Laminin

Colossians 1:17: "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."

This morning Pastor Skip spoke briefly about laminin. Without getting into too much (or any) detail, laminin is a protein that acts like glue and enables cells to bond to each other. Then he showed us a picture of a laminin molecule:

I'm a little late to the party as this theme has been traveling the internet for more than a year. Apparently I don't keep up with these things like I thought I did.

It probably has no real meaning, and of course this stuff existed well before Jesus was crucified, but I thought it was pretty frackin cool that the substance that "holds all things together" is shaped like a cross.

Translation exasperation

Well, this was difficult. After more than thirty years I have come to the conclusion that the King James Bible just doesn't work for me.

["You're going to hell" comments in 3...2...1...]

OK, let me explain. What I mean is it doesn't work in trying to do extended readings. After reading Genesis through Job the language barrier was just too much, and I wasn't making the progress I wanted to. Having to refer to the notes to see what a word "really" means and doing an on the fly translation as I went showed me that it was really just pride and stubbornness keeping me in the version I'd always used. There's a saying that is frequently attributed to Winston Churchill, which goes something like "When facts and circumstances dictate a change in my position, I change my position." Well, facts and circumstances dictate.

So what version to switch to? Here's a handy chart showing the options along the literal vs. interpretive spectrum:

Well, that clears everything up. Right?

Actually I just wanted to throw that chart up for fun. Those of you that know me personally know I'm rather "old school" in my beliefs, which naturally draws me toward the word-for-word side of the chart. And thanks to the Bible app from YouVersion I have on the iPod, I've been test driving translations and landed on the NASB. Nice phraseology, easy (easier) reading, and preserving as much as possible the original structure. Plus, it's hard to go wrong with the translation Charles Stanley and John MacArthur preach from.

And one more entry in the "there are no coincidences" file, the day after I decided to make this change the MacArthur Study Bible went on sale at gty.org. Thank you, Lord, for $7 markdowns!

A video interlude

Follow Me from Recycle Your Faith on Vimeo.

This video was shown in my church yesterday and presents a pretty good spiritual challenge. What does it really mean to follow Jesus? I can tell you it involves a lot more than blowing the dust off your Bible on Sunday morning and sitting in a service for an hour or two. How are you following? What adventure are you on?

A letter from Charles Stanley

I received the monthly mailing from Charles Stanley today, and it hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks. I don't think I can explain it properly, so I'm just going to repost the entire letter right here.

---

Dear Matt,

Have you ever noticed that some verses of Scripture seem easier to memorize than to put into practice? I certainly have. In fact, some of the passages that I love the most appear very difficult to live out.

A verse that immediately comes to mind, especially during the Thanksgiving season, is I Thessalonians 5:18, "In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." The word "everything" is challenging because there are situations when I do not feel particularly grateful. Perhaps you have experienced similar circumstances. There are troubles we face that negatively affect every aspect of life – stealing our joy and focus away from the Savior.

There have even been times over the years when I've walked out onto the platform as the church service began and my heart was somewhere else. I was as prepared mentally and spiritually as I could be to preach the message, but emotionally I was struggling with some devastating issue.

It was through those moments that I experienced something extraordinary. As the orchestra played and the choir and congregation began to sing, my heart would respond to the words of those hymns. Giving thanks changed my focus from the difficulty I was facing to God's awesome character, provision, and love. Suddenly my troubles did not seem so overwhelming.

Has this ever happened to you? Have you discovered how powerful and freeing it is to give the Lord thanks even in the most difficult situations? When you submit to God – taking a leap of faith and praising Him even though everything seems contrary – He blesses your obedience (Heb. 11:6).

Perhaps you are facing something that seems too difficult to overcome, and you have no idea why God is allowing it. No matter what spiritual battle is before you, voice your gratitude to the Father. Because it is when you take your eyes off the problem and focus on Him that you realize He's already given you the victory. The challenge is in keeping an attitude of gratefulness and appreciation.

Throughout the years, I've found that the best way to maintain a thankful heart is to recall the truth of God's Word – specifically all the great privileges we receive when we trust Jesus as our Savior. Although our loved ones, good health, and a successful career are excellent things to thank Him for – they may let us down at one point or another. But His promises never fail and always give us reason to rejoice.

Therefore, the first thing we should give thanks for is Christ's gift of salvation. Through His death and resurrection, our sin-debt is paid in full and we are granted the privilege of an intimate relationship with the Father. No matter what trial we face, it will never be as big as the problem Jesus overcame for us on the cross. And because He has sealed us with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30), we know that His wonderful presence and resurrection power are always available to us (Eph. 1:18-23).

Second, we can voice our gratefulness that nothing can separate us from God's love and forgiveness (Rom. 8:31-39). Our heavenly Father cares for us unconditionally – that is His character (I John 4:7-10). Unfortunately, the storms of life can cause us to doubt how much He loves us. They may even tempt us to respond in a manner that does not fit who we are as His children. Yet even at this very moment, God offers us His love and wants to shower you and me with His grace. In response, we should turn our hearts to Him, repent for falling short of His best, and thank Him for loving us so faithfully.

Third, the Father is worthy of our praise because He always hears and answers our prayers. We have the awesome privilege of talking to the Lord about anything that burdens our hearts – knowing that He doesn't grow tired of listening to us. And what is truly awesome about our God is that He is sovereign and knows every detail of our circumstances. He is not only able to help us overcome the issues that concern us but always understands the very best way possible to do so.

Finally, we should give thanks because we know that God has a will, plan, and purpose for our lives that He will accomplish if we obey Him. Hardships, temptations, and tests will touch each of us – no one is immune from them. But we can know for certain that the Lord allows difficulty in our lives for a reason – even when we don't understand why (Rom. 8:28). To us, trials may seem to impede our progress or undermine our dreams. But God uses them to mold, shape, and conform us into the image of His Son. Therefore, submit yourself to the Father and thank Him for His wisdom, being confident that He will accomplish His purposes for you.

As you face challenges in the days, weeks, and months ahead, I pray that you will remember to give the Father praise in every situation and find I Thessalonians 5:18 more rewarding every time you live it out. May God strengthen your heart with thankfulness and fill you with joy as you continue to seek and serve Him faithfully.

Prayerfully yours,



Charles F. Stanley

Book review: The Jesus You Can't Ignore

The Jesus You Can't Ignore

John MacArthur

©2008, Thomas Nelson

"This book will reinvigorate your intimate understanding of the Savior. Verse by verse, John MacArthur unpacks the conversations between Jesus Christ and the leaders of his day. MacArthur's conclusions about the Jesus we have ignored are unmistakable and bold. In these pages, you'll see a vivid portrait of the Messiah as he is rarely seen: declaring truth without apology, with clarity and love...to the offense of many who heard him."

That is a big, in-your-face promise from the inside flap of the book. Does it deliver? Let's take a look.

The theme of the book is all the conflicts that Jesus had with the religious leaders of his day, and the fact that there were plenty of times where Jesus was not "nice" to them. This is quite a contrast to the popular portrayal of Jesus, which has Him as meek, mild, compassionate, and tolerant to a fault. And indeed, He was all those things, except when it came to people dishonoring His Father. That's when this other side of Jesus came out.

Dr. MacArthur takes great pains from the beginning of the book to point out that combativeness should not be our primary tactic, and confrontations such as those in the book should be reserved for teaching that clearly violates the truth of scripture. "Many disagreements are so petty that it would be utterly unprofitable to engender strife over them." (p. xi)

MacArthur spends considerable time discussing the "postmodern" or "postevangelical" church, which seems to define itself by its lack of conflict and acceptance of all ideas and beliefs. Personally I haven't been exposed to this new movement, sometimes called the Emergent or Emerging Church, so I find it confusing that churches would not consider the Bible to be absolutely true or allow unorthodoxies inside all in the name of "consensus." Dr. MacArthur hints that some of the largest churches in America have fallen into this trap, which I find quite disturbing.

Wait, what about Jesus? Isn't this book about Him? Yes, once we get past the prologue and introduction. Starting from the first major public appearance of His ministry, the cleansing of the temple in Jerusalem during Passover, we see that Jesus did not come purely to be nice, or to build consensus. We see, through chapters such as "This man speaks blasphemies", "Breaking the sabbath", "Hard preaching" and "Unpardonable sin" that Jesus not only aggressively defended the truth of His message, but He frequently instigated conflicts with the religious leaders by doing and saying things He knew they would find offensive.

This is quite a change from the "Jesus was a pacifist" attitude that seems common today. So what are we to learn from this? How are we to follow the example left by Jesus? MacArthur is quick to point out in all of the documented incidents that He is attacking only the false teaching, not the people themselves, at least until the very end when they are too far gone to recognize the truth. And He was never combative over minor differences or uncertain things, only when the authority of scripture was called into question.

I think the whole philosophy of the book can be summed up in a couple of paragraphs from p. 171:

So let's be absolutely clear about this once more: Jesus' harshness with the Pharisees does not give us an unrestricted license to deal roughly with others every time we happen to disagree. Gentleness should characterize our relationships with people, including those who persecute us (Luke 6:27-36). Love "suffers long and is kind...bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (1 Corinthians 13:4, 7). Those are general rules that should be paramount in all our interaction with others.

Nevertheless, Jesus' constant friction with the Pharisees does show that conflict is sometimes necessary. Harsh words are not always inappropriate. Unpleasant and unwelcome truths sometimes need to be voiced. False religion always needs to be answered. Love may cover a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8), but the gross hypocrisy of false teachers desperately needs to be uncovered — lest our silence facilitate and perpetuate a damning delusion. The truth is not always "nice."

So there you have it. Be nice, until it's time to not be nice. But always make sure the truth is behind you.

