I Am Grateful

This will probably be my last opportunity to post until after we get settled in Salem.  I wanted to get these things said before we depart Sterling.

On July 29, we’re moving away from Sterling.  It’s a day that for several years I’ve known would come.  I didn’t know when.  I didn’t know what circumstances would move us away.  I didn’t think about it constantly, but it was a premonition, which lurked quietly in the back of my mind.  And now it is upon us.  I moved here thirteen years ago from Mississippi.  My wife, Radene, has lived here all of her life.  Both of our daughters, Phoebe and Ayva, were Colorado born.  It goes without saying that we have some deep roots here and leaving is not easy for us.

I wanted to express my gratefulness to God and to this community for providing such a wonderful place to find friends, to raise children and to use my talents and gifts for the good of the community.  It would be easy for me to sit here at my keyboard and list off everything I dislike about Sterling.  However, the fact is that I would have a list of dislikes no matter where I live.  No doubt, in a short time I will have begun a list of dislikes about the place to which we are moving.  It’s not because I’m a negative person, but because it is human nature to notice imperfection, even obsess over imperfection.

No, rather I would like to extol the virtues of Sterling.  Sterling has been good to me.  Of course I understand that any goodness I speak of comes from the hand of Jesus Christ.  He has used Sterling to bless me immeasurably.  When I moved here as a college missionary at Emmanuel Baptist Church, I was received very warmly.  Little did I know that here in Sterling, God had prepared for me a beautiful, wonderful wife.  My closest friends in life live here in Sterling.  Prior to moving here, I never had such close friends as the ones I found in Sterling.  I’ve got family here in Sterling that loves me deeply and has taught me much about love and relationships.  I’ve been fortunate to work at places in Sterling where I’ve been allowed to explore and increase my skills.  I’ve received so much by being a part of the community of Sterling.  I’m just glad that I’ve been able to give a little back in the time that I’ve been here.

I know that not everyone shares my enthusiasm about Sterling.  To those who feel discouraged about living here, I say don’t give up.  I came to this town as a complete stranger.  Gaining acceptance as an outsider takes time.  Forming relationships with people who know nothing about you can be challenging.  Trying to gain the trust of people who have no idea who you are doesn’t happen overnight.  But it can be done.  Sterling’s community has proven to me time and again that anyone who comes here has a decent chance at making a good life.  As a husband and a parent, few things are more important that living in a place that is safe for your family.  Sterling has been that place.  Despite the imperfections, Sterling is a good place to live and work and raise a family.  Sterling (and Emmanuel Baptist Church particularly) you have my gratitude for receiving this southern kid from Mississippi and becoming my home for the last thirteen years.

Apologies…..

If my website seems like it’s going through a mid-life crisis over the next few days, I apologize.  All the stuff will still be here, but the site may look different from day to day.  I’m just trying to settle on a new look is all.  Thanks for your patience.

Truly Selfless?

For just a moment, I’d like to get a little controversial.  I want to challenge the notion of selfless acts.  A selfless act, by most people’s definition would go something like this:

“An action done on behalf of a person other than one’s self, with no regard to one’s own personal gain or desires.”

My intention is not to challenge the goodness or the validity of what people consider selfless acts, but rather to challenge whether or not any action can be completely devoid of personal gain.  Is it possible to do anything without deriving some sort of satisfaction from the act?  Let me present a few hypothetical situations.

• A soldier who throws himself on a grenade to protect his fellow soldiers or civilians: there is a split second decision which occurs here.  Either the soldier follows his unction to protect and fulfill his sense of duty, or he lives with regret that he didn’t act and possibly allowed other people to suffer or die.  The choice to act has an inherent benefit for the soldier, however brief that benefit may be.  He will die with a clear conscience and a sense of fulfilled duty.
• A person who serves in a soup kitchen: this person receives satisfaction from helping people who are in need.  It cost them time and resources to participate in helping out, but the pay-off that outweighs the cost is the sense of fulfillment received from helping out people who are unable to help themselves.
• A person who shoves a child out of the way of oncoming traffic, only to be struck themselves: similar to the soldier.  The choice to not act is more costly emotionally than the choice to act.  This person would not be able to live with themselves if they had the ability to do something, but did nothing.  The benefit received is the satisfaction of knowing you saved the child.
• It’s true that Jesus went to the cross so you and I did not have to.  But being God, he benefited by going to the cross from the glory he has received and will receive in future eternity.  And since he desires relationship with us, he benefits by making that relationship possible through the cross.

