The Preacher’s Blog

Once again to my sister and brother-in-law (Vicki and Doug) on the birth of a new grand-baby boy. The proud parents are Jenny Lee and Daniel - God has richly blessed you!

Behold, children are a gift of the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; they shall not be ashamed, when they speak with their enemies in the gate (Psalm 127: 3-5).

John

We hear the familiar question asked over and over with ever-increasing bitterness, “Why would God let all of this happen? Why would a good God allow so much pain and suffering?”

And I’ve yet to hear a good explanation. In fact, the more I hear people trying to explain it, the more I realize how utterly pointless it really is. What do we actually accomplish by trying to figure out “why”? I agree with Jim McGuiggan in his book, Genesis and Us where he says:

In a sinful world filled with exploitation, suffering and deprivation, God isn’t interested in our “explaining” misery; He wants us to eliminate it as far as we’re able! The goodness of God is seen in our banding together in His name…

I like that! God isn’t interested in our explanation of misery, He just wants to know what we’re going to do about it - sit there, whine and complain or roll up our sleeves and get involved?

If we have escaped some natural or man-made disaster, it is not because we are more favorable to God. We are spared to be a blessing. The Apostle Paul said it this way in II Corinthians 8: 13-14:

For this is not for the ease of others and for your affliction, but by way of equality - at this present time your abundance being a supply for their need, so that their abundance also may become a supply for your need, that there may be equality…

The disciples in Corinth were abundantly blessed for the occasion of helping the Judean disciples during their time of need, so that when the time came the Judean brethen could return the blessing.

The next time you hear someone asking “why,” listen compassionately and then offer to help out of your abundance. And maybe, just maybe they will glorify God for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ and for the liberality of your contribution to them (II Cor. 9: 12-15)

John

Whew! We go away for a few days and come back to one of the worst wind storms Ohio has ever experienced! It’s hard to believe that it was the remnant of hurricane Ike. Fortunately, our part of town was without electricity for only two or three days, but other parts of the Miami Valley are still in the dark (over seven days later).

Nancy and I enjoyed our time down in Georgia - or I should say that we actually enjoyed our time in South Carolina! We started out on Tybee Island, Georgia and after two days left and traveled north to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. If I was a travel writer I would give Tybee Island one star. It was totally disappointing for many reasons - accomodations, restaurants, and distance (getting there). It took thirty minutes to actually get from Savannah to Tybee and that might have been okay, but the distance was one barren expanse of mud and desolation. So, we will not be going back there.

But we would like to go back to Hilton Head. It is a lush, tropical island that has been developed to be pleasing to the eye and accomodating to most visitors. Many resorts on the island are private (some called “plantations”) that require ownership (or at least knowing someone who owns). After traveling around we found the Holiday Inn and snagged a room that had a walk-out to the pool, beach and Tiki hut. The day-time temperatures averaged 85 and the night-times cooled off to around 65. Anytime Nancy says she would like to re-visit a place, you can know that it had a great beach with some wonderful sunrises and sunsets.

Anyway, it’s good to be back home.

John

Tonight (Tuesday) Nancy and I head to Washington DC where we will spent a day and then take the Amtrak to Savannah, Georgia for a couple of days. We’ve flown in our oldest daughter, Jenny, to stay with the girls (and Mikey) while we are gone.

So, I will be ”off-line” for the next 7 days as we relax and re-create on some beach. I’ve left strict orders with the family and with the church family that the only reason to contact us would be if the house burned down (ha). Would you believe that in past years we’ve had people call us (while on vacation) to preach a funeral, tell us someone had a high fever and to ask if they could meet us when we got home! Oh, well…

As Jim McGuiggan says, “think noble things of God,” feed on His Word and stay focused on Jesus.

John

A friend of mine, presently in recovery, says to me, “We are a program of attraction, not a program of promotion.” It’s a stunner of an insight to me…What if there was a church that fashioned its life about a scriptural understanding of the twelve-steps approach to Scripture…

That’s the third statement in the Gordon MacDonald article (see blog entry for August 26th) I found to be both thought-provoking and challenging. For years now I’ve been of the persuasion that the church should attract more than it promotes.

We ought to take a hard look at ourselves when we find it necessary to promote “ourselves” and our brand of worship style or program to get people and keep them. It makes my heart ache to know that our best efforts at being a “church” of Christ seem to turn more people away while Jesus who was perfect and holy attracted all kinds of people. In fact, He dissuaded them from following Him. He actually made it hard to be His disciple (John 6: 52-66; Luke 9: 57-62; 14: 27). I wonder what would happen to our Sunday morning attendance and to the ”seekers” if we adopted that kind of marketing strategy? 

“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” - now, that’s attraction - lives of virtue and divine character. Perhaps we should try promoting that!

John

Another observation MacDonald made about William Moyer’s book, Broken really made me think about how we view ourselves (in relation to our confessed sinfulness) and how we want the world to view the Body of Christ, the church:

How much the community that surrounds the addict-in-recovery (the sponsor, the group meetings, the counselors) sounds like what the church was really meant to be: a community of confessed losers whose only ticket to the table is an acknowledgement not unlike “Hello, my name is Gordon, and I’m a sinner.” It occurs to me to ask, when did we become a movement of self-proclaimed “winners,” when in actuality we are by nature and general performance pretty much the opposite. (ChristianityToday.Com/Leadership Journal. August 8, 2008)

“A communitiy of confessed losers” - I know that doesn’t play well to our enlightened sensibilities and self-esteem, but I believe he is right on the truth. We’re all dealing with the same problem (sin), so there’s no point in trying to hide it or deny it; let’s come together in grateful acknowledgment of who we are, where we’ve been and what we’ve received.

