A New Home

In the summer of 1968 my family moved. It was the first of many moves I would experience in life. For the first eleven years of my life, home had been in the little frame house with the big yard. Now it would be the big brick house with the very small yard. It took some time to get used to the new place. Since we moved again five years later; I cannot say that I ever felt completely at home in the brick house. In the last 43 years, Chery and I have lived in 16 different houses (in five U.S. states and five other countries). It is not always easy to feel at home. In some of these places we never did feel at home.

I mention this for a simple, practical and spiritual reason. The church is called the household or family of God (Gal 6:10; Eph 2:19; 1 Tim 3:15; 1 Pet 4:17). Some people who have been in the church for a long time feel that it really is. But for some, when they first come to Christ, it takes a while to feel at home with the church. For some, the world has been their home, their biological family has been their family, and they do not feel comfortable with their new brothers and sisters in Christ. Remember, it takes time to feel at home.

Those who have been in the church a long time, and who feel at home here, must learn to reach out to newcomers and try to help them feel at home. I think that we do a pretty good job of that at Flanders Road, but let’s stay alert for anyone who seems to not feel at home. Let’s try to help them.

Those who are new to the congregation must realize that it may take some time to feel at home. Do not be unreasonable in your expectations. The new brick house seemed strange to me after all my previous life had been spent in the little frame house. But mom and dad, grandma and grandpa were there, so I tried to think of it as home. [Some days I wished that we had left my brother and sisters behind at the old house – but that is another story for another time.]

The church is God’s household. Because he accepts people by grace, we have members in this family who are far from perfect. Sometimes we might get on one another’s nerves a little, but out of respect for our heavenly Father, we learn to get along. For the most part we enjoy one another’s company. Little by little we begin to feel at home; and that is good. The Father’s plan is for us to be together forever; so it is good if we learn to think of the church as our family, our real home.

“For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12:50, ESV).

"And That's The Way It Is"

I grew up watching the CBS Evening News. We knew not to trust what Walter Cronkite said. We noticed, even back then, intentional warping of the facts. For example, my dad noticed that they cut his uncle’s house out of the film footage when they ran a story about Four-States, West Virginia. A successful miner did not fit their storyline, so they cut his house out and showed only the houses owned by drunks. But we liked to hear Cronkite talk. Maybe I should not say it, but the truth is the way that man lit his pipe at the end of every program was almost a work of art.

While we applauded Cronkite’s abilities, we did not feel obligated to tune in every evening. If the lawn needed to be mowed, or there was a ball game to attend, we would miss his broadcasts. He was a good talker, but not that good. We could miss his show without much regret.

I thought of that recently. Someone praised my morning sermon, but did not bother to come in the evening. My morning sermon was good, but not that good. This does not really surprise me. I do not claim to be as good at talking as Walter Cronkite (nor am I much good at lighting a pipe). So obviously, those who come to hear someone talk, or who come because they like acapella singing, will feel no obligation to come back again on Sunday night. That makes sense if, and only if, the purpose of our assembling is to sing and to hear a professional speaker.

If on the other hand, the purpose of our assembling is to honor a Lord to whom we are infinitely indebted … I will leave it to you to finish that sentence.

It hurts me deeply when someone praises my sermons but wilfully misses our assemblies. It does not hurt me because I think their praise insincere. It hurts me because I feel certain that they have missed the whole point. It is not about me; it is about the Lord. If you are out there doing something that honors him more than being in our assembly would honor him, then by all means do it. But when someone praises a sermon, and then stays home to watch a ballgame, the sermon is being treated as the main show, and the Savior is being treated as a sidelight.

The Sound of Silence

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” (Psalm 46:10, ESV)

A recent New York Times article noted that, “We live in a culture obsessed with personal productivity. .... We worship at the altar of hustle and boast about being busy.” But busy is not always productive, nor is it often peaceful.

Christians are not immune to the busyness fad that is sweeping our world. We too can be guilty of overloading our life and even our worship with busy-work. Of course we are to be hard workers, diligent workers (Col 3:23-24). But we are also supposed to be meditative, thoughtful people who are not always busy. Sometimes we need to be still.

I believe firmly in the value of daily Bible reading. But what is the value of reading the Bible if we never take the time to meditate on what it says and to consider how it might apply in our lives?

I believe in the need for Christians to serve others. But what message are we sending to others if we are so busy serving that we seem never to have time to savor the beauty and blessings of creation?

Yes, we are to be busy in the Lord’s work, but there are also times to be silent (Psalm 62; Eccl 3:7). I love to be in the Lord’s presence singing his praises; but there are times to sit silently before him (Hab 2:20). Of course our delight in the instruction of the Lord will cause us to tell others about it; but it will first cause us to meditate on that word (Psalm 1:1-2).

We should not always be busy. We definitely should not always be in the midst of noise. We need to balance our busyness with the sound of silence; we need to seek quiet moments and to use quiet moments to listen to our Lord.

No Bananas in Africa?

“For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Corinthians 1:25, ESV).

Do not get me wrong. I have the utmost respect for real research and experts who are really experts. But a lot of people in our nation today are claiming to be experts regarding things they know nothing about, and claiming to be able to change what God settled long ago.

