Changes planned for the New Year?

As the year comes to a conclusion, I think it would be good to remind ourselves of the words of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 5, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” As we reflect on the past year, we can certainly all agree that God has moved us forward by his grace. 

"Allow the Holy Spirit to empower you to become all that He intends in this New Year."

Count your blessings

In 1897, Johnson Oatman Jr. published his song entitled “Count your blessings”. The first verse of that song begins:

“When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.”

The challenge of Oatman’s song is the challenge of the Word of God. The song was based on the admonishment of the Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

What is a good church service?

During my time as a professor of communication studies at Louisiana College I taught a class entitled  “Defending Christianity in the media and marketplace.” The idea behind the class was to challenge students to explore and understand the culture so that they could be better equipped to defend Christianity in a culturally effective way. As their final assignment, I challenged my students to interview local Pastors and Christian leaders as well as those that followed them and reveal the results in paper accompanied by a presentation delivered to the class.

What is worship? 

Why religion may be the single greatest obstacle to God

It is widely reported that G.K. Chesterton once replied to an inquiry of The Times of London, as to what is wrong with the world, with the simple response “I am”. Chesterton understood that contrary to popular opinion, the ills of the world find their origin, not in the culture, or in the government, or even in the mores of the day, but in the darkness of the human heart. So as we survey the current cultural and philosophical landscapes it is important to remember the problem is not out there, the problem is in here, the confines of my heart and yours.

As God spoke through the prophet so long ago in Jeremiah 17:9-10 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.” This reality is what makes the ideas of religion so dangerous. In fact, religion may be the single greatest obstacle to a genuine relationship with God, because it is often the tenants of religion that falsely convince people that they are in a right standing with God, when they are not.

Perceptual Vigilance and why it mattes

The astronomer Galileo once challenged a group of philosophers, who denied the Copernican theory that the earth revolved around the Sun, to simply look through the telescope. They refused, and Galileo was labeled a heretic in 1632 and suffered humiliation and prison because the establishment refused to see the truth. I wonder how often we refuse to look and behold the truth of God’s Word because of how it challenges our belief systems.

For example, the Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 2: 4-5, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ –by grace you have been saved.” This is the lens through which God sees our lives if we are in Christ. It is also the lens with which we should view our lives and what Christ is doing in and through us.

What Should Sodom Teach Us?

The Church, Same-Sex Marriage, and Homosexuality (part two)

As I continue outlining my position about homosexuality and same sex marriage, let me again state that I seek to establish my beliefs on this matter both humbly and lovingly. This matter has become increasingly divisive within the church itself, but it is not my intention to drive away or belittle anyone with these posts. Rather, I hope to encourage conversation as we work together to understand what the Bible teaches about this lifestyle. I encourage you to pray through these Scriptures with an open heart.

What is it with bearded fellows and controversy?

What is it with bearded fellows and controversy? The recent brouhaha concerning the suspension of Phil Robertson from A&E’s popular Duck Dynasty program over his remarks made to GQ magazine are symptomatic of the depths of our depravity as individuals and society. Consider that Robertson is typical of most 67-year-old southern white men, recounting his formative experiences growing up, and his struggles with his own proclivity to sin.

Why the influence of Jesus is still undeniable

It is amazing for me to think that some two-thousand years ago, Jesus so radically changed the world that He is still present in our lives, in fact it is difficult to imagine what the world would look like without His influence. While many decry the fact that Jesus continues to be pushed from the public arena of ideas, I, for one, will suggest that Christ is still influencing the global conversation. Consider that politicians and pundits still embrace many of His ideas if not His divinity, which should give us to the political right of the discussion pause before we so openly point fingers at those who would not share our values. However, it is important to remember that Jesus, although significantly important in His influence of human history, did not come to influence the events of human history, many men and women have succeeded in this cause, Jesus did not come to change human history, He came to change human hearts! Before we exploit the segregation of Jesus from matters of state for the advancement of our own political agenda, we would do better to examine the expulsion of Jesus from the mundane matters of our lives. Many who desire to see Christ represented in the White House fail to have him residing in their own house. 

What should the Church understand about same-sex marriage? (Part One)

The cultural tide is turning on the subject of same-sex marriage. Many on both the right and left of this issue have debated the merits and pitfalls of this change in direction away from the traditional understanding of marriage. Certainly for people of the Christian faith, and other faiths for that matter, this is a disturbing development. For most in the Christian community this is not a matter of hating homosexuals or seeking to deny them access to benefits, but rather it is an effort to protect what the Bible declares to be the definition of marriage. And because I am someone who believes the Bible to be the Word of God, defending what it says about all matters of life and faith are important to me.  I desire truth.

