hear the voice of your Shepherd, and you will recognize His voice, and follow Him. Your garden will be perfectly prepped and will receive the seed of the gospel, it will take root, and bear lasting, life-altering fruit, and that light will shine down a path of righteousness.

The process is so assured that we need to, right now, today welcome our new brothers and sisters. Embrace those who have been missing from our Father's table, and celebrate the return of our prodigals. We celebrate in the Kingdom that is both here and not yet, that is visible yet hidden. We trust in the word of God that all those He calls will come, and all who come will be justified, and all who are justified are glorified. All to the praise of His glory.

Welcome to the family, my soon to be brothers and sisters. I'm praying for you.

love your wife

Had a men's breakfast this week... an incredibly encouraging time to come together as the men of our church and seek to go deep into the Word. I nearly didn't make it, I really wanted to make it, I deeply need deeper relationships with men. I made it there, late, but there. Not only did I make it there, but I also managed to sit down at a table full of an incredible, multi-generational mix of men. Listening to a bit of teaching on spiritual leadership of the home and family worship amid a group so dynamic was refreshing and wonderful.

Through all the scriptural references and real-world application, one verse stuck in my mind, and sent me into focusing on one very important aspect of spiritual leadership: our relationship with our wives.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,  that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church (Ephesians 5:25-29)

If we read this to be an instruction on how we, as men, are to love/lead our wives, then we should be following the example of Christ. Jesus washed over His bride with the water of His word that she would be without blemish in His sight. Instead of following the example, our culture of men seems to accept the idea that a man is to expect our bride to simply present herself into our presence spotless, wrinkle-free, and beautiful, completely disconnected from our words or actions. Our expectations of who our wife should be, how they should speak, look, act, continue to grow... and yet we do nothing but expect. And we start to wonder why it is that our wife doesn't quite "do it" for us anymore. We don't feel about her the way we used to... our minds (and eventually our eyes) begin to wander. We find ourselves discontent, and we run from our marriages, blaming our wives for just letting themselves go and not caring about themselves like they should. 

Perhaps one giant leap to be made in the turn-around of the abysmal numbers associated with marital struggles in the church, up to and including divorce, would be for us to start actually start heeding the word of God. Perhaps we, as men of the church, need to step into the ordained office we accepted at the moment we chose to enter into the holy union of two becoming one. God's design for marriage includes an inherent need for the husband to be the spiritual leader of the home, and that starts (and primarily remains) in the husbands role to lead his wife. The example of Christ's love for the church includes an exhortation and instruction of how we are to accomplish this leading. We are to wash over our bride with the water of our words, that she would be without blemish in our sight. We should be building our wives up with our words, thoughts, and actions. We need to be praying for her, and praying that we would love her as we love ourselves. A wife who is made to feel and believe that her husband is purifying his bride, that he would be presenting her to himself will feel the nourishment and adoration their husband has for her. Likewise, the husband who earnestly seeks to wash over, cherish, and fulfill the needs of his wife's soul will consistently find her beauty to be without flaw. We should see the promise in the words to the Ephesians that the effort that is invested by a husband into the leading of his wife will return on that investment, as filling and gratifying as loving himself. 

Men, lead your wives. Pray earnestly for their fulfillment and joy, but do not dare to stop at only those prayers, put feet to them, and actively seek to wash over her. Even on the hard days, especially on the hard days. 

saved

God saves sinners. He takes those He foreknew, predestined, elected, and pursues them with a relentless tenacity, and with steadfast assurance that He will find those of His people who are lost. Upon finding them, He carries them back to  His table, seats them at the feast, places royal robes upon them, and welcomes them back into the family.  Those who have been brought to the table, who have felt the pursuit play out in our lives, are the products of unfathomable grace. We did not choose to be pursued, we did not seek the table earnestly, we did nothing to set ourselves apart from those who God has not yet called to Himself. There is no mark on us that distinguished us from them. We did not choose the time or the place of our conversion. We can't be so arrogant as to think that if it weren't for the divine election of our soul in eternity past that we wouldn't be riding the same wide path that leads to eternal, conscious torment in Hell. Instead, for some reason, God has chosen to manifest His glory in us. He has chosen to display the mighty power He has, the power to take utterly destroyed, broken flesh, and restore the wrecked vessels of our lives so that we might behold the beauty of His mercy, and others might see the reflection of His glory in us. Being regenerated through justification and transformed through sanctification, we are testaments of the will of a living God. God then uses His rebuilt people to speak through and shine through that more of His children will return to Him. We become part of the pursuing reach of God. He compels us to speak love, life, truth. We become the mouthpiece through which the Good News of Jesus is proclaimed. We enter into the same lineage of those who came before us....

We become like Jonah, or like Peter... failures if the highest degree, redeemed by amazing grace, and called to proclaim a message. We speak that message, trusting that (as it always has) the Holy Spirit will empower the words of our heart, and will penetrate the hearts of those who have been granted ears to hear and minds to understand. The Spirit will stir an uneasy understanding in the core of those who truly hear the words spoken to them, and the soul will recognize the calling of its Creator. God the pursuer will call them up out of death and darkness. He will pursue them in their rebellious, wicked, evil ways. He will reclaim His lost treasure. Even when our words fail, and sound like garbled trash, the spirit speaks to the soul of those who can hear it... And we know, and trust, that all those God pursues, He will find, and those He finds, He will call, and all those He calls will come, and all who come will call on His name, and all who call on His name will be saved.