Reflections on Inauguration day

I spent a portion of Friday watching the inauguration proceedings. As I watched the proceedings, I found myself encouraged on by some statements that were made by our new president, and troubled by several as well. To a degree, that is to be expected. No person is all right, or all wrong, and so I should have expected that I would be encouraged and troubled at the same time.

As I think about the speech of our president, I think there are some things that are worthy of commending. What i saw in our new president is a heart for the rural and downtrodden regions, and blue collar workers that have been hurt by our current economic culture. He wants to see people put back to work, and to see struggling areas restored. He hears the pain of the rural and struggling regions, and wants their good. I was encouraged by that.

But I was also deeply troubled by some of the ideas and assumptions I heard, and as I thought about what troubled me, I realized that there were three core ideas that were embedded in the speech that troubled me above all. Set aside our policy differences, his morality issues, and all of the trust issues that surround him, when it came to the speech, there were three ideas from the speech that troubled me above all.

The first idea was that was troubling was the idea that “America united is unstoppable”. “When America is united, America is totally unstoppable”, President Trump declared. All I could think of was Babel. We can’t ascend to God, even if we think we can. The lesson of Babel is that we are always trying to attain a power and prerogative that is not ours. We are not Sovereign and almighty, he is. We stand humble before God. We are not almighty, he is. The only unstoppable force in the universe is the creator of the world, our Triune God. As R.C. Sproul states "No matter who is President, or who holds the house or the Senate, Christ holes the whole world in his hands".To allow any other assumption into our mind is dangerous, and foolish.

The second idea that troubled me in particular is the idea that “we share one heart, one home, and one glorious destiny”. Nothing could be farther from the truth. America is not given any such promise. The promise of a glorious destiny belongs to the people of God alone, and is rooted in the reality that someday, we shall go before God and hear, “my beloved” and be invited into eternity with him. It is not rooted in anything we accomplish, and it does not belong to this or any other nation. At the root of this statement is what is sometimes called “kingdom confusion”. It’s assuming that what is true about God, and his people and his kingdom, is true about this nation and its leaders. We must not make this category mistake. We must not make the mistake of confusing the president and the nation, with Christ and the kingdom of God. The two are not the same. This is a crucial distinction to remember. On our best days, we face a temptation to give in to kingdom confusion, to think that America and its greatness are somehow synonymous with the kingdom of God, but we must not make that mistake of thinking that the fate of Christianity and the fate of America are linked. Ten thousand years from now the United States will be on the ash-heap of history, but the gospel will still hold its power. Kingdoms rise and kingdom’s fall. The kingdom of God our will last forever. We must not forget this truth.

The third idea that troubled me, and troubled me above all, was the assumption that total allegiance belongs to the state. The President stated "At the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to the United States of America, and through our loyalty to our country, we will rediscover our loyalty to each other. When i head that, it made me pause on the spot. Here's the problem. That statement holds an eerie resemblance to the demand Rome mad for total allegiance to Rome and Caesar. It's a demand that we cannot and will not accept, because we owe total allegiance to one name and one name alone, Christ. Christ is Lord and there is no other. The early Christians bled and died because they would not bow the knee to Caesar and give total allegiance to anyone but Christ. The knew that total allegiance does not belong to Caesar or any other earthy power, and that they could not give total allegiance to anyone but Christ. There can be be a temptation to allow our final allegiance to go to the wrong king. We must not fall into the trap of giving our final allegiance to the wrong king. We love this country. We serve this country. We joyfully call it our home for now, but we do not think that this nation, or any other nation deserves total allegiance. That belongs to Christ alone. Jesus said, "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and to God that which is God's" (Mark 12:17). We do not give what belongs to God to Caesar, or any other power, no matter how tyrannical or benevolent. Total allegiance belongs to Christ alone. That is true when the president is a scoundrel, or a hero. It is true every day. Total allegiance never belongs to anyone but Christ.

As we stand on the backside of the inauguration, I encourage you to pray for the nation, and seek its blessing, and prosperity. I encourage you to pray for the president, remembering the worlds of 1 Timothy 2:1-2, "First of all then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksfiving be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way". But along with this, I encourage you to know that God alone rules over the affairs of men, that eternity and a glorious destiny is not promised to this or any other nation, and that he, and he alone, deserves total allegiance.

Election Thoughts

The Nation has spoken. Donald Trump is president. As we stand on the far side of the most divisive election in decades, my question as a pastor and Christian is, how do we move forward as Christians? As people who name the name of Christ and want to see him glorified? Whether you voted for President Elect Trump, or for Secretary Clinton, or one of the other candidates, whether your candidate lost, or won, or never had a chance, how do you move forward?

I write this as someone who was a #NeverTrump voter, and refused to vote for either major party candidate. But the question is for all of us. How do we move forward, together? How do we act as the church on the back side of election day?

First, speak and act with respect.

8 years ago, as we came up I to the election of president Obama, I was listening to a news report, and the reporter referred to the president as Mr. Bush, rather than President Bush, and was sharply critical of President Bush. Soon after that, I heard a local talk show personality from a different perspective state that if one political candidate won, he would not call that candidate president, and do everything that he could to see that this man’s presidential agenda was undermined. That was in 2008, and things have just gone downhill from there. We have reached a point where it seems that respect and civility is dead when it comes to our political dialogue. Worse, many Christians do not act much different. We show much of that same disrespect. We often act the same way that those who are not Christians act, showing the same disrespect that those who are not Christians show. This cannot be. It cannot be, can saltwater and freshwater flow from the same spring, James asks? The answer is no. of course not. And the same goes for us, and what we say. We must speak and act with respect. 1 Peter pointedly remind us in 2:17 that we are to “Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.” Paul echos this thought when he says in romans 13 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.  Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves… Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. 

