Two interesting articles from one of my daily devotionals that gave me pause and led me to consider two very real issues of faith. The blog this week is inspired by two devotions published this month in the “Upper Room”. One challenges us to look at circumstances in which we may have forgotten that our God is constant and unchanging. The scripture reference is Psalm 46: 1-7. The devotion is written by Dave Brandon and puts forward the issue of living life by the “what if’s” instead of by “what is”. The other issue is one many of us struggle with every day. In our world today there are many obstacles that challenge and at times keep us from living a christian life. The author is Marvin Williams using as scripture reference Philippians 3: 12-21. Today I will reference only verses 17-21. The message is to “Press On”, something that the problems of this life can make difficult. So lets look at these verses up close and see how they might apply to living for what is and pressing on in difficult times. First we look at Psalm 46: 1-7.

I would suggest you open your bible and read by verse as we go through this. Albert Barnes has this introduction to this Psalm. “This psalm has been called Luther‘s Psalm. It was that which he was accustomed to sing in times of trouble. When the times were dark; when the enemies of truth appeared to triumph; when disaster seemed to come over the cause in which he was engaged, and the friends of the Reformation were dispirited, disheartened, and sad, he was accustomed to say to his fellow-laborers, “Come, let us sing the 46th Psalm.”

A very good explanation of the very core meaning of the 46 Psalm and translates well into our situation today. What do we do in times of trouble? What do we do when the enemies of the “True God” come against us? What do we do when we struggle to tell “The Story” and are marginalized and persecuted. Do we become dispirited, disheartened, and sad, or do we turn to God….our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble. This being the very first thing we encounter at the very beginning of the Psalm. Trust in whomever and whatever you want but we have found him to be present and effective in meeting our needs in times of trouble. Verse 2 states plainly that we should trust in God. We shouldn’t let the political and natural commotions taking place in this world separate us from our God. Verses 3 and 4 are symbolic in depicting the many rivers and streams, possibly referring to people being converted to the faith and flowing as rivers and streams to the “City of God” which most commentators believe to be Jerusalem. God being gladden by this. So what can we take from these first four verses. Life is what it is, but with God we can find refuge in his strength that nothing can overcome. There may be chaos all around us but we must continue to bring people to the faith and thus persevere in his name.

Looking at these last three verses we see a God who appeared in times of distress, brought his people out of troubles and kept his covenant with their families. We are also reminded in verse seven that even though we may be feeble and outnumbered the Lord of hosts is with us. Summing up part one of this post, we will find no peace in the misery of the past living for “what if”. We must live for “what is” adding to that “to be”. Simply put, trust in God….The Lord of Hosts is with us.

Again, open your bibles to Philippians 3 starting in verse twelve and going through verse 16. Paul shares with us that he is not by any means a complete Christian, but is striving to press on. Some of you will be familiar with the Wesleyan question asked of all Pastors as they are ordained, “are you going on to perfection”. Paul knows he will never be perfect but he continues to press on. If you feel you have been called out by Christ be assured that the calling has a purpose and only if you press on will you understand the full purpose of that calling. To carry that a bit farther, when you accept Christ you are called out to his purpose, all of us must press on throughout this life. It is interesting that Paul refuses to rest on his “laurels” so to speak having eyes and purpose only for what yet needs to be done. We need to remember that… “the fields are white for harvest”, we waste time seeking to harvest where it has already been done, we must press on to newer fields. Too often we lower our standards and relax our efforts to “tell the story” relaxing our resolve when God is calling us to press on. Always looking forward, keeping our eyes on the goal. If we wish to mature in the faith as Christians we have to accept that a certain amount of discipline is necessary which will include much effort and at times some agony. William Barclay put it this way.
“As Paul saw it, Christians are the athletes of Christ.

We close this chapter looking at verses 17-21. Paul begins in verse 17 by asking the people to “unite in imitating me” Paul was the one person who could invite people not simply to listen to him but also imitate him. Are we living in such a manner that we might invite others to imitate us in our passion to live for Christ, so they might “press On”? Paul reminds these people that “our citizenship is in
heaven” painting a picture in their mind that they could understand.Paul says to the Philippians: ‘Just as the Roman colonists never forget that they belong to Rome, you must never forget that you are citizens of heaven; and your conduct must match your citizenship.’ Paul closes on a note of hope of all Christians. Because we press on these mortal bodies which are subject to decay will become heavenly bodies which will live with Christ in the splendor of their reward. Press on for the goal of life everlasting in the presence of our Lord.

Join me in the pew next week, as we look forward to what is to be and press on to our goal.  jk

A yoke is a fitting for a so-called beast of burden that would be placed around the neck of one or more animals like an ox for example. This fitting was placed around the neck and allowed the animal or animals to pull various loads. it was a curved piece of wood with leather straps as a binding which would allow them to draw a plough or a cart or any other type of weight. During our bible study this past Tuesday a certain verse from Acts 14 caught my attention. They strengthened the disciples and urged them to remain firm in the faith. They told them, Acts 14: 22 “If we are to enter God’s kingdom, we must pass through many troubles.”

We also know that our Lord said this in Matthew 11:28  “Come to me, all you who are struggling hard and carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest.” Many of us today are carrying heavy loads, in the workplace, family, debt and the emotional problems that they bring with them. The next two verses are ones of encouragement. In Acts 29 and 30 we find these words “29  Put on my yoke, and learn from me. I’m gentle and humble. And you will find rest for yourselves. 30  My yoke is easy to bear, and my burden is light.”

It is a hard truth and one we as Christians sometimes overlook or just ignore. As the church we must learn to accept our hardships, just as we should as individuals. Paul went back to encourage these people and the churches that were being established that this should not be a time to of wasted energy fighting them or wondering “why us or why me”. We need to spend our time getting to know God and his plan for our lives the more time we spend doing that, the stronger we will grow in the faith.

Paul also wrote about a yoke in 2nd Corinthians 6: 14-18 :
14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”17 Therefore,“Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”18 And,“I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

Maybe I am taking to many liberties and searching for a connection that at best is a stretch. I believe that part of what Paul is saying here is that our journey will be much easier if we seek the fellowship and strength that is offered through the Christian community.  Do not mistake my writing to infer that we withdraw within our walls, that is not what we are called to do. Our burdens are many and at times too heavy but with Jesus’ “The yoke is easy to bear, and the burden is light.”I believe that many of our churches are torn apart by conflict and issues that distract from the real mission Christ calls us out to do. Let us be yoked together as one in serving Christ Jesus.

There is always room in the pew……jk

Been a rough week here in the pew. Usually by Thursday of the week I have the blog written and I began to delete or add where needed. This time however I have only a blank page. I started the blog in 2013 and at the start of 2016 I devoted full time to it, trying to publish once a week and there are 75 posts to date. I have no formal training or education in the writing arts and it is a lot of work to put something on a page every week. Thanks to the digital age, Bill Gates and the wonderful world of knowledge that can be acquired on the internet, I have managed to sneak by. I was told, write about things you know about. Well the truth is I don’t know about a lot of things, which isn’t such a bad thing, it narrows the field a bit but produces a result I wasn’t counting on. Things I know about aren’t all that interesting. There was one thing I wanted to know more about, I wanted to know more about God and Jesus.

