"Until then..."

Most people that even care are asking, "Why?"  If one take time to think about the culture that the progressives have given us, it is not too hard to answer that question!  

Until...

Until we stop distancing from and start connecting with religion...

Until we stop the hindrances and start demanding certain justice...

Until we stop explaining why and start hold people accountable...

Until we stop distancing from each other and start connecting...

Until we stop delaying and start demanding quick justice...

Until we stop making excuses and start penalizing...

Until we stop being careless and start caring...

Until we stop correcting and start punishing...

Until we stop moralizing and start ethicising...

Until we stop liberalism and start conservatism...

Until we stop incarcerating and start imprisoning...

Until we stop entitlements and start being responsible...

Until we stop valueless education and start teaching values...

Until we stop secularizing culture and start a return to faith...

Until we stop the liberal media and start fair and accurate news...

Until we stop the progressive church and start preaching repentance...

Until we stop mollycoddling offenders and start treating them as criminals...

  Until then... you might just as well get used to these things because,

these things will continue to happen with greater frequency!!!

"Fad of Faith or Balance"

picture from flickr.com

It was a warm day at Andersen AFB, Guam.  An official from the denomination of which I am a part and I were standing on the airfield control tower catwalk looking out over the field.  This man was a pastor to those who pastor local congregational pastors.  To say he had a strategic view of ministry in general and problems of those in ministry would be an understatement.
 
In the previous few years he had been involved in the discipline of two very prominent public religious figures.  These were men who had major international ministries and whose television ministries had touched millions worldwide.  Both had very different problems but both had failed and fallen under not just legal scrutiny but that of our shared denomination. 

As we visited he commented to the effect that the more he saw of Christian service the more he valued balance.  He certainly understood the meaning of what he had better than most.

Balance conveys the idea of equilibrium or "...be equal with... ...bringing into equilibrium..." and "...harmony between parts... ...balance of power..." (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php).  Balance synonymously shares company with words such as poise, steadiness, and stability.


For years the comment of this pastor has been at the fore of many of my thoughts and attendant concerns as there seems to be a need on the part of the Church general and the local congregation to chase one fad or another.  Yet, when we look at the Judeo-Christian Scriptures over and over again we see examples of those who have sought to do so and thus have been rash in judgement, extreme in statement, imbalanced in behavior, and/or have been carried about by every wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:14).

Notice that the Scripture just referenced does not suggest that it is errant doctrine.  It was just out of balance doctrine which at first they embraced and then as they became more and more involved it began to control them and carry them just as the wind carries a feather.

This is most troubling in that it involves not just the principles but those surrounding them.  However, those examples are provided for the warning of all who care to heed such.  In today's world there is no dearth of those who even when counseled and challenged do not pay attention and believing they have special light plunge onward in some doctrinal pursuit or another.

Some of the Fads of Faith I have observed are as follows.  There was the Charismatic movement which went and still goes well beyond the Scriptural models of doctrine and ministry.  Later there was the Grace movement and it seemed every one was publishing books on the subject of grace.  The Laughing movement.

Part of the Charismatic movement moved off into new revelation which was at times taken over the Scriptures just referenced.  The Inner Healing movement was popularized by a former President's sister while that President made being a saved Christian popular--somehow we never got around to the Lordship part of being a Christian.

While my Pentecostal theology is well in tact and based on the balances and principles set forth in Scripture, others made speaking in unknown languages necessary for salvation.  Yet others denied the validity of the experience and attendant practices.  The Prosperity gospel with its notions of material prosperity as an end is at this writing still influencing many.  Part of that movement is the notion "...what I speak will be so and I claim it to be so." 

Shall I go on?  There are those who have imported Eastern religion into Christianity and claimed "special" truth.  There is the Soaking movement that seems to be gaining traction, only time will tell where it will take many.  Of recent date I've been discussing with another the his notion that God's will is that all are healed. What has been left untreated in this posting is the various beliefs about the deity and/or humanity of Jesus Christ.

The sad truth is that people make these choices without giving any thought to the consequences and outcomes.  Certainly and has been said by many, "God gives you the power to choose but not the consequences."  It is those consequences that have carried many off into error and ultimately defeat of their faith.

This is not to disparage those who participate in these movements, for I am sure that most are good people who are seeking a deeper religious experience.  However, good people can be deceived as they follow religious tangents.  If one will look at the effects of many of these movements in the lives of people, one will find those who are hurt, disillusioned, and who feel disenfranchised--just plain left out because they have not had some "special" experience or some special "blessing."

As well, within these movements and those like them are the "special" and the "blessed" who have had this or that special experience or revelation of the "truth."  If great care is not taken, that specialness can lead to a spiritual smugness as one falls further into the deception of new revelation and new directions of "truth."

What is needed is a balance of faith.  Just as the pastor said on the catwalk that sunny day in Guam.  It is a grave error to suppose that one can dissect out any of the essential Trinitarian Orthodox doctrines from the others and then interpret the others by that doctrine.  Neither can one legitimately emphasize any one doctrine to the detriment or exclusion of the others.  This would be so much the more so with non-essential doctrines.

Even a cursory reading of Church history past and present will reveal an historical landscape that is littered with movements and those who have populated those movement that have tried to make such doctrinal dissections.  Even a cursory visit with those of the less developed world will reveal that these things do not work in their world.  They have no choice but to cling to the reality of a real faith and not wander off into speculative doctrine.  It seems to me that if it does not work in their world why should we expect that God ordained it for the western church?  Something is wrong!

Further consider that the genuine Christianity that has survived throughout the ages of Church history did perfectly well without these fads of faith, we then would do well to steer clear of them and chart a course back to the pure milk of the Word of God and bath that pure word in generous amounts of prayer.  It is then that the doctrines based upon those words of life, give life!  Living that close to and in conformity to the Scriptures may not be comfortable but it is in that place that we find the comfort of the One who inspired those Scriptures, the Comforter!

"Consequences"

"God gives us the power to make choices but not to choose consequences"

Perhaps one might look at it this way.  Even though outcomes cannot be guaranteed, make choices with outcomes in mind.  As one prominent writer-speaker teaches, "Begin with the end in mind."

Another point to consider when making choices is this.  One cannot compound poor choices with poor choices and expect that good will come.  At some point the cycle of poor choices must be broken in order to disrupt the poor outcomes.

Poor outcomes that occasion further poor choices will only lead one in a downward spiral.  More than one pilot has made poor decisions to the point that he cannot recover his airplane and the outcome is an air incident.  Often with loss of life.  Almost all of those incidents would not have happened had correct choices been made early on in the progress of the incident.  So too with decisions, early correct choices avert dire outcomes!

So it is with life.  Poor choices beget poor choices and the outcome is dire.  It is therefore incumbent upon those who make choices (that would be all of us) to make wise choices.

Decision-making is not done in a vacuum but in one's community, that is those in one's small corner of the world.  That being so, one's decisions effect others either directly or tacitly.  Just in terms of the otherness of our lives we do well to exercise great caution in our decision-making for even our personal and private decisions often touch the lives of those around us.  Consider as well that those decisions are not without eternal consequences.

First and foremost it is wise to spend time in prayer and in doing so consult with the Heavenly Father.  More than once disaster has been averted when someone commits to praying his way through such decisions as are to be made and then in that same attitude of prayer, prays through possible outcomes.  

Still we might question, "How can we know that our choices are wise?"  There are a number of other ways that center around one.  The major task in any decision, great or small is for one to line up one's choices with the Bible.  Remember, God lives outside of time and space as we know it.  Thus He sees every moment of every person's life in the present.  That would include the present as Scripture was being written.

Therefore we can comfortably say, "God had every moment of your life in mind when He inspired the writing of His Word, the Bible." Thus we have the transcendent, unchanging, powerful Word of the Lord.

That Bible then is the center around which we find other ways to enhance our decision-making.  It is as we seek wise counsel of others, as we look carefully at situations and circumstances, as we look carefully at other authorities in our lives such as pastors, employers, etc., as we consider the words of faithful friends, that we find counsel that enhances our decision-making.

No one makes perfect decisions every time and so one must be willing to pull back from a decision, change course, and move forward.  That is exactly the way in which one breaks the poor decision cycle and moves in a right and correct decision.