Everyone means everyone, it means people, on both sides of the aisle. Gay. Straight. Old. Young. Man. Woman. Rich. Poor. Urban. Suburban. Rural. Black. White. Hispanic. Asian. Everyone.  Model grace, model dignity, model civility. Remember that we are called to bright red dots, spiritual salt and light in a dark world, and do not engage with hostility and disrespect. However you feel about the election, and however you feel about both the winner, the loser, and the parties of either, show a different path to the watching world.

Second, pray for the new president and pray for the nation.

On election night, I stayed up late, and reached the point where I couldn’t stay up any longer. At that point I said, “Four years ago I basically said congratulations to the president for winning the election again, and called on people to pray for the new president and honor him. Today we've elected a new president. Same thing folks. Congratulations to president elect Trump. Fear God, honor the king”, referencing Peters words in 1 peter 2:17. “I pray the he may find a way to unify the nation and heal its wounds. I pray he shocks me and leads well.” That call needs to be cranked up to ten. We need to pray, and keep praying, remembering the words of 1 Timothy, “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone-- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness (1 Tim. 2:1-2)”.

But with this, we must pray for the nation. “When God wishes to judge a nation, he gives it wicked leaders”, said Calvin. The track record of both candidates was such that we were all but guaranteed a wicked leader, which means that we need to be praying for God to work in hearts and minds to transform this nation, knowing that apart from his mercy, we are going to experience his great and terrible judgment.

Third, work to extend grace but do not excuse evil.

Every president will succeed in some places and fail in others. Every one of us does. Remember that King David was a man after God’s own heart, the greatest king of Israel, and the progenitor of the messiah. And he had an affair, and then killed the husband of Bathsheba. Ever leader fails in some way shape or form. This will be true of every leader until the day that Christ restores the world and brings everything to complete submission to his perfect will.

But with that said, there cannot be a hint or a whiff of excusing racism, torture, misogyny, the mistreatment of others, and the like. Not one hint or whiff. We must be willing to call sin, sin, and be absolutely unflinching in our refusal to wink at or paper over moral evils. Right now, many are looking at the church, waiting to see if we will excuse the bad behavior of Donald Trump (or worse, join in), or if we will take seriously what the bible says about sin. 20 years ago, many Christian leaders rightly called Bill Clintons activities sin, and now many of these men turned around and excused it with trump. Other leaders rightly stood up and said, his words and actions are a problem. I’m trying to be cautiously optimistic. But, at the same time, I have no intention of excusing one bit of sinful, evil behavior.

Fourth, expect that Christians in America now have allot of repair work to do to our reputation.

Many are looking at the church, asking, how did a man with his moral track record end up with such an incredibly high number of believers voting for him? I believe part of the answer is that they believed the other candidate was worse. But, with that reality, we must understand that our reputation is in taters to a watching world.

Writer Jared Wilson of the Gospel Coalition rightly observes that 

“There may have been no popular image more representative of this winning campaign than that of Jerry Falwell Jr. gleefully standing with Donald Trump in his office, Playboy Magazines prominently on the wall in the background”. He goes on, “Again, this may sound counterintuitive, since the candidate backed by what’s left of the Religious Right and the Moral Majority won handily last night. But what institutional evangelicalism has gained in a presidency it has lost, in my estimation, in gospel witness. And it’s not like this was hanging in the balance. Evangelical credibility was already circling the drain. It just experienced a decisive flush last night. Our new president had the full-throated support of the Klu Klux Klan and other white nationalist/supremacist groups, the conspiracy-obsessed tabloid alt-right, misogynistic shock-jocks, and . . . evangelical Christians? As the weeks went by and more of us became shocked by the kind of thinking — poor logic, poor theology, poor spirituality — on display from certain Christian Trump-supporters, it wasn’t so much a Trump ascendancy we feared but a certifying of evangelicalism’s biblical illiteracy and, thus, theological bankruptcy.

I said it before the election and I’ll say it now: most evangelical support of Donald Trump was hypocritical, double-minded. Character matters, except when it doesn’t. Biblical virtue matters, except when it doesn’t. When power and influence (and fear) are on the line, we will sell out in a heartbeat. The result is this: evangelicalism as an institutional movement has revealed itself to be exactly what the world has accused it of being all along. What will it profit the movement to gain the White House and lose its convictional soul?

He’s right. Which means we have an incredible amount of repair work to do.

Finally, keep your hope in Christ.

On the backside of this election, the world has not changed. Christ still rules. “He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. (Dan. 2:21-22). He makes clear that there is no salvation in politics. He tells us in his word that we are not to  “put our trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. He says in his word “Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever” (Psalm 146:2-6). We must never forget this. On the backside of a crazy election we must remind ourselves of it regularly. Our only hope is found in Christ, the perfect king, who will right the world. We are citizens of his higher kingdom. Keep your hope in Christ, and Christ alone.

Orlando

Another mass shooting. I’ve lost track of the amount of them since I became a pastor. And I find myself thinking, I don’t feel like I have anything new to say. I really don’t. Nothing of substance. Nothing of note. There’s a constant urge to say something new. To get to the front and speak. But some days, you just need to mourn. Or stare at a tragedy until you find the capacity to mourn. These are 49 image bearers that no longer live. People who were made in the image of God, and had their lives snuffed out. We should be heartbroken by this.

But more than that, we also need to speak clearly on this as Christians. There is no place for violence against those in the LGBT community. Some are going to be tempted to say, they got what they deserve. No, they did not. No one deserves to be gunned down in cold blood. No one. I watched a pastor say that they deserved it. That kind of thinking has no place in the church.

