Judy Magner Memorial Service Message

I thought I'd post this for those who were not able to attend the June 2 memorial service for Judy Magner. This is the text of the message I delivered at the service.

Judy Magner Memorial Message

Judy with daughter Debbie

About 17 years ago I got a call from someone who claimed to be a reporter for the Austin American-Statesman. She said she was doing an article on churches in shopping centers & wanted to interview me. PCC was renting space in Three Points Plaza at that time. I answered her questions & figured that would be the end of it. A few weeks later she called again & asked if a photographer could come take some pictures of the church on a Sunday morning. I said, “Sure, as long as he’s discreet about it & doesn’t disturb or distract during the service.” He came & took the pictures that Sunday & the reporter called me again a couple of days later. “I wanted to let you know the article will be in the paper tomorrow.”

The next morning I bought a newspaper; low & behold PCC was on the front page above the fold. There’s nothing like that kind of free, positive publicity, but I had no idea where that would lead. A few weeks later I got a call from someone I knew, but was not a member of PCC. He invited Sandy & me to meet him & his wife for dinner. At dinner they quizzed me about my commitment to PCC… was I in for long-term. I said, yes I was. They told me they’d seen the article in the paper & wanted to help the church buy property. I remember thinking, “That’s nice; it’s time we started a property/building fund. Maybe this will be a little jump-start.” They leaned in & said, “So we’re committing ½ million dollars over the next ten years to your property fund.”

My whole body went numb & for once in my life I was speechless. Before I could say anything they added, “And we want this to be anonymous.”

They were true to their word… and some. I don’t know what the final amount was, but the giving didn’t stop after ten years, and we were able to purchase this property on Pfenig Lane & build this church. That couple received no public recognition for their gift, no plaque on the building with their name, no special reserved seating, no banners with their pictures, no adulation, no applause, only the quiet whisper of God, “Well done good & faithful servants.”

 With his permission I can finally tell you that couple who rendered me speechless with their shocking generosity was Leon & Judy Magner. We are here in this place we’ve claimed as sacred space where God is honored, worshiped, & served because of God’s grace working in a mighty way through Judy & Leon Magner. And their grandchildren are as surprised at that shocking generosity as the rest of you.

That story reveals all you really need to know & remember about Judy Magner. Don’t for a moment think that Judy’s only way of expressing her faith was in financial support of this congregation. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, I’d guess it was way down the list in her mind, if there was such a list, of ways she served God. I sat with her family last Saturday night and listened as they described a woman who was a doer, a devoted, intentional, faithful, consistent, industrious, courageous, selfless, authentic Christian woman who lived what she believed. She married a military man. That meant frequent moves. At every military base they were stationed she volunteered at the hospital. She continued to volunteer at St David’s Hospital in Austin as long as she could.”

There’s a long string of cards at the Magner home from so many who were touched, encouraged, and loved by Judy. I guarantee you they all had received cards from her long ago. She lived to give & bless & serve & sing Happy Birthday to her grandchildren & send cards… things you actually touch, open, read, & save. For Judy every card sent was a material expression of her love. She took time to find just the right card for every occasion. Her granddaughter Tracey told me she received the same exact birthday card 3 years in row. It was the right card for her. After listening to her family I think the Lord gave me the right Scripture for Judy… one she lived. Think of this passage as card from God & Judy to you.

Philippians 2:1-11 (The Message)

“If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.”

“Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that: a crucifixion. Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.”

Judy Magner, your wife, your mother, grandmother, our friend, was a one-of-a-kind masterpiece created by the Master Himself. This beautiful, unique individual will be missed. No one can take her place. There will be a gap in our lives, a hole in our hearts that cannot be filled by anyone else. It is right & appropriate to grieve the loss of one created in God's image. But Judy was more than that… she was redeemed by the blood of Jesus, a genuine baptized saved by grace through faith, follower of Christ, servant of the Almighty, daughter of the King of Kings. And oh how she served her Lord.

She did not live for herself, to advance herself, to grab the spotlight whenever possible. She lived the words of the apostle: “Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.” When I asked for one word that characterized Judy’s life, her grandson Andy was the first to speak up: “Devoted, what you do when no one is watching.”

Her daughter Dawnette added: “She was selfless & devoted w/out any need or desire for recognition. She was able to adapt to every situation… never complained about the pain she endured for the last 6 months of her life.”

Not everyone wants to be in the story if she (or he) doesn’t have the starring role, but that wasn’t Judy. If Judy had been an actress she would have won the Oscar for Best Supporting Role. She made everyone around her feel like the star. There is nothing more Christ-like than living a humble simple life that puts the needs of others before our own needs. For Judy, it was always about others, never about her. So you will miss her! You will miss her calling on your birthday to sing to you, her laugh, her right on the mouth kisses, the way she made you feel comfortable… even if it meant not expressing her pain or discomfort, the way she listened… as though your life were the most important life in the world, her honesty that sometimes seemed a bit blunt when you had a full plate of desserts, her courageous sense of humor in face of impending death that enabled her to wake up each morning & announce, “I’m still here! I’m not dead yet!”

That courage & strength is her legacy to you. It’s not this building… it is you her children & grandchildren & friends. It is her courage & strength founded upon faith in Christ our Lord that will enable you to grieve with hope, and carry on with joy.

You know the promise of Christ our Lord… the promise of resurrection and the life everlasting. You know the Scriptures. Dwight Moody: “One day soon you will hear that I am dead. Do not believe it. I will then be alive as never before.”

Judy Magner died last Thursday night; and she is alive as never before. She is fully engaged, singing her heart out in praise before her Savior & King.

A huge part of Judy’s story was a story of true love. Her husband Leon referred to Judy as “the prettiest & most gracious of them all!”

To Leon, her husband, who was smitten the first time he saw Judy in her penny loafers & Pea-Coat, who held on to his true love & treasured every last moment with her, I give you the immortal words of Wesley, no not John Wesley, the hero of “The Princess Bride”: “Death cannot stop true love, it can only delay it for a while.”
Leon, may God give you the faith, courage & strength to endure the delay as you look forward to the glorious reunion.

C.S. Lewis lost his wife to cancer: “To say the patient is getting over it after an operation for appendicitis is one thing; after he’s had his leg amputated it is quite another. After that operation the continuous pain will stop. Presently he’ll get back his strength and be able to stump about on his wooden leg. He has ‘got over it.’ But he will probably have recurrent pains in the stump all his life, and perhaps pretty bad ones; and he will always be a one-legged man. There will be hardly any moment when he forgets it… At present I am learning to get about on crutches. Perhaps I shall presently be given a wooden leg.”

So perhaps the key to surviving grief is asking God, not for an answer to the why question, but for peace and strength to live with a wooden leg. Knowing Judy, I think she’d say, “Get on with your life with faith and hope… even if it’s with a limp.”

Her death was as inspiring as her life. Last Thursday evening her breathing was labored, but she was in no pain & in relative comfort in the hospital bed in her living room surrounded by her husband & her 2 daughters. Monty was on the way. She’d been alert & had waved good-bye to Mike & me when we had left earlier in the evening. A couple of hours later Debbie said she was going to the drug store to pick up a few things. Judy opened her eyes and said, “Card.”

Debbie said, “You want me to pick up a thank you card for you at the drug store.”
Judy shook her head no and said, “Card”.
Debbie understood, “You want me to get you a card right now, from the house?”
Her mom shook her head “yes”.
Debbie found a thank you card & handed to her mom. Judy pointed at the card… she always was a card-person… looked at the faces around her bed & made a sweeping gesture with her finger pointing at them all… her way of saying, “Thank you.” Then she removed the oxygen tube from her nose. Debbie & Dawnette said, “No mom, you have to leave this on.”
She shook her head firmly no. She insisted on removing it. A few minutes later she was gone.
I’m certain when she entered paradise into the presence of the Lord, Judy’s first words were the same as her last words with us, “Thank you!”

May God give us such courage & grace when we walk through that last valley of the shadow.

Baptizing Boston

I don’t know how many people I’ve baptized over the years. I haven’t kept count. But there are some that remain embedded in my memory. I remember the first person I baptized in the Christian Church in White City, Kansas as a student pastor. When the portly elderly lady stepped into the baptistery I was concerned about her age and determined to get her dunked and up out of the water again as quickly as possible. I dunked her so quickly that I failed to get her all the way under. The crown of her forehead remained dry. For a second I panicked. “Does that count?” I wondered. No one knew but me and God, so I decided that was good enough. No way I was going to dunk her again for good measure.

Baptizing teens at the HEB Foundation Camp in the Frio River was always an adventure. Once I slipped on the mossy stone-bottom and baptized myself just before baptizing a student. It was a challenge to find a convenient place in the river shallow enough to wade in from the bank, yet deep enough to immerse the baptismal candidate. One year I had a couple of high school boys paddle a young girl out to a shallow place in a canoe. Amanda had long wavy auburn hair and looked like Pocahontas riding in the canoe. Climbing out of a canoe in the middle of a river is tricky, but she made it, and I baptized her there in the Frio.

When my daughter called me to tell me that her son, my grandson, was going to be baptized that coming Sunday, Feb 2, I was determined to be there. My youth pastor agreed to preach for me and my wife I made plans for the week-end trip to Fort Worth. My mom accompanied us to see her great grandson’s baptism. The first thing my daughter said to me when we walked in the door of her home was, “Will you baptize Boston?”

“Well… I don’t know,” I replied, “I didn’t come prepared with the right clothes and… ABSOLUTELY I will baptize my grandson!”

We enjoyed a relaxing Saturday evening and got up early Sunday to go to church. Boston will be 13 in May. No one pushed him or even urged him to be baptized. He had thought through this all on his own and was eager to make his stand for Christ. Deacons met us at the church and ushered the entire family up the back steps to the dressing rooms adjacent to the baptistery. Boston and I went into the dressing room to change while the family waited. The church had a pair of loaner shorts and a t-shirt for me. I prayed with Boston and we talked about the meaning of baptism. He was focused and serious. A couple of Boston’s best friends had arrived outside the dressing room and his dad’s side of the family. We took a lot of pictures. Then it was time.

The baptistery at their church is elevated 20 feet or more above the sanctuary pulpit. There was a standing room area behind the baptistery for the family. Boston and I stepped into the warm water and made our way to the center of the baptistery and looked out over a large congregation staring up at us. I introduced Boston and myself and choked on the words, “This is my first grandchild to baptize.” I asked Boston the question: “Do you believe with all your heart that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and do you receive him as your Savior, the forgiver of your sins, and your Lord, the Leader of your life?” Boston answered, “Yes.”

“Boston Cade McIntire, because of your confession of faith in Jesus Christ, I now baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit.”

Then I dunked him all the way under, even the crown of his forehead got wet. In one motion I brought him up out of the water and wrapped my arms around him in a hug. I felt a deep sense of joy in that moment. Baptism is Boston’s promise to follow Christ, to live a life worthy of the gospel. Baptism is God’s promise to always forgive, always be with him, always love him. Boston, like the rest of us, will struggle at times to live up to his promise. God will keep his part of the covenant perfectly and forever. Boston will probably wrestle with doubts at various times in his faith walk. God will never doubt Boston’s salvation, his place in the Kingdom.

Baptizing Boston was one of the most moving moments of my life. It was an answer to a daily prayer that Psalm 102:28 would become a reality for me and my family. The psalmist writes, “The children of your servants will live in your presence; their descendants will be established before you.” Psalm 102:28 (NIV)
At 57 years old I’m thinking more and more about what I will leave behind when I leave this world. When my children & grandchildren lay me in the grave I pray they will do so with faith, hope, and love in Christ. I pray my faith will live on in them. I pray they will walk before the Lord with integrity and that the generations to follow will do the same. Boston’s baptism is confirmation that God hears my prayer. Every baptism is confirmation that God hears our prayers… the prayers that count the most.

Morning Prayer

Years ago I memorized a short prayer from the Book of Common Prayer to say daily. It goes like this:
“Lord God Almighty, and Everlasting Father, you have brought us in safety to this new day: Preserve us by your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin, or be overcome by adversity; and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord amen.”

I recite it every day when I get in the car to leave the house. I’ll admit I’m usually thinking of me and sometimes my family when I recite the prayer, but that’s going to change. I want it to be a prayer I recite for us… PCC. After all, it is written in the first person plural… it’s not “me”, it’s “we”. The prayer fits well what I think we want to be together & what we want to ask God to do for us, in us, & through us. Let’s break it down into the parts.

“Lord God Almighty, and Everlasting Father…”

We’re all created in the image of God, & through Christ we all call on the Almighty as “Everlasting Father”. That, of course, makes us brothers and sisters, family.

“…you have brought us in safety to this new day…”

When all is well with us, we know who to thank. When one brother or sister rejoices in some unexpected blessing or some long anticipated blessing, we all rejoice. We are a people filled with gratitude for our God. We come every Sunday to praise him and give thanks to the Lord together.

“Preserve us by your mighty power that we may not fall into sin, or be overcome by adversity…”

Together we face two adversaries in this life. The first is sin. We gather to confess our sin and receive forgiveness. We also respond to the gospel by turning away from sin to walk together righteously before God. We share a desire NOT to sin anymore. We’re not obsessed with the sins of non-believers. Rather, we are committed to walking faithfully before God ourselves… together.

The other adversary is adversity. The world is destined to be renewed. All wrongs will be made right. Every tear dried, & death will be no more. But not yet. Till Christ returns we endure adversity of all kinds. The prayer is not some fantasy that we’d never experience any trouble or hardship or suffering of any kind, but that we will not be overcome by adversity. So we stand together and share in one another’s sufferings and adversity, praying for those in chemo and rehab and looking for a job and trying to keep their family together. By the almighty power of God we will not be overcome! Faith, hope, and love will endure forever in us.

“…and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord amen.”

We’re doing more here than merely surviving, trying to avoid sin & enduring adversity. We have a God-given, God-ordained mission. We are sent to…
·        Proclaim the Gospel
·        Produce disciples
·        Praise God together

So we pray for God’s direction in fulfilling his purpose in us and through us.

That’s what we’re about here at Pflugerville Community Church. We share a communal faith that fills us with gratitude, and ministers to one another as we face temptation, seek forgiveness, endure adversity, & do the work of God’s mission… proclaiming Christ, producing disciples, and praising God together.

Backpack Pfriends

Dr. Alex Torrez, Superintendent of PISD delivered a video message to PCC on Sunday, December 15. He said, “Sometimes we think of not having access to enough food as a problem in other communities, other countries, but not in our own backyard. Childhood hunger is real. It is a problem and it exists in PISD right now.”

I was surprised the first time I heard Dr. Torrez talk about children right here in our community that don’t have enough food. These children are fed at school 5-days-a-week, but on the week-ends they often go without. I cannot imagine walking home from school on a Friday afternoon as a 2^nd grader wondering if I’ll have anything to eat for the next two days. Dr. Torrez raised awareness of the problem and then offered a solution. PISD is partnering with local churches on a pilot program called Backpack Pfriends. The program distributes backpacks loaded with nutritious food for the week-end every Friday for at risk children. PCC is one of churches stepping up to partner with the school district for the pilot program.

 This year’s Christmas Eve offering will be given in total to fund the Backpack Pfriends project at Brookhollow Elementary School. The backpacks have already been donated, so 100% of our offering will go to providing the food to put in them. Our goal is to raise $9000 needed to support the program through the spring semester and fall. Would you set aside an offering for Christmas Eve that will be an on-going blessing to children in our community?

 This year’s Christmas Eve project also provides opportunities for us to help in a “hands-on” way. PCC will need volunteers to stuff the backpacks every week and hand them out. More details about volunteering to be part of the Backpack Pfriends program will be available in January. What a great opportunity for PCC to make a difference for Christ in our own backyard.

 The proverb contends, “A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.” Proverbs 22:9 (NIV)

Our desire is to honor God by sharing our food and the Bread of Life, who is Christ our Lord. We won’t be slipping gospel tracts into the backpacks, but we will pray for each family that receives them. We won’t give with strings attached; we’ll simply be a blessing and let the Spirit work.

What I Learned from Nonbelievers Part 2

At a recent Explore God Discussion group believers and nonbelievers had an honest & open discussion about God. The specific topic was: “Why does God allow pain & suffering?” Another thing I learned was that some nonbelievers are perfectly ok with the randomness of suffering. This surprised me as much as anything that was said in the group.

For those of us who believe in God pain and suffering can be confusing & difficult, if not impossible, to fully understand. But, suffering always leads believers to a conversation with God. It is a test of faith, not so much whether or not our faith will survive, but how deep it will go. At times that “conversation” feels rather one-sided. All believers recall times when God felt far away or non-existent. Nevertheless, our faith pushes us to continue seeking, crying out, waiting to hear back, and taking comfort in the promises of God’s Word. We find great solace in the gospel that promises the redemption of our suffering in the end, and God’s good and holy purpose accomplished in it now. The promises are truly comforting, but it’s conversation itself that I need when suffering and disappointment crashes down on me. It is the consolation of having someone who knows how I feel and what I fear and cares and gives me peace beyond understanding.

Nonbelievers appear to need no such conversation. They say, “Suffering just happens.” It’s the way the world works. It’s science. Molecules break down. Natural disasters occur. Is there anything more impersonal and uncaring as science? Chemical reactions and molecules and nature don’t care, can’t possibly care when we suffer. One nonbeliever made the case that it is more tenable to accept the randomness of suffering rather than the alternative, that there is a God so cruel as to cause suffering. I would agree with her premise, if I accepted her concept of God as the cruel cause of suffering.

We believe in the God of love and redemption, not a God of cruelty who takes delight in the suffering of the people he created. We can debate the character of God, whether he is a God of grace and truth who redeems all suffering or not. We can all express our opinions, but in the end he is a God of love or he isn’t. He exists or he doesn’t. If he doesn’t exist or he’s committed to sadistic cruelty, then what hope is there for us when we suffer… really suffer? On the other hand, there is the deepest hope in the God revealed in Christ our Lord. And it isn’t just about heaven or life after death, it’s the conversation now. It’s the presence of God, who in Christ knows suffering personally.

Many years of being a pastor has taught me that even though I cannot “fix” someone’s troubles or stop someone’s suffering there is something about simply showing up. There is something quiet powerful in being with the one hurting. Only God can be fully present and with us in the midst of our most intense suffering, the suffering that ends in death. If there is no God, the final moments of suffering will also be unbearably lonely. Every time I go to the Lord’s Table and eat the bread of Christ and drink from his cup I am reassured that he has been through the shadow of the valley and I will not pass through it alone.

 

What I Learned from Nonbelievers

Last night I enjoyed visiting one of PCC’s home groups. It was a group that began as one of our Explore God Discussion groups that decided to continue the discussion after the official Explore God initiative was over. After the children were fed and ushered upstairs with the babysitter the seven adults took our seats in the living room. Four were believers & PCC members, another described herself as “not a believer, but open”, another described herself as an atheist, & me, “the pastor”. It was a delightful group of genuine friends having an honest and open discussion about God.

I could trumpet my success in the debate, how I bobbed and weaved to avoid the brunt of their arguments, floated like butterfly and stung like a bee delivering irrefutable theology. Actually, it wasn’t like that at all. I didn’t go to win a debate, but have a conversation, to listen and learn, as much as to share my views of God and faith. As it turned out, the two nonbelievers weren’t intimidated in the least by my clergy credentials. They didn’t hold back in sharing their views or questioning mine. Here are some things I learned from nonbelievers last night.

Hateful Christians do incredible damage to the cause of Christ. It is one thing to recognize that this is true in a general way, it’s another to sit next to someone whose been deeply wounded by a hateful believer in her own family or in her own childhood church. In her book Angry Conversations with God, Susan Isaacs describes her tortured teen years and observes, “…if just one, just one Jesus person had made me feel loved at the time, it could have changed a lot. It could have changed everything.” If I had one wish for every child growing up in PCC it would be that he or she would experience grace and love when it’s most needed. That was my own experience as young person. The love and grace I received in my most vulnerable moment served to confirm and seal my faltering, unsteady faith in Christ.

I have yet to discover an argument that heals the wounds hateful Christians inflict on struggling, searching, questioning kids in the church. The very term “hateful Christian” should be an oxymoron. How can those of us who claim to follow Christ be hateful? I’m not talking about a moment of passion when we fly off the handle and say something we immediately deeply regret. I’m talking about willfully feeding the monster of hatred so that it grows into a consuming obsession. I’m talking about unapologetic, proud, cruel, unrepentant hatred toward a group or individual. This kind of hatred often causes questioning young people in the church to conclude, “This is the way it is with God. So, I’m done with God, Christ, Church, faith, all of it.” All the believers in our little circle were quick to point out, “We’re not all like that!” But that wasn’t enough; it’s never enough. Being part of a faith community means owning the sins of our brothers. So our only defense is confession, repentance, and a plea for forgiveness on behalf of our brothers. I’m not sure I got that message across last night, but hope & pray so.

There’s much more that I learned from nonbelievers last night. I’ll add more to this blog in the coming days and weeks.

I Love the Bible

Christians worship Jesus Christ, not the Bible. Our first love is Jesus, the one John meant when he wrote, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” Some seem to think the Holy Trinity is the Father, Son, and Bible. The Bible is not God; it points to God. The Bible cannot save us or redeem us; only Jesus can do that. The Bible is our primary source, but not our only source, for learning about God and hearing and experiencing God. So, I love the Bible. If I were stranded on a dessert island with only one book I’d choose Lord of the Rings the Bible. I’ve memorized key passages of the Bible just in case I get stranded on that island without it.

It’s true, part of my love for the Bible stems from the fact that I grew up hearing its stories read to me by my parents and Sunday school teachers. My early childhood heroes included David, who slew a giant, Noah who built an ark, Samson who single handedly wiped out a few thousand evil Philistines with the jawbone of an ass, John the Baptist who ate grasshoppers, and of course, Jesus who out shined them all. They inspired me to dream of doing heroic things for God.

I remember how proud I was when my parents gave me my first black leather-bound KJV with my name embossed in gold letters on the front “Steven D Clem”. It felt like Mom and Dad were merely messengers delivering an incredible gift to me from God. Now I could read the word of God for myself. At the age of 8 or 9 I couldn’t understand much of it (it was a KJV), but I loved turning the pages and reading it out loud. I loved looking up the passages as the preacher called out his text on Sunday. I loved the Bible drills in children’s church. Bible drills were contests to see who could find the book, chapter, and verse first as they were called out by the teacher. Those Old Testament Minor Prophets were tough to find, but it felt good to find it first, win the race, jump up from my seat, and start reading, “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8) There is a sentimental element in my love for the Bible I cannot deny. But it’s more than that.

The Bible is the only book I can read over and over, day after day, and still have a sense of finding something new, or more to the point, hearing something new and fresh every time I open it. It is the only book that sings to me (Zeph. 3:17) and stings me (Is. 64:6) and satisfies my soul (Ps. 62:1). It is the only book that I never read alone… even when I am alone. It is filled with mystery and yet God’s will for me is unmistakable. It scares the you-know-what out of me as it confronts me with my sin and God’s righteous anger. And yet the love of God in Christ is communicated in the story of the cross so vividly I can almost hear the nails being driven in his hands and feet. So often the words of Jesus seem meant for me alone.

If there is one key to reading the Bible, as I think God intends us to read it, I think it would be with an attitude of faith seeking understanding. We should bring our questions, doubts, and prejudices to God as we read Bible. I’m for honest thinking and questioning as we read it. The New City Catechism asks, “How is the Word of God to be read and heard?” Answer: “With diligence, preparation, and prayer; so that we may accept it with faith, store it in our hearts, and practice it in our lives.” My faith in Christ alone as my Redeemer, Savior, and Lord guides my reading and understanding of the Bible.

I won’t apologize for the Bible. Yes, there are some hard to understand stories, especially in the Old Testament; God seems very harsh at times. But this is the same God Jesus calls “my Father”. This is the same God who chooses to become one of us, suffer with us, and die for us. This is the God who loves and commands us to love one another. I love the Bible, not like I love a trophy or antique lamp. I love the Bible like I love a long, love letter that is brutally honest, but infinitely intimate and dripping with passion for me. This Sunday, October 13, 2013 I’m preaching on the topic, “Can we trust the Bible?” The bottom line for me has little to do with the typical issues of translation errors, who decided which books were to be included in the Bible, and historical and scientific errors in the Bible. The answer for me personally is, absolutely we can trust the Bible as a reliable document revealing God, like a passionate love letter revealing the heart of a lover.

If you miss the message this Sunday you can hear it online at http://www.pc-church.org/sermon-archives/explore-god/ .