It is, in most cases, not a major "earth shaking" decision but a small one that charts our course.  So it is that to change the course of one's life requires not some monumental decisions but a small quiet decision that leads to another small quiet decision and before long one will see change take place.

The Darkened Understanding

Remember the story of the frog in the kettle?  It all begins with a frog in cool water with the heat being gradually turned up until what do you have?  Cooked frog! It is so with so many things.

If 30 years ago someone would have proposed any of a number of things we find "normal" today they would have been named "extreme," laughed at, or called to repentance.  Yet today we are deeply immersed in a culture that while moral (from word mores--that which at least 50.01% label as normal) is far from ethical (normal based on transcendent, universal, objective, and immutable reality).

How did we get here?  It was not a radical change but a gradual change, imperceptive change, millimeter by millimeter change.  Those who earned the name "extreme" in the past are now viewed as "mainstream" while those once considered to be normal or "mainstream" are now named "extreme" or "radical!"

Why did we get here?  It may be summed up in one word, "depravity."  Man is depraved and that depravity knows no depth.  In other words, without there being an intervention in the heart of man, he will continue the slide deeper and deeper into depravity with the resulting darkened heart and of course sinful behavior.

The minutely gradual nature of this means that with little recognition, man's heart becomes deeply darkened.  The ultimate outcome is that one loses the capacity to comprehend the existence of and the standards of the Divine.

Even a slight recognition of God serves as a restraint.  Such is so even for those who have no faith experience.  Once gone there is nothing to check one's decent as without the buoyancy provided by faith they slip ever deeper into the depths of spiritual and ethical darkness.  Understanding without God's intervention becomes impossible.

Depravity is sinister in that its actions are gradual almost imperceptible until whether it be a culture, sub-culture, or an individual, there is no escape.  Like the frog in the now boiling kettle.

When one uses the moral messages provided by the media and in much of academia to measure what is correct and normal, then one uses a set of depraved principles to measure the behavior of another.  In other words it is like the village watchmaker who sets his clocks by the factory lunch whistle only to find out that the factory time keeper set his watch by the clock in the watchmaker's window.

To know whether one's standards are right or wrong, one needs an external source or standard.  Such is provided by religion in general and by Judeo-Christian faith in particular.

What is one to do?  In past days there were national and international spiritual movements.  Two were called, "Great Awakenings."  It was then that even whole societies awakened to their plight and to their need for change.  Of course the only lasting change is found in the salvation provided by Christ on the Cross.

It is as one becomes a follower of the Lord, Jesus Christ that he can change not just direction in his life but also his family, and his group to include his society.  It is as that change took place that the effects of depravity were held in abeyance for a time.  May it be so again!

 

Communion, A Time to Remember

Adapted from Sermon "The Reminder of Communion" shared on 01 July 2012, just before the Celebration of the Lord's Supper.

The word, COMMUNION in its earliest form it came from the Latin for common.  It was used by Saint Augustine and it is believed that the word derived from com- "with or together" + unus "oneness or union.”

If we take this idea seriously we arrive at the purpose of our time together, that is with or together with many. In particular we look at Communion as being with Christians from all places throughout all the ages of church history. We look than at Communion in the sense of Communing or we might say fellowship.  

Look then at Paul's instructions about this spiritual meal that we share.  When we do we see the example, the examination, and the expectation of the Lord's Supper.  Remember now that though we speak in terms of the physical experience of communion, this is indeed a spiritual matter and must not be taken lightly!

I.     THE EXAMPLE OF THE COMMUNION - 1 Corinthians 11:23-26  

A.     There is the AUTHORITY FOR COMMUNION—the writer received these instructions from the Lord and delivered them to the congregation in the City of Corinth

B.    There is the call to REMEMBER— Remember the bread or body of Christ and that for which it stands. Remember the wine or blood of Christ and that for which it stands.

C.    There is the PROCLAMATION Just by sharing together in Communion you are testifying that you believe that indeed Jesus lived and that He died--that indeed Jesus death was with purpose—it accomplished some things. The word for Proclaim comes from the word for messenger and also keeps company with such words as declare, preach, show, speak of, teach.   The Lords Supper was a visible sermon that proclaimed ‘the spiritual message of the Cross

D.    There is the HOPE   Just by sharing together in Communion you are saying that I believe that Jesus is coming again—to me it is a certainty!

II.      THE EXAMINATION OF THE COMMUNION - 1 Corinthians 11:27-32  The question becomes what is unworthy manner?

A.    This is A CALL TO CHRISTIANS, those who are followers of Jesus Christ.

B.    This is the CALL TO REMEMBER what has been said previously. What is the “therefore” there for?

C.    This is the CALL TO SELF EXAMINATION - The call to self examination is the call to self test. 
Have an honest look at yourself. Are you different than you were before you became a Christian?
Are you different than you were yesterday, last week, last year? In other words are you a growing Christian?

D.    This is the CALL TO BEING WORTHY. The word for “unworthy” is the word, “unfit.”
E.    This is the CALL TO JUDGMENT To not take this seriously is to tempt judgment.  If we fail to judge or we might say grade ourselves the text is saying that we then tempt the possibility of becoming guilty of the death of Jesus Christ.

III.      THE EXPECTATION OF THE COMMUNION 1 Corinthians 11:33-34

A.    There is the EXPECTATION OF OTHERNESS The problem was that the Corinthian Christian were coming to Communion for selfish reasons.
B.    There is the EXPECTATION OF UNIQUENESS This was not just another meal, place to satisfy physical hunger.  Make Communion something special—don’t make it a common but a spiritual experience
C.    There is the EXPECTATION OF MORE Apparently there was more to say but Paul held back until he could come and personally share the concerns with his brothers and sisters in Christ.

As we come to share the Communion let us remember that
There is the EXAMPLE OF COMMUNION—The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul in correcting the Christians at Corinth give to us how we are to share Communion
There is the EXAMINATION OF COMMUNION—we are to have a look at our own hearts and lives and how we measure up.
There is the EXPECTATION OF COMMUNION—there is the expectation of His coming but there are other expectations such as setting aside the self, focusing upon others, and not taking for granted the Communion.

Father's Day Tribute...

Born in Alabama near Robbins Crossings (now Partridge Crossing), lived in Arizona and California, drove truck, was a mule skinner in the US Army during WWII.  Fought in South Pacific, when mules were no longer used, became a Ranger--6th Ranger Battalion, was a Ranger in the Great Rescue.  Settled in Washington State, went to business school, worked for Federal Government, retired.  He was a bi-vocational pastor, serving a small congregation for most of his working life.

However, there was another side.  He was raised without the influence and nurture of a mother as his mother and sister died when he was young, His dad an Alabama coal miner and carpenter, was an workaholic and alcoholic in that order.  Dad was an Adult Child of An Alcoholic and yet he could not admit to the same for it would defame the father he sought to please and if he could not please him in life then he at least could hold him up as something of a hero in death.  Then to compound the challenge, Dad suffered the trauma of war and the taking of the life of another.  Were I to characterize him, I would say that he had a sensitive heart which had been deeply damaged.  

From the outside we presented as the typical family of the 1950s.  Were you to live in our home you would know that not to be so.  You would have seen him as having a volatile anger that could explode without warning.  He was a man I feared for to displease him would be to "enjoy" the sanction of silence and distance.  My mother, sister, and I knew to displease was to tempt the possibility of emotional response. 

He too, like his dad, was a workaholic and at times sacrificed relationship for the task at hand.  He was a man who could not acknowledge feelings--his or those of another. He would say often that he loved or was proud of me or my sister. Yet the off handed affirmations which validated such love were not there.

Young and inexperience, I thought we were normal but we were not.  He was a man given to behaviors that did not exist in other homes and among my friend's parents.  In simple terms we often cannot give what we have not received, and the blessings of a father's affirmation were absent in his life and in ours.

Then it happened, I bought and read a book, Gated Grief by Leila Levinson.  As I read I thought that she must have lived in our home, she understood the appearance, the emotional upheaval, the confusion, and much more of what I did not.  She opened my eyes.  She gave me understanding and most of all she gave to me an understanding that although he had achieved success in his world, there was much more that could have been if the difficulties of his life had been dealt with. 

Beneath all of the emotional turmoil, the good that he did, the various inconsistencies born of the struggles of life, many of which I suffer with to this day, beneath all of that he; was an Adult Child of an Alcoholic and suffered with the struggles to which he refused to admit.  More importantly he was a broken soldier.  I wondered how many would do as well with the struggles with which he struggled?  I often wonder how well have I done with many of those same struggles that were passed down to me?

Do I wish that he had been posessed of the strength of character to deal with such difficulties as he carried?  Yes of course I do but it was not within him for such would have required a trust that he did not possess.

Now for the gracious truth of the whole matter.  There was another Father present and that Father was the Heavenly Father.  While it may seem prudent to catalog the challenges and hurts of a past such as I have described and seek some licence for this behavior or that, there is another truth to be considered.  The ultimate effect in our family was negligible compared to what it might have been for there was always present in our home God, the Holy Spirit.  There was the stability of solid faith and its expression in service to others.

So it is for Father's Day 2012, I pay tribute to the man who gave life to me and who provided many examples of how life is to be lived.  I pay tribute to the Heavenly Father who brought Leila Levinson's book across my path to help me look past the difficulties of our home, understand why I was the way I was, and most of all accept my earthly father.  I look forward to the day when our relationship will be perfect for none of these earthly struggles will be there in the place were there is no night.

Giving Away One's Word!

What does the giving of one’s word mean?

Without integrity of word and behavior it is impossible to check man’s descent into chaos.  This would be true of the individual as well as the culture!

At one time one’s word once given and due to a man’s character was as real as truth.  It was in that time that a man did not need to execute a contract because a man’s word meant something.  It was his sacred duty to keep his word and so “A man’s word was his bond.”  Said another way he held himself in the bonds of his word.  Such was so unless released by the other party.  It was an issue or personal ethics.

Often one carried out his word; it was viewed as his sacred duty because it spoke to his personal reputation and his honor.  Thus a man even at great personal cost, loss of material wealth, or even loss of his own life, could be counted upon to do what he said he would do and behave as he said he would behave. 

Sadly in today’s culture one is beyond naïve if he does business on a handshake.  Recently I was in a meeting in which it was decided that the group would purchase a series of products at an agreed upon price.  It was moved, seconded, and passed.  There was no contract only a verbal agreement that the product would be produced at a certain price point. 

The product arrived and then it was revealed to the group that there were additional “set up” charges.  It was moved, seconded, and passed that we pay the additional charges.  There were two dissenting “no” votes.  The reason I so voted was based solely on the fact that there had been an agreement and that the other party had made an agreement and then did not perform according to the agreement.

How one keeping his or her word has changed.  Today if one feels that he inconvenienced or feels that the costs involved are too unfair, such a person seeks to be divested of any responsibility to carry though with his commitments.  He may blame circumstances and comfortably believe he is absolved of such responsibility as his word has established however in making the decision and in giving himself such permission, he does incur another consequence that may ultimately be more costly and inconvenient.  Indeed it is a character issue!

The simple truth is that for one to act outside of his word gives practical expression to the moral fiber of his heart.  It very clearly suggests a life and belief system which is void of such things as trust, honor, honesty, respect for others, and personal integrity.  To gain such a reputation is a consequence and a cost much higher than any inconvenience or material loss that may accrue.

The business community is littered with failures neither because of quality nor craftsmanship but because a man would excuse himself from keeping his word.  Such a decision is not without consequence in one’s own life and in the lives of those he contacts.  We found such to be so in a home project—a kitchen remodel in which the cabinet installer just could not seem to keep his word.

Is it any wonder that we live in a culture that is unraveling?  Some years ago I formed a “handshake” agreement with a service manager to have certain work done on my car at a certain price.  All was well and good until I got the bill.  Later I found out that he did the same thing with others and that he was dismissed from the position by the owner.  The sad part is that someone else hired him in the same position and so he went on deceiving other unsuspecting customers. 

The question we all need to consider is this.  What does it mean when we give our word to another?  Is it a gift that can be counted upon or is it a gift that will be taken back?  Your trustworthiness is based or we might say finds its foundation in your answer!