What Do We Worship? The Dollar of Course!

We have an opportunity to recalibrate our national life and do better at aligning ourselves with our “perceived” historical national values as opposed to our “actual” values which are hedonistic. The professing – church has an opportunity to return to the Christ of the Cross and learn the Way of the Cross and stop enabling the worship of money and materialism.

Some of our political leadership is making it clear that our economy trumps virtually all other considerations – this is something we ought to have known, money rules – everything has a price and everyone is for sale…whether we want to be sold or not.

Last night the Lt. Governor of Texas indicated that older people should be willing to die for the greater good of the economy, to preserve “the American way of life”. Yes, let there be no doubt that the “American way of life” is all about the worship of money, affluence, fame – how else could we have a television show titled, “American Idol”?

For the most part the church has not only been mute about this idolatry, it has endorsed it by its failure to preach the Cross of Jesus Christ and by its actions in turning a blind eye to the sufferings and needs of others, both in our own nation and abroad.

Where is the prophetic voice of the church? Isn’t enough, enough? Have we not read the Prophets?

Below is an excerpt from the Lt. Governor’s interview with Tucker Carlson.

But perhaps more important than the interview, here is a piece by Ei Cook, Ph.D., of the University of Haifa, Israel, that recently appeared in the Saturday Evening Post (yes, it’s still published). When I read this piece a few weeks ago, I couldn’t believe how accurately it expressed my own thinking for the past few years – a thinking born of the Prophets and the rest of the Bible. Here’s the link: https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2020/02/putting-a-price-tag-on-life/

By Jamie Knodel (NBC News) March 24, 2020

Dan Patrick, Texas’ Republican lieutenant governor, on Monday night suggested that he and other grandparents would be willing to risk their health and even lives in order for the United States to “get back to work” amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“Those of us who are 70 plus, we’ll take care of ourselves. But don’t sacrifice the country,” Patrick said on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”

His comments followed President Donald Trump’s statements about the country returning to business in weeks rather than months.

Patrick, who said he will turn 70 next week, said that he did not fear COVID-19, but feared that stay-at-home orders and economic upheaval would destroy the American way of life.

“No one reached out to me and said, 'As a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that America loves for its children and grandchildren?' And if that is the exchange, I'm all in,” Patrick said.

Leadership?

“He who rules over men righteously, who rules in the fear of God, is as the light of the morning when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, when the tender grass springs out of the earth, through sunshine after rain.” 2 Samuel 23:3a – 4.

While there are many passages in the Bible about leadership, both explicit and implicit, the above passage struck me a few days ago. Consider the image – that of renewal and refreshment. Good leadership, great leadership, provides renewal and refreshment. In turbulent times, when refreshment is not an immediate prospect, great leadership nevertheless casts a vision of a future that is worth sacrifice and perseverance.

Great leadership exists to serve. It does not exist to cater to special interests, it does not exist to line its own pockets, it does not seek its own good, but rather the good of others. Responsible leadership does not exalt itself, nor does it malign others. Jesus teaches us that servant – leadership is Christlike leadership. Concerning Himself, Jesus said, “The Son of Man has not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.” (See Matthew 20:20 – 28; John 13:1 – 17).

We, the U.S.A., are a nation with many people in power but with few leaders. This is perhaps true globally, and it is, I think, true in the professing church. We have monetarized society and much of the church. Therefore, when a crisis arises which demands more than an economic response we are at a loss, our leaders are at a loss.

Yes, there are economic issues that need immediate attention for humanitarian purposes – and they should be addressed before anything else (economically speaking). However, at the same time our nation needs leaders who make the people the spotlight, the people the center of attention, and who speak honestly to the people of our immediate uncertainties and our hope for the future.

We do not know what the future will look like. Prior to Covid-19 there were already economic indicators that caused concern – such as the level of both personal and corporate debt. We do not know if we can, or should, return to a culture than encourages and enables unbridled consumption.

Perhaps we have an opportunity to recalibrate our social priorities. Perhaps the church has an opportunity to become reacquainted with the Christ of the Cross and the Cross of Christ – to learn what it is to live sacrificial lives for the benefit of others.

When a people are in uncharted and turbulent waters they need leadership with gravitas, understanding, and a determination to care for everyone. They need leadership that does not engage in knee-jerk rhetoric. They need leadership which tells the truth, calmly acknowledges uncertainties, and promises to put them first. They also need leadership which empowers others to seek solutions and which nurtures collective ownership and participation in the process and the development of goals.

Our hedonistic and narcissistic pursuit of pleasure has rendered us morally and spiritually bankrupt, and that bankruptcy has extended to our leadership (yes, there are exceptions).

“He who rules over men righteously, who rules in the fear of God, is as the light of the morning when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, when the tender grass springs out of the earth, through sunshine after rain.” 2 Samuel 23:3a – 4.

His Face

“…they will see His face…” (Revelation 22:4)

My morning prayer includes, “Father, Lord Jesus, teach me to seek your face.” I have been praying this for some time, ever since being gripped by David’s words in Psalm 27:

“When You said, ‘Seek My face,’ my heart said to You, ‘Your face, O Yahweh, I shall seek.’ (Psalm 27:8)

Do we not seek the face of those we love? Do we not want to be in their presence? Do we not want to look into their eyes? To hear a loved one’s voice is good and refreshing, but to see a loved one’s face is beautiful. Video conferencing is no substitute – pixels are still pixels – they may be better than simply a voice carried over miles, oceans, and continents, but they are still pixels. Pixels are not the same as personal presence.

I am learning, by God’s grace, to seek His face. I do not pretend to know how to seek His face. Yes, there is His Word, and prayer, and meditation in His Word, and obedience and conformity to His Word, and serving others…but I remain the village idiot. I miss so much of Him, I fail to see Him when He is all around me; Balaam’s ass is promoted to the next grade while I repeat the lessons over and over and over.

I must ask my Father and Lord Jesus to teach me to seek their face, otherwise I am lost, otherwise today is like yesterday and yesterday is like the day before yesterday. What a tragedy to live life just barely within the city limits of the New Jerusalem, how sad to never leave kindergarten – playing with religious toys, learning the names of the bright and shiny things that are often Jesus junk.

Seeing His face is transformative, for when He appears we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:1 – 3). Therefore, as I see Him today in His appearing, I am transformed into His image and He unveils His beautiful face just a bit more for me to see.

“…they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads” (Rev. 22:4).

Is the Nature of the Trinity being written in my heart and mind? Are my thoughts being lifted up into the New Jerusalem and am I living as a son of the living God? (Romans 12:1 – 2; 2 Corinthians 3:17 – 18; Philippians 3:20; Colossians 3:1 – 4; Hebrews 11:8 – 16).

Or am I as distracted as a two-year old baby? Fliting from one “good” thing to another, making excuses for not sitting at the feet of Jesus?

Christ yearns for us to know Him. He invites us into the fellowship of the Trinity (John 17).

Christ calls to us, “Seek My face.”

Will you pray with me today, “O Lord, teach me to seek Your face”?

A Little Question (2 Corinthians 5:1 – 10)

Just a little question if you don’t mind, it shouldn’t take long to answer it:

“Are you yearning for your heavenly home?”

Paul tells us that we are to live in the confidence that when our “earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven…so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.”

People in many parts of the world live with a thin distance between life and death; many do not make it out of infancy, many others do not know what it is to mark a 21^st birthday, and still many more know an old age that, chronologically, is equivalent to our (in the West) middle age.

We Christians in the West can also know a thin distance between life and death, and we can know a thin veil between that which is temporal and that which is eternal (2 Cor. 4:18) – for if we live in the knowledge that the death rate in our land is 100% we can ponder the reality of death even as we live life to its fullest in Jesus Christ. To live life to its fullest, for the disciple of Jesus Christ, is to live a life in which Christ increases and we decrease; it is to live a life which acknowledges that we belong to Christ and that we are not our own, it is to lay down our lives for Jesus Christ and for others.

Living for Christ, belonging to Christ, means that this life is a prelude to a glorious life in which we behold our Lord Jesus in all of His glory – being transformed into the fulness of His image and enjoying the koinonia (fellowship, communion) of the Holy Trinity – as we see Him as He is (1 John 3:1 – 3).

The fears and threats and anxieties of this world pale in comparison to eternity with Jesus Christ and His saints (Romans 8:12 - 25).  Physical death becomes a servant, allowing us to leave our decaying and corruptible body in order to be clothed with a body whose glory is beyond our current comprehension (see 1 Cor. Cp. 15).

Perhaps this is something we might ponder during these times.

“Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.”

It was just a little question…wasn’t it?  

Faith in a Pandemic: ‘Now thank we all our God …’

    The reflections below were forwarded to me by a friend. I think Martin Rinkart provides an example of Christian faith in action. Bob


Now thank we all our God with heart and hands and voices,
who wondrous things hath done,
In whom this world rejoices;
who from our mothers’ arms,
hath blessed us on our way with countless gifts of love,
and still is ours today.

.

By BENJAMIN PRATT
Author of A Guide for Caregivers

Those words of this well-known hymn are particularly meaningful in our world right now, when the coronavirus has become a pandemic. Ironically, they were penned in 1636-1637, during an outbreak of yet another terrible plague.

Knowing more about the history of this hymn can point us to spiritual resources for coping with the uncertainties of the coronavirus. The text of the iconic hymn of thanksgiving and praise was written during a relentless war and severe plague by Martin Rinkart, a German Lutheran clergyman and author of hymns.

Rinkart became head of the archdiocese of Eilenburg, where he was born in 1586 and died in 1649. He served there during the Thirty Years’ War and a severe plague. Eilenberg was a walled town and refuge for fugitives from far and near. It suffered from famine and disease in the midst of unsanitary and over-crowded conditions. As if the war was not enough, the extraordinary severity of the plague took the lives of all but three of the town council, numerous children and the clergymen of a neighboring parish.

During the great pestilence, officials and clergy either died or ran away, leaving Rinkart alone to care for the living and the dead. He read the burial service for 40-50 persons a day—in all about 4,480. Eventually the burials were moved to trenches, without service.

The total of 8,000 persons who died included Rinkart’s wife. This was followed by one sacking by the Austrians and two by the Swedes who levied crippling fines on the town. It was Rinkart’s prayers and negotiations that reduced the levys. His body and finances were worn out—and he died at the age of 63.

O may this bounteous God through all our life be near us,
with ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us;
and keep us in God’s grace, and guide us when perplexed
and free us from all ills in this world and the next.



The original text was entitled, “Tisch-Gebetlein,” or a “short Grace before meals.” This is amazing, considering the famine that accompanied the War and the insufferable plague. It is our human yearning and remembrance of God’s bounty, love, guidance, and appeal for peace, for freedom from suffering, for assurance of salvation, that people most needed.

In a time in which it appears that God has gone silent and abandoned us, this hymn heralds the deepest sense of faith—an everlasting presence of God in whom we trust.

The final verse is Rinkart’s paraphrase of the Gloria Patri.

All praise and thanks to God, who reigns in highest heaven,
with ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us;
the one eternal God, whom heaven and earth adore,
the God who was, and is, and shall be evermore.

May we, in this time of a pandemic, yearn for the faith, trust, gratitude, courage and love which undergirded the life and work of Martin Rinkart.

May we remember those afflicted with the virus who cannot be held and embraced by their loved ones as they die.

May we remember those who must risk their own health to care for the afflicted—those who must choose between preserving their own health and going to work to put food on the family table.

May we remember those who will lose work and have no monetary cushion.

When we cannot embrace our loved ones, let us seek new ways to be the a loving embrace of God to our neighbors.

Amen

Big Boy's Britches

Our small group is taking a break in meeting together due to the virus, better to be prudent. Here is a note I sent to the group this past Tuesday morning - which is when we usually meet. 



Good morning brothers,

Let's please pray for one another today...doing it everyday wouldn't hurt either.

Let's please ask our Lord Jesus to reveal Himself to us in these uncharted waters.

Let's ask Him to be our center of gravity and equilibrium, and let's remember that He is our destiny and source of life - the world and its agendas can't save us or give us appreciable meaning. 

How can we be a source of peace and hope to others?

How can we prepare to help others who may find themselves in need of housing, food, or financial assistance? 

I think it is important to consider the practical and spiritual possibilities - just in case...we just don't know in these uncharted waters. I think it is perhaps easier to make decisions when we've already prayed about them and discussed them. Vickie and I are preparing ourselves to help others, including opening our home if it comes to that (and we are pretty private people). 

Our Father put us all here for a reason - Christ is the core of that reason and Christ gave Himself for us, therefore we are to give ourselves for others (1 John 3:16 - We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

Time to put our big boy's britches on!

Much love,

Bob

What If?

The many church closures yesterday (yes, I know many streamed via the internet) got me to thinking…

What if, for whatever reason, we could no longer assemble in designated buildings on Sunday mornings? What would “church life” look like? Would it look like anything or would it simply collapse?

Would we be reduced to a “virtual church” over the internet or other media?

Since church is people, how could this be? Or, have we lost the essence of Biblical church?

Some of my friends and acquaintances have told me about “doing church” via the internet yesterday. With all due respect to them, and with acknowledging that there are times when electronic communication is helpful and when streaming is a fruitful tool – if we think that anything other than actual assembling together constitutes church on an ongoing normal basis we have missed the koinonia (fellowship) of Biblical church. We should not accept such a situation, or thinking, as normative.

My point goes back to my question, What if we could no longer assemble together in designated buildings on Sunday mornings? If we think the answer lies in electronic communication we had better read the Bible – not because we are supposed to show up someplace on a regular basis per se, but rather because we are members of one another and of the Trinity and therefore it is our nature (because it is God’s nature) to be together – we are members of one another.

So then, what would church life look like? Are we mature in Christ so that smaller groups can encourage one another, help one another, and grow in Christ together? Are we able to gather with other Biblically - grounded Christians, who may not be of our particular flavor, and find life together with them?

Or are we so dependent on “professionals” for spiritual nourishment that we would atrophy and die? Do we see Ephesians 4:14 – 16 in our congregations?

What is the true health of our congregations? If pastors didn’t show up for a few weeks what would happen? If we couldn’t meet in our buildings, for whatever reason, what would church life look like?

What if?

Offending the World or Offending God?

Recently some of my friends have been talking about how the “world” views Christians as narrow-minded and judgmental and that we (Christians) need to change this perception. This bandwagon is hardly new, but I guess it’s experiencing a revival and is successful in getting folks to jump on it for a ride.

I think this is a dangerous message, for it seems to me that much of the message is aimed at us not being offensive, however,  as Paul teaches, the Cross of Christ is offensive – it is offensive to me, it is offensive to you (in context), and it will be offensive whenever the Gospel is communicated. How we respond to the offense is critical; we can by God’s grace respond in repentance and confession of sin, throwing ourselves on the mercy of God in Christ; or we can harden our hearts and continue in our self-righteousness and pride.

Of course, there are idiot and jerky “Christians” – but as I think about it (and I speak from experience at being an idiot and jerky), these folks tend to judge other Christians harder than they often judge the world. Our general problem isn’t that Christians are speaking up, it is the opposite – people can work and live alongside Christians for years and never hear them say anything about Jesus Christ. Our problem is less about the way we express our faith and more about the fact that we don’t express our faith.

The media, entertainment industry, and many authors often caricature Christians and the Gospel – the world is the world is the world. Sadly, there seem to be professing Christians on the edges who provide a basis for the caricature, people that should embarrass us all. But, why is it that Christians on one radical edge of the spectrum are made the foil, but not those on the other end? Both are radically rigid and censorious.

Our desire ought not to be not to offend the world, but rather not to offend God. If we are faithful to Christ and the Gospel of the Cross we will offend people and we will pay a price for our witness. If we truly love people we will communicate Jesus Christ to them, and that means communicating the Cross, repentance, and confession of sin.

We are not a business organization attempting to sell a product and trying to close a deal.  We are to represent the Kingdom of God and the King of that Kingdom – that King is not campaigning for votes, He is not running for office, He does not employ a marketing department. Yes, God so loves the world, and if we love the world with the love of our Father and Lord Jesus we will compassionately and passionately tell the world the truth about Jesus Christ, His Cross, His love for them, and that the wages of death is sin but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ.

I wonder if we aren’t seduced into thinking that we care about others when we are really more interested in avoiding the Cross in our lives as we witness to others. I wonder if we are more concerned about offending others than offending God. I have been guilty of both, so I am looking at myself as I write these words.

As I have written before, we are not called to preach sociology, nor a therapeutic Deism – we are called to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Let’s focus on Jesus Christ and the integrity of our witness, our lives. Let’s be the Presence of God in Christ in this generation. Let’s live as holy sons and daughters of the Holy God. Let’s sow the seed of God’s Word with tears, let’s lay our lives down, our reputations, our agendas – on behalf of Christ and others for the glory of Christ and the salvation of those around us.

Let’s bear His reproach as He has borne the reproach of the Father (Hebrews 13:13; Romans 15:3). Let’s live cruciform lives (Mark 8:34 38) which know the koinonia of His sufferings (Philippians 3:10). Let’s learn what it means to have death work within us so that life might live within others (2 Corinthians 4:12).

Are we offended by Christ and His Cross? What is our response when we’re asked, “You were with Jesus, I’ve seen you with Him”?

Do we hear the cock crow?

A Benchmark Question

I have recently had a cluster of conversations with other believers ranging from the image of God to healthy marriages to effective witnessing. In each conversation I found myself asking the same question (in different forms), “Just who do we belong to?” In some of these discussions the other person(s) did not see why I was asking the question.

If I have been redeemed by Jesus Christ, if He has purchased me with His blood, then I no longer belong to myself, I am not my own, I am the property of Jesus Christ (note 1 Corinthians 6:19 – 20).

This means, among other things, that I have no warrant (authority, basis, right) to make the Bible say something it does not say, or to disregard obedience to the Word of God – Jesus Christ is either my Lord or He isn’t, He has either purchased me and I am His property or we do not have that relationship.

I am either living my life in submission to Christ my Lord and His Word or I am not (yes, I’m still a work in process).

How many marriages are in trouble simply because the professing - Christian spouses are not submitting to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and in their disobedience to Christ they are justifying their ungodly attitudes and sins? They are not living holistic lives as bond-slaves of Jesus Christ. When I write “holistic” I mean that the totality of life is to be in Christ – work, family, church, marriage, civic life – all of life.

How much doctrinal confusion is there in the church because pastors, priests, teachers, and other leaders do not see themselves as bond-slaves of Jesus Christ – rather than submitting to Christ and His Word they attempt to force the Word to submit to them and they caricature Jesus Christ before their congregations and the watching world.

A bond-slave (Deuteronomy 15:12 – 17), an agent, an ambassador (they are not synonyms), has limits on what she or he can say or do – because he or she is not to represent his or her own thoughts or desires or agendas, but rather the entity or person who is being represented. A person living an accountable life has limits on what he can say and do. He may not always understand the thoughts and ways of the person he represents, but that does not give the agent warrant to go his own way. If this is true of an agent or ambassador, how much truer is it of a bond-slave?

Each of these people is called to know the “will” of the person or entity they represent. The will of the bond-slave, the agent, and the ambassador is not to deviate from the will of the person or entity they serve.

This is a foundational issue, a fundamental question that should be settled in the soul of every professing Christian. How can we preach or teach without this question being settled? How can we call ourselves disciples? How can we embrace the Cross of Christ? How can we possibly hold one another accountable?

How much doctrinal and practical chaos is in the professing – church because everyone looks at themselves as having the right to do what they want, when they want, how they want – without submission to Christ and His Word? We do not view ourselves and our congregations as belonging to Another. I recall once being in a meeting of pastors and leaders in which the doctrine of “soul liberty” was placed above obedience to the Bible – is there anything amiss with this? We sacrifice the Bible, revealing the will of God, on the altar of our extra-Biblical doctrines and practices and traditions. It is possible that we’ve all done this at one time or another.

I listen to professing – Christians question God’s words and actions in the Bible, submitting them to the judgment of man. It is one thing to seek to understand the ways of our Father, it is another to exalt ourselves above the Word of God. Have we forgotten that God’s ways are not our ways? (Isaiah 55:9; 1 Cor. Chapters 1 and 2). Do we refuse to recognize the noetic effect of sin? The truth of God’s Word does not depend on our understanding or approval. We are not the validators of God’s Word – His Word will stand forever, whether or not we approve of it.

So, just who do I belong to? Am I a slave to Jesus Christ? Has He purchased me with His blood? Am I living as the possession of Another?

What about you?

Malachi (4)

Here is what our small group used to work through our fourth session with Malachi - maybe there is something here for you.

Chapters 3 and 4 are interconnected, but since we can’t do everything in one morning, we’re doing the best we can by looking at three distinct sections.

In 3:1 we have a glimpse of not only the Messiah, but also of the messenger who goes before the Messiah. Compare Isaiah 40:3 – 4; Malachi 4:5 – 6; Matthew 3:3; 11:10 – 14; 17:10 – 13; Luke 1:76; 3:4 – 6.

There is a lot to ponder concerning the “Messenger” and we’ll likely pick it back up when we get to Malachi 4:5; I’ve given the above passages as background more than anything.

In 3:1 we see the Messiah termed as “Lord” and as the “Messenger of the covenant”. So we have two messengers in 3:1; the messenger who goes before the Messenger.

What do we see about the Lord’s coming in 3:1 – 4?

Do we recognize Christ when He comes to His Temple? When He comes to our local churches? When He comes to us? He is always coming to us – do we see Him?

What hinders us from seeing Him, both as individuals and as churches?

How does Christ come to us in our marriages and families? In our workplaces? In our neighborhoods? In our churches?

Thinking about 3:2 – 3; how is Christ purifying our lives? What does this look like?

What have you learned, what are you learning, about how Christ purifies you?

Note the picture of restoration in 3:4 – we have hope in the final outcome.

Consider please verse 5, what is God judging?

1.    Sorcerers (think both New Age and the occult)

2.    Adulterers (recall what we covered this week)

3.    Those who swear falsely (does a person’s “word” matter anymore?)

4.    Those who oppress the wage earner in his wages (are employees treated fairly, are companies seeking the “greater good”, or are people simply “human resources” to be expended and thrown away?)

5.    The widow (show me how a nation or a church treats its elderly, its orphans, its unborn, its poor, and I’ll show you the character of a church and nation)

6.    The orphan (see above)

7.    Those who turn aside the alien and do not fear me (show me how a church and a nation treat aliens and refugees and I’ll show you the character of a nation and church…excuses, excuses, excuses)

Note how our passage ends in Malachi 3:6. Compare Hebrews 13:8.

How does Malachi 3:1 – 6 challenge us? How does it encourage us?

Are we living lives of obedience to this passage? How?

Do we see Christ coming into our lives…again, and again, and again?

Much love,

Bob