Last Sunday was the birthday of one of our grandsons, so naturally we phoned to sing “Happy Birthday.” While talking with him, he told us of a recent encounter with an “expert.”

The family was on vacation in Florida and had toured one of those places where children are supposed to be able to learn about nature. They were in the part of the exhibit supposedly devoted to African fauna and flora. The guide asked, “Tell me something that grows in Africa.” Jacob spoke up and said, “Bananas.” The guide, so sweetly and condescendingly said, “I’m sorry, but bananas do not grow in Africa.”
Well, I am sorry to contradict, but we had bananas growing right outside our house for years. Here was someone posing as an expert on Africa, and she had probably never even been to Africa.

So it goes. Someone is put in a position of seeming authority and they pronounce their opinion as if it is proven fact. In many cases, they may know little, if anything, about the subjects on which they pontificate.

Today (Tuesday, 26 March, 2019) it was announced that Duke University will pay a fine of $112 million dollars because several medical research projects supposedly carried out at Duke never really happened. The “results” were announced and used to sway public opinion and government decisions, but it was all fake.

So, next time someone claims that research has proven something that contradicts the teaching of scripture, just reply “pork fat” or “bananas” or “Duke.”

As I said, I have the utmost respect for real research. But real research does not contradict God. Figures don’t lie; but boy are the liars figuring!

Ukulele Music and Similar Matters

As I type this I am listening to Ukulele music. I like all kinds of music, but rarely listen to anything played on the Ukulele. But I was feeling a little blue, so I did a quick search for happy sounding music, and this is what came up. It is not a cure-all, but it helps. Music affects our mood. So do colors, temperature, and posture. As Screwtape reminded Wormwood, “…they can be persuaded that bodily position makes no difference to their prayers; for they are constantly forgetting, what you must always remember, that they are animals and that whatever their bodies do affects their souls.”

The fact that someone is kneeling does not prove that they are offering a humble prayer. The fact that someone is running does not prove that they are not offering a humble prayer. But, the one position is more conducive than the other. A person might be happy while listening to sad sounding music. A person might be sad while listening to Ukulele music, but the odds are somewhat against it.

When I was in high school the dress codes were beginning to be relaxed. We were allowed to wear jeans to school. Most of the time I kept to the old dress code (dress shirt, dress trousers and dress shoes), but occasionally I wore jeans, a work shirt, and my combat boots. I never got in a serious fight at school, but a couple of times I was tempted to try those boots out on someone. The clothes did not set my mood, but they had an effect on it.

So, what am I saying? Am I judging you according to your clothes? No. No. And absolutely, No.

I am just suggesting that how we dress, what we listen to, our posture, and even the colors around us have an effect. So let’s keep that in mind. If you get down, put on some upbeat music, turn on brighter lights, dress up in your best clothes, and smile. [I tried it just then and it did not hurt (well, not much).] If you struggle to pray, try a different posture, or even a different place. Sometimes getting out into God’s creation can help a lot with this. For certain kinds of prayer, kneeling can sometimes be a significant tone setter.

Screwtape was right. What our bodies do has an effect on our souls. Let be aware of this fact and respond appropriately.

A Good Book Getting Better

I have never cared for the “new and improved” label. Vista was new, but it was not an improvement over XP. The Chevy Vega was not an improvement over the Nova. But the latest changes to Howard Belben’s book The Mission of Jesus will be welcomed. The text of the book is unchanged from the way it was republished last year. But we have added a “reflection and discussion guide” to help those who might use it in a small group setting, or even for individual reflection. The cost is unchanged, it is still $5.75 in paperback and $2.99 in the Kindle edition.

Not The First Generation

We live in a dark and sinful world. It is discouraging. But we must remember that we are not the first generation to live in a climate of spiritual and moral decline. The world is dark and sinful, but no more dark and sinful than it was when “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” That is the last sentence in the book of Judges. When the context is considered, it may be the most discouraging verse in the Old Testament. What many of them considered right was clearly wrong – very wrong.

The next sentence in the Bible reads, “In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.” That is the first verse of the book of Ruth. Truly, there was a terrible famine in the land at that time – spiritual as well as physical. But the LORD, unseen by human eyes, was working through the lives of Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz (and even through the deaths of Naomi’s husband and sons). God was preparing the man who would become the benchmark leader for the nation. Several generations would pass before David became king. But the faithfulness of the few, people like Boaz, would help to prepare the way for David.

We are not the first generation to face discouragement; ours is not the first generation to struggle against spiritual and moral decay. The Hebrew writer remembers those who were tortured and those who suffered mocking, flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. He says that “They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy…” (Hebrews 11:37-38, ESV).

J.C. Ryle wisely pointed out that “It is not ‘the good and successful servant,’ but ‘the good and faithful servant,’ to whom He will say, ‘Enter into the joy of your Lord.’”

We may not be successful in trying to brighten this dark world; but let us be faithful. And let us remember that while we are to be the “light of the world” (Mt 5:14) Christ did not mean that any one of us could brighten the whole world, or even our whole community. Sometimes we have to merely brighten our little corner.

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9, ESV).