Christians must not betray their own convictions on the subject of homosexuality. But Christians must never go beyond where the text takes us. There is no place for even considering justifying this. Murder is evil. This attack is sin. We must call it what it is, an assault on those who bear the image of God, and an evil to be decried.

The other think we need to do, is to guard against a temptation to use this to make an argument for our cause, whatever it is. There is a tendency to move to pet issues when something like this happens. It’s been evident in the news.

Shots fired. The shooter is Muslim. The problem is Islam.

Shots fired. The problem is guns.

Shots fired, God gave them what they deserved.

Sometimes, God allows us to look in the mirror and ask, “Where is our heart?” This weekend, different writers and politicians have put their spin on this and score political or social points. We must not do that.

The real question for us this day is, “Do you weep with those who weep, and mourn with those who mourn”.

This is a time when we must weep. Whatever our disagreements with the gay community, this is not the time to have that conversation. Many of them are scared and stressed. They worry that this will happen in their cities and neighborhoods. Will we love? Will we weep? Will we offer hugs and comfort? Will we hold up hope and say, we stand for your protection, safety, and best?

There is no place for violence against the gay community. No one should be physically assaulted because they are gay or lesbian. Pray for the peace of Orlando, and pray that in this moment, they receive not our begrudging nods that this is bad, but real, true heartfelt compassion.

Let me end this, with a prayer. I did not write it. My friend Brandon did. It appeared originally at his blog.

O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. (Habakkuk 1:2-3)

Gracious Father,

As we wrap our minds and hearts around this weekend’s tragedy in Orlando—the murderous rampage of an Islamic terrorist targeting the LGBT community—we’re shocked by the magnitude of callous hatred, devastated by the sweeping loss of life, and reminded yet again that this world is severely and sickeningly broken.

Moreover, we confess that at times like this we wonder where you are and why this happened. This is not how your world is supposed to work. Human life is precious to you—every soul made in your image. Our hearts break at the thought of cries for help going unanswered amid the attack. We mourn with the families and friends whose lives have been forever changed through such wanton violence. And we join their cry, “How long, O Lord?”

How long will violence go unanswered?

How long will fear and hatred rule our culture?

How long until you bring an end rebellion and sin on this earth?

We know that moments like this are not times for explanations, but first and foremost for grief and mourning. And so raise our voice in lament over this tragedy.

And yet we know that even when it doesn’t feel like it, you do hear our prayers. You do see the violence committed on earth. And you have promised to act. The day will come when you will bring the ungodly to justice and wipe every tear from our eyes. A day when mourning will cease and death will be no more. And we have confidence in that day because you have already acted to establish justice, conquer death, and offer mercy through the life, death, and resurrection of your eternal Son, Jesus Christ. In Christ there is hope, and in that hope we pray:

WE PRAY for the victims and their families, those for whom this is not some distant news story, but a personally crushing blow. We ask that you hold them in their grief, and comfort them in their loss, anger, and devastation. Fill them with a comfort that can only come from your Son.

WE PRAY for justice for the perpetrators. Not only for the gunman, who now awaits your divine judgment, but for the culture of death that radical jihadist Islam has fueled in this world. Would you open blind eyes to the evil of this corrupt and corrupting system. For those who are attracted to the idea of worshiping god through murder and hate, would you convict them of sin and open their eyes to the truth, forgiveness, and new life of Christ.

WE PRAY for those in the LGBT community, upon whom a shroud of fear has now descended through this weekend’s tragedy. No person deserves to live in fear of their life being taken, especially because of something like sexual orientation. Would you remind each person that they are fearfully and wonderfully made, precious in your sight, and loved by their Creator. Would you work in our world to bring about changes that protect and honor the dignity of all human life, regardless of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, developmental ability, or age. Would you help those in the LGBT community to look to you for strength and security, and not to what this world can offer. Guard their lives and guide their steps to a love and security that nothing in this world can take away—the love and security of new life in Christ.

WE PRAY that our churches would be places of safety and love for the LGBT community, and that our Christian witness would be one of hope and not hatred. May we not let our differences of conviction about sexuality and marriage allow us to tolerate hatred or withhold dignity and respect. May we stand united against hatred and terror, and work together for the protection and preservation of all human life, even as we continue to hold out the life-changing message of the gospel.

WE PRAY, finally, that our Lord Jesus Christ would come again. We long for the day when Christ himself will “will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Rev. 21:4). Come Lord Jesus.

In Christ’s powerful name, Amen.

This prayer was originally found at https://in-the-meantime.com/2016/06/13/a-prayer-for-the-tragedy-in-orlando/.

Living as Resurrected People in a Challenging age

Sometimes you think the headline is a joke. The headline read “Christians banned simply for being Christian”. The article from Australia, went on to talk about how the University of Sydney Union for students had given the Evangelical Union two weeks to change its constitution to allow non-Christians to be members, or face deregistration. Basically, this is saying that the equivalent of Intervarsity or Navigators must stop asking that the members or officers to be Christians (could you imagine how that would go down if a school asked the local atheist club to stop asking that its members- not those coming to the meetings- the members and officers, don't have to be atheists?).

The whole request, and many more like it that we see here in the United States, are somewhat absurd, but they are just one part of a larger story, the story of the increasing marginalization of Christianity in the modern western. Christianity one lived at the center of the Western culture. It founded Modern Western Civilization as it exists today. The beliefs and ideas of Christianity provided the intellectual framework that undergird Modern Western civilization, and because of that, its institutions and leaders were looked at and revered. And yet, for a variety of reasons, Christianity, and Christians with it, find ourselves not at the center of the culture, but on the outside looking in, feeling like exiles in our own homeland. And the question is, “how we will then live?” As people called by the gospel for the glory of God, as people called to live as “Aliens and strangers”, people whose citizenship is “kept in heaven for you”, people who are equipped and sent out by the fact that Christ rose, how will we then live? How will we live when we are not the majority living in the promised land, but the exiles in Babylon and the diaspora, spread out in a land not our own (or our own any longer)? How do we live, when we’re not the majority, but the minority, and worse yet, part of a hated minority?

