If you have lived for any length of time, you have more than likely made a significant discovery. Life is not always fair and things at times don't work out as we think they will. In the process of life there is inevitable pain. It’s enough to make us depressed and bitter isn’t it?
In these times, we so wish for relief! Oh, to be beyond the current challenge! I once had a lady say to me, "Pastor, its been so long since I have been happy, I have forgotten what it feels like."
Use your imagination and go back with me into history, to the city of Rome. There in a drab musty prison cell sits an old man whose body bears the marks of a painful life. During the span of his life he was extremely successful, well educated, influential. He was well traveled. He preached and planted churches. Oh, but now shackles are on his hands and feet. He is chained so that it is difficult to walk or move. He is regarded now by most with disdain, as nothing more than a worthless criminal. His shoulders are stooped; his head almost bald. If you linger at all in your gaze, you’ll see the physical scars that mar his aging body.
His name is Paul, a devout and faithful servant of God. As you gaze at him you notice that he is writing a letter. No doubt it is a complaint letter. No doubt he will present a long list of grievances. None of us would dispute the fact that he surely has every reason to be bitter and complain. I mean who could ever have imagined this to be the outcome of answering a call from God? But that's not the sort of letter that he is writing! He is writing to the Philippian believers, a letter that over two thousand years later is still known as a great treatise of joy. Joy.. now imagine that coming from an old man in a Roman jail. Isn’t it amazing that he is still able to keep perspective? The difficulties and challenges, though hard, were never able to rob him of his joy for life.
I woke up early today. I am afraid my internal clock is still set on England time. I have spent some time praying, talking to the Lord out of my own life and remembering others that need prayer. Two people that I know are near death. Others are seriously ill. Some are battling unfair and challenging situations of various kinds. Any and all of these things have the capacity to rob us of any contentment and peace we might wish for. Then I turn my gaze to my own life, to a day filled with its fair share of challenges. There are moments when we all feel like we should be entitled to fill out a complaint form and submit it to the heavenly Father. Then we realize that there may also be things that we have no warning of, in reality not one of us know what a day holds. We have no idea the challenges we will be required to endure. Happiness can surely be a fleeting thing.
But go back to the mental image of the aged apostle Paul. It must have been uncomfortable sitting in chains and shackles. The dreariness and stench of that place is beyond imagination. Look over his shoulder, peek at what he is writing to those Philippian brothers. Amazing words...“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4)
Remarkable! It wasn't enough just to tell them to rejoice in life's circumstances, he makes it even more emphatic by repeating his exhortation to them. Rejoice... I say rejoice! When our happiness evaporates, God makes available to us an internal sense of joy, which is not affected by the external circumstances of life. Eating chocolate, going to the mall, or indulging in our favorite "it makes me happy" activity can bring at least a temporary relief from our anxieties. But, God gives joy. I love the old song, "This joy that I have...the world didn't give it to me, and the world can't take it away." That's what Paul is writing about, and that's how he could pen those words out of the misery of incarceration.
May you be blessed today in the living of life with God ordained joy! I would desire for you that your day be one of peace and contented purpose, but we know that it may well be littered with the challenges of this life. Take the advice given to us by this saintly old apostle... no matter what... Rejoice! and again.. I say, rejoice! Right now, ask the Father who gives to us freely from His abundance, for a joy that is unspeakable, and full of glory!
Now, doesn't that feel better?
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Monday, July 30, 2007
“He Must Become Greater,I Must Become Less." - John 3:22-30
There were two groups administering the baptism of repentance, those following the Lord Jesus and the disciples of John the Baptist. (V22-23)
Now, the rub came in that John’s ministry was being eclipsed by the ministry of Jesus, and the loyal disciples of John were jealous. (V25-26)
John’s response to his angered disciples is a great lesson for us, as our competitive society is structured to compel us to measure our achievements against those of others.
The story unfolds in a most interesting way.
1) The Baptist, Displays a Proper Philosophy of Life and a Contentment with God’s Purpose (V 27-28)
Do we believe that God orders the path of our lives? Is the Lord responsible for our gifts and abilities? Does he ordain us to a purpose in life and direct our way? Icertainly believe the Bible teaches that this is true. Proverbs 16:9 - The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.
It is apparent that the Baptist believed this and this text reveals that he was very content and even found great joy in God’s appointed purpose for his life.
Some of his disciples did not see it that way. There is a clear tension here in these verses. It is clearly not between John and Jesus. The loyal disciples of John feel that his ministry is being eclipsed and they are filled with envy. They come to him about it with an air of flattery. They address him as Rabbi, (V26). John was not a Rabbi. It seems that they had heard Jesus addressed by that title, so in an attempt to demonstrate John’s equality with Jesus they attach the title to him.
There is a great lesson for us here. In life and even in Christian service and ministry there are these kinds of tensions. The grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence. Others are getting ahead while we seem to be lagging behind. Another church is growing at a more rapid rate than ours, or the other Sunday School class is bigger. See it? Feel it?
Many of us are not content with our position in life, or our gifts. We crave the gifts of others. The end result is envy and strife.
It is not a new situation. This was one of the major areas of contention in the Corinthian church. Joshua struggled with this jealousy - Numbers 11:26-29
In the camp of Israel there were two men upon whom the spirit of prophecy had come, Eldad - Medad. They were prophesying in the camp NOT at the Tent of Meeting.
“Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. And a young man ran and told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp." And Joshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, "My lord Moses, stop them." (Numbers 11:26-28)
Joshua was filled with envy!
Notice the response of Moses: But Moses said to him, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!" (Numbers 11:29)
John had the same contented humility as Moses did.
His response displays his proper attitude toward his life purpose, “A man can have nothing except what is given him from heaven.” (V27)
Do you understand what he is saying? John was saying in essence, “I am perfectly at ease with the providence of God, for what I am, is what God has made me. In the role God has given to me I find my joy, in fact my fullness, my satisfaction, my contentment, comes in resting in the providence of God.
Paul captured this idea when he wrote to the Corinthians. “What makes you better than anyone else? What do you have that God hasn't given you? And if all you have is from God, why boast as though you have accomplished something on your own?” ( I Corinthians 4:7, NLT)
Here is a wonderfully practical illustration from William Law. “If someone is leaving you behind and you are becoming jealous or embittered, keep praying that he may have success in the very matter where he is awakening your envy’ and whether he is helped or not, one thing is sure, that your own soul will be cleansed and ennobled, that you will grow a little nearer to the stature of the Baptist.”
It is impossible to harbor resentment toward one for whom we are praying.
John grounded his philosophy of life and ministry in contentment with the providential plan and working of God.
2) The Baptist Displays a Proper Attitude in His Role (v29)
John portrays his feelings toward the ministry of Jesus in a rich illustration - the Hebrew wedding
William Barclay brings great light to this:
“The friend of the bridegroom, the shosben, had a unique place at a Jewish wedding. He acted as a liaison between the bride and the bridegroom; he arranged the wedding, he took out the invitations, he presided over the wedding feast, He brought the bride and the bridegroom together. And he had one special duty. It was his duty to guard the bridal chamber and to let no false lover in. He would only open the door when in the dark he heard the bridegrooms voiced and recognized it. When he heard the bridegroom’s voice he was glad and let him in and he went his way rejoicing for his task had been completed.”
John the Baptist found his joy as the shosben for Jesus. Not once did he desire to be the groom, he was overwhelmingly joyous - as he saw his role as the friend!
3) The Baptist Displays the Proper Conduct (V30)
The word “must” here is rendered in the imperative tense in the Greek. Literally translated it means, “It has to be.” It is a must!
Jesus is to go on growing, becoming greater and greater, while I go on decreasing, becoming less and less.
Do you hear the surrender of will in John? There is no other way to live the Christian life!
William Carey, was dying. Near death he turned to a friend and said, “ When I am gone don’t talk about William Carey: talk about William Carey’s Savior. I desire that Christ alone might be magnified.”
This captures the spirit of John the Baptist!
This involves an eclipse of life. How do we do this?
First, following the example of John the Baptist, we always point to Christ and give him full credit, (v27) realizing that we have absolutely nothing unless it is given to us from heaven.
Second, we must realize that no Christian assignment truly belongs to us. It is not ours, we are but stewards of it.
All of this was so marvelously fleshed out in the life of Dr. F.B. Meyer. His motto for life was: “Make the most of me that can be made for Thy glory.""
Dr. Meyer preached at Christ Church in London at the same time that Charles Spurgeon was preaching at the great Metropolitan Tabernacle. His church was running a few hundred at that time.
Meyer would stand on the steps of his church and watch the carriages flow by to Spurgeon’s church. It was difficult for him, but he did it.
Later in his life, he was preaching in America at the invitation of DL Moody. At that same time Dr. G. Campbell Morgan was preaching. Again, the larger crowds were going to here Morgan, but very small crowds coming to hear Meyer.
Later he was heard saying to people, “Have you heard Campbell Morgan preach? Did you hear his message this morning? God is upon that man.
During his long and fruitful life, he preached more than 16,000 sermons.
Said one author: "The phrasing of [Meyer's] sermons was simple and direct; his speech was pastoral....In his day, great wars raged. Those who went to hear him forgot the battles."
It is amazingly ironic, that Spurgeon would later write regarding FB Meyer - "Meyer preaches as a man who has seen God face to face."
Oh, truly He must increase, I must decrease… it has to be!
Now, the rub came in that John’s ministry was being eclipsed by the ministry of Jesus, and the loyal disciples of John were jealous. (V25-26)
John’s response to his angered disciples is a great lesson for us, as our competitive society is structured to compel us to measure our achievements against those of others.
The story unfolds in a most interesting way.
1) The Baptist, Displays a Proper Philosophy of Life and a Contentment with God’s Purpose (V 27-28)
Do we believe that God orders the path of our lives? Is the Lord responsible for our gifts and abilities? Does he ordain us to a purpose in life and direct our way? Icertainly believe the Bible teaches that this is true. Proverbs 16:9 - The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.
It is apparent that the Baptist believed this and this text reveals that he was very content and even found great joy in God’s appointed purpose for his life.
Some of his disciples did not see it that way. There is a clear tension here in these verses. It is clearly not between John and Jesus. The loyal disciples of John feel that his ministry is being eclipsed and they are filled with envy. They come to him about it with an air of flattery. They address him as Rabbi, (V26). John was not a Rabbi. It seems that they had heard Jesus addressed by that title, so in an attempt to demonstrate John’s equality with Jesus they attach the title to him.
There is a great lesson for us here. In life and even in Christian service and ministry there are these kinds of tensions. The grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence. Others are getting ahead while we seem to be lagging behind. Another church is growing at a more rapid rate than ours, or the other Sunday School class is bigger. See it? Feel it?
Many of us are not content with our position in life, or our gifts. We crave the gifts of others. The end result is envy and strife.
It is not a new situation. This was one of the major areas of contention in the Corinthian church. Joshua struggled with this jealousy - Numbers 11:26-29
In the camp of Israel there were two men upon whom the spirit of prophecy had come, Eldad - Medad. They were prophesying in the camp NOT at the Tent of Meeting.
“Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. And a young man ran and told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp." And Joshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, "My lord Moses, stop them." (Numbers 11:26-28)
Joshua was filled with envy!
Notice the response of Moses: But Moses said to him, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!" (Numbers 11:29)
John had the same contented humility as Moses did.
His response displays his proper attitude toward his life purpose, “A man can have nothing except what is given him from heaven.” (V27)
Do you understand what he is saying? John was saying in essence, “I am perfectly at ease with the providence of God, for what I am, is what God has made me. In the role God has given to me I find my joy, in fact my fullness, my satisfaction, my contentment, comes in resting in the providence of God.
Paul captured this idea when he wrote to the Corinthians. “What makes you better than anyone else? What do you have that God hasn't given you? And if all you have is from God, why boast as though you have accomplished something on your own?” ( I Corinthians 4:7, NLT)
Here is a wonderfully practical illustration from William Law. “If someone is leaving you behind and you are becoming jealous or embittered, keep praying that he may have success in the very matter where he is awakening your envy’ and whether he is helped or not, one thing is sure, that your own soul will be cleansed and ennobled, that you will grow a little nearer to the stature of the Baptist.”
It is impossible to harbor resentment toward one for whom we are praying.
John grounded his philosophy of life and ministry in contentment with the providential plan and working of God.
2) The Baptist Displays a Proper Attitude in His Role (v29)
John portrays his feelings toward the ministry of Jesus in a rich illustration - the Hebrew wedding
William Barclay brings great light to this:
“The friend of the bridegroom, the shosben, had a unique place at a Jewish wedding. He acted as a liaison between the bride and the bridegroom; he arranged the wedding, he took out the invitations, he presided over the wedding feast, He brought the bride and the bridegroom together. And he had one special duty. It was his duty to guard the bridal chamber and to let no false lover in. He would only open the door when in the dark he heard the bridegrooms voiced and recognized it. When he heard the bridegroom’s voice he was glad and let him in and he went his way rejoicing for his task had been completed.”
John the Baptist found his joy as the shosben for Jesus. Not once did he desire to be the groom, he was overwhelmingly joyous - as he saw his role as the friend!
3) The Baptist Displays the Proper Conduct (V30)
The word “must” here is rendered in the imperative tense in the Greek. Literally translated it means, “It has to be.” It is a must!
Jesus is to go on growing, becoming greater and greater, while I go on decreasing, becoming less and less.
Do you hear the surrender of will in John? There is no other way to live the Christian life!
William Carey, was dying. Near death he turned to a friend and said, “ When I am gone don’t talk about William Carey: talk about William Carey’s Savior. I desire that Christ alone might be magnified.”
This captures the spirit of John the Baptist!
This involves an eclipse of life. How do we do this?
First, following the example of John the Baptist, we always point to Christ and give him full credit, (v27) realizing that we have absolutely nothing unless it is given to us from heaven.
Second, we must realize that no Christian assignment truly belongs to us. It is not ours, we are but stewards of it.
All of this was so marvelously fleshed out in the life of Dr. F.B. Meyer. His motto for life was: “Make the most of me that can be made for Thy glory.""
Dr. Meyer preached at Christ Church in London at the same time that Charles Spurgeon was preaching at the great Metropolitan Tabernacle. His church was running a few hundred at that time.
Meyer would stand on the steps of his church and watch the carriages flow by to Spurgeon’s church. It was difficult for him, but he did it.
Later in his life, he was preaching in America at the invitation of DL Moody. At that same time Dr. G. Campbell Morgan was preaching. Again, the larger crowds were going to here Morgan, but very small crowds coming to hear Meyer.
Later he was heard saying to people, “Have you heard Campbell Morgan preach? Did you hear his message this morning? God is upon that man.
During his long and fruitful life, he preached more than 16,000 sermons.
Said one author: "The phrasing of [Meyer's] sermons was simple and direct; his speech was pastoral....In his day, great wars raged. Those who went to hear him forgot the battles."
It is amazingly ironic, that Spurgeon would later write regarding FB Meyer - "Meyer preaches as a man who has seen God face to face."
Oh, truly He must increase, I must decrease… it has to be!
Harmony at Any Cost
There is probably not a person on the face of the planet that craves peace more than me. In fact, to be very honest, I tend to shy away from conflict.
I like to be liked, it’s a part of my personality and it's how I am wired it seems. I lose a fair amount of sleep when I feel that I have been a disappointment or when someone is not happy about a decision that has been made. I have come to understand over the years, that decisions have to be made at times which can be unpopular. It comes with the territory so to speak.
A good friend of mine sent me a wonderful devotion taken from a book by the esteemed Dr. A.W. Tozer, entitled , “This World: Playground or Battleground?”, Christian Publications, May 1989, pages:112-113.
It was so timely for me and I trust it may well be meaningful for you.
The Church: Harmony at Any Cost
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. - 1 Peter 5:8”
Some misguided Christian leaders feel that they must preserve harmony at any cost, so they do everything possible to reduce friction. They should remember that there is no friction in a machine that has been shut down for the night. Turn off the power, and you will have no problem with moving parts. Also remember that there is a human society where there are no problems - the cemetery. The dead have no differences of opinion. They generate no heat, because they have no energy and no motion. But their penalty is sterility and complete lack of achievement.
What then is the conclusion of the matter? That problems are the price of progress, that friction is the concomitant of motion, that a live and expanding church will have a certain quota of difficulties as a result of its life and activity. A Spirit-filled church will invite the anger of the enemy.”
Let us be sober and diligent, preferring love toward one another, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus my beloved.
I like to be liked, it’s a part of my personality and it's how I am wired it seems. I lose a fair amount of sleep when I feel that I have been a disappointment or when someone is not happy about a decision that has been made. I have come to understand over the years, that decisions have to be made at times which can be unpopular. It comes with the territory so to speak.
A good friend of mine sent me a wonderful devotion taken from a book by the esteemed Dr. A.W. Tozer, entitled , “This World: Playground or Battleground?”, Christian Publications, May 1989, pages:112-113.
It was so timely for me and I trust it may well be meaningful for you.
The Church: Harmony at Any Cost
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. - 1 Peter 5:8”
Some misguided Christian leaders feel that they must preserve harmony at any cost, so they do everything possible to reduce friction. They should remember that there is no friction in a machine that has been shut down for the night. Turn off the power, and you will have no problem with moving parts. Also remember that there is a human society where there are no problems - the cemetery. The dead have no differences of opinion. They generate no heat, because they have no energy and no motion. But their penalty is sterility and complete lack of achievement.
What then is the conclusion of the matter? That problems are the price of progress, that friction is the concomitant of motion, that a live and expanding church will have a certain quota of difficulties as a result of its life and activity. A Spirit-filled church will invite the anger of the enemy.”
Let us be sober and diligent, preferring love toward one another, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus my beloved.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Off to Oxford
I covert your prayers as I attend the Oxford Round Table, St. Anne's College, University of Oxford, England this next week.
I am both honored and humbled by this opportunity. I fly out of Jacksonville tomorrow and will arrive on Saturday morning in London. I plan to attend the Metropolitan Tabernacle on Sunday where Rev. Charles Spurgeon preached.
Pray for Dottie as well while I am gone. We appreciate so many who are providing attention and care for her while I am gone. You are a wonderful church and a gracious people.
I love being your pastor!
David
Galations 2:20
I am both honored and humbled by this opportunity. I fly out of Jacksonville tomorrow and will arrive on Saturday morning in London. I plan to attend the Metropolitan Tabernacle on Sunday where Rev. Charles Spurgeon preached.
Pray for Dottie as well while I am gone. We appreciate so many who are providing attention and care for her while I am gone. You are a wonderful church and a gracious people.
I love being your pastor!
David
Galations 2:20
How Can This Be? - John 3:9-21
Our Lord brought Nicodemus face to face with the necessity of being born again. This wise man pondered all that Jesus had shared with him.. His final question is most noteworthy, “How can these things be?” (V9) "Teacher, I hear your analogies, but how does this new birth really happen. Where does it spring from?"
Jesus gently chides Nicodemus (V10) Jesus is basically saying, you have all this learning and yet you do not understand? Then in verse 11 He states, "I have spoken to you earthly things, and you do not believe, How will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?"
Have you ever spoken with someone who has gone to Heaven and returned? No one has ever gone into heaven - except the One who came from Heaven So Jesus helps him to understand that His authority comes from the fact that He is the pre-existent One who came to earth from heaven.
Then to help Nicodemus understand, Jesus takes him back to a marvelous illustration of the new birth contained in the Old Testament, Numbers 21:4-9. With these words Nicodemus’ mind spun back thousands of years… he was on very familiar ground.
The picture in Numbers 21 is one of both glory and horror.
First, the horror. The Israelites were beset with venomous snakes. These snakes inflicted a burning fever in the lives of those they bit. The people could not escape, and their bodies were inflamed with fever. They were on the verge of death in fact, many died.
But also note the glorious. God provides a way of escape. Moses was directed to make a bronze snake. This could well have been a moment when Aaron was wondering if Moses was reverting to his old Egyptian ways. The snake was to be a source of healing and life.
Jesus left no doubt about the application! (V14) In fact the analogies are remarkable.
Snakes and serpents remind us of sin. The serpent brought temptation into the garden
The bronze snake represents faith, they had to look at it for it to be of any blessing to them, but, when they did look at it, they were healed and delivered. What an illustration of the new birth.
This great illustration is followed by a marvelous explanation. John 3:16 is the best known and most often quoted verse in all of the Bible. We seldom read it or recite it within its context, but when we do we see that it offers a vivid explanation of the new birth we have in Jesus Christ.
DL Moody said that John 3:16 brought him to an understanding of the love of God.
Dr. R. Kent Hughes has done a marvelous job of dissecting this marvelous verse.
God - The greatest Lover
So loved - To the greatest degree
The world - The greatest company
That He gave - The greatest act
His one and only Son -The greatest gift
That whoever - The greatest opportunity
Believes - The greatest simplicity
In Him -The greatest Attraction
Shall not perish - The greatest Promise
But - The greatest difference
Have - The greatest certainty
Eternal life - The greatest possession
In Jesus we have eternal life and new birth!
As that snake was lifted up in the wilderness, and the people by faith believed and looked at it and were healed, so was the Son of Man, Jesus lifted up... so that those who by faith look to Him for new life.
Have you looked upon our wonderful Lord?
Jesus gently chides Nicodemus (V10) Jesus is basically saying, you have all this learning and yet you do not understand? Then in verse 11 He states, "I have spoken to you earthly things, and you do not believe, How will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?"
Have you ever spoken with someone who has gone to Heaven and returned? No one has ever gone into heaven - except the One who came from Heaven So Jesus helps him to understand that His authority comes from the fact that He is the pre-existent One who came to earth from heaven.
Then to help Nicodemus understand, Jesus takes him back to a marvelous illustration of the new birth contained in the Old Testament, Numbers 21:4-9. With these words Nicodemus’ mind spun back thousands of years… he was on very familiar ground.
The picture in Numbers 21 is one of both glory and horror.
First, the horror. The Israelites were beset with venomous snakes. These snakes inflicted a burning fever in the lives of those they bit. The people could not escape, and their bodies were inflamed with fever. They were on the verge of death in fact, many died.
But also note the glorious. God provides a way of escape. Moses was directed to make a bronze snake. This could well have been a moment when Aaron was wondering if Moses was reverting to his old Egyptian ways. The snake was to be a source of healing and life.
Jesus left no doubt about the application! (V14) In fact the analogies are remarkable.
Snakes and serpents remind us of sin. The serpent brought temptation into the garden
The bronze snake represents faith, they had to look at it for it to be of any blessing to them, but, when they did look at it, they were healed and delivered. What an illustration of the new birth.
This great illustration is followed by a marvelous explanation. John 3:16 is the best known and most often quoted verse in all of the Bible. We seldom read it or recite it within its context, but when we do we see that it offers a vivid explanation of the new birth we have in Jesus Christ.
DL Moody said that John 3:16 brought him to an understanding of the love of God.
Dr. R. Kent Hughes has done a marvelous job of dissecting this marvelous verse.
God - The greatest Lover
So loved - To the greatest degree
The world - The greatest company
That He gave - The greatest act
His one and only Son -The greatest gift
That whoever - The greatest opportunity
Believes - The greatest simplicity
In Him -The greatest Attraction
Shall not perish - The greatest Promise
But - The greatest difference
Have - The greatest certainty
Eternal life - The greatest possession
In Jesus we have eternal life and new birth!
As that snake was lifted up in the wilderness, and the people by faith believed and looked at it and were healed, so was the Son of Man, Jesus lifted up... so that those who by faith look to Him for new life.
Have you looked upon our wonderful Lord?
On Being Born Again - John 3:1-8
Growing up in rural West Virginia, we attended a country Methodist church. I will never forget a feature that was in that white clap-board church. At the front in large letters was a plaque that said: Ye must be born again! That phrase comes from this very text.
One of the greatest Biblical terms has been stolen. It has been emptied of its true meaning and dragged through the muck so that today being born again can mean almost anything or nothing at all!
For instance, Bono, the lead singer of the popular Irish rock band U2 recently pointed at the symbols on his headband—first to the cross, then to the star, then to the crescent moon—and he began to repeat: “Jesus, Jew, Mohammad—all true. Jesus, Jew, Mohammad—all true.”
Marshall Mathers, also known as Eminem. His new CD, which is inspired entirely by Bible verses, based on the Old Testament, presents no discernible departure from his bloodthirsty rants filled with vulgarity.
We need to rescue it and return it to its proper place.
Our text relates Jesus’ classic conversation with Nicodemus. He explains what it means to be born again.
Verse 1 of our text introduces Nicodemus to us. It is hard to imagine that there could be a better person for our Lord to use in explaining this matter. First, he was a Pharisee, very earnest about his faith. He was also desperately fervent. He was also a member of the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin, comprised of 70 men, who had jurisdiction over every Jew on earth. He was Israel’s teacher (V10) considered to be the greatest teacher in Jerusalem. He was a highly educated man - no ones fool. His family was from the aristocracy - tracing their lineage back to the Maccabees.
Yet, on a quiet Palestinian evening, a perplexed man walked along the backstreets of old Jerusalem. He desired to speak to this young amazingly brilliant Rabbi, from Galilee.
He was about to come face to face with Jesus.
He came to Him respectfully - Rabbi (V2) No doubt, he was prepared for an exchange of philosophical ideas. He was not prepared for how the conversation ended up going, for Jesus cut him off and went straight to the heart of the matter.
In an instance our faith was given one of its greatest concepts - born again
Nicodemus pondered the question, the wheels of his head began to turn. I believe that often Nicodemus is viewed as being terribly inept if not ignorant. This is surely not the case. I believe he had some idea of what Jesus meant. The Rabbi’s had a saying: A proselyte who embraces Judaism is like a newborn child. So being born again in a religious or spiritual sense was not a foreign or new topic to him.
Yet, it was confusing and perplexing to him, so he posed a question to our Lord, "How?" (V4) Nicodemus was not being naive and he surely was not a theological dummy. No, his question stemmed from a deep yearning to know HOW this happened. His reasoning I think may have gone something like this: "You speak of being born again and there is nothing I would want more, but I don’t know “how” this works. in fact, you might as well tell me that I have to go back inside my mothers womb."
Tennyson caught the idea when he wrote: O for a man to rise in me, that the man I am might cease to be.
This is really the heart cry of man down through the ages. We desire to change... We want to be different...We want new minds, new personalities...We want to be “born again!" But it is as difficult as going back into our mother’s womb.
We think it has to do with our finding something… but Jesus explains it in the form of a two-fold question.
First, we must be born of water (V5). here he is clearly referring to water baptism - and repentance. Again Nicodemus knew what Jesus meant, John had been baptizing people in water, before and after this, as a sign of their inward repentance. (John 3:23) No one is truly born again unless there is repentance.
Lets think about this for a moment. In a December 1979 Gallup Poll:
· 39.5 million Americans claimed to have asked Christ to be their Savior
· 1 in 5 adults in the Unites States were evangelicals
If these statistics are true.. why has the sinful pace of our country not slowed down? Why is pornography on the upswing? Why do we have a corporate immorality epidemic?
How can this be is 1 in 5 adults are evangelicals?
I believe there are 2 main reasons.
1) Incredible ignorance about spiritual/biblical things
The same Gallup poll - 3 in 10 did not believe the devil was a personal being, few knew the books of the Bible or the names of the Apostles. Get this - 6 in 10 could not identify “you must be born again” as the words of Jesus. It follows that the moral ethical teachings contained in Scripture are less understood
2) Many who claim to be born again know nothing of repentance.
