Sermon Video: Joy to the World - Luke 2:8-18

Following the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, angels appear to shepherds in the night, amazing them and sharing the news that a Savior, the Messiah, has been born.  An incredible culmination to the humble narrative of the birth of Jesus, as God chooses shepherds to be the first witnesses and the first bearers of the glad tidings of joy and hope.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: The Child of Bethlehem - Luke 2:1-7

A journey to Bethlehem by Mary and Joseph culminates in a humble birth for the Messiah in a manger, beginning a life of service and self-sacrifice.

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Sermon Video: The Promise to Abraham fulfilled by Jesus - Luke 1:39-56

Following her incredible encounter with Gabriel, Mary journeys to visit her older cousin Elizabeth, who herself is in the midst of a miraculous, although natural, pregnancy.  When Mary arrives, the Spirit moves both Elizabeth, and John in her womb, to acknowledge the magnitude of what the will of God is beginning to accomplish through the child Mary is bearing.
After Elizabeth's blessing, Mary responds with a humble speech, full of references to the Scriptures and modeled after that of Hannah, which extols the glory and righteousness of God, and ends with an acknowledgement that God is indeed remembering the promise that he made to Abraham to bless all nations through his descendants.  Within one generation of Mary's words, the Gospel of Jesus Christ will be preached even beyond the borders of the Roman Empire, establishing a Church that would grow to encompass more of humanity than any other creed.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: "How will this be?" The Miracle of Christmas - Luke 1:34-38

In a key passage of Scripture, the angel Gabriel responds to Mary's question, "How will this be?" with an explanation of how the Son of the Most High will actually come to be.  He makes it clear to Mary that the child she will bear will not be conceived in the natural way, he will not have a human father, but instead will be the result of an encounter with the Holy Spirit.  The combination of humanity and deity, allowing Jesus to be both the Son of God and the Son of Man, was a unique miracle, an entrance of God himself into his creation.  As further assurance, Gabriel offers to Mary the example of Elizabeth's unexpected pregnancy.  The response of Mary to this stunning news is both simple and correct, "I am the Lord's servant."

To watch the video, click on the link below:

All-or-nothing morality complacency refuted by Gandalf

My congregation knows that I will use an illustration from the Lord of the Rings whenever one comes to me, its either a gift to them or a curse, depending upon one's view of Tolkien's masterpiece.  That being said, while I was re-reading the LOTR for the 15th+ time this past week, I was struck by the wisdom of a conversation between the wizard Gandalf (who is actually an immortal Maiar named Olorin {nerd alert!}, akin to an angel), and the leaders of the resistance to Sauron (also a Maiar, i.e. a fallen angel or demon).  Gandalf tells Aragorn, the next king of Gondor, Eomer, the next king of Rohan, Prince Imrahil, and the sons of Elrond that, "it is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till.  What weather they shall have is not ours to rule."

What, then, is the relevance of the advice of a fictional wizard given to fellow fictional characters regarding a fictional moral and existential threat?  As it turns out, a great deal.  J.R.R. Tolkien's mythology, while embracing at times a Norse attitude of fatalism influenced by a belief in Ragnarok (seen in the ride of the Rohirrim to battle to aid Gondor, despite the near-certainty of defeat), remained fundamentally an ethos that reflected his own Christian worldview.  Tolkien believed in God as Creator, in God as Savior, and in God as the ultimate judge of humanity.  He believed that our actions, and our attitudes, matter.  He believed in the reality of Right and Wrong.  And so, when faced with a seemingly insurmountable evil, the advice of Gandalf, a voice that could double as that of Tolkien himself, is to do our best with what is in front of us.
It has become common in politics, and more frighteningly, for some within the Church, to look at global problems, national problems, or even localized problems, as being too big to solve.  If the problem cannot be 100% fixed with any particular attempted solution, then the effort is dismissed and nothing is done.  In other words, if the whole problem can't be solved in one fell swoop, don't bother trying.  This myopic pessimism is both morally reprehensible and extremely dangerous.  If 1,000 children were starving in the midst of a famine, and you only had food enough to save 10, how would you explain to Almighty God that you decided to do nothing, not even save those you had the power to save, because you couldn't do everything?  To do nothing is an act of moral cowardice, to do nothing is a violation of what has been entrusted to us by God.
What moral evil is starring you right in the face?  What problem is in your very neighborhood, as an individual, a church, or a community, that you could impact with the resources you already have?  Do something, try, make an effort in the battle between Good and Evil.

Consider the words of the 18th century philosopher Edmund Burke, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."  We must act, we must strive, for evil does not sleep.
With more authority, a few examples of the call to action from Scripture:
 Matthew 25:14-46, the parable of the Talents (in which the one who is condemned buries his responsibility in the ground and does nothing) as well as the famous line, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mind, you did for me."
Ephesians 6:10-13, Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Hebrews 12:1-3, Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
James 2:17-18, 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”  Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.

Steven Spielberg uses this same notion as the capstone of Schindler's List, a variation of a quote from the Talmud (Sanhedrin 4:5) spoken by Ben Kingsley's character, Itzhak Stern: "Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire."

Sermon Video: The Virgin and the throne of David - Luke 1:26-33

The classics are worth another look, whether its your favorite book or movie, quality is worth repeating.  When it comes to the Nativity narrative in the Gospel of Luke, the same holds true, even if you've heard the story dozens of times, there are still deep and profound truths worth reinforcing and exploring. 

The arrival of the angel Gabriel at Nazareth to speak to Mary marks the beginning of the centerpiece of God's vast plan of redemption for humanity.  In accordance with his plan, God chooses a young woman pledged to be married to a man with a claim as a descendant of David, a morally upright couple, through whom the grace of God will work as the mother and adopted father of the Son of the Most High.  The surprise visit is only the beginning, for God is working to establish a kingdom that will endure forever, quite a lot for a virgin teen to take in.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Life expectancy dropped in the U.S. last year; despair is blamed, hope is the answer, and we have it to share.

Life expectancy in the United States dropped last year, and not from disease, war, or natural disasters, but due primarily to increases in both suicides and drug overdose deaths.  The statistics can be read in this article: Fortune: Here's Why Life Expectancy in the U.S. Dropped Again This Year  The associate professor who co-authored the report for the CDC, Steven Woolf, said "We are seeing an alarming increase in deaths from substance abuse and despair."  On average, 115 people die in America each day from a drug overdose, six per day from alcohol abuse, and the suicide rate has increased 24% between 1999 and 2014.  As a nation, we are losing young people at an alarming rate from causes whose root is despair/hopelessness.

There are public policy answers that might help stem the tide, there are things that can be done in the arena of public health to mitigate the worst aspects of this crisis and save lives, but these are not solutions to the question of why so many people in America are hopeless.  Our ancestors had less food, less comfortable and secure shelter and clothing, more fear of lawlessness and violent deaths, lived in a less free society with more injustice, worked longer and harder, were more subject to sudden death by disease, lost more of their children to scourges we have cured, had less education, less recreation, and less opportunity to change their lives for the better.  And yet it is here in modernity, with our unparalleled access to recreation and entertainment that despair and hopelessness have taken hold.  Material prosperity is not alleviating emotional poverty, why?

The element that will typically be left unaddressed in the debate that will follow this alarming report is spiritual health.  Hope is not solely a factor of economic or political situations, well off people in free societies (i.e. America) do not automatically have it, and those living in crushing poverty under repressive regimes do not automatically lack it.  Hope is a quality that mankind can possess, which all other forms of life on this planet are unconcerned with.  Hope is a difficult to define state of mind, but one we recognize when it is present or missing.  Hope is built upon things greater than ourselves, it thrives in community and wilts in isolation, and it hinges upon our expectations of the future.

We are less connected to our community than our ancestors, that much is certain.  We may see far more people in a given day than they could have dreamed of, but we interact on a genuine human level with few of them, and our technology has consistently striven to eliminate the need for true human to human interaction.  This is a part of the problem, but not its root, for that we must go deeper.

When Job lost nearly everything of value in his life: his business, his children, and his health, his wife despaired; who can blame a mother for doing so after enduring such pain?  Job chose not to despair, not because he was a unique human being, but because he understood something fundamental about human existence: it belongs to God.  Job responded to his wife by saying, "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" (Job 2:10)  Later, in response to his friends' attempts to understand his tragedy, Job said, "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him" (Job 13:15).  Job did not understand why he had suffered, he didn't see a purpose or a reason for it, but he did not give in to despair, he did not rage at God or take his own life, because even at the lowest point imaginable in his life he still knew who his Creator was, knew that God's love transcended the circumstances of life, and knew that one day he would stand before God in judgment.  Even when life told him otherwise, Job had hope because he was adamant in his belief in the goodness of God.

Hope is not our own creation, we cannot socially engineer it, we cannot package and sell it, it is a gift from God, a gift for those in relationship with the one who created them, sustains them, and will one day live with them.  As a runner, I can't help but like Isaiah 40:31

Isaiah 40:31 New International Version
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.

To live without hope is to live as a shell of what you were intended to be.  The Church of Jesus Christ is the caretaker of the hope that was given to humanity in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  When he ascended into heaven, having completed the Father's mission by securing the ultimate victory over sin and death, Jesus entrusted the sharing of that Good News (i.e. The Gospel) to his followers.  Since that day, nearly 2,000 years ago, the Church has attempted to share the news that God is willing to forgive those who repent, is willing to save them from the fallen state of humanity if they believe in his Son, and is willing to transform them, by the Holy Spirit, into the likeness of Jesus.  This news is hope beyond our imagination, it is light shining in the darkness, water to those dying of thirst, and it is free.  Freely given, freely received.  It is also available to all, men and women, young and old, of any race or nation, all are eligible, all are invited to join those who have found hope in what God has done for us through Jesus.

Paul wrote in his letter to the church at Ephesus about the transition from hopelessness to hope:  "remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.  But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ." - Ephesians 2:12-13

Living life while ignoring our spiritual need, a need all human beings share, is the path to despair.  Faith in Jesus is not a magic elixir, it doesn't take away all our troubles, or make us immune to pain and sorrow, but it does provide a foundation upon which we can stand, a shelter in times of storm.  As the writer of Hebrews put it: "we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.  We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure." Hebrews 6:18b-19

The local church is a community, a group of people who have acknowledged their own shortcoming and have chosen to put their faith and hope in the sinless person of Jesus instead of themselves.  They are not perfect, but they are will one day be perfected by God.  They are not free from difficulty in this life, but they know that in the next they will see the face of God and all sorrow will be no more.  They worship, pray, and serve those in need, together, because God created us to be social, because we can shoulder each others burdens, and because there is great joy in being a part of the family of God.

Despair has lowered the life expectancy of the average American, but it doesn't have to be this way.  The problem derives from the spiritual barrenness that afflicts so many, and the solution addresses that very problem.  Belief in the saving power of Jesus Christ is faith, and faith belongs to a powerful trio: faith, hope, and love.

Faith is not anti-fact, at least it's not supposed to be.

There is a misconception, among both Christians and non-Christians, that the faith that is centered upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ is in some way anti-fact.  In other words, to believe in Jesus Christ is irrational.  There are some within the Christian community, both now and historically, who would applaud that characterization, for their understanding of faith tends toward the mystical and away from the logical.  While it is true that at the heart of Buddhism there lies an illogical contradiction (i.e. that I don't really exist, that the things I sense are not in fact real), this is not the case with either Judaism or Christianity.  Judaism and Christianity (and Islam) are predicated upon a God who created this universe rationally because God himself is a rational being, and while the nature of God may be beyond our understanding, limited as we are in time and space, we do not believe God to be self-contradictory.  God, whose is spirit, chose to create a universe governed by the laws of physics, a universe in which 2+2=4 and cannot at the same time also equal 3 or 5.  As beings created in the image of God, part of our existence is the way in which our minds understand and utilize logic.  The Rationalist philosopher Immanuel Kant popularized the idea of a priori knowledge, that which we do not need to be taught, but which is hard-wired (as it were) in the human mind. 

How then does faith fit with logic/rationality?  This is of course a large topic, one which has been the subject of many books arguing various nuances.  Let me simply take a brief look at the definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1 and the examples that follow it.

"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."

At first glance, this verse might seem to lend weight to the idea of faith as an irrational thing, after all, what else can you say about believing something you don't see?  The listing of the Jewish saints that follows 11:1 confirms that the description is not intended to be one of irrationality.  Beginning with Abel, the author lists one after another of the men and women who, by faith, acted righteously.  If you look back at the stories that these examples refer to, you see that these people were not acting contrary to what their senses were telling them, they were not ignoring the facts on had, they were instead listening to the voice of their creator (often directly through conversations, dreams, or visions), responding to the evidence that they and their ancestors had seen regarding the reality of God (such as the birth of Isaac, the parting of the Red Sea, or the preservation of Rahab when the walls of Jericho fell), and obeying the Word received from God himself.  They were willing to live their lives now, even risk their lives, on the basis of what they knew to be true about God, his power, holiness, and love and were thus making a choice that was both rational and logical to value that which is eternal over that which is temporary.  As the soon to be martyred missionary Jim Elliot wrote in his journal in 1949, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."  It might seem crazy to an observer who does not know of God's history of utilizing his power on behalf of his people, to put one's life at risk to obey God rather than men, but it was not crazy at all to the likes of Daniel, who knew who God was, and acted accordingly.

Obviously, this is only scratching the surface of the discussion of faith and reason and how they interact with each other, but it does lend us an important warning about how Christians ought to think and act in this world.  We are not intended, by God, to be those who reject facts, evidence, and the like.  We are not supposed to be irrational, we are not supposed to ignore truths which are inconvenient to us.  Science is not the enemy of faith, neither are its sub-disciplines of archaeology, astronomy, biology, and the like. 

When Christians reject factual evidence out of hand, often for political reasons, they are simply chipping away at the foundation upon which they stand, strengthening doubt and weakening Truth by rejecting truths they do not like.  It is a dangerous game to insist that an event which occurred 2,000 years, and was witnessed by many and duly recorded, it absolutely True, but that which is observable and quantifiable right here and now is a conspiracy or a lie. 

I am not a Christian in spite of evidence to the contrary, my faith is not an act of defiance against rationality and logic.  I do not claim to have attained faith on my own (as if to give credit to my own mind), it is indeed an act of the grace of God to call lost sinners home through the Holy Spirit, but it is at the same time an action which confirms the evidence which my mind saw then and sees now, not one that ignores it.

