Trending NOW

 

Wednesday, May 11, 2022

Once again the people picked up stones to kill him.  Jesus said, “At my Father’s direction I have done many good works.  For which one are you going to stone me?”  They replied, “We’re stoning you not for any good work, but for blasphemy!  You, a mere man, claim to be God.”  Jesus replied, “It is written in your own Scriptures that God said to certain leaders of the people, ‘I say, you are gods!’  And you know that the Scriptures cannot be altered.  So  if those people who received God’s message were called ‘gods,’ why do you call it blasphemy when I say, ‘I am the Son of God’?  After all, the Father set me apart and sent me into the world.  Don’t believe me unless I carry out my Father’s work.  But if I do his work, believe in the evidence of the miraculous works I have done, even if you don’t believe me.  Then you will know and understand that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father.”  Once again they tried to arrest him, but he got away and left them.  He went beyond the Jordan River near the place where John was first baptizing and stayed there awhile.  And many followed him.  “John didn’t perform miraculous signs,” they remarked to one another, “but everything he said about this man has come true.”  And many who were there believed in Jesus.  John 10:31-42

Trending is an amazing phenomenon.  Something happens in today’s world and the bandwagon gets overloaded in a hurry.  The trending of people getting ready to stone someone is as old as the fourth chapter of Genesis, when Cain picked up a big rock to teach his brother, Abel a lesson.  That didn’t end well, and it still doesn’t.

Not all stoning, however, is done with a rock.  What’s been trending since I was barely into my teens is the stoning of God’s church, and faith in the church’s Founder, Jesus.  Now, there are many “reasons” (and some would say “excuses”) for this falling away from Christian orthodoxy, which places faith firmly in Holy Scripture, bedrock of which is the Gospel.  But the primary cause for this increase in faith-downward-trending isn’t any different than when people picked up the stones that day in Jerusalem’s Temple to silence the upstart son of a carpenter.  When something is said that rocks the comfort boat, the occupants are going to toss it overboard.

As a reply, Jesus challenged their willingness to send him packing from the church (also not a new occurrence…preachers are very familiar with the exit trending of both members, under their own power of choice, and the preachers themselves by committee vote).  But the bottom line of Jesus’ challenge is common sense.  If what he DID matched what He SAID, and what the Scripture RECORDED as God’s Word and way, why the disbelief?  You’ve heard it before:  If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck….  This passage has a world arriving at the conclusion that, evidence aside, we’d rather have the comfort level of making our independent choices, than the uncertainty of following a God of infinite power, Who disturbs our comfortable nest. 

For You Today

It may be easier (for many people) to follow Jesus in theory, rather than to stand with Jesus once the flinging of the rocks commences.  Then, it’s a whole lot easier to just go with what’s trending.  But there’s coming a trend to end all trends…that moment when you face the one who faced the crowds with rocks in their hands that day in Jerusalem.  He’s going to say one of two things in that moment:

1.    Well done, thou good and faithful servant

2.    Depart from me, I never knew you.

The right choice, or the wrong rock is in your hand!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road with Jesus; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title image: Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

When the Serpent Sleeps

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Friday, September 20, 2019

“Jeremiah, say to the people, ‘This is what the Lord says:  “‘When people fall down, don’t they get up again?  When they discover they’re on the wrong road, don’t they turn back?  Then why do these people stay on their self-destructive path?  Why do the people of Jerusalem refuse to turn back?  They cling tightly to their lies and will not turn around.  I listen to their conversations and don’t hear a word of truth.  Is anyone sorry for doing wrong?  Does anyone say, “What a terrible thing I have done”?  No!  All are running down the path of sin as swiftly as a horse galloping into battle!  Even the stork that flies across the sky knows the time of her migration, as do the turtledove, the swallow, and the crane.  They all return at the proper time each year.  But not my people!  They do not know the Lord’s laws.  “‘How can you say, “We are wise because we have the word of the Lord,” when your teachers have twisted it by writing lies?  These wise teachers will fall into the trap of their own foolishness, for they have rejected the word of the Lord.  Are they so wise after all?   I will give their wives to others and their farms to strangers.  From the least to the greatest, their lives are ruled by greed.  Yes, even my prophets and priests are like that.  They are all frauds.  They offer superficial treatments for my people’s mortal wound.  They give assurances of peace when there is no peace.  Are they ashamed of these disgusting actions?  Not at all—they don’t even know how to blush!  Therefore, they will lie among the slaughtered.  They will be brought down when I punish them, says the Lord.  I will surely consume them.  There will be no more harvests of figs and grapes.  Their fruit trees will all die.  Whatever I gave them will soon be gone.  I, the Lord, have spoken!’        Jeremiah 8:4-13

I’ve never really seen a sleeping serpent; every time I discover one they’re quite awake, staring at me, and ready to pounce upon whatever part of me looks like it belongs on a menu!  A snake is NOT my all-time favorite cuddly pet!

When you’re alarmed about something which presents a danger to your existence, it makes perfect sense to stay on alert and take appropriate action.  In the case of Israel, they did neither.  They accepted the words of false teachers and leaders.  God was not pleased, and it became for that nation a harsh sentence of captivity and bondage.

The false nature of what the priests and leaders were offering was that palliative pablum of lukewarm religion.  Jeremiah declared that was like a moral band aid on a deadly cancerous tumor.   

In churches around the world (what is left of them) Jeremiah’s scenario is currently played out with an I’m OK – you’re OK kind of theology that somehow side-steps the issue of sin.  Like so many mindless children following a pied piper, we have bought into the idea that we are basically good, and just a few tweaks here and there on the moral issues, and we’ll be just fine.  However, sin is rampantly storming through the culture like a tsunami of Noah’s day.  And we can’t find a moral compass to stem the turpitude of pastors, bishops, and so-called spiritual leaders who have lost the ability to blush at even their own sinfulness, much less the sweeping acceptance of sin in the camp. 

One after another denominations are winking at the termites walking in the front door.  In our day we honor people who excel at putting filth and violence in front of our children’s eyes.  We elect representatives who wouldn’t recognize a moral compass if it hit them in the face.  We stand in awe of athletes who command $15 million a year to catch a ball and are moral midgets.  And God?  We don’t even call Him by name; He is relegated to social media epithets, O.M.G.  And anytime we use His name it’s uttered as an adjectival force to damn this or that.  To the thoroughly modern person, God is a joke.  And where is the church in all this?  Blandly, inconsequentially patting each other on the back for how good we are in a difficult situation.

For You Today

Serpents may sleep sometimes, but there is one that is ever on the job; Lucifer never quits.  The followers of Jesus should be so inclined!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com     Unless noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©

Boiling Point

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Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Then the Lord spoke to me again and asked, “What do you see now?”  And I replied, “I see a pot of boiling water, spilling from the north.”  “Yes,” the Lord said, “for terror from the north will boil out on the people of this land.  Listen! I am calling the armies of the kingdoms of the north to come to Jerusalem.  I, the Lord, have spoken!  “They will set their thrones at the gates of the city.  They will attack its walls and all the other towns of Judah.  I will pronounce judgment on my people for all their evil—for deserting me and burning incense to other gods.  Yes, they worship idols made with their own hands!  “Get up and prepare for action.  Go out and tell them everything I tell you to say.  Do not be afraid of them, or I will make you look foolish in front of them.  For see, today I have made you strong like a fortified city that cannot be captured, like an iron pillar or a bronze wall.  You will stand against the whole land—the kings, officials, priests, and people of Judah.  They will fight you, but they will fail.  For I am with you, and I will take care of you.  I, the Lord, have spoken!”  