Overall rating: OUTSTANDING

Pastor Skip and the men's breakfast

My church has been holding a men's breakfast on Friday mornings. They did a few during the spring, and I thought it was a pretty good idea, but every Thursday night I would think about what time I needed to get up in order to be at church at 6:15 and decide to go next week. After a break during the summer they resumed last week, and rather than make an excuse I just forgot to go.

So I decided this week would be different. I picked up a flier at church and kept it out to remind me every day that I was doing this. I set the alarm back to 5:00 and promptly hit snooze when it went off. You've heard that God works in mysterious ways? Today He worked through two hungry cats that jumped on the bed, thrilled at the prospect of an early breakfast and forcing me to get up. And I am so happy that I did.

Once again I can't express my gratitude to God that He has assembled such an amazing group of people at Avalon Church. Pastor Skip, who also runs the homeless ministry and is the choir director, was our host. His topic was the importance of relationship over religion. That it's not what you do here that determines where you spend eternity, it's your relationship to God. He read three of the most unsettling verses in the Bible, Matthew 7:21-23:

²¹"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 
²²"Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'
²³"And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'"

This can be quite bothersome to people who believe in works salvation. As Skip explained, "knew" in the Biblical sense describes a personal, intimate relationship, with that of a husband and wife being the prime example. So when Jesus says "I never knew you" He's not saying "I don't know who you are" but "I never had a personal relationship with you; you never trusted Me to redeem you." And all the "good things" you did during your life count for exactly nothing against that.

Funny that Skip would speak about this the first time I went to the breakfast, after all the posts I've done on this topic over the past few months. Coincidence? I think you know how I feel about that too.

So thank you, Pastor Skip. I don't think I'll need the cats to help me make next week's breakfast.

The conversion of Matthew

No, not me. I mean that Matthew.

Let me set this up a little bit. Jesus at this point has moved the "headquarters" of His ministry from Nazareth to Capernaum and has just healed the paralytic who was lowered through the roof by his friends. See Matthew 9, Luke 5, and Mark 2 for all the details. As He left the house after the healing (and a very nice verbal thrashing of the Pharisees) He came across Matthew and called him.

What I love about this is all the synoptic gospels record this event in exactly the same way:

As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, "Follow Me." And he rose and followed Him. (Matthew 9:9)

And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, "Follow Me." And he rose and followed Him. (Mark 2:14)

After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, "Follow Me." And leaving everything, he rose and followed Him. (Like 5:27-28)

Wow. Try to imagine the power in just a glance from Jesus. Leaving everything, he rose and followed. I've heard of the doctrine of irresistible grace, but this really pounds that concept home. Even more amazing was that Matthew was a tax collector for the Romans. This office was essentially legalized extortion (imagine the IRS subcontracting to Tony Soprano) and anyone holding that position was considered a traitor to the Jewish people. So the fact that Jesus chose this reviled, contemptible man to become one of His closest associates shows that nobody is beyond redemption.

His conversion, while spiritual in nature, was no less of a miracle than the healing of the paralytic that immediately preceded it. His response was completely opposite to that of the Pharisees, who were the religious "experts" in Israel. Matthew yearned to be free from his sin, they could not even admit they were sinners. Yet another example of "religion" leaving people in total darkness and confusion.

So what will (or did) you do when the call comes?

"Follow Me."

The obligatory 9/11 post

Thinking back to the tragic events of September 11, 2001, I was led to re-examine the reasons behind the attacks. When you dig past the psychology, the political talking points designed to whip people into a frenzy, the cultural differences, and whatever other explanations people try to apply, what everything really boils down to is this:

"I'm right, and you're wrong."

That's the message we were supposed to receive eight years ago. And while I was considering this binary, black/white, right/wrong worldview I was reminded of a message I heard a while back that there are only two religious systems in the world: those based on human achievement, and those not based on human achievement. When everything else is stripped away that's what we're left with - either you can earn salvation based on something you do, or you can't.

No matter what your feelings are regarding such a black and white view, the fact remains only one of these choices can be right. So if it's works based, which set of works is it? Do I only need to be a "good" person? Can I eat ham? Do I go to confession? Kneel and pray at specified times of the day?

Which leads to even further confusion. What happens if I miss a day of prayer? What if I'm killed in a car wreck on the way to confession? How do I know what acts are good, bad, or indifferent? What's the good to bad ratio that gets me into heaven?

More importantly, who decides all of this? A bunch of guys in funny hats? I mean, who died and made them God?

On the other hand, if salvation is not based on anything I can do for myself, what do we have?

Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. (Rom. 10:9-10)

He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5)

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— (Eph. 2:4-5)

Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified...I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. (Gal. 2:16, 21)

I could go on (and on). Getting back to the original point, who's right and who's wrong? The guys in the funny hats, or the creator of the universe? This is a choice you need to settle now, because we all saw eight years ago that life can end literally in the blink of an eye.

Purpose vs. Providence. Or, why serendipity is crap.

I've been thinking lately about the two aspects of God's will, which I always knew as purposeful and permissive. Purposeful being things that God makes happen, and permissive being things that God allows to happen, always with the purpose of displaying His sovereignty. One day recently as I was listening to my podcasts I heard a new term for God's permissive will: providential. While the word itself was not new to me, applying it in this way was: all of mankind's free will decisions, inexplicably, miraculously weaving themselves together into the completion of God's plan.

So it was with this in mind that I realized, much like an episode of Lost, that there are no coincidences. One example that came screaming home to me was how I reconnected with God and found my church. My wife, who works for Weight Watchers, was working at a meeting with another woman who happened to be married to the Youth Pastor at Avalon Church. She had invited us to join her a few times, and when we finally accepted I knew I had found my new home.

So, where's the serendipitous part? Well, in order to work for Weight Watchers you must have gone through the program. Which means you had to be heavy at some point. We were; and we would not have had any success if we had not done the program together.

Basically, if Heather hadn't been working with Brooke, if Heather didn't work for Weight Watchers, if we hadn't gone through the program, I wouldn't be where I am today spiritually. What I'm really getting at is if I had been able to control what I ate back in 2003 none of this would have happened. Coincidence? Random occurrence of the universe? That sounds about as likely as an explosion at the printing plant resulting in a perfectly formed dictionary.

God is always orchestrating events in your life to bring you closer to Him. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, and sometimes (as in my case) it takes years to see the effects. But there's nothing coincidental or serendipitous about it.

Lord, I apologize.

I've had a bunch of great ideas for things to put on here, things from church, from the podcasts, from the books I've been reading, and because I didn't bother to write anything down or put the entries up in time, everything's just gone.

So Lord, I apologize that I won't be able to share these things unless I have a remarkable recovery of my memory. We'll just have to find some new things to share. As soon as I figure out the iPod keyboard so I can make a note while I'm away from the computer.

Why I like Pastor Dustin

This week at Avalon Church the guest speaker was Dustin Janney. Dustin is the music leader and the Youth Pastor at the church. I'll admit it always felt a little weird to refer to someone who just turned 30 and could pass for 25 if he needed to as "Pastor Dustin" but after this week I have no more issues using the title with him.

Pastor Dustin spoke about the presence of God, how there is nowhere you can go where His presence is not, and that His presence is real whether you are aware of it or not. He spoke about signs we have experienced the presence of God, and explained that if you are not experiencing freedom, you are not experiencing the reality of God's presence.

I had never heard him deliver a message before (at least without a guitar in his hands) but always thought he should be given his chance to put on the "big pants" and grab the microphone. Being the Youth Pastor and spending most of his ministry time with middle and high school students, his style is naturally geared toward them. What I liked best was that he did not try to change that style or the message to fit the main service. Based on the phrasing he used and the anecdotes he chose, it felt like he was addressing a group of students. But when you get right down to it, aren't we all students after all? Anyway, the passion he has for God and His truth was so clear in that short time he had, it changed my whole perception of him.

I don't think I can properly express how grateful I am to God that He has assembled so much talent at Avalon Church, and that I get to experience it every week. I'm looking forward to having you sing for us again next week, Pastor Dustin, but I also hope you have more chances to teach us through the spoken message. Also, I'll never think of TooJay's garlic chicken pasta the same way again.

"Pastor Dustin." Yeah, that doesn't feel strange at all now.

Why I like Pastor Jim

During Pastor Dale's month of reflection and recovery (see here), we have had a succession of guest speakers in the church. Last week the Executive Pastor, Jim Groves, gave the message. Pastor Jim is the usual "backup" and has filled in several times before, always with good results. Last week, again, was no disappointment.

Pastor Jim spoke about Peter's journey from an impetuous young follower who thought he might show God what's what to the apostle who was, literally, the rock on which the modern church was founded. The best part, though, was that he did it in the first person, speaking as Peter. He relayed the story from Matthew 16 when Jesus rebuked Peter for denying that he would be crucified, explaining the mindset and what he may have been thinking. And he relayed the maturity found in I Peter, written with thirty more years of life experience behind it.

The point he was really making, especially with the "Get thee behind me, Satan" found in Mt. 16:23, was that while believing in God is good, we also need to just believe God. That's the home of true faith - just believe God. And the whole thing, with Pastor Jim speaking in first person, as though Jesus had just been standing next to him a few minutes ago when this happened, never really felt like a sermon.

That's when it struck me, why I'm always so moved and appreciative when Pastor Jim speaks. He doesn't preach, he just talks. I know most of you don't see the difference, but when he's done speaking I feel like I've just had an entire conversation with him, even though I never got to talk. It's a little frustrating that I don't have the words to adequately describe the experience, but I'll tell you what you can do - follow this link:

http://www.avalonchurch.org/sermon_browser/sermon_detail.php?id=329

And take a listen. Tell me if you hear what I hear.

Scripture vs. Science

Inspired by a very interesting conversation with a very interesting coworker.

Increasingly there seems to be conflict between the world of religion and the world of science. We are told that the Bible represents a pre-scientific world view and are faced with a choice between the facts of science and the fantasy of scripture. This conflict partially stems from the fact that science frequently oversteps its bounds - instead of being a method of discovering knowledge it has become an all encompassing world view. In truth, there are only conflicts between science and the Bible when science begins to speculate on origins and destinies. But those things are not subject to observation and experimentation, which brings the entire discussion into the world of religion.

Herbert Spencer was a non-Christian scientist who died in 1903 and was best known for coining the phrase "survival of the fittest." His greatest achievement, though, was his discovery of the categories of the knowable. That is to say, everything that exists fits into one of five categories: time, force, action, space, and matter.

With this in mind, take a look at Genesis 1:1. "In the beginning [time], God [force] created [action] the heavens [space] and the earth [matter]." No conflict with science there! The real test you are facing is not whether science is "right" but it's as simple as do you believe the Bible? Not what somebody says about the Bible, but what the Bible actually says? Take into account that the Bible does not say when creation took place, simply that it did. You can't get through the first two chapters of the Bible without facing this test repeatedly.

Now, the statement that may shock some folks: there is no such thing as creation science. Because there is no scientific way to explain creation. It was a brief series of monumental supernatural events that cannot be explained by science. Science is based on observation and there were no witnesses to creation. Science is based on verification by repetition and creation cannot be repeated. So any attempt to explain or prove creation by scientific means is bunk.

Let’s say you were in Galilee the week after Jesus fed the five thousand men, plus women, plus children, the loaves and the fish and you wanted to know where in the world did He get that ability to do that? How did He do that? How did He feed those people with loaves and fish, how did He do that miracle? And you decided that you were going to go up there and you’re going to interview all those people and you’re going to ask them about what they felt while they were eating it and how it was digested and any experiences that they might have had after having that meal. It wouldn’t do any good if you were in the process of that investigation trying to figure out how Jesus made fish and bread out of nothing. You see, that is analogous to the issue of creation. You can observe the way things are now but that doesn’t tell you anything about how they became what they are. Creation cannot be understood any other way than by believing the revelation of the creator. And that’s your first test when you open your Bible.

So, having rejected the Bible and God's authority, science had to come up with something to explain how we got here. Evolution is simply mankind's latest attempt to suppress our innate knowledge of God and the fact we are accountable to Him. Yet evolution has never been observed or verified through repeatable experimentation. Here I am speaking of macro evolution, a change in kind, not simply a change within a kind. Yes, there is a difference. Yes, that difference is enormous.

As for the age of the universe? I don't know, but I'm in the "young Earth" camp. Maybe six thousand years, maybe ten thousand, I'm not really picky on that. The Bible doesn't give a date, so I'm not going to force one on it. All the different arguments about the age of the Earth from both camps come from the fact that the great flood in Genesis messed up our ability to determine the age of things that existed before the flood. Again, an event that is not repeatable.

So, again, the question for everybody is, do you believe Genesis 1-2? If not, where does the Bible start being true? Chapter 3? Chapter 4? Maybe in Exodus?

Some things simply cannot be proved by man, and all man's attempts to prove them have resulted in failure.

A better way to pray. But first, a joke.

A man is getting concerned about his son, who is reaching adulthood but still doesn't know what he wants to do with his life. The man calls the preacher for advice.

"We'll give him a little test," the preacher says, "and he'll tell us what he wants to do without knowing it."

The preacher goes into the boy's room and puts four items on his bed: a Bible, a dollar bill, a bottle of whiskey, and a dirty magazine. He explains to the father, "We'll watch through the window and see what he picks up first. If it's the Bible, he'll be a preacher, praise God. If it's the dollar, he'll be a businessman, which is still good. If it's the whiskey, he'll be a lazy no good drunkard, and if it's the magazine, he'll be a worthless skirt chasing womanizer."

They head outside when the son comes home and watch through the window. The boy takes a look at the items. He picks up the Bible and puts it under his arm. He takes the dollar and puts it in his pocket. He picks up the whiskey and takes a swig while admiring the centerfold in the magazine.

"Lord help us," says the preacher, "he's going to run for Congress!"

Like my earlier joke, it would be funnier if it weren't so true. Which leads me into the real point I want to get to. The relationship between a Christian and the government has been weighing on me recently. Beyond the standard platitudes of render unto Caesar, blah, blah, what is my real responsibility?

See, I have deep, fundamental philosophical differences with the current administration, and I have not been quiet about them. But it's been suggested to me that our duty to God is to pay our taxes and be model citizens. I don't take this to mean unquestioning agreement with the government, nor does it outlaw working within the law to stop or change policy. But I've been concerned lately that airing my disagreements may cause me to be perceived as an angry, complaining nut job. And that would most definitely hurt my testimony for Jesus.

So rather than spend my time pointing out the flaws of our never-perfect government or praying for "deliverance", I've decided to pray both for our current elected leaders to have wisdom, and also for God to raise up candidates for office that understand that being elected to office and placed in authority is a divine privilege and one of the highest forms of service to Him. What if we all prayed for that? Would it be possible that on a future ballot there would be a candidate you would actually be proud to vote for, and remain proud of afterward? How refreshing would that be?

Good thing I got that Congress joke out of my system first.

One final word on Nehemiah

I finished Nehemiah last night and found a couple more reasons to like the guy. After the walls of Jerusalem were completed, he saw that the law regarding the sabbath was not being obeyed, and vendors were working and selling on the sabbath. So he ordered the gates to be closed, and the vendors then set up outside the gates. Uh uh, no you didn't. In 13:21 we see Nehemiah's response to this:

But I warned them and said to them, "Why do you lodge outside the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you." From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath.

Nice. Very diplomatic with "I will lay hands on you." Then we see the law forbidding Jews to intermarry being flouted, and things get really nasty in 13:25:

And I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. And I made them take oath in the name of God, saying, "You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.

Do not make Nehemiah angry. You won't like him when he's angry.

My Pastor had me fooled

My Pastor, Dale Brooks, experienced a personal tragedy this past April in the passing of his wife Leigh Anne. While I did not know her well I know that she was full of love and the joy of Jesus, and her death had an enormous impact on a large number of lives.

Pastor Dale did not preach the next Sunday; I'm sure that nobody expected him to. But he was back the week after, and I was sure he was just putting on a front so everyone would think he was OK. But week after week he continued to preach powerfully, and over time I became convinced that maybe he really was OK.

How was this possible? How could he just get back to work like that under these circumstances? How could he be such a rock? How can I be just like him if something like this happens to me? What am I missing in my relationship with God that I can't even conceive of reacting this way?

Turns out, my first impression way back was right. Fortunately for me, Avalon Church, and most importantly Pastor Dale, the church elders saw through this and perceived he was not dealing with Leigh Anne like he needed to. Accordingly, they have told him to take the month of July off to grieve and spend quality time with Jesus. Pastor Dale admitted today that this is the best thing, that he had wanted everyone to think he was OK when he really wasn't. We all indicated our love and support for him, and everybody cried. I mean EVERYBODY.

This isn't any kind of warning or probation that reflects on his performance; on the contrary the elders took this action to ensure Pastor Dale is around as long as possible. I'm thankful to God today that the elders had the discernment to recognize the hurt beneath the smile, and the courage to take this action before it had the chance to turn into something else.

Enjoy your time, Pastor Dale. Just no more pretending when you come back, OK?

Nehemiah, ancient superhero

In reading the story of Nehemiah rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem I was impressed by the way he always stood firm and unwavering in the face of opposition. Through ridicule, false charges, the threat of attack, he just kept working on the walls. My favorite part was in chapter 6, when death threats were made against him and Shemaiah asked him to hide in the temple. His answer in verse 11:

But I said, "Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in."

Turns out Shemaiah was working for the bad guys and trying to lure him into a trap. Well played, Nehemiah. I think this verse also has a great modern context as we hear stories of terrorists hiding in mosques because the military won't blow them up. Perhaps if this were posted on the door of all those mosques our war on terror would have turned out differently.

Am I confusing you?

I realize that some of you reading this may not be part of the "family" and I may be using too much insider language in the posts. So, in an attempt to remedy that, let me make you an offer.

Is there anything you're wondering about? Do you want to know what I believe, or why I believe it, or what in the world I was thinking when I posted something? Drop a comment, shoot me an email (mattowenfl@gmail.com), or find me on Facebook using the link on the right.

Just like Weight Watchers, this is a judgment free zone. There are no stupid questions. Let 'em rip.

A great and glorious phrase

I was having a conversation about biblical history the other day, why the books are in the order they are in, etc., and the conversation turned to the dates the Old Testament books were written. Eventually, I ended up explaining the difference between B.C. and A.D. and how 1450 B.C. came before 1410 B.C. using the concept of a number line, and negative and positive numbers. But in explaining where the change from "negative" to "positive" occurred I used this analogy:

"Jesus is the hinge on which all of human history turns."

I never thought I'd be able to use that phrase in a conversation. I almost cried at having a legitimate opportunity to finally say it. Thank you Jesus!

Pastor's business card

Got this one from Mom via email.

A new pastor was visiting in the homes of his parishioners. At one house it seemed obvious that someone was at home, but no answer came to his repeated knocks at the door.

Therefore, he took out his business card and wrote "Revelation 3:20" on the back of it and stuck it in the door.

When the offering was processed the following Sunday, he found that his card had been returned. Added to it was this cryptic message, "Genesis 3:10."

Reaching for his Bible to check out the citation, he broke up in gales of laughter. Revelation 3:20 begins "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." Genesis 3:10 reads, "I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid for I was naked."

Remember when the funniest jokes were the clean ones?

They still are!

The payoff. The big, fat payoff.

My mother is having surgery next month and on the phone tonight she expressed some growing concern over the situation. I pointed her to Joshua 1, which contains several instances of God telling us not to be afraid, and contains this absolute gem in verse 9:

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.