In each of these scenarios the person performing the supposed selfless act actually does receive personal satisfaction.  Everything we do, has personal fulfillment in view.  Even believers, who serve the living Christ, serve so that they may benefit from a close relationship to Christ.  What is the ultimate personal benefit?  Every believer personally benefits from believing in Christ by averting eternal torment in hell.  The notion that believers are selfless people is a fallacy.  Even Mother Teresa was motivated by the fulfillment she received from helping the poor.  If there is no personal gain to be found, an action will not be performed.  Personal gain is why we lie and cheat, but it’s also why we do good things as well.

Why is this important?  I believe understanding this is immensely important.  There’s a lot of needless soul-searching that goes on and there’s a lot of guilt that gets spread around all because we think that our motivation for doing good has to be completely selfless.  Here’s a newsflash.  If you enjoy serving, don’t bother trying to do it selflessly, you can’t.  If you enjoy it, then you benefit yourself by pursuing opportunities to serve.  Psalm 100 instructs us to, “Serve the Lord with gladness!”  Who doesn’t benefit themselves by being glad?  There is emotional benefit and physical benefit from being a happy person.  Proverbs 17:22 says that a joyful heart is good medicine.  Serving is meant to bring refreshment to the one who serves, even more so than the one being served.

Can a person do things out of selfish ambition?  Sure they can, and this is what we guard against.  Should a person serve because it brings them great joy to serve?  Absolutely, and if what you do doesn’t bring you fulfillment and joy, it probably isn’t what God has created you to do.  I understand that much care must be taken with this.  Selfish ambition pursues personal interests no matter the cost to other people.  But serving others because it is your joy and pleasure to do so benefits you and benefits the people whom you serve.  Testimony after testimony that I’ve heard from people who follow hard after God indicate that they are satisfied because they have found that thing for which God created them.  That “thing” may lead to a life fraught with peril and frustration, but the peace and satisfaction derived from knowing that you are doing what God has told you to do far outweighs any comfort gained by shying away from your calling.  It is perfectly fine, yes, even Biblical, to enjoy and reap benefit from your service to others as you serve the Lord.

A Warning to Westerners

Author’s Note: I hesitated to compose this article because of its gloomy overtone.  That said, this morning in my quiet time, I was moved very powerfully toward this tone and could not ignore the heaviness upon my heart to write what was going through my mind.

Paul tells the church at Thessalonica, “you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia,” 1 Thessalonians 1:7.  The Thessalonian church became a witness, not only to the lost, but the rest of the church throughout the region.  The preceding verses tell us several things.  The gospel had been clearly presented to them in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Because of this, they became Christ followers as they followed the example which Paul and his companions had lived out before them. Because their faith was genuine, they endured in their faith in the face of persecution and hardship.  And even though they were afflicted, the joy of the Holy Spirit was evident in their lives.  It is no surprise that these people became an example to the surrounding church. Oh that we would do the same!

It is my dream, my ambition in life, to see the church become this vibrant again.  The 21st century, Western church is not lacking in books, in mp3′s, in video feeds of sermons which try to ignite this vibrancy once again.  If you notice, though, the Thessalonians had none of this, yet they shone like the sun to the surrounding region!  We have a glut of authors, we have a glut of Bible translations, yet we are still but an ember, left over from what was once a raging fire, in danger of being snuffed out.  If the Western church ceased to exist tomorrow, God’s church would still exist in other areas of the world, and God’s commitment to save a people from all tribes and nations would still stand fulfilled.  Scary.  We walk a dangerous road in our extra-marital romance with the world.  We, in the West, risk being spat out, just like the church at Laodicea.  Would that we would heed the living Christ’s advice to the Laodiceans:

“17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.” Revelation 3:17-19

We Westerners are the most literate, Bible inundated, well taught, technologically advanced branch of the church in all of history.  We will be accountable for much because we have been given much.  The preacher of the gospel in the West may be the most frustrated of all men because despite his best efforts, despite his reliance upon the Holy Spirit, he feels like Jeremiah.  The people do not really listen to him; they pay the gospel little mind, if any.  There are precious jewels in the rough to be found (I am fortunate to be a part of one of those jewels), but by far, the experience of many Western preachers is one of frustration, and were it not for their love of their Savior and his church, they would quit at their earliest opportunity.

