Deciphering God's Will

I’ve been thinking a lot about God’s will lately; His will in my life and His will for things in general.  I suppose His will for things in general is a bit easier to grasp.  How about anything that helps to bring about His kingdom here on earth?  I say that both in terms of people coming to relationship with God through Jesus Christ as well as the social aspects of bringing about His kingdom and making our world a better more loving place for God’s glory.

But what about our personal lives?  I think both of my grandmothers prayed for me to find the right wife from the time they knew I was conceived.  I guess they did well because after 23 years I still love my wife more than ever and can’t imagine my life without her.  But was she the only one for me?  On a similar note my son is a senior in high school and looking at colleges.  Should I be praying that he finds the one specific college that is God’s will for him?  Or on a more superfluous note, my mom always used to pray for a good parking spot when we would go to the mall or similar places.  If she got that spot was it God’s will, and if she didn’t get that spot did God want us to get some exercise?

I’ve always like Romans 12:1-2 when it comes to figuring out all this will of God stuff.  Therefore I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good pleasing and perfect will.  Here’s what I think this passage is telling us.  I think it’s telling us that God’s will isn’t so much about the specifics of life as it is about wholeheartedly living your life for Him.  To offer our bodies as living sacrifices is to give every aspect of our lives over to God.  So often we like to pick and choose the areas we want to give to God and the areas we want to hang on to for ourselves.  God is also in the business of transforming lives, but we usually have a part to play in that transformation (Sorry if that last sentence offends some of my Calvinist leaning friends out there). When our hearts are stubborn we can quench the Holy Spirit’s work in us so we need to be open to and desire God’s transforming work.  When we are our minds are renewed.  That is we start thinking about things differently.  We start thinking about things more like Jesus thought about things.  The desires of God’s heart become the desires of our own hearts.

The more this transformation takes place the more we find ourselves in line with God’s will for our lives.  So let’s get back to some of those specific situations.  Do you have a girlfriend or boyfriend you think might be the one?  How about you start by making sure both of you are allowing God to do His transforming work in your lives and that you’re giving your entire relationship over to Him.  If you’re doing this than I say you are in God’s will.  You’ll still want to get a feel for whether or not your boyfriend or girlfriend is a good complement to your personality and if you naturally get along and think of him or her as a best friend.  These are things that may help a marriage to thrive but they are not necessarily about God’s will.  Or to use the college example; no I don’t think there is just one college out there for you; or one grad school, or one career for that matter.  Students, if you’re planning to use college as a time to party, womanize (or manize) and conveniently forget about the convictions of your faith than it doesn’t matter what school you choose, you will not be in God’s will.  On the other hand if you take Romans 12:1-2 seriously and seek to worship God with all aspects of your life than you can pick any college and still be in God’s will.

I think when we start to see God’s will in this light it becomes very freeing. Suddenly there’s not so much pressure surrounding all those big decisions; like finding the right parking spot.   

Poor, Prisoner, Blind, and Oppressed Lives Matter

I was reading Luke chapter four the other day and I came across Jesus words when he quoted Isaiah while referring to himself. 

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.   

Without going to deep, the general message is that in addition to Jesus coming for all who call upon His name, He was also about bringing justice to those who were oppressed.  So to use the now well-known slogan, the lives of those people He was speaking about mattered.  I think when we look at black history and the current condition for many in the black community we can also agree with the slogan “black lives matter”, because blacks have been and continue in some ways to be oppressed.  In that sense I really do believe that Jesus would agree with the sentiment coming from the Black Lives Matter movement.

But………………. There’s always a “but” isn’t there.  In the gospel of John Jesus is referred to as coming full of truth and grace.  I can’t help but wonder where truth has been in all of this.  Jesus was about healing the whole person.  That means spiritually too.  He would forgive sins and He would tell people to go and sin no more.  I’m wondering how many of us need to face up to the truth of our sins on this issue.  On one side how many need to face up to the fact that they would rather ignore unfair treatment of another race because it doesn’t really affect them?  Or that while the majority of police officers are doing an awesome job, there are indeed some bad apples, who at the very least are too violent and too quick to pull their gun and at the worst are racially motivated to act in such a way.  On the other side it seems like we are still waiting for a civil rights leader to honestly address the one thing that contributes most to young black men getting in trouble with the law in the first place; the absence of fathers in their lives.  That’s a moral issue for many but it’s especially so in the black community.  It’s also what leads to a far more serious problem which is young black men killing other young black men at an alarming rate.  I think these are all things that make Jesus weep; because again, black lives do matter.

I guess I’m just doing a lot of wondering for this blog entry.  Wondering when folks on both sides will start facing up to some difficult truths.  I think that’s when the real healing will begin.  

Should A Christian Vote for Donald Trump?

I was visiting one of our church shut-ins the other day. He’s one of my favorite people.  A special and Godly 95 year old man who scoots around just fine without the help of a cane or walker and is still quite bright.  We talk about a lot of things but at one point when our conversation started to come to a lull I figured I would venture into some new territory.  So I asked him if he’s been following politics this year and if he had caught any of the debates.  The next words out of his mouth were “boy that guy sure is a blowhard!”  This was the harshest thing I’ve ever heard him say about anyone.  The funny thing is Donald Trump’s name had not been mentioned yet and it didn’t need to be for me to know exactly who he was talking about.  I’m quite sure as you read this you knew exactly who he was talking about as well.

Now this is my blog and not the church pulpit so I’m willing to talk at least a little politics when it seems appropriate and now seems to be an appropriate time.  As a pastor I would never tell anyone who I think they should vote for, but for at least this year I think I’ve become comfortable with the idea of telling you who not to vote for.  Needless to say, this if just a personal opinion, but here it goes.  If you are a Christian (someone who chooses to follow Jesus and His teachings) please don’t vote for Donald Trump.  Perhaps that’s putting the cart before the horse because many of you may not have the opportunity to.  If you are a registered Democrat you can’t vote in the Republican primary and my strong feeling is he won’t win the nomination and no one will have a chance to vote for him as our next president anyway.  So to re-word my premise; if  you take your Christian faith seriously, and you have the chance to vote for the Donald, please don’t.

I base this request on one qualification I do my best to look for in any candidate running for any office.  That is, is he or she Christ-like?  Obviously none of us are perfect and measure up to Jesus in that sense but I think we can look at candidates and tell which ones are trying to be Christ-like, and for that matter which ones even have a clue about what it might mean to be Christ-like.  On that front Trump has no clue.  We often think of Jesus as modeling servant-leadership.  Trump on the other hand is considered by most as an ego-maniacal narcissistic manipulative leader.  Jesus truly cared about the least of these and the poor and the oppressed.  Based on his blanket generalizations of immigrants and his childish name calling it would seem that Trump cares very little about the least of these.  I say that believing there are other candidates who may have a tough on immigration stance but the still care about immigrants.  I just don’t think Trump is one of them.  Jesus taught dignity for all people.  All we have to do is look at how Trump has treated women and the things he has said about them both in personal relationships and from afar to know he fails the “treat others with dignity test" miserably. 

I could go on but I think you get the idea.  I don’t necessarily expect any of you who may be planning to vote for Trump to follow my advice, but I sure feel better having got it off my chest. 

Jesus is our Mighty God

I’m currently doing a series with my church called “His Name Will be Called.”  It’s based on the 4 names of Jesus in Isaiah 9:6.  This Sunday is “Mighty God.”  I wonder; how do you picture Jesus? I suppose when I ask that, the first thing that might come to mind is how he looks.  There’s no shortage of depictions of Jesus in this world.  Unfortunately many of them are overly effeminate, often with gaunt cheeks, and I swear some of them look like He’s wearing makeup. I’ve also had enough of those flowing blond locks of hair and the blue eyes.  And why do they always seem to show him holding a lamb or with little children around him?

I know those sorts of pictures were meant to honor Him, but I almost find them to be sac religious.  They don’t sit right with me, because I think they are a poor depiction of our Lord and Savior when He walked this earth.

When you think about what we know of Jesus from scripture I think there could be far more accurate depictions.  Instead of Jesus having a little lamb on His lap why not show him holding some wood working tools?  Why not show him fishing on a boat with a couple of His disciple buddies?  Speaking of His disciples, I see them for the most part as pretty manly themselves; especially His closest three, Peter, James, and John.  We know them as fishermen, and James and John as “sons of thunder.”  Those are the guys Jesus chose to hang out with and call as His disciples.  He probably looked a lot more like the blue collar rugged men they were, then most the pictures we see now-a-days.

Appearances are one thing, but I’m also wondering what you think Jesus was like?

What do you think his personality and demeanor were? If you think of Jesus as being meek and humble, you'd be right. The Bible certainly describes Jesus in this way, but we need to remember that being meek is nowhere near the same as being week. A common description for meekness is actually power under control.  And we know that Jesus was humble too, but that doesn't mean he was a wimp. That became obvious on a number of occasions. For instance, a few months before his crucifixion, as Jesus was making his way to Jerusalem knowing full well what was in store, a group of Pharisees warned him of King Herod's plot to take his life.  Jesus told them, "Go tell that fox ... I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day." With the steely determination of a warrior, Jesus told them he was going to carry out his will and purpose, namely, to die on a cross and take away the sins of the world. No one would stand in his way.  A few months later, on Monday of Holy Week, just days before his death on the cross, Jesus went into the temple. He found merchants and money changers who had set up shop there, preventing worshipers from having access to the temple. And he angrily drove them all out, overturning tables and scattering coins in the process.  That’s hardly wimpy.  Or what about one of his more famous rants against the Pharisees.  He called them hypocrites, hopeless, blind fools, frauds, white washed tombs, and brood of vipers.  He’s not exactly sugar coating it is He?  He always spoke the truth and wasn’t afraid to do so.