What made the wise men "wise"?

The gospel narratives tell us that there were those who recognized the Jesus was the Messiah, even when he was a child. Of course the shepherds were the first to visit, informed by a heavenly chorus that Christ was born. But later, likely arriving around the second birthday of Jesus came wise men baring gifts. The gospel of Matthew records for us the account of the visit. Matthew 2:1-2 records, “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who is born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”” Of course King Herod was intimidated by their visit because anyone who could claim to be “King of the Jews” threatened his position. But what made the wise men “wise” was not only their ability to navigate by the stars and recognize their significance but also, and perhaps more importantly, it was their desire to worship that distinguished them from others. Herod was threatened when he heard of Christ, but the wise men desired to worship him, wise men still desire to worship him. When the wise men found the Christ child they delivered him gifts, expensive gifts, their heart of worship led them to give. A heart of worship will always lead us to give. As we move through the Christmas season I hope that our hearts will be challenged to worship Jesus and to give, in the tradition of the wise men. We give because Christ has so freely given to us. May we be like the wise men and “Rejoice” at the prospect of giving and worshiping. 

What can Hugh Jackman teach us about grace in Les Misérables?

During the holiday season, my family and I love to watch the latest film adaptation of the classic musical Les Misérables.  The work based on the novel by Victor Hugo, is a profound story of grace and redemption.  The story follows the lives of two men: Valjean, the criminal seeking redemption, and Javert, the man of the law. Through the lives and interactions of these two men, the evident themes of law/grace and justice/mercy emerge in a picture of God’s redemptive plan.

The "oneness" that brings together Driscoll, Jakes, and MacDonald: A Throwback Thursday Post

On January 25, 2012, a group of prominent pastors from across America sat down at a forum called “The Elephant Room.” Pastor James MacDonald who leads Harvest Bible Chapel in Chicago, Illinois hosted the event. “The Elephant Room” as envisioned by Pastor MacDonald  “…is the outgrowth of an idea. The idea that the best way forward for the followers of Jesus lies not in crouching behind walls of disagreement, but in conversation among all kinds of leaders about what the scriptures actually teach. We must insist on the biblical Gospel, right doctrine, and practice, but not isolate ourselves from relationship even with those who believe much differently.”

What is the chief occupational hazard of a preacher?

Shortly before His crucifixion, our Lord challenged Simon Peter with these words recorded in Luke 22:31-32 “Simon, Simon, behold Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Jesus, who knew the hearts of all men, including those closest to Him, understood that Simon Peter in a moment of weakness would deny that he even knew who Jesus was.

The antidote for false gospels

19^th Century Princeton theologian B.B. Warfield observed, “There is nothing in us or done by us, at any stage of our earthly development, because of which we are acceptable to God. We must always be accepted for Christ’s sake, or we cannot ever be accepted at all.” As 21^st Century Christians, it seems that this truth of the gospel can easily be lost amid the onslaught of competing philosophies. These philosophies, upon careful analysis, fall under the weight of Biblical scrutiny, demonstrating themselves to fall far short of anything that can be considered competitive on any level. The Gospel alone stands as the message with the power to change lives and transform hearts.

The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.” Paul correctly points out that the Gospel alone is the power of God to bring salvation. But yet even among professing Christians this truth is obscured by the many false gospels we embrace in efforts to enhance our spiritual and moral resumes.

The Fatal Flaw of Experiential Worship

In his book, The Experience Economy: Work is Theater and Every Business a Stage, James Gilmore writes that business may be the leading institution of our day and as such sets the trends for other institutions to follow including the Church. In an interview with www.modernreformation.org, he states, “…in multiple spheres of life and culture, we see this desire for experiences. But what we address explicitly in the book is the desire for consumers to have experiences today.”

Finding clarity in the holiday chaos

It has been said that Christmas is not just an observance it is an experience. Certainly as Christians the Advent season should be one that we feel in our soul. It is very easy to become consumed with the busyness, pressure, and materialism of what Christmas in America has become. But the first Christmas was also filled with busyness and pressure. The biographies of Christ recorded in Scripture, detail for us that the events surrounding the birth of Christ were certainly holy, but not necessarily silent.