You need to know, however, that I am optimistic.  I believe that there is a root in the Western church, a remnant, that is experiencing a renewed passion for Jesus.  I am optimistic that the Western church has some future days of great strength yet to come.  But the question we all should be asking is, will the presence of a remnant stave off the judgment which is coming to God’s house?  My answer is no.  If God allowed Shiloh and Jerusalem, two of the most holy and special places on the earth to his heart, to be sacked and ruined, why would we be any different?  If you think that America has some special place in God’s heart, just remember that on top of his mountain, in Jerusalem, sits a mosque.  Am I optimistic?  Yes I am, but I am also aware that any future days of spiritual power in the Western church may come at great personal cost.  Be ready.

A Word to the Broken

This week a friend of mine and his wife, Cody and Sarah, suffered a heart breaking tragedy in their family.  They lost their baby boy, only seven weeks away from his due date.   I cannot fathom for one second the pain they are going through.  I won’t try to explain away this happening with trite phrases about God’s will.  While it is true the each of our appointed dates with death are by his sovereign design, understanding this fact does nothing, absolutely nothing to assuage the pain we endure in the moment.  Pain is a necessary burden in a fallen world.  If it were not for pain and suffering, many of us might have never met Jesus.  With that thought in mind, I want to make a meager attempt to offer some simple words about what we can do with our pain.

The first thing I would say is don’t ignore it.  The temptation to bear a stiff upper lip in the face of pain and tragedy isn’t brave, it’s foolhardy and will ultimately cause you to have contempt for people who allow their emotions to surface.  Your emotions are God-given, and when you experience them you are reacting the way God designed you to react.  As God’s image-bearer, you have been endowed with all the same emotions which he possesses.  He intends for you to experience them.  At the death of his close friend, Lazarus, Jesus, the creator of the universe, the creator of Lazarus, the man who was about to raise Lazarus from the dead, wept.  And it wasn’t one or two tears, he was deeply moved and wept very openly in front of everyone (John 11:35).  Many people want to spend time debating about why Jesus cried.  I say that’s not the point.  The point is that He is our creator, He is our model for living, and if He wept deeply, we can feel free to weep deeply as well.

Pain is to be shared.  It is right and good that when we are suffering we allow others to share the suffering with us.  I’ve seen people clam up and push others away when they are hurting.  This isn’t best and it’s contrary to how believers are to mourn.  The apostle Paul encourages his Roman readers to “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep,” Romans 12:15.  If you are hurting, you bet there are people who love you who want to share in that suffering with you and walk through it with you.  Let them in.  You will be blessed, and you will bless them by allowing them to suffer along with you.

Finally, pain is a compass.  Pain helps us find true north.  Rather than burying pain, allow it to run its course.  Pain leads to the foot of the cross of Christ.  When all is lost, the only person who can offer comfort and purpose for continuing to move forward is Jesus.  The power of the cross has purchased for us a redeemed purpose that rises above the circumstances of life.  When you’ve dealt with your pain and allowed Jesus to redeem your pain, your pain will become your servant.  When Paul speaks to the Romans of being more than conquerers (Romans 8:37) this is what he means.  Not only do you overcome, but you come about and use the thing which once caused so much suffering, to bring glory to God by helping others endure their times of trial.  I didn’t coin this phrase, but I’ll use it anyways:  your pain is your ministry to others.  Don’t bury it, but endure it, overcome it, and make it your strength for helping others in their times of need.

My love and condolences to Cody and Sarah, and anyone else who reads this who has suffered such great loss.

A Word to the Wronged

As I was studying through Philemon this morning, I came to verses 15-16, which say:

“15 For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever,?16 no longer as a slave?[3] but more than a slave, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.”

If you haven’t read Philemon, it is a letter to a man named Philemon, concerning his slave, Onesimus. Onesimus fled from his service to Philemon in Colossae and landed in prison with Paul in Rome. While with Paul, Onesimus was born again and served Paul during his incarceration. When Onesimus was released, Paul sent him back to Philemon with a letter charging Philemon to receive him back as a brother in Christ, and not as an escaped slave.

Paul suggests something scandalous in verses 15-16. Paul is suggesting that God ordained that Philemon be wronged by Onesimus in order that he would be led to Paul, and thereby led to Christ. How then should we take it when we are wronged? Could not God be orchestrating a miracle of redemption for the person who wronged you? Could the Lord be working out a plan that is larger than you or the person who wronged you? Who can say? It is only our responsibility to humbly accept both good and bad as from the hand of God. Job teaches us this very poignantly when he says to his wife:

“Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” Job 2:10

Too many of us, when we are wronged, coil up like snakes and defend our well being by biting any hand which draws near to us. In doing so, are we not biting the very hand of God who is not only the orchestrator of our circumstance, but also the one who is walking us through it? It is helpful to remember Proverbs 16:9:

“The heart of man plans his way,
but the?Lord?establishes his steps.”

This is a contrast. A believer may plan the way he or she wishes to go, but regardless, the Lord is establishing each step. As believers, if we are walking with him, then our plans and his direction are one. If we are planning our own ways, then we will be frustrated because we never end up where our plans intended to go. Every wrong, every blessing, therefore, is from his hand, each possessing a divine purpose that goes beyond our own tiny perspectives. Job understood this. Paul understood this. We too, are expected to understand this.

The Promise of Completion

Philippians 1:6 contains a precious truth, accompanied by a potentially difficult concept to grasp.

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

The precious truth is that God will complete the good work he begins in us. It is the promise that once God saves us and begins the life-long process of making us like Jesus, he will finish the job. There are two implications we can draw from this truth:

1. Our salvation is secure because God has promised to complete the work he starts within us. In other words, once he saves us and gives us new birth, he will ensure that we remain in Christ so that he can complete his work in us.
2. If he starts the work of salvation and completes the work of salvation, then our remaining in Christ is resting entirely upon God’s power. It is not my efforts that keep me saved, it is God’s power that keeps me saved.

For many, number one is not difficult to embrace. Some Christians believe that a person who has been born again can fall away from the faith and lose their salvation, or become what some call carnal believers. I will put my cards on the table here and say I don’t believe in carnal Christians, nor do I believe the Bible supports their existence. Without going into a detailed explanation, let me just say that the Bible describes only two kinds of people: saved and lost; people who love the Lord and people who love the world; people who will inherit the Kingdom of God and people who will not. Read this for a brief, but succinct, explanation from the Scriptures of why there are no carnal Christians. And for those who believe you can lose your salvation, this verse presents an acute interpretive dilemma. How can one lose something that God has promised to complete? Either God is a liar, or it is impossible to fall away from the faith once you have been born again.

Now for the second implication; this one can make your head blow off. Philippians 1:6 describes in very brief terms the process of sanctification. Sanctification is the process which God puts us through so that we will become more like Jesus. The Bible contains several metaphors for sanctification. A particular favorite of mine is that of a refiner’s fire (Malachi 3:3). He burns out the impurities in our life. It is an intentional process where our life is tested by fire, and the things which are impure fall away, leaving a more Christ-like person. God has planned the end from the beginning. We will be more like Christ because he has given us his promise that he will completely transform us.

Here’s where it gets interesting. Where does our responsibility to obey come into play? How does God accomplish the transformation of our lives without violating our will? Let’s be honest. If God forced me to submit, the relationship wouldn’t be a love relationship. Somehow God accomplishes the transformation of our lives and yet at the same time, never forces us to love him and obey him. How? Through the cross, Jesus has purchased for us redeemed affections for God. In other words, when we are born again, the Holy Spirit takes residence within us and brings with him a new heart, new desires, and new affections toward God. Perhaps the most popular verse in all of Ezekiel describes for us what happens in salvation:

“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26

The Psalmist explains very clearly that God gives us new desires:

“Delight yourself in the?Lord,?and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4

Without the new heart and the new desires we are given, we would never be transformed; thus, in order to transform us, God would have to violate our will. But because believers do receive these new desires and affections toward God in salvation, we genuinely desire to obey him all on our own, and pleasing him becomes our natural desire; thus God accomplishes our transformation with our willing participation. BUT, because God granted us the ability to willingly follow him when we were born again, any transformation we undergo still belongs to God and is from him, and through him and because of him. Believers can trust not only that God has forgave them saved them, but also that he will transform them and continually transform them until they stand before him, just like Christ, in Christ’s righteousness, glorified like Christ, and inaugurated into eternal rest with Christ. What a glorious promise it is!

Brother, sister, if you struggle with sin (and we all do), know that God will complete the good work he began in you. Don’t allow your setbacks and struggles to take your eyes off of the prize. Remember that he has made a promise to bring you to completion. Let this precious knowledge be what sets you free. Paul’s lament in Romans chapter 7 that he continues to sin even though he doesn’t want to (Romans 7:15-24) is immediately followed by these glorious truths in Romans 8:1-6, with which I will conclude:

“1?There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.?[1] 2?For the law of the Spirit of life has set you?[2] free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.?3?For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,?[3] he condemned sin in the flesh,?4?in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.?5?For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.?6?For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” – Romans 8:1-6