True Peace

         The announcement of the heavenly messengers proclaiming our Lord’s birth to the shepherds, finds its climax in these words from Luke 2:14,  “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”. 

          How shall we respond to the terrorist attacks in Paris that killed so many and the increasing threats by ISIS and the Taliban? We see a continued escalation of nuclear threat and aggression by powerful alliances around the world who see America as an enemy to their agenda of power and control. What is the answer to this ongoing threat? 

          Many believe that the only answer is “peace through strength”. Ronald Regan used this ancient axiom as a platform for his military policy in the 1983 election campaign when he said: "We know that peace is the condition under which mankind was meant to flourish. Yet peace does not exist of its own will. It depends on us, on our courage to build it and guard it and pass it on to future generations.”

          I don’t doubt for a moment that we have real enemies in the world whose ideology and vision of the world is very different from that of American freedom and democracy or that the country that will dominate will be the country that has the greatest military strength and strategy. But the real battle will not be won with military weapons, as Paul says: “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds” (2 Cor 10:4).

          There will continue to be “wars and rumors of wars”, but God is still on his throne, ruling over all and directing the affairs of human history for his own glory. And the message of the Angels needs to be heard today. The only peace that ultimately matters in this world is the peace that God brought when he came into this world in the person of Jesus as the “prince of peace”, to accomplish peace for us:

      “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (Col 1:19-20)

          God has sent us into this broken world with the triumphant Gospel message of “peace on earth”. But it will only be experienced, by “those with whom he is pleased”. God is only pleased with those who have trusted in Christ who has accomplished this peace for us. We can know this peace as a present reality, even as the world continues to struggle to find it. It is not a “peace through strength”, but a “peace through Christ’s strength” that glorifies God.

A Culture of Evangelism

     Someone has quipped that in the field of literature, “Classics are books that everybody talks about but nobody reads”. It seems to me that evangelism is something that Christians talk a lot about in the church but few seem to be doing it.

     Mack Stiles has written a little book called, Evangelism: How the Whole Church Speaks of Jesus. Few books have said so much about such an important subject in so few words and in such a readable and practical way. There are only five chapters, and the last chapter is entitled “Actually Sharing Our Faith”.  The index includes a brief outline of the Gospel presentation as well as a helpful subject and Scripture index. It is a book not only to be read, but also to put into practice. It is a book written by a man who understands evangelism and has spent much of his life, training and challenging churches to develop a culture of evangelism in the church.

      What is a culture of evangelism? Mac Stiles explains 10 of the top realties that we are praying to developed in order to attain this culture of evangelism in our church.

1. A Culture Motivated by Love for Jesus and His Gospel (2 Cor. 5:14-15)

2. A Culture That is Confident in the Gospel (Rom 1:16)

3. A Culture That Understands the Danger of Entertainment (Ezek. 33:30-32)

4. A Culture That Sees People Clearly (2 Cor. 5:16a)

5. A Culture That Pulls Together as One (Phil. 1:3-5)

6. A Culture in Which People Teach One Another  (1 Pet 3:15b; 2 Tim 1:13)

7. A Culture That Models Evangelism (2 Tim 2:2)

8. A Culture in Which People Who Are Sharing Their Faith Are Celebrated (Phil. 2:19-22)

9. A Culture That Knows How to Affirm and Celebrate New Life (Col. 1:3-4, 7)

10. A Culture Doing Ministry That Feels Risky and Is Dangerous (Phil. 1:12-13)

     We will be unpacking the truths in this book during our Evangelism Seminar Days on Oct 11^th and 18^th. Let me challenge you to get the book now at the church free of charge, and read it in preparation for this time. Join me in praying that God will develop a culture of evangelism in our church — and let it start with you.

Binary Choices

    Do you plan on reading this whole article? Yes or no? It’s a simple choice, but that choice finds its roots deep in the preferences of your heart and mind. Since you decided to continue reading, I want to point out that for all of the complex things that our computers are able to do today, it all comes down to O’s or 1’s. The operating speed of the CPU (computer processing unit), which is at the core of your computer, is incredibly fast. But it must follow this binary code in order to operate when carrying out a function. It all boils down to 0’s and 1’s or in human language yes or no.

     I was thinking about this when studying James’ incredible statement about truthfulness when he says, above all my brothers… let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no…(James 5:12).  As humans we are more than machines. Our choices are not programmed or controlled in a way that takes away our responsibility for the choices we make. That is not to say that there are not influences, (divine, demonic or human), at work in all of our choices. But whatever may be at work influencing our choices, we must still own full responsibility for them, acknowledging God’s grace when we make good choices and acknowledging our own sinfulness when we make bad choices. 