Repentance involves a change of mind. The biblical word comes from two words: One means - after, the other - thought, mind. It is not simply making a decision...It is not just a new direction...It is not education...It is not religious experience - Nicodemus had that. Now pay attention, is it also not merely - asking Jesus into your heart.
If any of those things happen without repentance they will not bring regeneration.
The second part of Jesus' answer is, "and the Spirit." (V5) Spirit baptism - Regeneration
Repentance is the pre-cursor. Being born again is a radical change in which we through repentance and a work of the Spirit we are given a totally new nature. (2 Cor 5:17)
What are the tangible evidences of this Spirit regeneration?
A Changed Life (V6-8)
This change cannot be accomplished by human energy. We do not evolve spiritually. What is vegetable is vegetable. What is animal is animal. What is flesh.. is flesh. There is no evolution from flesh to spirit.
You must be born again.
You must realize you are a sinner and repent. You must receive the work of the Spirit into your life. and must - is an imperative
Have you been born again according to the definition of John 3?
Do you see the non-negotiables? Do you see your sin, your need to repent?
John 19:38-39 tells us that at some point in his life, Nicodemus was born again.
Here's a great story that illustrates this great truth.
There is a song entitled: Lord, With Glowing Heart I'll Praise Thee
Lord, with glowing heart I'll praise Thee
For the bliss Thy love bestows.
For the pardoning grace that saves me,
And the peace that from it flows.
Help, O God, my weak endeavors,
This dull soul to rapture raise;
Thou must light the flame, or never
Can my love be warmed to praise.
Praise, my soul, the God that sought thee,
Wretched wandrer far astray;
Found thee lost, and kindly brought thee,
From the paths of death away.
Praise, with loves devoutest feeling,
Him who saw thy guilt-born fear,
And, the light of hope revealing,
Bade the blood-stained Cross appear.
- Johnny D. Pyles
The author, Johnny D. Pyles, of the poem was on death row in Texas from 1982-1998 when he was executed.
He says of his conversion: I spent eight years on death row for murder before Jesus became my Lord and Savior. The consequences of my sins have not been removed. I will still reap that which I have sown. Thought I still face the death penalty, I have nothing to fear for Jesus is my Savior and Lord.
His last statement was: "I want to tell you folks there, that I have a love in my heart for you. I hope you don’t look for satisfaction or comfort or peace in my execution.
Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior and I want him to be yours. I’m sorry for the pain and heartache I’ve caused your family. Too many years I’ve caused all my family problems and heartache. I’m sorry. I wanted to let you know that the Lord Jesus is my life and I just want to go. I’m gonna fall asleep and I’ll be in his presence shortly. I got reason to rejoice and I pray to see all of you there someday."
What transformation - the vile becomes virtuous…
The power - you must be born again
One of the greatest Biblical terms has been stolen. It has been emptied of its true meaning and dragged through the muck so that today being born again can mean almost anything or nothing at all!
For instance, Bono, the lead singer of the popular Irish rock band U2 recently pointed at the symbols on his headband—first to the cross, then to the star, then to the crescent moon—and he began to repeat: “Jesus, Jew, Mohammad—all true. Jesus, Jew, Mohammad—all true.”
Marshall Mathers, also known as Eminem. His new CD, which is inspired entirely by Bible verses, based on the Old Testament, presents no discernible departure from his bloodthirsty rants filled with vulgarity.
We need to rescue it and return it to its proper place.
Our text relates Jesus’ classic conversation with Nicodemus. He explains what it means to be born again.
Verse 1 of our text introduces Nicodemus to us. It is hard to imagine that there could be a better person for our Lord to use in explaining this matter. First, he was a Pharisee, very earnest about his faith. He was also desperately fervent. He was also a member of the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin, comprised of 70 men, who had jurisdiction over every Jew on earth. He was Israel’s teacher (V10) considered to be the greatest teacher in Jerusalem. He was a highly educated man - no ones fool. His family was from the aristocracy - tracing their lineage back to the Maccabees.
Yet, on a quiet Palestinian evening, a perplexed man walked along the backstreets of old Jerusalem. He desired to speak to this young amazingly brilliant Rabbi, from Galilee.
He was about to come face to face with Jesus.
He came to Him respectfully - Rabbi (V2) No doubt, he was prepared for an exchange of philosophical ideas. He was not prepared for how the conversation ended up going, for Jesus cut him off and went straight to the heart of the matter.
In an instance our faith was given one of its greatest concepts - born again
Nicodemus pondered the question, the wheels of his head began to turn. I believe that often Nicodemus is viewed as being terribly inept if not ignorant. This is surely not the case. I believe he had some idea of what Jesus meant. The Rabbi’s had a saying: A proselyte who embraces Judaism is like a newborn child. So being born again in a religious or spiritual sense was not a foreign or new topic to him.
Yet, it was confusing and perplexing to him, so he posed a question to our Lord, "How?" (V4) Nicodemus was not being naive and he surely was not a theological dummy. No, his question stemmed from a deep yearning to know HOW this happened. His reasoning I think may have gone something like this: "You speak of being born again and there is nothing I would want more, but I don’t know “how” this works. in fact, you might as well tell me that I have to go back inside my mothers womb."
Tennyson caught the idea when he wrote: O for a man to rise in me, that the man I am might cease to be.
This is really the heart cry of man down through the ages. We desire to change... We want to be different...We want new minds, new personalities...We want to be “born again!" But it is as difficult as going back into our mother’s womb.
We think it has to do with our finding something… but Jesus explains it in the form of a two-fold question.
First, we must be born of water (V5). here he is clearly referring to water baptism - and repentance. Again Nicodemus knew what Jesus meant, John had been baptizing people in water, before and after this, as a sign of their inward repentance. (John 3:23) No one is truly born again unless there is repentance.
Lets think about this for a moment. In a December 1979 Gallup Poll:
· 39.5 million Americans claimed to have asked Christ to be their Savior
· 1 in 5 adults in the Unites States were evangelicals
If these statistics are true.. why has the sinful pace of our country not slowed down? Why is pornography on the upswing? Why do we have a corporate immorality epidemic?
How can this be is 1 in 5 adults are evangelicals?
I believe there are 2 main reasons.
1) Incredible ignorance about spiritual/biblical things
The same Gallup poll - 3 in 10 did not believe the devil was a personal being, few knew the books of the Bible or the names of the Apostles. Get this - 6 in 10 could not identify “you must be born again” as the words of Jesus. It follows that the moral ethical teachings contained in Scripture are less understood
2) Many who claim to be born again know nothing of repentance.
Repentance involves a change of mind. The biblical word comes from two words: One means - after, the other - thought, mind. It is not simply making a decision...It is not just a new direction...It is not education...It is not religious experience - Nicodemus had that. Now pay attention, is it also not merely - asking Jesus into your heart.
If any of those things happen without repentance they will not bring regeneration.
The second part of Jesus' answer is, "and the Spirit." (V5) Spirit baptism - Regeneration
Repentance is the pre-cursor. Being born again is a radical change in which we through repentance and a work of the Spirit we are given a totally new nature. (2 Cor 5:17)
What are the tangible evidences of this Spirit regeneration?
A Changed Life (V6-8)
This change cannot be accomplished by human energy. We do not evolve spiritually. What is vegetable is vegetable. What is animal is animal. What is flesh.. is flesh. There is no evolution from flesh to spirit.
You must be born again.
You must realize you are a sinner and repent. You must receive the work of the Spirit into your life. and must - is an imperative
Have you been born again according to the definition of John 3?
Do you see the non-negotiables? Do you see your sin, your need to repent?
John 19:38-39 tells us that at some point in his life, Nicodemus was born again.
Here's a great story that illustrates this great truth.
There is a song entitled: Lord, With Glowing Heart I'll Praise Thee
Lord, with glowing heart I'll praise Thee
For the bliss Thy love bestows.
For the pardoning grace that saves me,
And the peace that from it flows.
Help, O God, my weak endeavors,
This dull soul to rapture raise;
Thou must light the flame, or never
Can my love be warmed to praise.
Praise, my soul, the God that sought thee,
Wretched wandrer far astray;
Found thee lost, and kindly brought thee,
From the paths of death away.
Praise, with loves devoutest feeling,
Him who saw thy guilt-born fear,
And, the light of hope revealing,
Bade the blood-stained Cross appear.
- Johnny D. Pyles
The author, Johnny D. Pyles, of the poem was on death row in Texas from 1982-1998 when he was executed.
He says of his conversion: I spent eight years on death row for murder before Jesus became my Lord and Savior. The consequences of my sins have not been removed. I will still reap that which I have sown. Thought I still face the death penalty, I have nothing to fear for Jesus is my Savior and Lord.
His last statement was: "I want to tell you folks there, that I have a love in my heart for you. I hope you don’t look for satisfaction or comfort or peace in my execution.
Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior and I want him to be yours. I’m sorry for the pain and heartache I’ve caused your family. Too many years I’ve caused all my family problems and heartache. I’m sorry. I wanted to let you know that the Lord Jesus is my life and I just want to go. I’m gonna fall asleep and I’ll be in his presence shortly. I got reason to rejoice and I pray to see all of you there someday."
What transformation - the vile becomes virtuous…
The power - you must be born again
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
The Seeds of the Heart
I am a plant nut! Planting and growing things is a marvelous avocation for me. If you want to see me act like a little kid, take me to a commercial greenhouse. I can spend virtual hours meandering through the rows, looking at all the plants. Boy, would this be neat to have in the backyard! But in making that statement I have overlooked something very significant.
Maintaining these greenhouses involves hard and time consuming work.
In many ways, our heart is like a greenhouse. Consider your thoughts as seeds, which grow in the fertile soil of our heart. Some thoughts become beautiful flowers that enrich our lives and the lives of those we love. These seeds come in a wide range of varieties...love, joy, and hope. These seeds produce good fruit in our lives. Other seeds become weeds…doubt, resentment, selfishness. These seeds breed insecurity and fill us with displeasure. Like the greenhouse, our hearts have to be managed. Ignore the weeds and before too long they will take over. Look around you, there are evidences of this everywhere you look.
Ever wonder why some people can resist negativism and remain patient? Could it be that they have sown seeds of goodness and are enjoying the harvest? Why do others have such a sour outlook? Why such a gloomy attitude? You would be that way too if the greenhouse of your heart was filled with weeds and thorns.
The Bible states it this way, “Do not be deceived…whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7)
If your life is like mine, I have to work every day to pull the weeds, so that the good fruit that the Holy Spirit wants to manifest in me can thrive.
Maintaining these greenhouses involves hard and time consuming work.
In many ways, our heart is like a greenhouse. Consider your thoughts as seeds, which grow in the fertile soil of our heart. Some thoughts become beautiful flowers that enrich our lives and the lives of those we love. These seeds come in a wide range of varieties...love, joy, and hope. These seeds produce good fruit in our lives. Other seeds become weeds…doubt, resentment, selfishness. These seeds breed insecurity and fill us with displeasure. Like the greenhouse, our hearts have to be managed. Ignore the weeds and before too long they will take over. Look around you, there are evidences of this everywhere you look.
Ever wonder why some people can resist negativism and remain patient? Could it be that they have sown seeds of goodness and are enjoying the harvest? Why do others have such a sour outlook? Why such a gloomy attitude? You would be that way too if the greenhouse of your heart was filled with weeds and thorns.
The Bible states it this way, “Do not be deceived…whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7)
If your life is like mine, I have to work every day to pull the weeds, so that the good fruit that the Holy Spirit wants to manifest in me can thrive.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Christianity Without Hypocrisy
All of us have a basic need to be accepted. It is a powerfully strong drive within us. Nothing in human life has such a lasting effect as not being accepted. When I am not accepted, then something in me is broken. A baby who is not accepted suffers at the roots of his/her existence. A student who does not feel accepted by his teacher will not learn. A person who does not feel accepted on the job will suffer and be a nuisance at home.
This drive is so powerful that when we cannot be accepted by the group that we want to be accepted by, we will go with anyone that will. Many of the life histories of prisoners reveal that somewhere along the way they went astray because there was no one who really accepted them.
In Christ, through the salvation offered to us in Him, we have the opportunity of being accepted by God. The Apostle Paul states, "To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. " (Ephesians 1:6) I am accepted by Christ, His righteousness is imputed to me through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Even with the knowledge that in Christ Jesus I am accepted by God, it is possible for me to embrace this with a level of hypocrisy. Jesus saw this as a problem. This is why he said, "Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 6:1)
In everyday conversation, we have learned to avoid absolutes. Words like "always, never, every." If you want to make your spouse really mad, use one of those absolutes. "You always throw your socks on the floor!" "You always want to be in control!" Most of the time we “absolutize” erroneously. We have been taught and have learned, more than likely painfully, to avoid such statements.
Yet, in John 6:1 Jesus is making a very absolute statement. If the things we do for God are done to be accepted by man, then there is no reward. In effect He is saying that there is no reward, no exceptions, no matter how good the deed might be. This is a very sobering statement to us. Jesus is looking beyond the outward act, and focusing upon the internal attidue of the heart, and the motives for why we do what we do.
It is possible to pray for your enemies and have no reward. Wow! It is possible to caress the hands of a leper and have no reward. Why is this so? Because it is possible to do these things for the recognition of man and not God. The most self-effacing saint in the congregation may have all their good deeds rejected at the Judgment seat of Christ in heaven.
Jesus does not want this to happen to us. So He offers gives to us a solid exhortation,
"Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words." (Matthew 6:2-7)
When we help the needy, let us do it in such a way that we do not draw attention to ouselves to be praised by others. When we give, let it be done in such a way that our Father who seeks in secret will reward us. When we pray, let is be without fanfare or pomp, go in to your closet and pray in secret. In so doing we avoid hypocrisy in our faith.
Do you get upset when you do something and no one notices? When you are not given an appropriate acknowledgment, does that make you mad?
Be careful, Jesus is very absolute on this subject. Thats why Jesus finally states, "Do not be like them..." Practice your Christinaity without hypocrisy.
This drive is so powerful that when we cannot be accepted by the group that we want to be accepted by, we will go with anyone that will. Many of the life histories of prisoners reveal that somewhere along the way they went astray because there was no one who really accepted them.
In Christ, through the salvation offered to us in Him, we have the opportunity of being accepted by God. The Apostle Paul states, "To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. " (Ephesians 1:6) I am accepted by Christ, His righteousness is imputed to me through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Even with the knowledge that in Christ Jesus I am accepted by God, it is possible for me to embrace this with a level of hypocrisy. Jesus saw this as a problem. This is why he said, "Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 6:1)
In everyday conversation, we have learned to avoid absolutes. Words like "always, never, every." If you want to make your spouse really mad, use one of those absolutes. "You always throw your socks on the floor!" "You always want to be in control!" Most of the time we “absolutize” erroneously. We have been taught and have learned, more than likely painfully, to avoid such statements.
Yet, in John 6:1 Jesus is making a very absolute statement. If the things we do for God are done to be accepted by man, then there is no reward. In effect He is saying that there is no reward, no exceptions, no matter how good the deed might be. This is a very sobering statement to us. Jesus is looking beyond the outward act, and focusing upon the internal attidue of the heart, and the motives for why we do what we do.
It is possible to pray for your enemies and have no reward. Wow! It is possible to caress the hands of a leper and have no reward. Why is this so? Because it is possible to do these things for the recognition of man and not God. The most self-effacing saint in the congregation may have all their good deeds rejected at the Judgment seat of Christ in heaven.
Jesus does not want this to happen to us. So He offers gives to us a solid exhortation,
"Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words." (Matthew 6:2-7)
When we help the needy, let us do it in such a way that we do not draw attention to ouselves to be praised by others. When we give, let it be done in such a way that our Father who seeks in secret will reward us. When we pray, let is be without fanfare or pomp, go in to your closet and pray in secret. In so doing we avoid hypocrisy in our faith.
Do you get upset when you do something and no one notices? When you are not given an appropriate acknowledgment, does that make you mad?
Be careful, Jesus is very absolute on this subject. Thats why Jesus finally states, "Do not be like them..." Practice your Christinaity without hypocrisy.
True Patriotism
Living in a time when issues of war, religious politics, and a host of other moral opinions divide the United States, a call to patriotism seems like an imprudent request. Confronted by the complexities and challenges of our society, it is little wonder that many feel a certain disgust when it comes to showing patriotism.
I was actually asked recently by a man if our church had an American flag in our church sanctuary. He shared that recently the church he attended, chose to remove the flag. George Bernard Shaw felt this way, when he stated, "You'll never have a quiet world till you knock the patriotism out of the human race."
I recognize that patriotism can be merely an extension of self-love. I may love my country because it is my country. If it manages to field a winning Olympic team, that enhances my self-image as a citizen. If its borders are secure, my peace and prosperity are as well. If it is a major world power, I can feel a certain superiority over the rest of the world. The patriotism of Hitler's Nazis was certainly of this kind.
But there is a nobler basis for patriotism! Like all other loyalties it can be a good thing. It is my conviction that true patriotism has always had at its core an essential belief in God, and without that belief, patriotism comes up lacking. The documents of the Continental Congress that frames our republic espoused a strong belief in God. Without belief in God, there is no true patriotism!
Psalm 33:12 states, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!"
The writer of Hebrews following this same theme as it relates to Abraham. God brought into existence a chosen promised nation through Abraham. The Bible states, "so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises." Hebrews 6:12
Do not be sluggish! If there was ever an apt description of our modern world, this is it. The issue of being sluggish, has been expressed in a word - “acedia.”
Acedia describes a life-robbing dreariness or sadness. St. Gregory the Great (c. 540-604) included this term among the seven deadly sins. Acedia is an internal attitude that is a form of apathy. It results in our being oppressed by weariness and boredom. If faith is the “eye of love” that “sees” and delights in the beauty of God’s love in all things, then acedia is the absence of that love.
William Bennett, states that our problem is what the ancients called acedia, the sin of sloth. As understood by the saints, it is not laziness about life’s affairs, but rather an aversion to and a negation of spiritual things. It reveals itself in an undue concern for external affairs and worldly things. Acedia is spiritual torpor, an absence of zeal for divine things. And it brings with it, according to the ancients, a sadness, a weariness of the world. Acedia, for Bennett, manifests itself in our joyless, ill-tempered, and self-seeking rejection of the nobility of the children of God. The slothful person hates the spiritual, and wants to be free of its demands. It eventually leads to a hatred of the good altogether. And with hatred comes more rejection, more ill temper, sadness, and sorrow.
I am amazed at what makes news in our nation. For instance, a rich spoiled brat drives under the influence of alcohol, is placed on probation, violates that probation, and goes to jail, gets out, goes back. When she is eventually released its front page news. She is immediately the guest on a major prime time news program.
Meanwhile, major issues were being decided in the Congress and the Supreme Court, but Paris got all the coverage. The results are a sort of dumbing down. A new study from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press shows that Americans, on average, are not as sharp when it comes to current events as they were in 1989. Example: Only 69 percent of people surveyed know who the vice president is, compared to 74 percent in 1989.You would think people would be getting smarter with easier access to information through the Internet. Unfortunately, they are more likely to plug into the blogosphere of nothingness that defines Ms. Hilton and other inane subject matter. (Orlando Sentinel Editorial, July 1, 2007)
Several years ago, we thought that our affluence, technology, and leisure would deliver for us a sort of utopian existence. This is not the case.
Scottish author John Buchan was prophetic when he wrote these words, "In such a (nightmare) world everyone would have leisure. But everyone would be restless, for there would be no spiritual disciplines in life. It would be a feverish, bustling world, self-satisfied and yet malcontent, and under the mask of a riotous life there would be death at the heart. In the perpetual hurry of life there would be no chance of quiet for the soul. . . . In such a bagman’s paradise, where life would be rationalized and padded with every material comfort, there would be little satisfaction for the immortal part of man." Buchan was fearful of the effects of WWI upon society.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, in his 1978 Harvard commencement address warned of the West’s “spiritual exhaustion,” when he stated: "In the United States the difficulties are not a Minotaur or a dragon—not imprisonment, hard labor, death, government harassment and censorship—but boredom, sloppiness, indifference. Not the acts of a mighty all-pervading repressive government but the failure of a listless public to make use of the freedom that is its birthright."
Acedia, sluggishness robs us of not only our best patriotism, but the essence of our faith as well… hence the scriptures tell us to "be imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises." (Hebrews 6:12) True patriotism is firmly anchored to the promise of God.
Edith Cavell, the brave British nurse who was killed by the Germans in WWI.