Jeremiah 1:13-19(NLT)

Samaria and Judah, the two kingdoms of Israel in the 8^th century (B.C.) were an “America kind of place”.  I characterize Israel that way because theirs was an affluent and powerful dynasty, rich in gold and possessions, with a reputation of being God’s people, respected and feared by their enemies.  It was an era where the Hebrew children of Yahweh knew they had the world by the tail!

Enter Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, and all the other iah’s, and in 724BC the northern kingdom was conquered and taken into captivity by the Assyrians.  Roughly one hundred years later Jeremiah pointed back to the North and said:  Do you remember your northern neighbors?  Do you not realize the same thing will come down on your heads…for the same reason…you’ve ignored God, and He will judge you for that?  Get ready; the pot is about to boil!

It didn’t happen that same day Jeremiah preached his sermon…but 40 years later the next generation (in 587BC) experienced Babylonian fury, and the fall of the southern kingdom.  The pot boiled over…just like Jeremiah warned it would!

Many people shake their heads thinking how unfortunate, bad luck for Israel.  Friends, look closely at the words which GOD had spoken about how this was going to happen:

Listen! I am calling the armies of the kingdoms of the north to come to Jerusalem. I, the Lord, have spoken!  Jeremiah 1:15(NLT)

This was not bad luck or misfortune…this was God making good on His promise.  And when the Babylonians and Assyrians swept over the lands God had given to His people, the devastation was overwhelming; just ask the Psalmist:

Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem.       We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees.  

Psalm 137:1-2(NLT)

There were no goose bumps for the national anthem singing in Israel, no parades for the victorious warriors returning home.  The good life in the fast lane was history, along with fortunes, power, and world-class prestige.  Israel, born out of slavery to a land of milk and honey, was back where they started, slaves to the Arab world once again.  The state of the union address in those days was written with a black pen, on black paper, under a black cloud, picturing a bleak future.  God had spoken; then God acted, and those who refused to serve God, those who had rejected God, were rejected by God.

And I’m not certain our nation, born out of the struggle for freedom from religious persecution and the heavy hand of oppressors of a ruthless British Empire, has learned that lesson any more than those who received that lesson from Moses, the one who heard it directly from a burning bush.

For You Today

If there is any truth to the Scripture, and the fact that history repeats, and that God should be obeyed, not ignored, and if we love our children, and our children’s children, it is time for all people, especially America, to return to obeying and honoring God with our lives, not just our lips.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[i] Title Image:  via Wikimedia Commons

Living Into the Seed of Promise

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Tuesday, December 4, 2018

“And now, O Lord God, I am your servant; do as you have promised concerning me and my family.  Confirm it as a promise that will last forever.  And may your name be honored forever so that everyone will say, ‘The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is God over Israel!’  And may the house of your servant David continue before you forever.  “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, God of Israel, I have been bold enough to pray this prayer to you because you have revealed all this to your servant, saying, ‘I will build a house for you—a dynasty of kings!’  For you are God, O Sovereign Lord.  Your words are truth, and you have promised these good things to your servant.  And now, may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you.  For you have spoken, and when you grant a blessing to your servant, O Sovereign Lord, it is an eternal blessing!”  2 Samuel 7:25-29(NLT)

“Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”  Blessed are those who wash their robes.  They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life.  Outside the city are the dogs—the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie.  “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this message for the churches.  I am both the source of David and the heir to his throne. I am the bright morning star.”  Revelation 22:12-16(NLT)

I have written before about the fastest growing religious demographic – the nones, people who have never had a relationship with a church, and those who, for some reason, have decided to disassociate themselves from the church.  This is not to be confused with church-hopping, moving from this church fellowship to that one, and never being quite at home.  Rather this is the I’m DONE syndrome; it is the decision to go it alone with your spiritual life – you’ve decided you want none of church.

As a pastor a lot of people would expect me to say something spiritual like:  Seriously?  And since I’m not one to wantonly disappoint, I’ll go ahead and say it: 

You think it’s Biblical, smart, or just plain better to ditch church?  SERIOUSLY?