I suppose the really sad thing is this; not only do many people picture Jesus as having been weak and wimpy during his days on earth, they still picture him in that way, and nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus was our mighty God on earth and now He’s our mighty God in heaven. The Bible may call him the "Lamb of God," but it also calls Him the "Lion of Judah." In Zephaniah 3:17 He is referred to as a Mighty Warrior who saves.  Yes that’s right; Jesus saves.  It’s more than just a bumper sticker saying.  He saves us from our sin and He saves us from death, but He also saves us FOR some things.  He saves us for an abundant life on earth.  He saves us for the joy of our salvation.  I don’t know what your Christmas season holds this year.  I know for some it’s not always an easy season to get through.  Wherever you are at, I hope you will take the time to consider your Mighty God Jesus Christ who saves, and I pray that in turn will bring you the true joy of Christmas. 

Not Guilty; Grateful.

I’ve recently been doing a sermon series with my church called “How to be Rich.”  No, it’s not a series on how to get rich quick; it’s how to be rich.  I’m basing it on the book by Andy Stanley of the same name and the sub-title gives a little more insight into what it’s all about; “It’s not what you have, it’s what you do with what you have.”  One of the things we quickly learned is that pretty much all of us are rich.  And if you’re reading this you probably are too.  You may be looking at the pile of bills on your kitchen table and be thinking “funny, I don’t feel very rich.”  Well here’s some interesting statistics for you (according to Stanley’s book).  If you make $37,000.00 household income per year or more, you are in the top 4% of all wage earners in the world.  If you make $48,000.00 or more, you are in the top 1%.  It kind of makes you rethink that whole occupy movement doesn’t it. 

For me personally I have a wife who works, and I do too and so it’s probably not all that surprising when I say we are in the top 1%.  Not only that, we get to live and do ministry on Cape Cod.  We’ve got the beautiful ocean and beaches, pristine golf courses, and more ice cream shops than you can count.  There are places in the world where women walk hundreds of yards with big bowls of water on their heads each day just so they can have it for drinking and cooking.  We spray water all over our yard to keep it green.  There are places in the world where kids would be happy with one decent pair of shoes.  I counted the shoes in my closet the other day and came up with sixteen.  I dare you to go count your shoes when you are done reading this.  It can be quite the eye opening experience. 

I think it’s a good thing to understand that relative to the rest of the world we are very rich indeed.  But I’m not writing all of this to try and make anyone feel guilty.  I honestly don’t think you should feel guilty.  We had no control over being born American.  I’m also a big believer in the Bible teaching a strong work ethic, and that in turn can make many rich even by American standards depending on what field they work in.  And all of that is okay.  Guilt is not the emotion we should be going for.  The correct emotion or attitude that should well up in all of us when we think about such things is grateful.  We have so much to be grateful for.  And when we are grateful we should be grateful to God because He gives us so much.  The financial blessings come from Him.  He did after all create us with the gifts and abilities to allow us to earn a living.  But his blessings are so much more than just financial.  James 1:17 tells us every good and perfect gift comes from God. 

Remember those 16 shoes in my closet I referred to?  As a way to express my gratitude I decided I’m going to purchase 16 items at the grocery store for our local food pantry; one item for each pair of shoes.  It’s not anything major I know, but I’m also going to challenge the rest of my congregation to do the same thing this Sunday.  I figure if we get enough of us doing it we can stock them up pretty good for the Thanksgiving season.  1^st Timothy 6: 17-18 challenges us not put our hope in riches but to be rich in good deeds instead.  This is one small good deed, but when you add them all up they can start to make a difference.  Maybe you should go to your closet and start counting. 

On Politics, Ignorant Windbags, and Mark Driscoll

The mid-term elections are now over. How did your guys do….. or gals?  Living in The Peoples Republic of Massachusetts it was a bit of a surprise to see the some Republicans win this time around including our new governor to be Charlie Baker.  I rarely if ever talk politics from the pulpit. I prefer to keep my focus on the main thing; or better put the main person Jesus Christ. I figure I can venture into the political world at least a little in my blog though. For whatever its worth I’m not real big on identifying myself politically. I much prefer to simply identify myself as a Christian or Jesus follower.  For me personally that has led me in a more conservative direction, which in turn has led me to vote for guys with an “R” after their name more often than not. All that being said, I have a great deal of respect for many of my brothers and sisters in Christ who tend to go the other direction.  It’s okay that we may occasionally disagree about the best way for Government to be involved for the common good of the people. All of that is secondary to our common commitment to Jesus Christ and His call on our lives to love God and love others. And contrary to what those on the extreme left might say it is in fact possible to be a compassionate conservative and love others well.