     James seems to be saying that for the Christian, there must be a fundamental truthfulness operating in our hearts that is grounded in the Gospel truth and in the Lord Jesus who claimed to be the truth. When our preferences in life are grounded in Christ instead of this world, there will be clarity, a transparency, a holy boldness and a freedom to be truthful with our selves, with others and with God.  Above all my brothers… let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no…(James 5:12).

The Abolition of Man

C. S. Lewis was not right about everything, but he got a lot right. There have been few writers like him who have been able to communicate the importance of thinking clearly and Biblically about God and life in this present world. Many have enjoyed his Narnia series and his creative and broad approach in writing thoughtful apologetics, science fiction, and entertaining parody. 

     He makes an interesting comparison in his book The Abolition of Man when he writes, “The serious magical endeavor and the serious scientific endeavor are twins.” It is interesting to notice how often Lewis plays on these two themes of magic and science in his writings to show how both of them provide ways of controlling people and their impressions by offering interesting and believable explanations and demonstrations without revealing their hidden secret. The magician can’t tell you how he did the trick, or the fun would be over. In like manner, those who insist that science is a sufficient explanation for everything and the only way forward, do not want to talk about what cannot possibly be explained by science, namely the existence of everything and the miracle of life itself, because that would undermine their basic premise that science is the only possible explanation for anything.

     So in that sense, the witchdoctor and the scientist are very much alike. They are both content to control people by offering explanations without valid proof. It is true that religion is often charged with the same aim, and there is a sense in which this is true. But the difference is that Christians embrace science, not as the enemy of God’s truth, but as a very important confirmation of what God has revealed about himself and his creation in his Word. Christians are not afraid of the findings of astronomy or the new physics that has emerged from our ability to examine life at the particle level where conventional laws of physics get bent. 

     The validity of our claim as Christians rests on the logical necessity of theism and intelligent design, which should be obvious to everyone who studies science, except those who have chosen to make science their religion. But as Christians, we have a more valid confirmation than the data from empirical science. We have the Word of God as the explanation of the miracle of life, and we have the Son of God who has come into human history and demonstrated God’s love, life and redemptive purpose for this fallen world.

      Lewis contends that the inevitable consequence of scientism is a materialistic reductionism of human existence, which makes us nothing more than a bundle of meaningless atoms and molecules that may be tampered with in any way necessary to bring about the goals of those who are in charge. Imagine the possibilities of genetic engineering to make the ideal human, or the pragmatic logic that eliminates the undesirable humans by means of abortion or euthanasia. When humans are valued and produced based on genetic coding, and those who have gained the knowledge and power to do so increasingly control our lives, our human existence will not be enhanced, but diminished and even abolished.

Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling. (Prov 26:27)

Here's Your Sign

     If you check the Urban Dictionary, you will find that this phrase “Here’s your sign”, was coined by comedian Bill Engvall, as a shorthand way of saying that people who say stupid things should have to wear a sign indicating that they are stupid. For example, he explains an encounter with an employee in the lost luggage desk at an airport.

     The employee said: "Can I help you?"

     I said: "Yes ma'am, you lost my luggage."

     The employee said: (looked me right in the eye and said): "Has your plane landed yet?" 

     I said: "No, princess, I'm having an out-of-body experience! I'm just checking on it! 

     Here's your sign."

      Signs are intended to make a point. The Gospel of John seems to be organized around seven signs (miracles) that Jesus performed which were explained in context by his teaching and designed to point to him as the meaning of things like healing, sustaining, and life etc. 

     We need a visible sign on our church property that gets people’s attention and lets them know we are here. The sign does not exist for its own sake, it points to something else. Northside Baptist Church is not a building or location, it is a people who have been brought to life and brought together by Christ and for Christ to be his church in our community.

      But we do meet in a particular place and location, and we do express our worship to God and preach the Gospel at specific times. Our sign is an indicator of that and helps people to notice where we are. Our Church sign is people’s first impression of our church as they drive by, so it is an important statement about our church. The sign should be attractive, simple, informative and of sufficient size to get the attention of people driving by.

     When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, it was an unmistakable sign of his power. It was this sign which explains all of the people who flocked to him on the occasion of the triumphal entry:

     The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. (John 12:18)

     The sign we are talking about is not of this sort, but its purpose is the same: To make Christ known! Would you join us in making this sign a reality? You will be receiving more information in the weeks ahead as we serve together to make Christ known.