The Wonder of Christmas is Christ

The Christmas season is upon us. The time that we, as Christians, set aside to celebrate the advent of our Savior, as the angels proclaimed to the shepherds in Luke 2:11: “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

The frivolity of the season that so often characterizes the celebration of this Holy day has the potential of robbing us of the wonder that should be our posture as we approach Christmas. As author Phillip Yancy observes in his book “The Jesus I never knew,”: “A human being becoming a fish is nothing compared to God becoming a baby. And yet according to the gospels that is what happened at Bethlehem. The God, who created matter, took shape within it, as an artist might become a spot on a painting or a playwright a character within his own play. God wrote a story…on the pages of real history. The Word became flesh.”

Indeed it is a wondrous story that we take for granted as we rush to purchase gifts, hang lights, decorate trees and sip cider. The idea that God became man is a difficult one for us to grasp, but this is exactly what happened. Christianity is not a fable or fairytale, nor is it mythology in the tradition of the Greeks or Romans. Christ was not some mixture of God and man; He is fully God and fully man. This is the greatest gift of Christmas. Amazingly every year, many people celebrate Christmas without celebrating the Christ. The wonder of the season is on display for us if we would take the time to rehearse it with our families.

Consider that the good news of the Messiah’s arrival was heralded to both the rich and poor. Both the Magi of the East and the shepherds in the field were participants in the first Christmas. The Magi by all accounts were very wealthy men, the shepherds very poor, but both were invited to worship Jesus.

It is also important to remember that when it came time for God to enter the world in the form of a baby, the vehicle that was chosen, was a chaste young lady, a virgin by the name of Mary. As C.S. Lewis points out, “The whole thing narrows and narrows, until at last it comes down to a little point, small as the point of a spear-a Jewish girl at her prayers” In this modern culture when morals have been impugned and discounted it is important to remember that character still counts. The greatest gifts that we can give to our families are not wrapped with colorful paper but rather they are the legacies of honesty, purity, and love.

Finally, in order for the wonder of the season to be recaptured, we must understand and help our families to understand, that the greatest gift of the season is the good news that God became man, and as that man He died in our place, and conquered death by rising again, and has extended forgiveness of sin to all of us, to all who trust in His name. This is the great gift of Christmas, a wondrous story that we would all do well to remember and communicate to our family and friends.

For many of us the story is all too familiar, and therein is the danger. As Saint Francis de Salle points out, nothing is so debilitating as the continual handling of the outside of holy things, too many of us at Christmas handle the symbols of the season, the gifts, the tinsel, the lights, but we miss the substance of the season, God in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. This is the wonder of Christmas that we must not miss.

The Lord and a Long Line of Losers

The holiday season often forces people together who normally wouldn’t choose to be around each other. As you read this, I am sure numerous acquaintances and family members come to mind – as does the reality that you will be spending an extended amount of time with them during the holiday season. But before you are too discouraged, it may be helpful to think of Christ, the Lord of glory, whose birthday we celebrate this time of year, and the unlikely characters who made up his family tree.

The gospel of Matthew opens with a list of names all connected to the family tree of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Matthew begins by calling Jesus the son of David and the son of Abraham, two very prominent names in Biblical and Jewish history. But upon further examination, we see that both Abraham and David weren’t without problems. Abraham was a pagan worshiper of idols who lived in a household whose chief source of income was the manufacturing of idols. So, not only did he not worship the true and living God, he actively was involved in facilitating the idolatry of others. That is, until God called him by name in Genesis 12:1: “Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.’” Matthew, who was writing his gospel to a primarily Jewish audience, would have employed Abraham’s name to lend credibility to the claim of Jesus as the Messiah. But it was also an indictment to those who embraced Abraham as their father as a matter of religious and national pride.

Jesus confronted this pride in John 8:39, saying, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did.” What did Abraham do? He obeyed the call when God intervened in his heart leading him away from idolatry to worship the one true God. The religious leaders of Christ’s day had made an idol out of their religion, but missed the point that it was all about Jesus. John the Baptist made this point in Matthew 3:9: “And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.” Because Jesus came as Savior and Messiah, we all have access to the benefits of being “children of Abraham.” As Paul declared in Galatians 3:29, “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”

Then consider David. Here is a man considered to be one “after God’s own heart,” but at the same time Scripture reveals that David was guilty of both adultery and murder. But because of the grace extended to him and his subsequent repentance, David’s throne was established forever. David’s song of repentance is recorded famously in Psalm 51, where he cries out to God, “Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.” God graciously heard David’s prayer and forgave him, and listed him in the ancestry of the one who would ultimately be responsible for providing true and lasting forgiveness.

And theses are just the first two names listed in Jesus’ genealogy. If you continue to read, you will discover that prostitutes, pagans, sexual deviants, liars and thieves are listed there among the family of Christ. Amazing how Christ came into a dysfunctional family to rescue us from the ultimate dysfunction of sin and death. Christ was included as a part of this family so that we could be included as part of his family. This good news is what Christmas is all about.

Avoiding disappointment during the Holiday Season

Author Eliza Tabor once said, “Disappointment to a noble soul is what cold water is to burning metal; it strengthens, tempers, intensifies, but never destroys it.” For many the Holiday season is a time of intense disappointment, from the trivial, such as not receiving the gift you had asked for on Christmas morning, to the more serious, such as the turmoil of escalating family dysfunctions. But the reality of disappointment need not be a destructive force; it can be a tempering, strengthening force in our lives when we understand the providential hand of God directing these disappointments for our good.

Many Biblical examples come to mind when we think of those who endured suffering and disappointment, but since this is the Christmas season, it may be appropriate to re-visit the events surrounding the miraculous birth, not of our Savior, but of His cousin, John. The story of John the Baptist’s birth is one that is often overlooked in Scripture, but one that is very important to our understanding of God’s providential hand in bringing the Christ into the world. In the closing pages of the Old Testament, an obscure prophet by the name of Malachi wrote these words, “Behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.” (Malachi 3:1)

Some four centuries later, God moved on the heart of an evil, but brilliant king, Herod the Great, to erect this temple into which Messiah would come. History teaches us that Herod, the puppet king during the Roman occupation of Israel, was a megalomaniac. And he was so in love with himself that on every stone that made up the temple he branded his initials. 

 Many stones of the temple weighed as much as a jumbo jet, and the temple was visible miles away from Jerusalem. Herod wanted everyone who visited Jerusalem, a city whose population would swell to as many as one hundred thousand during Jewish feasts, to know that it was King Herod who was great. In the Gospel of Luke, chapter one, Luke contrasts the backdrop of this historical landscape with the story of an unassuming country preacher by the name of Zachariah and his wife Elizabeth. The Bible also reports that they were both advanced in years and without children, a devastating and dangerous condition in their culture.

Zachariah would have been one of about 18, 000 priests in Israel at the time, leading his local synagogue of about 30 to 40 people in a community of only 50 to a 100 people. Twice a year, the priests were permitted to go to Jerusalem to serve at the temple. The desired job at the temple was to represent the people of God by entering the temple and offering a prayer at the altar of incense in the holy place. This honor was determined by the casting of lots, the ancient way of making a selection without showing favoritism; it was their version of flipping a coin. Zachariah could have conceivably gone to Jerusalem for many years competing with 750 other priests that made up his division, one of 24, for this one spot of service. So his experience was much like mine on the playground, he was never picked, until this day recorded in Luke, chapter one.

After years of disappointment for Zachariah, it was God who directed his selection. As Proverbs 16:33 reveals, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” It was in the holy place of service that the angel Gabriel appeared to Zachariah, announcing to him that his expectation for the arrival of Messiah and his desire for a child would be answered. The Angel added in Luke 1:15, speaking of the child that would be born to Zachariah and Elizabeth, “for he will be great before the Lord.” The Angel of the Lord revealed the reality of God’s perspective, announcing that true greatness was not in the external trappings of an earthly king who declared his greatness by burning his logo onto everything he built, but in the quiet faithfulness of an elderly couple and the bold preaching of a miracle baby who would grow up to prepare the way of the Lord.

In our disappointments it can be very easy to lose sight of the fact that God is in charge of our destiny and it is He who chooses to use our disappointments, as was exemplified in the lives of Zachariah and Elizabeth, as the means of His blessing to the world.

Christmas in July: What is the 4th of July to a slave, and what is Sunday to a sinner?

"What is the Fourth of July to a slave?"

The Fourth of July holiday is a day set aside to celebrate the independence we enjoy as Americans, but that Independence was not always enjoyed by every American. In fact on July 5th, 1852, Frederick Douglass made a powerful speech exposing the hypocrisy of asking a slave to celebrate the Fourth of July.

Frederick Douglass was an escaped slave who became a symbol of freedom as he was paraded around the country by the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society on speaking tours. Douglass was an effective spokes person because of the education and natural abilities he possessed. As one biographer observed, “As a youngster, he learned to read and write. He purchased a copy of The Columbian Orator, a popular anthology of rhetorical masterpieces that Douglass used the same way it was used in the schools…Douglass’ rich voice, handsome physique and superb command of the English language gave him the attributes which ordinarily would make a speaker very persuasive, but these same qualities made some of his early listeners doubt that he was a fugitive slave”. Douglass’ credibility was strengthened by the publishing of his book, Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. It is against this backdrop that Douglass gives his speech on July 5th 1852.