And with that being said, the issue deserves a closer look.  What’s wrong with being a Lone-Ranger Christian?  The answer:  EVERYTHING! 

Nowhere in the New Testament does it support a Christian believer deliberately absenting oneself from the Body of Christ.  In fact, Scripture clearly points out just the opposite:

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.  Hebrews 10:25(NLT)

You may have heard it said that if sin wasn’t real, then God watched His Son, Jesus, die a meaningless death on the cross.  The reality is that Jesus died because sin kills, and not a single human can escape that penalty.  He took our place on the cross.

The same analogy holds for the church.  Do you recall the exchange between Jesus and Peter when the Lord was trying to get the disciples to understand His mission?

Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”  Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you.  You did not learn this from any human being.  Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.   Matthew 16:15-18(NLT)

Jesus’ mission was to die to establish the pathway to salvation, and He connected the carrying-out of that mission with being part of the church He would establish.  If it is so that the church is unnecessary in the least, then Jesus was mistaken; and if He was mistaken, He was not/is not God, and we can just pack it all up and go home, because salvation would be a pipe dream, and we would be dancing to a fool’s tune.

The simple truth is that faith in Christ which is real must be connected to Christ’s church, or it is pseudo-faith, not real, just an imitation.  The seed of all God’s promises is found in Christ’s promise to His church; those who reject that church also reject God!

For You Today

If you struggle with your faith, and the apparent lack of faith on the part of others who just don’t act the way they should, and you’ve decided that the church is what’s wrong, take a second to step back, and say it loudly so everyone can hear:  The Bible is wrong – Jesus made a mistake – God can’t handle all those problems, and THAT’S why I’m not going back.

Why do that?  Why say those things?  Because if you’re going to be a “none” your actions are already saying all that, and I just wanted to help your words catch up.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com

I Believe in ME

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Friday, November 23, 2018

When the king heard what was written in the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes in despair…. So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the New Quarter of Jerusalem to consult with the prophet Huldah.  She was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, the keeper of the Temple wardrobe.  She said to them, “The Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken!  Go back and tell the man who sent you, ‘This is what the Lord says:  I am going to bring disaster on this city and its people.  All the words written in the scroll that the king of Judah has read will come true.  For my people have abandoned me and offered sacrifices to pagan gods, and I am very angry with them for everything they have done.  My anger will burn against this place, and it will not be quenched.’  2 Kings 22:11, 14-17(NLT)

Josiah became Judah’s king in when he was still a child.  This chapter records that he was a very godly man all his life.  When he was only 26 the scrolls of God’s Word were discovered during a renovation of the temple. 

(Hear that again:  God’s Word … hidden … in God’s House!).

The king was mortified and began an investigation as to how to make things right; he’d discovered (by reading this hidden Word of God) the whole nation had forsaken their LORD and were in danger of the mother of all woodshed experiences.  God was not pleased with a nation that worshipped themselves.

I’m pretty sure nothing has changed in that department!  When God says His anger will burn, and it will not be quenched, there’s nothing to doubt about how God sees the sin of paganism.

That said, we must take a look at ourselves; there is a neo-paganism in the land.  Current surveys show the largest, and fastest growing demographic in our land is aptly-dubbed the nones.  These are people who self-identify as atheists or agnostics, as well as those who say their religion is “nothing in particular….[2]

While the surveys include atheism, the “belief” that there is no god, no “higher power”, that is the smallest part of the problem, and always has been; atheism is whistling in the dark, hoping there isn’t a god who’s really in charge!  Scripture tells us God has imprinted His image on our souls, and so we know He is there, and we are accountable to Him.

When it comes down to the rest of the demographic, besides atheism (which amounts to around 3.1% of Americans[3]) the other 24% who have left church in the rearview mirror are unsure, or disenfranchised.  The most common and rising explanation you hear these days is:  I’m very spiritual; just not religious.  