The Scriptures are rife with resources to answer this question. They tell of Esther, a young women in a foreign land, being called to be the queen of Persia. They tell us of Daniel, the righteous young man who is called to serve the empire who has conquered his homeland. They tell us of God’s word to the exiles through the pen of Jeremiah, and more than that, they show us how the early church, pressed by Jewish religious leaders on the one hand, and the Rome on the other hand, pushed out into the world, and loved and served and blessed the world, even as they lived as exiles.

Over the next few months, we’re going to explore what it means to live as the minority for glory of God as we continue to think about what it means to be aligned by orthodoxy, as a church and the people of God. We’re going to do this, by looking specifically at the Jeremiah 29, the first half of Daniel, and by ranging through the Bible from there as we think about the call of God to us.

And what we will see, is not the approach of hiding in the shadows, as people who felt like they had drained the cup of bitterness to the dregs and now just wanted to curl up and protect themselves, but a people who were out, living and engaging the world around with gusto for the glory of God.

We live in tumultuous times. There may have never been a more challenging time in this country’s history to be a Christian, but we have been called, like Esther, for “such a time as this” I’m looking forward to this series, and to exploring with you the question of how do we live not as the majority but the minority, for the glory of God.

Keeping the Main Things the Main Things

In the back of my journal, I have a series of quotes and verses written down. Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever (Question 1 from the Westminster Catechism). John 3:16. The Gospel Changes everything (Tim Keller). When I am weak, then I am strong. It’s disciple-making stupid (Me). God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Unless the Lord builds the house, the labor is in vain. Pray without ceasing. Never, never, Never give up (Churchill).

Why are they there? They are a reminder to me that I need to keep the main things the main things. We are all prone to mission drift. We are all prone to letting things pile up in our lives to the point that they clutter our lives and our souls. It’s so easy. We take our eyes off what is truly important, and allow the irrelevant or even somewhat good to crowd out the really good and truly important. We collect activities and stuff and good things the way a hoarder collects trophies and trinkets, because we say, “What a deal”, “It’s a good cause” or use any of a hundred excuses not to say no. And before we know it our schedule books (or Apps) and to do lists look like the collision of 100 forces at once, our attics look like they could double for a storage locker or the transfer station, and we feel like we are living in chaos and disorder.

Which is why we have to continuously and constantly be asking ourselves “Is this important?” Do I need to do it? Do I need it? Does it help? We need to take work a page out of Google's playbook. They are a fascinating example of keeping the main things the main things. They vigorously resists the temptation to allow other things to distract from the main mission of search. If you go to Yahoo’s home-page, you have the search feature, news, different interest items, and etc. It’s cluttered and busy. Go to Google, and it’s all but empty. Up in the corner of the page, there is a little box line with the other stuff they do. At the bottom is a footer with a few things. But what confronts you is a clean white page with a search box, because they have a corporate commitment to not lose sight of what is truly important.

If we don't resist this temptation, we quickly feel like the pain, and usually encounter that distinct sense that we barely keeping our heads above water. And worse, we fail to do the things that we really need to do, because everything else has crowded them out.

I saw a vivid illustration of this recently. A group of church members went into the attic of the church, and cleaned it. It was out of control, it hadn’t been organized in ages, stuff had been stuck in any old place, and old stuff was on top of even older stuff. It was an illustration of what happens if you don’t work to keep what is important and let go of the rest. We took 5 truckloads of stuff to the dump. We found stuff dated 1978 in there (I was born in 1979), stuff that looked like it hadn’t been touched since then. It had become chaos, and the space had become unusable.

So we exercised our pitching arms, and purged. It was an almost spiritual act of letting go of the clutter. We kept the important things. We kept what was needed, the good and the valuable and the useful. We kept and honored that. But the rest we let go so that the space could actually be used again for something productive and God glorifying.

Are you working to keep the main things the main things? We need to be continually doing that in our lives as we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Examine your life and work to do it. If need be, find tools to help you. Someone recently showed me an activity grid that I have found helpful. On the side it says urgent, and not urgent, and on the top it says, important, not important. It’s a helpful grid for asking, do I need to do this?

Too often, rather than staying in the urgent and important, or not urgent and important boxes, the urgent and not important rules the day because it is urgent and calls the loudest. We need to make sure that we stay in the important boxes. Praying every day may not feel urgent, and sometimes it doesn’t feel important, but it’s far more urgent and of far more importance than almost anything else we do. Getting in God’s word doesn’t always feel urgent, but if we’re not careful, we’ll starve ourselves spiritually. If we’re too busy to pray, or read God’s word, too busy to really feed our souls, or worship, or share the gospel, and be emissaries of God’s love, and if we’re too busy to love and care for our spouses, or kids, and to take care of our responsibilities there, then we need to reassess things, and make sure that we’re keeping the main things the main things, and let go of the things that need to go.

Work to keep the main things the main things. When we attend to what we should attend to, we can be used. When we allow everything to crowd in, it’s a mess. We are about to enter the Holiday rush. Thanksgiving and Advent are staring at, and in the next two months, there will be a million things to do. As you enter this season, let go of what needs to be let go of, and keep the main things the main things, for the glory of the Christ, and the good of your soul.

A Profound Sadness

I feel a profound sadness right now. I see Christians losing their minds. I see culture, and even Christians, calling what God calls evil, "good". I see Christians trying to argue that abortion is “an option”, and saying that calling it murder is just “your interpretation.”