Sermon Video: Come and see what God has done - Psalm 66

In a psalm of praise, the author speaks of our need to shout for joy to God, to sing the glories of his name, and then recounts the awesome deeds of God for his people and all mankind.  In addition, the psalm mentions that God preserves his people from "slipping" (immorality) through testing them with hardships.  In the end, the people of God, who have been shown the mercy of God, need to speak to others and share "what he has done for me."

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: Praise to the Lord of harvests - Psalm 65

In this psalm David writes of the praise that awaits God for calling us near to him (his holy temple) and forgiving our overwhelming sins, and then writes of the many awesome and righteous deeds of God on behalf of his people, focusing in particular on God as wondrous creator who has set up the earth to give forth abundance.  In our own experience, we live in an era where material abundance has never been greater, where hunger and starvation (while still a threat) are no longer the common experience of mankind.  That being said, we have even more reason that David to echo his praise of God, to continue to uplift the name of our Savior.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

The foolishness of "stay in your lane"

The slang phrase, "stay in your lane" has recently been invoked by the NRA to tell doctors that their opinion (in reality, bloody and often horrific expertise) is unwelcome in the controversial debate in America regarding gun control.  {Washington Post 11/11/18 - ‘Being silenced is not acceptable’: Doctors express outrage after NRA tells them ‘to stay in their lane’}  Rather than weigh in on the topic of gun control, a topic I have already bemoaned regarding its vitriol and lack of civil discourse {If I say anything about guns}, let me instead pontificate a bit about the phrase itself, "stay in your lane".  It should seem obvious that when such a phrase is used to try to keep women or minorities, for example, in "their place", that it blatantly violates a Christian worldview based upon Biblical principles.  After all, the Word of God takes pains to point out repeatedly that from God's perspective, "there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28, NIV)  There is no such thing as a legitimate "place" that belongs to men, or to women, to any ethnic or racial group, to the rich or the poor, to citizens or non-citizens, or any other such distinction.  That such "places" do indeed exist in both the minds of many, in the rules and regulations of society and institutions, and is even enshrined in laws, is a testament to the fallen nature of humanity and our endless capacity to divide each other in order to lessen our God-given equality and God-ordained responsibility toward our fellow human beings.
That man-made groupings used to belittle or devalue other people ought to be anathema to the people of God is illustrated by Jesus choosing to make the hero of one of his parables (the Good Samaritan Lk. 10:25-37) and the recipients of his healing (The centurion's servant Mt. 8:5-13, the Canaanite woman's daughter Mt. 15:21-28) be foreigners whom the self-righteous of his day would have certainly told to "stay in their lane" and away from the Messiah.  Jesus didn't stop with demonstrating God's love for people beyond the Chosen People in terms of race, he also made sure to touch lepers when he healed them, breaking a powerful taboo in the process.  For Jesus, nobody was out of bounds, nobody was a lost cause.
Beyond the affront to Biblical principles of equality, the use of "stay in your lane" also exhibits a gross misunderstanding of where problems come from in society and how they can be mitigated.  Societal problems, whether gun violence, drug abuse, prostitution, gambling, or a host of others, do not exist in a vacuum, do not affect only those involved in them, and cannot be lessened without the help of more than those directly involved with them.  Should doctors be involved in gun violence issues?  Yes.  Should teachers be involved in the opioid crisis?  Yes.  Should ministers be involved in homelessness?  Yes.  Why?  Because we are all created in the image of God, we have all been given the task of combating evil in our midst, and while we hold out no hope that the world's ills can be "solved" while humanity remains in rebellion against God, we do certainly believe that we can and must work together to shine the light in the darkness.
I, as an ordained minister, will not "stay in my lane", whatever that is supposed to be.  I will also not tell non-ministers that they have no business commenting on the affairs of the Church, on theology, or on ministerial ethics.  I am willing to, and I ought to be willing to, listen to the laity of the church, to involve them in ministry, and to heed both their advice and their warnings concerning my ministry.  Arrogance is not an option, dismissal of the value of the contributions that can be made by the overlooked or the outcasts is not an option.  I am a shepherd of the sheep, an honor and a burden, but I am also no more than another worker in the field of the Lord.
We as a society face daunting challenges, this is no more nor no less true today than it has been for thousands of years.  If we are to make a positive difference in confronting these challenges, if we are to help those in need and thwart those intent upon evil, we must do so united, willing to accept help where it can be found, willing to give help wherever we can.  There is no room for "lanes" in the Church of Jesus Christ, so don't worry about staying in one.

Sermon Video: The cost of sin among God's people - Joshua 7

At the 10:50 mark, my daughter Clara interrupts the message to tell me that she can't find her donut from before church, being quick, she escaped the nursery volunteer and ran into the sanctuary to tell me this crucial bit of information...

Following the victory at Jericho, the army of Israel experiences and unexpected setback, caused, they would soon learn, by the sin of one man within the covenant community.  The impurity within God's people contributes to the death of thirty-six men in the ensuing battle, after which the LORD enlightens Joshua about the sin that must be dealt with.  Unfortunately, because the guilty party does not come forward of his own accord, in the end, his life is forfeit.  The episode illustrates the seriousness of sin within the people of God, and its potential to cause harm far beyond the one who commits it.

Sermon Video: The Fall of Jericho - Joshua 5:13-6:27

The story of the fall of Jericho being fairly familiar to many Christians, the text itself from the book of Joshua contains two moments that often are overlooked: (1) The encounter that Joshua has with the "commander of the army of the LORD" in which he is told that God is on "neither" side in the upcoming battle, and the destruction of the "devoted" things in Jericho, which included all living things, people included.
The response to Joshua's question, "Are you for us or for our enemies?" is an important reminder that God is not on our side, rather we have been called to conform to his will.  God cannot be on the side of any particular human being, or group of people, for God is entirely holy, righteous, and just, and no human endeavor can make such a claim.  The focus of God's redemptive story in history is to call humanity back to communion with God, to his will, his mind, his perspective.
The destruction of the people of Jericho is a difficult and disturbing one to consider, but necessary just the same.  Until we understand the absolute right of God to judge the living and the dead, and until we comprehend just how pervasive and vile sin (rebellion against God) truly is, we will fall short of understanding how/why God can pour out wrath on various segments of humanity.  In the end, we must face the reality of the judgment of God, soberly without glee, for it is a tragedy whenever someone created in the image of God is lost, if we are to truly understand grace and mercy.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

After the politics, will you listen?

After you vote today, after the cheering or cursing that will come tonight when the results are known, after the gloating or seeking of blame, will there be an opportunity for the Church to speak Truth and be heard before the partisan passions close people's hearts and minds ahead of the next election?  I know that in the modern American political system that campaigning never ends, that spin is ceaseless, and strategic planning a constant, but perhaps, if the LORD gives us this grace, we might take a step back, turn down the volume of rhetoric and vitriol we're listening to, and open ourselves up to the Word of God that it might speak to us.
What would happen if the people of God viewed the political realm through a Biblical lens instead of viewing the Bible/Church/Gospel through a political lens?  What would change in the Church (and individual Christians) if the world we live in, its problems, and our attempts to "solve" them, were seen through the mind of Christ?  Can you imagine a Church devoid of the need for wealth and power, and instead wholly focused upon holiness, righteousness, and servant-hood?  At present, as is typical in Church history, there are pockets of believers living their lives with Christ at the center, as obediently following the Word of God as their imperfect minds and still present sinful natures allow (As always, by God' s grace and through the power of the Holy Spirit).  There are also, however, once more in typical Church history pattern, those within the Church (whether they truly belong to Christ or not) who have chosen instead to live according to the rules of the kingdom of man instead of the kingdom of God.  They retain a lust for power not acknowledging that our Lord and Savior sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven with unassailable glory and might, and it has corrupted them (us).
What would happen if the Church listened to God, not just some of us, and not just superficially, but most of us, and with all of our fiber and being?  I pray that God will be this gracious to us, will allow us a chance to mend our ways and seek him faithfully, and perhaps he will, but it also seems clear to me that as long as the Church is using politics to interpret the will of God, we won't hear the Word of the LORD when it speaks to us.