There’s one thing I’m sure of, and that is my thankfulness for another election season to be over.  That means no more political commercials. Praise God!  I get so tired of obvious misrepresentations of opposing candidates. Sometimes the mudslinging can get a bit out of hand. It reminds me of a passage I read recently.

They are ignorant windbags who infect the air with germs of envy, controversy, bad-mouthing, suspicious rumors. Eventually there’s an epidemic of backstabbing, and truth is but a distant memory.

1^st Timothy 6:4-5a (The Message)

In this passage the apostle Paul is speaking about false teachers who did not agree with the biblical doctrines of Jesus Christ. As I was reading that description I got to wondering; can it sometimes describe us as Christians when we are in disagreement?  I’m afraid there are those among us who rather enjoy controversy and bad mouthing.  It’s like they are looking for a fight. My alma-matter Gordon College has been in the news a lot lately because of a stand its President recently took about the schools hiring practices as a private Christian institution. I’ve been following a discussion about it through an alumni group on Linked-In, and I think there have been some who definitely go over the line in trying to make their point.  I find that to be unfortunate. For the most part I’ve enjoyed reading the discussion because those participating all seem to be very smart and well-read individuals. And yet, when they go over the line with their disdain for those who may disagree with them, all I can think of is “conceited ignorant windbag.”

I’ve seen the same phenomenon with Mark Driscoll recently stepping down and Mars Hill church disbanding. There have been some who disagree with Driscoll’s conservative views and have gone over the line, almost celebrating his demise. I’ve never met Driscoll, but I’ve read a bit about him and listened to plenty of his sermons. As far as I can tell, he’s first and foremost a man who loves the Lord Jesus Christ, a gifted speaker, a family man, and someone who probably has some anger issues and pride. So why throw stones? He’s on this Christian journey just like the rest of us, and because of his ministry hundreds or even thousands have become followers of Jesus.

As I write about all of this one thing keeps coming to mind. I sure don’t want anyone to think of me as an ignorant windbag. It’s not a very flattering description for anyone; leave alone a Pastor.  I think I’ll play it safe and leave politics and Christian controversy’s on the periphery and keep preaching Jesus.      

Jealousy

            I’ve recently been preaching at my church on the life of Joseph. It’s been a lot of fun. There’s a reason they made the story of Joseph into a Broadway play. There is no lack of drama that’s for sure. Plenty of human emotion too…. Like jealousy.  I’m sure many of you will recall the story.  Joseph is his father Jacob’s favorite, and he makes that fact well known when he gives Joseph a special coat of many colors. Or my NIV translation says “a richly ornamented robe.”  Actually depending on how it gets translated it may have been more of a plain white robe with long sleeves that royalty would wear, but a coat of many colors sounds much more interesting.

            I can remember getting a pretty cool coat once.  It was back in the early 80s when I got a “Members Only” coat for Christmas.  I was stylin in that coat!  But what if I had been given that coat and my brother and sister received nothing? They might think mom and dad were playing favorites. They’d probably be right. That was the case for Joseph and his brothers.  So often the sin of one person can lead to the sin of another.  In this case Jacob’s sin of favoritism leads to Joseph’s brother’s sin of jealousy.

            Jealousy; all sin is ugly but jealously perhaps especially so. It can lead to things far worse. How many murders take place in a fit of jealous rage? Joseph’s brothers came pretty close to it themselves. They threw Joseph into a cistern and essentially left him there to die. Eventually Judah came up with the idea of selling him into slavery instead. What about you? Are you feeling jealous today?  Maybe it’s a co-worker who got the promotion ahead of you. Maybe it’s over a friendship and you are jealous because one of your friends chooses to hang out with someone else more than he or she does you. Maybe it’s the neighbor with the immaculate lawn and sweet looking ride in the driveway. Or would that one be envy? Envy and jealousy are kind of like close cousins. Often it may start with envy and lead to jealousy. I have to admit as a pastor there have been times when I’ve caught myself being envious of another pastor’s church building or the size of their congregation. It’s in those times that I try to remember Proverbs 14:30; A heart of peace gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot. A heart of peace has to do with being content. The apostle Paul was in chains in prison when he wrote in Philippians that he was content in all things. Paul’s surroundings did not matter because his peace was a state of his heart. That sure beats the alternative; bones rotting. Essentially that means our envy or jealousy can lead to some pretty unhealthy stuff. Life is just too short to be envious or jealous. Enjoy what you have and who God created you to be and know that all good things come from Him.