Comparison

I doubt that many of us consciously look at others and compare our righteousness to theirs. However, it gives me pause to hear Jesus say, “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:20 NIV).

Going Public

As a reporter I attended a business meeting where the CEO intimated that he would rather some information not be reported to the public. I’m reminded of Jesus healing the leper. “Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them”” (Matt 8:4 NIV).  On the one hand I understand how people going public hindered the Lord’s ministry, but as a reporter I am grateful for the public record of the Lord’s activity on earth.

Building for Someone Else

 As we prepare to sell our current residence Bill said, “I hope the next person who lives here appreciates all the work we’ve put into this house.” I then stopped to think about the new house we are building and realized that it too is not just our house. Someday it will be owned by someone else. The writer of Ecclesiastes said, “I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards…My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun” (Ecc 2:4, 10b-11 NIV).

A Reason For God

As a reporter I quote individuals and occasionally they will say, “I know that is what I said, but that is not what I meant.” A pastor tried to explain physical affliction and said, “If we had no more suffering and pain, we wouldn’t have a reason for God.” While I understand what the pastor was trying to say, the words he spoke were not what he meant. Our need for God is not based on physical suffering and pain, but rather on love. John said, “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10 NIV).

Memorial Day

 The disciples were bewildered and Jesus said, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy” (John 16:19b-20 NIV). Until our grief turns to joy, we will remember.

Stepping Stone

I was taken aback when the associate pastor, who is relatively new to the congregation, mentioned he just finished his master’s and would someday like to be a professor. I now question if he, as well as the church leadership who hired him, see his position with our church simply as a stepping stone to becoming a college professor, rather than a building block for the local church. Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also…No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money” (Matt 6:21,24 NIV).

Mega Church Manna

I just cancelled my subscription to the newspaper because the publisher, rather than staying with local news, has decided to outsource the content and force statewide liberal news onto readers. I see something similar in the church. Rather than presenting the spiritual food and content needed for individual churches, church leadership is giving us programs, sermons and classes intended for a different audience (the mega church audience). Paul said, “For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ” (1 Cor 10:1-4 NIV).

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Some people are still taking the Trump administration to task for the earlier program of separating children from parents when illegal immigrants come to the US border.  These politicians describe it as, “ripping children from their mother’s arms,” and yet these same politicians have no qualms about ripping children from their mother’s wombs. The psalmist wrote, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well” (Psalm 139:13-14 NIV).

Preplanned Rebellion

I’ve been a student at Taylor University, a Christian liberal arts university in Indiana. Much to my chagrin some students and faculty walked out in protest during Vice President Mike Pence’s commencement address. I can overlook the student’s lack of maturity. However, for any faculty to participate in preplanned rebellion that leads students astray is not only unacceptable, but it goes against God, who puts people in positions of authority. Paul said, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves” (Ro 13:1-2 NIV).

I Love Them Anyway

When celebrating Mother’s Day four-year-old Travis was curious about his grandma and great grandma. He asked, “Are Gran’ma Jo and Granny B moms too? Like they had babies?” His mother Rachel explained, “Yes, but not anymore because they are too old to have babies.” Travis said, “That’s OK. I love them anyway.” The psalmist wrote, “Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother’s breast. From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God” (Psalm 22:9-10 NIV).

Christ is in All

Paul said, “Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all” (Col 3:9-11 NIV). This insight has application for today’s denominations. I can hear Paul saying to us, “Here there is no Baptist or Methodist, Lutheran or Episcopalian, Catholic, Anglican, Pentecostal or Assembly of God, but Christ is all, and is in all.”

The Door of Opportunity

Paul wrote to the Corinthians about his travel plans to visit them, “But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me” (1 Cor 16:8-9 NIV). I’m amazed and somewhat envious of Paul’s ability to look beyond the many who oppose him and see a great and open door for effective work.

