Joshua 24:15 "As for me and my household"

I’ve always been partial to Joshua’s advice to the people of Israel when he knew that his days as their leader were coming to a close. “If serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15) Joshua made it clear to the people that he would not be at the mercy of public opinion. His desire to worship and serve the LORD was firm and not to be cast aside no matter what. Joshua also felt confident enough to speak on behalf of his own household. As a husband and father Joshua ensured that his family knew the LORD too; his family, his responsibility.
Another thing that Joshua is saying here is that his household will continue to serve the LORD no matter what happens in the society around him. Too often we see examples of unbelief in our society and we let it discourage us. Instead of letting anecdotes from the big picture influence us, we should be starting at home, ensuring that our family is raised in the LORD from day one. Beyond that, the troubles that we read about various denominations shouldn’t discourage us from taking the responsibility of guaranteeing that our own church remains true to God and the Gospel. No matter what happens outside these doors, WE will serve the LORD!

What I Learned from Running

There are always a few things that a married couple do not have in common. I've taken Nicole to the Opera, but I certainly don't share that interest. Nicole has taken me to sporting events (the Verlander no-hitter one Anniversary, and Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals {Go Wings!!} this year), but she really isn't interested in sports. Another passion of mine that doesn't make any sense to Nicole is running. Her theory is, if something isn't chasing me, why am I running?

I started running when I was in the 7th grade; I played football in 5th and 6th grade; but I was one of the shortest, and easily the skinniest kid in my grade; naturally, I turned to cross-country. I eventually came to love the idea of competing man vs. man in a test of endurance and will. I know I wasn't the fastest guy on the course, but I also knew that it was entirely up to me how hard I was willing to run, whether or not I was willing to outwork the guy running next to me. There's just something about the purity of that sort of competition that appeals to me.

So why do I run now? After running for Cornerstone University my knees were more or less shot and I've never been able to run enough to compete at a high level since. So why do I keep running? Even without the competition against someone else, there's still the self-discipline that comes from pushing yourself against whatever you can achieve, pushing up that next hill, finishing a run with a solid kick at the end.

I never run in town; lots of people do, but I don't. I run out in nature, on grass or dirt, among the trees; that's another thing that running does for me, let's me reconnect with the peace and quiet that our world lacks these days.

Anyone else see how this applies to my blog on my ministry? That same self-discipline that I need and draw upon when I run is so very necessary in both my private and public life. Marriage is a test of running the race (not sprinting, putting in the miles), it's too easy to take
the easy way out, but that's why we need to discipline ourselves.

Is it any wonder that when Paul was seeking to justify his ministry he said, "I have run the race"; it's time we as Christians started running the race like people who want to win it.

A Moment of Rest

These are pictures of the pond that Nicole and I dug in our front yard about six years ago. The project turned out to be a LOT more work than it seemed when Nicole came up with the idea (not to mention occurring during the hottest and most humid week of the year). I wasn't sure about the idea at first, but since it was put in I've discovered that I really enjoy having this little place of peace right outside my front door. I don't mind the bit of maintenance it takes, it's actually nice to keep something in a "natural state" in good working condition. The real benefit of this pond is the chance it gives both of us to take a few moments when we need them to go and sit by the pond and just listen to the water, watch the fish or the frogs, and let life's troubles and worries be for a while. Perhaps you don't have the chance to get a moment alone in nature, but don't underestimate the healing power of taking a few minutes to just sit and let life go for a while. When you think about it, how worried do those two frogs look anyway?

Those Who Don't Learn from History

The sad lesson of the book of Judges is repeated over and over, "the Israelites once again div evil in the eyes of the LORD." This phrase invariably follows after the death of the latest Judge who saves Israel from oppression and leads the people during the rest of his/her lifetime. When that judge dies, however, the people forget the lesson of being true to God and stray once again into rebellion and sin. Their sin leads to God allowing oppression (because they aren't keeping the Covenant), the people cry out to God in their misery, God raises up a judge to deliver them which he does, and the people have peace until that judge dies. The process repeats itself so many times in Judges that it the lesson we should be learning from this bit of history is inescapable. IF we do not learn from what God has done already, we will be doomed to make the same mistakes as those who came before us. Most of us are confident enough that we don't think that we'll make such mistakes, but we should ask ourselves, do we even KNOW what God has done in the lives of our family before we came along; what did our parents learn about God that we should know, what about our grandparents? What did my church learn in the past that I don't know about? Take the time to have those conversations with those who have LIVED through the ups and downs of life; whatever else, you won't be wasting your time.

Hear Us From Heaven

We sang the iworship song, "Hear Us From Heaven" in church this morning; as I was thinking about the song (and getting the a/v equipment ready to start it), I shared this thought with the congregation, "What do we want God to HEAR from us? What is it that we really want God to know about?" It's the kind of thing that we don't stop to think about very often. Sure, we pray, we talk to God, but how often to we stop to examine what it is that we're saying to God, and what we hope to hear in return? The next time you pray, take a moment to consider what it is that you're hoping God will hear from you (obviously, I know that God knows and hears everything; but the point of praying is for us to speak to God {ultimately, for our benefit, to learn obedience and trust, and also because we're in a relationship with God (as opposed to a cosmic ATM, God is a PERSON)}...If God is going to Hear Us From Heaven (and he will), what are we saying??

Psalm 23, "The LORD is my shepherd"

"The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want." That pretty much says it all doesn't it?

Back up and running

After two and a half days, and countless hours of fussing, my computer is back up and running. I ended up having to reinstall Windows (wiping the hardrive, which I had back-up of course). If only it were that "easy" to wipe clean the mistakes that we've made, that easy to undue the wrongs that we've done. It took Christ on the cross to erase those sins, and even though I'll have to keep working to prevent further computer malfunctions, and eventually have to replace this machine; our savior died once for all, the ultimate clean slate.

Joshua 21:45 "Not one of all the LORD's good promises..."

This verse struck me the other day as I read it; "Not one of all the LORD's good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled." If only you or I could say that about anyone or anything else. Even when we fully intend to keep our promises, to fulfill our obligations, we don't always have the ability to do it. When I think over the past eight years of my marriage to Nicole, the times that I wasn't able to do what she needed (even though I wanted to), have been the things that have caused me the most grief. If only I could do everything that I need to do. Thanks be to God that we worship a God who does keep his promises. And not just typical promises, but "good promises"; promises to be our Protector, Comforter, Guide. When God promises to do something, we don't have to worry about whether or not he can, and because he is God, we don't have to worry about whether or not he will. The next time somebody or something in your life lets you down, take a moment to consider that God has never broken a promise to you.

Our God is a Creator, so are we

Which is the greater wonder, the majestic mountain or the towering skyscraper? The crystal clear lake or the painting on the ceiling? We strive to make things that are beautiful because we're created in the image of our Father. God created the entire universe (not just Earth) because it was his creative pleasure to do it. Why would someone paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (read Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling, it's a good book on that effort)? Why, because it's beautiful. This is our stained glass window, it looks out to the east and catches a lot of sunlight in the early hours. Why include such things in a church? Didn't you ever try to build something while your dad was working on a project, or "cook" something while your mother was making lunch? We create to honor our Creator.

Who else is coming?

Nicole took this picture before church started last week. I always seem to walk down to the front door at least once to see if someone else is coming. Not sure why, but I do. It's weird how you feel 15 minutes before church starts; almost like the host of a party who knows that people have sent an RSVP, but still wonders if they're going to show up. It doesn't really matter how many people are already at church, I'm always wondering about the few that aren't there (on vacation, sick, working, etc.); I'm also always hoping for a fresh face, for an uninvited visitor to pop in (we invite people of course, just always hope for one of those people who just feel the need to stop by).

On the way out...

I always make sure that I get to the back of the church before anyone else. I can't remember which pastor told me this, but he said that nothing that the pastor is doing the few minutes before or after the church is as important as greeting people; shaking their hands, letting them know you are glad they're there, finding out what they need prayer for, etc. I know that some churches use time before the service for a quick prayer gathering with the pastor (not being critical of them, I just see it differently), but I always intend to be there at the entrance, both before and after; just trying to be the friendly face of this ministry.