Philippians 2:5-8 New International Version (NIV)
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in very nature[a] God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

1 John 2:16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.

Christian Antisemitism: An utterly absurd oxymoron

Tension between Judaism and Christianity goes back to the generation of Jesus and the Apostles.  John the Baptist was accepted as a prophet by the followers of Christ, but rejected by the official leadership of Judaism in Jerusalem.  Likewise, Jesus himself, although like John receiving support from the masses, was rejected by all but a few in the hierarchy of Judaism, a group that was the focus of much of Jesus' ire in his preaching.  In the Early Church, first centered in Jerusalem under the leadership of Jesus' half-brother James, and peopled almost entirely by converts from Judaism (who considered themselves to be reformers of Judaism, not founders of a new religion), there was also tension with the leadership of Judaism which led to the first Christian martyr after Jesus: Stephen. 
The Early Church might have retained a strong connection to Judaism if not for two later developments: the massive success of the Apostle Paul among Gentiles (and concurrent failure among his own people, leading to the anguished thoughts of Romans 9-11, excerpted below), and the destruction of Jerusalem leading to the end of 2nd Temple Judaism and the Diaspora.  As the first generation of the Church came to a close, the organization took on a distinctly Gentile character, and its Jewish origins faded into the background.
Animosity and hostility toward the Jewish minority in what was to become Christendom was not non-existent, but it was never widespread on the level that would become the later pogroms, forced conversions by the Inquisition, and then ultimately genocide at the hands of the Nazis until the Late Middle Ages.  In 1096, in response to Pope Urban II's call for a Crusade to recapture the Holy Land, Peter the Hermit, who raised an army in the Rhineland, perpetuated there the first large scale massacre of Jews by Christians.  To the shame of the Church, this trend has continued to this day, and while few are alive who witnessed the Holocaust, the scourge of Antisemitism residing within those claiming to be a part of the Church remains.

This is, of course, a patent absurdity.  There is no such thing as Christian Antisemitism.  There are those who claim to be Christian who espouse Antisemitism, and there may be those who are indeed Christians whose minds are still infected with Antisemitism, but the two mindsets are diametrically opposed to each other.  In the end, the mind of Christ will prevail, and hate will be banished, or the true un-regenerated nature of those claiming to follow Christ will be revealed and their ongoing hatred will refute any pretense of being a Christ-follower.

There is, and must be, a gap between Christianity and Judaism (as long as one accepts and the other rejects Jesus as the Messiah), but that gap ought to elicit sorrow and compassion on the part of Christians, as it did for the Apostle Paul, and not prejudice or hatred.  We have, as Christians, an undeniable debt toward Judaism, for our New Covenant and New Testament are built upon the Abrahamic/Mosaic Covenant and the Hebrew Scriptures.

It is incumbent upon Christians, always and everywhere, not as an option but an obligation, to reject Antisemitism in both its violent forms and its more subtle conspiracy theories and racial stereotypes, those who fail to do so are doing a disservice to the Gospel, and those who instead embrace them by their attitudes/words/actions are declaring themselves to be fighting against the Word of God, and calling into question their own salvation.

That the Church has failed to live up to the demands of Scripture by allowing Antisemitism to fester and even thrive in its midst, and that the people associated with the Church have been either bystanders to, or complicit in, the brutalization of the Jewish people and eventually their genocide, is the greatest shame and most enduring stain upon the Bride of Christ.  We, collectively, over the past 2,000 years, have failed in this, we will answer to God for that failure, for Christian Antisemitism is an abomination.

Romans 9:3-5 New International Version (NIV)
3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, 4 the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. 5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.

Romans 11:1-6 New International Version (NIV)

11 I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”? 4 And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6 And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.

Romans 11:11-24 New International Version (NIV)
11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. 12 But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!
13 I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry 14 in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. 15 For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 16 If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.
17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18 do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 20 Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. 23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!

What Every Christian Should Know About: Church History

Church History
In this 3 part series, Pastor Powell seeks to highlight some of the most important ideas, people, and movements within the universal Church during its two-thousand year history.  

To view the PowerPoint used by Pastor Powell during the presentation, click on the link below:

Church History PowerPoint

In part 1, the Early Church, the Early heresies regarding the person of Jesus, the Ecumenical Councils, and St. Augustine are the focus.

Church History, Part 1 of 3

In part 2, Monasticism, the power struggle between popes and emperors/kings, the Great Schism, and the Crusades are discussed.

Church History, Part 2 of 3

In part 3, The Reformation, the Thirty Years War, the Modern Missions Movement, and the status of the Church in the World Today are discussed.

Church History, Part 3 of 3

Sermon Video: A Chosen People once more - Joshua 5:1-12

Having successfully crossed the Jordan River, and having memorialized God's display of power, the people of Israel are now commanded by God, through Joshua, to re-institute the rite of circumcision before proceeding on toward Jericho.  As the text unfolds, we then discover that circumcision was not the only thing neglected by the generation that wandered in the wilderness, the people had also not celebrated Passover since Mt. Sinai.  The people obey, observing both the rite of initiation into the covenant, and the feast of commemoration of God's power in keeping the covenant by leading his people from bondage in Egypt. 
Why did God command these things, here and now?  The timing in the book of Joshua is repeatedly emphasized, as God's command to Joshua came on the west side of the Jordan, already in the Promised Land, and vulnerable to their enemies.  Because the battles ahead belong to the Lord, not to Joshua's strategic thinking, the need to be spiritually prepared for the task ahead is emphasized by God when he chooses this moment to insist that the people keep their covenant obligations.
The passage in Joshua reminds us of the need we have as a Church to emphasize both baptism and communion, for they are our rites of initiation and remembrance, and of the need we have as a Church to begin with obedience to the commands that we have already been given.  If we hope to do great things for the Kingdom of God, step one is to obey what we've already been commanded in the Word of God.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

A 16th Century Attempt at Toleration within Christendom

While the 17th century is rightly remembered for the epic bloodshed of the 30 Years War which saw atrocities committed by, and against, Catholics, Lutherans, and Reformed Christians in the name of God (partly, but also propelled by rivalries for power), it is worth noting a little-known attempt at religious toleration, within Christendom, that occurred about 50 years earlier in Transylvania.  In 1568, the Transylvanian Diet (legislature) issued the Edict of Torda, under the direction of their king John Sigismund.  And although their fledgling kingdom was menaced by potential invasion by both the Ottoman Empire and the Hapsburg Empire, they decreed that within the kingdom, the right of Catholic, Lutheran, Orthodox, and Unitarian (Anti-Trinitarian, and thus heretical acc. to the earliest Church ecumenical councils, and the overwhelmingly accepted interpretation of the Scriptures; thus a non-orthdox viewpoint) preachers to be free from governmental harassment or threats.  And while the vast majority within Christian history would consider non-trinitarian views to be heretical, and thus worthy of opposition (a judgment with which I concur), it is remarkable that the Transylvanian Diet refused to allow violence to be used to further theological debates.  This stance of toleration contrasts profoundly with the war that loomed over the divided European landscape, and I know that those who fear heresy consider it to be a menace (rightly) to the Church, but we have also learned that coercion and force are not effective means of spreading the Gospel.  Violence begets violence, hatred begets hatred.  The Gospel will prevail, not by force of arms, but by the power of the Holy Spirit working in the Church of Jesus Christ.  Should we oppose heresy and threats to the Church?  Absolutely, but we must do so with Truth, not lies, with Love, not hatred, and with Peace, not violence.  How the Church defends itself is of crucial importance, let us look to the example of those who would make peace, even with their enemies, even with those they profoundly disagree with, rather than those who shout for violence, especially in the name of Christ.

