Sermon Video: "This is my prayer" - Philippians 1:9-11

 The prayer of the Apostle Paul for the church at Philippi is not the result of a specific need or request, but rather a general prayer for the future direction of this group of believers that Paul knows from experience have already embraced the need to love in word and in deed.  Paul utilizes a six step chain of cause and effect which lead from his hope that their "love may abound more and more" to the tool which will allow love to grow: knowledge and depth of insight.  The increase in knowledge (primarily of oneself and other people, the experience that leads to wisdom) will result for them in an increase in discernment which will allow the people of Philippi to choose what is best.  For Paul this isn't a question of knowing right from wrong, rather it is a question of learning how to love properly so that they might choose best over better and good.  Once the people have learned how to choose what is best, they will then be equipped to live in purity and free of blame, not only now, but until the day of Christ.  Such pure living will invariably result in the development of the fruit of righteousness, a process of character development made possible by the power of Jesus Christ working within those who follow him.  Lastly, Paul's chain of causation reaches its climax by proclaiming that such righteous living will bring forth praise and glory to God. 
In the end, Paul is praying that God will be praised because of the people of the church at Philippi, and he recognizes that the road to God's glory begins with the growth of love in his people.

To watch the video, click on the link below:
Sermon Video

Virtue run amok

G.K. Chesterton wrote his explanation of why he believed in Christianity, Orthodoxy, in 1908.  He wrote at the dawn of the Modern Age that we know live in, prior to WWI, when electricity, the automobile, and radio were on the horizon.  In the last one hundred and five years some things have changed a great deal, one observation of his in particular about virtue and vice has only grown more true with the passage of time.
"The modern world is not evil; in some ways the modern world is far too good.  It is full of wild and wasted virtues...The modern world is full of the old Christian virtues gone mad.  The virtues are mad because they have been isolated from each other and are wandering alone." (Orthodoxy, p. 22)  By this Chesterton meant that Truth, Justice, Mercy, Love, etc. are still valued in our society, but out of proportion with each other, and in grotesque ways that ultimately lead to evil instead of good precisely because they have become detached from their framework within the Christian faith.  Those who value Truth above all else think nothing of persecuting those with whom they disagree.  Those who trumpet Mercy do so by declaring and end to judgment; rather than learn what true mercy means, they simply deny any absolute sense of right and wrong.  The examples could go on and on, but the most disturbing of all virtues run amok is Love.  Our society is drunk on the idea of Love, but the love we now worship is a self-centered, pleasure seeking charlatan, it cares not for those who do not love it back and resembles not at all the Love of God shown at Calvary.
Chesterton's observation about the virtue of humility is particularly poignant, and worth quoting, "Humility was largely meant as a restraint upon the arrogance and infinity of the appetite of man...But what we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place.  Modesty has been removed from the organ of ambition.  Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction; where it was never meant to be.  A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed." (p. 23-24)  This is the Post-Modern world we find ourselves living in.  Everyone is full to overflowing with self-confidence, but scared to death to say that one thing is right and another is wrong.  The result is an ever more pathetic arrogance about one's own place in this world, and an ever shrinking ability to define one's purpose in this world.  It is any wonder that people grow weary of the bluster and long for some sense of Truth to comfort their souls?  Is it any wonder that far too many young people around the world have embraced fanaticism in the vain hope that the brutal certainty of a violent claim to truth will make up for their own feelings of uncertainty?
The world may not look much like it did one hundred years ago, but the mind of man hasn't changed all that much.  Would that we might once again embrace the mind of Christ and put an end to all of this virtue run amok.

A humbling moment, thanks to all

Last Wednesday was one of the highest moments in my professional life, it was an unexpected honor I received from the Dept. of Human Services of Venango County.  They held an annual awards dinner and chose me to receive the Outstanding Service to Others award from the Office of Economic Opportunity and Children and Youth Services.  Having lived here in Venango County for only a year and a half, I was certainly surprised to have been noticed beyond others who have toiled in this field far longer.  There would be no opportunity for this award if my church and my board didn't support me 100% in outreach efforts beyond our congregation, nor would I be able to do so without the support of my loving wife, Nicole, or the rest of my family, especially my father Walt and my mother Kathy.  In addition, I'm supported here in this ministry effort very capably by my office manager, Cheryl Rila. 
From the day I arrived here in Franklin I knew that something was different.  The years I spent hoping and praying for an opportunity to minister more while living back in Michigan were no more; instead, people were looking to me for leadership on several ecumenical outreach efforts.  It was during the third meeting of the Chilren's Roundtable that I had attended since moving here that one of its principal supporters, CYS solicitor Bill Cisek, asked me to "take over" the discussion about what the churches might be able to do to help partner with the Human Services dept.  Thus my involvement in Mustard Seed Missions, as it came to be know, was born.  Not by some grand plan of my own, but by a simple opportunity that presented itself to do what God would want any of his ministers to do; help those in need.  God bless everyone involved in the effort here in Venango County to make our churches known for what our faith causes us to DO.

The picture is of me receiving the award from Judge Lobaugh, another of the instrumental local government officials who have shown such amazing trust of our local churches.  Four incredible things have happened here:
1. The government agencies trust churches to help
2. The churches trust the government enough to be willing to help.
3. The communities of this county are working together for the common good.
4. The churches of this county are working together for the common good.

Providential "coincidence"

I received a call in my office today from the local pregnancy outreach group, ABC (a group that does amazing work helping pregnant women and young mothers) about a need for a ride right now for someone from a hospital in Pittsburgh back to Oil City.  If someone from here were to leave not, it would take a little over an hour to get there.  I talked to the person in need, not thinking that any answer could be found on such short notice, until my brain remembered something I had heard earlier today.  My neighbor, and good friend of Nicole and I, Pastor Jeff Little (1st UMC), was in Pittsburgh today for a denominational meeting; could it be that he hadn't started to drive back yet??
I quickly called Jeff and found out that he had just stopped at a gas station prior to leaving to come back; yikes!  Talk about a God thing, I know that sometimes things don't work out no matter how hard we try, and yet there are times like this that a solution just seems to fall into our laps.  Of course, it required someone like Jeff to be willing to be the hands/feet of Christ.  How many times are we left stymied because nobody answers the call?  I guess it's a good thing I called Jeff this morning to see if he would join Nicole and I for a movie tonight; God is good.

It's a small world after all

We had visiting missionaries here to talk about there work this past week at First Baptist: Dave and Joyce Briley who since 1975 have been working through Wycliffe Bible Translators with the Bauzi people of Papua, Indonesia to translate the Bible into their native tongue.  When Dave and Joyce arrived to work with the Bauzi,(who live in a dozen or so villages spread out over a large section of jungle, perhaps 2,000 people in all) they had no way of even asking the question, "what's the name of this?".  They had to learn the language from scratch, one word at a time, eventually figuring out enough of it to begin the laborious process of translating the Bible.  There was just one catch, the Bauzi language was unwritten.  So, Dave and Joyce first had to create a phonetic alphabet for the Bauzi, 6 vowels and 9 consonants, as it turned out, and then teach some of the native Bauzi to read and write.  After that came the process of trying to understand this language well enough to translate directly from the original Greek and Hebrew of the Bible while making the finished product sound authentic in the ears of the people.  Is it any wonder that it took them over 30 years to translate the New Testament?  If it were not for their single-minded dedication, the Bauzi people would not be in possession this day of God's Word.
This scene has been, and is being, repeated all over the corners of the world where there are still peoples without access to the Bible in their own native tongue (their "heart" language to those working in translations).  Thankfully, the day is coming soon when the task will be completed and each and every language spoken on Earth will have access to the story of God's redemptive love through Christ Jesus.
While my wife and I were eating dinner with the Briley's after church, I asked if they had by any chance run across one of my favorite authors, Jared Diamond, who I knew had spent considerable time in Papua and New Guinea looking for rare birds.  As it happens, Jared had come to them in the past looking for locals to help him find some birds (I asked them to get his autograph should he stop by again).  Jared Diamond is the author of, "Guns, Germs, and Steel", a fascinating book on why Western Europeans came to dominate the globe and not peoples of some other land.  The answer given by Diamond, one of resources and inherent advantages in the geography, animals, and foodstuffs, instead of the implied or outright racism of past analysis of the subject, was a refreshing contribution to anthropology and history.  Needless to say, as a history geek, I'm a fan.  To top it off, I was taking a walk with a local man named Abe today, (he stops by from time to time to chew the fat) and the subject of Native Americans came up (he has Indian ancestry), so of course I recommended he read Jared Diamond's book.  It is a small world after all.

Sermon Video: "defending and confirming the gospel" Philippians 1:7

As the opening to Paul's letter to the church in Philippi continues, he tells the church that his feelings of joy regarding their success is the proper response.  Paul feels not only the pride of seeing a church he founded doing well, but also the sense of partnership that comes from knowing that he and they share in the same grace of God.  All those who participate in the body of Christ through faith share in the same brotherhood, whether they be part of a local church body or missionaries on a foreign field like Paul.  It is this equal partnership that provides the support and vitality that both churches and mission efforts require to survive long-term.  For Paul it didn't matter if his message was received with the joy of the people of Philippi, or the violence that he found on many occasions, the mission was paramount, people needed to hear the message of the Gospel.

