If God is Love...

The modern world doesn’t like absolutes. It recoils from calling even the most vile acts evil. It dismisses the idea of hell as an antiquated notion that the Church needs to rid itself of. It looks at the morality of the Bible as a suggestion, something that can be changed when needed. That is why it is so interesting that this same mindset has latched onto the declaration of the Letter of First John that “God is love”. If God is love, they say, he wouldn’t send anyone to hell. He wouldn’t fault anyone for believing in a false religion, or no religion at all. The God who is love will always choose love over any other quality.


Sadly, this particular God doesn’t resemble the God of the Bible. He isn’t the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Nor is he the God who revealed himself to Moses and gave his Covenant people the Law. To reduce God to a one-dimensional principle (even one as fundamental to his nature as Love) is to treat God like a force, and not a person. But the God who chose to reveal himself to us through the Scriptures is clearly a person. God has emotions, God gets angry, God laughs, and yes, God loves.

God cares about holiness. He can’t accept rebellion, he can’t ignore sin. How do we know, besides the fact that the Bible is full of God saying exactly that, consider that God cared enough about sin that he tossed Adam and Eve out of the Garden. He flooded the world in disgust in the day of Noah. He leveled Sodom and Gomorrah, and put the sons of Eli to death for their blasphemy. God made his people wander in the desert for forty years because of their unbelief, and he decreed that the people of Canaan were so evil that they must be wiped out, all of them. God takes holiness serious in his people too. When David sinned, the unborn child died as a consequence. When the whole nation of Israel wandered away from him, he sent them into captivity. When Judah did the same, they followed suit. God cares enough about holiness that he sent his own Son to die on the Cross to save us from ourselves. God is love. No doubt about that, why else would he go to such lengths to try to redeem us?

Is hell real? You’d better believe it. Either hell is real, or God is a liar. Either hell is real or Jesus died in vain. Is there any point in worshiping a God who lies to us? Any reason to worship a God who would put his Son through torture for no real reason?? So, go ahead, tell everyone that God is love, just don’t forget to also tell them that God is Holy. And oh, by the way, we’re not. Either we fix that problem through faith in Jesus Christ, or we’re going to hell. Not because God sends people there, but because we earned it.

The Lord of the Flies and Schindler's List

In a few day my students will begin writing an essay on the nature of humanity.  They've been reading through William Golding's excellent "Lord of the Flies" in which he seeks to show through the total breakdown of the society of a couple of dozen boys stranded on a small island that the evil that mankind confronts comes from within.  We can't hide from it on a island because we brought it with us when we came there.  Despite the best efforts of some of the book's characters, a meltdown into violence and chaos follows...Last year I used the heart-wrenching true story contained in "Schindler's List" as a way to further the theme and allow my students to write about human nature.  After watching the unspeakable inhumanity of the Holocaust, is it possible to still see good in man?  Can the redemptive acts of Oskar Schindler and Itzhak Stern stand up against the casual evil of Amon Goeth and the countless "good Germans" who didn't give a second thought to the massacre of innocents in their midst?
This is no small question, and one that occupies the minds of many Christians as well.  The level of evil in our world should, at the least, give us pause and send us back to Scripture seeking answers.  With Easter just ending, we are all aware of the injustice and inhumanity displayed when Christ was crucified.  This is nothing new.  God was disgusted with humanity in the day of Noah.  We haven't changed much.  The absolute reality of evil requires us to throw ourselves on the mercy of God and trust wholly in the Blood of the Lamb to save us from ourselves. 
In the end, this is why the Love of God isn't enough.  {Sorry, but it's the truth.  Love alone fails, without Christ we would all be doomed despite God's unchangeable love for us}To simply say that God loves us and it'll be ok doesn't cut it.  God cannot have any part in the evil that engulfs our world.  Holiness and sin do NOT mix.  There is no remedy for our desperate situation apart from Christ.
What will my students write?  How many of them will choose to see the courage of Oskar and the crazy Hope of Itzhak as proof that there is hope in humanity?  How many will recoil at the evil of children murdered simply because they were Jewish and conclude that humanity is beyond hope?
Is humanity evil?  Yes, none of us are free of guilt.
Are we beyond hope?  On our own, yes.
Thanks be to God for the nail-pierced hands that gave us hope.

Sermon Video: "Jesus had to rise from the dead" - John 20:9

The account of Resurrection Sunday in the Gospel of John contains a note from the author that Peter and John didn't understand that "Jesus had to rise from the dead".  Not simply that he did rise from the dead, but that it was predicted, necessary, and inevitable.  As the Messiah, the Lamb of God, and the sinless Son of God, the grave had no hold upon Jesus.  He had to rise from the dead.

To watch the video, click on the links below:
Sermon Video Part 1
Sermon Video Part 2

Sermon Video: "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" - John 12:12-16

Jesus enters Jerusalem at the beginning of Passion Week with the shouts of praise from the crowds ringing in his ears.  Unlike a Roman triumph, Jesus enters riding humbly on a colt.  The crowd wanted Jesus to be the conquering hero, but Jesus continues to predict that he will be the suffering servant.  What are our expectations of Jesus when he returns?

To watch the video clink on the links below:
Sermon Video Part 1
Sermon Video Part 2

No man knows the number of his days

Many who know me know that I have been dealing with several important life-direction choices in recents months and weeks.  For the most part, they've gone down in flames.  My attempt to join the Army as a chaplain was shot down (no pun intended) by a single doctor's opinion about the health of my knees (and yes, I'm still running and playing ball each week).  A couple of other opportunities have recently come to my attention, but there have been snags that may prevent them from working either.  In the midst of my own angst, and my genuine concern for the well being of my wife, I got a strange phone call this past week from my best friend.
I've received hundreds of call from him over the years, we've played sports together and hung out for almost thirty years, but this call was different.  The voice on the other end of the line was strained and sounded weaker somehow.  It didn't take long before he told me that he was in the hospital.  Having played basketball together six days prior I at first thought it was a joke; but it wasn't.  Long story short, my friend had been rushed to the hospital for an emergency situation that while treatable, could have been life threatening if no dealt with quickly.  We're both 36, our birthdays are a month apart; that's a wake-up call.  While I was worried about the direction of my career, my finances, and my wife (all legit things), my best friend was suddenly facing a very serious medical situation.  In the long-run, he'll be fine and this will be a blip on the radar, but it is also a reminder that none of us know the day or hour appointed for us by the Lord.  We don't know how long we have on this Earth to make a difference, how much time we'll have with our loved ones, or how many 2nd and 3rd chances we'll get to do the right thing.  Let's not waste any more of that time, it's too precious.
Get better soon, those 18 year old kids still need to be taught some lessons on the court.

Sermon Video: John 12:23-32 "When I am lifted up"

Jesus prepares his followers for the road to the cross by explaining that the Son of Man must be lifted up.  In God's ultimate act of love, his holiness and wrath are satisfied by the sacrfice that Jesus chooses to make on our behalf.  Jesus also reminds us that if we're going to be his followers, we're going to need to be servants who rely upon God for rewards rather than seeking after reward in this life.

To watch the video clink on the links below:
Sermon Video Part 1
Sermon Video Part 2

Sermon Video: "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" - John 9:26-38

One of the Bible's unsung heroes, the unnamed blind man healed by Jesus, stands up against the powerful Pharisees, a religious group with a reputation for piety and self-righteousness.  When he asks them if they want to become Jesus' disciples too, they throw him out.  Jesus seeks out the healed man and asks him if he believes in the Son of Man.  What was his response when Jesus told him he was looking at the same man who had healed him?  "Lord, I believe."  Jesus' care for this one forgotten man illustrates the lengths that God will go to in the ongoing effort to share his Grace and Mercy with us all.

To watch the video, click on the links below:
Sermon Video Part 1
Sermon Video Part 2