And that’s also why I know I am a “winner” in Jesus. We’ve been blessed with all spiritual blessings, loved, chosen, forgiven, raised up with Him and seated with Him in the heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1-2). It’s living “up” to that triumph while fighting the urge to live “down” to our carnal nature that should keep us coming back together for support, accountability and guidance as that community known as Christ’s Body.

John

In my last entry (August 26th) MacDonald makes this observation:

What if sin has deeper roots that needs to be wrenched out in a way not unlike what the addict has to go through?

The idea that sin can be “wrenched” out so that it is permanently removed is fallacious; but I understand what MacDonald is trying to say. The presence of sin in our lives needs to be given a greater level of seriousness than we give it typically. It was Jesus who said, “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into Hell” (Matthew 5: 29).

Have we been playing around with sin? You know, occasionally looking at “soft” porn, engaging in some “innocent” flirtations at work, periodically ”stretching the truth” when it suits us, allowing ourselves to become ”tipsy” - you know, dabbling around the edges and minimizing sin? Who are we fooling with such euphemisms? Even the Apostle Paul recognized the deep-rooted nature of sin and the freedom he wanted from it’s presence when he exclaimed, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” (Romans 7: 24).

Yes, we’re all sin-addicts who must deal with sin’s deep-rooted nature that is ever-present, but, because of Jesus Christ, is not all-powerful:

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

John

Gordon MacDonald, editor at large for Leadership magazine recently reviewed a book written by Bill Moyer’s son, William Cope Moyer, called Broken. Moyer’s writes about his addiction to cocaine, crack and alcohol and how he battled back into recovery - twice. I bought the book and have begun reading it, but it’s MacDonald’s observations surrounding Moyer’s experience that I think are also worth noting:

I have long believed that Bible-oriented people ought to be well acquainted with the powers of addiction and how one is delivered from it. For indeed recovery is deliverance in the fullest sense. One simply cannot find recovery by themselves. One needs faith; one needs community; one needs spiritual power.

William Moyers’ book impressed these thoughts on me:

1. How much addiction parallels the Bible’s description of sin. Many of us were taught that sin equals bad behaviors. Stop doing this or that, we preach to one another. But what if sin has deeper roots that need to be wrenched out in a way not unlike what the addict has to go through?
2. How much the process of recovery sounds like the Bible’s description of salvation, which begins with a deep-down conviction that one is lost and powerless, unable to gain personal liberty or victory on his own? Total surrender to a higher power. The Christian affirms this power to be resident in none other than Jesus the Savior Himself.
3. How much the community that surrounds the addict-in-recovery (the sponsor, the group meetings, the counselors) sounds like what the church was really meant to be: a community of confessed losers whose only ticket to the table is an acknowledgment not unlike “Hello, my name is Gordon, and I’m a sinner.” It occurs to me to ask, when did we become a movement of self-proclaimed “winners,” when in actuality we are by nature and general performance pretty much the opposite. (ChristianyToday.com. August 13, 2008)

Wow - those are such great insights that we need to seriously consider as we look at ourselves (the church) and the world we live in. I’m going to try and take each one separately over the next couple of blog entries.

John

Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled” (John 6: 26).

It was a miracle of such epic proportions (feeding the 5,000+) that a movement was started to take Jesus by force and make Him king. Many of them finally recognized that “the” Prophet had come into the world. There wasn’t anything He couldn’t do: heal the sick, raise the dead, feed the masses. Jesus’ popularity was at an all-time high with the multitudes clamoring for His attention and for His blessings.

But He was the “man of the hour” for only as long as He gave them what they wanted. He was a meal ticket, a quick fix, a cheap thrill, a sermon in the sensational, the messiah for the moment. And Jesus knew that was the reason they were following Him. The loaves gave them only temporary satisfaction and they missed the real significance of the signs - to see Jesus. The miracles, the signs, and the blessings all pointed to a Messiah who wanted them to know Him - not just what He could do for them.

Are we any different today? I hope we are living our lives in daily dependence on Him and that our attraction to Him goes beyond earthly trinkets and filled stomachs.

John 

And as He was going out from Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus…began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10: 46-47)

I’ve seen them sitting on flattened cardboard boxes on the sidewalks in New York City. One man in particular had a cup filled with pencils waiting for people to donate and take a pencil in exchange. He was blind and living on the good will of strangers and sympathetic souls who would take the time to see him even if he couldn’t see them.

Bartimaeus was no different. Day after day he sat in his usual place hoping for some practical kindness. But day after day people passed by; people in a hurry with things to do and places to go; people with an agenda that unfortunately didn’t include a blind beggar. That was until the day Jesus passed by.

In the company of a great multitude Jesus was headed for Jerusalem where His destiny was going to be fulfilled. He truly did have places to go and people to see. The plight of the world weighed heavily upon His heart; it was a mission of eternal significance. So who would have blamed Him for not hearing the cries of one more desperate soul? Who would have second-guessed Jesus for ignoring another request for help? But fortunately for Bartimaeus the mission of the Messiah included a blind beggar who no one else would give the time of day.

I realize how busy we are and how important our plans are, but to be like Jesus requires that we hear the cries for mercy. Whether it be a look, a hesitation in one’s voice, a touch, or even the outright request for help, we have been called to a different kind of existence - one that sees, feels, and hears the needs of those around us:

And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men and especially to those who are of the household of the faith (Gal. 6: 9-10).

This week as we journey down the road of life may our lives reflect the heart of Jesus who stopped because He heard a cry for mercy.

John