To watch the video, click on the link below:
Sermon Video

Paradise is Lost and it isn't coming back on its own

My wife and I spent the afternoon hiking in Oil Creek State Park, enjoying God's wondrous creation and spending some quality time alone.  It was just the sort of thing I need to recharge my batteries and begin another week of ministry.  As we drove home from the park I switched on ESPN radio only to hear the President talking about some bombing.  Moments later the news of the Boston Marathon bombing confirmed once again that evil has no bounds, nor does it understand pity or mercy.  Once again Mankind's inhumanity was on display, the peaceful woods and babbling streams were forgotten, replaced by an act of terror.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of this senseless violence and to their families.
As my wife and I talked about today's act of terrorism, I commented that this sort of thing is never going to go away.  Even if 99.99% of the world is convinced that such acts are cowardly and evil it only takes the 0.01% to kill.  There's no going back to the days we thought of as innocent.  But were they really; was the Cold War more civil than the chaos we see on display now, has humanity ever set aside war to choose peace?
Last night I was watching the Vikings on The History Channel.  For the people of Medieval England, the terror lay across the sea, with the unknown barbarian peoples.  No villager, ignorant of what lay more than a day's walk from where he grew up could feel confident that a marauding horde was not on its way.  In a sense, terror lay outside of the known, it was the unknown that caused fear.
In our world today there are no longer any barbarian peoples, the edges of the maps have all been filled in.  We can no longer blame the inhumanity on display each day on "them".  Terrorism isn't simply international, it is also domestic.  The words of William Golding continue to ring true from The Lord of the Flies, "the beast is us".
And so I begin another week of striving to mend what others have broken, a week of helping the weak and powerless, a week of bringing hope through forgiveness.  If I did not have confidence that Christ would one day rectify this world's evils, that a final judgment will indeed come, how could I continue trying to do my small part against the "reckless hate" (to steal a line from Theoden in Two Towers) that no longer hides beyond the edges of the map?  But we do have hope, we do have faith, this world is not all there is, God will bring judgment upon those who do such evil, in this world or the next.

Sermon Video: "He who has begun a good work in you" Philippians 1:1-6

As the beginning of Paul's letter to the church at Philippi, this opening passage reflects the optimism and hope that Paul felt toward this church, the first in Europe.  Paul expresses to them that he is confident that the work of redemption that God had begun in them collectively would indeed be continued until its completion.  Paul had ample reason to be confident as he had himself seen the power and faithfulness of God in his own life and was well aware of God's Covenant faithfulness to his people Israel throughout their history.  Therefore Paul could share his confidence with the church at Philippi knowing that his trust in God would not be misplaced, the work of God would indeed continue as the message of grace and peace through faith in Christ planted seeds that sprout to this day.

To watch the video, click on the link below:
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Sermon Video, "Stop doubting and believe' - John 20:24-29

A week after the resurrection, Jesus appears to Thomas, the last disciple to see the risen Christ with his own eyes.  Previously, Thomas had refused to believe on the word of the other disciples, he wanted to see and touch the wounds of Jesus for himself.  How would God respond to this doubt?  In the past, God had shown patient with doubters, including Sarah, Moses, Gideon, Esther, and Zechariah, still including them in his plan to bless his people, but what of Thomas?  Instead of punishing Thomas, Jesus offers him eyewitness proof to which Thomas responds, "My Lord and my God".
Do we need to see Jesus to believe, is a miracle the only thing that can prove God to us?  Actually, Jesus tells the disciples that those who believe without seeing will be more "blessed" because their faith is greater than those who must see first before they believe.  We have ample proof of the Gospel all around us, the wonders of God are daily in contrast with the evil of mankind, but a group of people who chosen a different path.  These followers of Jesus, by their willingness to sacrifice for others and be servants, are more clear proof than any miracle.  We have indeed seen Jesus when we see those who have been transformed by their belief in him.  Now, stop doubting and believe.

To watch the video, click on the link below:
Sermon Video

How the Pope became popular among Evangelicals

The title alone seems like a crazy thought; it least it would have only a generation or two ago.  Having just finished Diarmaid MacCulloch's Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years (with its 1016 pages no less), I could not help but comment on his observation that Secularism (in particular cultural battles over sexual morality) was an unintentional boost to the modern alliance between formerly rival factions within Christianity.  A generation or two ago, the primary threat as seen by Evangelical Protestants would have been Liberal Protestantism and Catholicism; Orthodox Christianity wouldn't have rated a mention as it languished behind the Iron Curtain.  Fast forward past the Cultural Revolution of the 60's, Roe vs. Wade, the rising tide of divorce in the West and America, and the battles for ordination for women and homosexuals.  With all of these struggles in common, a remarkable shift has taken place: "a survey on approval ratings among American Evangelicals showed that Pope John Paul II, who would have represented Antichrist to an earlier Evangelical generation, out polled assorted spokesmen of the Religious Right" (pg. 1010, from a poll taken in 2004).
What did it take to make the Pope popular among Evangelicals?  The realization that we have more in common with our brothers and sisters in the Catholic (and Orthodox) Churches than we do with a society that has come to embrace sexual promiscuity, divorce, abortion, and euthanasia.  It was not a sudden outbreak of Christian brotherhood that prompted those looking across the divide of Christianity for solidarity, but a realization that we must work together lest we separately be overwhelmed by atheism and agnosticism.  It seems that after 500 years of confrontation (in the case of Orthodoxy, 1000 years), the worldwide Church is beginning to see that the message of the Gospel is needed in our world regardless of which one of our Christian denominations is doing the telling.  What we have in common is more important that our differences, however important they may be.  The world needs a message of hope, forgiveness, and reconciliation, far more than it needs us to continue the arguments that have raged within the Church in the shadow of the writings of St. Augustine.
Did I once think the Pope would be the Antichrist?  Sure I did, that's what was being taught in Evangelical circles 30 years ago.  The times, they are a changing.  In the words of the American Patriot Benjamin Franklin, "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately."