Sermon Video: The Power of Prayer, Part 1 - James 5:13-15

Prayer is a fairly common human response, to troubles in particular.  For the Christian, prayer is a necessary part of our relationship with God.  Through his Word he talks to us, through our prayer (and praises) we respond to God.  Whenever a Christian is in trouble, for whatever reason, he/she should pray.  Whenever a Christian is experiencing happiness or joy, he/she should give God praise.  In all things, our response is to look to God.
James focuses, in particular, upon prayer associated with our health concerns, and rather than simply telling us to pray in response, we are told to bring these needs to the Church (through the church's leadership, i.e. elders) so that the body of Christ can pray together for its individual members.  This process teaches us two things: (1) God certainly cares about our physical needs, frail and mortal though we are, our suffering still matters to God, and (2) the Church needs to care about them as well.  With spiritual needs so pressing, it can be easy for the Church to focus solely upon the souls in their charge, but instead God reminds us to care for the whole person.
Why doesn't prayer always work?  Why do some people make miraculous recoveries, and others, equally fervently prayer for, continue toward the death that awaits us all?  The short answer to this large question is that it is not always the will of God to heal.  That may be tough to swallow, but Job didn't get an explanation from God, and he certainly deserved it more than we do, he simply got a reminder that God is God, enough said.  We never know who will be healed of their illness and who will not, our responsibility is thus to pray for everyone whose need comes before us, to should their burdens, and thus fulfill the Law of Love.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

The Dead-End of Anti-Intellectualism in the Church

One of the favorite themes of a growing number of politicians is an anti-intellectualism aimed at scientists, professors, and intellectuals of all kinds.  They combine this thinly veiled envy with a heaping dose of blue-collar mentality and grand conspiracy theories.  The end result is best illustrated by the insanity of the long-running anti-vaccine movement, a movement that is immune (pun intended?) to scientific evidence for it is all dismissed as being part of the global conspiracy involving governments, the CDC, the UN, and many more.  This same anti-intellectualism continues to be attached to issue after issue, to the detriment of our democracy, for few things are as dangerous to a healthy democracy (yes, I know, our gov't is a Representative Republic, but most people don't know the difference between that and a Democracy) as a purposefully uninformed electorate.
The Church is equally at risk when in the grips of anti-intellectualism.  Many evangelicals routinely belittle the public education system (thereby slandering the many good God-honoring men and women working in it), and look upon the higher education system with nothing short of hatred.  Secular though this education may be, it is still absolutely necessary that the people of God be an educated people.  Why?  Because when they're not, they're easy prey to heretics, charlatans, and frauds, not to mention the politicians who look at them with disdain while pandering to their hot button issues.
Just today I came across two examples of anti-intellectualism that are a clear danger to the Church.  The first was also mixed with racism (not a good combo) in that it was a protest against the teaching of the basic tenants of Islam to school children.  As a former teacher, I'm aghast at the idea of limiting the knowledge of the world that our children are given, and as a pastor, I'm entirely convinced that Christian children need to know the basics of not only Islam, but Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Shinto, plus the ancient religions of the Greeks, Egyptians, Norse, not to mention the basic ideas of Communism, Fascism, and a host of other ideas that make our world tick and explain how we arrived at where we are.  Why?  Because ignorance is a haven for horrible ideas, and ignorance breeds bigotry like cockroaches.  When a Christian teens goes off to college, private or public, religious or secular, that teen needs to know his/her place in the world, needs to know where he/she stands and has little chance of being prepared for the many ideas that will soon flood his/her way if we've chosen to shelter those inside the Church from the many competing ideas that exist in our world.  Teachers need to teach, not pretend that ideas don't exist, how can a high school senior possibly understand the world that we live in today without knowing about the world's religions?  How can people appreciate the government that we do have if they are ignorant of the horrific alternatives that have already been tried?
The second example was once again the same ol' anti-intellectualism of the KJV Only movement, this time from a Chick Publications video that denigrated a seminary education (thereby slandering the many God-honoring men and women who work at America's seminaries) and instead elevating an "ignorance is bliss" attitude about the Bible.  In the video, David Daniels dismisses the manuscript evidence for the Bible, mocking the scholar and archaeologists who continue to work in this field, and treating the term "textual criticism" like a profanity instead of the vital tool that it is.  Why is anti-intellectualism a cornerstone of the KJV Only movement, the answer is quite simple: the entirety of the historical evidence, modern scholarship, and the way in which translations work are so firmly against their belief system that the only way to avoid total embarrassment is to dismiss the opposition as part of a huge conspiracy led by the dreaded intellectuals.  To say this attitude gives the Church a black eye is an understatement.
The Truth is not our enemy.  Facts, history, and knowledge are not the enemy of the Church, never have been, never will be.  We serve a risen savior, a Messiah whose life, death, and resurrection are firmly established in history, to veer off into anti-intellectualism, as a Church, is not only needless and foolish, but a dead-end.

Sermon Video: Should my word be my bond? - James 5:12

In all manner of aspects of business, politics, and personal relationships, the world is rife with the deceptions of lying, cheating, and stealing.  In many ways, those who find "success" in this world live by the mantra that "if you're not cheating, you're not trying".  For the people of God, such things are entirely unacceptable.  God's people, in contrast with the world, must live by honesty, integrity, and faithfulness.  We don't need oaths to strengthen our word, for our actions, day by day, ought to confirm to those around us that our word can be trusted.  It will cost us to live by a higher standard, we may lose out on business to an unscrupulous competitor, we may lose out on friendships with those live by deception; so be it.
Christian businessmen must choose to be honest and true in their dealings, Christian politicians must choose to abandon the back-stabbing, lying, and character assassinations so common in our current political scene (and those who claim to represent Christian values, but wallow in these vices, are in no way representing God's people), and Christians need to deal with their family, neighbors, and friends in honesty and integrity.  These are not optional choices for the people of God, but demands upon us by our Father.
FYI, this also means that in our arguments and debates, with fellow Christians or with unbelievers, we must embrace the truth, quote people fairly, eschew dirty tactics and character assassination, and treat our opponents with dignity.  That this behavior is sadly lacking, especially in what passes for debate on the internet, is painfully obvious.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: The Patience of the Prophets, the Perseverance of Job - James 5:10-11

Suffering and difficulties of every sort are inevitable in this world.  We will all go through them, and those who live by faith will also potentially face persecution because of it.  What then is the response that God requires of his people?  To explain our obligation in the face of suffering, James illustrates the two character qualities we need to develop and employ, patience and perseverance, through the actions of the prophets and Job.  The prophets were given their occupation by God, to be his messengers and speak his words to his people, but were not generally rewarded for being honored by God in this way.  Instead, the prophets were mistreated including imprisonment, beatings, and martyrdom.  And yet they employed patience to continue, for decades, to fulfill their obligation to God's people, preaching his message no matter the cost.  This then is our example.  We too must have patience, responding to persecution by continuing in the fruit of the Spirit, not responding to hate with hate, but with love.
Some will endure greater difficulties than others, few will be able to stand alongside Job.  Job lost everything: wealth, family, and health, but steadfastly refused to blame God for his loss.  He persevered, despite the insistence of his friends that his troubles were his own fault, and maintained his character through the worst of times.  And so must we, whatever comes our way we must persevere, holding fast to our faith and maintaining our commitment to righteous living in every circumstance.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

The History of the Bible, five minutes a week.

Having taught my history of the Bible class several times now, I'm looking for ways to share this crucial information with those who have been unable to attend the whole class.  Two weeks ago I started something that I'll likely be continuing for months to come, that is working through the material of my six hour class (it gets longer each time I give it, imagine that) five minutes at a time at the end of the Sunday morning worship service.  During the first one, I talked about how the Bible's original languages were Hebrew and Greek (with a smattering of Aramaic), last week we covered the obstacle that the original autographs (those written by the hand of the authors) have not survived, leaving us with copies of their work.  This coming week we'll begin to look at the evidence we have from the copies that allow us to overcome the hurdle; and so on, and so on.  Eventually we'll get to the end of the story where our modern translated English Bibles emerge.  As a teacher, it isn't easy to open up a topic, talk about it for a few minutes, and then wait until next week because I want to keep going with the story.  It reminds me of reading the Sunday comics as a kid, there were several strips that only appeared in the Sunday edition, and to see what happened next, you have to wait till next week.  If the people are left wanting to hear more of the story each week, that isn't a bad thing.

There are crucial aspects of Church history, such as the history of the Bible, that God's people need to know about, things that are easier to cover in hour long classes, but we always miss some people when we limit this knowledge to those willing/able to come to a class.  Perhaps this is the start of something, at least it is my way of affirming that the Church is only benefited when the laity know its history.