Preaching Politics? To Avoid it is to Avoid Teaching "...All things pertaining to life and godliness..." 2 Peter 1:3

A very well known and deservedly respected Christian authority recently stated: "I've never encouraged anyone to vote Democrat or Republican. Ever.  While I believe all Christians should be active in politics, it is unwise to identify Christianity with any particular political party. If you don't see how Christianity cuts across all political ideologies, you may not see the deep problems within the one you prefer."    A link provided with the above statement noted this premise; "The historical Christian positions on social issues don't match up with contemporary political alinements."

That premise is flawed out of the gate.  Ineffable truth, in the end, is not determined by "historical Christian positions" on anything. Truth is only ever determined by the rightly divided inspired Word of God. What lies at the heart of this side-stepping nonsense is the fear of giving offense to anyone listening who may not "be there" yet with respect to the Christian faith. I understand and I sympathize. However, done appropriately, it is the shepherd's responsibility to teach ALL things to one's flock regardless of whether they are received or not. If the prophets of God in the Bible operated on this basis they would have spent the majority of their lives in silence...

Now let's get real. Here is a list--and certainly an incomplete one--of issues or ideologies in play in today's affairs. 

Sanctity of life--meaning all life is sacred and to be protected and preserved except in the situations where the Creator has stipulated [eg. capital punishment.] 

Greed--This is not identifiable by net worth but by stewardship of one's possessions

Hard work--The necessity of man working is a creation ordinance. It is the norm for mankind. It is not the responsibility of the hard working laborer to provide for the able but unwilling one who will not work. 

Compassion--Generosity by definition is a free choice of the heart, it cannot and should not be mandated by force.

Equality--Means all have been created in the image of God. It never means that everyone is guaranteed equal ability, talent, privilege, or outcome of one's efforts.

Sexual purity--Sex is a gift of God to be experienced solely within the bonds of holy matrimony with one man and one woman (as determined by genetic creation) joined until death separates.

Crime--wrong doing as prescribed by God Almighty is to be punished for the sake of the common good. (One of the greatest purposes of government is to create and enforce a system of justice that reflects God's character punishing bad and rewarding good.)

Lawfulness--Government has been endowed by God with the prerogative of establishing, enforcing and practicing godly rules and regulations which underscore the holy character of God Himself. 

Now let's get even more real: On balance, not with perfection obviously, which political affiliation supports, condones, encourages, understands, and makes decisions/laws/edicts/mandates which tend greatly towards punishing evil behavior, as defined biblically,  while rewarding good behavior as defined biblically?

One can spit into the wind, huff and puff, and snit and fume with all their might in defense of their political selection.  But at the end of the day, when the lights of the Divine are turned on in everyones' hearts the truth will be revealed and everyone will be judged according to their belief system.

Shame on pastors who do not give clear direction to those under their care warning them to flee from the wrath that is to come. 

He works in the midst of daily refuse.

This morning I grabbed my hatchet which was razor sharp as I had sharpened it after the last time I used it.  I grabbed the first piece of wood a simple, symmetrical 1"x5"X 15" piece of pine to split for kindling. I whacked off one piece and then the second one missed and took a major piece of my left index finger flapping it over.  I knew I had about 5 seconds before it would start gushing blood. In that moment I inspected the digital architecture and didn't see any bone or tendon involvement although the joint/bone was clearly visible.

Off to the ER... After the 2 hour wait, the ER Doc, a very personable man, came in and we were yucking it up. As he worked on me, I find out he lives in S.C. but comes up here 4 months a year in the winter to help out Maine. Back home he has a wife JUST Dx'd with cancer and children allowing him to do this.  

Anyway, as I am interrogating him I find out his father (now departed) was a pastor in NY and he is a believer. So we invite him over to break up the monotony of the long 4 months away from family, and I truly hope he takes us up on it. 

So the bigger point?  Would the Lord of the universe allow me, in my ineptitude, to whack my finger nearly in half for the sake of bringing us in contact with this man?  I don't know.  But here is where I am coming from, "...do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own..."  (1 Corinthians 6:19)

He is GOD; His ways are not our ways, His purposes are grander than ours, He is good whether we understand that at every turn or not.  So--YES, I am quite certain that He "could" do what I suggest and I would not put it past Him to do such a thing. Barbara and my souls were lifted up in the presence of this affable ER Doc and he seemed equally blessed.  "God works all things for good..." 

The rest of this story is yet to be written but one thing is certain; yesterday was unpleasant, and the aftermath is still playing out with discomfort, hindrance and inconvenience. But if the Lord wants to salvage a normal "day of small things" for His glory, what can we say but "Amen."

Can we preach too much grace???

The book of Jeremiah is not something you will hear preached as a matter of course in these wayward times. I took our congregation, page by page, through the book a number of years ago. The warnings of Jeremiah are many and just as applicable today as they were then. The knee-jerk reaction of our current Christian culture --myself included-- is to ascribe the rampant evil of the day to the unbelief of the culture at large.  A cursory reading of Jeremiah seems to say something quite different. Rather than excoriating "they, them and those," this prophet points the accusing finger at those uniquely called the Children of God. 

"Amend your ways and deeds and I will let you dwell in this place. Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’" (Jeremiah 7:4)

The Temple worship had become so casually understood as to the depth of meaning of what took place, that the redemptive pictures and promises of hope in the coming Savior were trampled underfoot. The result was as flippant, thoughtless, and robotic attendance becoming the be-all, end-all, of the measure of saving faith; of true faith.

Putting it in today's parlance, it would be akin to the staunch priority of making sure one is in attendance at church every Sunday, come Hell or high water, clutching their weekly attendance badge as their security and definition of what it means to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart..." As long as one meets their self-determined "religious requirement," they can quite literally live the rest of the hours of their week however they see fit. 

Sadly, today the "art" of exhortation is too often omitted in the preacher's task for fear of offending and--gasp--someone leaves the church. So with gushing words of affirmation, week in and week out, the self-satisfied "Christian" walks out every Sunday feeling like they are God's gift to the world.

"“Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations?"  (Jeremiah 7:8-10)

What follows in the rest of Jeremiah ought to put the fear into anyone who is putting their confidence in their "walk of faithfulness" as determined on an individual basis. 

The balance:  The God of the New Testament is the same God of the Old Testament.  He has not changed for He is unchanging. It is certainly true that no one is secure before a Holy, sin-hating God, except the one who IS PUTTING their confidence in the imputed righteousness of the Savior. Notice I did not say, "....who HAS PUT their confidence in the imputed righteousness of the Savior. 

Saving faith is not a punctilliar--once in the past action--but an active, continuous action that is moment by moment. The reformers understood this as "perseverance of the saints." In other words it is not the one who has believed in the past, but the one who has believed, is believing and will believe... And lest this be misunderstood as a self-generated, strength of grip, fortitude, this continuing in faith is purely by the magnanimous grace of the One who has called out the Redeemed. 

"I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand."  (John 10:28-29)

Understood on balance, a little more fire and brimstone could be vital to the health of the Church. For  "...God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?"  (Romans 2:4) 

"Happy" New Year?

"When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”"  (Genesis 6:1-7)

I have heard some pretty bizarre readings of this passage so only a word on what it isn't. The Nephilim were not fallen angels, demons, aliens or anything else "other-worldly." Enough on that for now.

What should jump out to us is the fact that the ludicrous assertion which has become unquestioned truth in many sectors, is that mankind is "basically good." All evidence to the contrary. This single fact topples the foundations of most of current day sociological and psychological theory and practice. 

The biblical understanding: The Lord created mankind at the outset--meaning Adam and Eve--not merely "good" but perfect. It was God's goal from the beginning for His children to enjoy intimate, communal relationship with each other and with their Creator. But that quickly changed as the prototypical family blew off the perfect counsel of their Creator exercising their inherent right of autonomy. The first family exchanged their own whims, desires, and wisdom over the very One who made them. The consequence was worldwide upheaval affecting everything in creation. Worse still, all life proceeding from Adam and Eve now entered the world inherently evil!  Happy New Year? Well only potentially.  

For before the foundations of the universe were even formed, the Lord God knew all of this would happen and had already set a plan of redemption in place.  He would become human, would live on the now sin stained planet, and would satisfy His original intention for man kind to be perfect so that we may enjoy that perfect communion with each other and the Creator Himself. 

We just ended the "Christmas" season 1 week ago. How distressing it is to see the annihilation of the celebration of our redemption turned into crass sentimentality replacing the birth of "God With Us" with empty sentiments of peace on Earth, love of family, and being excellent to each other. It plays well and even feels good but it is the broad way to eternal destruction God incarnate spoke of in Matthew: "“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."  (Matthew 7:13-14)

So it's pretty straight forward; you want a truly NEW year, with the promise of perfect peace (eventually) and eternal life with the Almighty (now) again Jesus speaks unambiguously. "Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."  (John 14:6)

If you "get that," embrace that, and accept God's Truth a peace-filled, and contented, New Year can indeed be yours, Now and Forever more.