Don't Jump Ahead of God!

Not that anyone really CAN jump ahead of God. He knows the end from the beginning (Is. 46:10). And because God is timeless, He can never be late, or "miss" an appointment. These seem obvious to us. So it seems so until we're in the middle of a decision and have occasion as did Saul to upend God's clear command. He was to have waited seven days per Samuel's orders. But he didn't. The pressure was on, no doubt. The Philistines were gathered and ready to quell this rebellion and to put Israel back into rank servitude! Saul reasoned, "I have to act! I have to do something!" That's so American, isn't it? 

Disobedience = Rabbit's Foot 

So, Saul overstepped his boundaries and unlawfully offered the sacrifice in Samuel's absence. In so doing, Saul was viewing sacrifice to the God of heaven as, well, . . . a rabbit's foot! He needed divine help against these powerful and well-equipped Philistines. So, he "rubbed" the rabbit's foot to get a little magic. That's what men do when God is reduced to a formula for success instead of a God to be loved and obeyed! Since Samuel was taking so long to show up, he took matters into his own hands (a good leader?), and sought out God's favor by offering sacrifice himself.

But that's not the way God works! We've seen this before. It never works! Sarah couldn't wait for God to fulfill his promise so she had Abraham father a child by Hagar, her handmaiden. Wrong! You shoulda waited on the Lord. ALWAYS!

Samuel's question resounds down through the centuries, "What have you done?" That's always the question, isn't it? When we've usurped God's authority, taken matters into our own hands, and created destruction single-handedly, then we need to hear, "What have you done?" 

Faith waits on God no matter how long He takes. Faith assumes God is always right, always on time, and always wise. And they are wise who give God space to accomplish his perfect designs in His own time! So, because Saul refused to believe God, Samuel spoke: “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart . . . (1 Sam. 13:13-14). Wait on the Lord.  

Missionary John Paton on Classroom Discipline

I borrow the following from Ray Van Neste's blog (Oversight of Souls) this past week. It only seems fitting for me to quote this article since we here at Perry Baptist have a goodly number of members involved in education. They would, no doubt, view Paton's methodology with admiration mixed with horror! But not his heart, for that is royal. Oh, that we took God more seriously ourselves!

In honor of our new semester beginning next week, I thought I would post a story from the autobiography of John G. Paton, which was passed on to me by Patrick Brown. This famous, godly missionary knew how to manage a classroom.

“The following week, a young man and a young woman began to attend the Night School, who showed from the first moment that they were bent on mischief.  By talking aloud, joking, telling stories, and laughing, they stopped the work of the School.  On my repeated appeals for quiet and order, they became the more boisterous, and gave great merriment to a few of the scholars present.  I finally urged the young man, a tall, powerful fellow, to be quiet or at once to leave, declaring that at all hazards I must and would have perfect order; but he only mocked at me, and assumed a fighting attitude.  Quietly locking the door and putting the key in my pocket, I turned to my desk, armed myself with the cane, and dared any one at his peril to interfere betwixt us.  It was a rough struggle – he smashing at me clumsily with his fists, I with quick movements evading and dealing him blow after blow with the heavy cane for several rounds – till at length he crouched down at his desk, exhausted and beaten, and I ordered him to turn to his book, which he did in sulky silence.  Going to my desk, I addressed them, and asked them to inform all who wished to come to the School, That if they came for education, everything would be heartily done that it was in my power to do; but that any who wished for mischief had better stay away, as I was determined to conquer, not to be conquered, and to secure order and silence, whatever it might cost.  Further, I assured them that that cane would not again be lifted by me, if kindness and forbearance on my part could possibly gain the day, as I wished to rule by love and not by terror.  But this young man knew he was in the wrong, and it was that which had made him weak against me, though every way stronger far than I.  Yet I would be his friend and helper, if he was willing to be friendly with me, the same as if this night had never been.  At these words a dead silence fell on the School; every one buried face diligently in book; and the evening closed in uncommon quiet and order.” (46-48, in edition linked above)

Heb 13:7:  “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith”

Is This Your Cry?

Those who've endured any trials of faith know and admit freely how weak we are in terms of our own repentance. We fight, and often feel ourselves to lose. Yet, we win and glorify God in the winning. And don't we love it when someone is able to formulate the words that we want to say, but just don't have ready at hand? Hear then the following prayer. Please take the time to read this slowly, meditatively. The true servant of God will find agreement in these expressions:

O GOD OF GRACE,

Thou hast imputed my sin to my substitute,

   and hast imputed his righteousness to my soul,

   clothing me with a bridegroom's robe, 

   decking me with jewels of holiness.

But in my Christian walk I am still in rags;

   my best prayers are stained with sin;

   my penitential tears are so much impurity;

   my confessions of wrong are so many 

      aggravations of sin;

   my receiving the Spirit is tinctured with selfishness.

I need to repent of my repentance;

I need my tears to be washed;

I have no robe to bring to cover my sins,

   no loom to weave my own righteousness;

I am always standing clothed in filthy garments,

   and by grace am always receiving change of raiment,

   for thou dost always justify the ungodly;

I am always going into the far country,

   and always returning home as a prodigal,

   always saying, Father, forgive me,

   and thou art always bringing forth

      the best robe.

Every morning let me wear it,

   every evening return in it,

   go out to the day's work in it,

   be married in it,

   be wound in death in it,

   stand before the great white throne in it,

   enter heaven in it shining as the sun.

Grant me never to lose sight of 

   the exceeding sinfulness of sin,

   the exceeding righteousness of salvation,

   the exceeding glory of Christ,

   the exceeding beauty of holiness,

   the exceeding wonder of grace.

Highly recommended for serious seekers of God . . . The Valley of Vision: Puritan Prayers and Devotions.

Enoch Taken: Blessing or Bummer?!

In that great chapter on faith, Hebrews 11, we read this very familiar verse:

“By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. ” (Hebrews 11:5) 

Taken Up?!

Something dawned on me (I think it was yesterday), that I've always viewed this as a great blessing. And I think the reason for this is that we think it better to avoid death, which Enoch did. But ponder this--he left this earth way early! Enoch had lived less than half the years of his contemporaries. Then he was gone. Granted, he didn't die. But he didn't live long on earth either. Was that a blessing? 

"But I Don't Want Heaven . . . YET!"

Why ask this question? Because if you were to ask most "Christians" today, "Are you looking forward to heaven," they might say "Yes." But many will likely answer, "I don't really think about it." They ignore the subject! What do you mean you "don't think about it?" How can a lover of Jesus Christ NOT think about being WITH Jesus Christ? Oh, did I mention . . . there's another question to ask so-called Christians. "What do you anticipate about heaven?" "Do you look forward to being with Jesus, talking with him, walking with him?" Then you get that sort of awkward look, like - "Don't I have someplace else I need to be right now?" Or you get a weak, "Yea, I guess so."

What?! 

The very heart of Christianity is . . . well, . . . CHRIST! Right? But for many, not so much. At least not for many people who call themselves born-again believers. It seems a plethora of American believers are so wrapped up in THIS world that they cannot imagine the next to be an improvement--and an unbelievable one at that! Their treasures are here. To talk to them you'd have to re-write Hebrews 11:5, "By [lack of] faith [Joe 21st C. Christian] hated the thought of dying, and refused to be taken up even to avoid death, because he loved this world so much he couldn't imagine any benefit to being with Jesus." Really?? . . . REALLY!

The Real Issue

Enoch was promoted. It wasn't the not seeing death that was so attractive either (though not unimportant). But it was his living, breathing, loving relationship that he had had with God up to the point of his departure. If we were more attuned to Christ today, then we would be more enamored of heaven tomorrow. Our avoidance of the subject is in itself indicative of the paucity of serious consideration that we ever give to things eternal. This is to our own loss and immense detriment. Enoch pleased God. How? He walked with him--conversed and shared and listened and just plain enjoyed being together! 

Do you enjoy being with God? 

THIS IS THE ESSENCE OF THE CHRISTIAN'S LIFE. It is not just for a few "super" saints. It is what Christianity was intended to be all along. Let us confess our hardness of heart, our dullness of spirit -- in short, our faithless approach to God. Then develop that walk with God that longs for his presence more than for anything. "One thing have I desired of the Lord . . ." (Psalm 73:25). When this happens we will find with Enoch that the thought of heaven will not only be frequent, but it will be an unending blessing -- not a bummer!

The Perils of ‘Wannabe Cool’ Christianity

The issue dealt with below by a twentysome year old is so common yet so beneath the purpose of the church that it must be brought out whenever we can. "Lord, awaken us to the wholesale sellout we're experiencing across the USA in the name of successful evangelism." When will we open our eyes? Thanks to The Wall Street Journal for publishing this article from Brett McCracken. 

‘How can we stop the oil gusher?” may have been the question of the summer for most Americans. Yet for many evangelical pastors and leaders, the leaking well is nothing compared to the threat posed by an ongoing gusher of a different sort: Young people pouring out of their churches, never to return.

As a 27-year-old evangelical myself, I understand the concern. My peers, many of whom grew up in the church, are losing interest in the Christian establishment.

Recent statistics have shown an increasing exodus of young people from churches, especially after they leave home and live on their own. In a 2007 study, Lifeway Research determined that 70% of young Protestant adults between 18-22 stop attending church regularly.

Statistics like these have created something of a mania in recent years, as baby-boomer evangelical leaders frantically assess what they have done wrong (why didn’t megachurches work to attract youth in the long term?) and scramble to figure out a plan to keep young members engaged in the life of the church.

Increasingly, the “plan” has taken the form of a total image overhaul, where efforts are made to rebrand Christianity as hip, countercultural, relevant. As a result, in the early 2000s, we got something called “the emerging church”—a sort of postmodern stab at an evangelical reform movement. Perhaps because it was too “let’s rethink everything” radical, it fizzled quickly. But the impulse behind it—to rehabilitate Christianity’s image and make it “cool”—remains.

There are various ways that churches attempt to be cool. For some, it means trying to seem more culturally savvy. The pastor quotes Stephen Colbert or references Lady Gaga during his sermon, or a church sponsors a screening of the R-rated “No Country For Old Men.” For others, the emphasis is on looking cool, perhaps by giving the pastor a metrosexual makeover, with skinny jeans and an $80 haircut, or by insisting on trendy eco-friendly paper and helvetica-only fonts on all printed materials. Then there is the option of holding a worship service in a bar or nightclub (as is the case for L.A.’s Mosaic church, whose downtown location meets at a nightspot called Club Mayan).

“Wannabe cool” Christianity also manifests itself as an obsession with being on the technological cutting edge. Churches like Central Christian in Las Vegas and Liquid Church in New Brunswick, N.J., for example, have online church services where people can have a worship experience at an “iCampus.” Many other churches now encourage texting, Twitter and iPhone interaction with the pastor during their services.

But one of the most popular—and arguably most unseemly—methods of making Christianity hip is to make it shocking. What better way to appeal to younger generations than to push the envelope and go where no fundamentalist has gone before?

Sex is a popular shock tactic. Evangelical-authored books like “Sex God” (by Rob Bell) and “Real Sex” (by Lauren Winner) are par for the course these days. At the same time, many churches are finding creative ways to use sex-themed marketing gimmicks to lure people into church.

Oak Leaf Church in Cartersville, Georgia, created a website called yourgreatsexlife.com to pique the interest of young seekers. Flamingo Road Church in Florida created an online, anonymous confessional (IveScrewedUp.com), and had a web series called MyNakedPastor.com, which featured a 24/7 webcam showing five weeks in the life of the pastor, Troy Gramling. Then there is Mark Driscoll at Seattle’s Mars Hill Church—who posts Q&A videos online, from services where he answers questions from people in church, on topics such as “Biblical Oral Sex” and “Pleasuring Your Spouse.”

But are these gimmicks really going to bring young people back to church? Is this what people really come to church for? Maybe sex sermons and indie- rock worship music do help in getting people in the door, and maybe even in winning new converts. But what sort of Christianity are they being converted to?

In his book, “The Courage to Be Protestant,” David Wells writes: ”The born-again, marketing church has calculated that unless it makes deep, serious cultural adaptations, it will go out of business, especially with the younger generations. What it has not considered carefully enough is that it may well be putting itself out of business with God.

“And the further irony,” he adds, “is that the younger generations who are less impressed by whiz-bang technology, who often see through what is slick and glitzy, and who have been on the receiving end of enough marketing to nauseate them, are as likely to walk away from these oh-so-relevant churches as to walk into them.”

If the evangelical Christian leadership thinks that “cool Christianity” is a sustainable path forward, they are severely mistaken. As a twentysomething, I can say with confidence that when it comes to church, we don’t want cool as much as we want real.

If we are interested in Christianity in any sort of serious way, it is not because it’s easy or trendy or popular. It’s because Jesus himself is appealing, and what he says rings true. It’s because the world we inhabit is utterly phony, ephemeral, narcissistic, image-obsessed and sex-drenched—and we want an alternative. It’s not because we want more of the same. 

Mr. McCracken’s book, “Hipster Christianity: Where Church and Cool Collide” (Baker Books) was published this month.

Love's Passion's Lost!

“And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head” (Mark 14:3).

John tells us that this "woman" was Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus. But since both Matthew and Mark do not mention her name, let us for the moment forget it as well. The point is made larger if we just consider that this was a passionate seeker of Jesus Christ. That way we can more easily apply it to ourselves.

There is a direct connection between Christian maturity and intimate union with Christ.  

What I mean is that most Bible-believing Christians agree that we should do what it takes to grow spiritually: Bible reading, prayer, attend Church, etc. What has largely been overlooked or totally neglected is the direct connection between these activities and our passion for the Lord Jesus himself! This woman had it. Most today simply do not. How can this be? Same Jesus. Same wonderful salvation! Why such ignorance?

Two Opposite Responses

Those at table with Jesus became indignant and even scolded the woman for "wasting" this expensive ointment! Imagine thinking that anything done for Jesus would be extravagant?! But what they are saying finds immediate parallel with our age, doesn't it? We, too, tend to evaluate actions and items according to their price instead of according to their use. We think pragmatically. "This money could've helped the poor." Or, "Look, the woman's sentiment was fine, but once she poured out that super costly ointment, it just absorbed into the ground." Practical. Reasonable. That's what we call it, don't we?

On the other hand, here's how Jesus assessed this woman's display of love:  “But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me” (v. 6). There it is! "She has done a beautiful thing to me!" Oh, who sees this today? The poor you can see and touch. The same goes for money. But such affection settled on Jesus? Well, it's seemingly inefficient and short-lived!? I guess we today must look on such an expression of love as too "mystical," or non-quantifiable." 

Yet, right here Jesus says something unique in all his ministry . . . “And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her” (v. 9). What is odd here is that I rarely (if ever!) remember hearing this story told in association with the Gospel. How about you? Why do you think Jesus would have us remember this, yes, connect it to the "Good news," the gospel? Precisely because the good news is all about our being freed from sin's constraints in order to be able to love and adore and express our worship toward the Lord Jesus Christ. Most of Christendom seems to have approached this truth, but most all have come up short. Our love's passion has been lost in formal religion. Let us determine that we will go all the way into such knowledge. Let us "do a beautiful thing" to Jesus, by really loving HIM!

Amen. 

What's God Done in Your Life Lately?

Quench not the Spirit. (1 Thess. 5:19)

We can quench the Spirit over a period of years, not just in one or two acts. One of the most prevalent ways is to ignore God personally while adhering to Him externally. Specifically, many older Christians (in the Lord) when testifying of God's goodness, go back to an earlier time when God really had done a work in their lives. It would seem as though that was the last time (in their memories) that He had done anything for them! Good habits are commendable, but not if they smother the purpose for having established them. So, attending church regularly and reading one's Bible, as necessary as these are, were not meant to prevent our having present day mercies and current blessings to report. Oswald Chambers hits this point hard:

Beware if in personal testimony you have to hark back and say—‘Once, so many years ago, I was saved.’ If you are walking in the light, there is no harking back, the past is transfused into the present wonder of communion with God. If you get out of the light you become a sentimental Christian and live on memories, your testimony has a hard, metallic note. Beware of trying to patch up a present refusal to walk in the light by recalling past experiences when you did walk in the light. Whenever the Spirit checks, call a halt and get the thing right, or you will go on grieving Him without knowing it.

Suppose God has brought you up to a crisis and you nearly go through but not quite, He will engineer the crisis again, but it will not be so keen as it was before. There will be less discernment of God and more humiliation at not having obeyed; and if you go on grieving the Spirit, there will come a time when that crisis cannot be repeated, you have grieved Him away. But if you go through the crisis, there will be the psalm of praise to God. Never sympathize with the thing that is stabbing God all the time. God has to hurt the thing that must go. [Chambers, O. (1993). My Utmost for His Highest. Westwood, NJ: Barbour and Co.]

Do you any current acts of God in your life that demonstrate He is with you today? Samuel the prophet urged upon Israel, “Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. ” (1 Samuel 12:24). Do you see WHY Samuel urged the people to "fear the LORD?" It is based upon the fact of "what great things he has done for you." God has worked in your lives, and is still working. That should change how we view the present day.

Is your experience of God only historical? Or is it present day? What has God done in your life . . . Today?

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