Thank you Father! Thank you Jesus! If I hadn't been reading on my own, if the only time my Bible ever got touched was carrying it to and from church on Sunday, I would never have been able to offer this encouragement to her. As Charles Stanley has said, "If you want to get something out of the Bible on Sunday, read it on Saturday. And Friday. And..."

Claim the promises of the Bible. Make them your own, because they are yours. But before you can claim them you must find them! So what are you doing here? Open your Bible, then come back and let me know what you found in the comments.

God's sense of humor

Some people wonder if God has a sense of humor. I don't have to wonder, because God likes to play jokes on me. For example, every time I mow my lawn and go to blow the clippings off the sidewalk, the wind blows back at me so the clippings all fly back toward me. No matter which way I turn to blow them, the wind follows me. After a couple minutes I'll stop, turn my eyes up, and say "OK, very funny, do you mind if I finish this now?" Then the wind dies down and I can get the clippings where I'm supposed to go. And I always get an image of Jesus chuckling to Himself, saying "that never gets old!"

You can also find some rather pointed sarcasm from God in Numbers 11:18-20:

¹⁸And say to the people, 'Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the LORD, saying, "Who will give us meat to eat? For it was better for us in Egypt." Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat. ¹⁹You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, ²⁰but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the LORD who is among you and have wept before him, saying, "Why did we come out of Egypt?"

"Here, you want meat? I'll give you so much meat it will come out your nose. You'll hate meat by the time I'm done with you." That never gets old!

Solomon, the original king of bling

II Chronicles 9 gives some details about Solomon's wealth and power. Solomon is generally accepted as the wisest and wealthiest man in the history of ever. He had five hundred shields made of solid gold to be used for decoration, his throne was ivory overlaid with gold, the steps to the throne had carved lions on either side - pretty flashy stuff. But verse 20 actually made me laugh:

All King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; silver was not considered valuable in the days of Solomon.

When I read that I pictured Solomon on his throne, maybe with oversize sunglasses and a clock (or sundial) hanging on his neck, saying "Ain't no thing, all my cups are gold. Silver ain't nothing."

And all that because when God offered him anything, he asked for wisdom rather than money or power. What would you ask for?

A blind spot?

Neal Boortz just stated on his show that people who believe creation rather than evolution have a "blind spot" and choose to ignore reams of scientific evidence, in order to believe a story that was made up by church leaders who only wanted to maintain power over their congregations.

This is the same man calling people who believe the "reams of scientific evidence" supporting global warming crackpots and lunatics.

Listings of frauds and intentional hoaxes that at one time "proved" evolution can be found here, here, and here, for starters. Scientific evidence showing the Biblical account of creation to be false can be found, umm...well...nowhere.

So believing a book that has never been proven wrong, that needs no missing link to complete the chain, that showed knowledge of scientific principles thousands of years before they were "discovered" by man, means I have a blind spot. And believing every new fraud passed off as evidence supporting your belief system means your vision is perfect. Really? I'm the blind one here?

I still can't believe I did this

I use an FM transmitter with my iPod touch to listen in the car. The other day I was listening to Charles Stanley speaking about having the heart of a servant, and right when he was getting to the main point, really getting ready to drive it home, I started to get some pretty severe static on the radio.

Naturally, I assumed this was Satan trying to keep me from hearing something important, so out of instinct I raised my hand to the radio and shouted "begone, evildoer!"

Wouldn't you know it, the static went away as soon as I did that. I may never know for sure if I really performed an exorcism on my radio or just happened to drive out of range of whatever was interfering, but the timing was just too exquisitely perfect to ignore.

Praying for America

A friend of mine sent me a great link about (not) praying for America, available here.

Then in my daily reading I came across II Chronicles 7:14:

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Call it serendipity, an act of the universe, or complete random chance if you will. I call it God trying to tell me something.

I've heard that verse quoted at least a hundred times, and always in the context of restoring America to what it used to be, and either receive His blessing or avoid His judgment. But having just read that article I realized that it is not applicable in the case of America. It's "my people, which are called by my name" and not "my people, who call on my name." There is only one "people" who are called by God's name, and that's Israel. Meaning this verse has exactly nothing to do with America. In fact, if you go back one verse you will see that God is actually saying if He causes a drought, or swarms of locusts, or disease, the promise of verse 14 kicks in. I just don't see the application to the moral or spiritual state of a nation.

Better to pray that you are living inside God's will and that He will use you to accomplish His purpose. Given that there is no place in end times prophecy for the United States, I think we are actually witnessing the unfolding of His will in the modern decline of America.

Built to Last

II Chronicles 1:3 - "...for there was the tabernacle of the congregation of God, which Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness."

I totally missed this the first time through, but finally realized that Moses built the tabernacle during the wilderness wandering, which took place from about 1450-1410 B.C. Here in II Chronicles Solomon is going to build a temple to replace the tabernacle. Solomon began his reign in 971 B.C., making the tabernacle nearly five hundred years old and still in use. Not bad for what was essentially a large tent, designed to be disassembled and transported repeatedly.

They sure don't make them like they used to.

The Unpardonable Sin

I have heard people say that they cannot go to heaven or be saved because they have committed an unpardonable sin. This makes me curious what that sin might be.

Adultery? Murder? Those seem like good choices. Until we see in I Samuel 11 that David committed both of these sins in rapid succession. Verse 27 tell us that "the thing that David had done displeased the Lord." But nowhere does it say that David had done an unforgivable thing. He was punished, yes, but he was forgiven.

I would suggest that the only unpardonable sin is dying while still rejecting Jesus. So if you're still alive (and hello, you're reading this) it is not too late to seek forgiveness. Whatever you think you've done, I can pretty much guarantee there's someone who did much worse than you and found forgiveness in God's grace.

On second thought, there may actually be an unpardonable sin - striking out looking with two outs and the tying run on third base. That's a conversation for another day.

I am a warrior. And I am not alone!

These guys have absolutely nailed what I'm trying to express here.



Special thanks to Jose Medina for the link.

Is church boring?

An elderly woman walked into the local country church. The friendly usher greeted her at the door and helped her up the flight of steps.

"Where would you like to sit?" he asked politely.

"The front row, please," she answered.

"You really don't want to do that," the usher said. "The pastor is really boring."

"Do you happen to know who I am?" the woman inquired.

"No," he said.

"I'm the pastor's mother," she replied indignantly.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked.

"No," she said.

"Good," he answered.

---

This would be a lot more funny if it were a lot less true. While I do not suffer from boredom at my current church, I have in the past and that's part of what kept me away from church for so many years. Is your church suffering from a lack of excitement? Does it just seem like a ritual, it's just "what you do" on Sunday?

Try Ephesians 2 if this is true of you. vv. 4-7:

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ -- by grace you have been saved -- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immesurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Wow! Also vv. 13-14:

But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.

Maybe you can be the jolt of excitement your church needs.

Can the Bible be TOO easy to read?

I've been using a King James Version pretty much my entire life and still have trouble with some of the words and phrasing. Fortunately I use a Scofield Study Bible, which has so many notes, references, and explanations that I don't need to turn to an external source to clear anything up. But this means that if I sit down to read, I can get through two or three chapters in fifteen to twenty minutes.

My wife recently purchased a Bible, and at my recommendation we bought an English Standard Version, because I had found it very easy to understand and like that it's a word for word translation of the best of the original language texts. Yesterday I gave the ESV a try for my regular reading and found in I Chronicles that I was able to blast through eight chapters instead of the usual three.

So that got me thinking: if you don't need to slow down, check a word's meaning, or really think about what a verse or passage is saying, can you miss an important concept or principle? Should the Bible be just a little confusing to make you stop and consider what's being said?

I have no idea. I just know it felt kind of weird reading so quickly, almost like I expected a divine speeding ticket.

Meditation

"Be still, and know that I am God." (Psalms 46:10)

I've been working through a backlog of Charles Stanley's podcasts, and around the middle of May he did a series on the benefits of meditation. Not the stereotypical, cross your legs and chant kind, but the open up the Word and focus until you get it kind. He gave six essentials for effective meditation:

• A season of time
• Stillness
• Seclusion
• Silence
• Self control
• Submission

A season of time - basically, have you made time for God? Is He on your calendar every day? If not, are the people that do get your time more important?

Stillness - turn off the phone, the tv, the iPod. Stop everything else and focus. This is the most difficult part for me, as even with no outside distractions my mind will sometimes refuse to slow down.

Seclusion - no excuses here. Jesus was the biggest public figure of His time, constantly surrounded by people, and still managed to retreat for some private, intimate time with the Father.

Silence - don't do all the talking during prayer time. Remember Isaiah 30:15, "in quietness and in trust shall be your strength." How can you expect an answer to your prayer if you won't stop talking long enough to get one?

Self control - here, you have to admit that you need to deal with some things in your life. This is the second hardest part for me, and I imagine this is what it's like to say "Hi, I'm X and I'm an alcoholic." Paradoxically enough, any increase in our self control is a reflection of how much we have surrendered to God's will.

Submission - all the prayer and meditation in the world won't make a difference if you have a rebellious spirit. If you don't intentionally submit yourself to God, your relationship can't grow and you will never know His best plan for you.

So, the challenge: try this for a week. Block out a time. Make an appointment to be with God, and only with Him. If you apply these six principles, my guess is you won't want or be able to stop.

Why "Choice and Mighty"?

Just to explain the title here: as I've been reading the Old Testament I've also been gaining a great appreciation for the literary constructs used by the King James Version. When I came across I Chronicles 7:40:

All these were the children of Asher, heads of their father's house, choice and mighty men of valour, chief of the princes...

I was just completely blown away by the phrase "choice and mighty men of valour." My other Bible, an English Standard Version, says "approved, mighty warriors." Which is still nice but just doesn't soar like the KJV.

And all this got me thinking, what does it mean in today's world to be choice, or approved, and mighty? That's what I aim to find out.