The progression of our faith - II Peter 1:5-7

In our Bible study today we talked about the list that Peter wrote when he was talking about our efforts to "participate in the divine nature" through God's power and our knowledge of his Son, and ultimately to "escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires." (vs. 4)  That sounds great, but how are we to make any progress from the fallen state which God saved us from through Christ to the elevated state that God has promised we will one day attain through his power?  Where do we begin such a journey?
There are several lists of virtues in the New Testament whose order would not seem to be overly significant.  The fruit of the Spirit in Galatians, for example, are not listed in any ascending or descending order.  Here, however, in II Peter, the list is set up from the beginning of our journey, faith, to its eventual conclusion, love.  The journey must begin with faith.  We cannot approach God any other way because of our sinful rebellion against his holiness. 
Once someone becomes a believers in Jesus Christ, a Christian, where do they begin in the process of becoming Christ-like?  The first step is goodness; begin by doing that which is kind, generous, merciful, etc. and let your new found faith put down roots.  The next step is knowledge.  One needs to learn WHEN to do this or that, HOW to do it, and WHY.  Our motives become significant as well as our wisdom as we learn the difference between absolute truth and the freedom that we have in Christ to judge in debatable matters.  The attainment of knowledge leads to the realization that self-control is necessary as well.  Once we learn the depth of what it takes to act in goodness, we need to learn to control ourselves so that our progress is forward (and not 3 steps forward, 2 steps back) and doesn't self-destruct in fits of anger, jealousy, pride, anxiety, or fear.  Self-control is one of the hardest things to learn for any Christian, a difficult step to move beyond.  How can we possibly continue to have self-control when life throws curve balls at us?  Now we need perseverance.  We need the ability to do the right thing, in wisdom and self-control even when the circumstances of life are working against us.
When we have come this far, we can begin to glimpse the mind and heart of God, we can begin to understand what godliness is all about.  Why would God send his Son to die for our sins, why would God create us in the first place?  Understanding God's motives helps us to live in imitation of our savior.  It is only now, when we have made so much progress in fixing our own flaws (through the Holy Spirit's power and God's patience with us) that we can understand why we should care about other people.  Brotherly love costs us something.  It is easy to love those who love you back, but we are called to a higher standard.  We must show kindness to strangers, to those who can do nothing to repay us, and we must show kindness to our families, to those with whom we have a history.  And now, at the end of the list comes the word that our world places at the beginning: love.  We don't know what love really is in our culture.  We use love when we mean lust, we use love when we mean "a mutually beneficial arrangement", and we use love when we intend to toss it away when it now longer serves our purpose.  The Christian knows love because Christ died for our sins while we were still in rebellion against God.  The love at the top of Peter's list is a self-sacrificial love that puts others first at great cost to itself.  That this love is far removed when the kind people talk about every day is no surprise to any who observe the shallow and self-centered "love" that fails time and time again to stand in the face of adversity. 
How does the Christian advance in his or her faith and reach toward being like Christ?  By adding to faith with goodness, then knowledge, and then self-control, and perseverance, and godliness, then brotherly kindness, and finally love.

When you know the little ol' ladies are praying...

I have a theory: God listens to those little ol' ladies when they pray.  How do I know this?  I've had a sizable number praying for me, they've told me they are and I know they take it seriously, and something that happened on Sunday night proved God was listening to them.

As I was walking across the church parking lot to go invite some kids from the playground to our Awana kick-off event that was about to start, I noticed a young man (maybe 20, at least my size) walking along the sidewalk toward the parking lot carrying a baseball bat.  In the parking lot stood a group of teens (3 or so of them, probably all 15-16) who were yelling a variety of profanities at the approaching man.  It was obvious in a moment that a fight was about to begin.  With plenty of little kids in the area, not to mention a busy street a few feet away, I reacted on instinct.
Now, I've broken up a variety of fights in my day, one can't avoid physical confrontations when working with troubled teens, but this was something new.  Within moments I was standing between two young men, both of whom were yelling through me at each other, and one of whom I was facing as he held that baseball bat in his hands.  Were the cops coming, had anyone called them, no idea.
After several minutes of telling both sides that a fight wasn't going to help them any, that the cops would be sure to haul of to jail a guy swinging a bat in public, the two sides drifted apart.
It was only then that the realization hit me that I had been face-to-face with a guy I didn't know who was in a mood to swing a baseball bat at someone.  As I said before, the little ol' ladies pray for me.
That young man went to jail that night, the cops hoping to diffuse the situation, and the teen, whom I know a little bit from playing basketball at the park, came over later to apologize for using profanity in front of a pastor; who knows, perhaps this crazy moment will bear positive fruit in the future.
Five minutes later I'm leading 30 kids and a group of parents in prayer so we can start our Awana cookout, what a crazy thing the ministry is sometimes.

Taking a break from all your worries...

I just completed a week of vacation during which my wife and I returned to Michigan to spend some time with family and friends and camp up at St. Ignace during Labor Day weekend.  It was a needed respite for me from the daily requirements of the ministry, a chance to set aside for a while the cares and concerns for God's flock that can seem never-ending to those in pastoral ministry.
Of course, there are plenty of people whose jobs and family responsibilities make my work seem like a cake-walk, but we all need to take some time away from our regular routine now and again in order to gain perspective and remain fresh in our pursuits.
One of the things that pastors miss out on is the ability to attend church as a participant and not a leader.  Our Sunday mornings, and other occasions in which we gather to worship, revolve around preparation and delivery of spiritual food and nourishment for others, but this same nourishment can be difficult to partake of when you're busy working to make it happen. 
My pastoral mentor, Pastor James Frank, once told me that in sermon preparation one has to "preach the sermon to yourself first".  The same holds true in preparing a lesson for Sunday school or getting ready to lead a Bible study; those of us in leadership need to teach ourselves the lesson that is to be learned before we try to teach it to others.  There is another point to remember: we also need to be open to the chance to learn a lesson during the delivery of the message itself.  It may take the form of an insight that you never saw until this moment, or perhaps be in the form of a question or comment from someone afterwards, but those who minister God's Word should always be ready for that preaching/teaching to rebound.
In the end, our vacation was a good one, we spent time with loved ones and enjoyed God's wondrous creation.  Now, as I prepare this week's sermon I can do so with a heart that is refreshed and ready to be taught once more.

Sermon Video: "no prophet is honored in his hometown" - Luke 4:22-30

As Jesus begins his public ministry he proclaims his calling in his hometown by reading a passage from Isaiah concerning the Messiah.  Those who knew him best were perplexed because his wisdom was obvious, but they were unwilling to accept such a claim by "Joseph's son".  The double mistake of being judgmental and unwilling to recognize error leads Jesus to tell the fellow Israelites of his hometown that God is willing to go to the Gentiles if his people reject their chance.  Rather than respond with repentance, the people attempt to kill Jesus, but he simply walks through the crowd and goes on his way.

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

Is being a Christian hard?

At our Bible study today we were talking about I Peter 4:17-19 which lent itself to the question: Is it hard to be a Christian?  The answer is a bit of a paradox until you understand it.  On the one hand, it is exceedingly easy to BECOME a Christian.  It is after all, a free gift of God given by grace.  Jesus accomplished all the work that was necessary on the cross and confirmed his victory over sin through the empty grave.  For us to accept what God has already done for us requires a simple act of faith; it's easier than a lot of people assume.  On the other hand, it is exceedingly difficult to BE a Christian.  It is after all, a calling to live a holy and righteous life in which our example to imitate is Christ.  If that wasn't difficult enough, we also can expect to face persecution precisely because we follow in the footsteps of Jesus, as well as the refining "fire" of God's will that helps us to become more useful Christians.  God is indeed looking for servants who can do his will, not fans to sit in the stands and cheer him on.
Is it hard to be a Christian?  Yes, yes it is, the more so when you take your faith seriously.
Is it hard to become a Christian?  No, no it isn't, all you need to do is accept God's gift of grace.