Now I have always thought of myself as a Christian, I believe there is a God and I know about Jesus. For a long time that was my standard answer to the question “are you a Christian?” When I look back at the years gone by a more appropriate picture of my faith would be as follows. I was like a person on a golf course, standing under a large tree during a violent thunder storm. “You believe in God?” “You bet I do”  I uttered quickly before the next lighting strike. When the sun came out I went back to the game. I have come to realize that being a Christian isn’t a game. There are no time-outs and no such thing as halftime, there is no quarter given. (weak play on words) It has been a difficult week and in retrospect a disappointing few weeks. There is so much chaos in the world.   The partisan divide in our nation which is driven by such hate and lack of civility has placed us at the mercy of those who use violence and destruction of things and people they disagree with as an acceptable form of expression of opposition to current elections and others policies. Silence comes in many forms. I will share one example with you. After 9/11 all air traffic was grounded for a few days. Ever look up and see the contrails (Contrails or vapor trails are line-shaped clouds sometimes produced by aircraft engine exhaust.) crisscrossing in the sky and wondering who was up there and where were they going? There was for those few days an empty sky, there was a visual silence. Well that is where I’m at today. To one who writes or tries to, a blank page is the ultimate definition of silence.  I have given thought lately to lay the blog aside. It is a case of time spent and results. Don’t misinterpret what I have written here. A lot of time is spent in preparation and after all these years the blog has never caught on. There is also the consideration that maybe I don’t write so well. I have been wondering if my energies would be better spent creating  bible studies, which keeps me in the word and requires research and study. This is not a question of ego, it is about how I can best serve and reach people with the good news. Well I have managed to fill the page with a rambling dissertation of my personal frustrations. You know God never leaves a blank page……and if you listen and seek you will see and hear.

Romans 8:25-27Common English Bible (CEB)

25 But if we hope for what we don’t see, we wait for it with patience.

26 In the same way, the Spirit comes to help our weakness. We don’t know what we should pray, but the Spirit himself pleads our case with unexpressed groans. 27 The one who searches hearts knows how the Spirit thinks, because he pleads for the saints, consistent with God’s will.

I do not know how this ties in, as I was writing, the above verses came to mind. William Barclay writes in his series Daily Bible Study:

THE first two verses form one of the most important passages on prayer in the whole New Testament. Paul is saying that, because of our weakness, we do not know what to pray for, but the prayers we ought to offer are offered for us by the Holy Spirit. The New Testament scholar C. H. Dodd defines prayer in this way: ‘Prayer is the divine in us appealing to the Divine above us.’

I know that I need to pray and seek his will but I have no words. H. Dodd gives this advice. We cannot know our own real need; we cannot with our finite minds grasp God’s plan; in the last analysis, all that we can bring to God is an inarticulate sigh which the Spirit will translate to God for us.

I think that applies to many of us. We need to leave the chaos and uncertainty of this world behind and just pray. His will be done…..jk

How do we build bridges and at the same time defend the faith? I address this to the church in general. No denomination can claim that it has not relaxed or even in some cases changed the way the traditional scriptural beliefs apply to their church doctrine or tenets. You may refer to it however you wish, for me it became a buzz word……inclusiveness. We have been told we must be tolerant of others and sometimes it is difficult but I believe it to be a necessity of christian character. Notice this definition of tolerance: noun – the ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with.(New Oxford American Dictionary) As an example the New Oxford American Dictionary lists “the tolerance of corruption” and “religious tolerance.” Interesting to note that along with so many other things religion has now become just another something to tolerate. As I look back, I remember asking the older folks “how you feeling today”? Many times I got the simple answer “tolerable”.

We know that bridges make it easier for us to go to different places and in real time make it easier for people to come to us. Building bridges between church and communities is integral to church growth. I’d like to expand that a bit. Building bridges is important and necessary in order to fulfill our Christian calling.

The Great Commission (Matthew 28New International Version (NIV))
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

A very simple straight forward charge that leaves no doubt as to our focus and task. The problem comes as we decide how best to do this and to what length do we go to get it done. We usually become entangled with various programs and many of you will disagree, the cosmetics of it all, being more concerned with the appearance than the substance. I have read many articles and I settled on sharing with you these six from “Evangelicals for Social Action.” Here are six* suggestions for cultivating an outreach-minded congregation.

BUILDING BRIDGES BETWEEN CHURCH AND COMMUNITY

1. Welcome whoever walks through your door.

A good place to start in cultivating the congregation’s commitment to reach out to
the community is by loving the people in the community who come to you.

2. Network in the community.
Networking is the exchange of information, ideas and resources. The goal of
networking is to build relationships as you gather information, scout out potential allies, and let others know about your church.

3. Cultivate a sense of belonging to the community.
“Your people shall be my people,” said Ruth to Naomi (Ruth 1:16). In the same way, help the congregation to think about residents of the community as “our people.” Find ways of identifying with the struggles of those
in the community. (Heb. 13:3)

4. Incorporate a commitment to outreach mission into church life.
How much does a concern for community outreach enter into the life of your church? Consider ways to enfold a loving awareness of the community of ministry into “ordinary” aspects of church life. The church should be a refuge for members from the bruising realities of the world, but not a fortress where people go to shut out the world.
5. Interweave the interests of church and community.
Help to develop the habit of talking about inward ministries and outreach ministries in the same breath as all part of the church’s mission.

6. Take the church out into the community.
A congregation cannot hope to build loving relationships with the community,
particularly those who are most needy and vulnerable, by “sitting in the four walls of the church.” Develop the attitude that everywhere we go we are the church.

The more your congregation enters into the life of your community, the more the life-giving Spirit can flow through you to your neighbors.

(* I list only six here.)

Here I believe lies the real mystery. If you took the time to check the boxes on the above most all of you would say your church does all those things; I would have to agree with most of you. So what is the problem? Maybe we need to do a better job of telling the story and not being weighed down by the cosmetics. More on this in a future post.

Building bridges between the community and the church will take us to two different worlds. Those who know and follow Jesus and those who do not know Him, each have different needs and require different approaches, or do they? We read this in 1st Thessalonians 1:3

3 This is because we remember your work that comes from faith,[ your effort that comes from love, and your perseverance that comes from hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father.

Faith, love, perseverance and hope and the presence of Jesus Christ and
God the father. Perhaps we should be praying more and seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit. These early Christians in Thessalonica had been building bridges within their idol-worshiping culture and Paul praised them for that, but more for the way they were doing it. We read this in 1st Thessalonians 1:6-10

6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

It is worth noting how they built this bridge.The bridge they were building had two components: the “word of the Lord” and the example of their faith. It was clear to everyone that they had “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (v.9). They preached the truth that was Gospel driven, Giving Hope through a Christ Centered, Jesus Loving, Holy Spirit Led ministry of boldness, zeal and love. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul says that the greatest things are faith, hope, and love (v.13).and he commends the people of the church in Thessalonica for exhibiting these very traits. They work in faith and labor in love while hoping in Jesus Christ (1 Thess. 1:3). (Our Daily Bread)

To wrap this up we must acknowledge the need to defend the faith. Christianity is under attack world wide. To put this in perspective, it is really no different than it has always been and to go even further Jesus himself said we would suffer for the gospel. The advent of of the digital age has given the enemies of the faith a powerful tool to distract us from our task, dismiss and demean the message we seek to share and drive us back behind those four walls we tend to hide behind. We are placed in a sometimes unattainable position because while confrontation is sometimes necessary, it should not be a part of our Christian mission. What do we do?

I believe we must get back to telling the story and seeking the Holy Spirit through scripture study.

Acts 17:2-4 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.

2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage–with great patience and careful instruction.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Philippians 1:7 So it is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a special place in my heart. You share with me the special favor of God, both in my imprisonment and in defending and confirming the truth of the Good News.

2. 1 Peter 3:15 but honor the Messiah as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.

I quote from a Daily Bread article.
“As God declares Himself to those around us by His Word and through our lives, we can become a bridge to those who do not yet know the love of Christ.” If we live the gospel others will listen. After so many words what is being said? The best defense of the Gospel is to tell the story any time and any way we can. We have been called for a purpose and with God’s grace and guidance we will endure.

From The Pew,
God Bless…..jk