Category: Uncategorized

www.bible.com/1713/col.3.16.csb

What do you do to get your worship groove on? Some folks like to put on worship music on their radio or their music player. Other folks like to open up a hymnal and sing with abandon. But let us not forget that other great style of worship, singing together.

What most seem to forget when it comes to the biblical instruction for worship is that it is to be done together with other believers. This is usually where we run into problems. Whereas you and I have our preferences as to the type of worship we enjoy individually, it gets a little tiresome to have to sing with others who do not share your worship style. For myself, I’m all for singing together with others, as long as it is songs that I am familiar with. But where I attend, that is usually not the case. I will grumble I suppose, since our worship team is dedicated to the idea of singing a new song every week. Now I suppose that if I listen to Christian music radio more than I do, I probably would hear all the latest from Hlllsong and Elevation worship which our church favors. But who has time for that? I have always believed that you should always a mix of new and old, familiar and new. That way everyone can worship at least once.

I also believe you ought to sing as much as you teach. For everyone, this is probably the one time all week we will all get together and worship. If so, then it ought to include songs we can all sing. This may mean singing the same song every week or every few weeks just to get everyone on the same page. The more we can sing together, the more we can worship together. And that’s kind of the point regardless of how old or young your congregation is.

I may just be set in my ways, but there are good ways and bad ways to put together a worship service. Just my two cents.

www.bible.com/1713/psa.34.18.csb

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that “broken-hearted” was a diagnosable medical condition. About a year ago I was talking to a doctor at the hospital where I work and they were discussing a case where a woman had a verifiable heart condition. She had recently suffered the loss of her husband, and her health now was in jeopardy. The doctor said she was dying of a “broken heart”. I was astonished. But this confirmed for me the close connection between the our emotional life and our phsyical life, or I might add, the connection between our body and our spirit. I suspect her soul was in pain because it had been sheared in half by the loss of her husband. What was so normal for so long, their constant companionship, now was broken by death. It was hard to see, and losses like that take a long time to heal, if there is any desire to heal.

It is not uncommon for couple that have been married many years, and had great marriages, to die within hours, days, or even months of each other. The situation varies by case, but sometime the diagnosis is a “broken heart.”

I take some comfort in the fact that when we form a relationship with the Lord, He will never leave us. In the Lord, we have hope for a constant connection. We will never be grieved by a broken heart with God, because He is always present with us. The promises of scripture are certain. He is close to the broken -hearted.

If you are feeling far away from God today, may I reming you it is rare for God to leave you, but that you have pushed Him away, either through sin, indifference, or a conscience that is insensitive. I want to caution you not to let this last too long, or you might get used to God being “far” from you. Don’t let that happen. Repent of your sins, draw close to God, and He will draw near to you.

Dear God, sometimes I lose my way. I am thankful that You are never far from me. Be My ever-present Companion, my Guide, my God. Thank You Jesus for relieving me of my burden of sin. May I serve You ever. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

www.bible.com/1713/psa.42.11.csb

Your daily struggle is different from mine. This Corona has touched you differently than myself. I consider myself fortunate that I’ve been able to continue working through the shutdown, albeit on a limited basis. My wife has not been affected near as much I have, and we are doing ok. Had we both been forced to stay home and be furloughed, I don’t know that we would have made it. Like many others we would have tried to pay for things on credit, hoping for the stimulus check or Big Brother to help us.

I know it feels right now that faith and trust in God seems like some “pie in the sky” kind of thing, a false hope. Why bother with faith when I have real problems to deal with? If I have trouble feeding my family or paying my rent, what good is religion going to do me? That is a very good question. So let me ask you a follow-up question.

How do you decide what’s important during a shutdown? Is it any better to pay for rent and utilities with that government stimulus check than for a new TV or that new glittery thing you’ve has your eyes on? What is better to spend your money on? Your answer is inherently religious. Because in reality, money has no morals. TV’s and glitter, rent and utilities have no moral compunction. But you bring it with you. Buying a new TV will bring immediate happiness and will last for as long as you have power and a place to put it. If you value immediate happiness, then you will buy the new thing. However, if instead you value longer-term goals, like having a place to live, or food to eat or power and light, then you are applying value to long-term happiness. You are making a value judgment. Values come from somewhere. Where do they come from? Your world-view, and your world-view is shaped by your religion.