Let the Sun shine in

Most weeks at Palo we have the pleasure of having sunlight coming through our stained glass windows during the service (this being Michigan, we have weeks when 11 AM looks like twilight too). It makes seeing the PowerPoint a little more difficult at times, but I wouldn't trade it for anything less. By the way, those decorations in between the windows were made by Nicole, she also has a fall set, plus a ton of stuff she made for Christmas and Easter.

The name on the sign out front

When I was growing up I struggled quit a bit with pride. School was very easy for me, I always got A's, and being one of the smallest kids in my grade led to a lot of teasing. My defense mechanism was to comfort myself with my intellectual superiority to the guys who were picking on me. It took me a while to overcome that early influence; God made sure that life humbled me sufficiently (by waiting a long, long, time before I met my future wife, and having some setbacks before I met Nicole). I also had to wait years to have a church ministry of my own (spent a few years as a youth pastor, then a long wait...); by the time that Palo offered me this position, I was just happy to finally have the chance to use what I had learned in college, the chance to use what God has given me (like the 2nd string quarterback just itching to get in the game). It wasn't until later that the sign was repainted and the little piece hung beneath it with my name on it. It actually caught me by surprise the first time, but I can't help but feel a little bit of pride when I see that sign outside the church. Not pride in who I am, but pride in what God has been able to do because I was willing to try to be of use for the kingdom.

Do this in remembrance of Me

This is the altar at Palo that we use for our monthly communion. Of all the things that a pastor does, two stand out to me. The first is performing a wedding, it always feels special as I remember my own wedding and help two new people begin that journey. The second is communion. I remember the first time I led a communion service; I was filling in at Galilee years ago before I had my own church. The memorable thing about it was that I got the chance to hand the bread and the "wine" to my own dad (a deacon at Galilee); that was a moment that stuck with me, we all want to make our parents proud of us, and I really felt like I was taking a step in the right direction in that department. My wife partakes of communion every week (at the Cathedral of St. Andrew), but most of us Baptists only have the service one a month; either way, it'll always be significant to me.

Amazing what a few farmers can build isn't it?

This is the exterior of First Baptist Church of Palo, it was built in 1927. We don't build them like this anymore, and that's a shame. The stone looks beautiful and the stain glass is truly amazing. We recently had the glass removed and remounted (and cleaned, revealing the original colors behind 80 years of dirt). As you can see, we have the American flag proudly displayed out front, across the street is the cemetery where Nicole and I were able to lead the Memorial Day service this year.

Where we came from...

This is the plaque inside my church at Palo. The church has been ministering in Palo since 1846 (that's pretty early for rural Michigan). Our current stone building replaced the original wooden one in 1927. You never really know who you are until you know where you've been. In the case of First Baptist of Palo, the church has come full-circle somewhat. I didn't know this when I first visited the church as a guest preacher, but Rev. J VanVleck is a distant relative of mine; his great-great-great (or something like that) niece is a 4th or 5th cousin of mine; we were friends throughout school. (her dad's photography studio took the pictures at our wedding) I'm proud to carry on the work that was started by J. VanVleck. I guess it is a small world after all.

With Days like these...

Well, I've spent most of the last week working on getting my computer working properly again. Unfortunately, I can't say that I've been entirely successful. I suppose that I should remember my favorite verse, Isaiah 40:31 "they that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength.." I could use a little renewed strength right now. Perspective also helps at times like this; nothing that I'm doing on this machine will echo in eternity; my computer is just a tool, much like my car (don't get me started on car repair stories), I can use it for God's glory, I can ensure that I use what God has given me, that I own them and that they don't own me.

My Former Home, Galilee Baptist Church of Saranac

This is Pastor Andy Mooren of Galilee Baptist Church in Saranac (my hometown, and where Nicole and I live). I grew up in this church, under the leadership of Pastor James Frank (at Galilee for 40 years!!). I owe much of my ability in the ministry to what I learned at Galilee in Sunday School, Awana, and our youth group. If you're in the Saranac area, make sure you drop by for a visit on Sunday morning. {This is also the church of my parents, my brother and sister-in-law, my sister and brother-in-law, and my three nephews and my niece.}

http://galileesaranac.com/index.htm

Jon and Elise Chadwick, Missionaries to Peru

Jon and Elise Chadwick are missionaries with Kids Alive! in Lima Peru where they work with short-term missions trip teams to show the love of Christ to the impoverished families of Lima. I've known Jon since the days when he was the kid brother of two of my best friends. Now he's all grown up and married (with young Lilia just added to the family) to Elise. The two of them are doing good work in Lima with Kids Alive! At First Baptist Church of Palo we financially support their ministry and have them in our prayers regularly. Check our their blog to find out what they've been up to lately.. http://thechadwickchronicles.com

An Analysis of Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown"

Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of America's great writers. His short story, "Young Goodman Brown" is a powerful analogy about the dangers of leaving our faith behind to dabble in sin. It also speaks to the need to refrain from placing our faith in our fellow Christians rather than in God. This paper is my analysis of how faith is portrayed by Hawthorne in the story.

Young Goodman Brown essay

The Dissenting Opinions in the Roe vs. Wade case

There are few decisions which have shaped America as profoundly for good or evil as the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision. The aftermath of that decision is still causing death and turmoil in our nation and has certainly damaged the Church in America (to the extent that we have become culpable in using abortion to solve our own sexual sins). Because this issue is so important, people should educate themselves so that they understand where we as a nation came from. In that light, the following links are the dissents of justices Rhenquist and White in the Roe case.

 Rhenquist's dissent

 White's dissent

How Creation, the Fall, and Redemption affect human relational intimacy

The Christian Worldview has a lot to say about the world we live in including an explanation of why our relationships are so strained, and what those relationships would have looked like before the Fall, and will look like after the Redemption that God has begun through Christ finds its fulfillment. This paper is a small attempt to discuss those issues in regards to human relationships.

Relational intimacy paper

The Play that Brought us Together

The writing of this play holds a special place in the memory of both Nicole and I. We began writing this play as friends, by the time we finished the play we were in love. The play has been performed at Saranac High School (the first production, with Nicole as Electra, myself as Rock) and also at Pewamo-Westphalia High School (thankfully, we didn't act in this one). It's a story about love forgotten that gets a second chance, and love delayed that finally takes the risk of coming to fruition.

The U.S.S. Platonic script

A Christian Worldview applied to Isaac Asimov's Foundation Series

The Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov is an amazing series of books that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys a good story. With Asimov, it's always more than a good story, Asimov's view of humanity and human history is clear throughout his writing. I wrote this paper as an analysis of Asimov's view of history within the Foundation Series. If you're a fan of Asimov, give it a read, if you're not a fan, get one of his books.

Asimov's Foundation Series analysis by a Christian Worldview paper

A Brief Theology Derived from the Nicene Creed

I put this document together in order to have a brief overview of Christian theology set within the framework of the Nicene Creed. The Nicene Creed was adopted in 381 A.D. and was accepted by virtually all of Christendom. We as a Church have splintered badly in the last 1700 years, but it is important to realize that the Church was able to overcome its differences and unite behind this powerful statement.

Read and enjoy,

An overview of theology derived from the Nicene Creed

II Corinthians 1:4 "so that we can comfort"

Why do we endure troubles and trials? No simple answer will satisfy the question that has echoed since the days of Job (beware of those peddling simple answers), but in II Corinthians 1:3-7 Paul offers us one reason why we may endure such difficulties. The answer is that we learn to comfort others when we ourselves receive comfort from God. Because God is merciful, we can learn to show mercy, because God is forgiving, we can learn to forgive, and because God comforts those in need, we too can learn to be comforters in the imitation of our Father. It's not a complete answer, it isn't supposed to be, but perhaps the next time you stare into the heavens and ask, "Why me Lord?", it'll be a bit of comfort for you to know that you may be learning to be a more useful child of God.

Greed and the Death of our neighbor the "Bicycle Man"

Today in Federal Court two men were charged with the kidnapping and murder of our neighbor Donald Dietz, the "bicycle man", on Sep. 11, 2007. Donald was a very private man who lived at the end of a dirt road across from the state park (about a mile from my house, a couple hundred yards from my parents' house). I used to park across from his trailer (set a hundred yards back from the road) and go run on the park's trails. Donald road his bicylce to Ionia weekly, six miles on a busy narrow road; I always thought he'd get killed by a driver who didn't see him. The darkness of mens' hearts had other plans though. These two men tried to steal $450,000 from Donald and transfer it out of the country (the bank stopped the transfer, it looked suspicious). In the process, they evidently tasered this quiet older man, and at some point killed him. My father used to help Donald from time to time with things like paperwork, they both worked at Amway, and nobody would have known that this unassuming man had half a million dollars. The money had no hold at all on Donald, he just kept on saving it, but to these two men (whom I will not dignify by using their names) had enough Greed in their hearts to contemplate theft, to plan it, to contemplate and carry out kidnapping, and to let it lead to murder. Sin is like that, it blackens our hearts and destroys the humanity that we all have as Children of God. Donald certainly would not have appreciated being front page news in the Grand Rapids Press again and again, and he obviously didn't deserve to die, but in a world crying out for redemption by God this is what happens. My neighbor, a quiet man, was murdered by greed, our world is like that.

I Corinthians 15:14, "If Christ has not been raised.."

It's popular in some circles to say that it doesn't really matter if the Bible is true or not; what's important is the teachings of Jesus ("do unto others", "love your neighbor"). It may be popular, but it couldn't be more wrong. If Jesus Christ wasn't really the Son of God, didn't really die for our sins, or didn't really rise from the grave, everything we're doing in the church is a waste of time. Paul says in I Corinthians 15:14, "if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith." I couldn't agree more. Christianity is not just a social club, we belong to Christ because we BELIEVE that the Truth about Christ is so amazing that we're willing to stake our lives on it. It really does matter, the empty tomb on Easter morning makes all the difference in the world.

A Brief Summary of My Life Thus Far

I was raised in a Christian home where my parents were always active in our church, Galilee Baptist Church (Saranac, MI). When my grandmother asked (via tape from Alaska) if I had been “saved” yet, I asked my parents what that meant. At the age of six I committed myself to the Lord and have continued in that commitment throughout my life. I continued to grow and learn at Galilee where I was involved in Awana and the youth group. I was baptized as a young teens at Galilee using the total immersion that most Baptists are known for. I eventually became involved in a H.S. Bible study at a teacher’s home where I eventually became a leader of the group. Following H.S. I knew that I should be doing something related to the ministry and began my studies at Cornerstone to pursue that calling. After graduation, I worked as a youth pastor for the Caledonia United Methodist Church and the Oakview Reformed Church. I am currently the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Palo. Throughout my life I have continued to pursue my Christian walk through good times and bad, always knowing that the truth that I learned in my earliest years was the rock upon which I could stand.
* additional info: My father, Walt, has worked as a supervisor with Amway for over 40 years and is currently also the head of the Ionia Chapter of The Gideons International. My mother, Kathy, has worked as a daycare provider for much of my life. My older brother, Brian, is a sixth grade teacher at Ionia Middle School where his wife, Nicki, is a speech therapist. My younger sister, Tara, is an elementary teacher at Saranac, and her husband, Joe, teaches at Williamston. My wife, Nicole, taught English (and Drama and German) at Saranac and Pewamo-Westphalia before deciding to try a new path. She is now currently working as a kennel attendant for McKenzie’s Animal Sanctuary (Clarksville), but just interviewed for an adjunct professor position with Grand Rapids Community College. At this time we do not have any children (in large part because our insurance has always been through my wife while I was working multiple part-time jobs), but I am of course hoping to be able to be our primary wage earner and allow my wife to work part-time.
The following is from the introduction to my book…
I grew up a devout Baptist in a Midwestern small town church. I anticipated marrying a good Baptist girl, or maybe a girl from one of the many non-denominational churches in West Michigan. I dated one of these girls in high school, I dated another in college, and then I did something unexpected; I married a devout Catholic girl. She didn’t become a Baptist, I didn’t become a Catholic. My marriage has become a microcosm of the modern Ecumenical movement. The Christian church today has some notion that it needs to work together, that the animosity, hostility, and even warfare of the past can no longer be, but working out the details of just what that means continues to perplex us. Fortunately for my wife Nicole and me, we’ve managed to work these issues out as they apply to our marriage. It is my hope that this study of I John will in some small way help the church find its way through these issues and back toward the unity of Spirit that the body of Christ deserves.
My early experiences with Catholicism were largely negative. The small town of Saranac, Michigan that I grew up in has only one Catholic Church. There are a half dozen Protestant churches and most of the people I knew went to one of them. There was a Catholic girl that I had a crush on in middle school, but she wasn’t interested (I was skinny, short, and a bit geeky at the time) so I didn’t have to wrestle with the theological implications that I was only dimly aware of at the time. Most of what I heard about the Catholic Church came from several members of my Baptist church, Galilee Baptist, who had previously had bad experiences growing up in the Catholic Church and whose testimony confirmed the latent suspicion that most Protestants have of the Church of Rome. There were also reports from missionaries who had serious difficulties in Europe and Latin America in their dealings with the Catholic Church. There were intra-Protestant services (mainly tent meetings) and organizations (like a softball league) that Galilee belonged too, and good fellowship amongst Protestants, but no connection at any level with the Catholic Church. That was my early experience with Catholicism in a nutshell.
My own intellectual and spiritual maturity gained much momentum from a student Bible study that began at my high school English teacher’s home following some discussions in class regarding religious matters. She invited us to her house for a Bible study; I was one of the two who came that first week. During the remainder of my time in high school we met weekly to systematically read and study Scripture. The group grew to average almost twenty people. No one person led the group, I was one of a handful of church kids who made comments and helped answer questions. This process of working our way through Scripture, having to figure out what each chapter and verse meant, was invaluable to me. I had had very good Sunday school teachers, had attended AWANA (a youth Bible program) weekly since kindergarten, and had learned much from the expositional sermons of Galilee’s pastor, James Frank. These were all important foundational experiences, but we had to sink or swim at Bible study, so swim we did.
When I graduated from high school I was unsure of what I wanted to study in college so I spent a year at Grand Rapids Community College while I figured it out. During that time I continued with the Bible study, most of my fellow “leaders” had graduated and moved away, so I ended up leading the group by default. We continued with our studies, wading through Revelation, and dealing with a wide variety of issues. The issue of who is really a Christian came up from time to time. At this point in my life I knew a lot less than I do now, but I was certain of a good deal more. The young are usually this way, experience hasn’t taught them otherwise, but Socrates was right when he said he was wise because he knew how much he didn’t know. One of the things that I was certain of was what I thought of the Catholic Church. I knew that some Catholics were Christians, but I was sure that most were not; I said as much in our Bible study group. At the time my former English teacher, Mrs. Sanford, had spoken to me privately and asked if I wanted to tone down my comments about the Catholic Church because a couple of those attending the group were Catholics. I hadn’t been aware of that, but at the time I was too convinced of what I knew to be true to be willing to change.
I arrived at a decision that year, in Baptist circles we call it a “calling”, that God wanted me for the ministry. After all, that was what I was best at, and I was certainly interested in it. After prayer with Pastor Frank I enrolled at Cornerstone University and began to study religion, philosophy, and Greek. Almost all of the professors at Cornerstone are Baptists; the remainder having all signed a Baptist confession (stating they agree with Baptist teachings). A majority of the students were Baptists too, the rest a smattering of various Protestant denominations. I learned a great many things from my professors, and in Socratic fashion , the absolutism of my youth was one of the casualties. Now before I go any further, let me assure you that we weren’t debating that salvation is found in Christ alone. Cornerstone has always been very clear on that, and I couldn’t agree more. The debate that was moving the university, and me along with it, focused on the very narrow view of the Christian Church that the Baptist movement has been famous for. Cornerstone University was beginning to open itself up to a larger portion of the Church, and so was I.
Christians often say, “God works in mysterious ways” when they really mean “I have no idea what’s going on here”, or “I don’t know why this is happening to me.” It’s a statement that has held true for me. God certainly has worked in mysterious ways in my life, on two occasions using women whom I fell in love with. You already know that my wife is Catholic; that certainly qualifies as “working in a mysterious way”, but long before I met my future wife I dated a good Baptist girl in college. We started out as friends, working together as camp counselors at Lincoln Lake Baptist Youth Camp. Then we “bumped” into each other at the NCCAA cross-country nationals at Cedarville College (in Ohio) where I was running for Cornerstone, and eventually a relationship developed. The mysterious part of this relationship for me was how it impacted the direction my life was heading. The girl in question had been committed to becoming an overseas missionary since she was a child. I was studying for the ministry, so this wasn’t a problem, but I had always felt a deep need to help the church in America. The issue simmered between us and finally came to a boil during a mission trip we took to Guatemala before our senior year. The trip was partly to help me decide if foreign missions were for me, and I had an amazing time on the trip (even preaching in the two Protestant churches in Chichicastenango where we stayed), but a tear filled conversation between us confirmed that we were heading in different directions. We broke up a couple months later, ok, she broke up with me, but that conversation ensured it would happen.
I spent my senior year in college wondering what it was that God wanted me to do. In the end, I started looking for work as a youth pastor here in West Michigan. Eventually I was given my first job as a youth pastor by Caledonia United Methodist Church. I had never been to a Methodist church, and now God was taking me one more step out of my comfort zone and letting me see more clearly who the Church really is. Methodists have different styles of worship than Baptists; they take communion differently, and have a different church leadership structure. But the year and a half that I spent working with the youth of Caledonia United Methodist convinced me that the Church does indeed extend to those who have a different style than the one I grew up with. I also worked part-time with the teens of Oakview Reformed Church in Grand Rapids while I was working at Caledonia UMC, but Baptists have a lot in common with the Reformed tradition, so I didn’t have to stretch too much to fit in there.
My definition of who is a Christian had been stretched, pulled a bit here and there, but I still had the doubts that I had grown up with about the Catholic Church (and frankly hadn’t given much thought at all to Orthodox Christians). That was all about to be thrown out the window because God, who does indeed have a sense of humor, had decided to bring a new girl into my life, Nicole Brzezinski. I met Nicole while working as a substitute teacher at my old high school in Saranac where she was fighting through her first year as an English teacher. We became friends and began to spend time together, and she eventually convinced me that I should help her write the spring play. By the time the play was written (ironically, a romantic comedy about two friends who finally get past their hang-ups and get together), life had begun to imitate art; we were in love.
I had never dated a Catholic before, hadn’t really needed to sort out the implications of falling in love with one, and here I was dating a devout Catholic and the “m” word was in the air. Could we get married? How would we work it out? What about our families? Needless to say, these topics were covered at length by Nicole and I as we tried to figure out for our own lives the same issues of Christian brotherhood that have become the modern Ecumenical movement. During the summer of that year, while Nicole and I were dating and considering marriage, I took a New Testament theology class at Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary. The issue of who is and who is not a Christian was weighing heavily on my mind so I decided to use the opportunity to write a paper that would help to satisfy my personal questions as well. I chose the letter of I John for my study because my pastor (Pastor Frank) had preached through it recently and I knew it contained much that would bear on this topic.
The study of I John helped to solidify several ideas that had been floating around in my mind during my years of “stretching” at Caledonia UMC and now dating Nicole, and helped me to realize that much of the debate regarding Christian fellowship that the various Christian denominations had been having was often based upon criteria and standards that lacked Biblical support. The question of who makes up the body of Christ is addressed by the Gospels, the letters of Paul, and those of John as well. It’s more than a little unfortunate then, that there are those who would define Christianity by rules that bear little resemblance to what the Bible says. There are some whose definitions are far too narrow, others who are far too broad. We as Christians need to make sure that our definition conforms to Scripture.
For the record, Nicole and I were married on June 30th, 2001 at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church. Our marriage shows signs that this endeavor is not without hope. We may not always understand each other, but we have indeed become one in Spirit. My hope is that the myriad parts of the Church today can also work toward being one in Spirit.

The People of First Baptist Church of Palo, Sammy

This is my little buddy Sammy, he's full of energy and enthusiasm, reminds me a little of another youngerster that used to be full of it (no stories needed ma). Sammy used to be a bit shy, but told his mom that I was his "favorite person"; warms the heart.

Memorial Day service

This past memorial day I had the privelage and honor of leading the memorial day service at the cemetary in Palo. Palo is a very small town, but the cemetary has well over one hundred veterans buried in it. The whole town (plus a lot of the surrounding countryside) was there to honor America's past heroes and pray for our current ones. I read two selections from Robert Barr Smith's amazing book "To the Last Cartridge" and spoke about uncommon valor being found in common Americans. I've always been facinated with the military and military history (probably the topic I read most about after religion), my dad was in the Air Force and one of my best friends is an army doctor (Zach), so I was very moved by the opportunity to give my own bit of homage to those who ensure that freedom still shines in America. Nicole joined in and sang a lovely rendition of The Battle Hymn of the Republic.

Mission Trip to Guatemala

I would encourage anyone who has an opportunity to go on a short-term missions trip (especially to a third world country) to do it. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the month we had in the mountains of Guatemala was a life changing experience. I ran along mountain dirt paths, swam in a natural pool of an abandoned villa, hitched a ride in the back of a pick-up, held tiny orphans, preached in English with a translator, and preached in my mangled Spanish (to plenty of laughter no doubt). You'll never appreciate being an American more than when you've seen face to face why so many of the world's people want to come here.

Why I Know my Wife Understands Me

For our eight anniversary my wife Nicole surprised me with two tickets to Game 2 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals. I'm a HUGE Wings fan so I was floored by seeing a game in person as important as the Finals. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity that we both loved. The Wings won 3-1, the crowd was deafening, it was great. I know my wife understands me because she saw an opportunity to give me a present that I would never forget and knew that making it a surprise would be even better. Thanks babe.

The People of First Baptist Church of Palo, Tony

Tony is another board member whose fishing tales are pretty close to being "false witness".

The People of First Baptist Church of Palo, Joy

That's Joy in here customary place for Sunday School; she's always there to enliven my comments on the text with life lessons she's learned.

The People of First Baptist Church of Palo, Wilma

Wilma plays the piano and organ for us, altough I can't guarantee she won't stop to tell a story from time to time. After I began working at Palo, I added iworship songs to our service (using a data projetor); we now do 50/50 with hymns and worship songs.

The People of First Baptist Church of Palo, Bruce

I have the privelage of working with a easy to get along with Chairman at Palo. Bruce is a retired teacher who lets me try my ideas out.

Orphans in Guatemala

In Guatemala we visited an orphanage where children born with birth defects are given up by their parents who don't have anywhere near the resources to care for them. This little girl had a cleft palate and weighed only about six ounces even though she was several months old. The doctors had to wait until she weighed more than a pound before they could operate.

Working with the kids in Guatemala

In 1997 I spent a month in Guatemala working with kids in the town of Chichicastenango. It was an amazing and eye opening experience to see so many kids excited by the tall white guy who like to rough house with them in a way that their own reserved father's wouldn't (a cultural thing, the men are very reserved). These kids were amazing.

The Day I Married my Friend

On June 30th of 2001 I saw a sight that my eyes were not prepared for. My beautiful bride to be was walking down the aisle toward me on the arm of her father. Wow, she looked amazing, and I'm not ashamed to say that I had tears in my eyes. Nicole and I have always been big believers in marriage, and this day we were able to join our two lives into one (the "M" word was brought up after a month of dating, we were engaged within 6 months). I'll never forget that hot and muggy June day as I sat outside the church waiting as Nicole had pictures taken with my groomsmen and I sat there waiting to see my Pearl of Great Price. Love you girl.

Christianity's Big Tent: The Ecumenism of I John

I wrote this 150 page "book" to settle the questions in my mind about Ecumenism that falling in love with Nicole raised. I decided to use the framework of the letter of I John because the Apostle spends a lot of time answering the question, "Who is a Christian, and who isn't?" I had some hopes of finding a publisher, but I really just want it to help anyone who wants to read it. The book also touches on the topics of what is important to the core of Christianity, and answers questions about groups like Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses. The book is in two parts, the book itself is one, the works cited pages is the other, please download them and enjoy. Any feedback would be much appreciated.

** Note, this book was revised and updated in 2006 and 2014.  Eventually, a revised introduction to include the portion of my life here in Franklin, PA will be written and an overall revision will take place as well.  Thank you. 4/4/14 **

Christianity's Big Tent 

 Christianity's Big Tent: Works Cited

Ordination Picture with my parents

These are my parents, Walt and Kathy Powell. My dad has been with Amway for over forty years and taught me to love sports and persevere. My mom runs a day care out of her house (for her grandkids in particular), and taught me to wear my heart on my sleave. Love you both.

Ordination day picture with In-laws

These are my in-laws; Robert and Danora Brzezinski (yes I know, my wife's name is easier to spell now). Nicole's mom is the religious education director for the entire diocese of Gaylord and her dad is a Pharmacist who loves to tell you about the latest gadget he's purchased. They've both been very helpful to Nicole and I and supportive of our marriage from day one.

My Ordination as a Baptist Pastor

This is one of those moments in my life that I will never forget. There's just something about having the whole church leadership visibly entrust the church to my care. The man in the suit is my mentor, Pastor James Frank, a man who stayed with the same church (Galilee Baptist of Saranac) for forty years! Thanks to everyone who participated and to my wife for your continued support.

When Nobody is Looking

In Matthew Chapter twenty-six the chief priests and elders of the people conspired together to find a way to arrest and kill Jesus. Oddly enough, they were afraid to do it publicly, and wanting to avoid the crows of Passover, they concluded that it should be “not during the Feast, or there may be a riot among the people.” (Matt 26:5) Here we have a group of conspirators scheming to put to death a traveling healer/teacher because they feel threatened by him, a bold and vicious move to be sure, but they don’t want anyone to take notice of their move. Do we act the same way? Are we willing to commit sins that we certainly know are wrong as long as nobody in particular is looking our way? It’s certainly a temptation, the notion that when we don’t get “caught” that we’ve actually gotten away with something. Of course God knows all that we do, but we somehow manage to convince ourselves that we’ve managed to keep things quiet. We’d all be better of if we remembered that our behavior in private and our behavior in public should always be Christ-like, even when nobody is looking.

Ecumenical Service is a Big Success

On June 28th we celebrated our 2nd Annual Ecumenical Worship Service along with our brothers and sisters from the Palo United Methodist Church and the King Bee Nines choir from the Cathedral of St. Andrew (Grand Rapids). I’m very glad to report that the service was a success on both a musical and a fellowship front. I was once again proud of how warm the welcome our congregation extended to our guest and would like to pass onto you the positive remarks that Nicole and I have received from members of the St. Andrew’s choir.
The text that I preached on, “being one in spirit and purpose” (Philippians 2:1-2), urges us to set aside the differences that hinder us and unite behind the paramount need to spread the Gospel message to those who don’t know what Christ has done for them. In order to fulfill that Great Commission, we as Christians need to demonstrate our own willingness to love our brothers and sisters in Christ. If those who have never been to a church see us squabbling and fighting, what message does that send? How can we preach the grace and peace of God when our own community is fraught with divisiveness? The step forward that we took this past Sunday is but a beginning, but it was indeed a step in the right direction. All of you who have supported our work in Ecumenism have the heartfelt thanks of both Nicole and I. God bless our many churches as we share in the mission of the Gospel.

When You're Not Having a Good Day

How do you know when you’re not going to have a good day? I had a not so subtle moment that let me know that my day was going to have some rain in the forecast. On my way to work this week, I accelerated my beloved Taurus onto M-66, only to have the engine rev, but the speed decline. I thought to myself, that’s odd, can’t be good. Sure enough, that was the end of the transmission, and the end of the Taurus. Now what? Needless to say, this isn’t what Nicole and I were hoping for this week. But when is it ever our hope to be tested, to have life give you lemons?
The life of Jesus, as always, offers us counsel when things aren’t going our way. As you know, Jesus had to endure difficulties and sorrows far beyond having a car break down on you. What was his response? Hebrews 5:7 tells us, “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.” The author of Hebrews goes on to explain that Jesus learned obedience through suffering, not exactly the lesson we’re eager to ask for, but a crucial one nonetheless. Is every misfortune in life a lesson sent by God to teach us something? No, but that doesn’t mean we should pass up the opportunity to learn from it. A last thought, Jesus was HEARD by God when he prayed for deliverance from the cross, but the answer was no. Are you in trouble? In need? Offer up a prayer with loud cries and tears; God WILL hear you, regardless of the answer you receive.

2nd Annual Ecumenical Worship Service

On June 28th we will be celebrating our 2nd Annual Ecumenical Worship Service. The King Bee Nines choir from the Cathedral of St. Andrew will be blessing us with their singing, and I will be preaching a message of Christian brotherhood. Which Scriptural passage will I utilize? I haven’t decided yet, but the N.T. is full of passages that emphasize the desire that Christ had that his church would be one in Spirit. It’s been a thousand years since the Church has been anywhere near being one in fact (and five hundred since the Protestant Reformation), but we’re closer now to being one in Spirit than we have been since the invention of the printing press. The massive momentum of mistrust and past sinful hatred has dissipated in much of the world, and small seeds of cooperation have been planted. Why should we care what happens in other denominations? (some might ask) One of the biggest reasons, beyond the fact that the Bible tells us to, is that the loss of a moral compass in the Western world (and with it belief in Truth) threatens us all. Empty churches in Europe, and sparsely filled churches in much of the U.S. are a danger to us all. In order to counter this rising tide of moral relativism (and agnosticism) we need to focus on what unites us rather than what divides us. If Truth is to be defended, we need all the help we can get. The unsaved world around us doesn’t care about the issues that split the Church apart, they only see the in-fighting as evidence that what we have isn’t worth all that much. Why then should we seek brotherhood with Catholics, Orthodox, and the thousands of Protestant groups? The simple truth is that the message of the Gospel finds more fertile soil when we do.

Acts 4:19 "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God."

“Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.” (Acts 4:19) Those were the words that Peter used to justify his defiance of the Sanhedrin. The Jewish religious leaders had ordered Peter and the apostles to stop preaching about Jesus the Christ, the apostles declined to obey them. As Christians, we have an obligation to obey the laws of the land that we live in, EXCEPT when those laws are clearly in defiance of the clear will of God. Preaching the Gospel in defiance of the law? Not only the right choice, the only choice. Not paying taxes because we don’t like the way the government spends our money? Sorry, can’t go with you on that one, the whole “give unto Caesar” thing. Here in America we don’t have to make hard choices between our conscience and the law very often, but it wasn’t always the case. Example: the Jim Crowe laws in the South. Christians had the right to disobey them, and certainly should never have supported them. The Civil Rights Movement’s use of non-violent protest was both effective and Christ-like.
In other parts of the world the choices faced by believers are much more difficult than in America. Throughout the Islamic world Christians face death if they try to spread the Gospel, they know that their governments support radicalism and even terrorism, and many have no voice in their government. Compared to them, we have easy choices to make. As Americans we can work through the political process, we can protest, we have freedom of speech and the press. With all that freedom the primary danger is complacency, because we live in a “Christian” country it can be easy to go with the flow, to assume that we don’t need to face the tough choices that the Apostles faced when the Church was young. Well, the Church may be middle-aged now, but that doesn’t mean we don’t need to seek what is right in God’s sight.

A Parent's Dilemma

“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. But the more I called Israel, the further they went from me.”
Many of you will recognize this verse from Hosea because of its use by Matthew in his Gospel (2:15) to refer to the return of Jesus with Mary and Joseph from exile in Egypt. When verse 1 is read in combination with verse 2 the message of God’s love for his prodigal people comes to the forefront. In these verses God is lamenting the ironic reaction to his love that many parents also struggle with. When God tried to show his love to Israel, to call out to them, they only went further away from him. Likewise, many parents whose children are struggling try to reach out to them only to have that child draw further away in response. A similar problem can occur between husbands and wives when one is having trouble and the other attempts to draw them close to help, only to see the distance widen between them. How do we explain this phenomenon and what can we do about it?
The cause of this “flee from love” response will vary with each case, but in the example of Israel it was caused by the willful disobedience of the people. They did not want to come close to God because they were enjoying their sinful behavior (at least for now). What was God’s response? He continued to love them. He brought necessary chastisement against them, but he continued to love them.
What can parents and spouses learn from God’s experience with Israel? First, just loving more may not be sufficient, we cannot make people love us more by pursuing them harder. Second, don’t give up; God didn’t walk away from Israel despite the trouble they caused him, he remained steadfast in his love. Even when that child yells, “I hate you!” don’t give up. Israel eventually came back to God, steadfast love does produce results. Likewise, in America today people give up on their marriage far too easily, be resilient, imitate God’s patience and mercy toward you when you love your spouse, and know that no matter how hard it may be today, God has been there before, he’ll continue to be with you.

Contemplating Christ's Passion

As we once again enter into the Easter season our minds recall the Sunday school lessons of our youth, the Bible readings out of the Gospels, or some bit of a sermon we once heard. Of all of those acts that resonate two thousand years later, acts of greed, of hope, of cruelty, and of mercy; those which speak the loudest to each of us will vary. To some of us, the weeping of Peter after his betrayal of Jesus touches our hearts deeply as we recall our own failures. To others, the mock trial of Jesus reminds us of the unfair twists and turns we’ve experienced. Some will be moved by the women standing by helplessly as Jesus is crucified, their own experience of watching a loved one slip away not forgotten. For me, the words of Jesus during his ordeal seem especially poignant. His answer to Pilate, “Yes, it is as you say”; simple, and honest. To his Father as they crucified him, “forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”, and to the criminal at his side, “today you will be with me in paradise.” Regardless of the moment of Christ’s passion which speaks to you this Easter, take a moment to stop and contemplate what God is saying to you through his Word. How does the agony and death of Christ speak to your heart, and more importantly, how does the resurrection of Christ uplift your soul this Easter?

Mark 16:15, Going into all the world from Palo

Mark 16:15 says, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” In our corner of the world we’ve been endeavoring to put that command into action by giving an informational pamphlet that introduces 1st Baptist Church of Palo to every home within five miles of the church. As it stands now, the southwest quadrant has been completed using 250 pamphlets. (who knew there were that many!!) The rest of the surrounding areas will be completed in the near future, but for now, I’m asking that you keep this effort in your prayers. Some of the people that I’ve met during this process have been receptive, saying “thank you”, when I hand them the pamphlet and invite them to join us at church anytime. Other people have been not so receptive; a few giving cold stares and shutting the door in my face. Clearly, they’ve had a bad experience with someone representing the church (any church) at some point. In connection with the outreach effort itself, we need to continue to ensure that the First Baptist Church of Palo is a hospitable church (which we’re have been doing a very good job of) and also that we’re an open church (by that I mean a place that appeals to people of various church affiliations, or those of no affiliation; again, we’re doing a good job so far). When I knock on somebody’s door, and hand them a pamphlet from 1st Baptist Church of Palo, it is critical that they don’t have a negative impression of us already. For those of you who have been a part of the church for years and years, I thank you that my job is definitely easier because of the church’s good reputation, keep up the good work.

Is God Directing My Path?

How do you know that the hand of God is directing the paths you choose in life? Some claim to “hear” what God is trying to tell them, others “feel” the Spirit moving them in one direction or another. But how can the validity of such claims ever be tested, by the person experiencing it, or by anyone else? The first step toward evaluating the source of a “gut feeling” is to check it against Scripture. You will never receive anything from God that tells you to violate his will as it is already expressed in the Bible. If you think that’s what God is trying to tell you, I’m sorry to say the source of such misguided advice must either be yourself, or something more sinister.
Does my desire/feeling square up with Scripture? If so, what do I do now? There are two other tests that you can evaluate a choice in life by; conscience and the wisdom of respected fellow Christians. If what you want to do (or in some cases don’t want to do but know you should) matches up with Scripture, your conscience, and the wisdom of experience Christians; it is most likely a good choice. On the other hand, if it violates all three, no matter how much you want it, you should run away.
I faced such a choice years ago; having met a young woman that I fancied and being unsure of how to proceed. The question was this; could a Baptist and a Catholic get married? The Scriptures tell us to seek Christian unity, my conscience was clear, and the advice I received was mostly in favor. What to choose? Well, it’s been seven years of marriage under God’s blessings, and I hope for many, many to come. May God bless you when life’s choices appear before you, may your choices bring a smile to God’s face.

I Don't Want to LEARN Patience

“Why is this happening to me? What am I supposed to learn, God; patience? More patience!! I don’t have any left, I’ve already used it all to hold on this long; what now?” Most of us have been here at some point, we’ve been at the end of our rope and unable to see how any of the current troubles we face can be part of God’s will, or how any of it can “work together for good” (Ro 8:28). We’ve prayed, we’ve studied the Word hoping for answers, we’ve spoken to those we trust, but we still don’t have any answers. Where is God when we really hurt?
We all know the story of Job, how he was sorely tested in life by horrendously tragic circumstances, by losses that few of us could bear and go on. Job’s “friends” insisted that Job was to blame, that his troubles were the fault of unknown sins against God. We know that God was a righteous man, his friends were mistaken. In the end, God himself replies to Job, but no in the way that Job was hoping. He doesn’t address the specifics of Job’s troubles, nor does he offer him any explanation. The Lord simply asks Job if he knows everything like God does, or if he understands the whole universe as God does. The variety of examples the Lord uses when speaking to Job helps to illustrate for us how vastly interconnected God’s creation is. The Lord sees our whole lives, from beginning to end, and sees them combined with the multitude of people we affect for good or ill in our lives. How can we possibly hope to understand God’s reasoning with a view that is so limited? We can’t.
This may not be the answer that you were hoping for, but it’s the one that Scripture offers us. When it comes down to it, we must trust in the goodness and mercy of God, trust in the love he demonstrated through his Son, and trust that he certainly does know what is good for us, all of us. It may not be the answer that we want, but it’s the one we need.

How I Pick a Sermon Text

The selection process for choosing a Sunday sermon is to me an interesting one. As an independent church, I have the luxury and responsibility of choosing the text each week and deciding which emphasis from the text to put the focus upon. In the Catholic Church this process is partly decided by the liturgical calendar in which three texts to be read are decided in advance (OT, NT, Gospel); the priests know which texts they will be working with and choose one of them (or parts of two or all three) to make the message from. After spending the last two years working out my technique, I’ve found it useful to have multiple simultaneous series to choose from. Right now we’re working through Ephesians (almost done), Luke, and the account of the life of David.
Having that framework allows me to have continuity in the themes we learn about and also keeps the messages from being too scattered. I know that many preachers choose to preach on a specific topic or themes in a series of sermons that draw upon a variety of scriptures for their basis, but that technique has never really appealed to me. If an occasion seems to warrant a message on a particular topic I would certainly find a text that works with that theme, but I prefer to let the text that we’ve come to tell me what to preach to the church rather than try to find a text that goes with what I already want to preach. From time to time I find myself looking at the choices in each book we’re working through and I don’t seem to see something that will speak to our hearts this week. In that case, I often leaf through the Psalms or Proverbs, or perhaps look for a O.T. story that has a message we can discover in one sermon (like the one on Ruth). In the end, I’m simply hoping to try to bring the text of our beloved Bible to life, to help explain what it meant both then and now and to help us find out what God’s Word has for our lives today.

