Sermon Video: Honoring God through the House of the LORD - Haggai 1

What is the value of the place at which the people of God gather?  We know that the Church is the people of God, not the buildings they meet in or the institutions they create to organize themselves, but does that negate the value (spiritual, primarily, but also emotional) of the worship space of God's people?  The prophet Haggai was sent by God to the Jewish people returned from exile in Babylon to Jerusalem to reassert the need for God's people to rebuild the temple of Solomon that had been destroyed in 586 B.C.  Why did they need to rebuild the temple?  "so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored" (Haggai 1:8).  The place in which God's people meet to worship and fellowship is of immense value.  The returned exiles had neglected for rebuild the temple for 16 years and had thus incurred God's displeasure.  The place where God's people meet doesn't have to be fancy, it doesn't have to be costly, but it does have to function as a meeting place where the presence of God can dwell among his people.  Whether a church meets in a storefront, a simple brick building, or a massive cathedral, they ought to treasure that sacred space, honorably maintain it, and put it to the use intended by God as the Spirit of God dwells among them when they are gathered in his name.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: "You stood aloof", the failure to love your neighbor - Obadiah 10-21

Having foretold the doom of Edom at the start of his prophecy, Obadiah now explains why God's wrath is imminent: the violence against their brother Jacob typified by their indifference to, enjoyment of, and eventual participation in, the time of woe experienced by God's people.  The Edomites experienced schadenfreude, as they enjoyed the troubles of their rivals, and eventually decided to take advantage of the refugees by killing some and selling others into slavery.
God is not a fan of those who take advantage of the troubles of their neighbors, or even their enemies.  Rather than offering a helping hand to those in need, some people see it as an opportunity.  That this it is a grave mistake to treat people made in the image of God this way should be clear, but it is also an insult to the grace which God's people have themselves received if they fail to show kindness to others.  What is your response to misery and woe?  What do you think of refugees, the homeless, and the oppressed?  If we stand aloof and act as if it is not our problem, we will be judged by God.  If we enjoy the misfortune of others, we will be judged by God, and if we fail to act when we have the opportunity to show kindness to those in need, we will indeed by judged by God.

To watch the video, click on the link below:
*Note, this is the 1st video utilizing our new camcorder.  I hope you appreciate the improved quality of the video; thanks to the donor who made it possible.*

White Nationalism and White Supremacy are an abomination to the Church

With the horror of at least 49 people killed by multiple gunmen at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, we are confronted with the danger to civil society of Nationalism and Supremacy movements, both within a given society and in the geo-political sphere between nations.  And while both Nationalism and racial/ethnic/religious Supremacy movements have at times been ascendant around the globe throughout human history, with horrific results, it remains imperative that the Church purge itself of any such sympathies, rejecting them utterly.
Why is any form of Nationalism or Supremacy an anathema to the Church?  Simply put, they are 100% incompatible with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The only way for humanity to approach God is through humility.  If we cannot let go of the delusion that we can please God on our own, we will never accept that Jesus Christ died on our behalf, that he accomplished what we never could, and that our only hope is to accept his finished work on our behalf by faith through grace.  We can only approach God by abandoning any pretext that there is anything about ourselves worthy of God.  Not our ethnicity, not our nationality, not our gender, not our sexual orientation, not our skills or talents, not our job, not our riches, not our power or fame.  Nothing about us impresses God, for we are all alike lost sinners in need of God's grace.  There is no room for pride at the foot of the Cross.  There is no room for considering one type of person better, or worse, than another.  If we resist the call to bow our knee before God, we will remain apart from the saving grace offered by God.
How then can one person, or type of person, be better than others before God?  We may not look exactly alike, and we may see many things differently, but standing before God there is absolutely no difference; we are all equally hopeless in the face of God's perfect holiness.
What hope then do we have, if nothing of ourselves pleases God?  We can indeed be saved, not by anything that we are, or have done, but only when we have been clothed with Christ and transformed by the Holy Spirit.  This will not result in a spirit of superiority, but a servant's heart filled with gratitude and dedication to helping others find the grace we have received from God.
Murder is a direct insult to God who gives life, a horrendous crime whatever the motive.  To kill in the name of national or ethnic superiority is an even great abomination, for it also insults the willing sacrifice of Jesus and his call to share the Gospel with all nations.  Nationalism and/or Supremacy has no place in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and it must have no place among those who follow him, for those who embrace and advocate such ideas are not misguided, they remain apart from God's saving grace and transforming power; they are evil.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