You may say, “I have no religion.” That may be formally true, but all of us have a value system that is based on what we see our role in the universe. If you see yourself as nothing, shaped by blobs of goo, then you apply no morality or value to anything, because all things are meaningless. You are going to buy that TV because they makes you happy. You may apply yourself to that blob theory, but see value in making others happy, like your landlord, or your spouse and children. If you see value in others and legitimate entities living beside you in this meaningless universe, then, despite the worthlessness of all things, you still value companionship and well-being between individuals, and will pay the rent and the utilities. But all decision inherently possess a judgment of some kind based on a set of ideals (and experience from prior judgment) that in some form or fashion is your religion.

Religion is only that formal relationship and ritual you have developed (whether alone or in concert with others) to rectify your position in the universe. Your values and judgments come from that religion. You can be a complete atheist and still have religion, because religion is how you’ve have decided the issues of the universe and how you will interact with them. Questions like, “Who am I?” and “Where did I come from?” and “Who is the final authority in my life?” give us the answers that decide what kind of religion we have, and the values we hold.

Christians are people who have been perpetually unsatisfied with the answers they’ve come up with themselves or that others have given them. For Christians, they look to the only authoritative book they know, and from their glean their answers to not only the questions above but about all the others questions worth asking. As a Christian, I find the Bible to be the best book for answering these questions, even though it comes from the tribal experience of one family on earth. Though it speaks directly to Israel, it speaks to all of us. God was not concerned only for Israel, but for every human being made in His image, which is all of them. God loves all of us. And this is the reason I make the decision I do, and why through all the turmoil and despair, I still have hope. I need this hope, because it makes the turmoil and despair bearable.

One line from the Princess Bride always haunts me. “Life is pain. And anyone that tells you different is selling something.” That is a succinct philosophy of life. I might suggest that Christianity is telling you different. Not that life isn’t painful, because it is, but that life is more than pain. Life is love. Life is peace. Life is turmoil. Life is despair, but life is also hope.

Heavenly Father, I pray today for my brothers and sisters around the world who are reading these words. I pray for their hope today. I pray that despite their life and their turmoil, You will grant them hope. I pray these things in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

www.bible.com/1713/ezk.36.26.csb

I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will place My Spirit within you and cause you to follow My statutes and carefully observe My ordinances.
(Eze 36:25-27)

We are dirty. We are stubborn. And we are lawless. We have no good thing in us since we were corrupted by sin. And yet, God was not done with us. When He could have cast us aside and abandoned us, He didn’t. Some might say he couldn’t, but then they would wrong. God could. God doesn’t need us. And I’m certain there are times that God positively does not like us.

No one cared enough about you to do even one of these things out of compassion for you. But you were thrown out into the open field because you were despised on the day you were born. “I passed by you and saw you lying in your blood, and I said to you as you lay in your blood: Live! Yes, I said to you as you lay in your blood: Live!
(Eze 16:5-6)

Your fame spread among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through My splendor, which I had bestowed on you.” This is the declaration of the Lord GOD.
(Eze 16:14)

Once we were nothing. We had been corrupted and made putrid by the rot of our own sin among our bones and in our heart. Our heart had solidified to stone, because we stopped caring. That is a hard place to be. God should have abandoned us, left us at the side of the road, but he didn’t.

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!
(Eph 2:4-5)

And now, suddenly as the sunrise, death is shuffled off like scales, and God calls us to life. By faith we are saved through grace. By faith we pursue and receive baptism so that we may receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, the gift of life everlasting because we have been regenerated by the Spirit. No more subject to sin, to corruption, to rot. We are alive!

Why? Because God did not WANT to leave us in sin. He CHOSE to bring us life because THAT is what God is like.

Be grateful today that we have a God who chooses us, not because He has to, but because He wants to.

Thank You God for my life. Thank You for a beating heart of flesh, that cares, that loves and responds to You in worship! Great is our God! Praise His Name! In that Name we pray, Amen!

I found this promotional item on my Facebook feed yesterday, and I knew immediately I had to have it. It features a mug with the statement, “I can do all things through a verse taken out of context.” I didn’t question it. I immediately went to the website and bought one. It will be here in a few days and I cannot wait. I already have plans to feature it prominently whenever I do a video because it speaks to the core of my teaching philosophy. In popular Christian culture, it is so easy to take a verse out of context and make it say something contrary to the Word, and that is one of my all-time pet peeves.

So I share this with you today if you too are disgusted by such things. God bless You and may you have a wonderful day!

https://www.reformedsage.com/products/all-things-mug

 

www.bible.com/1713/jol.2.12.csb

What keeps you from being close to the Lord? On this Sunday, we ought to be closer than usual. We ought to be reminded of our obligations to the Lord in worship and word. But, if your life has been like mine, Sunday morning worship has been a bit different. For the present, churches are still officially “closed.” Some churches are doing drive-in services, and I commend them for their inventiveness. Our church has been dong internet church since it had already been equipped with that ability long before the quarantine started. But getting up and getting ready for church has fallen out of habit. This morning I watched church in my bathrobe. I suppose robes are appropriate.

But I will tell you that Sunday doesn’t feel like Sunday any more. I miss getting up and getting out. I miss worshipping with other believers, sitting in the chairs at church and the communal feeling of being with others of like mind and faith. I miss the opportunity to talk to people who are just today making that decision to follow Jesus. I know all that can be done virtually, but it isn’t the same.

And then I miss going out after church to get dinner. I miss the Chinese buffet, but also the Cracker Barrel and the trips to a different town to try out different options there. I miss that freedom, the ability to get out of you cubby-hole and seeing how other people live. Lord willing, all of this will be rectified by the end of the month.

Until then, I must take Joel’s message to heart. At the core of his message (to Israel) is to prepare your heart for the Lord. Three things we don’t do normally: fasting, weeping and mourning, are all three designed to set up apart. Fasting obviously sets you apart from your normal habit of satisfying the flesh. Weeping sets you apart from your normal apathy about your sins and the plight of your soul. Mourning reminds you that because of our sins, we deserve death, eternal death in judgment. Happy thoughts anyone? These are not happy thoughts. These are purposefully designed to put your soul on notice. God is watching and aware of what you are doing. Be ignorant no longer.

This is usually what Sunday morning is for. It is a reminder of where you are spiritually.
And if you have been separated from your soul lately because you haven’t been in a church house, may I recommend you set apart some part of your house to get you in that particular mood?  Find a space where you can set apart, Scripture calls it a closet for prayer, where you can be separate, turn off the noise, and be holy. If you don’t have one, make one, so that you can find a sanctuary for your soul. And take the time to be alone with God.

Dear God, I know I need you. I know that every day, the longer I spend away from You, I spend to my detriment. Help me Lord Jesus to find You again, to shut off the noise of my life and listen to Your Voice. I pray this in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

www.bible.com/1713/psa.46.1-2.csb

One place that I’ve found to be my refuge lately is my home. I suppose many people have done some rediscovery in this regard. It seems our homes are right where we left them amidst the toil and bustle of life. We have found ourselves become more acquainted with home here of late, and in my case, reacquainted with those home repair issues that I’ve always told myself I would get to when I have time. Guess what happened.

So I found myself knee deep in my basement shower Saturday working on a clogged drain that has been clogged off and on for about seven years, basically since we put the shower in just before we moved in. I have tried a number of drain-O type cleaners on the drain, trying to remove whatever was clogging it chemically. They would work for a short time, but inevitably clog back up.

So Saturday I went out to Lowe’s and procured the ultimate weapon against clogged drains, the Snake! For those not familiar with snakes, the mechanical kind, they are long cords of steel wire with a screw end attached on the business end and some mechanism for turning that screw end on the other. After trying one more time with a chemical drain cleaner, I got to work.

I had bought a ten-foot snake, and its a good thing I did too. I found I needed all ten feet of it before I was done. I unleashed the snake into my drain, turned it dutifully, and after some revolutions pulled it out again, finding some hair matted on the end, but still clogged. Down again with the snake, once more with the turning, and pulling it back out revealed still more hair. I began to wonder if I was doing it correctly.

I repeated this process a couple more times, until finally, the light dawned, to at least, the water began to move and the shower was completely drained of it. I couldn’t believe it. I sat there with the snake in my hand, still wondering if I’d done it. After a moment I collected myself and reeled the snake back in. I considered it among the best money I’d ever spent. I even went back this morning just to check, just to make sure I hadn’t dreamed it. Still drained.

I am finding new things out about my home, or perhaps relearning them since moving in some time ago. But that’s what happens when you have time.