Why I Like Performing Weddings

This past summer I have had the opportunity to perform two weddings. The first was for a family member, my sister-in-law, and the other was for a couple I met for the first time this spring. Being involved in my sister-in-law’s wedding was indeed special because of the family connection and the years I had known my wife’s little sister; but after having done the second wedding a couple of weeks ago I’ve come to realize that the act of performing a wedding is in itself a very gratifying emotional experience. Wedding may be a bit of a pain to organize and plan, and pre-marital counseling, while interesting, certainly isn’t “fun”, but standing in front of two people’s friends and families during one of the most important days of their lives is one of the real cool bonuses of being a pastor. Part of the reason why I enjoy wedding is because I’m such a believer in marriage. I know Paul cautioned us about the extra duty that a man of God would have if he was married, but I don’t know how any pastor can survive without having a wife there at his side. We men may be a pain, but our wives are indispensable. God knew what he was doing when he created Eve for Adam, a “suitable helper” indeed. If there is one thing the church in America today can do to reverse the negative course our culture has endured it is to shore up our support of marriage WITHIN the church. We need to support each and every marriage within our congregation, encourage young people to seek marriage (instead of the false and cruel hope of living together), care for widows and widowers, and in general do whatever we can to ensure that when people think of First Baptist Church of Palo, they think of happy marriages. Scripture commands us along this path, and the happy faces I witnessed exchanging vows confirms it.

Being a "good" Baptist

What does it mean to be a Baptist? That’s the name on the sign, but what does it really mean? The most obvious of the Baptist distinctives is that we believe in adult baptism for believers who have made a public profession of their faith. In the Lutheran, Methodist, Catholic, and Orthodox Churches (among others), baptism is performed for infants as a sign that the parents and the local church intend to raise the child in the faith. As Baptists, we don’t believe that this is the best practice according to our understanding of the Scriptures, but it is the practice just the same, for the majority of the world’s Christians. What is our response? In the relatively recent past, being a “good” Baptist also meant feeling the need to condemn those who don’t practice adult baptism and even to question the validity of the salvation of those who attend such churches. That was the old definition of being a good Baptist; evidently, the church isn’t what it used to be, and that’s a good thing. Go ahead and be proud of being a Baptist, but keep in mind that it’s no longer an us vs. them Church; we’re in this together because the word Church on the sign if far more important than the word Baptist which precedes it.

My Favorite Verse

Quick, what’s the first verse that comes to mind if I ask you to tell me your favorite verse? John 3:16? Ephesians 2:8-9? Romans 8:28? Or maybe you’re one of those quirky Christians who have a favorite verse in Zephaniah or II Chronicles. Whatever your answer, the verse you chose probably has a special meaning for you. The verse may be well known, or obscure, but to you, it’s special. Maybe it was the favorite verse of one of your parents, or maybe you were able to get through a tough time in you life because you relied upon the comfort of one particular portion of Scripture. Whatever your answer is, and for many people it changes from time to time, I think it’s a good thing to have a favorite verse, passage, or book of the Bible. We all have favorite movies, songs, and (hopefully) books; why not favorite Scripture too?
You might be wondering, what’s your favorite verse? Well, my answer may have changed over the years, but it always seems to return to Isaiah 40:31, “but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” That is of course the favorite verse of most distance runners; we know what it is like to grow weary on the long miles. I certainly don’t run as much as I used to, my creaky knees see to that, but I hope I never stop thinking of myself as a runner, and I hope I never forget to put my hope in the LORD.

The Simple Things in Life

The simple things in life, do we really appreciate them? I know that a hike in the woods isn’t everyone’s idea of a peaceful activity, but have we as a society become so enamored of our gadgets and gizmos that we can’t enjoy nature and the company of friends anymore? Let’s hope we haven’t. I’m as much of a fan of my computer as the next guy, but I also know that I need to get away from cell phones and instant messages and just have time by myself reading a good book or riding my bike. If you watch the television commercials you’ll be convinced that only the newest toy or electronics gear can lead you to an entertaining afternoon, but let’s not forget that God created some pretty amazing sights to see. Here in West Michigan we’re only a few short hours from amazing beaches, with plenty of lakes and forest around us. If that’s not your idea of relaxation, the Tigers are winning again (amen to that); nothing connects two generations together quite like a nice day at the ballpark. I’m not saying you have to appreciate the same sort of things that I do, to each his own, but don’t let yourself be convinced that big expenditures of money are the only way that you can feel fulfilled; often enough, it’s the simple things in life that leave the most lasting impression.

Ed Dobson lives a year like Jesus

It is somewhat of a running joke in our society to make resolutions for the New Year and then a half-hearted attempt to keep them. We don’t take seriously our failure to keep our “oath” to ourselves, to lose weight, or save money, or stop smoking. Ed Dobson, the former pastor of Calvary Church (Grand Rapids); who is fighting an ongoing battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease, spent the past year following up on a resolution to live 2008 as Jesus would. For Dobson, this meant taking much of the Old Testament (kosher eating, grooming and clothing regulations, Sabbath observance) seriously in a way that most Christians never do. We know from the writings of Paul (and his opposition on this issue of Peter’s wrong stance in Acts) that the church is NOT under Law but under Grace. As such, the requirements that were laid upon the Jewish people under the Old Testament Law are no longer applicable. I’m not finding fault with Dobson (a man I’ve always respected, esp. his brilliant sermons), but rather using this time of making resolutions to give us a chance to ponder what WE should do in this coming year to live more like Jesus. What do I need to STOP doing in my life? What do I need to do MORE of? How can I change my attitudes, my feelings, my words, and my actions to be more in line with the Son of God?
The first place to start any such contemplation is the Gospels. If you want to be more like Jesus (and God has told us we must), you need to know what Jesus was like. For Dobson, that meant re-reading the four Gospels every single week (52 times!). We’re not all prolific readers, but we certainly need to be in the Gospels in our Bible reading at least on a regular basis (that’s why one of the Gospels is always in my sermon rotation). Once you’ve discovered something in the Gospels that you should be doing or not doing; put it into practice. Not just a half-hearted attempt, but a real commitment to putting the life of Jesus into practice. That’s a New Year’s resolution that will pay dividends long after you’ve given up trying to lose weight again this year.

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Familiar words to those familiar with the Easter story, but also not all that far removed from how we feel when we lose our sense of connection to God. For Jesus, it was the harsh reality of not being connected to the rest of the trinity for the very first time that caused him to utter that cry of despair. Our situation is rather different, although the emotion is in many ways the same. We’ve never had the close relationship with God that Jesus had until that moment (and renewed upon his resurrection), we walk with God by faith not by sight. We speak to God in prayer, God speaks to us through the “still small voice” of our conscience, through his Word, or through other people.
It’s the nature of this relationship that can allow us to feel abandoned or forgotten. We cannot see what God has planned for us, can’t feel how he’s moving in our lives, can’t always hear the reassuring words telling us that it will be ok. We can drift away from God, slowly, through trauma or disappointment, but also through success and triumph. We wake up one day, and we can’t pray, we don’t have the words anymore; we’ve told God how broken and beaten down our heart is, and we don’t see any response. Where is God now? How am I supposed to get through this alone? God, why did you leave me when I need you the most?
It’s in those moments of hopelessness that we can remember that God stood by while Jesus made that same cry for help. He had to, Jesus was dying for our sins; had God rescued him in that moment, how would we have a relationship with God now? God will never abandon you, God will never leave you. He is the God of compassion; even when you’re mad at God, even when you’re full of doubt or regret. Come to God, turn to him and you will see that he is where he always was, at your side, watching over your life, watching over mine.

Leave the Judgment to God

The winter doldrums; a time of fleeting sunlight, persistent cold, and long nights. For many, this time of the year can be very depressing. As a Christian, we should not discount the difficulties that those around us are having, nor feel somehow guilty to be struggling ourselves. Christians are not immune to depression, nor can we simply “pray harder” or “have more faith” to overcome problems that are rooted in our physiology. God created us as complex beings with a myriad of needs both physical and spiritual. It always bothers me when Christians decide to dispense a quick diagnosis of someone else’s problem, especially when that diagnosis involves a snap judgment on the status of someone else’s faith. Our faith is NOT judged by the circumstances we’re facing in life. Only God knows the purpose behind the good and bad “fortune” that life brings our way, and last I checked, he hasn’t told any of us about it. If a Christian has cancer, it’s not because he/she is a sinner or because he/she lacked the faith needed to be healed. And yet, we always seem to be ready to jump to conclusions, to judge first. Or, if the problem is in our own life, we seem quick to look for the lesson that God is trying to teach us (perhaps in the hopes that it’ll end quicker if we can prove to God that we learned something). The mind of God is far higher than the mind of man, let’s just let him handle the hard thinking. Why don’t we focus on our responsibility? Do the right thing, obey God when times are good, and obey God when times are bad. Oh yeah, don’t forget to be the first one to lend a helping hand, and leave the judgment to God.

Moral Relativism

During his recent trip to the United States, Pope Benedict brought a warning to Catholic colleges and universities to guard themselves against moral relativism. Moral relativism is the idea that there is no truth with a capital “T”, only truth (lower case). The lower case vs. capital use reflects the debate of the nature of truth itself. There are those who believe that there is an ultimate and universal Truth (esp. in areas of morality and discussions about God) and those who believe that all truth is individual and particular to each person. The majority of secular colleges in America have been preaching a relative form of truth since the 1960’s in their Humanities departments. It was the spread of this form of “truth” that worries the Pope in regards to Catholic schools. We in the Protestant branch of Christianity also need to be on our guard. Relative truth can seep into Protestant colleges and universities just as easily, not to mention Protestant churches. If truth isn’t absolute and universal there can be an excuse for nearly any immoral behavior. Abortion, divorce, business fraud, cloning, drug use, etc. have all been defended under the guise that there is no ultimate definition of right and wrong for all of us. That line of thinking is deadly dangerous for any Christian institution, be it Catholic or Protestant.

Nothing New Under the Sun

There are times in life when nothing seems to be going the way we want it to. Gas prices are up, food prices are up, wages are stagnant, and home values are down. At times like these politicians and reporters are heard trying to conjure the ghost of the Great Depression. Now, you and I both know that America’s current troubles are small potatoes compared to the horror of the Civil War, the scale and scope of the Great Depression, or the capacity for suffering of World War II. We’ve been through far worse. Likewise, church leaders are often fond of comparing our current moral situation to the Last Days, claiming that we’ve gone over the abyss as a people and there is no turning back. We’ve been through worse moral times too. There was a time that churches across America condoned or promoted slavery, times when American Indians were thought of us expendable, and the days before the Great Awakening were worse than these as well.
Everyone wants to believe that the time they live in is somehow unique, that things have never been like this before. As Christians, we are buoyed by the words of Solomon in Ecclesiastes 3:15, “Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.” The wisdom in Solomon’s statement is timely for us as well; whatever troubles we face have been faced by God’s people before; whatever needs we have, God has answered for his people in the past; whatever mistakes we make, God has forgiven his people those same mistakes already. There is nothing new under the sun, we may not have been here before, but the Lord has, and that makes all the difference to us all.

New Year's Resolutions

A new year, a new beginning; the thoughts go hand-in-hand in our culture. We even have a custom of trying to make New Year’s Resolutions each year; many people vow to lose weight, others to quit smoking, save more money, or be nicer to our spouse. We all seem to be a little more willing to change as January 1st rolls around each year. That need, to better ourselves, is a healthy one, but it also reflects the nature of our lives as Christians who have been saved (redeemed, justified) by Christ but have not yet been sanctified (perfected); we are already freed from the eternal penalty of our sins (death, separation from God), but not yet free of the temptation to sin, and the consequences of sin in our lives (News Flash!! Christians aren’t perfect). This tension is what keeps Christians from feeling satisfied with their moral state, even when the rest of the world thinks you’re a saint, you still know that compared to Christ you’re a sinner.
There is someone who has no need to change from year to year; no need for resolutions or vows to improve. Hebrews 13:8 says that, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” We will always have need of improvement as long as we walk the earth on this side of eternity; Christ has no such need. One day we will be like him; free of sin and free of the temptation to sin. On that day, we won’t need to make any New Year’s Resolutions; until then, keep trying to lose that weight, quit smoking, save more money, and be nicer to your spouse.

Immanuel, "God with us"

When we celebrate the birth of the Christ child each Christmas do we actually understand how unprecedented and unimagined this birth was? I’m not talking about the miracle of the Virgin Birth or the announcement of the birth by a choir of angels and a bright star; no, the surprise I’m talking about is the purpose of the incarnation itself. Prior to the birth of Christ, you wouldn’t have been able to find any prophets or philosophers teaching anything about either God becoming a man, or God doing the necessary work to save mankind himself. Most of the world’s religions focus on the effort necessary (through good works, self-sacrifice, or even jihad) for mankind to elevate himself to a status of worthiness before God, or even to God-like status. The point is though, that man’s efforts are the focus. The Christ child changes all of that. Simply take note of the two names given to this child in Matthew 1:23-25. The first, Immanuel, is taken from Isaiah 7:14 and means “God with us”. The second, Jesus, means “The LORD saves” When taken together, we can see that God’s plan for the Christ would be that God himself would come among us and save us by his own hand. This may seem second nature to us after two thousand years of Church history, but to the 1st Century it was nothing short of incredible. Not only is the notion of mankind saving himself dispelled by it, but so to the notion that God is too lofty or unconcerned to do what needed to be done himself.
So, this Christmas as you celebrate the 2012th Anniversary of Christ’s birth (he was born in 6 B.C., the calendar adjusters were slightly off), take some time to reflect on what the nature of the God that we worship. Not remote, not distant, but intimately involved in the world he created, unwilling to allow the desperate plight of mankind to continue, and willing to give everything he had to save us. That is why he sent his son, Jesus, also called Immanuel.

Harry Potter

With the final release recently of J.K. Rowling’s conclusion to the Harry Potter series will come the inevitable questions of whether or not this is the type of story that Christian parents should be encouraging their children to read or if Christian should abstain from it because of the backdrop of witchcraft and wizardry. I’ll admit that I have not read any of the books (for me a rarity) but that I have enjoyed the movie versions. That being said, are we as Christians supposed to be withdrawing ourselves from anything that smacks of paganism, no matter what the other factors may be, or are we going to judge things on a case by case basis? {Oh yeah, if you’re going to be anti-witch in all forms, I’d better not catch you watching the Wizard of Oz, or reading Macbeth} I would like to suggest that we certainly should be avoiding the actual practice of the Wicca religion, as it, like paganism in general, involves the worship of the Earth as a god; as Christians we know that God created the Earth, and he deserves the glory and honor for its beauty. Certainly as Christians we don’t have any need for divination or fortune telling, be it tied to “psychics” or simply the horoscopes in the paper. We believe that God, not fate, controls the world, and as such we should not be anxious about the future.
Which eventually brings us back to Harry Potter. I would certainly not put Rowling’s work in the same league as J.R.R. Tolkien or C.S. Lewis both of whom used wizardry and magic in their attempts to tell a uniquely Christian moral message (Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings through example, Lewis in The Chronicles of Narnia through allegory). Rowling is not following in their footsteps. Her books are neither pro nor anti Christian, they’re silent on the matter of religion. Be that as it may, I don’t see any real harm in her books, and as an educator I’m certainly reluctant to condemn any book that students will willingly read on their own unless I have a serious need to do so. If you don’t feel comfortable with them, by all means abstain, but I think we should save our impulse as Christians to crusade against immorality for a more worthy target. Sadly, our world is full of disreputable TV, movies, and songs; Harry certainly isn’t Christian, but he’s not the Devil either.