Mt Everest vs. Space: Why we can never reach God on our own.

When trying to explain why our own righteousness, that is the morally upright things that we do, can never be sufficient to please the holy God who created us, I hit upon an analogy that might help some understand what Jesus is trying to say in Matthew 5:20 "For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven."  Given that those two groups were believed to be the most righteous people in Israel, the words of Jesus seem like an impossibility.  Later on Jesus would explain the failures of the religious leaders of his people, focusing on their pride, failure to care about those in need, and the shallowness of their devotion, but the point about righteousness remains.  The statement by Jesus is intended to invoke a sense of despair, about our ability to please God on our own, hence setting aside our pride and allowing us to lean upon the grace of God.

So, how high can we climb on our own, and why isn't that good enough for God?  Let's suppose that you make it to the pinnacle of human moral achievement, climbing higher than anyone else.



That seems like a tremendous accomplishment, especially with so many other people falling far short of your lofty achievement and others not even trying.  But what is the goal, have you reached it, simply because you can't possibly get any higher?






But God is holy, perfect, without flaw; we are not.  Our highest possible ascent toward God, on our own, leaves us far, far short.  Could Sir Edmund Hillary have climbed from the summit of Everest into space?  Of course not, the gap is too wide, and there's nothing left to climb.  Our righteousness, whatever it might be, is equally hopelessly insufficient when compared to the holiness of God.

So, what is left for us to do, give up?  In a way yes, to come to God, we need to give up trying to fix ourselves and instead trust that the righteousness of Christ, who died and rose again on our behalf, will be applied to our account by God because of our faith in him.  So go ahead and climb the Mt. Everest of morality, doing the right thing is always the right thing, but not because it will make God accept you, do it because you wish to honor the sacrifice of Jesus and be as much like him in this life as possible.

Out of Control: The unspoken cost of over-scheduled children

The most recent issue of Time magazine featured a cover story, "How Kid Sports Turned Pro" which highlights many of the financial dangers to families of the traveling sports teams for children, some younger than ten, which can cost a family tens of thousands of dollars a year in the pursuit of the dream of raising a professional athlete or simply netting a college scholarship.  In addition to this financial burden, the article emphasizes the serious potential for emotional and physical injury to these children (from the frantic schedules, high pressure performances, and too specialized exercise).

All of these things, and more, should be warning signs to parents of the danger of over-scheduling the lives of their children, and of raising a narcissist by teaching that child that the world revolves around him/her, and yet there was one area of danger that the article failed to address: the elevation of these athletic pursuits above devotion to God.   It should come as no surprise that the weekend tournaments that families travel, often half-way across the country to attend, necessitate that the family will not be attending church on Sunday.  As a pastor, I've seen this trend increase over the years, as families feel pressured to choose the hobby/sport that their child loves (or at least the parent thinks they love it) over spending time as a family in the house of God at worship.

Going to church isn't the priority it once was and our society (and countless individuals and families) have lost an intangible asset as a result.  In a world where human connections are more tenuous and rare, our spiritual connection to God and each other looms ever more crucial.  Will my child someday participate in a sport that holds games/tournaments on Sunday morning?  No, she will not, and not just because I'm a pastor and my absence would be noticed; because my wife and I recognize that our time spent as a family in the house of the Lord is an invest in our family and an example to our daughter of how highly we value God.



** This is not an indictment of parents who must work on Sunday to provide for their family, such things are unavoidable for some, nor does it concern those who miss church to take a family vacation or attend a family event.  My concern is with those for whom church is such a low priority that attendance a "we're not doing anything else" option instead of being the high priority that our devotion to God ought to demand of us.**

Sermon Video: The Lord's Will Be Done - Acts 21:1-14

As Paul finally approaches his destination of Jerusalem, both those traveling with him and those fellow disciples of Christ whom he meets at each stop, urge Paul to abort his trip and not go to Jerusalem.  Despite these significant warnings, one from a known prophet of the Lord, Paul insists that he must continue onward.  Paul had already accepted that his life was in danger, and that the cost of his discipleship might be imprisonment, or even death.  It was not that Paul didn't care about the risks, he simply considered his mission for the Kingdom of God to be of surpassing importance, even surpassing his own life.  And what was that mission?  To meld together the Jewish and Gentile Christians into one Church by bringing the famine relief offering from the Gentile churches to Jerusalem in person.  In the end, Paul's hope was a forlorn one, the Jewish revolt was only a few years away and Jerusalem itself would soon be destroyed by the Romans, but to Paul it was a cause worth dying for, if need be, for like his Savior, Paul lived by the rule, "the Lord's will be done."

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: Help the Weak - Acts 20:32-38

In the conclusion to his farewell address to the elders of the church of Ephesus, Paul speaks of his own hard work and diligence on behalf of the Gospel, using it as inspiration for his call to "help the weak".  In support of this charge, Paul utilizes a quote of Jesus that is reminiscent of the Beatitudes, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."
Helping those in need: the poor, the disabled, the addicts and prisoners, the persecuted and lost, is a Christian imperative for it is in this that we truly show the love of Christ to a world in need of the Gospel.  As individual Christians, and as a Church, we cannot solve every ill, but we can certainly make a difference somewhere, somehow, and we must, for our Savior, the Suffering Servant, demands it of us.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

An Opportunity to Learn.

Do all religions worship the same God?

Do the religions of the world worship the same God?  This fundamental question begs an answer to this question: What is Truth?

Christianity is built upon several presuppositions about knowledge and Truth which must be understood which will then answer the first question.

Truth exists and is knowable by mankind.  Not simply truth from my perspective, but Truth that exists apart from my belief or disbelief in it.  If Truth doesn’t exist, or if it is unknowable, humanity’s quest for it has been doomed from the start and the meaning of life cannot be determined.

Truth claims that are mutually exclusive cannot both be true.  In other words, either God exists or God doesn’t exist, both can’t be true; either humanity is fallen/corrupt or humanity is inherently good, both can’t be true, etc.

The religions of the world make mutually exclusive Truth claims, not complimentary ones.  If reincarnation is real, then the Eastern religions are correct and the Western ones are wrong.  If there is only one God, then the monotheists are right and the polytheists are incorrect, etc.

The Truth claims of Christianity are exclusive.  Christianity requires the belief in the divine/human nature of Jesus Christ, in his virgin birth, sinless life, vicarious death and resurrection.  If this is True, it negates the Truth claims of all the other world religions, for none of them afford Jesus Christ his exclusive role as Savior and Lord.

          The basis of Christian Truth claims is the revealed Word of God.  Christians don’t claim to have discovered the Truth, they are only recipients of Truth that has been given by God.  The Word of God forms the basis for all Christian theology and morality.

Do the religions of the world worship the same God?  No, no they don’t, for their claims regarding who that God is, what that God has done, and what that God requires of humanity are mutually exclusive.  It is on this basis that Christians have, since the founding of the Church, sought to share the Gospel with those who do not believe, it is not an act of arrogance, nor does it derive from a sense of superiority; Christian evangelism is driven by compassion, for just as God desires that none should perish by failing to believe in his Son, so too do his people want their fellow man to find God’s grace and mercy through Jesus Christ.

There are no racists at the Cross

As recent events in Charlottesville, Virginia remind us, there is a segment of the white supremacist movement that insists upon following in Hitler's footsteps by appropriating Christian symbols and claiming to defend Christendom.  As it has always been, racism in no way defends Christianity or Christendom, it is an abject mockery of it.  There is no common ground between the Gospel of Jesus Christ and any theology/philosophy/political movement that seeks to divide the world into groups of "us" vs. "them" and thus foment bigotry, hatred, and violence.

At its very founding, the Church was given the mission of taking the Gospel to the ends of the Earth.  Jesus said to his disciples, "go and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19) echoing the promise of God to Abraham, "all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (Genesis 12:3).  Paul would later clarify the import of Jesus' words by declaring that, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28).  This list of Biblical references to equality in Christ could continue, for it is absolutely clear, without a doubt, that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is God's message of salvation for ALL people, and that race, nationality, class status, and gender are in no way at all a barrier to God's grace, so much so that the Gospel destroys all such distinctions within the Church.  We, the people redeemed by God's grace, CANNOT allow discrimination and stratification to continue, as it does in society, within the Church.
The racists are not working for the Church and Christianity, they are working against it.

Can the Gospel save a racist?  Absolutely, by destroying in him/her that same sin nature that all mankind shares, that same sin nature shared by murders, rapists, thieves, liars, adulterers, lovers of money, the prideful, hateful, and narcissistic.  Racists are no worse sinners than anybody else when compared to the holiness and perfection of God, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ." (Romans 3:23-24).  The Gospel, that is the power of God, can save anyone, even the must vile among us, but that person won't remain the hate-filled sinner they were before the grace of God, they cannot.  If they remain enthralled to sin, of any kind, racism included, they cannot be a true child of God, born again in Christ.  John makes this point repeatedly in his first letter, "If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." (I John 1:6-7)  John goes on to speak of the absolute necessity of love among Christian, ALL Christians, "Dear friends, let us love on another, for love comes from God.  Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." (I John 4:7-8)  If you don't love your fellow sinners saved by grace, if you hate the people who don't look and act like you who are a part of the Church, then you are not a Christian, period.

If you are a racist, right now, it is an ongoing part of who you are, then you cannot be a Christ-follower anymore than a person who right now continues to walk in the darkness of lust, greed, or pride.  The people of God are transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, here and now, they cannot continue to walk in the darkness.  The people of God are not perfect, they will fail and need to repent, but they are not, nor can they be, people who walk in darkness, they cannot be racists.  The White supremacists are not defending Christendom, they are anti-Christs.

Sermon Video: The Whole Will of God - Acts 20:25-31

Continuing his farewell address to the church elders from Ephesus, Paul declares to them that he is "innocent of the blood of all men" because he knows that he has declared the "whole will of God" throughout his journeys.  What is this "whole will of God"?  Paul made that clear back in vs. 21 when he affirmed that his message had always been to both Jews and Greeks that they must "turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus."  In other words, Paul declared the Gospel, the whole Gospel, no more and no less.  All men have sinned, none can please a holy and righteous God on their own, and therefore all must repent and trust in the righteousness of Jesus.
Beginning with the Early Church, and continuing to this day, there have been attempts to distort this straightforward declaration of the Gospel by adding to it or subtracting from it.  The most common additions have been attempts to add an element of works to faith (thereby diminishing the sufficiency of the work of Christ).  The most common attempted subtractions have been denials of the full human/divine nature of Jesus (thereby diminishing the person of Jesus).
As the Church, we are tasked with protecting against attack from within or without, whatever they might be, and maintaining the true and full Gospel, for we know that it alone is the power of God unto salvation.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Assassinations, Pastor Jeffress, and Romans 13

I've written often enough about the danger to the Church in America of an unequal marriage with politics and politicians, especially when that marriage envisions an American triumphalism and nationalism that seeks to equate being a good Christian with being a patriotic American.  The truth of the matter is that no nation has the right to claim God's special favor, apart from ancient Israel, and those who have claimed such a right have done so with disastrous results; one need only examine the WWI era rhetoric of nations comprised primarily of Christians fighting against each other to conclude that God was not in favor of the war aims of any of the combatants.  Can any Christian theologian really defend the notion that German territorial expansion or British colonial interests were the will of God and thus worthy of the countless lives shed in pursuit of them?
And yet, that same temptation to mix Christianity with political nationalism remains, and was given a boost recently by Pastor Robert Jeffress of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, a mega-church with 3,700 weekly attendees.  Pastor Jeffress is no stranger to politics, having been an outspoken advocate for one candidate during the last presidential election.  Now, given the tensions between the United States and North Korea, Pastor Jeffress felt it necessary to express that God has given the moral authority, according to Romans 13:1-5, for the President to "do whatever, whether it's assassination, capital punishment, or evil punishment to quell the actions of evildoers like Kim Jung Un."  So, if the President of the United States determines that a person is an evildoer, he has the moral right to assassinate him/her without due process, without a trial, and without the consent of Congress?  When Paul wrote Romans 13, was he really advocating that governmental leaders, most of whom in the years since have not been Christians, or have been nominal Christians at best, have God's blessing to take pre-emptive action, including starting wars, against those who do threaten evil?
What is the response of Jeffress to those who caution that advocating war, and assassinating the leader of North Korea would surely lead to war, maybe even nuclear war, is not the will of God?  "Some Christians, perhaps younger Christians, have to think this through.  It's antithetical to some of the mushy rhetoric you hear from some circles today.  Frankly, it's because they're not well taught in the scriptures."  Well, ignoring the insult that those who advocate for peace are just "mushy", it is certainly not the only interpretation of Romans 13 to encourage the government to utilize assassinations and pre-emptive wars, for such a stance doesn't even meet the level of the traditional Just War Theory of Thomas Aquinas.  (Primarily because it is far from the last resort, and would lead to far greater evil in terms of civilians deaths than it could possibly prevent.)

For an opposing view of the responsibility of the Christian and Church regarding war and peace, note the words of the martyr Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer who died at the hands of the Nazis:
There is no way to peace along the way of safety.  For peace must be dared.  It is the great venture.  It can never be safe.  Peace is the opposite of security.  To demand guarantees is to mistrust, and this mistrust in turns brings forth war.  To look for guarantees is to want to protect oneself.  Peace means to give oneself altogether to the law of God, wanting no security, but in faith and obedience laying the destiny of the nations in the hand of Almighty God, not trying to direct it for selfish purposes.  Battles are won, not with weapons, but with God.  They are won where the way leads to the cross.  Which of us can say he or she knows what it might mean for the world if one nation should meet the aggressor, not with weapons in hand, but praying, defenseless, and for that very reason protected by 'a bulwark never failing'? - The Church and the People of the World, from the Ecumenical Conference at Fano, 1934.

What is the purpose of a pastor of the Church of Jesus Christ?  If you answered: To encourage a governmental leader to start a war that will kills thousands, perhaps millions of innocents, you're evidently not alone, but just the same, I'm frightened of what that says about the priorities and perspective of some Christians.  As always, the marriage of Politics and Church is an abusive relationship, what may be gained by it is a paltry excuse for what is lost, that observation just got a lot more serious.

To read the Washington Post article which contains the quotes of Pastor Jeffress, click on the following link: ‘God has given Trump authority to take out Kim Jong Un,’ evangelical adviser says

Sermon Video: Finish the Race - Acts 20:13-24

Of all of Paul's metaphors to describe what it is like to be a Christian, running a race is of course my favorite.  In his farewell address to the elders of the church of Ephesus, Paul speaks of his efforts as a missionary in Asia minor and Greece, recounting how he conducted himself with integrity, and carrying out his God-given mission of sharing the truth of the Gospel proclamation of the need of all mankind of repentance and faith.  Paul contends that he has finished his "race", and offers up to us the encouragement that we can likewise fulfill our role in the kingdom of God and finish our own race.

Throughout the message are sprinkled references to my running of the Oil Creek Trails 100's 50k race in October of 2015, a difficult 31 mile race that became brutal for me due to dehydration.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Is mankind wicked? Is there any doubt? Jeremiah 17:9

The prophet Jeremiah, a man called of God to warn a people gone astray who did not listen to him, wrote this chilling thought, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9)  While it would be easy to speak of the wicked/fallen nature of humanity based upon historical events like the many genocides exemplified by the Holocaust, reading my local paper this past week provided, unfortunately, ample evidence.  In just one week, our local paper (which is excellent by the way) reported on two ongoing cases involving the trials of local teachers accused of a sexual relationship with a student, of two men accused of raping children, one of whom was also his own child, and to top it off, a two year old child found naked in the middle of a busy road while his parent was passed out drunk on the couch with a second one year old child being neglected in the crib.  Are you kidding me?  This isn't the big city, our county only has 53,000 people living in it, and yet these five incidents represent evil that was both reported and prosecuted, in other words, there is more than this going on, these are just the people who were caught.
The old saying, "ignorance is bliss" isn't true.  Would I rather not know about child rape and endangerment going on in my community, of course, but only if it wasn't happening.  How can we combat evil if we don't recognize it?  Still trying to cling to the notion that people are essentially "good" and in no need of help from God?  Good luck with that, me, I'll continue to trust in the saving power of Jesus Christ to rescue us from our woeful state transforming those who trust in him through the power of the Holy Spirit, and I'll continue to share that message of hope to a world sorely in need of it.

Paul: A truly Christian evangelical preacher

While preparing for this week's sermon on Acts 20:13-24, I came across this quote from Matthew Henry's commentary regarding the preaching of the Apostle Paul, although it was written centuries ago, the wisdom of Henry's words remains.

"Ministers must preach the gospel with impartiality; for they are ministers of Christ for the universal church.  He was a truly Christian evangelical preacher.  He did not preach philosophical notions, or matters of doubtful disputation, nor did he preach politics, or intermeddle at all with affairs of state or the civil government; but he preached faith and repentance, the two great gospel graces, the nature and necessity of them; these he urged upon all occasions."

How much more effective would the Church in the world today be if 100% of its ministers followed this advice?  Focus on the Gospel, return to the themes of faith and repentance again and again, let others worry about the affairs of this world, you have been called by God to shepherd his flock, your priority is the sheep.