Let's Let the Church be the Church

Something To Think About

Politics is a horribly messy business.  I have frequently found myself voting for people that I don't think I would really like, if I had the opportunity to get to know them.  In past local elections--where I actually do know some of the candidates--I have found myself voting against people that I actually do like.  On one occasion, I remember trying to talk myself into voting for a guy.  "He's nice."  "He means well."  I remember a politically active lady asking me--sincerely and somewhat plaintively--concerning issues regarding the sanctity of life.  "Can't we make room for just a little of this?"  The woman was caught in the messiness of politics.  She is committed to the Biblical position of human life from conception onward being sacred, yet, at the time of our conversation, she continued a life-long  allegiance to a political party that is overwhelmingly "pro-choice."  My dad put food on the table through his labors in a steel mill.  Not only did he wear a hardhat, he gave old discarded ones to me and my siblings so we could play with them.  So I sympathize with the voters in my predominantly blue-collar area.  Some of my neighbors sat on the knees of grandfathers who wheezed out stories of mines, and miners, in the days when virtually every underground miner contracted blacklung.  It was just a part of business.  Folk with that kind of a background tend to see politics along the lines of "Us and them."  It was the alliance between certain business interests and certain politicians that resulted in labor being exploited in times past--some would say, still today.  And it was an opposing alliance that brought better conditions to working people.  It's complicated. Our national election, almost four years ago, caused the messiness to explode in many homes and some churches.  Lot's of older evangelicals said, "How could you vote for a platform that doesn't honor the sanctity of life?"  Many younger evangelicals said, "Here is an opportunity to decisively speak against the greatest injustice in the history of our nation.  How can you not vote for that?"  There was, and is, a strong case on each end.  Knowing my characterization is a great oversimplification, I present it as one more illustration of the messiness of politics. As one who has led a church for all of my adult life, and who has sought to influence the church.from my seat in my modest study in a small church in a little town, I put out a warning/challenge:  Let's not allow the messiness of politics to sully the church, the Bride of Christ.  I plan to say some more but here is a starting place.  Let us know with rock-solid, unshakable certainty that the relief people desperately need does not lie primarily in the political realm.  That is because the problems are primarily spiritual.  We deal in the Word of God.  We offer the water of life.  We represent the King of kings and Lord of lords.  Let's not allow the church to be seen as the lackey of a political party or movement.  Let's let the church be the church. It's STTA. And, here, is something else to think about.      http://covingtonbiblechurch.com/lifesmostimportant.html

"Facing" the World:

SOMETHING  TO THINK ABOUT Yesterday STTA represented somewhat of a wrestling match.  I was trying to get a handle on the mystery of prayer, and doing so on the fly.  From an intellectual viewpoint, I'm no further ahead.  From a relational viewpoint, I experienced my Father's love in a fresh way. More here. From the sublime, wonder of prayer I go to this:   We had a Fair at our church last Sunday night--popcorn, cotton-candy, hotdogs, games, inflatable bouncy-house things for kids to play on--it was a lot of fun.  And we had a "foto"-booth, complete with silly things to wear for the picture.  Actually, a couple of lovely ladies joined me for the picture above. I cropped the photo and made it my profile picture on Facebook.  Just this morning I read a comment from one friend about what an improvement of my image it represents.  The comments I get on stuff I put online generally can be counted using one's fingers.  I've gotten more comments about the dumb picture than anything I've put up for a while.  What I look like, obviously, impresses people. WARNING!  I'm about to take a turn for the serious, here. The fact is: what people see in my life will have a greater influence than what they hear me say, or what they read that I have written.  That's quite an admission from a guy who runs his mouth for a living.  Peter tells Christian ladies who find themselves in the difficult position of having a husband who does not share their faith, to live in such a way that their husbands "may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives,  as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior."  (1 Peter 3:1-2)  I'm convinced the principle there has a wider application.  Psalm 40:3 speaks of the new song the Lord puts in a faithful heart, and goes on to say, "Many will see and fear and trust in the Lord."  Not hear, but see.  Ephesians 5:18-19 indicates that one of the results of a life controlled by God's Spirit is a singing heart.  That's the kind of thing folk can see. Lord, give me a face, today, that will impact people the right way. It's STTA.   http://covingtonbiblechurch.com/lifesmostimportant.html

PRAY

Something To Think About

SOMETHING  TO THINK ABOUT I may be the least mystical Bible-believing pastor/preacher you will ever meet.  I'm really suspicious of "The Lord led me" statements.  When someone says "God told me," I almost always inwardly recoil.  I guess I've been around long enough to see people "led by God" to places God would never take them.  Many times my inner reaction when people tell me what God told them is, "I know the Lord, I've spent a good bit of time with what I know He said--the Bible--and I'm quite sure God didn't tell you that. Yesterday, though, I woke up to overcast skies and drizzly rain.  At times, through the morning the precipitation was much more than drizzle.  Thirty percent chance the weather forecast said. We had a big event--mostly outside-- scheduled for last night, and we needed 0% rain for two hours.   God gave Joshua a long day. Elijah was a man of like passions as me, and God answered his prayer about the rain. I figured there was someone who wanted rain.  Were they praying?   Am I arrogant enough to think that my weather wish is the best for all who are in my meteorological zone? Maybe the cause of Christ would be better served if our event was rained out. God moves in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform. I clearly felt I ought to pray.  I confessed my ignorance and limitations, but clearly told the Lord what I wanted.  Jesus said to pray about my daily needs. Yesterday I needed dry weather from 4:00 - 6:00.  God told Jeremiah to call on Him and would show him great and mighty things.  All I wanted was two hours of good weather.  I was reminded by James, "You have not, because you ask not." So I asked.  I was the guy at midnight knocking on the door looking for bread. I was widow pestering the judge.  I called to God.   We had a lovely evening for our fair. I'm very thankful that we had blue sky & sunshine with enough clouds to remind us of the threat earlier in the day.  But I am much more thankful for the reminder from my DAD.  "Son, just talk to me.  I love you, and I'll listen.". It's STTA.   http://covingtonbiblechurch.com/lifesmostimportant.html

Horse Liniment for the Soul:

SOMETHING  TO THINK ABOUT Back when I was in college I hurt my shoulder playing "touch" football.  I went to see Dr. Wurst, pronounced "Worst."  After standing behind a flouroscope--something I thought only existed in old comedy movies--he showed me my problem on a skeleton in the corner, and by pressing forcefully on the sore spot several times.   Did I tell you he did that more than once?  At the end of the examination Dr. Wurst pronounced that I was a "young buck and would get better anyhow."  And provided me with some liniment.  My suspicions were as strong as the odor the cream gave off that the stuff had been manufactured for horses. Dr. Wurst's medical philosophy would have fit in perfectly with the religious views of the people of Isaiah's day, and many in my time.   RUB THIS ON THE OUTSIDE.  MAYBE IT WILL DO SOME GOOD ON THE INSIDE--or externalism. I encourage you to read Isaiah chapter 1.  God, Himself, gives a devastating  indictment of the people of Judah.  He begins by saying that these people showed less intellegence, gratitude,  and good sense than an ox or a donkey.  If, on my own, I preached like that, I would likely be called on the carpet.  He goes on to compare the nation to a totally sick body, pointing out that they "act corruptly," "have abandoned the Lord," and "despised the Holy One of Israel."  As a result desolation had descended on their land.  God compares them to Sodom and Gomorrah. When you get to verse 10 you see a list of all the religious things they were doing.  They went to the Temple, offered sacrifices, kept the feasts, and more.   Concerning all of it God says, "Just stop!  It makes Me sick."  Instead God puts them before a different kind of flouroscope and shows them that their problem was one of the heart, and no amount of mere religion rubbed on the outside was going to meet their need.   "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together," Says the Lord, Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.  (Isaiah 1:16-18) Isaiah lived in a time when the clouds of coming disaster were dark on the horizon.  Many see similar storms in our future.  The solution is not primarily a matter of a better economy or a stronger military.  Then and now, it is a matter of the heart--my heart, and yours.  You'll find more below, about how the Lord can change your heart.   It's STTA.   http://covingtonbiblechurch.com/lifesmostimportant.html

Storm on the Horizon:

SOMETHING  TO THINK ABOUT What many thoughtful people think and fear about the USA, and other Western nations, Isaiah new for sure about Israel 2,800 years ago.  Though times were still good, catastrophe was on the horizon.  Isaiah and his countrymen grew up in a time of peace, but now threats were growing like storm clouds.  Here is one example:  Now it came about in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not conquer it.  When it was reported to the house of David, saying, "The Arameans have camped in Ephraim," his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake with the wind.  (Isaiah 7:1-2, emphasis added) I wouldn't say that people around me are shaking like leaves in the wind, but many people are concerned, and many of the folk who are concerned are the kind of people whom I respect--thoughtful, careful people.  Isaiah spoke as God's prophet.  He had irrefutable information that disaster was coming.  My contemporaries, of whom I speak, have no such sure word.  Still there are parallels.   Almost universally, the people of Isaiah's time looked to the wrong sources for solutions and safety.  We'll explore some of these in the days to come, but basically they looked to things on the outside, when in reality the basic problems were matters of the heart.  ". . . this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote. . ." (Isaiah 29:13) What the people of Isaiah's time, and my time need is to respond to the message of another Old-Testament prophet, ". . . rend your heart and not your garments."  Now return to the LORD your God. . . ."  (Joel 2:13) It's STTA.   http://covingtonbiblechurch.com/lifesmostimportant.html

Vacation Is Over:

SOMETHING  TO THINK ABOUT

Though it has been a long time since I graduated from high school, the new pencil toting crowd and I have something in common--vacation is over.   The last STTA I sent out was kind of an anniversary announcement, our fortieth.  This milestone was particularly significant to me because it was the last one my parents reached.  My dad died in the year of life I'm in right now.  In celebration of forty years together Kathy and I took a lovely vacation. But it's over, and like the young scholars, it's time to get back to work.  No complaint, here, that's as it should be.   From the book of Genesis, where we readthat God gave the first couple a job (Genesis 2:15), to the book of Ecclesiastes where meaningful work is clearly held up as a gift from God (Here, for instance), to the New Testament, where work, even manual labor, is held up as a good thing,  the Bible makes clear that it is not God's intention that we live on perpetual vacation.  Lots of folk have a very bad attitude about their work--and, students, right now your job is your school-work.  Here are a couple of thoughts to help us adjust our attitude about work: Know that it is God's plan for His children to work.  You may have to take it by faith for a while, but work is good. Work done well leads to better things.  People who work well tend to advance.  There is a clear satisfaction in a job well done.  The mastering of new skills and the discipline of just showing up and doing one's job, often expands our horizons.  Labor adds to the pool of "goods" enjoyed by all of us. It is not a scriptural proverb, but there is truth in the aphorism: "Idle hands are the Devil's workshop."  (see 1 Timothy 5:13, for an example) Generally, going to work (and this applies to going to school in a future sense) is the means God has provided to meet our daily needs. Vacation is over, and that's OK.   It's STTA.     http://covingtonbiblechurch.com/lifesmostimportant.html

Forty Years In Those Shoes:

I was wearing new shoes.  They were the wrong color.  When we rented tuxes, we opted to not rent the shoes with them.  (More later on that).  A friend went with me to buy a new pair and for some reason I picked out a brown pair, rather than black.  When I knelt before the congregation that day for the prayer led by the man who was becoming my Father-in-law, the bottoms of those new shoes caused me concern.  I confess.  My mind was my shoes, not my Pastor's prayer.  Our church didn't have a kneeling bench, so Kathy's mom had made a substitute.   It wasn't until my knees hit it that I realized it was hard lumber covered with the thin cloth that was the white aisle runner.  Even then, I had bad knees, so as Kathy's dad's prayer went on, and, it seemed, on, my knee began to ache.  I knew that when he said "Amen." I was supposed to stand and gracefully help my bride to her feet.  Oh, the new shoes.  The bottoms were still slick.  I could see myself falling over in a gimpy-kneed, slipped-on-the-white-runner heap.  Not the image we were after.

I often think of our wedding when I am involved in matrimonial events that cost more than we paid for our first several cars.  Our wedding cost well less than $500, and that included the tux rentals and cost of the brides maid's dresses (Our friends were poor like us and we didn't want to ask them to bear the expense.)  Kathy and her mom made her dress mostly from the abundant material that had come from a cast-off gown of a rather large bride.  A friend of the family made the cake.  (Part of which chocolate.  One of only two "opinions that I had about the wedding.  The other was that Kathy wear her hair long & down.  I was abundantly right about both.)  The best man and I nearly moved it from the back of Kathy's family's station wagon to the front seat when we were bringing it to the church.  My childhood and teen friend, now a professional photographer, took our pictures and only billed us the costs for developing and printing the pictures.  Kathy, as she has, now, for four decades, cut my hair.  (The cuts my dad gave me, were too near the military style.)
It just might be that those shoes that worried me on that very hot August afternoon were the most expensive single purchase made for this wedding. 

Day after tomorrow, in the early afternoon, I will have been in those shoes for four decades.  I don't regret it a bit.

As Sundays generally are in my family, August 12 will be a busy day.  We'll celebrate a couple of days later, but for now . . .

To my lovely bride.  Happy Anniversary.

And, hopefully to the rest of you . . . 
It's STTA.
 

   

http://covingtonbiblechurch.com/lifesmostimportant.html   

"Hello, I'm Ava."

Something To Think About

SOMETHING  TO THINK ABOUT   High-tech has reached a new low--maybe.  In addition to being poked, prodded and Xrayed before we get on an airplane, now we will be given instructions by a person Airport Avatar Demonstration who isn't there.  That's right,  Sci-fi fans, it's a computer generated image of a person projected on a piece of plexi-glass.  I heard that Quark is opening a holodeck for the public any day now. Maybe not, but it looks like to me that this represents one more step in the increasing isolation of Twenty-first Century life.  When I see Ava, Airport Virtual Assistant,I think of the mechanical taxi driver that the Arnold Schwarzenegger character dealt with in Total Recall.  We already buy food and drinks from machines.  I buy my medications from a machine.  Even my car tells me when the doors need to be locked and its oil changed. . . . I'm typing on a computer, and this will reach you via the technological marvel known as the internet.  I just had a conversation with a friend in another country.  I like much of what technology brings me.  My hope in evaluating things--and make sure we understand that they are things--is to maintain a technological neutrality.  The latest-and-greatest is really no different than the older-and-not-so-great-anymore.  Communications, and information transmission advancements are not a recent thing.  Mail service, libraries, telephones, printing presses, even the lowly pencil, all represent major steps away from dependence on face to face communication for the transference of information.  Is Ava just one more--nothing more than a jazzed up sign? I'm sure some of you have opinions.   If Ava is a tool to free up airport authorities and airline personnel to actually have time to talk with customers, then she might be our virtual-friend.  If she is part of the increasing isolation in our culture, then she is a projected-enemy.  In reality she is neither.  Just like in Oz, there is a person behind the curtain. Some things are sure:  God loves and desires to fellowship with people. Christ died for people. God's plan is for people to reach people. As God's people we must treasure people.  They are irreplaceable. It's STTA     http://covingtonbiblechurch.com/lifesmostimportant.html

I Heard it from an unnamed source:

Something To Think About

SOMETHING  TO THINK ABOUT Rumors:  Kids.net.Au defines a rumor thusly: ". . . gossip (usually a mixture of truth and untruth) passed around by word of mouth." As with many things, good and bad, ourelectronic/cyber world has made rumors much easier to spread.  It used to take ten minutes for "news" to get from coast to coast, via back fences and water coolers. Now it happens in less than a second.  (For my excessively literal friends, that statement contained exaggeration for effect.)  I have no idea whether Senator Reid's recent rumor mongering has any basis in fact or not, but it does illustrate the damage a rumor can cause. Many will judge the veracity of a rumor based on the perceived character of the person who shares the "news."  If Howard Merrell shared that a fellow preacher gives no money to his church, likely it would create little interest.  When a respected public servant speaks, however . . . Actually, I do have some influence (That was self-deprecation used to disarm resistance to a point.)  Each of us does.  We are responsible to use it wisely.  As well, when we hear something, it behooves us to do some checking.  Even usually reliable people sometimes get it wrong. Once a rumor has been set loose it isincredibly hard to call back.  Folk who purposely, skillfully use rumor for effect know this.  Even a ridiculously false rumor will consume opposition resources. For instance someone recently attempted to float a rumor about CBC.  (I could say who and why, but that would be an example of what I'm writing against.)  It appears to me that someone heard an exaggerated, humorous statement used to make a point.  And took it to be literally true.  (This wasn't it, but someone might say "Howard's message really stank."  Someone, purposely or not, takes a figure of speech the wrong way and soon the news is spread that there is a dead rat in the sanctuary. . . .)  The "news" was reported/planted as fact, and there it goes.  Somebody had to take time to say, "No, this isn't true."     There are many more, but just one: Rumors are often horrendously damaging.  They tend to leave a measure of doubt.  They complicate.  Sometimes a person never recovers. We ought to deal in truth.  As in times past when merchants would bite a coin to see if it was real, we need to check it out.  When a juicy morsel agrees with our prejudice we should be especially careful.  When a rumor can cause harm, we ought to treat it like a  loaded gun. You can check some of what the Bible has to say below: Nehemiah 6:5-9 Proverbs 18:8 Acts 21:18-26 (esp. 21)  Romans 1:29 & 2 Timothy 3:3 list this kind of sin together with other sins that are universally despised. Also 1 Timothy 3:11, Titus 2:3, & 3 John 10 It's STTA     http://covingtonbiblechurch.com/lifesmostimportant.html

Remember What's First

With all of the argument about Gay-rights and chicken, it is important for us--the church of Jesus Christ--to remember what our primary task is.  

We are called to share the Good News of Christ's death burial, resurrection, and the difference belief in those facts makes in our life.  Clearly part of faith involves obedience, and obedience is to the Word of God, which explains a lot about the teaching/discipling ministry of the church--"teaching them to observe all I have commanded you."  (Matthew 28:20) There are times when  we will speak the truth and the truth will offend.

The problem comes when we allow our primary task to morph into an over-emphasis on lobbying, politicking, and boycotting  rather than sharing this good news and helping the converts to it grow.    

We may not be able to keep others from hating us.  Jesus contemporaries hated Him.  Let's be sure they hate us for the right reason.

It's STTA

  

http://covingtonbiblechurch.com/lifesmostimportant.html