In Case You Were Wondering

I like books. I can browse the shelves of Barnes and Noble for hours on end. I like novels, biographies, history, sports-books (especially about baseball players and golfers), books that challenge me spiritually, and, of course, the Bible. There are different means through which our faith grows; reading is a big one for me. It’s a good thing I like to read, because it is essential to my job. My sermons are enhanced by what I read. I cringe at the thought of how uniformed and boring my sermons would be if I stopped reading.

I’m a slow reader, a plodder. It may take me 2 months to read a book my wife knocks out in 3 days. I may be slow, but I’m persistent. Usually I’m reading 4 or 5 books at the same time. I keep a couple in the office that I read for the job. I always take a book with me if I’m going to be waiting in a doctor’s office or in a barbershop. I keep several books beside my favorite recliner at home and a couple more beside my bed. I love starting a new book, wondering if the story is going to capture my imagination or the spiritual insights are going to push me to think deeper about my faith. I love finishing a book and placing it on my shelf like a shiny trophy, unless it’s a great novel, and then I feel sad when it ends. I keep a running list of the books I’ve read. So far this year I’ve read 27 books, some very good ones, and some not-so-great ones. Just for fun (fun for me anyway), I thought I’d post brief reviews of every book I’ve read this year… just in case you were wondering what I’m reading. My goal is to post one review a day. Here’s book review #1…

Is Hell For Real or Does Everyone Go to Heaven? Edited by Christopher W. Morgan and Robert A. Peterson.
http://www.amazon.com/Hell-Real-Does-Everyone-Heaven/dp/0310494621/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355337175&sr=1-1&keywords=is+hell+for+real

I began the year with this small paperback book that is basically a response to the controversial book Love Wins, by Rob Bell, which I read in 2011. The book offers 5 chapters by 5 different Evangelical theologians who answer questions such as, “Is hell for real?” “What did Jesus say about hell?” and “Does everyone go to heaven?” The best chapter by far, in my opinion, is the one written by J.I. Packer. He gets right to the point when he states, “…the task of the universalist is to circumvent the seemingly clear New Testament teaching on eternal punishment.” (Pg. 67)

Then he turns the argument on its head insisting, “Everyone… deserves eternal punishment in hell, the supreme mystery is that God should save anyone.” (Pg.70)
He makes a strong case for taking seriously both the dark sinister nature of sinful humans and the shocking love of a holy God who moves to save them. Authentic Christians have disagreed on the issue of hell and who ends up there for 2000 years. Neither Rob Bell nor J.I. Packer is likely to get the last word. Bell’s book is well worth reading too. There is a loving kindness in Bell’s writing toward unbelievers that is too often missing in books by Evangelicals. Did Bell win me over to the Universalist point of view (that all people are saved and go to heaven in the end)? No. I agree with Packer, that in terms of the New Testament, Universalism is wishful thinking. However, there is one statement from Rob Bell that I do completely agree with: “It is our responsibility to be extremely careful about making negative, decisive, lasting judgments about people’s eternal destinies.” (Pg. 160)

My gospel witness is more inclined toward emphasizing the shocking love of God, than the reality of His eternal wrath. The Apostle Paul put like this: “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?” (Romans 2:4) (NIV)

While I’m certainly not for compromising the truth, I learned long ago that it isn’t my job or my place to make final judgments on people’s eternal destiny.

December 9 Sermon Homework

At the conclusion of each message I give a homework assignment to the congregation. Here's the assignment for December 9, 2012...

Homework: Continue to work on memorizing Psalm 23.
Reflect upon the past dark valleys the Good Shepherd has led you through.
Write them down and what you think God wanted you to learn from each one. Give thanks to the Good Shepherd and ask for faith strength for your present valley, or the next one to come.
 
Blessing: Isaiah 9:2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.
“May you see the light of Christ our Lord and trust him in all your valleys. Amen.”

Advent

I remember the first year our family celebrated Advent. I grew up in a non-traditional, non-denominational church without an Advent tradition, and so did my wife. We were young parents when we discovered Advent. It was a new idea to us, and we thought a great way to teach our 3 daughters about the true meaning of Christmas. We were young and poor. We lived in a mobile home and shared one car… a Ford Pinto. Buying a fancy Advent wreath wasn’t an option, so Sandy created one. She wrapped an empty Kleenex box with Christmas wrapping paper, poked 5 holes in it for the candles, and we had our center-piece of hope, joy, peace, and love. Our girls were aged 3, 1½ and newborn. For small children, just lighting a candle was an exciting experience. Amy, our 3-year-old was thrilled when we told her she would get to light the first candle.



To add even more excitement to the experience we included a little drama to the story. After gathering the family around the Kleenex Box/Advent wreath Sandy made some excuse to leave the room as I told the girls that we had a very special visitor coming to celebrate Advent with us that night. Right on queue Sandy came back into the room with scarf on her head and shawl around her shoulders. “My name is Mary,” she told the girls, “I am the mother of Jesus.”

She proceeded to tell the Christmas story from the perspective of Mary. The girls were completely mesmerized. Amy lit the first Advent Candle and “Mary” said her good-byes and left the room. When Sandy came back into the room Amy said, “Oh Mommy, you missed Mary!” And so began our family Advent tradition.

Advent is a time to celebrate light in the midst of darkness symbolized by the Advent candles representing the hope, faith, joy, and love we have in Christ.  The candles remind us of the light of God coming into the world. The light from the candles grows brighter as each week comes closer to Christmas.  Finally the fifth candle is lit on Christmas Eve representing the birth of the Savior, the light of the world. Advent is great way to teach our children about the true meaning of Christmas. There’s an endless supply of Advent resources on the internet. Just google “Advent” and start looking.

Dec 2 Sermon Homework

At the conclusion of each message I give a homework assignment to the congregation. Here's the assignment for December 2, 2012...

Homework: Continue to work on memorizing Psalm 23.

Get an Advent Devotional. 3 worth considering…

Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas (various authors)
God Is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
Celebrating Christmas with Jesus: An Advent Devotional (Max Lucado)

Blessing: “May you know the rest, refreshment, and restoration of the Good Shepherd that you may faithfully follow Him in the paths of righteousness. Amen.”

PS23 - Shepherd



I began the new sermon series on Psalm 23 today. The assignment was to memorize Psalm 23 this week and recite it daily. Turn it into your own prayer. I love the Bonhoeffer quote: “The richness of the Word of God ought to determine our prayer, not the poverty of our heart.”

This beautiful little psalm teaches us so much about the intimacy God desires with us and how to pray. I'll be using the English Standard Version in the messages; I like the way it keeps the poetic rhythm of the KJV without using words like "maketh" and "leadeth". So here's the ESV translation...
Psalm 23 (English Standard Version)
¹ The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
² He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
³ He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,
for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Remember, Christ is your Shepherd if... 
You are content in his care
You listen to his voice
You follow him
My prayer is that the psalm becomes more and more meaningful to us over the next 5 weeks.

Politics in the Pulpit

Now that the election is over and passions have cooled a bit, I thought I’d offer my perspective. Members and regular attenders of the church I pastor will know that I have never endorsed a candidate running for any office. That includes local, state, and national elections. I keep my own political views and party affiliation out of the pulpit. That is by design. No, I’m not concerned about IRS pulling our non-profit status. However, I do have two significant reasons for keeping politics out of the pulpit.

The first reason is that party affiliation should never be a litmus test for Christians in general and church membership at PCC. It’s a fact; there are passionate Democrats, passionate Republicans, and probably a few Libertarians that worship together every Sunday at PCC. And yes, I’m proud of that fact. Politics is complicated. There are many issues at stake and Christians can legitimately hold differing views on most of the issues. Take taxes for example. Should Christians support higher taxes on the wealthy to provide more government assistance for the poor? I’m certain all would agree that the answer is yes. But what percentage is appropriate? And does higher taxes on the wealthy mean fewer jobs for everyone, including the poor? More importantly for Christians, what does the Bible say? It actually says quite a lot about caring for the poor, but not much at all about taxes. There is no question that Christians should be leading the way in caring for the poor. On the other hand, the only thing Jesus said about taxes was, “Render unto Caesar…” In other words, “Pay what you must pay to the governing authorities.” I don’t think there is a “Christian” or “biblical” view of taxes. Authentic believers in Christ will always have differing views. The same is true of so many other issues… national defense, economic policies, education, health care, etc. No one is for a bad national defense or a bad economy. No one is against education or health care, but there are differing views in how to approach these and many other issues.

We are blessed to live in a free nation where these issues can be discussed openly without fear of reprisal from the party in power. Christians can and should participate in the discussion, but without rancor or bitterness or hatred for those who disagree. Christians must lead the way in being gracious and refusing to return evil for evil in the discussion. What we share in common, Christ our Lord, far supersedes our political affiliations and differences. We are not called to convert others to our political party, but to Christ and his kingdom. I’m for civility in the public square, even if that civility is not returned.

The second reason I take great pains to keep politics out of the pulpit is that I want us to always remember that Christ is our Lord and Savior, not any politician, government, party, or nation. I always cringe when I hear some politician say, “America is the hope of the world!” No it’s not. It never has been, nor will it ever be. Jesus Christ is the hope of the world and the Church as the “body of Christ” carries his banner throughout the world, not America. Of course, God is fully able to work through people in government and through various governments including our own. We must never allow patriotism to become an idol. We must never love the “one nation under God” more than God. We must never place our faith in our government leaders or our military leaders for that which only God can provide… true peace and security and hope. We must always think of ourselves as Christians first and U.S. citizens second. Our first priority as Christians is to pray for this nation and our leaders, whether we voted for them or not. We do have a biblical mandate for that: “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone-- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.” (1 Timothy 2:1-2) (NIV)

After all, the proverb does say, “The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.” (Proverbs 21:1) (NIV)

My QB's Faith

I came across this article about K-State QB Collin Klein. http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/collin-klein-faith-led-him-wife-first-kiss-215824243--ncaaf.html

As a K-State alum I could not be prouder our QB's faith and his courage to claim it publically. In the interviews I've seen and heard Collin always comes across as genuine and humble. And I pitty the diminutive cornerback that gets between Collin and the endzone.