Understanding what that buzz-phrase really means is:  I’d rather worship myself; I believe in me, my rights, my personal self-esteem, my time, my choice.

And that’s pretty much it; the new-paganism in the land is worshipping other than the one-true-living-God – it’s the god-within.  This is not anything new; in fact, it’s rather ancient (so old as to be quite boring when you hear it again):

“How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning!  You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world.  For you said to yourself, ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars.  I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north.  I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.’  Isaiah 14:12-14(NLT)

Of course, Scripture is giving us a peek into Lucifer’s mind (and his eventual fate, fallen!)  

Choosing to turn your back on God’s prior claim on your life is a matter of sin.  Any attempt to explain why a person chooses to reject worship is a further compounding of that sin.  I am not saying it is wrong to question, or even to leave a group because there is a lack of worship, or faithfulness inherent in that group.  However, it is sinful to decide to just delete from your life assembling with other believers for worship, prayer, fellowship, witness and supporting the mission of Christ, when Scripture clearly indicates that is counter to God’s will for all humans.  It is neo-paganism at its worst!

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.  Hebrews 10:25(NLT)

In a culture gone a little bonkers over the human rights thing, we have managed to confuse the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, as the right to think we’re in charge; and that isn’t right …                    

For You Today

I have a little prayer I say at the beginning of the day; join me?

God, YOU are God, and I am not.  Amen.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com

[2] Why America’s ‘nones’ left religion behind

[3] 10 facts about atheists – Pew Research

Spiritual-But-Not-Religious

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Thursday, June 30, 2016

They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.  Romans 1:25^(NLT)

Sometimes I think I’ll simply explode if I read one more bit of advice from the experts on how to grow a church with techniques designed to grab the attention of people who don’t like church; it’s a kind of tripe that is superficial (at best) or (at worst) heresy!

And then I read some more.  Here’s one that nailed me this morning, about attracting people who don’t go to church:

"Spiritual-but-not-religious folks are not anti-group, anti-growth or anti-God. They are anti-boredom. There are too many other options out there to waste time on experiences that don’t deliver." — Rebekah Simon-Peter[2]

Anti-boredom!  Of course we are being urged to amp-up our game, to make our worship experience more energetic and relevant, so the show will attract attenders who are spiritual-but-not-religious.

[Insert gag reflex here]

Borrowing a thought many others have used previously, I’ve been laboring under the assumption that genuine worship is not an experience to excite the human, but rather an offering of praise, adoration and fealty towards the only One who IS worthy.  God is the audience and we who gather are the players. 

Worship is not a show for the ungodly.  Worship is our show-up time to be inspected by God, and to continue to grow our lifetime commitment to bring glory, honor and praise to our Creator and Sustainer of life. 

If there is a performance, it is in how well our hearts are turned towards heaven, and not how exciting and titillating we can arrange things to please people who are after the next level of experience.

Frankly, if it’s got to be that, count me a hopelessly-less-than-acceptable-in-the-new-millennium-fossilized-dinosaur, who isn’t about pleasing those who disdain simple worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  This kind of makes me out-of-step with the current generation’s fascination with “experience”.  And for that I will probably be dismissed and labeled religious-but-not-spiritual. 

So be it. 

For You Today

When you go to church this weekend (if you’re not among the bored who opt for one of the many options that doesn’t include God), it would be a healthy step of preparation for worship to check why you’re going.

If you’re going to see the show, stay home; there's enough on TV to keep you entertained!

If it is to present yourself, your gift and your allegiance to an Almighty God and report for service…well, I can’t say the “experience” will deliver, but I can tell you God will be ready to receive your worship and speak to your heart about your place in His Kingdom!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today…have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image: By Sigurdas (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons

[2] MORE ADVENTURES WITH THE SPIRITUAL BUT NOT RELIGIOUS  MinistryMatters.com Facebook page 6/29/2016