A Christian Attitude

     Philippians 2:3 says, Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

     Paul illustrates this truth by the humility of the Lord Jesus who left the glory of heaven in order to serve us by saving us from our sins by his life, death and resurrection. And having done so, has been exalted again to heaven (Philippians 2:5-11). He has empowered his church to continue his mission by proclaiming the good news of the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit in a way that reflects this same humility of mind, service and sacrifice.

     Surely, the preeminent mark of the disciple of Jesus will be this humility, which finds its deepest satisfaction in knowing God in an experiential way by doing the will of God in dependence on the Spirit of God for the glory of the Son of God and for the blessing of the church of God. 

     Jesus illustrated this great truth of serving and saving in his upper -room teaching in the Gospel of John. It was John Calvin who observed that if the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), reveal Christ’s body, John’s Gospel reveals his soul. And so beginning in John 13 we have Jesus washing the feet of each of the disciples to illustrate the centrality of his saving/serving work. He did not do it to shame them, but to show the necessity of his saving work (if I do not wash your feet, you have no part with me), and how serving with humility is the way that the saving work is communicated to others.

     Jesus asked his disciples if they understood what he had done for them. I wonder if we have thought deeply today about what he has done and is doing for us? If we have, we will see the clear application:

If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.  (John 13:14-17)

Holy Week

      The popularity of Jesus was at a high point as he entered Jerusalem on the first Sunday of what we now call “Holy Week.” It is called the Triumphal Entry. John’s Gospel tells us that the reason the crowd was gathered to greet him as he entered Jerusalem was because they had heard that he had raised Lazarus from the dead: The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign (Jn 12:18). The Pharisees commentary on the event was, “look the world has gone after him” Jn 12:19). 

     The raising of Lazarus was the seventh sign in the Gospel of John and was an important indicator of his own impending death and resurrection. Jesus had made an amazing claim in John 11:25-26 before he raised Lazarus from the dead. Jesus said:

      I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? 

     He proved the veracity of his claim by raising Lazarus from the dead by means of prayer and his word. In response to Jesus’ prayer and his spoken word the dead man was raised to life. 

     But before he raised him to life he asked an important question that we must all personally answer: “Do you believe this?” The reality of our own resurrection hangs on our answer to this question. The promise Jesus makes is that whoever believes in me, though he die, (and we will all die physically at some point), yet shall he live. This is a reference to our resurrection on the last day and lies in the future. But then he includes a promise that may be realized in our lives today. He says, “everyone who lives and believes in me, (lives in the sense of having received eternal life by faith in Christ who is the resurrection and the life), shall never die (has already found the life and joy in me that will never be taken from them, not even by physical death). 

     Jesus’ claim was further confirmed by his own resurrection from the dead. This is the central truth of the Gospel upon which everything else rests. Not because the resurrection accomplished everything, (his perfect life and death for our sins on the cross was the accomplishment of our redemption), but the resurrection is the confirmation and consequence of his accomplished work. Do you believe this?

Building His Church

     One of the cool things about growing up in Fort Lauderdale during the 60’s and 70’s is that Fort Lauderdale was the spring training camp for the New York Yankees. I played baseball as a boy growing up, traded baseball cards with my friends, and read many of the biographies of baseball players such as Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Jackie Robinson, Ty Cobb, to mention a few. So it was a special treat to actually play in a little league game on the field where they trained. But now, honestly, I can’t tell you the last time I’ve actually watched a complete baseball game. I think part of the reason is that I don’t play anymore.

     The things that capture our attention, our time and our best thoughts reveal a lot about us. The things that we are passionate about provide a window into our very soul. There is a reason that we love and enjoy the things that we do. Have you ever taken the time to honestly explore why you enjoy sports, music, crafts, the arts, the Church? Maybe you didn’t see that last one coming. But I would suggest that when Ephesian 5:25 says that Jesus loved the church and gave himself up for her, it is revealing an explanation for his willingness to live and die for his church. It is because the church is his bride, and that he has made himself responsible for providing everything she needs in a way that will glorify the Father who has given his Son for this bride, and has given this bride to his Son.

     One of the cool things about growing up in the church today is that this is where God is doing his most important work in the universe. This important work consists in building his church, and we get to participate as recipients of his love and as those who will share that love with others. By reading his Word, we learn of all of the flawed and faithful saints of the past that God has used. We learn from them what it means to trust God and participate in his kingdom work. There are no scouts who draft us into the big league; it is God himself who calls us by the Gospel of his Son Jesus Christ.  We get to play on the very field that Abraham, Moses, David, Paul, and Peter played on.  Yes, I’ve read their biographies and many more like them in the Scriptures, but now it’s our turn. And the same Lord Jesus whose life and mission is the theme of the Scriptures is empowering us to know him and make him known today.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Acts 1:8.

Connection

     I’m installing a high-pressure fuel pump on my 1988 F-150. The truck has been stalling on me unexpectedly while driving around. The good news is that I have Triple A, the bad news is I’m not sure what is causing the problem. I have replaced the fuel filters, the ignition module, the distributer, the low-pressure fuel pump (which was in the gas tank). Each time the problem seemed to be fixed, only to stall out again after running for a while. I did have it towed to a garage after it had stalled while I was going over the I-75 Bridge, and was able to coast to the bottom and pull over. But after keeping it for a week, they could not get it to stall and so I took it back. There has to be an obvious consistent problem before the problem can be diagnosed. The problem was not even showing up as an identifiable code when checked by computer. So maybe today when I put the fuel pump on things will be fixed.

     Am I a mechanic? No, I’m just curious. I want to know how things work and why they don’t work. I have discovered by curiosity or by necessity that if I can understand how something basically works I can make the connections and fix it. I have found that bad connections are often the culprit whether that bad connection is electrical or mechanical.  I’ve also discovered that most of our problems relationally and spiritually involve a connection problem.

     The connection in the Godhead that we understand as the trinity involves a relational dynamic that defies explanation. Our examination of the revealed truth concerning God shows us that he is one God in three persons and that this inter-Trinitarian relationship (as Jesus describes it in John 17), is a blessed existence. Jesus, being connected with the Father, has made a connection with us by joining a perfect human nature to his divine nature without any mixture of the two natures. In this way he is able to represent us in fulfilling all of the righteousness required in the law and to die in our place as our substitute for our sins. Our salvation is described in terms of connection. The Bible describes the Christian as being “in Christ” and that Christ is in us. Our experience of Christ is also described in terms of connection so that our life with Christ is described as branches abiding in a vine and producing fruit (John 15). 

     Fixing a car is one thing, but fixing a heart is Christ’s work, only he can do it. That does not mean there is nothing for us to do. Hebrews 12:12-14 reminds us that by faith in the grace that God provides for daily living, we will be involved in the much needed maintenance and repair work to be done in our connections with people and with Christ.

      Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:12-14)

Discernment

Do not be conformed to this world,  but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Rom 12:2)

     Discernment is an indispensable element as we think about where we have been and what is in store for us in 2015. According to this verse, and the meaning of the word discernment, this involves a testing or examining with a view to approving.

     Scientists have become more accurate in their examination of things over the years as a result of the improvements in technology and devices used for measuring things. For Example, Richard Farr in his book You are Here: a Users Guide to the Universe states that:

     By clocking laser pulses as they bounce back from three reflectors left on the lunar surface by the Apollo astronauts, we can tell the distance to the Moon within a centimeter. Because of that, we’re in a position to test ideas about gravity, seismology, and other subjects. 

        What is difficult for the average low-information science person (which includes most of us), is grasping the amazing patterns and unbelievable magnitudes that exist in the measurement of things large and  small. This mind boggling concept is further confirmation of the Christian world-view, which has at its center our personal, purposeful and infinitely wise and powerful God (though that is not the world-view of the author of the above mentioned book). 

        No space here to develop the ideas of how the powers of 10 can describe something as large as the diameter of the earth 1.27 x 10⁷ meters (tens of millions), and as small as the diameter of a virus 1.27 x -10⁷ meters (tenths of millions). So whether you are looking through an instrument like the Hubble Telescope, at the furthest reaches of the universe, or examining a similar expanse of matter and space at the atomic level by means of a particle accelerator, it becomes apparent that the place where we live is far more amazing than we could have imagined.

        I congratulate scientists for their powers of observation because they continue to provide an amazing confirmation to Christians of the necessity of God as presented in Scriptures.  We do not need science to verify the Bible, but we certainly would not expect the observations (not theories) of science to be in conflict with the Scriptures.       

        Let us then pursue our search of truth and meaning in life with a discerning mind, which is informed by the Scriptures with a willingness to examine and test things in the light of God’s revealed truth. We need this Gospel discernment at the smallest level in the recess of our own hearts, as well as in the largest sense of the kingdom of God where we find ourselves in this present time.