In 1907 she was appointed first matron of the Berkendel Medical Institute at Brussels, Belgium. This became the Red Cross Hospital in Belgium at the outbreak of the conflict in 1914. Nurse Cavell helped to care for wounded French, Belgian, English and German soldiers alike. She ministered faithfully even to those who had fallen while fighting against her own nation. Naturally, her sympathies were with the Allies, and in cooperation with the efforts of Prince Reginald de Croy, she aided many English and French soldiers who had fled from the Germans. These escaped by “underground” methods to the Dutch frontier, where, with the aid of guides, they were conveyed across to Britain.
When some of these fugitives were traced to her house in Brussels, she was immediately arrested and after a court-martial was sentenced to face a firing-squad. All her kindness to the German wounded was forgotten. Her captors considered her a spy and treated her accordingly.
Just before the blindfold was placed over her eyes, as she stood fearlessly facing the solders who were about to take her life, she gave a last message to the world.
“I am glad,” she said, “to die for my country. But as I stand here I realize as never before that patriotism is not enough.” Then she went on to give a clear, definite testimony to her personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and her assurance of salvation, not through laying down her life for others, but because He laid down His life for her. In perfect composure, she submitted to the blindfolding of her eyes and, in a few moments fell, pierced by the bullets.
On July 3, 1776 John Adams sent this note to his wife Abigail. May it be our commitment as Christian patriots of our great United States!
This will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.
Amen!
I was actually asked recently by a man if our church had an American flag in our church sanctuary. He shared that recently the church he attended, chose to remove the flag. George Bernard Shaw felt this way, when he stated, "You'll never have a quiet world till you knock the patriotism out of the human race."
I recognize that patriotism can be merely an extension of self-love. I may love my country because it is my country. If it manages to field a winning Olympic team, that enhances my self-image as a citizen. If its borders are secure, my peace and prosperity are as well. If it is a major world power, I can feel a certain superiority over the rest of the world. The patriotism of Hitler's Nazis was certainly of this kind.
But there is a nobler basis for patriotism! Like all other loyalties it can be a good thing. It is my conviction that true patriotism has always had at its core an essential belief in God, and without that belief, patriotism comes up lacking. The documents of the Continental Congress that frames our republic espoused a strong belief in God. Without belief in God, there is no true patriotism!
Psalm 33:12 states, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!"
The writer of Hebrews following this same theme as it relates to Abraham. God brought into existence a chosen promised nation through Abraham. The Bible states, "so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises." Hebrews 6:12
Do not be sluggish! If there was ever an apt description of our modern world, this is it. The issue of being sluggish, has been expressed in a word - “acedia.”
Acedia describes a life-robbing dreariness or sadness. St. Gregory the Great (c. 540-604) included this term among the seven deadly sins. Acedia is an internal attitude that is a form of apathy. It results in our being oppressed by weariness and boredom. If faith is the “eye of love” that “sees” and delights in the beauty of God’s love in all things, then acedia is the absence of that love.
William Bennett, states that our problem is what the ancients called acedia, the sin of sloth. As understood by the saints, it is not laziness about life’s affairs, but rather an aversion to and a negation of spiritual things. It reveals itself in an undue concern for external affairs and worldly things. Acedia is spiritual torpor, an absence of zeal for divine things. And it brings with it, according to the ancients, a sadness, a weariness of the world. Acedia, for Bennett, manifests itself in our joyless, ill-tempered, and self-seeking rejection of the nobility of the children of God. The slothful person hates the spiritual, and wants to be free of its demands. It eventually leads to a hatred of the good altogether. And with hatred comes more rejection, more ill temper, sadness, and sorrow.
I am amazed at what makes news in our nation. For instance, a rich spoiled brat drives under the influence of alcohol, is placed on probation, violates that probation, and goes to jail, gets out, goes back. When she is eventually released its front page news. She is immediately the guest on a major prime time news program.
Meanwhile, major issues were being decided in the Congress and the Supreme Court, but Paris got all the coverage. The results are a sort of dumbing down. A new study from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press shows that Americans, on average, are not as sharp when it comes to current events as they were in 1989. Example: Only 69 percent of people surveyed know who the vice president is, compared to 74 percent in 1989.You would think people would be getting smarter with easier access to information through the Internet. Unfortunately, they are more likely to plug into the blogosphere of nothingness that defines Ms. Hilton and other inane subject matter. (Orlando Sentinel Editorial, July 1, 2007)
Several years ago, we thought that our affluence, technology, and leisure would deliver for us a sort of utopian existence. This is not the case.
Scottish author John Buchan was prophetic when he wrote these words, "In such a (nightmare) world everyone would have leisure. But everyone would be restless, for there would be no spiritual disciplines in life. It would be a feverish, bustling world, self-satisfied and yet malcontent, and under the mask of a riotous life there would be death at the heart. In the perpetual hurry of life there would be no chance of quiet for the soul. . . . In such a bagman’s paradise, where life would be rationalized and padded with every material comfort, there would be little satisfaction for the immortal part of man." Buchan was fearful of the effects of WWI upon society.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, in his 1978 Harvard commencement address warned of the West’s “spiritual exhaustion,” when he stated: "In the United States the difficulties are not a Minotaur or a dragon—not imprisonment, hard labor, death, government harassment and censorship—but boredom, sloppiness, indifference. Not the acts of a mighty all-pervading repressive government but the failure of a listless public to make use of the freedom that is its birthright."
Acedia, sluggishness robs us of not only our best patriotism, but the essence of our faith as well… hence the scriptures tell us to "be imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises." (Hebrews 6:12) True patriotism is firmly anchored to the promise of God.
Edith Cavell, the brave British nurse who was killed by the Germans in WWI.
In 1907 she was appointed first matron of the Berkendel Medical Institute at Brussels, Belgium. This became the Red Cross Hospital in Belgium at the outbreak of the conflict in 1914. Nurse Cavell helped to care for wounded French, Belgian, English and German soldiers alike. She ministered faithfully even to those who had fallen while fighting against her own nation. Naturally, her sympathies were with the Allies, and in cooperation with the efforts of Prince Reginald de Croy, she aided many English and French soldiers who had fled from the Germans. These escaped by “underground” methods to the Dutch frontier, where, with the aid of guides, they were conveyed across to Britain.
When some of these fugitives were traced to her house in Brussels, she was immediately arrested and after a court-martial was sentenced to face a firing-squad. All her kindness to the German wounded was forgotten. Her captors considered her a spy and treated her accordingly.
Just before the blindfold was placed over her eyes, as she stood fearlessly facing the solders who were about to take her life, she gave a last message to the world.
“I am glad,” she said, “to die for my country. But as I stand here I realize as never before that patriotism is not enough.” Then she went on to give a clear, definite testimony to her personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and her assurance of salvation, not through laying down her life for others, but because He laid down His life for her. In perfect composure, she submitted to the blindfolding of her eyes and, in a few moments fell, pierced by the bullets.
On July 3, 1776 John Adams sent this note to his wife Abigail. May it be our commitment as Christian patriots of our great United States!
This will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.
Amen!
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