What of those who stumble and fall?

I have known too many Christians in who, as Paul called it, “shipwrecked” their faith.  Mostly men, but a few women, who destroyed their witness and tarnished their good deeds through a huge error later on in life, usually the sin of lust.  Coming to terms with this isn’t easy.  These are people that took a wonderful gift, God’s amazing grace through Jesus, and seemingly squandered it by making everything they did or said in the past seem like a waste.  Those of you who know me are probably thinking of some of the same individuals, if you don’t know me, you are likely to know some people yourself that fit this description.  Instead of asking questions about theology, and getting into a Calvinist vs. Arminian debate, let me instead share the words of the Biblical commentator from the 18^th century, Matthew Henry.

                The occasion for Matthew Henry’s quote is his commentary on 2 Chronicles 16, the end of King Asa’s life.  Asa had been a tremendous man of God, full of piety, zeal, and faith, but he stumbled badly at the end, committing sin when his trust in God faltered, and refusing to repent when God sent a prophet to correct him.  The text doesn’t tell us that Asa reconciled with God before he died, when last it speaks of him he is still refusing to seek God’s face.  What do we say of such a man, do we applaud his earlier victories won through faith, or do we focus upon the disappointing ending of an otherwise exemplary life?  As someone who conducts funerals, this question is certainly practical for me, but it also speaks to the pain that my heart feels for brothers and sisters in Christ who have drifted away, or sometimes sprinted away, from their faith.

                Henry’s charitable, and also I think in keeping with God’s abundant grace, view of such lives was this, “The eminent piety and usefulness of good men ought to be remembered to their praise, though they have had their blemishes.  Let their faults be buried in their graves, while their services are remembered over their graves.”  We won’t have an answer to our wondering about people who end poorly, but focusing upon that which was good in their life and letting God deal with that which was bad, seems like the right way to go to me.

Sermon Video: Those whom the LORD strengthens, 2 Chronicles 16

To start well is great, to finish strong is good too, but can we remain solid throughout our lives?  King Asa of Judah, great-grandson of David, started out as king with an amazing amount of piety, zeal, and faith.  He not only rid his people of the plague of idolatry, but he also led them to victory over an invading army by relying upon the LORD, and followed that up by leading his people in a rededication ceremony to the Covenant of Moses.  Fifteen years later, Asa, a man who chose peace over war when his foe was weak, is once again confronted by the prospect of war.  Baasha, the new king of the kindred of Judah to the north, Israel, has occupied a hill along the road leading up to Jerusalem, and fortified it.

                How will Asa respond?  Up until this point he has chosen to live by faith, but when this particular trial comes Asa responds out of fear.  Instead of relying upon the LORD, as he has successfully done previously with spectacular success, Asa attempts a desperate and underhanded ploy.  King Asa convinces the ally of Baasha of Israel, Ben-Hadad of Aram, to betray him and instead of helping Baasha attack Judah, Ben-Hadad invades Israel.  The betrayal of Israel was purchased with the gold and silver of not only Asa’s palace treasury, but the treasury of the temple of the LORD as well.  In the end, Asa succeeds in defending his kingdom, Baasha if forced to withdraw from building his fort when his northern villages are captured by Ben-Hadad, but at a steep cost.  Asa sacrificed his own integrity by outsourcing the sin of another and bears some of the responsibility for the deaths of his kindred attack by the army he paid to invade them.

                God, in order to explain to Asa his displeasure, sends him a prophet.  The prophet tells Asa that his lack of faith has not only cost him a chance at lasting peace, but also robbed God of the opportunity to destroy Ben-Hadad’s army along with the invading army of Baasha.  If Asa had continued to trust in God, a far greater and lasting victory would have been achieved, and without the moral stain of Asa’s chosen path.  Instead, the kingdom of Aram to the north will continue to plague not only Israel, but eventually Judah as well.

                Asa could have stood firm, he could have become one of the greatest kings of God’s people, if only he had continued to trust God.  God is ready to help those who seek him, he told Asa, “For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”  It isn’t enough to trust in God, we need to continue in that trust from beginning to end, through thick and thin.  When Asa died, he was honored by his people as a man who had served God with all his heart, he deserved that honor, but he could have been much more, if only he had continued to trust in the LORD.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video

How do you know if a ministry is right for you?

How do you know if a potential ministry opportunity is the right one for you?  As a church pastor, this is a question we need to ask ourselves on a regular basis.  There are plenty of opportunities out there, far more than we have the resources of time, energy, or money to be a part of, so how do we know if the latest idea is one that will really make a difference for the kingdom of God?  The usual answers about talent and passion can be useful guides, after all, few pastors are likely to be much good at trying to be someone they aren’t by tackling a problem where talent is lacking, and most pastors will find it hard to stick with a ministry that doesn’t speak to the passion that drove them to choose to serve the Lord in the first place.  Instead of looking at this from a philosophical or practical viewpoint, let me relate to you the story of how I came to be involved in the para-church ministry that now occupies a great deal of my ministry effort.

            In 2012 I was new to Franklin, Pennsylvania.  I had just moved her in January with my wife, Nicole, from Michigan where I had been a part-time pastor of a small rural church and a part-time alternative education teacher.  The First Baptist Church of Franklin is an established church with a rich history and a beautiful building.  The numbers at First Baptist had dwindled in recent years, but the passion of the people for serving God was still evident to me when I came here to candidate.  When I accepted the job I knew it would be a long-term process of turning things around, but I also knew I would have the support of the congregation to do it.

            In the spring of 2012 I was invited to attend a meeting of the Children’s Roundtable of Venango County, a group consisting of local government officials, civic leaders, and local pastors, by another pastor who was unable to attend this particular meeting.  Not knowing what the focus of this particular group was, other than guessing that it had something to do with Children’s issues, I attended the meeting.  The first meeting was informational for me, learning about some of the local poverty related issues that affect children, but didn’t point toward any particular involvement on my part.  When I attended a second meeting everything changed.

            At the second meeting of the Children’s Roundtable, it was clear that these local government officials and civic leaders were looking to the local churches as a potential source of manpower to help alleviate some of the previously identified problems.  At this meeting, the local CYS solicitor, a good man who I now count as a friend, asked me to speak on behalf of the churches of our county and represent them.  Now keep in mind, I was the junior member of anybody’s ministerium list, still trying to figure out my role in this community, and certainly not anyone with any particular authority to speak for others.  But I was there, and I went with it.

            During the next several months, I became more and more involved in the process of talking about what needs the local churches might be able to help address, and how they would go about doing it.  What started out as a wholly unexpected request to speak on behalf of my fellow pastors, soon saw me become the default leader of the church response and the host of the eventual meeting to share this proposed local government and church cooperative effort.

            When that meeting of about sixty interested people happened, we were covering ground that I had never imagined would be a part of my ministry here at First Baptist.  I do have a history of ecumenical efforts, and this church has its own history of participating in the local food pantry and benevolent fund, but where this was going was far beyond anything that either I or they had attempted before.  The basic premise of the idea that was then forming was to build a partnership between the Human Services Department of Venango County {It had begun as a CYS effort, but quickly grew to include Aging, Mental Health, and all the rest} who would provide the information of their clients who needed help beyond what they could give, and local churches of all denominations throughout our whole county.

            In November of 2012 I led a second meeting to formulate our initial action plan, hoping to find a core group of people from several churches willing to be on a committee to get this lofty idea off the ground.  Once again, I ended up with more than I bargained for.  We did find our core leadership group that night, many of whom are still vital to our organization’s efforts, but we also found something fairly daunting: our first referral.  One of the caseworkers in attendance brought the file of her client who was in need of help, and after getting her permission to share that information, she told us about the significant repairs that this home needed before winter set in.  Before we had a name, before we had an official leadership, we had work to do, and that is what we did.  We helped someone when we were just trying to figure out who we were.  From that day onward, the referrals started to flow in, first slowly, then a trickle, eventually a flood we can barely keep our heads above.

            We eventually settled on the name of, Mustard Seed Missions of Venango County.  It wasn’t a ministry that I went in search of.  The way that it functions today has a lot of my input on it, but the primary idea of government/church cooperation belonged to somebody else.  I had never been much of an administrator, and my teaching days certainly didn’t develop a love of paperwork in me, but when it came time to choose our first president, all eyes were looking at my end of the table.

  Why did I do it, why take on this significant daily burden when I already had a church that needed me?  One reason is that I felt liberated as a full-time pastor from my years of juggling two jobs and I really wanted to make a difference in this community.  A second reason is that I had this strong feeling as the idea began to be formed early in 2012 that it wouldn’t get off the ground if one of the local pastors didn’t adopt it as his own.  Lastly, I just couldn’t say no when I was asked if the churches of our county would be willing to help the poor, if we can’t say yes to that question, what can we say yes to?

How do you know if a ministry is the right one for you?  I’m not sure I have any profound answer to that question from my own experience, but I sure knew that I had found my answer when I agreed to be a part of our para-church, non-denominational, government/church cooperative effort to help the poor in the name of Christ.

Sermon Video: The faithfulness of Asa - 2 Chronicles 14-15

History is full of the stories of heroes and villains who attempted or accomplished dramatic things.  Far less well known are the builders, creators, and reformers whose efforts often go unnoticed even though their impact is not.  One such less well known but not less accomplished person in the Bible is the King of Judah, Asa.  Asa was the son of Abijah, a war hero who only reigned for three years, but he didn’t follow in his father’s footsteps.  The kingdom of Israel, which had rebelled against Asa’s grandfather Rehoboam, was exceedingly weakened by Abijah’s victory over them in battle, but Asa didn’t press forward to try to reclaim the land that Rehoboam’s pride had forfeited.  Instead, Asa chose a path of peace.  The temptation to seek glory in war was overshadowed in his mind by the need to work for reform amongst his own people.

                The focus of Asa’s reign as king was the destruction of the idols and altars of foreign gods that had existed in Judah since the days of Solomon.  This cancer upon the spiritual faithfulness of God’s covenant people had grown and was long overdue for removal.  When Asa came to the throne, he used his power and authority on behalf of the cause of moral purity, following the commands of the Word of God.  To remove idolatry would not be enough, however, Asa also urged his people to renew their efforts to follow the Law.  Whenever we seek to combat sin, we only do part of the needed task if we don’t replace sin with righteousness.  Our hearts abhor a vacuum, if sin is removed it will return again if the right and the good have not filled its place.

                Asa also prepared his people for war, building up the nation’s defenses, even in a time of peace.  This foresight proved valuable when the nation was invaded, but even though he had prepared ahead of time, Asa still cried out to the LORD for deliverance.  Asa’s mixture of prudence and reliance upon God is certainly worth emulating in our own lives.  We can and should use our mind and resources to prepare for the uncertainty of the future, and we certainly still need to rely upon the Lord when that day of trouble comes.

                After all of these victories, God sends the prophet Azariah to warn the people against the danger of wandering away during the good times.  God promises to always remain as long as his people are faithful, but warns them that if they leave him, he won’t stick around.  This reminds us that we have a relationship with God, something that requires commitment from both sides.  If we abandon God, how can we expect to still have a relationship?  To protect against such a mistake, Asa encourages the people to rededicate themselves to God, offering sacrifices and taking new oaths of fidelity.  The concluding commentary is encouraging, “They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them.  So the LORD gave them rest on every side.”

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video

Sermon Video: Rehoboam, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - 2 Chronicles 11-12

Is being a follower of Jesus Christ a sprint or a marathon?  In the case of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon and new king of Judah, his reign started exceedingly poorly.  His pride cost him the allegiance of the northern ten tribes, a situation he intends to remedy by going to war against his rebellious subjects.  At this point, God sends a prophet to deter Rehoboam from making war against his own kindred, and Rehoboam listens.  Over the years that follow, Rehoboam has both times of faithfulness to God and times of wandering away from the LORD.  He makes some wise decisions, and some foolish ones.  With such a mixed life of ups and downs, what is the final verdict for Rehoboam?  “He did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the LORD.” (2 Chronicles 12:14)  He never fully committed himself to following God.  When times were tough, he was willing to rely upon God, but when things improved, his devotion wavered.  In the end, his lukewarm obedience to God was just not good enough. 

            How many Christians treat their faith the same way?  When we need God, we’re full of devotion, when we start to think that we don’t, or when faith starts to cost us something (i.e. service to others), the appeal fades away and so do we.  That isn’t good enough.  Either God is God of our lives, either we serve him fully, or we’re just kidding ourselves.  Rehoboam never got past seeing God as an expediency, he never decided to devote himself to God, don’t make the same mistake.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video