A Lesson to my younger self: learn Romans, THEN be ordained.

For several months now I have been preaching through the book of Romans.  This Sunday we will be looking at Romans 3:21-26.  At the present moment I'm thinking we will be spending the next 4 weeks on these verses alone.  Now I don't write this to show how slowly we are going through Romans.  I write this to say that I have been in ministry in one form or another for nearly 20 years.  I have preached well over a 1000 sermons and this is my first time thoroughly preaching through what has to be one of the greatest letters ever written. What I find to be even more remarkable is that even through years of education in Biblical studies this is the first time I have thoroughly studied this book.  In my study of Romans I can easily see how it has had such a profound impact on such men such as Augustine and Luther. 

I write this now to make this proposal:  That no person should be allowed to be ordained to the Gospel ministry without a thorough knowledge of this book. 

I, of course, make this recommendation in hindsight to my own ordination.  As I look back now I realize it was probably given in haste and it was certainly something that I was woefully unprepared for.  Sure, when I was ordained I had gone to college and had recieved a degree in religion.  This essentially meant that I was able to articulate myself well enough that I could feasible write a decent enough paper that the professors would take great mercy on me.  Also, at the time of my ordination I was interning for a pastor at a substantially large church.  This meant I knew how to stage a large scale contemporary worship service and was listening to a lot of John Maxwell leadership tapes.  Of course, I was also going to seminary.  This meant that I was learning how to, among other things, make a church budget, have proper table manners (something I have yet to perfect), and how to counsel people with marriage issues.  All such things that I was told my church would expect me to know as a minister.  However, if I honestly look back and ask that young man if he could explain the doctrine of justification by faith, I doubt he could give a clear answer. 

Perhaps, I am saying all of this to say that if I could go back to my earlier years of ministry I would want someone to say to me: "Son, the most important thing you need to know about ministry is not table manners, church growth, church budgets, or even evangelism techniques.  The most important thing you need to know and do right now is to study the Word and stay in the Word.  Learn the Scriptures. Learn the Gospels and learn the book of Romans.  Know the Scriptures and know that they are the authoritative Word of God that are 'profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work (II Timothy 3:16-17).'"

Words from the Past Speaking to the Present

 The following is an exert from the book 

How to Serve God in a Marxist Land by Karl Barth. 

It is from a section entitled "Letter to a Pastor."

The letter addresses how one is to serve God in a land

where God has, for all intents and purposes, been removed 

either by the government or by the prevailing culture.

What is remarkable is that this advice from Barth is 

relevant to the Western Church of today.

But he, God, and his free grace, is really above all thoughts, concepts, and usual practices by which we Christians ourselves in East and West have been accustomed to live, seemingly serving both the glory of God and the salvation of man! What a multitude of things we have taken for granted: a church occupying a comfortable place in tlie social structure, her existence guaranteed, or at least respected, or at the very least tolerated by society in general and by the state in particular! Sunday as a recognized holiday and day of rest, and the chief church festivals which have somehow left their impact on the life of the people as a whole; infant baptism, confirmation, marriage, and burial, the Christian landmarks of the milieu and the existence of Mr. Everyman—means whereby the church has liked to reassure herself again and again of her obvious indispensability! The influence of the church in public education, instruction and upbringing of young people; with the maximimi claim that schools by right be Christian schools, or with the minimum claim that they be not openly opposed to "Christianity"! The prestige or at least the dignity of her official representatives among the leaders of other social and cultural organizations! The formal recognition of the church's freedom to participate in the discussion of general human concerns as a direct or indirect partner, welcome or unwelcome 1 Although these privileges of Christianity have never and nowhere gone unchallenged, certainly not in the last few centuries, it has seemed to us the most natural thing in the world that the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ should continue to run in some such channels as these, and that we should do the utmost for their preservation and defense, for the sake of God and the gospel! And we have done this zealously and repeatedly, both skillfully and unskillfully, successfully and unsuccessfully. Were we not motivated by the assumption that the Christian cause and confession can and must be formally understood and appreciated in the normal order of things by each and every citizen, at the very least in terms of the free practice of "religion"?  Is the world as such obligated to grant to Christianity the right to maintain that form of existence in its midst? What is happening to your situation in the East German republic, and possibly in other Marxist oriented lands, seems to cancel this whole bill of rights. The same thing will probably happen to us here in the West. With you it is no longer possible to overlook the fact that it is happening. In the socialist conception of the world and of man which powerfully asserts itself in your country, this brand of Christianity is gradually squeezed out. The time seems near or at least not far when the church in this form of existence will no longer have any place at all. The church will be foreign, despised and greatly suspect in the eyes of state and society. Membership in the church and confession of Christian faith will greatly jeopardize life's opportunities for individuals from school age onward. Your freedom of movement will be restricted to a minimum, and all that you are commissioned to do as a church will be done only in corners, in the shadow, with constant interference, harassment, and sabotage from without. The Folkskirche or National Church in the sense of the "Church of the people" will be only a dream.

It may be that the plight is not yet as bad as this in the East Zone, and that there are forces at work which are still counteracting this development. But the fact that this development is so obviously favored by your rulers is sufficient to beg questions in your minds as in ours: Can Christianity truly fulfill its task only in that form of existence which until now has been taken for granted? Only in the light of that public assistance, recognition, or at least tolerance? Only with the help of the whole apparatus of a national church and on the premise of freedom of action? Only as one strong pillar among others in the social structure? Only when it possesses a legal claim on each and every citizen? Just exactly where does one read of the first churches of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem, Rome, Corinth, or Asia Minor  as being permitted to enjoy this mode of existence? And where are they promised it for some later time? Where do we learn that its origin was in itself a good thing, or that the church stands and falls with it, or that the church is committed to it, come hell or high water? I am not saying anything new to you in reference to this question. It was indeed one of your most renowned and ablest men. General Superintendent Giinther Jacob in Cottbus, who not long ago announced the "end of the Constantinian era." Because I have a certain wariness about all theoretical formulations of a philosophy of history, I hesitate to make this expression my own. But it is certain that something resembling this approaching end begins to show itself dimly everywhere, but very sharply in your part of the world. 

It is certain that we all have reason to ask ourselves each of these questions, and in every case quickly and clearly to give the answer: No, the church's existence does not always have to  possess the same form in the future that it has possessed in the past, as though this were the only possible pattern. No, the continuance and victory of the cause of God, which the Christian Church is to serve with her witness, is not unconditionally linked with the forms of existence which it has had until now. Yes, the hour may strike and has perhaps already struck when God, to our discomfiture, but to his glory and for the salvation of mankind, will put an end to this mode of existence because it lacks integrity and has lost its usefulness. Yes, it could be our duty to free ourselves inwardly from our dependency on that mode of existence even while it still lasts. Indeed, on the assumption that it may one day entirely disappear, we definitely should look about us for new ventures in new directions. 

Yes, as the Church of God we may depend on it that if only we are attentive, God will show us such new ways as we can hardly anticipate now. And as the people who are bound to God we may even now claim unconquerable security for ourselves through him. For his name is above all names, even above the name that we in human, all too human, fashion have hitherto borne in his service and in a kind of secular forgetfulness, confused with his own. Might it not be, dear brothers and sisters in the imperiled East Zone, that you there and we here are now to do justice to the old Soli Deo Gloria in an entirely new spirit of humility, openness, and readiness? Might it not be your special calling to be a living example for the rest of us of how a church lives that seeks for and perhaps has already entered upon a new way, of a church for, not of, the people—the church in "God's beloved (deeply beloved!) East Zone"?

How to Serve God in a Marxist Land by Karl Barth. 1959

Hospice Care for Churches?

Lately it seems that there is a rise in the discussion of church hospice care.  This is an unfortunate result of the growing number of churches in the US that are dying.  Now then, church hospice care occurs when a minister recognizes that the church they serve is dying and that there is no hope for recovery.  The minister at this point has one of two options: 1) leave as quickly as possible (in the hopes of finding greener pastures), or 2) stay with the church and provide hospice care to help the church die “with dignity.”  

Now it should be noted that a dying church is not a dead church.  It is in fact possible for a dying church to comeback (see the book Comeback Churches by Ed Stetzer) and to be a healthy church.  However this takes a great commitment from both the church leadership and the church membership.  It should also be noted that church hospice care could be undertaken by the pastor with or without the church memberships’ knowledge.  It will usually amount to a conscience decision by the pastor to not attempt to grow the church.  The decision is made to simply maintain everything as well as can be maintained until inevitability the church is not able to even maintain the most rudimentary elements of church life.  In other words, they can no longer pay the bills.  A pastor will usually come to this decision either because he simply doesn’t care if the church grows or because he has realized that there is little to no chance of a turn around.  If the decision to begin hospice care is because a comeback seems unlikely, then the pastor is also making the decision to continue to care for the congregation much as hospice cares for a patient.  He simply will be looking to make the dying and eventual death a peaceful and comfortable experience.

Now a lot can be said as to why a church is not healthy and dying.  A lot can also be said about turning a church around (if possible).  However, that is not the purpose here.  The purpose here is to ask the question:  Is it biblical for a pastor to engage in church hospice care? 

To say that church hospice care is biblical is to say that despite a church’s unhealthy status, there is in fact ministry still occurring.  There are still people there who care for and love one another.  There are people there who for example, will gather around a new widow to help her through the grief.  

The purpose for asking the question here though hinges on what the calling of a pastor entails.  Is the calling of a pastor primarily a calling to “equip the saints for the work of ministry (Eph. 4:12)?”  If that is the case then one could argue that a pastor is equipping when he assist in ministry work such as in the example of the widow above.  However, shouldn’t it be asked, what is the work of the ministry that the pastor is to equip the saints for?  More specifically, what is the primary work of the ministry?  It would seem that the primary work of the ministry is to make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20).  Therefore, the primary work of the pastor would be to equip the saints to make more disciples who make more disciples.  One may object here and say that the reference in Ephesians 4 states that the equipping of the saints is for the “building up of the body in Christ” and that this is in reference to bringing the saints together in unity of doctrine and love.  But what is the point of saints building unified in doctrine and in love for one another?  Indeed, as we see elsewhere such as in Acts 6, it was a legitimate ministry to see that the people are being fed.  However, this was not the primary ministry.  The ministry of seeing that people were fed was to assist in the larger ministry goal of feeding the people with prayer and the Word which is what equips the saints for ministry.  And that ministry has as its goal the fulfillment of the Great Commission – go and make disciples (note the correlation of what occurs in Acts 6:7 with the decision of the Apostles in vs. 1-6).

So then, how does the primary role of the pastor fit into the question of whether church hospice care is biblical?  If the primary role of the pastor is to equip disciples to make other disciples then can we say that it is biblical for the pastor to be in a church where this is not and where it will not be happening?  In other words is it biblical for a pastor to stay in a place where he cannot equip the saints to make other disciples?  Is it biblical for a church to even continue in its existence if that church has determined either explicitly or implicitly that it will not be a place that is determined to make disciples?  

I don’t pretend to have the answer to these questions.  In fact, I have many more questions and concerns on this matter which is why I am writing this.  I am hoping that this will further the discussion.  To be sure, this is not merely a discussion on the issue of church hospice care but it is a discussion on the nature and role of the pastor and the church.  This is a discussion that anyone in ministry should always be asking.  I look forward to hearing from you.

This is amazing:

You can find out more about this amazing program from Compassion International right here: Water of Life.

Nerd Theology

Last night I was trying to explain to my children that indeed I am the master of all knowledge.  They tend to disagree with me on this point.  Joshua likes to test this claim by asking me questions on a plethora of topics.  In an act of great desperation to not answer his theoritcals that are unanswerable I made the grand exclamation, "Boys, I am the M-theory in the flesh."  For those who don't know the M-theory is a theory about the very basic substance of the universe.  It is a unifying theory of basically all things (Please note I'm not a physicist so if I didn't explain M-theory real well I beg your forgiveness). 

Now the boys did not catch on to what I said and continued to ask me questions about my knowledge of all things.  So again, I told them, "Guys, I am telling you that I'm the M-theory in the flesh."  To which Joshua responded, "Um, wouldn't that be Jesus?"

Nerd theology.

Freedom

The following is a song off  of the "Freedom" CD and DVD combo that is only $5.00.  The proceeds go to International Justice Mission. "IJM is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression."

My Big Time Radio Interview

This was a radio interview I did on a local radio station back in April 2010.  Just thought I'd share it with you.

A Conversation

Better husband.
Better father.
Better pastor.
What if I really lived what Christ taught?
Better man.
Unafraid.
Unashamed.
I know what Christ taught.  Can I be obedient to it?
Fallen.
Broken.
     Grace.
Lord, can I do as you command?  Can I follow you?
Rejection.
Cross.
     Resurrection.
I feel like I am alone.
     Immanuel.
I just can't do it.
     Almighty.
Forgive me.
     Savior.
Heal me.
     By my stripes.
Cleanse me.
     By my blood.
Glorify yourself in me.
     Sovereign Lord.
Thank you!
Praise you!
Fall down before you!
Worthy is the Lamb!
     Go.
     Love.
     Feed my sheep.
Filled with the Spirit.
     If you love me, you'll keep my commandments.
I love you.
     Pick up your cross.
     Follow me.  Follow me.  Follow me.
But I...
     Follow me!
I just...
     Follow me!
I can't...
     Follow me.
I'm sorry.
What I do, I don't want to do.  What I don't do, I want to do.
     Follow me.
Break me.  Humble me.  Fill me.
Lord, be glorified.
                      Follow me.

Craggy Pinnacle Trail.  Blue Ridge Parkway.

Piper on Spurgeon and Surviving Ministry

As is so often the case, I have come across an article that I wish I had written.  Setting my envy aside, I am extremely thankful to John Piper for this tremendous article that takes an honest look at the life of the minister and how the minister faces struggles and survives.  If you are a minister sooner or later you will go through a difficult time and you will be glad that you have read this.  If you aren't a minister, I encourage you to read this too.  It may help you to understand the heart of the ministers who serve you.

Here is the article by John Piper: Charles Spurgeon; Preaching Through Adversity.

May we all rest in the sovereignty of God.

In His grace, for His glory.

A Birthday, a Time of Solitude, and a Special Olympian

I've mentioned before that my birthday is right around the corner. Most every year my parents will send me some money for this grandest of occasions. Usually, I end up spending the money on something extremely exciting like groceries or gas. This year I have made a huge decision. I'm going to spend that money on something that I truly want - solitude. I have always valued the spiritual discipline of solitude. Taking time to be completely alone with God. Time to be away from the TV, the xbox, the mp3 player, and even the cell phone. Time to be still. Time to meditate on Scripture and time to talk with no one but God. For me, finding time of such solitude has always been best served by taking my tent and going camping. It has been over a year since I have taken such time and am starting to feel the effects. I am in need of really reconnecting with the Lord. Many my find that last statement a bit odd for a minister to make. However, I suppose there is an occupational hazard to being a preacher in which you spend so much time with and doing the things of God that you miss God. It's not much different than a married couple who spend much time together maintaining the house, scheduling the calendar, caring for their children and yet spend little time actually being together, caring for their marriage. So this is my plan, to take the time (as soon as the weather cooperates) to go camping and to reconnect with the Lord.

There is one problem with my plan. Camping will only account for a fraction of my birthday money. So what else should I do? Many thoughts have come to mind. I thought of buying some music or a couple of books. I even thought of buying a video game. Not because I really play many video games but more so because my son would think I'm really cool. But none of this really seemed all that interesting. None of it seemed to be something that would have anything more than a fleeting impact. That's when I remembered that I could use this money to bring great joy to a special girl named Emilda.

Emilda is a young girl who is a sponsored child through Compassion International. She lives in the Philippines and she is mentally disabled. Emilda is also FAST. She can run and has ran her way into the Special Olympics. In order to compete in the Olympics, Emilda will need to raise nearly $20,000 dollars. Obviously, this is a virtual impossibility for a family that earns no more than $7.00 a week. You can read more of this family's story here: The Making of a Special Olympics Champion. I'd like to ask that you consider helping this special young girl achieve her dream. Help to show her family that despite their circumstances that there are people who will lift them up, give them hope, and love them in the name of Christ.

Emilda with her medals.

Compassion has set up a special fund to send Emilda to the Olympics. You can donate here: Help Send Emilda to the Special Olympics.

Thank you to all who give. Thanks to my parents for their gift to me that allows me to have time to restore my soul as well as to bless another in need.

In His grace, for His glory.

An Open Letter to Our Denominational Leaders

To the leaders of our State and National Conventions:

We need your help.  I, like hundreds of other pastors, am the pastor of a small church that is struggling and quite possibly dying.  I don't want it to die and I do all that I know to do to keep it going.  I go to the seminars and conferences that give glory to the wonderful churches that are growing, are missional, are simple, transformational, focused, and relevant.  I listened to speeches and sermons that instruct me on how my church needs to be like one of these churches.  I read the material on your latest evangelistic strategy that is going to revolutionize my church.  Guess what, it's all garbage.

It's not that I don't believe in the latest Stetzer or Rainer research.  It's not that I don't see value in what you are espousing.  It's not that I don't believe that you haven't spent hours and untold amounts of money coming up with the latest evangelism strategy.  It's that for all the rhetoric, for all the discipleship seminars and training sessions I've been to no one from a leadership position has been able to answer my one question:  If I do what you are suggesting I'll be out of a job, then what?

Honestly, I often leave your meetings feeling as though we struggling, small church pastors (who are the majority in your denomination) are the second class citizens who weren't smart enough or spiritual enough to be David Platt (no offense to David).  I often leave such meetings thinking that I have one of two choices: implement what is being discussed and cause chaos at my church or simply leave my church and start a new one.  Which by the way, there does seem to be a growing tendency toward, if you aren't planting a church then you aren't really doing anything.

I guess that is my biggest problem.  This feeling that because we happen to be in a situation where there aren't hundreds of people being baptized then the only logical conclusion is that we, as the pastors, aren't doing something right.  And perhaps we aren't.  Perhaps all the small, struggling church pastors should just leave their churches to go start new churches.  Perhaps we should be pushing our churches harder to change their centuries old ways and be "culturally relevant."  Perhaps there is much to do and much that can be done.  Perhaps.  Perhaps we small, struggling church pastors would like to believe that are denominational leaders are as interested in helping these pastors fulfill their calling, to which they are faithfully serving, as they are in telling us everything that is wrong with our churches. 

Consider these pastors as men on the frontline of a war and it's trench warfare.  It's hard, it's cold, it's dirty and it's dangerous.  What we would like to know is that the generals aren't going to send down a order that says, "Hey guys, here is a new program with flashy door hangers, power-point ready sermons, and even a meditative cd of worship music.  Now let's go baptize some folks and be sure to record them in your annual church profile!"  What we would like instead is for the generals to say, "We know what is wrong.  We know that you know what is wrong.  Let's work together to fix it and if it can't be fixed then know troops that you won't be left here in the trenches to die."

I don't think I need to give you the stats but I will:

80 percent of pastors say they have insufficient time with spouse and that ministry has a negative effect on their family. 40 percent report a serious conflict with a parishioner once a month. 33 percent say that being in ministry is an outright hazard to their family. 75 percent report they've had a significant stress-related crisis at least once in their ministry. 58 percent of pastors indicate that their spouse needs to work either part time or full time to supplement the family income. 56 percent of pastors' wives say they have no close friends. 45 percent of pastors' wives say the greatest danger to them and family is physical, emotional, mental and spiritual burnout. 21 percent of pastors' wives want more privacy. Pastors who work fewer than 50 hours a week are 35 percent more likely to be terminated. 40 percent of pastors considered leaving the pastorate in the past three months.Source: "Pastors At Greater Risk" by H.B London Jr. and Neil Wiseman, Regal Books, 2003

Leaders, we are tired, burning out, and could use a helping hand from you.  Stop telling us what is wrong all the time.  We get it.  We know the troubles our churches face.  We are there.  All we want to know is will you be there with us?

In His grace, for His glory,

Pastor John Raymer, small church pastor

A Birthday, Lent, Reflections, Resolutions, and a Hiking Stick?

There are times in a person's life when they are given the opportunity to reflect on their lives.  Some of those times are moments of circumstance such as a crisis of health or finances.  Then there are moments of arbitrary dates on the calendar.  Those moments such as New Year's Day, your anniversary, and of course, the birthday.  My birthday is just a few weeks away and it just so happens to be the day before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday.  I've already been thinking about Lent.  Last year I attempted to read a book of the Bible everyday for Lent (and failed).  So I've been considering what I might do this year.  Then, with the realization of my birthday being around the same time, it has me truly in one of those reflective moods. 

Reflection allows us a time to experience the joy of good moments such as your wedding day or the day you met your adopted child.  However, reflection can also bring the disappointment of moments missed and dreams forgotten.  Reflection, if you will allow it, can also cause one to make resolutions.  Now I'm not talking about those New Year's resolutions that you know even as you make it you have no intention of keeping. I'm talking about resolutions that say, "As I reflect on my life now, here is what I'd like to resolve to change, to focus on, to have my life be about."

Of course, there is no guarantee that such reflection with resolution will actually result in any change.  Then again, making no decision to change and taking no action will most assuredly result in failure.  I think it needs to be made clear here that I'm not simply looking at getting in a little more exercise or eating better.  I'm looking at fundamental change.  The kind of change that only comes when one fully submits to God.  The kind of change from being merely a "good" person to being completely devoted to the Lord.

The question is, what will that look like?  In some manner that will look the same for everyone in that the fruit of the Spirit is always the fruit of the Spirit.  In another manner being totally devoted to the Lord will look different for everyone.  Obviously total devotion to the Lord will be lived out differently for a 78 year old woman in an assisted living facility versus a 20 year old college student living in a dorm.  So for me, a nearly 38 year old man, living in a home with a wife and 5 kids, what will complete devotion and obedience to the Lord look like?  This is the question I've been reflecting on lately.

I also realize that in considering such questions I'm obviously looking at practical results. For example devotion to Christ will lead to a greater amount of time studying His Word.  However, I'm not merely looking for a list of accomplishments.  It is true enough that such outward changes would take place if one is committed to following Christ.  Nevertheless, what I'm most interested in is not so much the doing of "christian" things as I am interested in being and in having the character of Christ.  To do this I believe that I'll need to learn more of what it is to simply abide in Christ.  Interestingly though I believe that to more fully abide in Christ I'll have to more fully invest myself in the disciplines of the faith such as meditating on God's Word, prayer, solitude, worship, service, etc. In some ways this may seem to be counterintuitive.  On one hand, I'm trying to simply be in Christ but on the other hand I have to do the things which place me in the center of where Christ is.  It may also seem that I'm trying to dwell in the very center of God's grace by forcing  myself into His grace by performing certain actions.  What we have to understand is that grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning (thank you Dallas Willard for this knowledge).  For example, I can decide that it would be beneficial to read more Scripture in order to abide more in Christ and to experience more of His grace.  Even so, the very act of spending more time in Scripture does not earn me more grace.  His grace to me is still His gift.  Furthermore, it takes God's grace acting through us to even allow us to have the desire to be with Christ as well as to have the ability to act in obedience to doing those things which Scripture instructs us to do.  This in turn help us to be in the place where God's grace can be most effective in us. 

In short, as I sit here these past few days in this reflective mood I am reflecting on my life as a follower of Christ.  In many ways I've been a pretty "good" Christian.  In so many ways I know that I've barely scratched the surface of what in means to follow Christ.  To use a biblical metaphor:  if a follower of Christ is one who picks up his cross to follow Christ, then I have been carrying around a hiking stick.  Oh, it's useful.  It's help keep me steady and on the right path but it is nothing that would cost me my life.

Someone to Teach Me

I just finished watching the first part of a documentary that has atheists discussing why they are atheists.  In the first interview with an atheist philosopher something struck me as an odd contradiction in his own thought.  He first mentioned that people do not need a god in order to have an idea of a moral absolute because moral absolutes are just that, absolute, and that they are "just known."  Furthermore, as people who have knowledge of the moral absolutes, we generally follow those moral absolutes.  In other words, people are generally good and do good.

He continued making the argument that there is no god because the very abundance of evil makes God an impossibility.  This does raise a legitimate question of why there is evil if God is all-powerful and all-good?  A question which I believe Scripture answers but that this philosopher believes Scripture doesn't answer.  On that point (for now) I'll simply agree to disagree with him.

However, I do believe that he has committed an error in his own reasoning. I wonder, if people are generally good, then why is there an abundance of evil?  Shouldn't there be less evil by the very nature of the fact that everyone has a clear understanding of the moral absolutes?  Now he does contend that not everyone does have a clear understanding of the moral absolutes for we are after all, "just human."  But then, would that mean that there is something fundamentally wrong with us?  That in fact we do not "just know" what the moral absolutes are?  Does not the very fact that we do not "just know" what the moral absolutes are, that we are indeed "just humans" who fail at those moral absolutes, suggest that there is a standard of rightness that we are to live toward and that somehow we need a teacher who is not "just human" to teach us those moral absolutes?  For if the teachers are all "just human" then how can we be sure that they teach us correctly?  It seems to me that at some point, if we are to recognize that we do not "just know" moral absolutes, then we are going to need someone to show us both in word and in deed just what a fully moral, dare I say, righteous life is.

The Idolatry of Heavenly Comfort

Whenever I'm asked to speak at a funeral I will at some point read the following Scripture:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, 

and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of

heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice 

from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, 

and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, 

neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, 

for the former things have passed away.”
(Revelation 21:1-4 ESV)

Now I have always read this passage for a couple of reasons.  First, I had always heard it read at funerals and it seemed that it was sort of expected.  Secondly, I read it because of the comfort that people receive.  I believe that this verse and for that matter all of Revelation was written in part to give Christians comfort in the glory to come.  However, I believe that the comfort one receives often comes from a misguided focus on the text.

I read this Scripture at funerals because the grieving family is comforted by the thought that every tear is wiped away, that death will be no more, that there will be no more mourning, crying, or pain.  All of this is true and again, I believe it is there to bring us comfort.  There is comfort in knowing that one day all the pain will be gone.

However, I must admit that I have mishandled this Scripture.  The fact is that I have used this Scripture to point people to the idea that there will be no more tears.  The text though is not about this.  The text is about why there is no more pain and suffering.  The text is about, "He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God."

If one continues on in the reading, the text moves forward giving a grand description of the new Jerusalem.  Everything is amazing.  The city is of pure gold with jasper walls adorned with all kinds of precious jewels.  Then one comes to the heart of the message:

"No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, 

and his servants will worship him." (Revelation 22:3 ESV)

When we read this text we may find comfort in the knowledge that there will be no more pain or sorrow; we may be in awe of the wonder of the new Jerusalem but we have to recognize that the text is pointing us to dwell with and to worship the Lord.  It is true that there are no more tears but that is because we are now fully with the Lord.  He is the reason for the pain being gone.  He is the reason for the mourning to cease.  He is the reason for the curse to be no longer.  He is the reason.  To focus on the results of His presence is to make those results our longing.  We long for no more tears and no more pain.  If this though is our longing then this is what our hearts desire and we have made an idol out of the comfort, out of the no more tears and no more pain.

When we read this text it should point us to Jesus and the glory of the Lord.  We can be thankful for all the joy that will come but our desire and longing should not be for no more tears but for the worship and glory of our Lord.  When we long for Heaven it should be because there we are fully with Jesus and we are gathered together to worship Him.  May we desire to be in His presence.  May we desire His glory above all.

Do We Need Another Story about Starving Children and Poverty?

I must admit that as important as I believe it is for all of us to be involved in the fight against poverty there are times where I just don't want to see another story, magazine, blog post, facebook status, or tweet dealing with this issue.  I admit that constantly hearing about it is a drag.  I mean I get it.  Poverty is a huge problem.  To that end I sponsor a child with Compassion International (compassion.com) and serve as a Compassion Advocate.  I've adopted 3 children from Ethiopia.  I serve as an associate for America World Adoption (awaa.org) and regularly speak on adoption and orphan care.  I regularly address the issue in sermons. I work to constantly remind people that this issue is not going away and yet it is important for us to continue to work to end it.  Nevertheless, there are times when I simply want to say that enough is enough and I'd like to hear some good news for a change.  Really, I just want to get lost for a while in mind-numbing nothingness.  I want to pretend for a minute that all is right with the world and whatever is not right is simply not my responsibility.

Then my 9 year old son who lived the first 7 years of his life in Ethiopia reminded me why we have to continue to tell the stories and to continue to inform ourselves on the issue of poverty and the many evils that accompany it.  The other night at dinner he mentioned that he "needed" an ipod.  When asked why he "needed" an ipod he said because "everyone has one."  Fortunately, I had just received in the mail Compassion International's kids' magazine Explore in the mail.  In this month's issue there was a page that had pictures of 4 different "houses" from around the world.  3 of these houses were what we Americans may consider to be shacks made of mud, cardboard, and scraps of metal and plywood.  Then there was one traditional American home.  I used this too illustrate to Feromsa, who has apparently forgotten his life in Ethiopia, that not everyone had such an American home and that they certainly did not have an ipod.  Many of them did not even have food.

Now then, if someone who lived in the struggles of poverty can after just a couple of years in America forget those struggles, then how much more are we who have been blessed to always live here likely to forget unless we are constantly reminded?

Still waiting...

Waiting…oh, the horror.

I hate waiting. Waiting for news – good or bad. Waiting for things to get fixed. Waiting for things to get done. Waiting for the people in front of you to check out. Waiting for a light to turn green. Waiting for the dog to do its business. Waiting, waiting, waiting.


Waiting is something that we tend to do a lot of and yet it is nearly viewed as a sin in our culture. After all, waiting is synonymous with doing nothing. In our culture we value success and success requires that you do something. In our culture we value getting things done, accomplishing tasks, building, growing, inventing, making more and earning more. We don't honor Edison because he waited for a light bulb to turn on. We honor Edison because he made a light bulb. Waiting, just sitting and waiting is considered wasted time. Time in which nothing is getting accomplished.


Of course maybe we just don't understand waiting. Maybe it is in the waiting that things really are accomplished. At least this should be true for a follower of Christ. If we understand waiting as the time in which we are abiding in Christ; the time in which we are in the court of the King; the time when we are at the feet of the Master, then truly nothing greater can be accomplished than being with the Father.


We should also acknowledge that waiting is a struggle because it is in waiting that we feel most out of control. Let's face it, the reason you are waiting is because you cannot speed up whatever it is that you are waiting on. Waiting for something means that something is out of your hands. But isn't this precisely the best place to be – out of control? More precisely to be in God's control. This is what it means to believe in Christ, isn't it? To trust in His sovereignty and to have our lives in His hands.


Perhaps the reason I hate waiting is that too much of the time I am waiting alone. Instead of abiding in Him I am abiding in my own mind, my own desires, and my own strength. Perhaps the reason I hate waiting is because in doing so I have nothing to "show" anyone of what is being accomplished. Then again nothing could be better than to show a life of one who is waiting in the arms of the Father, desiring to know Him, and to delight in His glory.

"I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5 ESV)

"For a day in your courts is better
        than a thousand elsewhere.
    I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
        than dwell in the tents of wickedness."
(Psalm 84:10 ESV)

Spell Check Theology

Last night I was working on a paper that I needed to write.  As I was finishing it up I decided to add at the end the simple sentence, "To God be the glory."  I then proceeded to do the obligatory spell and grammar check.  There were several errors and the last item that was highlighted was this sentence, "To God be the glory."  The program was suggesting that I check the verb-subject agreement.  What I found interesting was the suggestion that was given for what I should change in my sentence.  It suggested: 

"God is the glory." 

Who knew that Microsoft Office Word was able to check biblical doctrine? 

Top 10 Most-Searched Bible Verses: What’s Missing?

This is an interesting article on the ten most-searched Bible Verses. Be sure to read to the end of the article (it's not real long) to read what the author says is missing from the list. It is a glaring omission.

Top 10 Most-Searched Bible Verses: What's Missing?

Who Believes This?