Galatians 3:26-28 (NIV)
26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3:11-14 (NIV)
11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Local newspapers are dying: to the detriment of education, democracy, and the Church

My first job was delivering the Grand Rapids Press {Grand Rapids, MI}.  Five days a week I delivered about 16 papers after school, on Saturday I got up early to deliver the same number, and on Sunday my father drove my brother and I to deliver our whole route together before church {our little sister delivered 6 papers on the other days, but not Sunday morning, that was for the older kids}.  My whole life I have been an avid newspaper reader, maintaining a habit I learned from my grandmother, I read all my old newspapers in order when I return from vacation {Yes, it is emotionally satisfying to do so}.  When I moved here to Franklin, PA in 2012, I discovered pleasantly that our community has an excellent local newspaper: the combined The Derrick / The News-Herald {Oil City - Franklin}.  We are fortunate.  According to this AP news story: Decline in readers, ads leads hundreds of newspapers to fold , over the past fifteen years, 1,400 cities and towns in America have had their local newspaper close up shop, circulation of newspapers in America has declined every year for three decades, and ad revenue has fallen dramatically since 2006 {Meanwhile, Facebook's ad revenue for 2018 was $55 billion}.  It should be obvious that losing our local newspaper would be detrimental to our schools and government, denying us a source of both encouraging and uplifting news and awareness of potential or growing problems.  What may not be readily apparent to everyone is the harm that would befall the Church in Venango County without The Derrick / The News-Herald.
The first significant initiative with which I became involved as the new pastor in town was the Children's Roundtable.  In the fall of 2012, those meetings led to the formation of the exploratory committee which became Mustard Seed Missions.  How did we let people know that we were holding a public meeting about helping those in need in our midst, which several of our current board members {still helping out 7 years later} attended?  We told the local religion reporter and the paper printed an article.  Since its inception, Mustard Seed Missions has received incredible coverage in the newspaper, boosting both our quantity of volunteers and our donations.
The effort to open, and now expand, a homeless shelter in Venango County, now headed up by Emmaus Haven, was also greatly helped by articles in the newspaper highlighting our efforts as a Church community.  In both of these ecumenical ministry efforts, the coverage has been both positive and accurate, a testament to the reporters and editors of our local newspaper.  Would we have been able to successfully launch either of these non-denominational para-church charities without the boost of articles from the newspaper?
In addition, we have a weekly religion page in the Saturday edition of the newspaper, featuring rotating commentary by local ministers, articles about what is happening here in the Church {such as Nicole's Fairy Enchanted Evening fundraiser}, and announcements about upcoming church events and efforts {free of charge, a gift to the community}.
It would be a massive blow to Venango County if The Derrick / The News-Herald were to close at some point in the future.  I know that some of the profit/loss issues facing print media in general are far beyond the control of a small market like this one.  But I also know that there are enough people here in Venango County, enough businesses, enough civic organizations, and yes, enough churches, to keep our excellent newspaper going through our subscriptions, purchases of ads, and cooperation with, and encouragement of, the reports, editors, and staff who publish our local newspaper.  As the AP story says, "Local journalism is dying in plain sight", but it won't here if we offer our ongoing support to one of the freedom's enshrined in our Bill of Rights, our local newspaper.

{As you probably know, my blog has no ads, it earns me no money, nor have I used it before to advocate for any business venture.  Supporting the newspaper of my community, which in the ways I described above, in turn supports the church which I serve, is an exception to my own rule; thank you.}

The Culture War rages on; the Church's role in it is toxic.

The recently concluded United Methodist Church General Conference 2019 is the latest example in a disturbing trend of the politics and viciousness of the Culture Wars finding a home within the Church.  Previously, various Christian leaders, churches, and denominations would at times choose to become involved in various political/cultural issues, attempting by doing so to bolster their viewpoint within society as a whole, but largely remaining outside of the debate itself which was taking place between those advocating positions inspired by a Christian worldview and those coming from a secular viewpoint.  And while fights like that continue to rage over a broad range of issues, they are now being joined more and more frequently by fights within groups of those claiming to represent Christ/God's Word/the Church.  In other words, issues like abortion and human sexuality which once enjoyed a reasonably unified response from a variety of American Church sources are now not only polarizing American culture and politics, but the Church here as well.  This is not unexpected, it has been coming for some time.
On its own, division within the Church is troublesome enough whatever its cause or content might be, what makes it more dangerous here is the extent to which the tactics which are currently devastating our political/cultural discourse are being, or already have been, adopted by those within the Church for both battles in that exterior arena and internal fights against fellow Christians.  Even if it is conceded (and part of the point is that it no longer is) that those on the opposite side of these issues dividing local churches and denominations are wrong in their reasoning or conclusions, and even if one believes that the viewpoint of the opposition is dangerous, it is still a massive moral step to take to act in response as if the, "ends justify the means" to defeat them, or that the confidence that one is right justifies a "win at all costs" mentality.
It has been a consistent warning of mine that the marriage of the Church and political ambition/power is an uneven one that eventually sullies the reputation of the Bride of Christ.  Advancing a cause through political means (or its cousin, judicial) regularly entails deception, character assassination, double-talk, evasion, what-about-ism, moral relativism, alliances of convenience against one's convictions, the corrupting influence of money, and the every present corrupting influence of power itself.  And while it ought to always be inexcusable for a politician to use immoral tactics, whether he/she claims to be a Christian or not, and it ought to be out of the question for Christians to knowingly encourage and support such unethical behavior even when it advances "our cause", it is not contrary (and actually beneficial at times) to the oath taken by a politician to support and defend the Constitution for him/her to forge alliances of convenience and to make compromises for the sake of governance.  It is the job of a politician to represent all of the people, even a Christian politician needs to consider the rights/needs of their non-Christian constituents.  Is it in the best interest of the Church to enter with them into alliances of convenience and compromises for the sake of governance?  Corporations, Unions, special interest groups, and lobbyists all have their own agenda; in what way is that agenda a fitting partnership with the Church?  Is it not better for the Church to focus upon seeking God's will through the Word of God and the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit?  Do we not have sufficient issues within the Church to address (like the sexual abuse scandal which is certainly not limited to Roman Catholics) and sufficient mission priorities outside of the Church to fulfill?
At this point I don't anticipate the possibility of an American Church that isn't knee deep in the Culture Wars in partnership with politicians/parties.  That ship has sailed, and once involved in the fight, like grasping the tiger's tail, it isn't easy to stop.  The politicians will not stop looking for support (i.e. votes) from Church representatives, and those within the Church who are zealous for various issues will continue to seek help for their cause from politicians.  But make no mistake about it, if the culture as a whole continues to secularize, which seems extremely likely, the battles being waged will occur more and more often within the Church, splitting churches asunder, causing rancor and ill will, and tempting people within those churches to fight back "by any means necessary."  If Republicans and Democrats, at least publicly and on TV, act as if their opponents hate America and want to destroy the country, how long will it be until disagreeing factions within churches and denominations are calling those they disagree with enemies of the Gospel?  {If reports from UMC General Conference 2019 are true, such venom was there in abundance}.  Solutions are not easy to come by, I don't pretend to know the right way to move forward, for our UMC brethren or anybody else, but it is important that we recognize the danger of the path the Church is currently walking upon.  The Culture War rages on, and the role the Church is playing is becoming more and more toxic.

Sermon Video: "The pride of your heart has deceived you" - Obadiah 1-9

In the first half of Obadiah's message from the LORD to Edom, the prophet warns Edom that God's judgment is at hand, that they will be brought low despite their self-confidence because the "pride of your heart has deceived you".  In the case of Edom, the descendants of Jacob's brother Esau, who at this point in history have become a consistent enemy of Israel, their pride is related to the defensible nature of their rugged mountainous territory SE of the Dead Sea.  As an application to others, including ourselves, the warning against pride is always apt.  Pride is at the heart of humanity's rebellion against God: denying God's role as our Creator and upcoming Judge, denying that humanity (ourselves in particular) are flawed, refusing to admit, if that must is acknowledged that we can't help ourselves, and lastly pride can turn against the acceptance of what Christ has done on our behalf by grace through faith.
In order to advance in our discipleship, to become more Christ-like, we must put away pride.

To watch the video, click on the link below: