The Pastorate

In the words of Lord Farquad, "Oh, now isn't this precious?" I mockingly quote this in reference to Al Mohler's latest blog. Apparently, a United Methodist woman pastor has had a sex change to become a man! Who needs to cut passages out of their bible anymore so they don't have to obey? Now we can literally change ourselves to meet God's standard.

Consider the following marketing ploy: "Are you a female wanting to pastor a church? Are you currently a female pastor wanting to be more aligned with the Word of God? Have we got the surgery for you! For just ten easy installments of $999.99, you too can become a man! That's right! You can change your appearance to look more biblical! Are you tired of congregation members confronting you on your sin? Are you tired of suppressing your conscience every time you read the Pastoral epistles, 1 Corinthians, or any passage that teaches about God's design for male leadership in His Church? Look no further than our sex change operation!"

How ludicrous is this? Mohler's article is gold! Consider the following paragraphs:

There can be no question that some persons suffer excruciating gender confusions. But the answer to this must be the embrace of birth gender as a central dimension of God's will for the individual. Christians must understand that gender --the sex of an individual -- is a part of God's glory in creation. God's own verdict on the creation of humanity as male and female, both made in His image, was that is was "very good." The transgender temptation is a repudiation of God's own verdict on His creation and His plan for humanity.

The emergence of this phenomenon is a direct consequence of the massive social, moral, legal, and ideological shifts that mark our times. The concept of autonomous individualism has led persons to believe that each of us holds the protean ability to create and re-create ourselves into whatever or whomever we wish -- and that no one outside the autonomous self has any right to set limits on this self-definition and transformation. The therapeutic revolution has deluded modern Americans into thinking that patterns of basic rebellion against God are means of self-liberation and therapy. The law has been transformed into an instrument of social revolution, even as many legal authorities claim that traditional definitions of marriage, sexuality, and gender are artifacts of an oppressive and patriarchal age.

So God calls His creation very good in their God-given gender and society uses it as a fuel for rebellion. The only thing worse would be the church that He created embracing that kind of thinking. Well, that day is here; and it is sad.

May the Lord bring us some severe persecution to purify His Bride!

Freedom?

I have been thinking about Freedom lately. I think we have a misconception in our culture of what freedom is. It really seems to me that in America we think that freedom is our right and/or ability to do anything we want to do. Now, this may or may not be correct, but it really seems to be the way we think. We want freedom of speech - with no limits. We want to be able to say what we want, when we want, without any consequences or repercussions. In fact, we want to be able to do what we want without any consequences either. A great example is the state of Oregon's decision to allow sexual acts be performed in public settings such as strip clubs.

Now I am all for freedom to a certain extent, but let's get some perspective here. First of all, freedom is never absolutely complete. In the same way we can never live on earth free from gravity, we are never totally free from everything. For example, the law of cause and effect states that for effect there is a cause. Each effect may in turn become a cause, producing another effect, and so on. As Christians, we believe God is the first Cause and everything flows from His existence somehow (I don't pretend to know how nor have the answers). So our freedom is never without some limits. We are always limited. As much as I would like the speed limit to be non-existent, I will never be free from it. Either it will be imposed on me by government or by nature.

Second, if we are never completely free of all limits, then it follows that we are always a slave to something. Something has authority and power over us. As humans, we hate this. Everyone has struggled with being told what to do. "Stand in this line or fill out this form and then stand in another line." The cycle never ends.

It seems that America, a land established on the basis of rebellion, has fallen upon its own sword. We fought for our freedom. We established our own constitution. We even gave ourselves a Bill of Rights - rights that every citizen should enjoy. However, with those rights came limits. We viewed those limits as some sort of slavery. We do not like limits or slavery so we fought to extend them. Look how far we have "enlarged the borders" of our freedoms. Apparently it is now right for us to murder unborn babies and elderly men and women. Oh we do it under the guise of "free choice" and "quality of life." Consider some other things our "freedom" has provided.

First, in the eyes of America, freedom has provided prosperity. We are a wealthy country! We have more money than any country in History. While that gap is closing, that prosperity was still brought about by our freedom. And, we are free to do anything to get that prosperity; or so we think.

Second, prosperity has provided choices. We have more choices than anyone in the history of the world! We can choose any product in any color, shape, or size to meet any need. What kind of car do you like? We've got that. What color? Oh, yea, we've got that. And guess what! We have financing that will put you in the car of your dreams, today!

Third, choices have brought our wants into focus. Our culture is all about us. At Burger King "You can have it your way!" You name the marketing ploy and it is all about giving you what you want. That is the driving force behind customer service. Give the customer what they want.

Fourth, our wants have brought about impatience. Why else would we need "minute rice" and microwaves? Why else would we get our movies "On Demand?" I dig my Ipod, but it is just a way to get more music to my ears faster than ever before. Of course, nothing in and of itself is evil. I really like listening to sermons on my Ipod.