Let me set the record straight. Calling abortion murder is not an interpretation; it’s a pretty accurate description of what happens. A life is ended. What else do you call that? A procedure? Its nothing less than a monstrous evil.

John Calvin, the Swiss theologian, commenting on Exodus 21:22-25, observed "The fetus, though enclosed in the womb of its mother, is already a human being (homo), and it is almost a monstrous crime to rob it of life which it has not yet begun to enjoy. If it seems horrible to kill a man in his own house than in a field, because a man’s house is his place of most secure refuge, it ought surely to be deemed more atrocious to destroy a fetus in the womb before it has come to light."

Some will try to say, "look, the bible says nothing on this". That's a lie. The bible has a great deal to say when it comes to the unborn. It says that God knits us together. He creates our “inmost being”, and knits us together in our mother's womb. (Psalm 139:13). It tells us that he knows us before he forms us in the womb (Jeremiah 1:5 ). It says, “If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. (Exodus 21:22-25). In other words, if there’s no harm, pay a fine for bad behavior. If you kill the baby you die, because you took a life. More than that, it says, let the little children come to me (Mark 10:14). Come to me. Not let the little children come to the abortuary. If we are to let the little children come to Jesus, let’s all agree that they have to make it out of the womb to do so. Above all, it says, “you shall not commit murder (Exodus 20:6).

It does not leave open the door for murder. I know this is not a popular opinion in our culture, but the bible says, no to abortion. It’s not up for debate. It’s not up for discussion; it’s not, my interpretation. The bible doesn’t leave you the option. It says, you shall not murder.

And if you say, how do we know when life begins. Stop. Just stop. Stop and consider how old Jesus was when he and john met in utero. 1 week? 2 weeks? Max three weeks. It may have been days. The angel shows up to Mary, and tells her, "You’re going to carry the son of God". She takes off and goes to visit Elizabeth. How long does it take to walk from Galilee to Judea? What’s the timeline on that? It’s not long. Don’t say, we don’t know. When the egg and the sperm meet, under normal circumstances, unless something goes tragically wrong, you’re going to have a child. You’re going to have a human being made in God’s image and likeness. Don’t you dare murder that child. That child deserves your protection. It deserves to be treasured and loved. It doesn’t deserve your saying, “it’s a choice”. Adoption is a choice. Parenting is a choice. Murder is not a choice. It’s an abomination. These children deserve our care.

The early Christians knew this. That’s why they would trawl the Tiber looking for babies to pull out. They knew that the practice of throwing them in the river was evil. They knew that exposing children was wicked. Because of that, they would find them, and raise them as their own, which is no small thing. They made it a point to care for those that the culture threw away. They adopted them and raised them. They taught them to love God and live for him. They did this because they knew that they were made in God’s image, and to be treasured.

You know what abortion is? It’s child sacrifice. It’s saying, “I’m not ready. I didn’t plan this. it doesn’t fit my lifestyle. It will ruin my plans for the future. It will make me drop out of school, or upend something... therefore I will kill it”. What is that other than just feeding your children to the god of money and success? “My life won’t have the standard of success I wanted. I won’t have the lifestyle I wanted. Therefore I will murder my child”. What is that? It’s nothing more than money worship. We should protect the least of these, not murder them.

Let me tell you about a child who would have made a great candidate for abortion. His name is baby J. He’s my sister’s son. His mom and her husband where on the rocks. It looked like they were going to get a divorce. One last sympathy screw because it’s easier to do this than not. The marriage was toxic; she was on her way out. And then she got pregnant. What to do? She’s looking at single motherhood as a real option. A baby could stall her career. It would be hard. He’s become one of the main joys of her life. Think carefully. Would you advise her to murder this child now? The marriage isn’t good by any means. It’s better, not good. Would you advise this? That’s what you’re talking about.

I don’t even want to go into the sale of body parts. That’s whole different issue. Planned Parenthood has descended to the level of the Nazi’s. They sipped beer and wine while dealing with the Jewish problem. Planned Parenthood looked awfully similar this week.  Eisenhower made the Germans go look at the concentration camps to see what they allowed in their backyard. Maybe we should do the same. I don’t know.

But I do know this. If you are a Christian and you have called this a choice. You need to repent. Repent right now. Get in your bible, read it. Read it again. Read it again. Look at the ethic it holds up. Don’t pick, choose, and twist the scriptures to fit your whim, or the whim of the culture, see the pattern. See that it says, "We are made in God’s image". People to be treasured. People to be protected. See that it says, God you shall not murder. Repent of being silent.

If you have had an abortion, repent. There is no sin that is unforgivable. David murdered Uriah. he was forgiven. There is not sin that is unforgivable. Whoever you are. Wherever you are, look at abortion, and repent.

And then fight it. It’s an evil stalking our land. Fight against it.

Tread carefully

Have you ever had a situation where you thought, “I’ve seen something, I’ve found something. Something that I have to tackle. I have to speak now”? A word of Advice. Take a second look, and tread carefully.

Recently, I had that experience. I deferred my taxes due to some of the things going on in our family’s life. As I was slogging through the paperwork, what I was finding was that the numbers were not adding up. I looked at them, I looked at them again, and as the night went on, I just kept staring at it, not sure what I was seeing, thinking it was bad.

I eventually gave up and went to bed frustrated and a little scared. I thought I had to speak to the church leadership and say that the churches 72 year old secretary and treasurer (whom I have come to love deeply) had made a major, potentially job costing mistake. No one wants to do that. After all those years of service, she should get the privilege of retiring gracefully. But it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. As I looked at it, it seemed that there was a difference of several thousand between the pay documents and my 1099.

The next morning, I kept studying the documents. Thinking, I must have missed something. Then it hit me. I was looking at the debit column, showing what came about and came to me, but there was also a credit column, where mistakes that had been made, were corrected. Money out, money back in. I looked, and looked again, started to breath, got out my calculator, and carefully tallied everything up. They all lined up. Hallelujah, thank you God, crisis averted. She had done her job right.

As I breathed easier, I started to thank God for his blessing. Can you imagine what would have happened if I had taken this to the board and accused and then been shown wrong? First, I would have looked like an idiot who couldn’t read a document. Second, I would have unwittingly slandered an innocent person. Third I would have damaged a relationship that I care deeply about. Fourth, I would have critically damaged my reputation as a leader and a trustworthy voice on anything. But finally, I would have critically wounded my church. Factions would have formed, sides would have formed, before the facts were looked at, and when they were, so many would have been hurt emotionally.

But I also started to ask, what can we learn from this? What can you and I learn from this. Tread carefully. Be slow to assume, examine and re-examine, and always think before you speak. When you think you see something, be completely sure. Analyze the facts carefully. What you see may not be the real situation. So often we think we see something and then we charge ahead. This is the basic approach of most of the news media, create a narrative, build hype, "Who cares about what really happened?" Go with the story. Whether you are a business leader, a church leader, someone who works in a factory, a teacher, whatever you are, before you speak, you need to really know the facts. You need to try to get the facts nailed down cold before you put your finger on something. Christians are called to “be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry (Jam 1:19 NIV)”. But additionally, you have the responsibility to use wisdom and discernment, to be wise as serpents and innocents as doves, and part of that is carefully examining the facts, to seek the Lord’s leading, and only then, if the situation warrants it, speak. 

Along with this, there is a lesson on attributing motives that may or not be there. We have to assume the best intent, and then wait for the evidence to come down one way or the other. When we think we find something. We can’t fly off the hand. We can’t causelessly assume the worst and attribute ill motives. We can’t do that. It’s a failure to love. A failure to see people as ones made in the image of God and loved by God, and therefore, worthy of our respect. If we attribute ill motives, we will take ourselves into a pattern, and find that we are living in a place of constant mistrust. Assume the best in people. Give them every chance to succeed. If you do, they might surprise you. 

I’m thankful that I kept looking. I’m thankful that it turned out that the secretary and church treasurer did her job well. I’m thankful that I looked and analyzed the situation. But most of all, I’m thankful that God protected me. My hope and prayer is that we all have the wisdom to continually take the steps necessary, and tread carefully.

Heartbreaking Celebration

On Saturday, I attended the 350th anniversary of First Baptist Boston. I left with a broken heart. It is the 3rd church founded in Boston, the 5th Baptist church ever planted in America, and one of the most historically important churches in the nation, and it is literally falling in on itself. The experience of visiting the church was absolutely heartbreaking. When you walk in you are immediately captured with the grandeur of the front of the sanctuary. It’s amazing. The organ towers upward and you are transfixed with awe. The stage is amazing, beautiful, and everything you’d expect in a great, historic church that has faithfully proclaimed the gospel and stood for century upon century.

But then you look around. The woodwork has not been maintained and is decaying. The stained glass is coming apart in places. There is evidence of water damage everywhere you look. At least one of the pillars is massively decaying. The ceiling shows signs of leaking in dozens of places and the sections of the ceiling are gone, exposing bare wood. The walls are all wracked with water damage, and you can see the lathes behind the plaster in many places. Nowhere is this more evident than when you stand in the pulpit and look out and see a gaping hole where the plaster is peeling back. The floor is no better. The carpet is decaying and threadbare, and the marble under the pews is cracked and broken. All around, there are signs of decay. Historic paintings have been damaged by water. The side chapel reveals more peeling paint and decaying plaster. On and on it went. I’d estimate that the damage I saw is in the 10’s of millions. In short order, you feel like you are standing in the presence of death, while the (paid) choir sings on.

But, by and large, that’s secondary to the true problem. When you look around, you realize that the building is a reflection of the state of the congregation. There are not many people there. There were less than 50 people there for the 350th anniversary of one of the moist historically important churches in the country. The membership has dwindled, and so has the impact of the church on the community, and the American Baptist Church of Massachusetts.

What I left thinking is that "this is what happens when a church loses sight of its mission. Its mission is to make disciples. Its mission is to proclaim the gospel and bring people to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and lead them to live for His glory. And when it doesn’t do its mission everything else rots. What I saw at First Baptist Boston is a great love of the church. There is something laudable in their love for their church. One gentleman lived in Florida and still comes back every other Sunday because of his deep love of the church. I truly enjoyed my conversations with the members of the church But there is also real decline. It is clear that the church has become inwardly focused. They are not making disciples right now. Everything that I heard was about the history, what we have done rather than what we are doing. It sees itself in light of its history, rather than who it currently is. Like the church in Sardis, which lived in a city that loved its history but did not see that it is already dead, and reflected the heart of the city in its thinking, FBC Boston is shaped more by the past than the present. This was illustrated when someone quietly told me that “they don’t call pastors, they hire them”. The difference is everything. One is calling someone to lead them to be a church faithfully proclaims the gospel and glorifies God. The other is hiring someone to do what you tell them. When people insinuate that this is your approach, and when the stories they whisper about you are about power plays and the church being like a non-profit you’re in trouble, because you’ve lost sight of your task to be a gospel centered, disciple making, God glorifying church. 

But, just as in Sardis, that is not the last word. I left heartbroken. I also left hopeful. The president of the ABC, Donald NG, spoke on two passages. He spoke on Ezekiel 37 where Ezekiel sees the valley of the dry bones and is commanded to prophecy to it. He also spoke on 1 Peter 2, and how we are living stones, living stones that can be built up once more. And as I look at it, therein lies hope. The hope of the gospel. Because the church is living stones, built up, with Christ, the living Stone, rejected by men as its corner and capstone. We are built up in Christ.  

 

As I was reflecting on Doctor NG’s sermon, I couldn’t help but think about what Jesus says to the church in Sardis. After delivering blistering news that they were dead, that they needed to "wake up and strengthen what remains, remember what you have heard and keep it, and repent”. He also says, “You have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels”. What Jesus is saying is that some in Sardis needed to repent. They are Christians (that is the implication of the fact that they “have not soiled their garments) but they need to repent. But some are not. They have soiled their garments. To them He says, become Christians. “He who overcomes will, like them (the unsoiled), be dressed in white”. He makes them an offer to come to Him. For all those reasons, I am hopeful. I am hoping that God can and will move. 

The church has atrophied. I don’t know the spiritual state of those there. It may be that God has been pruning it, and is preparing it to be led by the current interim to reset and reach out in a new way, and that God uses the membership is there to reach the city with the gospel. It may be that He is bringing them to a point where they will turn and ask a young replanter to come serve, and invite that pastor to go to plant, replant, and revitalization minded churches, and ask for them to help by sending people to be part of a core team to that begins to rebuild the church, much in the way that the exiles had to gather a group to go and rebuild Jerusalem. It may be that they will not follow their pastor’s wisdom (and their current pastor is very wise- of course I'm biased, he was a professor of mine), continue to decline, and spiral to death. I don't know what God is going to do or will do in the future. But I do know that when God says to the church in Sardis, and to all of our churches, that He has not found their deeds "complete in the sight of my God", He is giving us all a powerful impetus to look at our church and ask, "What is decaying", "What is dying" And "how can we strengthen what remains in our churches, so that real whole life disciples who connect to the gospel and live out of the gospel in all of life are nurtured?" "How can we glorify God in our Church?" May we ask these questions, so that in the end, we will be living stones who are built up in Christ for the glory of God.

Sacred Programs

I’ve been thinking about the things that churches, our and all churches, have to do, and do well.

Churches needs to gather and worship- to sing, to pray, to preach, and to celebrate the sacraments. Churches need do outreach that make new Christians. This has to happen both locally and globally. Locally, it can include everything from fun or service events that just build relationships and have a long term goal of getting people to move into each other’s spheres, to events with deep and strong gospel presentations where we actively seek to see people trust Christ with their life. It also may include individual outreach, church outreach, and even the support of local missionaries. Obviously, it encompasses a great deal. Globally, it can include everything from mission’s trips to the funding of missions organizations and missionaries to something else entirely.

Beyond this, Churches need to teach and equip the saints so that they grow as followers of Christ. This is true for both adult and children. For a Church to be healthy there has to be some kind Christian education happening, so that people of all ages can connect their faith and their life. That can be done through small groups, Sunday school, youth group, new member’s classes, adult or children’s catechism, or other things. The key is that we have to be teaching people of all ages the truths of gospel and the implications of the gospel, and how to apply the truth of the gospel apply to every area of their life so that they are whole life disciples.

Furthermore, they need to care for the congregation in times of need. The sick need to get visited, people have to be met with and spiritual condition checked on. The grieving need to be ministered to, etc. Moreover, they need to develop and train leaders. Without good leadership, a church will struggle, at best.  Along with this, there needs to be real fostering of healthy community. Finally, they need to have some sort of an administrative system so that they can care for the infrastructure and the property that are owned (if it owns property), manage the finances, pay the bills, and the like.

This is a big list. There are other things that are important. But these are the most important. But while this is a big list of things, I want you to notice something. None of these are programs. Programs are forms and structures. These are functions; things that need to be done and ends that result in the great end, the glorification of God.

The distinction is important. Often, we think of programs and structures as the ends, but programs and structure serve these things, not the other way around. Programs and structures and activities come and go. They can be picked up, used, and laid aside, as long as they accomplish their ends. While we sometimes fret over the forms, they are ultimately not the thing that is primary. Sometimes we have a beloved program that we feel really strongly about. But if it doesn’t accomplish its function, it’s time has passed.

Why am I bringing this up? Because one of the things we need to understand is that as a church overhauls, it has look at everything, and do it with a baseline assumption. No committee, program, or structure is totally sacred. When a church makes a program sacred, the end is in sight, because we lose sight of what is truly important.

We can’t make that mistake. We may love a program or structure, we may have strong attachments to it, but if its outlived its usefulness, it will be replaced with something that will accomplish the function. So for instance, for the last several years at my church, we have had separate Bible studies for men and women. This developed organically and worked for awhile. This year, it floundered. What should my church do? We may need to examine another option, because in the end, the aim is the education and development is followers of Christ. The form isn’t important, the function is. As a church seeks to be effective for the glory of God, it has to keep its eyes on what is truly important, release what needs to be released, implement what needs to be implemented, and do the things that it needs to do so that it may see God glorified and lives transformed by the gospel.

Don't Lose Sight of This!

It’s the economy stupid.” It was an obnoxious, laser focus line that controlled everything that was said in the 1992 presidential campaign by Bill Clinton. “It’s the economy stupid.” Why did they have such a laser-like focus? Because they knew, that this was the issue that controlled their destiny. If they talked about foreign policy, they were sunk. President Bush had just overseen an awesome victory over Saddam Hussein in the first Gulf War, and there was no way they were going to win on that topic, and so in a brilliant strategy move, they decided to keep the discussion to the thing that mattered most to them for them. The economy. Which is why they drove it into their teams head, keep your eyes fixed on what is most important, don't lose sight of this!  

I’ve often thought that there is a lesson for churches. In the final words of Matthew, Jesus declares that “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me”, and in light of that he says “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." In John 20 we read, “As the father sent me, so send I you”, and in Acts 1 we read, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."  

With these words, Jesus says , I have a task for you. Make disciples. Nurture disciples. Teach disciples. Build up disciples, knowing that I have authority and I am with you because I lived the life you should have lived and died the death you should have died, and now have risen. Keep your eyes on this. My commission to you is to make disciples, just as I made disciples. Don’t forget that.  

The final instructions are very important. They tell us what is most important to that person. Before He ascends, in His last times with His disciples Jesus says this is it. Disciple-making. And just as the Clinton campaign had a laser-like focus, so too must we.  It’s so easy to lose focus. We all live busy, packed lives with lots of demands. And yet if we are not careful, we can lose sight of this command and think that it’s someone else’s job. We must be on guard to not let this happen. In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus talks about how some people are “like seed sown among thorns”. Who “hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word”. The result is that they are made “unfruitful” (Mark 4:18-19). We must not allow that to happen in our lives. We must keep Jesus commands firmly in view. When we are called to faith in Christ, we are given a mission and commission. We are to be actively and intentionally seeking to lead people to faith in Christ so that they too become disciples of Christ who make disciples who make disciples. We do this through love, through service, through living holy before the Lord, through obedience to everything that He has taught us, but most importantly we do it through words. By opening our mouth and inviting people to faith in Christ. This is the mission Christ has commanded us to fulfill. 

Be disciples who make disciples who make disciples. Don’t lose sight of this command. It’s so easy to lose sight of it, which is why we need to remind ourselves of it daily. Just as we need to remind our-selves of the gospel daily, in a very real way, we need to remind ourselves of this daily. We all do. Myself included. If you come behind my desk, you’ll see a whiteboard with the words, “it’s disciple-making stupid!” on it. I keep it there for one reason. I can get so bogged down with the running of the church, and the this and the that, that I too need to be reminded. I too drift. I too get trapped by the thorns. And so I need to say to myself it’s disciple-making stupid. Don’t lose sight of this command. The call to me, and to you, and to all Christians, is that we are to be disciples who make disciples. Remember that this is our final instruction. Don’t lose sight of this command. We are called to make disciples, and if we are not, we’re not obeying our Saviors final instructions and we are showing ourselves to be false disciples. May we be disciples, who are obediently making disciples, who make disciples.

Morality: Paul Tripp

I’ve really come to appreciate Paul Trip’s work over the years. Recently I came across something that I’ve found incredibly worthwhile from a series he was doing on Psalm 15, looking at the standard of holiness that God calls his people to. In the previous article on Psalm 15, he wrote about how the Psalmist considered a God-honoring way to live with our friends and neighbors. Then he moved on to looking at how the Psalmist continues to list the Lord's standard of righteousness, looking at Psalm 15:4, "Who shall dwell on your holy hill ... [the person] in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord."  Please read this, and be challenged. 

Trip writes: 

 

This verse reveals an unshakable moral commitment to what is right. The person described has such a deep allegiance to God that he or she is revolted by sin as much as the Lord is. 

I don't know about you, but there are times when my heart is seduced by evil. It may only be for a moment, but I catch myself chasing after - not despising - vile things.  

I don't want to come across as legalistic, but I think it's my job to draw an uncomfortable line: what do you need to give up that has the potential to make evil look beautiful? 

There are television shows that you might need to turn off. There are books and magazines that you may need to put down. There are movies and websites that you may need to stay away from. I'm concerned that the body of Christ is losing its edge. I've found that we're too willing to expose ourselves - in a fairly consistent manner - to things that are dangerous and polluted, that dull our moral sensitivity, and that present evil in a seductive manner.  

You see, here's what you need to admit: as long as you're still breathing, you have the capacity to find vile things beautiful. Even as a child of God, you're not free from corrupted desires. Are you willing to admit the depth of your spiritual need? And are you willing to sacrifice some of your entertainment and leisure preferences for the health of your soul? Maybe it's time we fight a little harder for our morality. 

I would encourage you to reconsider your lifestyle, but know that your hope for change won't be found there. Your hope is in the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. He gives you the power to say "No!" to vile things and gives you the ability to see beauty where God sees beauty. 

God bless, 

Paul David Tripp

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

1. What are some forms of entertainment - TV, books, magazines, websites, social media - that are consistently promoting vile things?
2. How does entertainment mask those vile things in "beautiful" ways?
3. Why does your heart buy into those masking lies?
4. Why won't turning off the TV and disconnecting from Internet solve your ultimate problem?
5. How can you commune with the Holy Spirit and find the power to say "No!" to vile things?

I Asked The Lord that I Might Grow: By John Newton

I asked the Lord that I might grow, In faith, and love, and every grace; Might more of His salvation know, And seek, more earnestly, His face.

’Twas He who taught me thus to pray, And He, I trust, has answered prayer! But it has been in such a way, As almost drove me to despair.

I hoped that in some favored hour, At once He’d an­swer my request; And by His love’s constraining pow’r, Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

Instead of this, He made me feel, The hidden evils of my heart; And let the angry pow’rs of hell, Assault my soul in every part.

Yea more, with His own hand He seemed, Intent to aggravate my woe; Crossed all the fair designs I schemed, Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.

Lord, why is this, I trembling cried, Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death? “’Tis in this way, the Lord replied, I answer prayer for grace and faith.

These inward trials I employ, From self, and pride, to set thee free; And break thy schemes of earthly joy, That thou may’st find thy all in Me.”