I want this

There is an ad that runs on TV in Canada where a guy walks into an electronics store to buy batteries but ends up wanting everything else so he buys it.  This is a reflection on our consumer society.  The ad ends with the saying, "I want that".

When you say that you want something there are still restrictions.  Is it available?  Can you buy it with your money or credit?  Even the restriction does it exist?

When God says "I want that" He doesn't have to check to see if His credit is good, if it is available or even if it exists.  When He says "I want this" then it exists and it is His.

We often forget that when we say we want something there is the possibility that we may not be able to have it but that never happens with God.  He spoke and the worlds existed.  He didn't have to get the raw materials for He made all things out of Himself.  He is infinite so after He made the universe out of Himself He was not less than He was before.

Satan, you can't have my song

When Pastor Gord talked about this on Sunday I was reminded of my father who passed away twenty five years ago.  My father suffered from cancer and he did not take pain very well.  However, while he was in the hospital he had many visitors and most of them came away singing the old hymns of the faith.  The one thing my father always wanted to do when people came to see him was to sing.  Many testified to the fact that their hearts were blessed by such a visit.  Now my father wasn't a great singer, he was better than my mother, but he always loved music.  Satan didn't take his song away.

Idols

Here is another entry from my journal in 1995.

In his book, No God But God, Os Guiness condemns the modern church because of its idolatry. Like a prophet of old, Guineas will not be well received by many of the established churches.


In what way has the church turned to idols. Well one way is that we worship success and therefore we do our best to be successful. We think that if our program is a little more professional, a little more polished, then more people will come. We must be careful not to offend them when they come so our message is softened. We replace the preaching of the cross with entertainment and the sermon is often replaced with drama. Our music must be professional so we are careful not to allow just anyone to minister in music. The church has become like the world.

On the other side of the coin in the evangelicalism is the concern over signs and wonders. We are afraid that people need more than Jesus, what they need is something spectacular like miracles or other manifestations. When Christ has to share the centre stage with anyone or anything it is idolatry. Christ will not even share the stage with His works.

The church needs to forsake its idols and refocus itself upon Christ. He is the only message. He is all we need.

Gay Pride

Today marked the start of gay pride week in Toronto so I thought I would post an entry from my journal of 18 years ago.

Yesterday there was a parade in Toronto. It was called the gay pride parade. They began at a church where a member of parliament address the gays and lesbians about their rights. Then they proceeded to parade through the streets of Toronto.
I find two problems here. First, what does the church have to do with homosexuality? We may not have a right to tell non-Christians how they should live but the church has a message, the gospel, which is the message of hope for those living in sin. The church must not condone sin, it must speak out against it.

Second, what does the church have to do with pride? Pride was the original sin. Pride is another sin that the church must speak out against. When the church fails to speak against sin the church has lost any relevance for the world today. We cannot change the way people want to live, only the gospel can do that. However, we must continue to cry out against both sins that the parade represented least we find it coming in our door.

What If There Was No Genesis?

I wrote this 17 years ago but I would like to share it now.

I have just finished studying Genesis in my Sunday School class and I was thinking, What if there was not Genesis in our Bible?
Genesis is the book of beginnings. Without Genesis we would not know where this earth came from; where man came from; why there is sin in the world; what is God's remedy for sin; why must man suffer and die; why is man tempted; why are there different languages, nations and races; why we have governments; why we have different seasons; and what does the rainbow mean.

We would not know where the Jewish people came from and why the land of Israel is so important to them.

Genesis shows us that God is a powerful God, a loving God, a faithful God, and a caring God. Without Genesis I would not know why we are sinners and why we need a Saviour.

I am glad that God placed Genesis in our Bible. Without Genesis the story of redemption would not be complete.

A Dumb Question

I find dumb questions amusing. Some one once asked if you could buy a complete chess set in a pawn shop. Before the days of cell phones and answering machines my dad would phone and ask me if I was home. Things have changed. I was recently at a large conference and I overheard a man on his cell phone saying, “Are you here?”
One day Jesus asked a blind man what seemed to be a dumb question. Blind Bartimaeus had called out to Jesus to have mercy on him and Jesus asked him what he wanted Jesus to do for him. Now this may seem like a dumb question but Jesus never asked meaningless questions. Jesus knew what the man really wanted but He wanted the man to truly understand what he really needed. The man needed to know that though he needed mercy he needed healing for his eyes.

We often come to God with requests and it seems Jesus asks us what we want rather than answering us right away. We may ask for healing of our bodies but Jesus knows that if He heals us then we will not see our true need. We may think that we need mercy but we need more than God’s mercy we need God’s grace.

The Rock on Trial

In Exodus 17 we are told that the people had no water so they quarreled with Moses. What was Moses to do? He knows that their quarrel is not just with him but they are upset with God. Moses takes this complaint to the Lord and the Lord answers him. Moses is told by the Lord to come before the people with the elders and his rod and He, the Lord Himself, will stand before Moses on the rock at Horeb. This is the only time we read that Lord stands before the people. Every other time the people are to stand before the Lord.
As Moses comes to the rock he knows that there will be a trial but who will be on trial? Moses has his rod of judgment, the rod he used to judge Egypt and to part the Red Sea. Moses has the elders as his council to pass judgment on the guilty party. But who will be judged today? When Moses arrives at the rock he is surprised to find out that it is God Himself who is being judged. Moses is to take his rod and strike the rock upon which the Lord Himself was standing before the people. The Lord would be taking the judgment for the people. It is only when Moses passes the judgment upon the Lord that the water of life comes from the rock.

This is the Gospel.  God has stepped into the dock to take the judgment that was ours upon Himself.  This is the good news.

Interesting Resources

At the start of the summer I would like to suggest a couple of good resources.

If you have an e-reader you may want to check out David C. Cook publishing as they have a free ebook every week.  The link is http://www.dccebooks.com/

The second resource is for a free monthly audio book.  This month it is the Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler.  The link is http://christianaudio.com/

Another good source of information is to follow Tim Challies on twitter or facebook as well as connect to his blog. 

If you have other good sources I would love to hear from you.

Words matter

The other Sunday I heard one of our youth refer to the platform as the stage.  Does it matter what we call it?  I think it does.  A stage is where people preform but a platform is used so that people are visible.  In the church we don't have performers but we do have leaders.  Leaders need to be seen so they can lead.  If we think of the platform as a stage then we think of a performance rather than being led in worship.

It was A. W. Tozer who corrected a young pastor who said that he was going to his office.  It is not an office but a study.  Once again I think the name makes a difference.  An office makes it sound like the Pastor is a CEO but a study implies that he is in the Word of God to lead his people as a shepherd.  There is a trend among some young pastors to refer to themselves as a CEO and maybe they are but that is not the Biblical model of the church.

Another word switch which I think has implications in how we view the church is calling the sanctuary the auditorium.  An auditorium is where people go to be entertained while a sanctuary is where people go to meet God.  Now I know that the place is not important but I think that the name is.

Those are a few of my concerns in how we follow the world's leading even in doing church.

Attention to details

I was so embarrassed.  There in my PowerPoint presentation was a rosary.  Why hadn't I seen it earlier?  I guess it is because I don't always pay attention to details.  I would make a terrible witness.  What was the colour of hair? Did she wear glasses?  What colour was his eyes?  What was he wearing?  I can seldom answer these questions because I don't pay attention to the details.
I taught mathematics and in mathematics I always stressed the importance of details.  Signs, brackets, equal signs, etc.  The details always are important in mathematics but they are also important in life and certainly in Bible study.
In the parable of the prodigal son if you miss the details you miss much of the message of the parable.  The father was watching for his son, the father ran to his son, and so much more.  There is always truth at the surface but as you dig deeper into the Word of God you will discover greater and greater riches.  I need to learn to pay attention to details.

We would see Jesus.

In John 12 some Greeks had come to Philip with a request.  The request was that they wanted to see Jesus.  Philip then had the honour of taking them to the Master.
When we read the Psalms we should want to see Jesus.  Psalm 16 is a Psalm about Jesus.  He is our refuge in life, He is our portion, He is our strength, He is our hope in death.  It is at His right hand that we have pleasures for evermore.  It is in His presence that there is fullness of joy.  John says in John 15:11, "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." 
Do we see Jesus when we read the Old Testament?  Do we want to see Jesus when we read the Psalms?

Right hand

David says in Psalm 16:8, "I keep my eyes always on the Lord.  With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken."  Later he says, "You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand."  Psalm 16:11

The right hand is usually a symbol of strength.  With the Lord at my right hand I know that He is my strength.  However, in the last verse he says that at the Lord's right hand there is pleasure for evermore.  When I am at the Lord's right hand I know that I am under His care.

When I was a child and I went for a walk with my dad he would take my left hand in his right hand and walk with me.  I was at his right hand but he was caring for me and protecting me.  When I became a man and my father was old and ill I would again walk with him but now he took my right arm and I gave him strength.  I often feel like the child walking with the Lord with my left hand in His right hand.  But sometimes I feel like the feeble old man who needs to put my left hand in His right so that he can help me walk.

Turning sorrow into joy

What brings joy?  Certainly it is not possessions.  How many people have won the lottery only to have their lives come apart afterward?  Many families fight over inheritances only to destroy relationships.  David says, "Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more. I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods or take up their names on my lips."  Psalm 16:4
The other gods that we run after are money, pleasure, power, self but none of these will bring joy.  They may bring temporary happiness but it is only for a time.
David ends this Psalm with these words, "You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand."  Joy is found in the presence of the Lord.  Other translations such as the ESV say, "You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."  I like this translation.  It tells us that in the presence of God there is joy.  Notice the tense of the verb.  It does not say that there will be but that there is joy.  We can experience the presence of the Lord and His joy today.
What are you looking to for joy?  Remember that other gods will not bring joy.

Nothing good

When I look at my possessions I realize that I don't have a lot of good things.  If my life was measured by what I own then my life would not be worth very much. 
However, I do have good things but they are not measured in money but they are still good things. 
David says that apart from the Lord he has nothing good.  However, a few verses later he says this, "The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance."  Psalm 16:6  When we measure our lives by our possessions we are poor but when we know that we have a delightful inheritance then though we may appear to the world to be poor we are rich.  Paul writes to the church in Galatia, "If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise."  Galatians 3:29
Can we say that we have nothing good when we are heirs with God's people, joint heirs with Jesus Christ?  We have nothing good in ourselves but in Him we are rich.

Security

When we lived in the Philippines we saw security guards everywhere.  They were at the school we taught in, they were at the church we attended, they were at every store we visited. 

Psalm 16 begins with this prayer, "Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge."  David prays that the Lord will be his refuge, he is being hunted by Saul and his life is in danger.  Then a few lines later he makes this statement, "Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure."  David's prayer for security is answered in the Lord.  Too often we pray for things when the answer is not in the things we pray for but in the Lord himself.  We pray for patience but He is our patience.  We pray for love and He is our love.  We pray for these things as if the Lord will wrap them up and send them down to us but that is not what happens.  We need to know that our security is in the Lord himself. 

David goes on to say, "I keep my eyes always on the Lord.  With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken."

Send them out with honour

This past Sunday we were able to give one of the class members who is going on a missions trip $200 to give to the people she will be working with.  It is part of sending them out with honour.  One of the people who contributed money was an elderly lady who handed me $50 and said that she was going to spend it on herself but this was more important.
Too often we send our missionaries out with a verbal blessing and a promise to pray for them but do we send them out with honour?  To send them out with honour is to make their work easier.  It is not giving them the left overs or giving them of our abundance but giving them out of love; love for them, love for the people that they are going to and love for the Lord. 
Let us always remember to treat those involved in God's work with honour.