This Generation

A political analyst opined that many of America’s minorities have been held back from their full potential because of government dependence. From his perspective minorities can look back and see that they are no better off than previous generations because social services keep them enslaved. It gives me pause to think that something similar might be said about today’s believers. Is our generation of Christians and any more spiritually mature than those of past generations? Proverbs said, “He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge” (Proverbs 14:26 NIV).

The Work of Our Hands

I can stand on my back deck and watch our new house being built. Last week I discovered the roofer is an old friend, Kevin, who is a fellow believer. Kevin is a really good roofer; however, he is now stooped and walks with a limp because over the years he has fallen off ladders and roofs. Now I’m not only praying for Kevin’s safety, but also for the aches and pains one develops after years of physical labor.  The psalmist wrote, “May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands” (Psalm 90-17 NIV).

Action Required

The political and social landscapes seem to have lost all forms of civility and my sense is that the religious landscape is in danger of following suit. In speaking of the greatest commandment Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matt 22:37-40 NIV). There are some people today who, like the expert in the law, might say, “And who is my neighbor” (Luke10:29 NIV)? The Parable of the Good Samaritan shows that loving our neighbor is not simply a mental exercise, but it requires action.

Happy Mother’s Day

Three children were on the verge of being taken from their parents because of neglect. In order to avoid placement in foster care, the 50-year-old grandmother to the infant took all three children into her home. Then the great-grandmother, who is in her 70’s, rallied around to help her daughter with the three children as they adjusted to a new home. A Facebook post from the grandmother to the great-grandmother said, “Thank you, Mom, for helping me with everything in life...you have saved me again!! I love you!!” A mother never ceases to be a mother.

A Matter of Pride

Some believers have labored in their ministry for so many years that they are weary and have lost sight of the fact that they can take pride in their work of serving Christ. Paul said, “I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them” (Ro 11:13-14 NIV).

Hidden Costs

In preparation for building a new house we sat down with a contractor and banker to estimate the cost. We knew there would be some unexpected expenses; however, neither we nor the builder expected the electric company to tell us we must upgrade their transformer at the cost of $4,085.00. Spiritually speaking, there are costs, even unexpected costs, associated with becoming a disciple. Jesus said, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish’ (Luke 14:28-30 NIV).

Spiritual Fitness

I started going to the gym regularly and realized that people I once thought were just naturally trim and had good genes work really hard to stay physically fit. These are not folks with bulging muscles, but people who work as hard to stay in shape as those of us are trying to get in shape. I suspect something similar can be said about being spiritually fit. We simply can’t look at another person of faith and know how many hours he spends in spiritual fitness training —Bible study, prayer, fellowship with other believers, etc. Paul said, “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance (and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe” (1Tim 4:8-10 NIV).

In Danger

Many of us have occasionally found ourselves in dangerous situations. Paul recounts his suffering for the Gospel, “…I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers” (2 Cor 11:26 NIV). Normally I think of the church as a safe haven where we are, generally speaking, of one accord. I’m now giving thought that today, as in Paul’s day, there are false brothers in the assembly of believers.

Recuperation

Last week when watering the lawn my feet got tangled up in the hoses and I still have strained muscles and bruised hands and knees. The fall called for ice packs, Advil and Arnica lotion. I’m now wondering how much balm and time and it took for Paul to recuperate from all his physical ails. Paul said, “I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, have been constantly on the move” (2 Cor 11:23b-26a NIV).  

Church in the Woods

It’s not unusual to hear people say that they don’t have to go to church to worship God, they can worship God when they are alone enjoying a Sunday nature excursion. The premise is true; however, worshiping when in nature is not a replacement for worshiping as a church body. Paul and his companions traveled to Philippi and stayed there several days. Paul said, “On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us” (Acts 16:13-15 NIV).

Building On Your Own Foundation

For many of us, improving on something is easier than starting from scratch. Whether it is a creating a recipe, following a blueprint, or writing a Bible study. Paul was not one of the original 12 Apostles and you’d think he would follow the pattern of the other apostles. No so. Paul said, “It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation” (Ro 15:20 NIV).