Preparation for Worship

My Memories of Mark's Death

2010-06-25T23:18:00.000-05:00

In a few weeks, it will be 17 years since my brother Mark died. I started writing this a couple of years ago and haven't published it...just because. I'd like to recount some of my memories of 1993. I will probably add to it leading up to July 6, 2010. I know that it should be this long...people have short attention spans, but it really doesn't take long to read, it is very conversational and matter of fact. I just couldn't split the story up.

Perhaps this story will encourage you to enjoy the days, to, like Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes to, "eat, drink, and enjoy the fruit of your labors," or to give your wife, husband, brother, sister, mom, or dad a hug and tell them how much you love them...

Summer, 1993

I remember the day I took my last exam to finish my undergraduate degree at University of Delaware, July 6, 1993. It was a hot summer day and I was finishing up "Nutrition" which would complete my degree. I loved my soon-to-be-fiance', Melanie, and knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was the one for me--in fact, I told her this on our first date (I was too pushy, by the way, so none of you young boys get any ideas with my little girls!) I was a concert pianist, playing at every opportunity, I had great friends at the church. So, let me back up a few weeks.

Several young couples had started something we affectionately, still to this day, called, "Group." This is where I met Bob Imperatrice, one of the best friends a man could hope for, and my wife met his wife Tracy--what a blessing to have real, non-fake, non-fair-weather, through the good and the bad, through your sins and successes type friends. Don't ever take for granted the good people God has put in your life. You know, it is really "OK" to be the type of friend who is always encouraging. Don't always feel the need to point out other people's sins and weaknesses...they probably already know about them. Bob and Tracy have always been encouraging friends even though they have seen us up close and personal.

Matt and Amie Haney were a part of this group...I still remember him telling me about this business venture he had just started called ProPhysical Therapy. I still remember him telling me how big it was going to be...back then I was so used to people "quacking"...I thought he was quacking...he wasn't quacking...

John Cassidy was one of the greatest musicians I had ever met. We played music together all the time and did some amazing things with the choir and the music ministry of the church. He and I would laugh SO HARD that my face would hurt--I REALLY miss those days. He and his wife Lisa, had a little baby girl named Jade who is now a young woman...to this day, Jade still remembers that I was always holding her.

My sister Heidi and her husband Greg Nequist were a part of this group. Heidi and Greg met at Virginia Beach while they were both cruising main street (sshhh....don't tell the kids!) What a work God has done in their lives.

Paul and Michelle Robinson were also in "group." I have known Paul since I was a little kid. Just the other night, we enjoyed a night together with Paul and Michelle and we talked about the old days. Paul and Michelle--as young as they are--go ALL THE WAY BACK. Paul was a big-time quarterback at William Penn High School, back in the 80's, and then at Temple University. Paul was a tough guy back in high school and has quite a story. My Dad was his youth pastor back then--what a pair that must have been. There were other great friends as well--Kevin and Kim Creek, Bill and Michelle McConomy, Kevin and Stacy Montague. So many others. All with stories and all have gone through great trials since that time.

At "group" we would just hang out, get to know each other, laugh, disciple each other, pray together, dream big, and just have fun. Only a few of us had children, and some of the couples were not yet married. Life was good back in June of 1993.

PART II

Piano, the woman of my dreams, group, and plus I was "cut." Honestly, I used to be in awesome shape! Life was good. I remember the day that I finished up that Nutrition class. I knew that in the fall, I would be headed for Temple University to study under a former pupil of Vladimir Horowitz, Alexander Fiorillo. Through God's grace, I had been given a full scholarship and a stipend to work on my Master's Degree in Piano Performance at TU.

Life was simpler back then--really and truly, it was--the Internet was not the center of the universe. I don't think there was universal email, and cell phones were for rich people. It wasn't the 1950's....but it was simpler than today. The night that I finished up my college education, I was flying high. My brother Mark and I were going to lift weights together. That night, I started lifting in the back room of our basement. I had my weight belt on and no shirt. I remember walking out of the back area of the basement to the area that was finished, and there was Mark sitting on the couch with Kelly Marston. They both started laughing and I went back to my weight lifting. I can still see his smiling face. I also remember Mark ribbing me about getting older and out of shape. My mom heard this and said, "Mark...Chuck is just growing into a man's body." And Mark said, "yes....a very LARGE man's body." He was a funny guy.

PART III

So, I went back to my weight lifting and then I went upstairs to my bedroom. At the time, I was reading through Harold Camping's book, "1994?" Camping had determined that Christ would return in September of the year 1994--about 14 months from then. If you can make the verse, "No man, not even the Son, knows the day or the hour" say, "No man, not even the Son, knows the day or the hour, except Harold Camping" I guess you can make the Bible say anything. Oh well, Christ did not return, and I really don't think he is going to in our lifetime. I think it must get much worse before this next event. But that is just my opinion.

It was around 10:50 and surprisingly, we were all home--my parents, my brother Dan, and my sister, Heidi. I could hear my parents talking together. A great childhood memory was listening to my parents talk together before going to sleep. They would talk and then they would pray out loud. How powerful. I hope my generation will recover their faith and practice.

That night was no different, I could hear them talking and then the phone rang. I could hear my mom's side of the conversation: "What??.....(silence)...."Are they OK?" (silence)..." Then she hung up, my Dad asked her what was wrong, and my mom answered, "Mark has been in a car accident and he is in critical condition." As I write this today, I am still in shock that this actually happened. Why are we so surprised by suffering? It wasn't supposed to be this way. My sister and I were just talking about this the other night. Before Mark died, we didn't really know any pain in our lives. Sure, we saw it in other people's lives--but these are the types of things that happen to "other" people...not to us. Everything changed.

My mom and dad flew out of the house--I think my sister went with them. As they left, the phone rang again. I answered the phone as I was putting on my shoes, and on the other line was Pastor Bob Auffrath. Pastor Auffrath was the pastor, for many years, at Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Newark, De. EP had planted Glasgow and Pastor Auffrath was a great mentor to my Dad and a lifelong pastor of many on my mom's side of the family. All he could say on the other line was, "I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry." Looking back, I assume that Pastor Auffrath already knew what we had yet to find out.

Dan and I got into my car and we began to drive to Christiana Hospital. Neither one of us was crying when we got into the car. I started saying that this was bad--perhaps Pastor Auffrath's phone call was subconsciously preparing me for the worst. By the time we got to the end of our drive, Dan was wailing, as was I0---that would go on for many days, weeks, and then months sporadically. Some people don't show their emotion when they lose a loved one...there is nothing wrong with this...they are showing their emotion differently...we didn't hold back...we couldn't.

PART IV

We passed the accident scene on Route 1 near the 273 exit. We saw the totalled blue Toyota Camry on the wrong side of the road and we knew it was big trouble. We got to the hospital and I still remember the first thing I saw was my sister, Heidi, collapsing. She was wearing black pants. Why do I still remember that?

We went into the room and it was chaos. I believe that was the first time I ever saw my Dad cry. He was sobbing--everyone was. My Dad had gone in to see Mark and had come out with blood all over his hands....was it Mark's...from Dan having a bloody nose? I still don't know to this day...don't really need to know.

I went in to see Mark and collapsed when I saw his body. Dr. Warsal was there. He is an angel and part of our family. We stayed at the hospital for a while--to do what? What do you do at a hospital when someone is dead? There is nothing they can do. My Uncle Ted, my Dad's brother, came to the hospital and just cried and hugged us. By this time, it was the middle of the night and we went home. Melanie was there with me. What do you do when a tragedy strikes in the middle of the night? Do you stay up all night? Do you sleep? How can you sleep? We all went to sleep on the living room floor. I believe some people from the church came over and prayed. Jim Weaver was sitting in our family room with others in a circle praying. Many people don't realize this--Jim Weaver and Josh Guzman (the pastors at Crossroads Presbyterian) are two of the closest friends my brother Dan has ever had and were a part of our inner circle. It is funny the little details you remember (or forget). When we see each other today, we pick up were we left off. We mostly laugh about how retarded so many Christian people can act.

At some point, I must have made my way back upstairs and went to sleep in my bed. I remember waking up the next morning and thinking it had all been a nightmare, but knowing it really did happen when I could hear wails coming from downstairs. I ran downstairs to see my Dad clutching onto a picture of Mark with his face touching the picture. As long as I live, I will never forget this moment.

PART V

Have you ever been in a group of people who were collectively lamenting before the Lord? Before my family came to Delaware, my Dad was the pastor of a church in the inner city (Logan area) of Philadelphia. You should hear the stories of God's mighty works that happened during that phase of my Dad's ministry. The city is where the real ministry is at--no doubt about it. But at a very high cost to those who are called. A few days after Mark died, the people from Philadelphia came to our house. This was a group of 25-30 African American brothers and sisters in the Lord. I remember they sat in our family room and told stories about my Dad's ministry of back in the day. The room vibrated with laughter. Some of the people there didn't even know my Dad--they had come with the others who had told them "of Pastor Betters" and of his families time of pain. My parents had been there for many of these people in their times of deep pain. Drugs, alcohol, abuse, prostitution, death...you name it...it happened in my Dad's early years of ministry. I used to love listening to my Dad tell stories of his early years. He would do this all the time when we first came to Delaware.

After they told stories, we began to pray. The room vibrated with emotion and lament. I believe there is a Scripture that speaks of prayers being as "labor pains." Well, that was the first, and only time, I have ever been in a room that was in spiritual labor. Brother after brother, sister after sister, laid bare before the Lord lifting up my family in our time of desperate need. Everyone in the room was audibly praying along with whomever "had the floor." You could barely even hear the person praying. It wasn't emotionalism...it was real. I will never forget that time of prayer. Perhaps it sustained us through another day.

Our friends from "group" were there for us. I don't know why, but I still remember Tracy Imperatrice kissing me on my cheek as I cried and cried. She gave me a hug and kissed me...that meant a lot for some reason. How would we have ever known back then that life would be so full of blessings and curses when life was so simple? Many of the friends from "group" have had struggles of their own but we are all still together. That is amazing. That goes to show the power of community and relationships.

I will write again...I have some theories on the accident scene and have had some people step forward who were actually there...not that it matters much today...but some details were very iffy. I truly believe there was another car involved and that car ran Mark off the road out of road rage. I believe that car was white. I knew this could be a possibility but it was confirmed when I met a person "out of chance" who filled in some of these blanks. I also didn't know it was raining that night. Something happened that night that only God knows...but things tend to come to the surface at some point. I'll post again, there is so much more I want to share.

Interlude: Journey with Jesus...Turning the Other Cheek

2010-01-15T22:09:00.001-05:00

No one likes conflict. Thankfully, I don't have any conflict with others (that I know of) in my life right now. However, I was counseling a friend recently and I wanted to share something I've learned as I've been studying the book of Matthew. I will get back to the section by section stuff in a day or so--but here is a short thought about handling conflict and turning the other cheek.

Even if you are "in the right" in a conflict, even if the other person is clearly wrong, even if you are being misunderstood and ganged up on...we still need to be Christ-like. Think about the passage in Matthew when Jesus talks about "turning the other cheek". At times (depending on the person hitting me), I am terrible at turning the other cheek.

As humans we have two instincts when we are attacked--to fight/defend ourselves or to flee/run away (i.e., "I'm done with this"). When Jesus said to "turn the other cheek" he was telling us to do neither. He was saying, "don't fight back...don't lower yourself", and "don't flee....don't take your ball and go home". Didn't he show us this example when he was put on trial and ultimately condemned to death? He didn't fight back, he didn't even defend himself, and he didn't run away or cop an attitude. Wow. When he said to "turn the other cheek" he was saying to do the hard thing--to stand there, take it, and turn the other cheek. Not as a doormat...but in courage and resolution. It is as though Jesus was telling us to ask the person assaulting you, "is that the best you've got?" Then point to the other side of your chin and take it again courageously. Standing firm. Not fighting back and not fleeing--but turning the other cheek. I definitely need to practice what I preach on this one. The funny thing is, the person who turns the other cheek usually comes out of it less beaten up than the person doing the punching. That is the high road, that is the narrow gate.

Journey with Jesus: Matthew 5: 13-48

2010-01-14T13:10:00.000-05:00

Salt and Light 5:13-16

1. Salt was very useful as a flavoring and a fertilizer and as a preservative in meats. But salt could become useless.

2. Christians are to be a preservative in a sinful and corrupt society. Salt keeps a dead thing from going rotten.

3. The disciple is to be BOTH salt and light. He is not called to merely be a preservative, to stand against the spread of corruption in society. He is also to bear a positive witness to that society.

The Fulfillment of the Law 5:17-48

1. Jesus completes the law. He views the law in eschatological perspective. That is, he expounds it within the context of his foundational message about the dawning of the Kingdom of God. He completes the law, or fills up the law.

2. The OT revelation—the Law and the Prophets—are not complete in itself.

3. The Age of the Law has been superseded by the Age of Messiah. Far from abolishing a building partially constructed, Jesus brings it to completion. By inaugurating the kingdom, Jesus brings the OT to its appointed goal.

4. Jesus realizes the law. By his teachings and his actions, he perfectly expresses all aspects of the covenantal relationship to which God summoned his people through Moses and the prophets. In Jesus an OT design is for the first time realized in an actual building!

5. As those who honor human tradition in place of God’s law, the Pharisees and teachers of the law are in the deepest sense antinomian. Jesus censures them, not for taking the Law too seriously but for failing to take it seriously enough. They preach but do not practice; they heed the minutiae of the Law and neglect its weightier matters (23). I have been astonished at the continuance of this practice among Christians. We love to pick out two or three pet issues (drinking, gambling, watching certain TV shows, or whatever), but we don't attend to the more important issues (gossip, our bad attitudes, our lack of discipline, our lustful thoughts, our lack of love). I once heard a great expositer of the Scripture preach and teach. He truly was a gifted man. But he lacked love. Scripture calls people like these "noise makers", "clanging cymbals", "gongs." I have also noticed that people are legalistic about things they may not desire to do. For instance, a person who doesn't normally drink alcohol may get all fired up about this particular issue, yet they watch R-rated movies. A person may judge another for gambling, yet they play the stock market. A person may judge another for posting her bra color. But they themselves wear a bikini (or a bathing suit for that matter), on a beach. I know the arguments for and against these specific issues and I am not saying one is right and the other is wrong, that is not the point. The point is that people are extremely inconsistent. This is what Jesus was talking about, I believe. Inconsistency. Hypocrisy isn't only failing to practice what you preach, but it is failing to truly believe what you preach.

Journey with Jesus: Matthew 5:1-12

2010-01-13T09:52:00.001-05:00

Today, we finally get into Jesus' words. Matthew is divided between narratives and discourses. Narrative is "telling the story". In narratives, we may have bits and pieces of Jesus' words. Discourses are teachings or sermons of Jesus. These are lengthy. Matt. 1-4 is narrative. Matthew tells us the story of the birth and genealogy of Christ, then in chapter 2, the visit of the Magi and the slaughter of the babies, then in chapter 3, the baptism of Jesus, then in chapter 4, the temptation of Jesus and the start of his earthly ministry. This brings us to chapter 5, which is the beloved "Sermon on the Mount". We cannot imagine the impact of this sermon on a Jewish person following the Old Testament and traditions of the leaders.

Sermon on the Mount Background

1. Probably a digest of a longer sermon. Reading it aloud is only 15 minutes.

2. Jesus may have delivered this sermon in the very format and wording given. We don’t know.

3. Within Matthew’s theology, Jesus is the new Moses. Just as Moses delivered God’s law to the people at Mt. Sinai, so Jesus goes onto the mountainside to set forth God’s instruction (Torah). Matthew says that Jesus, “sat down”—The teachers “sit in Moses’ seat.” Moses was viewed as the great deliverer of the Jews. Think about it, he brought them out of Egypt, parted the Red Sea, etc. Jesus, by expounding on the law and the ten commandments, was the new Moses. No other prophet had done this.

4. As Moses delivered the Torah to Israel to prepare them for life in the Lord, so now Jesus, the New Moses, expounds the Word of God to show the people of God, newly constituted around is own person, how to live.

The Beatitudes 5:3-12

1. He does not command listeners to become these people—he says these people are blessed. The poor in spirit are those who understand their deep need for God. Are you poor in spirit? John Newton, the writer of Amazing Grace once said, "I am not what I ought to be, "I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world, but I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am."

2. The Sermon begins with GOSPEL and not LAW. Poor in spirit is an acute awareness of the nature and the effects of sin (both their own sin and others’ sins) that accounts for such people’s poverty of spirit. This in turn makes the poor in spirit utterly dependant on God and reliant upon his mercy. How blest are those who know their need of God! The poor in spirit are those grieved by injustice, national apostacy, and personal sin. Zechariah, Mary, Simeon, and Anna (Luke 1-2) expressed such longings. In face of such dire needs, they hunger and thirst for righteousness!

3. There is a future dimension to these blessings. Note in verses 4-9 (in each case future tense). They "will" be called sons of God. I don't think we think about eternity the way we should! Just as the major facts of the Bible have already happened, eternity is a yet future event that WILL happen. Last night I had a dream. Roger Conklin, a good friend of mine who died of cancer at an early age, was in the dream. He simply said, "just wait until you get here...it's all true". Can you imagine being called a "son of God" by God himself? That blows my mind.

4.He does not say, “blessed are the sons of God, for they will be peacemakers” or “Blessed are those who see God, for they shall be pure in heart.” There are doubtless many in the crowd—particularly among the outcasts and the oppressed, among the impoverished, the afflicted and the grieving-who are genuinely “poor in spirit” and who “hunger and thirst to see right prevail” but who live without attending to or depending on God, who bemoan their lot without repenting of their sin. Just because a person is poor, weak, or humble does not make them a son of God.

5. The Beatitudes are an invitation to those not yet God-centered. God offers salvation to those who are indifferent to him, or who misunderstand his character, or who are even hostile to him. In our day and age, it is amazing to me how many of my friends are not following God. They may be great people, nice people, even moral people. But there is no hunger and thirst for the word of God or things of the Lord. Here, Jesus, God-Incarnate, offers hope for those who are not yet following him.

6. What makes a person blessed is not poverty of spirit but being rightly related to God as sovereign, “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

7. The disclosure of grace in Jesus far surpasses that of the OT. Note the woes on the unrepentant cities of 11:20-24, these cities are in much more perilous position than were the most iniquitous cities of OT times—even worse than Sodom because they rejected grace. Woe to those who reject grace. We reject grace by relying on our works—by relying on the law.

Journey with Jesus: Matthew 4: 12-35

2010-01-12T09:52:00.000-05:00

Again, just bullet points today.

The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry 4:12-25

1. Jesus travels from Judea to Galilee. If you study the geography written about in the Bible, you will be blessed. Even the small details are a blesssing and filled with rich meaning.

2. Matthew sums it up his ministry in one phrase, Jesus began his preaching ministry by saying, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near.” This is noteworthy when compared to the lengthy discourses later by Jesus in Matthew. It all comes back to repentance and expectancy.

The Calling of the First Four Disciples 4:18-22

1. In the case of both pairs of brothers, the initiative belongs to Jesus. They do not volunteer their services; he calls them into discipleship. What life is God calling you out of to come and follow Him? If you are already a Christian, what is the next step in your spiritual journey? The disciples are an interesting bunch of guys. Jesus selected one who would betray him and one who would doubt him.

2. Simon and Andrew, “left their nets” and James and John, “left the boat and their father.” The verb is very strong, "aphiemi", describing not merely departure but abandonment. Such is the total commitment Christ calls for (10:37).

News of Jesus’ Spreads 4:23-35

1. Teaching gives understanding. Jesus preaches and teaches—the two are distinguished. There is a difference between preaching the word and teaching the word.

2.We need to teach those who have embraced the proclamation of the good news.

3. Can you imagine what it would be like if Christ's earthly ministry had been in our time? With the Internet, Facebook, MySpace, cellphones, television, and newspaers...can you imagine the reporting on his miracles? Can you imagine if you read on Facebook that Jesus just "raised my son from the dead"? Sometimes I feel thankful that I was not living during the time of Christ as one of the religious people. Would I have embraced the Messiah in faith, when most others were despising him?

Journey with Jesus: Matthew 4:1-11

2010-01-11T14:56:00.001-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. It takes a long time for me to put the notes into the context of a devotional. For now, I will just pass along bullet points. Since there is so much to each study, I will probably not post every day as originally planned.

The Temptation of Jesus 4:1-11

1. Jesus’ 40 days and nights of fasting recall the Israelites 40 years of wandering in the wilderness and also Moses’ fasting on Sinai when receiving the tablets (both times—Deut. 9:9 and Ex. 34:28). When we are faced with big decisions or turning points, do we ever consider fasting? Fasting was one of the three pillars of piety during the time of Christ. Fasting, prayer, and giving. Jesus addressed these in Matthew 6. He said, "WHEN" you fast, "WHEN" you give, "WHEN" you pray. He didn't say, "IF". Fasting can also be done simply as worship.

2. The purpose of the temptation is to show Jesus’ resolve to be a servant-king.

3. Hebrews 4:15 tells us that Jesus was without sin. Can you imagine going through your entire life without sin? Doesn't it give you faith to read the Gospel accounts of Jesus' life and compare them up against the accounts of the lives of Moses, David, and the Prophets? The Jewish writers never backed down from recording their great leaders' sins. Yet, with Jesus, he sinned not.

4. Satan tempts Jesus to move off his mission. To choose the material over the spiritual and to satisfy his physical cravings, and perhaps to opt for a mission as social reformer preoccupied with meeting human beings’ physical and material needs as distinct from their spiritual need to be rightly related to God.

5. Jesus’ response shows his reliance on God’s word by quoting the Scriptures, as he did in response to each of the temptations. In each case, he quotes from Deuteronomy, one of the books of the Pentateuch, associated with Israel’s wandering in the wilderness.

6. Jesus’ mission is primarily spiritual in nature. "Man does not live by bread alone". Jesus recognizes that man needs bread, but more importantly needs God’s word and to be in right relationship with God.

7. Satan takes Jesus to the highest point of the temple—the pinnacle of the royal porch, 450 feet above the Kidron valley. He tempts Jesus to yield to the lure of the spectacular, to use the divine power at his disposal to gain popular acclaim which would merge easily with the common notions about the coming Davidic king as a political revolutionary. Again Jesus is being urged to leave the path of the servant who endures suffering, and to become instead a political messiah who inflicts suffering on Israel’s enemies.

8. Satan was tempting Jesus to move off his mission—perhaps something we would not think of as sinful—but if Jesus had succumbed it would have equated to sin. When we move off the mission God has called us to, we are in sin.

9. Three temptations—1/ Bread. 2/ Belief and testing God. 3/ Kingdoms of the world.

10. Jesus’ mission is to establish the Kingdom of God which means rule over all the kingdoms of the world (3:2, 4:17). Satan is offering a short cut, a way to achieve the end without the costly means. There are no short cuts in the Christian life.

Journey with Jesus: Matthew 3, part one

2009-12-22T00:22:00.002-05:00

In chapter three, we find John the Baptist preaching repentance. Isn’t it amazing that to prepare the way of the Lord, John preaches about sin? True repentance entails a change of mind. It is the Greek word, metanoia. True repentance is a reorientation of thinking. Bob Dylan once said, “People don’t do what they believe in---they just do what’s most convenient and then they repent.” That is not true repentance. True repentance is hating your sin and turning 180 degrees from it. A man cannot break free from a life dominating sin until he hates the sin. Similarly, a person cannot receive forgiveness if they haven’t confessed the sin. Sin is not dependant on whether or not the person considers what they are doing to be a sin. Sin is what God thinks sin is. Humans evaluate according to their own consciences. God evaluates according to His. That is a sobering thought especially in our relativistic culture.

Many people sin because they are simply abusing grace. They “know” God will forgive them, so they go on sinning. Grace enables us to say “no” to sin even more. Sin is an insult to God. Susanna Wesley said, “whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off the relish for spiritual things then it is sin for you, however, innocent it may be in itself.” Oswald Chambers said, “it is perilously easy to have amazing sympathy with God’s truth and remain in sin.” This would apply to those who love the Scripture, love the church, and proclaim the truth, but continue to repeat the same sin again and again, even when they know it is sin. Philip Yancey said that, “Jesus reserved his hardest words for the hidden sins of hypocrisy, pride, greed and legalism.” Once we get to the later chapters of Matthew, we will see this in force. Legalism allows us to focus our energies on the things that really aren’t sinful. These are behavior patterns which are normally “easy” for the person to “give up.” However, when we get rid of our false sins, we cover up our real sins in the process. If sin grieves you…if sin causes shame in your life…if sin hurts your heart…if it causes you to mourn that you have sinned against God...the silver lining is that people whose hearts hurt like this over their sins most likely hurt because the Holy Spirit is in their heart hurting. As Christians, sin should be alien to us. John Stott said, “Sin and the child of God are incompatible. They may occasionally meet; they cannot live together in harmony.”

The people listening to John had their whole outlook changed once they believed what he said about the nearness and demands of God’s rule. True repentance is a change of heart. Altered thinking leads to a changed heart. A change of lifestyle. Just how genuine has been the change of mind and of heart is demonstrated in our behavior. It is very rare to see a truly repentant man. Most of the time we like to “save face” in some way. A truly repentant person is a humble and broken person. I have been involved in many marriage counseling cases. In every instance, if the man and the woman would simply and fully repent in humility, their marriage would have a fighting chance.

Isn’t there great beauty in true repentance? I recently spoke with a man who is struggling through total repentance. My counsel to him was to repent fully. It is so attractive for a man to repent in humility and most people are very forgiving. We know we have a God who is slow to anger and who abounds in love and grace. Oscar Wilde said, “how else but through a broken heart may Lord Christ enter in?” Lord, I pray if there is someone reading this tonight who needs to be baptized with repentance that they will lay their sin fully at the foot of your Cross. That they will be sweetly broken, wholly surrendered so that they will find that your grace is more than enough, that your grace is sufficient for them”. Amen~Amen.

Journey with Jesus: Matthew 2 continued

2009-12-12T00:13:00.002-05:00

Matthew 2 continued.

The Escape to Egypt

1. Jesus is the second Moses. The perfect Moses. As God appointed Moses to lead his people out of bondage, so he has appointed Jesus to save his people from their sins (1:21). As Moses’ life was threatened by Pharaoh, so is Jesus’ by Herod. As Moses’ life is saved so that he can fulfill his appointed task, so is Jesus’ that he may accomplish the saving purpose for which God has sent him (to give his own life rather than have it taken from him by the Judean king or the Roman emperor). For Old Testament Jews, Moses was the hero. Moses was the great deliverer who led them out of slavery and to the promised land. Imagine a man who stretched out his arms and parted the Red Sea. Imagine a man who was given the Ten Commandments by God himself. This was Moses. You will be greatly enriched by doing a study comparison of the ministry of Moses with the ministry of Christ.

2. Just as Egypt provided a haven from famine for Jacob and his sons, so it provides Jesus and his parents protection from Herod’s murderous design. It is Gentile land that furnishes sanctuary for Israel’s Messiah. We find awesome stories in the book of Genesis. Genesis is divided into a few sections. Genesis 1-11 is primevil history—this is the beginning of history---these are the hard-core Christian beliefs—Creation, the Fall, the Flood, the Tower of Babel, and so on. Then we have Genesis 12-36—the stories of the three Patriarchs of Israel—Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Then from 37-50, we have the story of Joseph, the son of Jacob. Egypt figures into the story of Joseph. Joseph is sold into slavery, by his own brothers, due to their jealousy of Joseph. Joseph rises to a very high place in the Egyptian political system and is put in charge of the effort to prepare for a famine that Joseph prophesied. In other words, Joseph is second in command of Egypt. After the first two visits of Joseph’s brothers (43-44), Joseph reveals himself to his brothers (45). Jacob, Joseph’s father, makes the journey to Egypt in 46. It is striking that God again repeats His covenantal promise to Jacob, as he is in foreign land, as part of the record of Genesis 46. Here we have the God of the universe promising Jacob, on foreign land, that He will fulfill His promises. Awesome. I see a great parallel between Genesis 46 and Matthew 2. God fulfills His promises in His own time...He puts all things beautiful in His time.

The Slaughter of the Innocents

1. Of course, even children are not innocent—we are sinful from birth. The children in the immediate context of Jeremiah 31:15 (referred to by Matthew) are the members of the northern tribes deported by the Assyrians. Ramah is 5 miles from Jerusalem. Rachel is the one weeping and is the mother of Israel. She was Jacob’s favorite wife (Genesis 29-30). This is why Matthew recalls the prophecy of the women of Ramah weeping.

2. The passage in Jeremiah continues in 2:15, “This is what the Lord says: “Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded, declares the Lord. They will return from the land of the enemy. So there is hope for your future, your children will return to their own land.” Rachel’s mourning will be turned into joy! Have you ever watched a women weep for the death of her child? I have. Several times. There is really nothing like it. Have you ever stared evil in the face? I’m talking about real evil. We don’t fully comprehend the goodness of God because we cannot conceive of the total depravity of man. If left to our own nature, we are so much more evil than we could possibly imagine. We are capable of doing incredible evil. The women of Jerusalem stared evil in the face when their babies were slaughtered. What grief. What pain. This was happening all over Jerusalem surrounding the birth of Christ. Just as back then, we live in a hurting and broken world. We are so insulated in America. Sure, many of us have experienced unspeakable pain. However, those in other parts of the world stare real, demonic evil in the face on a daily basis.

Oh Lord, comfort those mothers tonight who mourn the loss of their precious children. As I tuck my two little girls off to bed, I can't imagine losing either one of them. As I read CJ his new book, "Christmas Spot", I am thankful that he is healthy and brings such joy to our lives. As I see my son Markie growing stronger and more mature in his faith, daily, I think of those who lost their children and what pain they endure. Thank you Lord for your promises. Thank you that one day we will be in another time and another place, where there is no more pain, crying, or hurting. "I've grown so tired of earthly things...they promise peace but furnish pain...all of life's sweetest joys combined...could never match those in another time." Amen~Amen.

Journey with Jesus: Matthew 2:1-12

2009-12-10T11:07:00.002-05:00

Matthew Chapter 2: 1-12

Since there is so much in chapter two, we will take this in two or three parts. First, the visit of the Magi. Matthew is the only Gospel that records this incredible story.

The Visit of the Magi

1. These were men interested in dreams, astrology, magic, and things of the future. The first century Jews had an interest in the formation of the stars. Imagine living in this time and considering the mystery of the heavens. Paul wrote in Romans 1 that “only the fool says there is no God”. He appealed to creation, or general revelation, as the reason why all non-foolish men would believe in God. Back then, they didn’t have telescopes or know much about science and the universe. Since then, especially in our day, we have learned more about the universe and science. As a result, more and more people do not believe in God. Instead of increasing faith, science has decreased faith. I believe that when we get to Heaven, we are going to find out that the “enlightenment age” was God’s way of ushering in the final days. If men were without excuse in the year 45AD, how much more are we without excuse when God has given us glimpses into space and back in time? We see star formations that have already exploded but take light years to get to earth. We see stars that are as large as the diameter of the orbit of Pluto around the sun (all the space in between). We see a comet bruise on Jupiter that is larger than the Earth. This could be God's way of saying, "You can't understand me". This is revelation from our Creator that He is out there. Scientists now speak of a multiple-universe theory. They refer to hidden realms and multiple dimensions. If multiple universes do exist, that would greatly change the scientific view of space and time and all of the sudden, eternal life isn't outside the realm of scientific possibility. God is outside of space and time. Heaven is outside of space and time. Heaven is so much more than we can imagine.

2. The wisemen state their mission, “where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east, or at it’s rising, and have come to worship him.” The wisemen speak of him not merely as one destined to become king, but one as possessing kingly status at his birth. Christ came to us in human flesh. God became a man. He entered into our humanity. I hope those words jump off the screen at you. Just think about it for a moment. God became a man! God stepped into our space and time and became a baby. How fortunate we are to live in this relatively early church period of history. We are only 2000 years removed from God walking on earth.

3. These Magi are Gentiles. They are the first to worship Jesus in the book of Matthew.

4. Their zeal to worship the child demonstrated by their long journey, stands in stark contrast to the indifference of the Jews, none of whom join them for the short trip from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, and the hostility of Herod. This reminds me of our spiritual brothers and sisters in the prison-state of North Korea. These brothers and sisters would give anything to enjoy the spiritual fellowship we have available to us 24/7 in the American Church. If you are a Christian in North Korea, you “go to church” on Sunday by meeting one other person on a park bench. While sitting on the park bench, you may share a Bible verse with your brother/sister and then pray out loud, with your eyes open. If you are fortunate, you may be part of an underground house church of 8-10 like-minded Christians. We are so spoiled in the American Church. We have so many resources given to us, yet we don’t care to use them at all. There is a parallel between the zeal of the wisemen/lack of zeal of the Jews and the apathy of the American Church. When I was in China, I was told by a house church leader that when the people join together, sometimes up to 100 at a time, they are told to “sing quietly” so as not to be heard. I will write more about China another time. So many lessons learned.

5. The star is suggested to be a comet, a supernova, or a planetary conjunction. Johannes Kepler, a German astrologer (died 1630) pointed out that in the year 7 BC there occurred, “a conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn in the zodiacal constellation Pisces, a sign sometimes connected in ancient astrology with the Hebrews.” It occurs once in 794 years, but in that year it occurred 3 times! The following year, Mars joined the conjunction. Herod the Great died in 4 BC, and he ordered the killing of “all the boys…who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi”, there is a strong case to be made for this view. It could also have simply been a star miraculously placed by God. Once again, we need to be careful not to exclude God’s using His own created nature, in it’s own course of time, as a miraculous sign. In other words, the stars themselves are miraculous. Even with all of our 20th century understanding, we still have not even scraped the surface of understanding our universe. We got to the moon once and can’t really get back. Yes, our understanding and knowledge will continue to increase as the years go by, but still we will never uncover the deep mysteries of God and His awesome creation. Therefore, I am happy to ascribe a miracle to planets lining up together because the planets themselves are miracles! I believe that God “teases” us when He gives us a glimpse into the awesome universe through the Hubble Telescope. What we see is beyond comprehension and cannot even be measured mathematically. It is like God is saying to us, “you can’t understand me.” Even non-religious scientists are baffled by what they see.

6. In Numbers 24:17, we find an oracle of Balaam, “A Star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel” Isaiah 60:3 reads, “Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.”

7. Matthew’s theology=the kingship of Jesus and the salvation of the Gentiles. With the star, that is exactly what happens. Gentile Magi are drawn by the star and obey him by worshiping him. Those of us who live in America live in what Christ and the Apostles referred to as the “far reaches of the earth.” Thank the Lord now for the miracle of the spread of the Gospel to our land. Thank him that you are one of the chosen and elect spoken of so often throughout Scripture. What a glorious calling we have.

Journey with Jesus: Matthew 1:18-25

2009-12-09T12:49:00.001-05:00

The Birth of Christ 1:18-25

“All of this took place to fulfill what the Lord has said through the prophet: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel—which means God with us.” There is very interesting background surrounding this prophecy…

We need to go back to the Old Testament during the period of the kings of Israel and Judah. A crisis arises during the reign of Ahaz in Judah. Assyria is re-asserting her power and threatening the nations of Aram and Israel (Is. 7:1-2). The only way to defend themselves is by banding together with each other, Judah, and their other neighbors to combat the Assyrian foe. Judah refuses to cooperate and so Aram and Israel join together to force Ahaz’ overthrow and put their own man on the throne (2 Chron. 28:5-8). Rezin of Aram and Pekah of Israel march against Jerusalem. As a result, Ahaz and his people are shaking with fear.

Yahweh, through Isaiah, sends word to Ahaz to fear not, that He will protect him from Israel and Aram—that their power will be snuffed out. To have faith…to trust in Yahweh. He offers to give him whatever sign he wishes. “whether in the deepest depths or in the highest places.” (Is. 7:10).

Ahaz replies, “I will not put the Lord to the test”. It sounds pious, but Ahaz is really being cowardly. If the sign is given, he will need to fight and possibly die in the process. Ahaz’ refusal puts Yahweh to the test, “Will you try the patience of my God also?” Ahaz tries Yahweh’s patience by rejecting his word. In response to the threat the king appeals instead to the Assyrian king (2 Kings 16:7-18). How many times do we turn to human wisdom rather than the word of God? How many times to we trust in the kings of this earth rather than in God? Isaiah says that the kings of this earth are like “grasshoppers”. What a description. Grasshoppers. Back to our story…

Refusing to do the will of God—even when it is clear what you must do—out of fear, out of comfort, out of selfishness, out of faithlessness, out of a desire to want things to be perfect and man-centered. Many times we are unsettled because we are outside God’s will. The very thing we crave—comfort and happiness, is the very thing that eludes us because we are outside God’s will. This does not mean that our lives will be easy when we follow God’s will—but we will be content and joyful in the Lord. Most of us are very close to where God wants us to be…we just need to take those last few faithful steps.

Ahaz refuses the sign, but a sign will still be given. “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.”

The birth of the child will signal that “God is with us”---the main point Isaiah was trying to make to Ahaz. Precisely because Ahaz has rejected the offer of a sign and shown his lack of trust in Yahweh, the sign of verse 14 will be given. Verse 14: The Lord himself will give you (plural) a sign. “You” being not just Ahaz but the nation He represents. The instrument of Yahweh’s judgment will be the invading Assyrians. The very one that Ahaz trusted (the Assyrians)—will be the instrument of Yahweh’s judgment against Judah. How many times does the very thing that we place trust in, over God’s word, become our undoing? Thankfully, the birth of the child will also signal Yahweh’s grace. In the face of catastrophe, Yahweh promises his presence. God is with us—here even especially in disaster. His judgment drives us to His grace.

Once the sign is interpreted as both judgment and grace, then clearly there has to be at least a fulfillment in the near future. For Assyria did actually invade Judah and devastate her territory (Is. 36-37). Who then is the child? The birth of Isaiah’s own son is a fulfillment of the prophecy—but Isaiah 8:8; 9:1-7 point to the fuller meaning. Applied to this stage of fulfillment, the name Immanuel expresses faith in God’s presence but does not identify the being of the child.

Matthew is stating that Jesus’ birth is the ultimate fulfillment. Wow. The use of the word “fulfill” in 1:22 is partial—we are to imagine a cup partially filled with water, and now filled to overflowing. That which was at most partially realized in Isaiah’s day, has now been fully realized in the birth of Jesus. Jesus was the final fulfillment of this prophecy as he was God with us in the fullest sense. For Matthew to declare that Christ was the final fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah would have been earth-shaking for a first century Jew. It was bold.

This passage also alludes to a literary “inclusio” (meaning a bookend approach—similar themes at the beginning and the end of a particular book) between this passage—his name is Immanuel, God WITH US and the Great Commission in chapter 28, “Surely I am WITH YOU always.” He promises to be with us as we take the message out. We don’t need to ask God to be “with us” when we pray. God is always with us, will never leave us, nor forsake us.

Memory Verse for Matthew 1:

Matt. 1: 22-23

"All of this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: The virgin will be with Child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means, “God with us.”

Journey with Jesus: Matthew 1:1-17

2009-12-08T19:43:00.000-05:00

Chapter 1

Genealogy 1:1-17

1. Jesus is truly a man, a son of Abraham and a true Hebrew. Jesus was fully man and fully God. He was not 50 percent man and 50 percent God, but 100 percent man and 100 percent God. This is a tough concept to wrap our brains around, so we simply affirm it in faith. Here we have the principle of “truthful opposites.” God is fully transcendent (unknowable), yet fully immanent (knowable). Again, we have what I like to call truthful opposites. It has been said that “a great truth is a truth whose opposite is also a great truth.” In my studies of the Scriptures, I have found this to be undeniable.

2. The genealogy attests to Yahweh’s faithfulness over the centuries, never forgetting or abandoning his covenantal promises to Abraham, but bringing them through the course of history to the time appointed for their fulfillment.

3. Four women are in the genealogy: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba. These women were all scandalous (as were many or all of the men).

4. God’s grace for sinners. God’s grace for Gentiles. Rahab was a Canaanite and Ruth was a Moabitess. Praise God that Christ came to save Jews and Gentiles.

5. There is an abrupt change in Matthew’s language at 1:16b. He had consistently used the formula “_____ begat ______” but instead he writes, “Joseph, the husband of Mary, OF WHOM WAS BORN, Jesus, who is called Christ.” The historical fact of the virginal conception forces this grammatical change upon the carefully structured Matthean genealogy. Why do we try to explain away miracles? God is either God or He isn’t. Miracles are very rare in the expanse of history and in the pages of Scripture. The few we have should be affirmed and believed by faith.

Journey with Jesus: Introduction to a Study of Matthew

2009-12-08T19:33:00.000-05:00

I would like to start a study on the book of Matthew. Over the next month, I will post thoughts and research on this book with the hope that this type of in depth study will enrich your spiritual life. I will basically be sharing with you what I feel God is teaching me in my daily Scripture study, therefore I will most likely post one chapter a day (or spread a chapter over two days). In this culture of immediate gratification, I have no plans of dumbing this study down. There is an aspect to the study of Scripture that is hard work. However, it is so life-giving.

I would like to start with a rather technical overview of the Gospel of Matthew. Starting tomorrow, I begin working through the book of Matthew, one chapter at a time. Some of my thoughts will be technical, historical, and theological. Other thoughts will be devotional and more practical. I believe we have GREATLY watered down the faith today. Many Christians would readily agree with this statement. However, I would suggest that the areas where we have watered down the faith have nothing to do with what movies we see, what songs we listen to, whether or not we are patriotic, whether or not we have a tattoo, or what fluid we put in our bodies. Instead, I believe we have watered down the faith by ignoring the Word. We have lost the practice of deep Bible study, the discussion of Scripture around the dinner table, the practice of the presence of the Lord, the discipline of Scripture memory, and the allowance of freedom in Christ within moderation just as Scripture teaches. Instead, we have traded in these practices for a cheap set of man’s rules and traditions. We swing back and forth between license and legalism. In fact, we have done exactly what the Pharisees had done in Jesus’ day. I would like to call us to deep and thoughtful Bible study. Journey with me through the life of Jesus. Take this journey with your children, with your spouse, or by yourself if you are alone. Send me your thoughts, comments, questions, and your feedback. I love deep discussions, so let’s do it.

Matthew was written - A.D. 55-70.

Matthew is mentioned by Ignatius of Antioch around A.D. 110, placing its writing before this period. Matthew was most likely written somewhere between A.D. 55 and A.D. 70. Critical scholars date it after A.D. 70 basing their judgments on the assumption that Jesus could not have predicted the future destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. However, we believe that Jesus certainly did predict the destruction of Jerusalem and so the book was written before this time. Matthew most likely wrote the book between A.D. 55-70 from Antioch in Syria, with the destruction of Israel in view to a community of Greek speaking Jewish Christians, perhaps in Antioch of Syria. The community is surrounded by Jews hostile to the Christian faith.

What is Matthew trying to accomplish?

1. Evangelism.
*The gospel of the kingdom is proclaimed.

2. Apologetics (defense of the facts of the Gospel).
*The book is thoroughly Jewish in nature. It is written as a Jew for the Jews. It is saturated with Old Testament prophecies and quotations as no other Gospel account. Matthew contains over 50 OT prophecies and/or allusions to the Old Testament. Simply put, Matthew wrote the book to prove to the Jewish establishment and people that Jesus was the Son of God, the fulfillment of the Old Testament promises of a Messiah. I imagine Matthew writing this book, as an older man, recalling through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the facts of Jesus’ life and ministry. It is also interesting to note that Matthew is not mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles and did not seem to be a major player in the early church (by human accounts). However, he quietly wrote one of the most monumental pieces of literature, a witness to the life of Christ. He was a tax collector, among the most hated in culture, and Jesus rescued him from this life. Jesus hung out with sinners. Jesus even broke bread with sinners. Jesus says to Matthew and he says to us, “it’s time to stop watching…it’s time to get in the game…follow me.” You may feel insignificant in the scope of history, but God has a great plan and purpose for your life. What is God calling you to?

a. Revelation.

In Jesus of Nazareth, the Old Testament reaches its appointed goal! At the very outset of Matthew, Jesus is identified as the Messiah, who is “God with Us” as the one who “saves his people from their sins.” (1:21)

*He is revealed as the Son of Man of Daniel 7 (Matt. 8:17).
*He is revealed as the Suffering Servant of Is. 53 (Matt. 26:64).
*Throughout Matthew, Jesus’ actions are expressly represented as fulfillments of OT prophecies.

b. Rejection.

Many of the Jews have rejected Jesus as their Messiah and placed themselves in the most perilous of positions as rejecters of grace. A major reason for their rejection is due to the poor leadership of the Pharisees. A few points about the Pharisees:

1. They have not prepared the people for Jesus’ coming by rightly teaching them the OT—instead they have replaced that teaching with their own traditions (15:1-9, Clean and Unclean). What traditions of man are you holding onto? If Christ were to come today, what traditions of man would he break to show us that it isn’t about following a set of rules, but it is about His finished work? How many modern day Christians would have a problem with Jesus turning water in wine, for instance. Would we be like the Pharisees and condemning Jesus because he isn’t following our man-made sets of rules? Having not lived in the first century, we cannot imagine how “sac-religious” it was for Jesus to break the traditions of the Pharisees and the people. Many evangelical Christians are legalists. Usually, these people are legalistic as it pertains to an issue of little value to themselves, but are liberal when it pertains to their own pet hobbies. More on this later.

2. They have not provided good examples. (Matthew 23, the Woes).

3. They have sought to turn the people against Jesus and are the ones chiefly responsible for condemning him to death.

c. Summons.

Let the Jews of Matthew’s day recognize that they, their capital and their culture, stand under judgment (23:33-39) and let them repent before it is too late. The Pharisees and the people are to repent for not recognizing Jesus as the Messiah. Most people today believe in a creative God, or at least in intelligent design. There are also those who do not believe in a creative God at all…but most people would at least say they believe in God. However, most people have a problem when confronted with Jesus of Nazareth. Who was he? Was he just another great prophet like Elijah? A great leader like Moses? Or was he the son of God, was he…God in the flesh…the God-Man…God himself? The other day we had dinner with friends from church. We were talking about one of their unsaved friends. They continually invite this young man to church but he won’t come because he “doesn’t believe.” My friends told him, “don’t worry...just pretend you believe and you will fit right in.” This was said tongue in cheek, but I am afraid that most people struggle in their belief, especially when confronted with the dangerous Jesus of Scripture.

3. Catechesis.

He writes as a Jew for Jews, but also writes as a Christian for Christians. He presents Jesus as the new Moses, indeed Yahweh Incarnate, expounding his law for his people (5-7, Sermon on the Mount), now newly constituted around his person under the leadership of Peter and the other apostles. It is vital that the new Christian church follow the moral, spiritual and practical teachings of Jesus to function properly.

The Gospel of John Mark is probably the earliest of the Gospels with Matthew employing Mark as one of his sources (which is why we have word for word similarities between the two and Luke as well). However, it is also possible that the Holy Spirit simply chose to separately reveal the Word of God to each of the authors with the end result being word for word copies of one another. Either position is acceptable in evangelical circles. The former being more of a slippery slope.

The “Q” tradition stands for Quelle (German word for “source”) which is the oral and written (lost) sources. The Gospel story was passed down orally perhaps from a lost source (Q), which was probably recorded by Mark. This is why Mark reads more like a newspaper than the other Gospels.

MAJOR THEMES OF MATTHEW

1. Jesus is the Son of God. He is God with us (1:23).

2. Ushering in the Kingdom of God. In Jesus, God is invading history to inaugurate his Final Rule (4:23, 12:28), a Rule that will one day surely be consummated (6:10) by Jesus’ glorious return and the Final Judgment (16:27; 24:26-25:46).

3. The salvation of God. Jesus cares for the material and physical needs of the people. Yet Jesus’ chief concern is man’s relationship with God. His principle mission is to save people from their sins (1:21), not only from their poverty or hunger (4:2-4; 5:3-10; 25:31-46). He achieves this saving purpose through the atonement (20:28; 26:28). Then, Jesus’ mission is to save people from their sins, thus giving them a right relationship with God. Thus, he is the second, perfect Adam, the perfect law giver, the perfect second Moses.

4. Jesus has come to bring together the people of God. Jesus has come to reconstitute God’s covenant-people around his own Person, and to establish his church (16:18), the redeemed community of the Last Days consisting of both Jews and Gentiles. He concentrates upon the “lost sheep of Israel” (10:6). But he “gives his life as a ransom for many” (20:28)—for Gentiles as well as Jews. Once the redemption is accomplished in his death, it is ready to be announced to all the nations of the world. (28:18-20).

From the earliest tradition it is thought that Matthew wrote the book. Early church father, Papias, bishop from 130-135, affirmed Matthean authorship. Matthean authorship is really not in doubt.

Matthew uses the name “Matthew” as opposed to Levi. Matthew says, “in the house” in Matt. 9:10 to describe his own house.

The writer is obviously well-educated and extremely organized, just like many accountants we know and love. One of the most organized and professional people I know is our Business Manager, Scott Winchester. People like Scott think differently than the general public. I envision Matthew thinking the way Scott thinks. He took his time and “got it right.” The book is brilliantly organized in narratives (telling the story of Jesus’ life and work) and discourses (sermons/exhortations/devotions/words of Jesus). There are five “great” discourses, with narratives in between. The writer refers to Matthew as the tax collector (none of the other gospels do this)—perhaps to suggest the life Jesus called him out of. What life has Jesus called you out of today?

Challenge: read the entire book of Matthew (this takes the average person 2-4 hours), identifying the narratives and discourses. Name the discourses (parables, woes, etc) and memorize their location (chapter 13, 23, etc). Tomorrow, we will look at chapter one of this great book. I am so thankful for the Gospel of Matthew. I am so glad that God in his great goodness and graciousness has given us a record of the life of Christ.

Who do You need to Forgive?

2009-02-28T20:44:00.001-05:00

When a person is redeemed, they are released from bondage or penalty by the payment of a ransom price. It is at the cross that Christ does his redeeming work for us. Condemned criminals, prisoners of war, and slaves are freed through his redeeming work. On the cross, Christ gave himself as a ransom for us (I Tim. 2:6). We are bought at a price (I Cor. 6:20). The price tag of forgiveness is costly. The redemption at the cross was costly—Christ became sin so that we may be justified.

So many times in life, we are hurt by others. Many times we may be deeply hurt by the people closest to us--maybe a spouse, a parent, a best friend, or a child. With genuine forgiveness, the person who was hurt actually absorbs the wrong and prevents it from spreading and multiplying. So basically, when you truly forgive someone, you bear the brunt of their wrongdoing.

Christ did this for us when He nailed the sinner’s certificate of indebtedness to the cross and disarmed the rulers and authorities by making a public spectacle of them. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us. There is an interesting verse all the way back in Deut. 21:23 that says: for it is written, cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree. We have no clue how humiliating the cross was for Christ Jesus--he really did become a curse. He absorbed our wrongs. Gal 3:13 tells us that Christ died for the accursed.

When you have been deeply wronged by another, there is no way to rush the healing process. You have been wounded and it will take time for those wounds to heal. There can be restoration in this life, however. The decision you need to make is whether or not you are going to forgive the person who wronged you. The offending party can say they are sorry--but the question is whether or not you are going to actually forgive them. It bears repeating: forgiving another means that you assume, and bear the burden of the results of that person's sin.

When you forgive, the wounds will start to close up and will begin to heal. Depending on the sin, it may take a very long time. If you don't forgive the other person, you will carry around this pain, as an open wound, for the rest of your life. Many times, the person who offended us doesn’t even ask for forgiveness or believe they were wrong in their actions. Still, we are confronted with the decision: to forgive or not to forgive.

I am currently recovering from back surgery. They cut me through the stomach, moved my insides all around, fused the vertebrae, and then closed me up. It will take a year or longer for me to heal: if I ever fully heal. In the meantime, my body is reacting against the trauma. It did so by throwing very dangerous blood clots to my lungs. In other words, the process of recovering from the original wound almost killed me even though I was doing everything I could for my body to heal.

It may almost kill you to forgive another person, and in fact, a part of you may have already died. For some it may feel like it is too much to bear to forgive another. Even after you forgive, the process of healing will be difficult. Here's the beautiful part: Christ raises the dead. In fact, it is through dying that we truly live. It is through "lost-ness" that we become found (Luke 15).

You may have been spiritually, emotionally, and even physically cut and wounded by another. The question is, will you forgive the other so those wounds can start to heal? When you don’t forgive, that original wound remains open. What happens to open wounds? They become infected, they become a blemish, they are obvious to everyone around you, and it may spread to the rest of your body. Perhaps there is someone from your deep past whom you need to forgive. Perhaps now is the time for that wound to be closed up so the healing process can begin. Who is hurt more? The person who did the cutting, or the one who was cut and never really healed?

It may not be fair that the "ball is in your court" and that you are being asked to forgive another who has deeply hurt you. I know this will sound cliche'-ish: but it wasn't fair that Christ took our sins, our punishment, in His body, on the tree. When you forgive someone, you are standing in the gap for that person. You are becoming a Christ-type in their lives. When Christ forgives us, somehow, someway, He forgets the offense. It is as if we had never sinned. Then when God views us, we are justified freely! He became sin for us so that we could become the righteousness of God.

Who do you need to forgive?

The Bitter Journey

2009-01-09T18:06:00.002-05:00

It's Friday, the day of the Cross. A friend shared this with me and it really helped to refocus and get my weekend pointing in the right direction. There is something to be said for following an intentional theology of time throughout our days/weeks/months/years. Not just at Christmas and Easter. Go to a quiet place and let this renew your soul:

http://www.beliefnet.com/religion/christianity/holyweek/easter/cross_lite2.html

Exalted

2008-10-30T10:32:00.003-05:00

This Sunday, we will be singing a new song called Exalted--may you be encouraged in your faith today.

Rejoice in Suffering

2008-10-21T18:16:00.003-05:00

Romans 5:3-4 says “We REJOICE in our suffering. For suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us.”

Brothers and Sisters, I wish we could read this verse as if we had never heard it before. That our eyes would be enlightened to that degree because it is such a glorious promise, especially for those who face daily chronic pain.

This passage is pure declarative. What that means is, for the Christian, these things WILL CERTAINLY happen. This is not like the verse, “flee youthful passions”---the theological term for verses such as this one is hortatory, or something that should happen, but may or may not happen. The promise of Romans 5:3-5, however, is going to happen.

We need to read Paul through the declarative and the hortatory. If it burns on our soul that there is a stark difference between declarative (gospel) and the hortatory (law) it will have a benevolent effect on our relationships, our parenting, and our ministry. In other words, if we proclaim grace, the gospel story, if one truly grasps the grace we share, the behavior will follow. If we beat people over the heads with law, we are spinning our wheels. The hortatory grows out of the declarative. Romans 5:3-4 is declarative. How cool is that? For Christians, it is a done deal.

Think about it! Suffering produces perseverance. I get that. Suffering produces character. Boy, do I get that. Suffering produces hope—hmmmm……that’s the tough one. Do you know what else is tough? That Paul has in view a perpetual relationship between suffering and the benefits of suffering. In other words, whether I be two weeks into suffering, or two decades into suffering, I always need to go back and determine whether or not my suffering is still producing character. I can’t just get stuck on hope. My character has to always be in the refiner’s fire. One needs to pray that they CONTINUALLY persevere in their suffering.

Friends, you may not EVER come out of your chronic suffering. If you don’t have chronic pain of some sort—be thankful. But if you do not ever get relief, and this is the absolute hardest part for me, at least, you need to continue to persevere. I believe this is what Jesus had in view in John 21 when he said to Thomas, “Blessed are those WHO HAVE NOT SEEN, yet have believed.” That’s us, dear friends--we haven't actually seen Christ--but we believe.

How are you suffering today? How are you persevering in that suffering? How would those closest to you say you are persevering in that suffering? How are you turning that suffering into a blessing (remember the song, Blessed Be Your Name)? How has the perseverance changed your character? Has it at all?

What’s the deal with hope? Why does Paul include hope? He could have said, “character produces peace” or “character produces love” or “character produces humility”….why hope? Every single word in Scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit—the word “hope” was chosen carefully, why?

Back to the declarative--that which WILL happen--found all through Paul, and for that matter, all through the Holy Scriptures--these are the promises we sung about this past Sunday. Here's another passage that is pure declarative...hope for those in chronic pain. I Thessalonians 4:13-18:

Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that...(and here comes the declarative):

We who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever! Therefore encourage each other with these words.

Parenthetically, I'd like to hear one of the brilliant political commentators ask ANY of the four people running for presidential office whether or not they believe this Pauline promise will actually happen. More importantly though, do you believe it? Do you live it? Do I?

I haven’t even scratched the surface of this passage’s exegetical meaning. Would you encourage me with your insight? It does not have to be highly educated or profound—remember Moses who upon being called by God, told God he could not speak and God gave him a spokesperson, Aaron. Perhaps you will present an idea that someone else really needs to hear, and an Aaron will swoop in and articulate out your thoughts. I'd love to hear from you.

Grace, Peace, and Mercy,

Chuck

Mercy Ministry...the Latest Update from Art, Bryan, and Dave

2008-09-15T10:34:00.003-05:00

Sunday became a challenge to the team as a result of Ike. We realized Saturday that we may feel some of the effects but predictions at that time had us ahead of the weather. Our first stop was in Upland, IN where Sidney Alan Hall (age 52) was killed when he fell through a floor into the basement in a house fire. We were able to contact the Chief and we had over an hour visit with him. We were also able to provide CD’s to Medic Unit crews housed in the same building. The Chief attempted to make contact with the Chief of the next station we were going to but was not able to. We ended our visit in prayer and headed to Eaton, IN.

Jay C. Maddy (age 41) died in the Line of Duty when he collapsed with a heart attack while on a fire watch. There had been a series of arson fires that put the town in fear and on a curfew. Making his death that much harder to handle was the fact that there were 20 more serious arson fires in the week following. No one was at the fire station so we went to an EMS station nearby. The Chief and some members met us there. While we waited we were able to witness to EMT’s that were on duty. The Chief’s wife was a friend from childhood on with Jay. We were able to provide them with our normal resources and Dave brought Bibles from the Gideons that they eagerly accepted. The wind at this point was picking up rapidly and a little rain began to fall. After about an hour we exchanged contact information, we prayed and hit the road.

Our next destination was Cowan Volunteer Fire Department in Muncie, IN. Bradley Green (age 53) died after suffering a heart attack as a result of overheating and exhaustion on a scene of a tanker roll over. God has been very faithful to us by placing the people we need to see at the right place and at the right time. This visit was no exception. The Chief and his wife had “stopped by” the fire station to get ice for a meeting at their house. They were only to be there for 10 – 15 minutes. We changed that. We presented the plaque, the CD’s and Treasures in Darkness book for his widow. After a time of prayer with the couple we began our trek into Oz.
The next stop was Mechanicsburg (OH) Fire Department. By now the wind was a sustained 50 mph with gusts in excess of 75 mph (78 mph to be exact). Jon Trainer (age 38) fell off the top of an engine while racking the hose after a fire. He died of extensive head injuries. While traveling we began to dodge fallen trees, downed power lines and poles, corn stalks, cows… you name it. We finally got into town after altering our route multiple times. The fire station was empty of apparatus but there were a few people. God at work again, the Chaplain of the company was there helping to coordinate the rescue efforts. We made the presentation (quickly) and we promised to return in the future. He warned us of tornado sightings in the area and we headed out after praying for all of our safety. Leaving became a challenge because most of the streets were blocked by fallen trees. Some of them were huge. We debated going back to the station, rolling up our sleeves and helping out but we would become just 3 more people for them to have to deal with so we continued on. We FINALLY made it safely to the interstate and headed to Pennsylvania for our final stop of the day.

We had to fight the wind the whole way but eventually we made it to Roscoe Volunteer Fire Company, Roscoe, PA. (just south of Pittsburg). Sean Whiten (age 47) died on the scene of a training exercise while taking a mandated rest break. We were welcomed with wide open arms. We ended up eating dinner there provided by the members and we spent over 2 hours there with them. All the members jumped into action cooking us dinner. We were led to believe that they had it out already and we could just finish up their leftovers. We became members for the night of the Roscoe Fire Co., enjoying food and fellowship. Tomorrow we will be heading to Shranksville, (PA) Volunteer Fire Department they were the first on the scene of Flight 93’s crash on 9/11. We thank all that prayed for us during the Oz-fest. We wanted to get pictures but it was hard to do, like anything when you are in danger. We may have 1 or 2. Personally I thought I gave all that up when I got my desk job. Most likely there will not be a report from Monday but Im always open to God’s plans so that might change.

Prayer Need...

2008-09-14T18:06:00.000-05:00

I just got a call from Bryan Clark and he requested immediate prayer for the First Responders Team. They are currently in Mechanicsberg, OH and are driving into tremendous storms caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ike, the winds are really heavy and the roads are really bad and they still have 4 hours of driving to get to their hotel. Please pray for safety for the team as they continue their trip.

Another Incredible Update from Our Guys

2008-09-14T08:58:00.002-05:00

Saturday started out with a bang. Our first stop was Pine Township Engine Company in Grove City, PA. This is the station of Brad Holmes (age 21) who died in the Line of Duty when he became trapped on the second floor of a house fire. We have come to determine that when we arrive at a station and no one is there God has something special in mind for us and this was no different. In our quest to find anyone connected to the fire company we went across the street to, of all things, a drive thru beer distributor. The cashier gave us a name and a phone book. Not even 10 minutes later we were standing in the engine room of the station with Brad’s father and Lt. Scott King, the firefighter also trapped with Brad but survived. Art had an instant bond with Scott. In 1983 while working in Ocean City, MD Art was with a trapped fire fighter killed under very similar circumstances. The shared emotional battles and life upheaval became that bond. We presented the plaque to Brad’s father and spent over an hour talking with them. Before leaving Scott was given Art’s personal contact information and a time of prayer was shared. The special blessing we have been seeing on this trip is the opportunity to meet the fathers of these fallen heroes. Being able to hear the proud stories and having the opportunity to help them connect with each other for comfort and support leaves a lasting impression.

We continued on to Rome, OH where Steve Olinik Jr. (age 65) died after collapsing at the station when he responded for a car fire. His fellow fire fighters performed C.P.R. on him right in the engine room. The ride took us through a very rural area of Ohio. Our discussion focused on how we shouldn’t get our hopes up about finding anyone at the station because we were in the middle of Nowhere, OH. We pulled into the station parking lot where there were six or seven cars. The station was wide open so we walked in but couldn’t find anyone. After about 10 minutes we found a group meeting in a multi-purpose room. Longer story long, the Chief and the son of the fallen firefighter were both at the meeting which had been interrupted by a car wreck causing the meeting to run late. The Chief told us they would have been gone otherwise. We presented the plaque to the son and Chief, handed out the CD’s and we broke up into natural, separate conversations. Dave had a very personal conversation with a wife of a fire fighter. Her brother-in-law was a non-believer and was suffering from brain cancer. Her heart was heavy and she wanted answers. She was a fairly new Christian and she welcomed resources. We were able to provide her with the Dying With Dignity and the Terminal Illness CD’s. They were all also given the Loss of a Loved One CD. Before we left we had a time of testimony and closed in prayer.

Our next stop was really more of a delivery than being able to witness but we did get the CD’s and the plaque into the fire departments hands. We were at Pitt Township Fire Department, Harpster, OH where Richard L. Kear (age 58) died when the fire engine he was driving left the road and rolled over. We did have a major crisis while there. Paul, we promise we will get all the root beer out of every inch of the Suburban before we give it back. Who knew a can of root beer could explode like that?

Our last stop before traveling to Marion, IN was Ohio City Fire Department, Ohio City, OH. This became a very special time for us. Chief Paul Swander (age 73) was killed when he fell from a ladder at the station while preparing for a coming storm. Like many times before when we arrived there was no one at the station. (hint) For that matter the whole town, not really but it seemed like it. We found out where the Mayor lived and went to his house. He called the Chief and the next thing we knew we were standing with the Chief, the son of the fallen hero. He is still suffering deep grief and he freely opened up to us. Dave was able to relate to him as a result of losing his own father several years ago. There are times in our travels that when we leave, we feel like we have known the person or people forever and this was one of those times. Darrel talked to us as brothers. The bond we felt we are sure will last a lifetime. Once again we were able to provide him with MARK INC and personal resources. He was blown away that we cared and loved him and seemed like he didn’t want us to leave. We had a special prayer time with him and promised we would keep in touch. We arrived in Marion at 11:00PM.

Awesome Stuff

2008-09-13T09:51:00.004-05:00

There are so many great things that happen in the life of our church--it is hard to pick just one. Many churches try to start a mercy ministry and they fail--it doesn't work that way. Mercy ministry is grass roots and begins in the hearts of the people--not from the top down. If the hearts of the people aren't softened to mercy and the mission of God, no amount of prodding, planning, documenting, programming, theologizing, and guilt-tripping will do the trick.

There is a group of men from our church who travel to the firehouses of those killed in the Line of Duty. Our guys just show up, pray with the men, present them with a really cool plaque in honor of the fallen first responder, and show them that we care. The three of these guys just decided one day they were going to just get it done and they have. I got this report today--and I thought it was pretty awesome...

Our first stop was Scranton, PA where Captain James L. Robeson, age 50, was killed in the Line of Duty when the ladder truck bucket he was in came in contact with electrical wires. The station itself was from the late 1800’s (formally known as the turn of the century) and had all the features that you think of from that era. The day room was on the second floor and that is where we met the crew. There were 8 firefighters including an Asst. Chief, a Captain and a Lieutenant. We were welcomed in, invited to eat lunch and provided with coffee. The plaque was presented and when it came time for pictures the Chief was called in too. The usual tour of the station and equipment description followed the pictures. We went back to the kitchen area where we sat and talked for about an hour. We had the opportunity to share about the CD, the ministry and the Lord. The Lieutenant agreed to give the Treasures of Darkness book to Robeson’s widow and copies of the Loss of a Loved One CD to her and the family. Bryan led a prayer and we headed out for our next stop Elmira, NY.

Just as in the past God has shown how he is in control of all things. The next stop was the West Hill Fire Department (Elmira, NY) where Ryan T. Barker (age 25) was killed when the tanker truck he was operating was involved in a roll over collision. He left behind a wife of a month and a day and a 2 year old daughter. When we arrived at the station there was no one there and later we found out that the station is temporarily closed. The Chief made the decision to remain out of service because of the deep impact the death has caused. We attempted to call 411 to find a phone number for the Chief but none of us could get a signal. As we drove away we started looking for anyone with a fire department tag on their car. A memorial sticker for Ryan was spotted on a pick up so we pulled into the driveway. Our hearts sank when the owner told us he wasn’t a firefighter. He quickly added “but I know the Chief”. Five minutes later we met Chief Joe Sullivan at the station. He was taken aback at why we were there and seemed very comfortable talking with us. He related how the crash occurred and other information of interest. He then began to tell us about Ryan, how his widow is an active member and how close all the members are. This is why the station was taken out of service. He teared up as he spoke and it was obvious how much hurt he still had. The crash happened in July 2008 so it was still fresh. We presented him with the plaque, the CD’s and a book for Ryan’s wife Jane. We gave him Loss of a Loved One CD’s too, more than we usually do because of the family like bond they all seemed to have.

Since Dave has a spazz attack as soon as the gas drops below ¾ we are always looking for gas stations. Dave wanted to stop for gas but the crowd revolted and made him continue. When Art and Bryan finally relented to Dave’s whining we stopped at a gas station off of I-86 somewhere in New York. As we pulled up to the pumps we noticed a Paramedic SUV and a pickup truck with a light bar on it. Dave went inside and met the crew. They were a group of fire fighters en-route to Watkins Glen for training. The Chief of Chautaura Institute, NY (that’s really the town’s name) was the one in charge. God not only led us to a fire fighter but he led us to THE fire fighter that could get things done. He offered to take CD’s to the training center and hand them out this week end to fire fighters from all over New York. Dave brought him to the truck to give them to him and showed him the plaque that we were taking to Erie, PA. When he looked at it he quickly proclaimed “I know him”. He then proceeded to tell us how the accident happened that killed Deputy Chief Mike Crotty. Before we said our good byes, the whole group (8 men) and the First Responder Team stood in the truck stop parking lot and prayed.

We continued on and arrived at Lawrence Park Fire Company, Erie, PA about 8:30 PM. Deputy Chief Michael Crotty (age 24) was killed when a nozzle, under pressure, fell off a snorkel truck at a fire scene. He died of head injuries that night. There were a handful of people looking at a new ambulance that just arrived. We introduced ourselves and the fire fighter/EMT told us he would call Mike’s father to come and accept the plaque on behalf of the fire company. As he closed his cell phone, Mike’s dad pulled up to the fire station. After the introductions were complete Mike’s dad began telling us about Mike’s accomplishments and how well he was loved by all that knew him. You could see the pride swelling in him as he spoke. Mike’s cousin (and best friend) was there too and she proudly showed us pictures and told stories too. Her father was Chief of another fire department and she took CD’s to be handed out there as well. Since this was the first night the ambulance was to go into service there were firefighters and EMTs from other departments stopping in to see it. We didn’t have time to go to them, so God brought them to us. Each person we met became a courier for God’s work. We left there having met a goal 5 times what we intended.

Charles Spurgeon

2008-08-28T14:54:00.006-05:00

I came across this piece about Charles Spurgeon, by the ever-controversial Mark Driscoll, and I thought it was so powerful. I hope this encourages you to lift up those in ministry! I'd love to hear your thoughts, questions, comments, struggles, agree, disagree...

Charles Spurgeon came under continual attack because of both his conservative theology and successful ministry. What has come to be known as the Downgrade Controversy ultimately led to Spurgeon being kicked out of his own Baptist denomination for his unwillingness to stop teaching such things as eternal torment in a literal hell, the literal truthfulness of Scripture, a literal creation by God, and the perfection and divine inspiration of Scripture. In his final days, Spurgeon was attacked by hyper-Calvinistic legalists and universalistic liberals alike, the former because he freely preached the gospel to all people, the latter because he did not believe that everyone would be saved.

To make matters worse, Spurgeon was blessed with a rigorous mind and powerful voice but suffered from poor health. He suffered continually from a variety of ailments, ranging from kidney disease to gout, which occasionally prevented him from preaching and ultimately took his life at age 57. Additionally, his beloved wife Susannah struggled mightily with poor health and spent considerable years of her life essentially bedridden. In his seasons of tremendous pain he was forced to pray and trust the goodness of God. His suffering also greatly clarified his understanding of Jesus’ painful atonement and great love for his people. His prayers sustained him when he was forced to miss up to seven weeks at a time and lie bedridden in pain rather than preach to his congregation. Spurgeon struggled with depression prompted by his poor health and the painful burden he carried for the many pastors who came to him for counsel. Speaking of his bouts with depression, he said that it was like “fighting the mist.”

Once, a terrorist threat was made against his birthday party, which required police protection. Perhaps the darkest period of Spurgeon’s ministry came when troublemakers began falsely crying “Fire!” to a packed congregation that had come to hear him preach, causing a stampede that killed some people who were trampled underfoot. Spurgeon was so distraught that he had to take some months off to simply recover emotionally.

One of the greatest gifts I have ever received arrived in conjunction with the tenth anniversary of our church. It was a handwritten letter from Spurgeon sent to me from an Australian pastor who listened to my sermons online. At the time the letter was written, Spurgeon was roughly my age with a church of five thousand, which was roughly the same size as our church. The letter included a particularly haunting line for me personally. In it, I find a mentor with whom I can relate, as there are few who understand the weight of leading a large, fast-growing urban church at a young age without a pastor to mentor you in the face of great adversity and criticism. In the letter written to a friend on February 20, 1873, Spurgeon speaks of “staggering under the cares of the little nation that demands my perpetual service.” In the face of daunting work and overwhelming criticism, Spurgeon has mentored me in four ways.

First, in his willingness to speak of his personal suffering and pain, he has chosen to not falsely present himself as a perfect man without weakness or trouble. In so doing he has given me freedom to likewise be honest in hopes of best serving other ministers of the gospel.

Second, in admitting the pain he personally endured at the hands of critics who were motivated by everything from jealousy to false doctrine, he has made me feel oddly normal. I also praise God that he did not live in our present day when criticism is worse than ever. In a phone conversation I had with Rick Warren, he noted that today criticism is instant, constant, global, and permanent. His insights are truthful, and had Spurgeon lived in our day of Internet rumor-mongering, I fear it would have shortened his life even further. I find myself returning to Spurgeon’s letters and autobiography for some mentoring and praise God he lived in a different era because of my affection for him.

Third, in dealing with critics I have learned to find a way to strategically respond beyond the pulpit. What I appreciate about Spurgeon is that he did not allow his pulpit to be dominated by responses to his critics, as that would have gotten him off mission and message. Still, if he did not have a way to speak for himself and defuse rumors and lies, he would have been destroyed. His answer was the magazine “The Sword and the Trowel.” Taking the name from Nehemiah, he rightly saw that the movement he led needed to be built (trowel work) and defended (sword work). The magazine helped him to do both and in his example I have used blogging, article writing, YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, media interviews, and the like to do the sword work.

Fourth, I have learned from Spurgeon that suffering and despair are part of faithful gospel work in the face of criticism. I have also leaned the importance of living for the day when the biography is written on earth and the verdict is rendered in heaven. During one of the most painful seasons of conflict, illness, and controversy, Spurgeon said something that was literally transforming for me. He said that he kept a long view of things and knew that one day, after he was dead and gone, history would vindicate him. By God’s grace, it has, and with many years of ministry ahead of me, his words ring true and continually help me to keep my hand to the plow and press forward, awaiting my final judgment of works at the throne of Jesus.

Upon his death, sixty thousand people passed before his open coffin in one day, with a similar crowd the ensuing day. Four memorial services were held in one day for the members of the church, ministers and students, members of other denominations, and the general public respectively. The road to the cemetery from his church was lined with hundreds of thousands of people whose lives had been touched by the power of the gospel through Jesus’ servant Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

By God’s grace, Spurgeon finished his race well and I pray that I will do the same in part by learning from his example. Lastly, I praise God that his faith is now sight and look forward to the day when I will meet my dear friend.

(from: http://theresurgence.com/md_blog)

All About Worship

2008-08-26T17:14:00.003-05:00

I really want to move our congregation towards a deeper and more intentional theology of worship. This will require preparation and hard work on your part. I would like to see our congregation greatly improve in our singing, however, worship is more than singing and is not a show.

Worship is a narrative (the content moves as a story with an inner cohesion). Not a program (a series of isolated and unconnected acts of worship appearing without connection). A program approach to worship is generally entertainment rather than a spiritual journey. We are no good at entertainment. Worship should appear as an inverted V, representing an uninterrupted flow of the story of coming into God’s presence and being made ready to hear the Word. I tried to add some commentary along the way (I am indebted to the late Bob Webber who taught me much about worship during my doctoral studies).

Gathering Song...Sung while the congregation takes its place in the sanctuary. As people enter they should automatically join the singing to prepare their hearts for worship. This will begin 5 minutes before the service starts. Please arrive early with joyful anticipation.

Let the Worshipers Arise (this is a good example of a simple modern song that still has a strong message. Many of today's chorus songs are not helpful in our approach of the one, true, living God--but some are. We will continually strive to select those with messages of depth).

Carillon

Entrance Hymn...The Entrance Hymn signals the beginning of the formal acts of worship. The great hymn, Praise to the Lord the Almighty is characterized by weight and substance and expresses the journey of coming before God and standing in His presence in the heavens. When the choir comes back in the fall, here is when they would process.

Praise to the Lord the Almighty

Greeting and Call to Worship...The Greeting is a joyful exchange between the worship leader and the people. The Call to Worship expresses the acts of being brought up into God’s presence, and it forms within the worshipers’ experience the sense of God’s intense presence in the Church.

Pastor: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
People: And also with you.
Pastor: I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, where does my help come from?
People: My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.
Pastor: Glorify the Lord with me!
People: Let us exalt God’s name together!

Right Into:

Corporate Invocation (The Invocation calls upon God to be present in the sanctuary):

People: Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets and hid; cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Act of Praise...The Act of Praise recognizes God’s transcendence thus continuing the narrative aspect of the worship journey. The Entrance Hymn has brought the people into a face-to-face position with God; the Call to Worship has resulted in the congregation becoming a worshiping community; the Invocation has asked God to be uniquely present. Now, the Act of Praise is the proper response for those who stand before the Almighty God of the universe.

All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name

Confession of Sin...Once the congregation has experienced God’s transcendence, the appropriate response is a confession of sin (as in Isaiah 6:1-17). The internal experience of knowing that one is accepted before God ministers to the worshiper and produces an assurance of their relationship to God.

People: O Almighty God, Lord of heaven and earth, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed. Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us after your great goodness; according to the multitude of your mercies forgive our sins; wash us thoroughly from our wickedness and cleanse us from our sins, for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.

Offering

Desert Song (a great new song of lament, bringing balance to include all "voices" in worship)

http://www.ccli.com/usa/Community/CCLITV/Default.aspx?v=606dccc9-31e8-44d4-a711-3ffd17ae8e61

Silent Confession...The time of Confession and forgiveness may be a special time of ministry during which the worshiper reflects on their shortcomings and then hears the words of forgiveness and acceptance. The experience of the worshiper should be a sense of release accompanied by real joy!

The Words of Forgiveness...After the time of confession, both in word and song, the words of God’s grace and pardon are spoken. We are free in Christ, but called continually to live a more holy life.

In Rev.21.5 the Lord says, See, I am making all things new. 2 Cor. 5:17 says, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation. and 2 Cor. 5:19 says, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself. Through him our sins are forgiven!

Song of Assurance: Your Grace still Amazes Me

Congregational Prayer for the Sermon...At the time around the Word, worship shifts from coming into the presence of God to being and remaining in that presence. The chief action is communication: God speaks to us through the Word, and then we respond. Our attitude should be, “I want nothing more than that the Word of God will take up residence in my life and shape me into Christ’s likeness.”

People: O Lord, heavenly Father, in whom is the fullness of light and wisdom, enlighten our minds by your Holy spirit and give us grace to receive your Word with reverence and humility, without which no one can understand your truth. For Christ’s sake. Amen.

Elder Prayer

Sermon

Closing Song—TBD based on sermon content

Men's Worship Service--WOW!!!!!!!!

2008-08-25T20:21:00.011-05:00

Every now and then in the ministry, you have a night that you will never forget. Tonight was such a night. We called together our men for a time of prayer, singing, preaching, and to receive the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. This event was scheduled about 10 days ago--there is something to be said for last minute planning every now and then--conceiving of an idea and then just getting it done with as little fuss as possible. That is what happened tonight.

Our sanctuary was packed with men. It was a "come as you are" atmosphere. We started off in the narthex--it was wall to wall men. My son Markie said it best to me in the car ride home. He said when he opened the narthex door from the office wing, he was hit with a wall of smell--he said it "wreaked" of man smell. Too funny. Markie also said that the worship time tonight ranks up there as one of his all time favorites--he said it was even better then the incredible times of worship we had in Spain with the MTW men missionaries (Me, Markie, and Dan led worship for them back in the Spring--what a thrill). Markie was really pumped up tonight--I cannot tell you how thankful I am to be a part of something like this--what an impact this will have on my teenage boy. There was a real sense of expectancy. Our men were fired up and ready to worship.

Dan gave a call to worship, we did a responsive reading in the narthex and then the band kicked into Come Thou Fount. The men processed in together and the sound built and built. It was a great sound--but I felt it wasn't nearly as powerful and majestic as it should be given the muscle power in that room. So we sang it again, and let me tell you, I thought the roof was going to come down. I have never experienced worship like this at Glasgow. That is the way it should be all the time. The Psalms are filled with exhortations to sing loudly before the Lord. I have often been criticized for my desire for loud and excellent worship singing--well, I would say that sometimes it IS about how loudly you sing. There is a time and place for everything--when we come into the presence of the Holy God, he deserves our highest and loudest praises. Yes, there is also a time for quiet--but when we sing songs like "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name"--we need to sing it with power, vigor, volume, and majesty. It was awesome, awesome, awesome. We then went into And Can it Be. Awesome. The hymns really are hard to beat--WHEN THEY ARE SUNG WITH VIGOR. Hymns are pathetic when sung weakly. Quiet singing just doesn't fit the words. How can you sing, "Amazing love, how can it be, that thou my God would die for me" softly, weakly, not at all, or in a mumble? Sing it out!! Tonight our guys did, and it was awesome. I'd like to see us do a even more hymn singing at Glasgow--but with power and from our hearts.

Then Dan brought a great message. He went through all the things he "could say tonight"--all the areas we struggle in: lust, stinginess, treating our families poorly, not being good leaders--but instead he drove home the Story--the Gospel. You see, when we preach the Gospel to ourselves everyday, those other things will indeed follow. Dan was preaching through Galatians--a wonderful Pauline book--written fairly early in his ministry. Christ became a curse for us. Like Deuteronomy says, "Cursed is the man who hangs on the tree." Christ became sin for us. Just think about that.

Then, we sang a new hymn, "The Power of the Cross." This song is one of the greatest songs in the Church yesterday or today. I believe this song will have the staying power of a Holy, Holy, Holy. We need to find these great new songs and embrace the old and the new--that is what I mean when I say "ancient-future." Most contemporary chorus songs are junk--this one is not--it tells the Story in a very powerful way--"Son of God...Slain for us." Then we had a time of prayer led by Steve Jeantet. Steve took us through the three uses of the law (Gal. 3:24)--we got into groups--it was great. The prayer time culminated with another soon to be great hymn of the church, How Deep the Father's Love for Us. Can't beat the words. And our men sung from their hearts. "But this I know will all my heart...his wounds have paid my ransom." Wow.

Then the Lord's Supper. The men came forward, knelt (which is very impacting), and then my Dad and Dan administered the elements to each man by sharing a Scripture verse with each guy--it was deeply personal and very moving--men lingered in prayer on their faces before God. Damon and I were in the back available to pray with our men for specific needs. I prayed with some very special men as did Damon--it was such an honor to intercede for these guys. Charlie Postles, one of our elders, prayed over me--I need it--and it was great. These are the kinds of things you never forget. "By His stripes, we are healed." Whether on earth, or in heaven...we shall be like Him!

Then we sang How Great is Our God--AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME. Again, this is one of those songs that will be with us for a very long time. I really needed that tonight. I think a lot of our guys did. We have an incredible church. We've been maligned many times--but through God's grace, we have stood strong and the harvest continues to come in. Would God see fit to bring revival to our Church? What just happened tonight? The Lord is certainly moving in many of our hearts. Bruce Marker, one of our elders, said it best earlier today, there is simply a "buzz" in our church--the Lord is doing something great.

CS Lewis on Human Effort

2008-07-21T13:50:00.001-05:00

The only road to real self improvement is a radical application of the Word to our lives. There is a constant tension in the Christian life of striving to live by the Word while at the same time relying on God for our next breath.

CS Lewis wrote on this subject. I hope this encourages you today to stop trying to impress others. People who live by all law and not enough Gospel usually end up very lonely and disappointed with others, with themselves, and with life in general.

Sometimes I think that the Apostle Paul, if he was writing specifically to today's church (I know, he did, but you know what I mean) would ask, "DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO BE FREE IN CHRIST?????" Here is Lewis in Mere Christianity on this very subject:

Either we give up trying to be good, or else we become very unhappy indeed. For, make no mistake: if you are really going to try to meet all the demands made on the natural self, it will not have enough left over to live on. The more you obey your conscience, the more your conscience will demand of you. And your natural self, which is thus being starved and hampered and worried at every turn, will get angrier. In the end, you will either give up trying to be good, or else become one of those people who, as they say, "live for others" but always in a discontented, grumbling way--always making a martyr of yourself. And once you have become that you will be a far greater pest to anyone who has to live with you than you would have been if you had remained frankly selfish.

Well, CS Lewis IS fallible, much to the chagrin of many in the evangelical church--so I'm not sure about Lewis' suggestion that we should have just "remained frankly selfish"--Lewis is probably using prophetic overstatement to drive home the point. On the other hand, he may indeed have a good point all the way around including the last phrase!! How have you struggled with this issue?

Come and Mourn with Me a While

2008-06-24T13:49:00.008-05:00

Dear Friends,

This Sunday, we will be singing an obscure hymn written to a great new tune. The words are awesome. The song was written by Frederick Faber, in 1849, as a Good Friday song and was recently recorded by the Newsboys, but the arrangement we will be doing is by Indelible Grace, a PCA-based music group known for re-writing hymns (many times lesser known hymns) to new music. I hope this song encourages you to look to the Cross and remember the great price Christ paid for us.

mms://media.grpc.org/ocomemourn

O Come and Mourn with Me a While

O Come and mourn with me a while,
O Come ye to the Savior’s side;
O Come together let us mourn;
Jesus, our Lord, is crucified.

Seven times He spoke, seven words of love; and all three hours His silence cried
for mercy on the souls of men; Jesus our Lord, is crucified.

O love of God! O sin of man! In this dread act your strength is tried;
And victory remains with love; Jesus, our Lord, is crucified.

O break, O break, hard heart of mine!
My selfish love and guilty pride,
As Pilate and His Judas were; Jesus, our Lord, is crucified.

A broken heart, a fount of tears; ask and they will not be denied; a broken heart love’s cradle is; Jesus, our Lord, is crucified.

O love of God! O sin of man! In this dread act your strength is tried; and victory remains with love; Jesus, our Lord, is crucified.

And victory remains with love; Jesus, our Lord, is crucified.

Come, and mourn, come and mourn, Jesus is crucified.

Father's Day Memories

2008-06-15T21:16:00.005-05:00

Today is Father’s Day so I wanted to write about my Dad. Since I had such a great childhood, it is hard to pick just one memory. However, tonight I am watching the NBA finals, the Lakers against the Celtics. During the pre-game player announcements, they showed video shots of the great 1980’s teams. One of the clips was of Julius Erving, also known as “Dr. J.”

When I was a child, I loved playing basketball and I loved the Philadelphia 76ers. In 1983, I was only 11 years old, and the 76ers were on their way to win a championship—27 years later, we are still waiting for ANY Philadelphia team to win a championship! In a first and last for Philadelphia sports, they had signed a free agent center, who actually put them over the top, Moses Malone (of course, they traded him the next year).

Even during the regular season, everyone knew that the 76ers would probably play the Los Angeles Lakers in the championship series. Well, the 76ers only played the Lakers two times during the regular season, once in LA, and once at home. The Lakers had Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabar, Kurt Rambis, James Worthy, and Pat Riley coaching. The 76ers had Moses Malone, Dr. J, Bobby Jones, Mo Cheeks, and Andrew Toney.

I loved the 76ers and I loved my Dad, and yes, I even loved my favorite uncle, Uncle Teddy, even though he is the biggest fair weather sports fan there is--at least he is not a "fair weather friend"--that guy has been there through the thick and the thin and would do anything for you--but he is absolutely a fair weather sports fan. Anyway, so what do you think one of my greatest childhood memories is? Remember, this was back when no one had any money, there was no Internet, no ESPN, and you listened to sporting events on AM radio. My Dad took me and Uncle Ted to see the one regular season home game that the 76ers had against the Lakers!!
It was January 5th, 1983, my 11th birthday, and we watched the 76ers beat the Lakers, in Overtime, 122-120, in a game that would become pretty famous. Kid’s interests are different today and they are pretty spoiled, but back then, it was a once in a lifetime event!

The old Spectrum was sold out and you couldn’t hear yourself think. We were sitting opposite the bench to the left if you are looking at the court. The really cool thing is that the 76ers won that night—but the really really cool thing is that we saw Dr. J. do one of the greatest dunks in NBA history over Michael Cooper—it was a game breaking moment. It plays on almost every highlight reel and has become a pretty famous shot. I remember the moment--I can still see the play happening in my head. My Dad, my Uncle Ted (a Lakers fan raised in Delaware), and I, saw this dunk and I will never forget it. This dunk became known as the “Rock the Cradle Slam Dunk,” and is even written about in Wikipedia under Julius Erving! "Erving's most memorable plays came in a 1983 regular season game, after a steal from the Los Angeles Lakers. He came down the court on a fast break and, swinging the ball back and forth before taking off on a Rock the Cradle Slam Dunk, slung the ball around behind his head and dunked over L.A.'s Michael Cooper. This dunk is generally regarded as one of the greatest dunks of all time."

You dads out there, be encouraged to take those special trips with your children---and make it memorable. Happy Father’s Day! Here it is…in the last seconds of the video, if you look in the stands to your right in the shot background, you can see approximately where we were sitting (you can't see us individually, but you can see the section)!!

Lindsay and Maria

2008-05-23T20:45:00.008-05:00

This was a tough post to compose. Please make sure you read the entire posting and follow the links. There are two stories that could change your life.

Back in 1993, I was a 21 year old music minister, on the verge of being a new husband and then a daddy, studying piano for a master's degree, under one of the most hard-nosed teachers of our time, and grieving the loss of my 16 year old brother.

I had some great mentors--not the least of which was my Dad--but there were others as well. Jerry L'Italien, Guy Winebrenner, Earle Gould, and many other good men--but there was another one who had quite an impact on me and on our church.

Many of you probably don't realize this, but our church has historically had quite a connection to Sandy Cove Bible Conference. Sherry Bitler did some excellent foundational work for their children's program, and Paul Palmer's family founded the place. Back in 1993, many of the staff members of Sandy Cove attended GRPC. Just like today, back then GRPC was a wonderful place to be. Those were very special times. Sometime soon, I want to take a trip down memory lane and recall some of those days of the 90's. Maybe next week.

Bill Welte was the music director at Sandy Cove and also attended the church. He reached out to me and he too became a mentor in my life. He made a tangible impact. Once, he and I were at lunch and he encouraged me to consider listening to a musical. He felt we had the talent at GRPC to produce a major musical and he found one he really felt I should consider. It was about a man named Bill who didn't celebrate Christmas. The musical was a journey through Christmases past and made use of dance, lighting, staging, and singing. It would require vision and an huge undertaking. It was way out of my comfort zone. This musical would give an opportunity for many people to use gifts--both musical and non-musical. It was called, "A Time for Christmas." The rest is history. Fifteen years later, and after thousands have come through our church doors as a result, I am still thankful that Bill Welte invested in me. I was also able to share a musical with him that he would later direct at Sandy Cove called, "God with Us." Many of you perhaps remember the impact this musical had on worship, not just in our church, but on church worship in general.

Bill also taught me a lot about worship leading and planning. It wasn't until I heard him speak at a conference that I really understood that we had one of the more articulate, funny, talented, and bright worship leaders sitting right in our pews and humbly encouraging me in my growth. He moved out of the area many years ago, and became the CEO and President of America's Keswick Bible Conference.

I was so sad and stunned this past week to hear that Bill's two year old granddaughter suddenly died of a heart condition. Oh the pain of searing loss. This world is not our home. Many times it is hard to keep that heavenly perspective--WHY? I cannot imagine losing one of my little girls--those precious ones who have my heart and my love. Here is a link about little Lindsay so you can be praying for this family who has given so much to the church's ministry, both at GRPC and serving in mercy at America's Keswick:

http://lindsaykeswick.blogspot.com/

One of the musicals we did before "A Time for Christmas" was called "He's Alive." The musical included a song called, "For the Sake of the Call." It is a song about being willing to go where God wants you to go, and being willing to do the things He wants you to do. It was written by Stephen Curtis Chapman, one of the foremost Christian artists of our time. Chapman is one of those guys who emanates joy. I have seen him in concert and not only did he give an awesome musical performance, but he reflected all glory back to God. He and his wife, after having three children, felt called to adopt from China. This transpired, in part, because his naturally born daughter continually prodded her parents that they were "not being obedient to the Lord's will." Pretty bold. Read the story, and be prepared...

All told, they adopted three little girls over the course of several years. This past week, one of their adopted daughters, Maria, was accidentally run over and killed in their own driveway. We are promised trials and suffering in this misery-filled place--a place where we experience such great joy and such unspeakable loss.

Here is a link so you can pray for this family, who has given so much of themselves to the church's ministry. They have helped many families adopt, who would not otherwise be able to do so.

http://members.shaohannahshope.org/site/PageServer

This Memorial Day weekend, hug your children. Look them square in the eye and tell them how much you love them, that you are here for them, that they can tell you anything. Read the Scriptures to them and pray. It pays off. Tell them the stories about Jesus. Tell them about the brave men and women who have fought to protect our country--one that was founded by trusting in God's plans, "in God we trust." God is sovereign, and we can trust Him. Yes, he is in control of even the smallest detail.

We have an awesome worship service planned for Sunday. We are going to be hearing from a very special guest who will share how the Word going out from GRPC has sustained her through some very painful times. We will also be singing one of the great hymns of the faith, and one of my personal favorites, "Holy, Holy, Holy." The choir will be singing "I Bowed on My Knees and Cried Holy." This is a song that literally sustained my family during the painful 90's. It is going to be a great service.

Here is a very special video of Steven Chapman and his late daughter, Maria:

Our Hope, Our Strong Deliverer

2008-05-15T06:31:00.000-05:00

In preparation for Sunday morning worship, please read these verses slowly and let them sink into the depths of your heart and soul.

These verses have been a wonderful encouragement to me:

I Peter 2:24: He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

Can you imagine, bearing the sins of the whole world, in your body? He who was not sin, became sin for us (2 Cor. 5:22).

And for those who are tired and weary...

Isaiah 40:31: But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

One of my favorite contemporary praise songs is "Everlasting God" which is taken from the Isaiah passage. Here is a video of the song with Dan leading us several months ago...this was one of those Glasgow services where the Holy Spirit drew especially near...we will be singing this on Sunday...

Our God does not faint, does not grow tired, and is not surprised. Our God is a gracious God, who is slow to anger, patient, kind, and good.

Beauty out of Ashes

2008-05-14T12:10:00.001-05:00

Last year, Elizabeth Crossan, then the wife of Dave Crossan, died of a sudden brain tumor after a tumultuous and brave battle with the cancer. She was 26 years old and the mother of two young boys. This death was particularly close to my heart because Elizabeth was such an encouragement to me and Melanie during the short time that we knew her.

God makes beauty out of ashes. As a covenant family, we should mourn with those who mourn and rejoice with those who rejoice. I had the honor of playing the piano at Dave and Amber (Knight) Crossan's wedding (see pictures above). Amber is the daughter of Barry Knight, one of our main worship singers. I have known Amber since she was a baby and the Knights are life long friends. I have great memories of watching Barry and my Dad play softball and enjoying so much spending time with Barry and Diane, even on the night of my brother Mark's Memorial Service (they came back to our house afterwards and ministered to us greatly). It is funny the things you remember.

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon says, "God makes all things beautiful in their time." Romans 8 tells us that God works "all things for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose." This is a special act of provision that God gives to those in His church...somehow, someway, God's sovereign plan comes to fruition even when there seems to be no hope.

I was so encouraged by the video Dave and Amber showed at their wedding, and I wanted to pass it on as I know many of you were deeply stirred by Elizabeth's death and have been positively impacted by Dave and Amber. I did receive Dave and Amber's permission to post this video.

In the middle of the video, Dave and Amber tell the story of how God brought them together--how God made beauty out of ashes. I love the way they honored Elizabeth, while embracing God's plan and their future together. I am so impressed with the fruits of the Holy Spirit that are evident in both Dave and Amber's lives (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, long-suffering, and self-control). It is a joy to know people like Dave and Amber.

Here is the link:

mms://media.grpc.org/crossan

Worship Preparation: Habakkuk

2008-05-06T12:36:00.007-05:00

Habakkuk is a prophetic book in the Old Testament written 600 years before the birth of Christ. It was written during a time when the Kingdom of Israel was marked by great suffering and sin. Habakkuk asks the question right at the start of the book, “how long O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?” It perhaps is one of the first times a prophet had the fortitude to so directly question God’s sovereignty and timing. Today, we hear this question again and again and perhaps ask it ourselves--it is a great paradox that God is goodness, yet there is great evil in this world, “why does God let bad things happen to good people.” Or, “if God is a good God, then why is there evil in the world.”

God’s answer to Habakkuk was clear: “Write down the vision clearly and make it plain on the tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”

In other words, God says, “be patient, wait, I am in control, that is sufficient for you, hold close to my vision for the world, it will not prove false, it is all true, even though you wait, even if you should wait for 100 years, no even 3000 years, all things will certainly come and will not delay.”

Or as Jesus said, “keep watch.” The beginning of faith in God is trust in His divine providence and plans. Below is a video of a song taken from the Habakkuk passage.

Disclaimer: The video isn't the best quality, but still profound. There are certainly artistic challenges in this video (I don't know who produced it), but I hope you can overlook these and worship with a truly great song drawn from rich Scriptural text. We edited out certain sections of the video (when it goes black) because they were just too graphic (it still may be a bit intense for some)...nevertheless, I hope you are able to use this video to prepare for Sunday’s worship service as this is truly a great modern-day lamenting hymn that climaxes with HOPE, rejoicing, and anticipation of Final Restoration, Christ’s Second Coming. Can you imagine?

Hymns in Worship--Part Two

2008-05-04T13:44:00.001-05:00

Here is an awesome modern hymn of worship we will be doing this Sunday. Sing it through a couple of times...check out the words below--I am reminded daily of Christ's great sacrifice that gives us life.

THE POWER OF THE CROSS

Oh to see the dawn of the darkest day,

Christ on the road to Calvary, tried by sinful men,

Torn and beaten then, nailed to a cross of wood.

This the power of the cross, Christ became sin for us,

Took the blame, bore the wrath, we stand forgiven at the Cross.

Oh to see the pain, written on Your face, bearing the awesome weight of sin.

Every bitter thought, every evil deed, crowning Your bloodstained brow.

Now the daylight flees, now the ground beneath, quakes as its Maker bows His head.

Curtain torn in two, dead are raised to life, finished the victory cry.

Oh to see my name, written in the wounds, for through Your suffering I am free.

Death is crushed to death, life is mine to live, won through Your selfless love.

This the power, of the Cross, Son of God, slain for us, what a love, what a cost, we stand forgiven at the cross.

by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend. I came across these guys by the recommendation of a Scottish Presbyterian Pastor, Derek Thomas, during our time in Spain. He highly recommended their music as a means of infusing fresh hymnody into modern services.

Building Memories

2008-05-03T16:11:00.000-05:00

The best thing about my life are my wife and kids. We have so much fun together. Katie, my oldest daughter, just turned 10. Every now and then, we go on dates together. This is a something we have done with each of our children since they were very little--we like to spend one-on-one time with each child. Every year we have the "big" date on Katie's birthday. We go to Build-A-Bear in the mall, and Katie gets to pick out a bear. This year, we went on a Friday night...to the mall...what a zoo...honestly, I thought it was Halloween...it seems that the days are getting darker and darker as I look at today's teens...some of them are very scary.

But we had fun...we also saw Paul and Sue Palmer. I love the Palmers...they are faithful friends and a great example. It's so cool that my daughters can look not only to their immdediate family female members, but to women in our church as well for good role models. Paul and Sue have four children (3 adult daughters and a 14 year old son). When I look at the way the Palmer's daughters have turned out, it gives me great hope that my Katie and Mollie will do the same. Anyway...for the young fathers out there...go on dates with your daughters.

You know, it is hard for a father to accept that he won't always be "number one" in his daughter's life. When I look at my precious little girls--it is hard to imagine that one day they will rely on a man other than me. I know I won't always be "number one," so instead, I am striving to be a strong "number two."

Pushing the Button--Part Three

2008-05-01T18:00:00.000-05:00

Are you a skeptic? Do you believe that the Christian faith is nothing more than “pushing a button... just in case it is true?” I enjoy listening to Bill O’Reilly on Fox News. When I see the cast of characters running for president of the USA, sometimes I wonder whether or not a man like O’Reilly or even someone like Lou Dobbs (I am not familiar with his social positions, but I like his business mind and his logic), would be a better president then the politicians currently in the race. I like O’Reilly’s honesty. Many times I wonder why politicians don't just answer the questions they are asked straightforwardly and honestly...I am sure there is a political reason for their round-about-ness.

Recently, he interviewed what I will call a “hyper-atheist.” The new atheism of the 21st century not only suggests there is no God, but they now are proclaiming that if the story is not true, then those who formed the story (Moses, Abraham, David, the Prophets, Jesus, the disciples, the apostles, the Church, etc.) are not only wrong, but they are evil. In some ways, this is nothing new. In fact, I have heard my Dad, the senior pastor of GRPC, state many times that Jesus was either God or he was the greatest lunatic, liar, and impostor ever to walk the earth. It is true—if Jesus is not who He said He was, then Christians are fools and deceived.

In the interview with the hyper-atheist, O’Reilly concluded at the end by saying something like, “I think it takes more faith to be like you, an atheist, then like me, a believer, simply because of nature. I just don’t think we could have lucked out to have the tides come in, the tides go out, the sun go up, the sun go down…I don’t think it could have happened (by chance)…Jesus was a real guy, I can see him and I know what he did. I’m not positive that Jesus was God but I’m throwing in with Jesus rather than with you guys (the atheists) because you guys can’t tell me how it all got here.” The atheist replied, “We are working on it.” O Reilly, “when you get it, then maybe I will listen.”

The Hebrew and Christian faiths have always provided chalk lines within which the skeptical and questioning spirit of man could have a place to lament and inquire. The fact that Ecclesiastes stands within the canonical circle of the Bible is a virtual witness to that truth! I am grateful that the circle of the Hebrew faith was wide enough to include Job and Ecclesiastes, aren’t you? Today, we live in a time of great skepticism about absolute truth. Even those in evangelical circles are starting to "bend" (more on that another day). In a day of great skepticism, we can offer the skeptic a starting point in the book of Ecclesiastes. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, who saw the work of Yahweh in mighty tangible ways, was a skeptic who found satisfying and eternal answers.

I would love your feedback and interactions--either post here or email me privately at clbetters@grpc.org. More tomorrow.

Hymns in Worship: Part Three

2008-04-25T23:30:00.001-05:00

The term "hymn" can mean either the text only of the song or the text and the music. There are many great hymns that were written to great tunes. However, there are also great hymns that were written to tunes that are no longer relevant or singable today. If you want to find out quickly whether or not a person TRULY desires the old hymns or IN REALITY just doesn't like drums and guitars, put an old hymn to new music and see how they respond.

The fact that a hymn tune worked in a certain time, but not today is witness to the fact that style and content must be separated in a Christian's theology of worship (more on that another day). I came across the following written by Kevin Twitt. Rev. Twitt is involved in Reformed University Fellowship (on college campuses), the Reformed answer to Intervarsity Fellowship. RUF is known for promoting new hymns or old hymns written to contemporary music, almost exclusively, among those involved in the ministry. Balance, balance, balance. I'll shout it from the mountaintops that we need all stylistic voices in worship, so I would disagree with the use of only complex theological hymns in worship. We need the simple repetitive songs in addition to the heady and rich hymns. However, it is always great to learn from others who feel strongly about their viewpoint:

• Hymns tend to engage our imagination, intellect, and will together. Good hymns give us rich language and images that require us to think and imagine as the way to stir the passions...The Scriptures are full of diverse images; our songs should reflect this creativity too.

• Hymns tell a story and walk us through the gospel...In a good hymn, the writer offers her
story and invites you to try it on and see if it might be your story too.

• Hymns remind us that the church is bigger than the people we know, or even those who are alive today. Through hymns we connect with believers who lived centuries before us. We can have “mystic sweet communion, with those whose rest is won” (“The Church’s One Foundation” by Stone). When I introduce people to Anne Steele’s hymns, they are struck by the powerful way she dealt with her immense suffering. They find that her cries can become their cries, her tears can elicit their tears, and her faith can encourage their faith. Seeing that we can connect with an English woman who lived in a small village 300 years ago and feel what she felt is powerful. All of the sudden the kingdom of God looks much bigger!

27 Things We Learned from Daddy

2008-04-24T17:19:00.000-05:00

The following is a list that was written by the children of worship theologian Robert Webber after he suddenly died of pancreatic cancer. I had the privilege of knowing Bob the last few years of his life--he really was a fascinating individual whose work on worship has challenged and stretched my thinking a great deal. He also reached out to me on several occaisions. The first time I met him, we sat with a couple other students and talked into the night about worship and life. He was one of those people who made you feel like you were the most important person in the world when you were in his presence (regardless of what "was in it" for him). He had serious theological chops, yet he also allowed himself to be "silly" and didn't always take himself and others so seriously. That gives me hope--because my family will tell you that I am VERY silly at times! I'm still working on not taking myself so seriously. As John McCain put it not so eloquently back when the conservatives were "letting it fly" against him, sometimes we need to just "relax and lighten up."

27 Things We Learned from Daddy

1. How to be friendly to everyone
2. How to be gracious and forgiving
3. How to have a sense of humor
4. How to appreciate silence
5. How to eat ice cream standing up, right out of the carton
6. How to be a realist
7. How to be an optimist
8. How to say I’m sorry
9. How to see the best in everyone
and let them know it
10. How to do what you love and let
the chips fall where they may
11. How to fight fire with grace
12. How to not take yourself too
seriously
13. How to take yourself seriously
14. How to be dignified in the face of
adversity
15. How to stand up for what’s true
16. How to be broken bread and poured
out wine
17. How to cut your losses and move on
18. How to find true humility by giving
the glory to God
19. How to march to the beat of your
own drum and let others do the same
20. How to go with the flow and roll with
the punches
21. How to appreciate the past but live in the present
22. How to be very silly
23. How to hug like you mean it
24. How to hold your tongue
25. How to speak your mind
26. How to take it all with a grain of salt
27. How to seize the day, grab the bull by its horns, and live a life that’s
worth living.

Pushing the Button--Part Two

2008-04-23T10:45:00.000-05:00

I have a friend who is struggling with the meaning of life. This person loves the Lord and loves the Word, but he doesn't "get" the purpose of life. He knows that God is the sovereign Lord of the universe, but he is stuck trying to understand God's purposes, and I believe in the end he will find hope and peace. He has a kindred spirit in Solomon.

One of the funniest moments in season two of Lost (see part one) is when Desmond meets two of the main characters, Jack and Locke. Since Desmond does not know whether or not these people are good or bad, he treats them as hostiles. Jack, a young heroic medical doctor, is the defacto leader of the survivors, but he also struggles with basic issues of belief. Even though he has experienced the miraculous through his practice of medicine, Jack still struggles with faith unless something can be proved scientifically. Locke, on the other hand, has truly tried to "believe" (in what?) his entire life, and has even placed his full trust in many different people and systems, only to be greatly disappointed, time after time, by the failure of his faith objects. Nevertheless, Locke is intrigued by “the button” (see part one) and feels he has been brought to the island for a real purpose…Locke immediately “believes” in pushing the button. Jack does not. I believe the episode is called "science versus faith" or something like that.

In the scene where they first discover Desmond, the hatch and the computer, Desmond is hit by one of the survivors and as he falls, his gun fires and the bullet hits the computer that controls the dreaded 108 minute timer. He goes crazy, saying, "Now you've done it” and he runs into the other room. As Desmond scrambles to fix the computer, Jack calls for a "time out" hoping that Desmond will shed some light on this wild set-up:

JACK: Now, you're going to tell me what's going on.
LOCKE: Jack, we don't have time for...
JACK: We're taking a time out.
DESMOND: Please, just let me fix the computer...
JACK: Look, you want to get to work -- you're going to tell me how you got here.
DESMOND: It was 3 years ago. I was on a solo race around the world, and my boat crashed into the reef, and then Kelvin came.
LOCKE: Kelvin?
DESMOND: Kelvin -- he comes running out of the jungle -- hurry, hurry, come with me. He brings me down here to the hatch. The first thing he does -- because there's beeping already -- he types in the code, he pushes the button on the computer, and it stops. What was all that about, I say. Just saving the world, he says.
JACK: Saving the world?
DESMOND: His words, not mine. So I started pushing the button too. And we saved the world together for awhile, and that was lovely. Then Kelvin died, and now here I am all alone.

Jack and Locke look at Desmond incredulously--as if "what else is there to this story???"

Desmond: (notices their disbelief and desire for more details): THE END!!!!

End of story. That IS it. That IS his purpose…to, by faith alone, press the button every 108 minutes.

Jack, the skeptic, exclaims to Locke: "Don't tell me you believe this. This is crazy. You think that makes sense? Pushing a button? You're going to take his word for it?"

And then Locke says something very profound: "His word is all we have…"

Whose word? What story? What truth?

The book of Ecclesiastes opens with the preacher lamenting that "everything is meaningless." In fact, he says, that life is "vanity of vanities, all is vanity." I love the raw honesty of Solomon. I remember when we lost my brother Mark, my Dad stood in the pulpit and told the congregation that he was struggling with faith. He told us that he had thought, "You (Jesus) told me that your yoke was easy...that your burden was light...you lied to me." Of course, he then quickly brought it to bear on our lives by clinging to God's sovereign plan, just like Solomon does eventually. God can handle our laments and our questions. Would Ecclesiastes be in the Bible if He couldn't?

The word vanity is taken from the word, hebel. The Hebrew word means "fleeting" or "transitory." Abel, the second son of Adam and Eve, was killed by his brother Cain early in life, therefore his life was "fleeting" as he was quickly gone. Abel is actually a form of the word hebel. Hebel is used throughout the Old Testament as a word for wind and for breath...those things that are quickly gone. It is also a common word in the OT for idols (Jerimiah 8:19). In calling out idolatry as hebel, Jeremiah's point was that idols have no real, lasting substance when compared to the unchanging, and immutable God of the universe! The preacher in Ecclesiastes, even uses a common Hebrew figure of speech (the superlative, ie. "Holy of Holies") to drive his point home even more by stating, "vanity of vanities." Or that life is "as fleeting as possible!" Wow!

Our culture tells us we can find meaning and purpose by earning lots of money, by gaining power, by exerting influence, by living on through our children, by making a name for ourselves, that is how we live on forever. Solomon tasted of the finest of earth's pleasures. He was the richest man in Israel, he had hundreds of concubines and an enormous family, he was the wisest man of the Old Testament period, he had conquered the world, yet at the end of his life he looks back and says “all of those things are vanity, all of those things will lead to despair, apart from God" who became flesh in the person of Christ. I'll write more on Ecclesiastes later this week.

I would love your feedback and interactions....either post here....or email me at clbetters@grpc.org.

"Pushing the Buttons of Life"--Part One

2008-04-21T14:05:00.000-05:00

Melanie and I enjoy watching TV series’ on DVD after they have already aired. This way, you don’t have to watch the commercials and you can watch the shows whenever it is convenient. We recently finished watching Season Two of the show, "Lost." Here's the plotline: a plane crashes on a strange island, and the survivors are confronted by the island with their brokenness, sins, past, and fears. It really is an awesome show if you can get past the bad language and graphic nature of some of the scenes and see the redemptive value…it is true that all creation worships the Triune God whether they realize it or not.

In the second season, the survivors discover a hatch. Inside is a 1980’s era computer system as well as food, clothing, exercise equipment, and infrastructure one would find in a functioning building—basically, it is an almost impossible scenario without explanation of how it came into being. The survivors discover a man named Desmond, who has been “pushing a button” on a computer for several years. He was left with explicit instructions that every 108 minutes, he has to enter the same series of numbers on the computer and then press “execute.” Besides the counter resetting, nothing else actually happens, however, when he presses this button. Nevertheless, he had been told by the man before him and by an orientation video that everyone in the world will die if he doesn’t press this button every 108 minutes. So continuously, for several years, Desmond presses the execute button, thus resetting the 108 minute counter.

When the survivors discover the hatch, Desmond, and the execute button, he tells them the story about the hatch, but then makes his escape, and leaves the main characters to decide whether or not to continue to “push the button.” So they are left with the ridiculous notion that “pushing this button” every 108 minutes not only matters, but will keep the world in existence. Or is it so ridiculous?

Have you ever felt like you are just “pushing a button” through life? Have you ever wondered—I know you have—if this life is all there is? Are family functions, work, responsibilities, the great things of life, the hard things of life, and especially religion and church services simply pushing a button in faith? Does this life mean anything? Go beyond the “pat” answers. For real…does it mean anything?

Solomon, the writer of Ecclesiastes, asked these same questions! I love the book of Ecclesiastes. This Holy Spirit inspired book included in the canon of Scripture, gives us a place to question deeply the very nature of life itself. What is our purpose here? Is there real meaning in this life or the next life?

Perhaps no book in the Old Testament has been criticized as much as the book of Ecclesiastes. Why press the buttons of life since Solomon wrties in chapter one that “everything is vanity?” The reason why this book is so often maligned is because it is greatly misunderstood. Perhaps no book in the OT is as joyful as the book of Ecclesiastes! When the Christian properly understands it, he or she will be overjoyed, empowered, and filled with praise and adoration for our God and His redemptive plan. I know I have been.

The past several Sundays, we have been blessed to hear testimonies from our men on how they came to "press the button" of Christianity. You can check out their video testimonies at:

http://www.grpc.org/sermons/testimonies.asp

I will continue part two of this series tomorrow.

I would love your feedback and interaction at clbetters@grpc.org.

Hymns in Worship--Part One

2008-04-20T18:13:00.011-05:00

It is Sunday night and I am thinking about the wonderful worship service we had this morning. At Glasgow, we typically have a nice blend of hymns and chorus songs. This morning we sang several hymns--"All Creatures of Our God and King" with traditional piano and organ, a new arrangement of "Amazing Grace/My Chains are Gone," by Chris Tomlin, a new version of the great hymn "I Will Sing of My Redeemer," and the modern hymn, "How Deep the Father's Love for Us." We also did a simple chorus song taken from the Psalms and Romans 14:11, "Come Now is the Time to Worship." I don't know about you, but I was also so blessed by our youth choir--they sang a simple song of the love and comfort that we find in our Triune God.

It seemed that ALL the "voices" of the church were heard in worship today. I love that the older people at Glasgow join in with the youthful chorus songs that they may not particularly love--that is an encouragement and a great example to your covenant children. And it lifts my soul to see young children and the choir teens singing out on the old hymns that may seem to them to be a totally foreign style. These liturgical actions are, in effect, yielding to each other in humility and condescension just as Christ did for each of us. These are some of my "favorite things" about Glasgow. What a great place to lead worship!

I would like our congregation to focus on learning some modern hymns and continue to deepen our appreciation of the great hymns. Hymns are composed for congregations to sing as opposed to many songs that are written for a soloist to sing. The tunes are usually very singable. Generally speaking, hymns do not elicit the outward emotional response that chorus songs deliver, so they may appear on the surface to be less lively. Nothing could be further from the real truth! Hymns are doctrine and Scripture which IS life! Many times hymns pierce the heart in quiet, profound, and lasting ways. Don't measure worship by appearances--true worship can't be measured by how loudly the congregation sings, how many hands are raised, or if we clap in unison. True worship can be measured by our lives throughout the week. Jesus deals with "mere appearances" in the book of John--very powerfully, of course.

Spain Update

2008-04-18T15:12:00.002-05:00

Dear Friends,

I just wanted to post this update on our trip to Spain.

Last week, my brother Dan, my son Markie, and I went to Malaga, Spain to lead worship for the Mission to the World European International Men's Leadership Forum (sounds important...) There were approximately 50 American missionaries and nationals from many different European nations. Overall, the trip went well and I am glad we went. I do believe that God wanted us in that place at that time. Here are some highlights:

1. God bless America! Honestly, when you travel to another country you see how blessed we are as a nation. Both Dan and I really missed our families. The trip also helped us to again appreciate our awesome church family. The Lord has given us great gifts at GRPC. Our worship services and ministries are a true blessing. I love the balance that God has given us--God is fully transcendent, but He is also fully immanent. We simply need both aspects--fully--in all of our ministries. That strive to strike that balance at GRPC (although it can never be fully achieved) speaks volumes.

2. After an all night flight from Philadelphia to Madrid and then from Madrid to Malaga, the three of us got held up in customs. We brought MARK INC CD's, my piano CD's, and Dan and Laura's CD's to give to the missionaries, and the custom's official wanted to know why we were bringing these into the country--he opened the boxes, looked at the CD's--none of us knew their language--and so it became very difficult. What started out innocently enough began to snowball and turned into an hour and a half interrogation with the police and customs officials. We were literally in a back room with a metal desk and a 486 computer (not that bad, but still). They talked to Markie without me there, and wanted to know why he wasn't in school. All they could see was two men (me and Dan)--who probably looked like we were on drugs (since we hadn't slept!), with a 12 year old boy who wasn't in school, trying to get into Spain with merchandise to sell. We also did not have enough information about where exactly we were headed (lesson learned the hard way) as we were being picked up by a shuttle. It was a mess--but it all worked out and will make for a great sermon illustration! We kept telling them to keep the CD's--at that point, we just wanted to get on with the trip. Ultimately, they kept the CD's, and more importantly, let us proceed into the country (with Markie). Later in the week, one of the missionaries, who speaks Spanish, went back to the airport with us, paid a couple dollars, and got the CD's.

3. It is always difficult planning worship for people you don't know--but it is especially hard planning worship for missionaries from all over Europe (with preaching pastors from Scotland where they sing only Psalms unaccompanied). It became obvious as the week went on that these men were very comfortable singing hymns and psalms, they loved piano solos, but they were non-responsive to newer songs. The younger guys really wanted us to introduce new songs, but it became obvious to us that it wasn't going to be productive to continue singing songs that the majority of the men either didn't know or simply wouldn't sing. This issue also made for great discussion and thought between Dan, me, and Markie on the relationship between worship and evangelism. It is good for iron to sharpen iron. That being said, I was greatly challenged in my thinking about worship.

4. Markie did a fantastic job. It was a long, stressful, taxing week for a soon to be 13 year old young man. His role was to run the powerpoint and he did a great job. The forum days were packed from morning to night with sessions. I am really proud of the young man of God that he is becoming. People forget that he is only 12--I am excited to see where God leads him--he told me last night that he would like to travel abroad when he is older to "do things" for the Lord. He is more profound in his spiritual thought than I will ever be--I pray that the Holy Spirit continues to work in his life. I loved spending quality time with him listening to the word, worshiping together, and serving together. I would highly recommend father/son mission trips.

5. The preaching was incredible. Richard Pratt, a fairly well known American Reformed theologian, was supposed to be the main speaker and he was one of the reasons why I accepted the invitation, but he was cancelled. Instead, we had David Meredith and Derek Thomas. Derek Thomas is perhaps equally renowned as Pratt--his preaching style reminded us of a Scottish version of Pastor Betters (my dad). David Meredith was equally amazing. Very thick, cool accents. I'd really like to get David Meredith to GRPC for a weekend conference--he was one of the finest preachers I have ever heard. He was engaging, funny, serious, down to earth.

6. We had an incredible witnessing opportunity with two men from Norway and Iceland. The Holy Spirit was moving through Dan in an incredible way and I will let him share the rest.

Dan wrote on his blog about the trip other things happened--some were very very funny and even profound--some are better shared in person. I will try to share more as I have time.

God bless,

Chuck

Psalm 51--Part Five

2008-04-17T14:02:00.000-05:00

Psalm 51: 6-13 demonstrates David seeking forgiveness for what he has done and shows his sorrowful heart. “Behold thou doth desire truth in the innermost being and in the hidden part thou will purify me with hyssop.” David says “purge me with hyssop and wash me and I will be whiter than snow—make me hear joy and gladness…blot out all of my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart in me O God and do not cast me away from thy presence and do not take thy holy spirit from me, restore to me the joy of thy salvation.”

Then he says something profound: “then I will teach transgressors thy ways.” David seeks God’s forgiveness, but what he will do with the forgiveness is powerful. “Then I will teach transgressors Thy ways and sinners will be converted to Thee!” Evangelism will come out of David’s sin. People will come to know Yahweh because of David's repentance. David will take something evil and make it into something good. David will "walk the talk" of verses 1-12. There are those who question what the Old Testament person knew about salvation and grace. He knew more about grace then we think. He knew about sin, the need for repentance, he knew it was only God who would do that for him, he knew he needed to be purged by blood (hyssop), he even knew what it meant to be born again as David said create in me a NEW heart.

Our sins are forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ. The question is whether or not you will take the brokenness and teach others the ways of Yahweh. You have not sunk so low that Christ cannot save you. Page after page, and verse after verse throughout the canon of Scripture, we see God mightily using broken and downright sinful men and women. Praise the Lord for Psalm 51.

I would love your feedback or interactions. Feel free to post here or email me privately at clbetters@grpc.org.

Psalm 51--Part Four

2008-04-16T14:02:00.000-05:00

So we come to Psalm 51. The inspired heading tells us that this is David’s response to his sin with Bathsheba.

David opens by saying, “Be gracious to me O God according to thy loving-kindness.” David understands that it is only by grace and mercy that he is forgiven—it is not by his deeds. Many times church people become confused as to how saints in the Old Testament were saved. This OT believer understood grace. David understands he is depraved from birth. 51:5 says: “I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin my mother conceived me.” Total depravity does not just come from the Apostle Paul—we see it all through the Scriptures.

51:1-6 uses four different words for sin. Plasha which means “transgression.” Avon which means iniquity. Hatah which means sin. Rah which means evil. In 51:3, David says, “For I know my transgressions.” The word “to know” or yadah, means to have an intimate understanding and relationship. Adam and Eve knew each other—not in a mere intellectual sense, but in all ways. Adam knew his wife physically, morally, spiritually, and intellectually. David says, “I know my transgressions. I have an intimate relationship with my sin.” Can you relate to this? We all have an intimate relationship with our sin struggles. This statement is profound. In many cases, the sins "own us" if not for the grace of God.

In 51: 4, David accepts the justice of God. “Against thee, thee only have I sinned, so that thou art justified when you speak and blameless when thou dost judge.” When God brings His wrath against a person it is deserving wrath. Grace is undeserving, but wrath is deserving. We are often told we preach too much about sin at Glasgow--we are told to be more positive. David understands grace properly—you cannot understand grace without understanding the depth of your sin. How deep, sinister, and grotesque our sin is. David understands the depths of our total depravity. Instead of "knowing" or being intimate with our sins, wouldn't life be much more positive if we were intimate with a knowledge and worship of Yahweh? That is the path to "your best life now"--a recognition and confession of our insidious sins.

I would love your interactions and feedback. Please post here or email me privately at clbetters@grpc.org. Part Five coming soon.

Psalm 51--Part Three

2008-04-15T13:55:00.000-05:00

As evidenced in Psalm 51, David had genuine sorrow for his disobedience unlike king Saul before him. You see, Saul had an outward sign of repentance, but David’s was from the heart. This is so crucially important when we seek forgiveness from those around us.

After David is confronted with his sin by the prophet Nathan, he responds immediately, “I have sinned against Yahweh.” Compare David’s response to Nathan with Saul’s response to Samuel when he also was confronted with a grievous sin. Back in I Samuel 15:30, Saul says, “I have sinned, but please honor me now before the elders of Israel, and go back with me.” There is a major distinction between the two responses. David responds that he has sinned against Yahweh—an admission of guilt and true sorrow over his deeds. But Saul says, "please honor me." We are not a very humble people. I have seen a lack of humility destroy marriages. Very rarely will a man or woman apologize without an explanation of their wrongdoing. Most of the time, the apology is accompanied with, "now please honor me." I was watching the debate between Clinton and Obama and Clinton was asked to comment on her false claims that she was under gun fire when she visited Bosnia as the first lady. As you probably know, she made up this story only to be shown to be a liar when her Bosnia arrival (without gunfire and very peaceful) was shown on video tape. Here was her response when asked about the incident:

I have apologized for it. I've said it was a mistake. And it is, I hope, something that you can look over because, clearly, I am proud that I went to Bosnia. It was a war zone. General Wesley Clark is here in the audience with me, as one of my major supporters. He and I were talking about it before I came out. You know, our soldiers were there to try to police and keep the peace in a very dangerous area. They were totally in battle gear. There were concerns about potential dangers. The former president of Bosnia has said he was worried about the safety of the situation. So, I know that it is something that some people have said wait a minute. What happened here? But I have talked about this and written about it. And then, unfortunately, in a few occasions, I was not as accurate as I have been in the past. But I know, too, that being able to rely on my experience of having gone to Bosnia, gone to more than 80 countries, having represented the United States in so many different settings, gives me a tremendous advantage going into this campaign, particularly against Senator McCain. So, I will either try to get more sleep, Tom or, you know, have somebody that, you know, is there, as a reminder to me. You know, you can go back for the past 15 months. We both have said things that, you know, turned out not to be accurate. You know, that happens when you're talking as much as we have talked. But, you know, I'm very sorry that I said it. And I have said that, you know, it just didn't jive with what I had written about and knew to be the truth.

In other words, "I apologize, but please honor me." Before we become too critical of the former first lady, senator, and presidential candidate, don't we do the same thing--or worse?

That is why David was a man after God's heart. I believe God is pleased when we apologize in total humility and without explanation. It is hard to do.

I would love your feedback...either post here...or email me privately at clbetters@grpc.org. Part four coming tomorrow.

Psalm 51--Part Two

2008-04-14T13:53:00.001-05:00

David stayed at Jerusalem while his men were out fighting battles. It is spring time when love is in the air. As I writing this post, it is one of the first warm weeks of spring, and I truly believe these are some of the most beautiful spring days I can ever remember. Everything is green outside, the temperature is perfect, and the birds are singing. Be gone cold days!! Spring is a special time in my life because March 28th, 1991, was my first date with my angel, Melanie. There is something about spring and love!

Well, instead of true love, David falls into true lust, by committing adultery with a woman named Bathsheba. The entire sin is premeditated with planned deceit and intricate alibis. Throughout this story, we see one sin after another. At the climax of the account, David sends a letter to Joab, his field commander who would later betray him, to have Uriah (the husband of Bathsheba) put in the front lines of the fighting so that Bathsheba's husband would be eliminated. Sounds like a mafia hit or worse. Uriah, a man of integrity, would not sleep with his wife during the war out of loyalty to David and his fellow soldiers. Ultimately, David adds the grievous sin of murder to sexual sin. This is a "man after God's own heart."

Theologically, how can David actually be a man after God’s own heart? Romans 3:28 says, “For we maintain a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.” David, like us, was saved through grace.

I would love your feedback and interation...either post here....or email me privately at clbetters@grpc.org. Part three coming tomorrow.

Psalm 51--Part One

2008-04-13T13:19:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday, Pastor Betters asked that we mediate on Psalm 51 throughout the week as preparation for this coming week’s worship service. In II Samuel 11:1, we find the beginning of David’s great sin, but the seeds of this sin were planted much earlier. David, one of the great men of history, was also a terrible sinner in need of grace and mercy. In II Samuel 2:2 we find him “going up with his two wives” to be anointed king. Uh oh. David, well before the record of his infamous great sins...was a polygamist. Yes, it's true--and it was a grievous sin. Jesus’ understanding of Genesis in Matt. 19 shows that the two shall become one flesh—not that the three or four should become one flesh. So then, the roots of David's sin with Bathsheba began well before the actual sin. Isn't that the way our sinful nature works? Like so many other times in the Bible, sexual sin is a real killer for these great men of faith. Men, how are you doing in the area of sexual sin? Are you one flesh with your wife or are you inviting other women, even virtual women, into your marriage bed? Are you a polygamist? In David's case, polygamy was the starting blocks for many ruined lives.

The Word of God and Welcome

2008-04-12T21:56:00.000-05:00

Hello Friends!

One of the focuses of my blog will be on the word of God. I believe that Christians everywhere desperately need to fall back in love with the word of God. We should need the Bible as much as we need food. I know that if I do not eat--I get hungry and I look to QUICKLY satisfy that hunger. I have found the same thing to be true in regard to spiritual food. I need the word of God continually throughout the day. The word of God is incredible. I am so excited to open and discuss this inerrant book with you in this virtual world.

In the word of God, we have the mind of God. I am reminded of the phrase from the hymn, "How Firm a Foundation"..."what more can he say than to you he has said!"

God has given us his very word which is a gift from God. The written word corresponds to the living Word who is Jesus Christ himself, the Truth incarnate. We are privileged to receive, open, and cherish this gift. God, who is condescending, gentle, meek, lowly of heart, so wants his word to be received, that he has allowed the word to be abused, neglected, and exploited in order that we might have the truth. Charles Spurgeon once said, “defending the Bible is like defending a lion.”

Just as Jesus did his saving work in the vulnerable condition of becoming a baby and humbly self-sacrificing on the cross, so it is this delicate, vulnerable and exploited word of the Lord that goes forth to achieve mighty ends. I pray that this blog will encourage and strengthen you in your faith. May God richly bless you and your family!!