The text of the edict is below, for a decision made in the 16th century, it is indeed remarkable, and with little precedence.

 "His majesty, our Lord, in what manner he – together with his realm – legislated in the matter of religion at the previous Diets, in the same matter now, in this Diet, reaffirms that in every place the preachers shall preach and explain the Gospel each according to his understanding of it, and if the congregation like it, well. If not, no one shall compel them for their souls would not be satisfied, but they shall be permitted to keep a preacher whose teaching they approve. Therefore none of the superintendents or others shall abuse the preachers, no one shall be reviled for his religion by anyone, according to the previous statutes, and it is not permitted that anyone should threaten anyone else by imprisonment or by removal from his post for his teaching. For faith is the gift of God and this comes from hearing, which hearing is by the word of God." - The Edict of Torda, 1568

Sermon Video: That all the earth might know the LORD - Joshua 4

Having provided a supernatural way across the Jordan River, the LORD instructs Joshua to have the people of Israel construct a memorial using twelve stones carried from the midst of the river.  The memorial is to serve as a object lesson to facilitate the teaching of future generations regarding the wonders performed by God on behalf of his people.  In addition to the construction of the memorial itself, Joshua instructs the people that it will be the responsibility of future parents to teach their children about the LORD.
Both of the ideas in Joshua chapter 4 are easily applicable to the Church today.  We too need to celebrate what God has done for us, finding appropriate ways to memorialize them, and we too need to emphasize the need for parental responsibility regarding the instruction of the next generation regarding the LORD.  As a Church, it is our responsibility to reinforce and encourage the instruction that ought to begin in the home, which of course necessitates that those who are parents within the Church have themselves been instructed in order to make them capable of teaching their children.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

This blog was "blacklisted" by Facebook, here is my response.

As some of you may have heard, my blog (a link to which I cannot provide here for reasons that will become clear shortly) was "blacklisted" by Facebook's automated system on Wednesday of this week " because it includes content that other people on Facebook have reported as abusive." Well, at least that's the error message I'm getting, since there are no actual human beings at FB to help with such issues, I'll never know who objected to my blog posts (shared on FB), how many people objected, which post(s) they objected to, nor what about my posts bothered them so much...

So let me muse about what it might be. Some things are relatively easy to ascertain...

1. It isn't about politics, at least it shouldn't be. The only comments I've made in the past 7 years about politics are responses when politicians, pundits, etc. have invoked the Bible, have claimed to be representing Christian morals/principles. As a pastor, I have both the education and the obligation to defend the Christian worldview against those who would bend and twist it to satisfy their own lust for power. If taking the stand that Christians should not trade their souls for temporal power has offended some Christians, I refer such feelings to the one who commanded them to devote themselves to Him alone.

2. It isn't because I've insulted people, which I haven't. It isn't because I've bullied anyone, haven't done that either. The only times I've named individuals in my blog posts have been when I'm quoting them. Many of those being quoted are long dead (like Machiavelli, I was hard on his this week, but since he died in 1527, I don't think it was him), or else are public figures who have made their opinions known (Bart Ehrman, James White, Andy Stanley, Pope Francis, etc.) in topics directly related to Christianity. Even when I've disagreed, strongly, with these individuals (Bart Ehrman for example), I've done by best to quote them in context, to represent their views fairly, and to explain why I disagree (when I do) with their statement/idea/belief without resorting to name calling, mocking, or hysterics.

3. It isn't because I revel in hot-button topics. Go ahead, visit my blog, look at the topic list on the right...I'll pause, since there is not direct link, it might take a second...In about 8 years, I've written about homosexuality 8 times (Gay marriage and gay rights brings the total to 14), I've written about Islam 16 times, sex/sexuality a total of 28 times...compare that to: The Gospel, 95 times, the Church, 121 times, poverty 38 times, prayer 35, Jesus 138 times, The will of God 84 times, forgiveness 42, faith 83, I think you get the point. I write about what my congregation needs to be thinking about, what I encounter in my pastoral work, the issues that face our community of Franklin, and the wider issues affecting the Church as a whole. I don't choose things to be "click bait", I don't say things I don't truly believe just to rile people up, and I don't make statement that aren't backed up by Scripture (to the best of my understanding and ability).

So, in light of this little introspection, what am I going to keep doing?

Will I continue to call upon Christians to live like Christ, and point out the hypocrisies and failures of the people of God when we do not? Yep.

Will I continue to reject the siren's call of power, wealth, and fame which have so infected so many claiming the name of Christ in America? Yep.

Will I continue to advocate for the poor, the downtrodden, the refugees, homeless, despised and rejected of society? Yep.

Will I continue to call for ecumenism within the Church and for adherence to the Gospel's call of universal Truth and application to people of every tribe, nation, and language? Yep.

The truth of the matter is that I have no idea who objects to views or why. I doesn't really matter, I've been called by God, ordained by his Church, chosen to shepherd this particular local church here in Franklin, and dedicated my life to the cause of Kingdom of God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the living out of the Fruit of the Spirit. My course is set, my life is not my own, I was bought with a price, the precious blood of the lamb.

Facebook has been a help to getting people to see my blog posts, and working around the blocking of my site will be annoying for as long as it lasts, but I'm not changing a bit. Not because of pride, nor stubbornness, but because I've always approached the words I speak and the words I type with gravity, and so I will quote the words of Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms (without any pretense to my situation being at all of the gravity of his)..."Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen."

Why "winning" as the goal ought to be anathema to Christians

To 'win', at all cost, and by all means, whether in business, politics, or personal relationships, is an idea embedded in the human heart.  Unfortunately, the disregard for morality, and the value of other people, in the pursuit of 'victory', is a symptom of the darkened heart of mankind apart from God.  As such, the people of God, those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, and are therefore no longer under the power of what the Apostle Paul terms, the "flesh" (our sinful nature), must forcefully and consistently reject the false claim that "the end justifies the means".

The modern era is not the first time that attempts have been made to remove morality as a check on human behavior, the Italian Renaissance political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli advocated the divorce of morality from politics in his seminal work, The Prince.  In it he wrote, "He who neglects what is done for what ought to be done, sooner effects his ruin than his preservation."  Thus, immorality is to be excused when it is deemed necessary, hence the association with the immoral claim that "the end justifies the means."  Machiavelli, while influential, was certainly not the first to treat morality as a hindrance to be disregarded when necessary.  The first king of Israel, Saul, convinced himself that he needed to offer a sacrifice to God prior to an upcoming battle, despite knowing that he was not to usurp the role of the prophet Samuel, because necessity demanded it.  Saul's disregard for the expressed will of God was instrumental in his downfall and the choice of David to replace him.  By contrast, in Scripture there are examples of the rejection of this abdication of morality: Joseph remained true to the moral code of the God of Abraham despite the opportunities he had to abandon it when faced with the advances of Potiphar's wife.  Even as a wrongly enslaved man, Joseph refused to set aside his devotion to doing what was right.  In addition, the Apostle Paul and Silas refused to run from jail in Philippi, despite being unlawfully imprisoned, when an earthquake damaged the facility.

Throughout the Scriptures, those who abandon morality when convenient come to bad ends and those who hold true to the Law of God (whether specifically or in principle) are commended.  That is not to say that those who choose to do what is right are always vindicated in this life, nor are they promised such by God, neither do all those who choose to set aside right/wrong receive punishment for their immorality in this life.  Therein lies the rub.  When righteousness is not immediately rewarded, and wickedness is not immediately punished, the selfish and rebellious heart of man begins to seek ways to avoid the absolute demand of God that we live holy and righteous lives, it seeks loopholes, shortcuts, compromises, and makes Faustian bargains.  Such is the darkness of the heart of man in rebellion against God.  For the people of God, however, this cannot be tolerated or excused.  When we go along with immoral means with the hopes of achieving an end we deem to be worthy, we sully the name of Christ and grieve the Holy Spirit.  When we choose power, wealth, fame, or any other moniker of 'success', pursued by immoral actions, we abdicate our responsibility to be salt and light in this world, endanger our witness to the Lost, and call into question the genuineness of our conversion and discipleship.  

For all those who prioritize 'winning' or 'victory' above the call of God to live always, and in all things, according to his Holy Word, a series of warnings from God are a reminder of the futility of that path.

Psalm 1

1 Blessed is the one

    who does not walk in step with the wicked

or stand in the way that sinners take

    or sit in the company of mockers,

2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,

    and who meditates on his law day and night.

3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,

    which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither—

    whatever they do prospers.

4 Not so the wicked!

    They are like chaff

    that the wind blows away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

    nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,

    but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Ephesians 5:5-7 New International Version (NIV)

5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.  6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them.

Romans 3:8 New International Version (NIV)

8 Why not say—as some slanderously claim that we say—“Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is just!

It may seem possible to play in the mud without getting dirty, it may seem possible to make bargains with or support others who act immorally without ourselves becoming tainted, but these are lies, lies from the Father of Lies, and lies of a mind not in submission to the will of God.  The choice is clear: Either we, as God's people called from darkness into light, walk in the light, win or lose, success or failure, or we don't.  

Mark 8:36-37 New International Version (NIV)

36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?

Sermon Video: Israel crosses the Jordan River - Joshua 3

The crossing of the Jordan River by the people of Israel as they entered at last into the Promised Land need not have required a miracle.  The people could have entered into the land using a variety of means, but were directed to cross the Jordan, while it was at flood stage, for a very specific reason: God wanted to demonstrate his power to his people once more, and at the same time, to show that Joshua was his chosen leader.

For God, the performing of miracles is not a burden, nor a challenge, the focus then in scripture when we encounter God working miracles is the question: How do the people respond to seeing God at work?  In this case, the response required of the people by God was simple, they need only watch the priests enter the river carrying the Ark and then cross the river once its flow had been interrupted.

What then do we glean from reading about the crossing of the Jordan by Israel?  As the Church, we too know that when God chooses to act that the availability of power will not be an issue.  Like Israel who had God among them, the blessing of having God in our midst (via the Holy Spirit indwelling believers) assures us that amazing things are entirely possible when we obey his Word.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

How should I interact with my pastor?

I can't speak for all of us, but perhaps some examples from my own perspective might help both my congregation and those from other flocks understand both positive and negative ways of interacting with your pastor...

• DO...Seek my help when you need it.  It doesn't matter if its the middle of the night, it doesn't matter if you're not a member, or even if you're new to the congregation.  If you are in a spiritual crisis (or an emotional, relational, financial, or health one) please don't try to go it alone.  An FYI, I may have run an ultra-marathon last week, but I'm no masochist, I don't keep my cell phone next to my bed; if you don't get an answer on my cell between 11 PM - 7 AM, leave a voice mail or text and then call the parsonage number.
• DON'T...Call me before calling 9-1-1 if you have a health/safety emergency.  I'm not a doctor, nor have I medical training beyond CPR, nor am I a psychiatrist, or a suicide-prevention specialist.  In a genuine medical emergency, seek medical help first, then call me or have a relative call me and I'll meet you at the hospital.  If it is a safety emergency, call the police, they're trained to help on those situations.
• DO...Seek my advice and counsel on issues of morality.  Applying Biblical principles to our chaotic lives can be difficult, while what you read from a book or off the internet might be helpful, we have a relationship for a reason, so that I can understand what the Word of God would say, not to someone like you, but to you.
• DON'T...Seek my legal counsel, nor my opinion on political matters.  Just as medical school was not in my past, nor was law school, if you need legal advice seek a competent lawyer.  If there is an ethical dimension to your legal issue, I would be happy to offer counsel, but the law itself is beyond the scope of my training.  In terms of politics, I do indeed have well informed and Bible-based opinions (in my case, ones informed also by a deep study of history), but you're out of luck if you want to know what they are.  Why?  As I've said on many an occasion, I will not risk your relationship with God, as supported by your relationship with his local church, in order to gain power/influence in this life.  Political power is transitory and fleeting, the Kingdom of God is forever, it isn't hard for me to choose which I care more about.
• DO...Ask questions and share your insights following my sermon on Sunday, I'm glad to hear that you liked it, if you did, but even more eager to know what your response is to the message I've prepared from the Word.  Likewise, if you're at Bible study on Wednesday, please speak up and ask questions as we work through the text, share what you see, what you've read before, the best Bible study is one of interaction.  Of course, you know that if you don't say anything during Bible study, I'm more than capable of filling the whole hour with my own talking, it just isn't as effective as a back-and-forth conversation.
• DON'T...Begin your phone call to me, or conversation, with, "I'm sorry to bother you, but..." or "I didn't want to disturb you at this hour, but..."  They're not necessary.  It isn't a bother, and you didn't disturb me, especially if the call reflects a true need.  Not only is it my job to be available and to be willing to set things aside to meet sudden needs, but far more importantly it is my calling.  As an ordained minister, one who has accepted the solemn duty to act as shepherd of a flock of our Lord Jesus, I don't consider your troubles to be an imposition; they're an opportunity for me to serve God by serving his people.  Do I value the time I share with Nicole and Clara apart from my work?  Of course I do, and nobody likes to have their dinner or sleep interrupted, but I'll adjust my schedule on a subsequent day and spend that time with my family if I end up spending an evening at the hospital with your family (for example).  If I'm on a date with my wife, or at one of my daughter's functions (when she's old enough to have functions, all too soon), I still need to know that you or your family member is in need, and I'll get to that as soon as possible, in all likelihood after my current family obligation ends, but let me make that determination, I can handle it.  My commitments as a husband and father are sacrosanct, I won't let my service to the church undermine them (nor should my congregation want me to, in fact it is their duty to prevent me from doing so if I foolish begin down that path), so you need not worry about the day/time when you need to reach out, as I said in the first point, seek my help when you need it.

That's enough for now, hopefully these will be of use.

How should Christians feel about refugees?

There are few topics as explosive in the West today as that of illegal immigration and refugees.  Fear of immigrants (legal or otherwise) is certainly not new, one need only recall the "no Irish need apply" signs during the period in American history when immigration from Ireland was relatively high.



The desire to keep those defined as the "other" (whether due to religion, ethnicity, or race) from "invading" one's own land is as old as human history, and also unlikely to end anytime soon.  In light of the lowering of the refugee quotas for the United States in 2019 to 30,000, the lowest amount since 1980 (the actual number admitted could be far lower than that), the question arises, how should Christian Americans feel about refugees?  Note that our brothers and sisters in Europe and around the world face the same questions, and bear the same responsibility to bend their own thoughts/attitudes to the mind of Christ.

Washington Post 9/17/18: U.S. slashes the number of refugees it will allow into the country

The Church today is the sequel (for want of a universally accepted term) to Israel.  The LORD made a covenant with Abraham regarding his literal descendants, but also promised Abraham that all nations would be blessed through him, a promise kept through the advent of the Messiah.  Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures the idea of protecting those whom society might otherwise oppress is repeated many times by multiple authors in a variety of settings.  The Word of God mandates protections for aliens, widows, orphans, and the oppressed in general.  While the Church has not inherited every element of the covenant with Abraham/Moses/David (such as circumcision, the kosher laws, or the Sabbath), we are heirs to the moral code that underlines it, for that moral code was derived from the character of God himself, and since God does not change, neither does right and wrong.

It is unacceptable for Christians, living in any land, to treat those from other lands as less-worthy of the love of God.  We do not believe that there was anything special about ourselves which led to our inclusion within the people of God, it was an act of God's grace, and therefore we do not look at any person or people as beyond the reach of God's grace, and thus all people are in a real and tangible way our responsibility if they need help and we can provide it.  The principle is beautifully illustrated by Jesus in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, in which the hero of the tale is a hated Samaritan, while those refusing to help are considered pillars of the Jewish community.

If Christians allow the siren's call of Nationalism to blind them to their responsibility as the people of God to be a balm to those in need and representatives of the love of God here on earth, they will answer to God for that failure.  If Christians join in and heap condemnation on those seeking succor, treating them as less worthy of God's love, and shutting the door literally or figuratively in their faces, they will answer for that as well.

Is the refugee in question white like me?  That doesn't matter at all, and if you even care about the answer you're not thinking like Christ.  Is the refugee a fellow Christian like me?  If so, my obligation is even greater, if not, my obligation remains and must be fulfilled.  There are ways to rationalize away the call of those in need, political and economic reasons why their cries should be ignored, but they're not Christ-centered reasons, and while they may garner votes for politicians, they won't do you any good when you stand before a Holy God and need to explain the hardness of your heart.

Below is a selection of the array of references in the Scriptures on this topic, see for yourself, this is just the tip of the iceberg:

Exodus 22:21 New International Version (NIV)
21 “Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.

 Psalm 9:9 New International Version (NIV)
9 The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,
    a stronghold in times of trouble.

Psalm 146:7-9 New International Version (NIV)
7 He upholds the cause of the oppressed
    and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
8     the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
    the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the foreigner
    and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
    but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

Isaiah 58:10 New International Version (NIV)
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
    and your night will become like the noonday.

Luke 4:18 New International Version (NIV)
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,

Sermon Video: Rahab chooses the LORD - Joshua 2

As Joshua prepares to lead the people of Israel over the Jordan River and into the Promised Land, he sends two spies ahead of the host to ascertain the status of the first objective, the city of Jericho.  In Jericho, the two unnamed spies encounter and unexpected ally, a local woman named Rahab.  We know little about Rahab, other than the assertion that her profession was prostitution (although some contend the translation ought to be innkeeper, perhaps she was both), but the choice made by Rahab upon meeting the spies will not only preserve their lives but that of herself and her entire family. 

Rumors of the victories of the God of Israel had proceeded the arrival of the people of Israel, and then subsequently enhanced by their destruction of the Amorites on the east side of the Jordan.  Rahab recognizing the power of the LORD, through some combination of divine grace and an open heart/mind, chooses to protect the spies and make a pact with them regarding the future assault upon Jericho rather than remaining loyal to her own people.  In the end, the faith of Rahab as evidenced by her choice is rewarded, her family is spared when the city is destroyed, and she herself will eventually marry a Jewish man, and their child together will be a direct ancestor of both King David and the Messiah Jesus.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Would you tell your daughter NOT to report being raped?

There are a number of practical and societal reasons why someone (male or female) might resist reporting a sexual assault, from the fear of not being believed, to the very real possibility of retribution, to the tendency of many to victim blame.  If these were not enough, and of course we must add to them the often ridiculous back-log of untested rape kits, there has emerged in connection with recent events in America, a theological/moral argument to refrain from reporting/prosecuting sexual assault and rape that is being drawn from the Mosaic Law.

My introduction to this viewpoint came from a Christian apologist/writer whom I have expressed admiration for in the past, and whose writing on issues of Biblical Criticism are well researched and first rate.  Unfortunately, James White, of Alpha and Omega Ministries, took it upon himself to offer a political commentary regarding the controversy surrounding the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.  As you know if you read my blog, I will refrain from making any political commentary, but the use of the Bible by James White (and others as well, he's just the most well known) to advocate for the silencing of those who have been the victims of sexual assault (or by extension, any crime without corroborating witnesses) deserves a response.  I reached out to Alpha and Omega Ministries a week ago with my concerns by email, but received not response.

Please watch the relevant portion of the video before proceeding, the link is below:

James White, Alpha and Omega Ministries, from 9/25/18

The relevant passage of the video begins at the 7:00 mark and last until the 19:29 mark...It references Deuteronomy 19:15-21 and Deuteronomy 22:23-27

19:15 One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

16 If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse someone of a crime, 17 the two people involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time. 18 The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against a fellow Israelite, 19 then do to the false witness as that witness intended to do to the other party. You must purge the evil from among you. 20 The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. 21 Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.


22:23 If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, 24 you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death—the young woman because she was in a town and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated another man’s wife. You must purge the evil from among you.


25 But if out in the country a man happens to meet a young woman pledged to be married and rapes her, only the man who has done this shall die. 26 Do nothing to the woman; she has committed no sin deserving death. This case is like that of someone who attacks and murders a neighbor, 27 for the man found the young woman out in the country, and though the betrothed woman screamed, there was no one to rescue her.

"If you can't prove it, you don't report it" (at 11:30 mark)

My rebuttal to the assertion of James White is not a dismissal of the Mosaic Law, nor is it an abandonment of the principle of "innocent until proven guilty" (both of which he accuses those with a differing view of doing in the video).  It does not come from a secular viewpoint and a liberal agenda, I can't imagine anyone who knows me at all accusing me of either.  This issue is not a case of all-or-nothing as those with a political axe to grind on both sides would have us believe.  Our choice is not between always reflexively believing the man (no matter how many individual women make an accusation, each as the only witness to their alleged assault) or always believing the woman (no matter the collaborating evidence).  James White said that it is our task to "approximate" the justice of God, and he is absolutely correct in that, but then makes it quite clear that because he believes we are incapable of doing anything of the sort, thus any victim of a crime that was not witnessed by others ought to be told, "wait for God's justice, we've got nothing for you here."  Will God judge in the end with absolute truth and justice?  Yes, indeed, but that does not preclude us from doing our best here and now, nor does that excuse us as Christians or as a society from our moral obligation to fight against the evil that exists in humanity.

Is our criminal justice system capable of making mistakes, of letting the guilty go free and convicting the innocent?  Of course it is, sadly often based upon the poverty/wealth and/or skin color of the defendant.  The failure of our system to never convict the innocent does not give us the excuse to throw our hands up and stop trying to prosecute those who are truly guilty.

If a single victim should be morally prevented from reporting the crime which has been done to him/her, if those victims should be dismissed, even threatened with jail for speaking up (by making the assumption that as a single witness it must be a false allegation), we would still have an epidemic of predator priests raging in our nation, and around the world, we would still have Jerry Sandusky, Larry Nassar, and Bill Cosby preying upon their victims {of course, we know how many times attempts to report their heinous crimes were dismissed by those in authority, both in the Church and in the government, allowing the toll of victims to rise ever higher}.

I will continue to defend the need for the people of God to view the Bible as completely authoritative in their lives for both faith (theology) and practice (morality).  I will continue to defend its absolute relevance to us today, as it was to our ancestors in the faith.  I cannot, however, see that in this case, James White, and those who echo his words (more examples in the links below) are showing us the only way to do that.

A criminal justice system must presume innocence, and it must have a high bar of evidence to convict those accused, but it cannot tell the most vulnerable among us that they have no avenue for justice, and it cannot threaten victims with reprisal simply for asking to be heard.  As a society, and as a Church, we have failed to protect the weak and vulnerable from the strong and the privileged, we have far too often allowed politics to color our sense of justice, and we have been complicit in the heaping of shame upon those who have been victimized.  This cannot be what God expects of his people, our call to righteousness demands more.

A perfect system of justice is indeed unattainable, but we've got to do better than to say, "if you can't prove it, you don't report it."  May the LORD spare me from having to ever counsel my daughter about whether or not she should report being sexually assaulted, but I for one would not tell her to be quiet.





(Below are a few examples of Deuteronomy 19 being applied to the current political drama, simply there to show that the commentary of James White is echoed by others.)

AFA commentary: What Should Be Done About the Kavanaugh Nomination?

Engage Magazine: Brett Kavanaugh: Innocent till proven guilty

{Update 11/21  The James White that I used to listen to while working no longer has the same ministry.  In the past 3-4 years he has followed Eric Metaxas down the road of political 'sky is falling' conspiracy theory laden hysteria.  I no longer recommend listening to his messages with the exception of the older material related to textual criticism}

Sermon Video: Be Strong and Courageous - Joshua 1

** Note, we are utilizing new sound equipment for recording the sermons; hopefully you will notice considerable improvement.**

As Joshua prepares to take over the leadership role of Israel following the death of Moses, the LORD encourages Joshua with specific and powerful promises that he will be with Joshua as he was with Moses and that "I will never leave you nor forsake you."  In light of his word, the LORD tells Joshua to "Be strong and courageous" as he leads the people across the Jordan into the land that God has promised to give to the people of Israel.  The encouragement to be strong and courageous is repeated three times in the chapter, and the emphasis that God will give the land to Israel is repeated five times. 

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: Doing the right thing for the right reasons - Philemon

In his short letter to Philemon, an important member of the church at Colossae, and a slave-owner.  The Apostle Paul encourages Philemon to be merciful to his "son" Onesimus, a runaway slave whom Paul had evidently met in Rome and led to faith in Christ, and whom he is now sending back to Philemon.  Aside from Paul's bold statements of Onesimus' equality with Philemon in Christ, the letter is notable for Paul's unwillingness to utilize his authority as an Apostle to order Philemon to do what Paul clearly believed to be the right thing.  Instead, Paul appeals to Philemon on the basis of love, hoping to persuade him to view Onesimus as the spiritual brother that he now is, and for the sake of his friendship with Paul, to send him back to be Paul's helper. 
We, as a Church, often appeal to the need to be morally upright for its own sake; doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do.  And while this is true, and will be effective for some, Paul's appeal to love reveals that it is more fundamental to morality than any intellectual argument.  Does God want us to obey and choose what is right because it is the right thing?  Of course, but it cannot stop there, God ultimately desires for his people that they choose righteousness and holiness out of love for him; in the end, morality is relational.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: Completing the work of the Lord - Colossians 4:7-18

As Paul finishes his letter to the church at Colossae, sending greetings and vouching for those accompanying the letter, a pattern emerges that enlightens us about the Early Church: Paul had a lot of help.  The Apostle Paul may get most of the limelight, and the average Christian may know about his inner circle of helpers like Silas, Luke, and Timothy, but the team that was required to support the ambitious Gospel mission of Paul was far larger and more capable than most people realize.  For us, then, as a modern Church with paid staff leadership in varying configurations, the lesson from Paul's reliance upon a network of helpers is simple: Don't forget the laity.  If we are to be the Church that Christ has called us to be, we need a wide and deep level of involvement from the people sitting in the pews on Sunday.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

The Church: The most diverse organization in the history of the world

The Church, founded by Jesus Christ nearly 2,000 years ago, is indeed the most diverse organization in the history of the world, and at the same time, the most cohesive and tightly knit together.  When Jesus sent his disciples out into the world to share the Good News of his death and resurrection, he sent them to peoples and lands without regard for the race, ethnicity, class, or gender of their audience.  As the Church became established and grew, it soon encompassed a vast array of people who, until their commitment to Christ, would have believed that they had little in common. 

While it is true that the people who comprise the Church have not themselves always been immune to the temptation to sin by treating fellow believers as "other", the spiritual bond of union with Christ that binds the Church together is stronger than any other familial bond, let alone the various other bonds that people enter into willingly.  Those who are indeed part of the universal body of Christ, who have been washed clean by the blood of the lamb, share one characteristic that transcends human frailty and the human propensity to squabble or divide: Each and every Christian is a sinner saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  Unity on that basis cannot be destroyed by the failures of the people who have been called by God out of the darkness and into the light, for it is maintained not by our power, but by the power of God.

Perhaps the vast majority of your experience with church has involved people who look, speak, and think as you do.  Perhaps you've been lulled into thinking that the Church (universal) is a mirror image of the local church to which you belong.  If that is the case, you're not seeing the whole picture.  The Church, universal, is incredibly diverse in virtually every category, much of it very different, perhaps uncomfortably so, on the outside, from what you may have experienced.  And yet, at the same time, that universal Church is bound together by one singular and all-encompassing commonality: Jesus Christ is Savior and Lord of each and every one of his adopted brothers and sisters.

Sermon Video: Make the most of every opportunity for God - Colossians 4:2-6

Before his final greetings, Paul urges one last course of action in his letter to the church at Colossae: prayer.  The particular focus of the prayer that Paul urges upon God's people is the opportunity for a clear presentation of the Gospel.  Paul emphasizes the need for God to "open doors" for the Gospel and reminds the Church that we need to make the most of every opportunity to share the Good News and also ensure that our conversations are always "full of grace".

To watch the video, click on the link below: