Last week in our mid-week worship time, we considered the journey of Abraham. He is called “the father of all who believe,” because he trusted in God’s Word of promise and was obedient to God’s commands to leave his father’s homeland and to go to a new land that God would show him. The bible says that Abraham believed God and that this trust was credited to Abraham as righteousness. We, too, trust in God’s Word of Promise. We believe that through Jesus’ death on the cross and his resurrection from the grave, our sins are forgiven and we are heirs of eternal life. We believe, we trust, and the righteousness of Jesus is “credited to us.”
Abraham
March 10th, 2010Career Day
March 10th, 2010Today, I am going to my son’s middle school to discuss my vocation with the students in his “Family and Consumer Science” class. What an exciting opportunity! I wonder how many of the students know what a pastor is and does. One of my younger sons said that he really doesn’t have a clue what I do all day. 
. I’m still working out what exactly I will share, but I do know that it would be impossible to talk about my “job” without talking about Jesus, who is the only reason I do what I do.
Son of Hamas
March 10th, 2010Here’s a fascinating article about the son of one the founders of Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist organization. He claims to have become a spy for the Israelis and during that time, a convert to Christianity. How did he become a follower of Jesus? A simple cab driver in Jerusalem gave him an Arabic-English copy of the New Testament and invited him to a Bible Study. He was attracted to the “grace, love and humility that Jesus talked about.”
Woke Up Praying
March 6th, 2010Now, I’ve fallen asleep praying, but this was a new one as far as I can remember. I woke up praying this morning. Really. I went from sleep to wake without conscious thought and found myself praying. I was praying about my health. Thanking God for the healthy body that I have and asking Him to help me to treat it well, by eating right. Wild.
Stand Firm
March 6th, 2010I’m reading through Isaiah and this verse struck me this morning:
If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all. Isaiah 7:9
The prophet was speaking words of both warning and encouragement to the nation of Judah in the face of the threat of national disaster. He urged them to be calm, to not give into fear when the LORD, their God was with them.
There are at least two ways to apply this verse. The first looks at our emotional, spiritual and mental state when we do not “stand firm in faith.” The reality is that we have two options at every moment in the face of every hardship, threat or disaster. We can give way to fear, or we can trust in the goodness, love and power of God in the face of the threat. It may be easy to give into fear. The physical, visible experience may be quite overpowering and difficult. It may be especially hard to “see through” the experience to the Invisible, yet very real God, who continues to work things out for the good of those who love Him. But we must. If we give way to fear–we will be a mess. Gone will be the peace, the confidence, the security that can help us to function when we most need our “wits about us.” It is our trust in God in the midst of the “storms of life” that keeps us anchored to the only thing that is not tossing and turning in this troubled world. When we let go of that trust–we will be swept away in the waves as well.
The second application of this is far more serious than our mental or emotional state at any given moment. It deals with our very life and salvation. It is “through faith” that we are saved from the ultimate disaster of an eternity apart from God. It is “through faith” that we receive the blessings of forgiveness, righteousness and life that God gives to us on account of the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus. If we abandon faith, we abandon the means by which we receive and apprehend the promises of God and we are lost. We will not stand firm forever, but will be lost.
If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.
But these applications still look at this from the perspective of ME and what I get out of this faith thing. They still fail to look at the object of our trust. The reality is that we should trust God not because it will keep us the most calm or give us the most sense of peace. We should not even trust God simply to avoid eternal destruction. We should trust God, because God is worthy of our trust.
God IS good, loving and powerful. He IS able to save us and provide eternal security, joy and peace. He has proved His goodness in the giving of His Son on the cross. He has given us His Spirit as a pledge of the inheritance that is ours through faith in Him. God IS faithful and He will do what He has promised.
Colossians
March 5th, 2010I did actually memorize Jude and am now working on the book of Colossians. I tried it years ago and have never finished it. I know about 15 verses really well. It’s a great little book, and I am eager to finally put it in my heart and mind and have it all ready on my lips.
I don’t share this stuff to boast. I hope to inspire others to meditate on and memorize the Word of God as well.
Psalm 119:11 I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
Tied Together
March 1st, 2010A couple days ago, two of my boys tied themselves together. They used a piece of rope and several belts. They tied their arms, legs, and middle together so that they were side-by side (picture the old “three legged raced.”) They stayed like this for about an hour and a half.
They fell a lot. They laughed a lot. Surprisingly, they didn’t get mad at each other much.
Watching them, I thought this was an interesting experiment and an interesting picture for the Church. We are “tied together.” Baptized by One Spirit into the One Body of Christ–we’re in this together. Each part doing it’s work for the benefit of one another. Sometimes we fall down in the process, because we are still learning to work together and because we are naturally clumsy. How great would it be if we singly laughed every time we “fell down” together. This could also be a good image for married couples!
I am thankful for the Spirit of Christ in our midst at OSL. We do get along quite well. But it’s always good to keep these types of things in mind and to remember not to take ourselves too seriously, to have ample grace for one another, even as Christ showers such grace on us moment by moment.
Sermon Available
March 1st, 2010Yesterday’s message is available on line here.
Updated: What I’m Reading
March 1st, 2010In the bible.
“Walk Humbly With Your God”
February 25th, 2010All this talk of Enoch walking with God, brings to mind Micah 6:8.
Micah 6:8 He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.