Also, consider what our wants and desires reveal. They reveal that we just want to stop working. We want to relax. After all, "You deserve a break today." Just sit back on your big fluffy couch, with your remote control, your bowl of popcorn, and you pop. Enjoy the next two or three hours of movies! Enjoy your football game! We provide you this opportunity to sit back and enjoy yourself. After all, you have earned it!

Freedom has brought about our way of life. Now don't get me wrong, I think freedom is good and I would not want to live in a different country. But, let us consider some of the results. We are an obese society. We are a lazy society. We are less intelligent. We are irresponsible. We are compromisers. We avoid pain at all costs. We do not stand up for truth. We do not even acknowledge truth! How lazy is that? Consider the military in Al Mohler's blog.

In my opinion, these results of our freedom are the sword America is falling on. In fact, we may just be in the dieing process. I am afraid for my children and grandchildren. They are going to pay the price for my generation. I pray God will prepare them for what they face. However, the Bible gives us the indication that they will not be prepared.

So back to freedom for a moment. This is the whole point of this blog. From a Christian perspective, we are never free in this world. We are either slaves of sin or slaves of Christ. If you are a slave of sin, then you probably feel free in this life. If you are a slave of Christ, you probably feel in bondage in this life. In fact, as a Christian our job is to work for Christ. There is no rest for us in this life! We will rest when we get to heaven! Though we are God's children now, we will not realize some of those benefits until we are taken from this life. So now we work as slaves of righteousness, knowing that we are sons and daughters of God. Someday we will live as sons and daughters of God, resting completely in Him.

So why do we look to rest and be entertained? We have the King's work to do! Let us live Hebrews 12:1. Let us labor, striving according to His power (Colossians 1:29)! Let us find rest for our souls in Christ alone! We are slaves of the King. Let us do His bidding until the day our faith is realized!

Dealing with Trials

I recently had the privilege of preaching from James 1:2-4. After receiving much encouragement in various forms and from numerous people, I have decided to blog through the sermon. My aim is to glorify our God and Father along with His Son, edify any who may read this blog, and hopefully mature in my own faith. Eventually I even hope to have some sermon notes on our ministry's website. So here we go with some introductory thoughts...

The complete paragraph begins in chapter 1 verse 2 and extends all the way to verse 12. It covers three main points and a conclusion:

1. Joy in Trials (1:2-4)
2. Wisdom in Trials (1:5-8)
3. An illustration (1:9-11)
4. Conclusion (1:12)

I suppose you can isolate each of these points to study them independently. In fact, you pretty much have to do that just to study the passage. However, to apply these points independently of each other takes away much of their power. While many people understand wisdom in trials to be simply a passage on wisdom, it is much more powerful to realize that the passage on wisdom logically follows the passage on joy. In fact, it helps to explain what you are to do if you are not finding joy during the trials of life! To not understand the relationship between these paragraphs is to limit the power and scope of Scripture; as well as misinterpreting the message God intended for us to hear.

I am going after this passage in a specific way. I want to learn what God is trying to teach us. He is the Author. He has a message He is trying to communicate. I want to find out what that message is. If we can understand the text the way one of the original readers would have understood it, we can then appropriately apply it to our lives.

You can read the passage here. Let me now give you a little bit of history regarding my intimacy with this passage. It all started about this time last year. Perhaps we were into July of 2006. We had just received a new class of seventh graders into our ministry. The Newecho and I had decided to ask our small group what book of the bible they wanted to work on memorizing. After some discussion, we decide on the book of James.

I did pretty well at memorizing the passages. Then something happened around January. I actually started to think about what I had memorized. I was meditating on Scripture! Now everyone knows that we are to do this, but who actually does it? Of those who do it, who actually does it effectively? Well, for whatever reason, this meditation was effective. I cannot describe what joy and peace filled my soul! I suppose if I could describe it, it would not be the peace that passes understanding.

I became fixated on these phrases. I could not get them out of my head! It was as if the Spirit of God had fastened my thinking to them. Sure I could do other stuff for awhile, but at virtually ever break I found myself thinking about these verses again! And it was not just the first twelve verses! This happened with every verse in the first chapter! I literally spent two or three months living joyfully! Now we did have some pretty big spiritual events during that time. But rather than create the joy, these events merely served to prolong it!

Honestly, there was another change! I was really looking to Christ and away from my sin. I had made a resolution to be faithful to read my bible and pray. I had a plan to fulfill that resolution. The Lord blessed that. When I focused on Christ, I was not even thinking about sinning! I was too lost in the wonder of God's Word to waste time with something so odious! Now, I still sinned. But the desire to sin and the lure of sin were almost non-existent! What a wonderful time it was!

My wife remembers the day I lost that joy. I have been fighting for it since then. However, the formula still holds true. When I am faithful to spend time with Him, I seem to have more patience. I seem to have more strength. I definitely have more joy! Joy, that bubbling happiness that finds its spring in Christ, is worth the fight because joy's Source is worth fighting for!

I hope that this mini-series on James 1 leads you to greater joy, depending on Christ for your complete satisfaction.

Milestones and memories

You will probably never guess what happened on May 16, 1997. I doubt that it is a day most people would remember. It was a Friday, a normal Friday. Some people went to work, while others stayed home. Some went to school while others went to the beach. It was similar to any other day. The sun shone bright in Orlando, Florida. Another class was graduating from the NNPTC - Naval Nuclear Power Training Command. The parents and instructors gathered on the lawn for the ceremony. It was just another routine day.

But there was something less routine happening about four hours west of Orlando in Tampa. This event even impacted some of the sailors. A group of about ten to twenty sailors were participating in this event. One of the graduating sailors was even bringing his dad, which was fairly remarkable considering their relationship over the previous ten years. So, off this group went. The sailor and his dad drove separate from the group. They caught up with the guys the next day. It was an event one particular sailor would remember for a lifetime, or at least for the next ten years.

Not only was this a significant event, but also it was held at a significant place - Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Florida. It is the home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for all of you professional football fans.

It was a significant event in another way. It was an all male event. This event was only for men. An event where men would gather to be encouraged by other men. What a time it was.

Looking back, the most significant part of this event was the reason for the event. These men were gathering to worship God. They were not just gathering to worship any god, but rather they were worshiping the one true God. He is the God testified to and described by the Bible. In fact, the Bible is God's Word!

So this young man, his dad, and some of his sailor friends were gathering with thousands of other men to worship God. Ironically, this man did not know God. His father knew God, but he himself did not know nor had ever known God. God, however, had special plans for this young man that night.

As the young man and his father walked into the stadium to find their seats, they were welcomed by the staple cheer at these events. One side of the stadium would yell, "We love Jesus yes we do. We love Jesus. How about you?" The opposite side would respond with the same rhyme. As this cheese-fest continued, the young man and his father progressed to their seats, mildly amused at such Christian zeal.

The music was unlike anything this young man had ever seen. While growing up in a mildly conservative Christian church, he had been exposed to average voices with average fervency. However, this Friday night was another story altogether. The music was loud. The songs were upbeat. The worship team even had a guitar and drums! There were new unfamiliar choruses as well as old classics. In fact, one of the staple songs for that years event was "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" by Martin Luther. It was a version he would never forget. In addition to the music, there was a lot of charismata. Hands were waving. Men were crying. Apparently the Spirit was a movin'. Since this young man did not know God, he just figured they were very passionate and that someday he would be able to worship with such intensity.

As the night wore on, some supposedly important men were saying some supposedly important stuff. Ten years later this young man remembers none of that. He just remembers the alter call. He was standing near the isle. His father was to his right, standing between him and the stage. At the invitation to come forward and believe in Jesus, the young man quietly headed toward the stage. As he exited the aluminum seat and proceeded to descend the cement stairs, he looked back at his dad. His dad was looking the other way and did not notice his son's movement. A small feeling of sadness invaded the young man's heart as he made his way down the field. Having dreamed of someday patrolling the gridiron, he never envisioned he would traverse the grass in this manner. As he neared the other end of the stadium, some stranger he would never see again yet never forget wrapped his arm around the young man. This compassionate man stated that this was the best decision he could ever make. The young man agreed and they continued together towards the stage.

As they walked, the young sailor felt a sort of loneliness. He had never done this before. He was all alone, seeking the forgiveness of the Sovereign God. Little did he know what his life would become!

Peering about the field, there were strange things happening. Some men were praying. Some were crying. Another man was lying there comatose. A second man was trying to support the statue-like figure, as if he could help in some way. The rest of the setting has been forgotten. As he began to pray, something happened. He felt as if a waterfall had cleansed him. He was clean! He was clean! The dirt was gone! The stain was no more! He could not describe what he felt! He knew he was different (though no one had ever really explained it that way to him). He was a changed man! But what does that mean? He just wanted to be saved from his sin. Indeed he was saved that night; and what that means is still being determined.

As he walked back to his seat, the young man really did not know what to think. He was excited to tell his dad, however he was a bit shy at the same time. Needless-to-say his dad was overjoyed. As they returned to the hotel room that night, his dad dialed mom and grandma! Both were overjoyed as they heard the news of God's work in this young man's life.

So here we are today. Ten years later. A different time zone. A different climate. A different life, but the same God. Today is a re-birthday! It is the celebration of this man's regeneration, graciously granted by the Sovereign God, who had planned from eternity past to save this young man at that specific point in time.

If you have not figured it out, that young man was me. A sailor studying to learn his job. A son struggling to please his father. A man searching to find a wife. A sinner working to save his life. The event was Promise Keepers. While not my 'para-church of choice' these days, I do appreciate the Lord's work through that event.

All of these things God used to draw me to Himself. Many times I feel as though I have been to hell and back in the last ten years. I have traveled the western hemisphere. I have been married. I have been divorced. I have been remarried. I have been given two children. I have become a Calvinist. I have battled with sin, striving to know Christ. Many have gone through far worse. Yet, it doesn't matter. Here is why.

In America we celebrate people. Because we are human we get it all wrong. At weddings we celebrate the bride. At funerals we remember the dead. At births we celebrate the baby. All of these things have their place and I do not mean to minimize any of them.

But let's consider God. At the great wedding He throws for His Son, no one will be celebrating the bride. At His death on the cross, God raised Him from the dead. While the salvation of a sinner is celebrated in the heavens, the intent is to glorify the One who gave the new life. As my wife said, we should be celebrating the giver of life more than the life itself.

So today, my ten year re-birthday, I want to celebrate God. The other stuff listed above doesn't matter because it is just the color that accentuates the picture. The glory of the Artist is at stake here! There would be no picture without the Artist! There would be no salvation without the God who saves! While it is appropriate to ponder the past and remember from where I have come, it is inappropriate to do so independent of the point of view of the Redeemer. He is the reason my life was changed. He is the reason my life will mature to Christ-likeness.

I have only been a Christian for ten years. That is slightly over thirty percent of my life. I eagerly anticipate the day when I have lived longer as a Christian than I did as a pagan. That day will be May 16, 2020. I will be able to say I have lived knowing Christ for the majority of my life! And He will still get all of the glory!

Hath Not the Potter

I have been doing much thinking lately on the Sovereignty of God. I love to contemplate what His Sovereignty is and to what extent it reaches. While I will never fully understand the depth of our great God, I want to try.

The past few months has afforded the opportunity to dwell upon God's Sovereignty in much detail. As we have specifically looked at His Sovereignty in Salvation, the light of the gospel has shown forth and divine truth has been proclaimed. Our specific topic has been Calvinism. Spurgeon called Calvinism a "nickname for the gospel." It does indeed summarize Scriptural truth accurately. In contrast, we have learned about Calvinism's arch rival Arminianism. As the man-centeredness of Arminianism has been exposed, Romans 9:6-23 has become clear to me. There is one phrase I cannot shake from my thoughts in Romans 9:21:

"Or does not the potter have a right over the clay..."

Do we even contemplate the Potter's right any more? I mean, the Potter created the pots. Why do we question His work? Why do we question how He made the pots? Why do we cringe at His creating a specific pot for His specific purpose to bring Himself glory? Does this show us anything about ourselves other than our sinfulness?

When we say things such as "my God is not like that..." or "my God would do this...," are we not just questioning the Potter and attempting to limit His right? Who are we to try to change the Word of the Potter to fit our thinking?

Let me see if I can put this into perspective. God is holy. He is perfect, pure, whole, and complete. He needs nothing. No created thing can add to Him. He is completely righteous and totally just. He is loving, gracious, and merciful. He is faithful and forgiving. We even know that His anger, wrath, and condemnation are in line with His character, which is holy! He says in Isaiah 48:11,

"For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; for how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another."

Paul explicitly explains in Romans 9, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, how Salvation is God's choice, independent of individual effort. In fact, God Himself proclaimed His glory to Moses in Exodus 33:19, describing His goodness as His choice to "...be gracious to whom He will be gracious and to show compassion on whom He will show compassion." In other words, it is God's glory to choose to whom He will be gracious. This implies that the recipients are not worthy of His graciousness. If they were, He would not be glorified by choosing to be gracious and compassionate to them.

But our culture chafes against this. We agree that God is all of those things. As evangelicals we proclaim that God is at work in our Salvation. Yet some churches teach that our will must be included in our salvation. They proclaim that our God cannot work in us if we don't allow Him. They try to steal some of His Glory! However, He will not give His glory to another.

This brings me back to Romans 9:21. "Does not the Potter have a right over the clay...?" Does not the Potter have THE right, period? Who are we to question Him? We believe He is holy, righteous, just, loving, gracious, merciful, compassionate, etc. Yet we don't trust His word that His choice in the Salvation He provides is a reflection of His character? Why do we have to "protect" God from this? Are we afraid that He cannot defend Himself? Do we just forget that He created all that exists out of nothing? Yet we are concerned that He has not dealt righteously with His creation and with sin? No wonder the church in America is in such a pitiful state today.

We need to trust God at His word. We need to submit to Him and His word, not try to explain away things we don't understand. We need to rejoice in His Sovereign choice in salvation, knowing that it is a reflection of His perfect, holy nature. What glory is ascribed to God when we trust and obey!