You also have time to reflect on just how important faith is in a time like this, with uncertainty and fear threatening all around. We have time to thank God for the shelter we have, homes to live in and improve, and families around us. I’ve found that for whatever other purpose this quarantine was supposed to serve, it has helped me remember who I am. I am a child of God, and I dwell under His protection, His refuge and strength. I hope you do to.

Heavenly Father, please be that protection for my family and myself that You word promises. May we remember this day that You are never far from us, and we should never drift away. Thank You Jesus for everything. Amen.

www.bible.com/1713/pro.21.3.csb

There are two words I want to look at today, righteousness and justice. They sound like the same idea, right? I think for the most part, they are the same idea, but they differ in application. Justice can be best understood as the “eye for an eye” kind of return on evil committed. If you hurt me, then I am just by hurting you back in equal measure. If we sin against God by breaking one of His laws, He would be just in meting out punishment for that sin. The Bible calls this God’s wrath. By rights, God has the authority to deal out judgment against sins committed because He is the Owner. He is the One who made everything, and so He has the authority over everything.

But righteousness is a little different. Righteousness is the quality of God that we ascribe His sense of right and good. God is always right, 100% right, thoroughly right in all he says and does. That’s why when He deals justice against wrongdoers, He is completely right to do it. But may I add that there are times that God allows injustice to occur to accomplish a right thing.

Case in point: Was it just for Jesus to be condemned to die on a cross? Did Jesus deserve to die as a convicted capital criminal? Was He more deserving of death than Barabbas? I think the answer here is NO. There was no more unjust conviction of anyone in history than of Jesus Christ. He Who knew no sin, had never succumbed to temptation, and was never at fault ever in anything, should never have been convicted of anything, let alone a capital crime worthy of death. And yet, As unjust as the crucifixion of Christ was, it was the right thing to do. How? Because God willed that one innocent Son of God should suffer for the sins of the world. Because God willed it, it was right. Because God knew that death would not hold Him, that His Son would overcome the grave as a result, would lead many in salvation through His Name, the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, though unjust, was right.

I believe that as far as we are concerned, we ought to stick with what is both just and right, since I doubt any of us has insight enough to discern the difference for ourselves. But I might say that we suffer this same injustice every day, and it is right for us to suffer in this way, because our Lord suffered no less.

For it is better to suffer for doing good, if God wills it, than for doing evil. Because Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring you to God, by being put to death in the flesh but by being made alive in the spirit.
(1Pe 3:17-18)

Let us do good, and and act justly, and walk humbly before our God. God bless you today!

www.bible.com/1713/isa.41.10.csb

Fear is a natural response to uncertainty. If you don’t know what lies ahead, you are uncertain, because it is not normal. We fear the abnormal, because we are used to things being done, a routine in our lives that disruptions of cause uncertainty, and idea that we don’t know what is coming, and that causes fear. We like normal. We like the usual. There may be times where we want something unexpected or surprising, but only when we are prepared for them.

We are funny that way. We don’t like to be bored, it would rather have boring and ordinary if it doesn’t require change. That’s why this month has been so incredibly stressful, because every day the rules change. Every day there is some new guideline or some new priority or some new rule that we MUST follow or else. Death has often been touted as the ultimate penalty for disobedience, as in death by COVID, but honestly, our fear of death is beginning to wane. We long for the normal, getting back to the usual. For some, not even fear of death is enough. So now it is fear of jail, fear of fines, fear of arrest. Yep. We are being told now that if we don’t follow the ever-changing rules, it’s not death we have to fear, but the police. Really? That’s the message we need to be sending?

What will be offered when fear of arrest doesn’t stop people? Will officers be told to shoot on sight? Will our property be confiscated? Why not an audit? Or forced root canals? Our desire to get back to normal will be overpowering. We call it “cabin fever” but it is a real thing. It is a stronger need for social and psychological interaction, and if not met corrodes our psyche and causes to go to unusual lengths to satisfy it. Social isolation cannot be a long-term solution because it goes against our very human and God-created nature. We will not long endure it.

Fear only lasts until it become normal. We are coming to the end of our initial fears. We have a new normal. Many are no longer afraid of COVID, just as we aren’t afraid of the flu, heart attacks, car accidents, and so many other possible ways we could die. They surface from time to time, it they only exist in the background of our minds. We don’t dwell on them because they are part of the landscape.

One thing we can be sure of is that more changes are coming. Though our world keeps changing, God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His standards and rules do not change. I feel much more confidence in these that anything that comes from my governor.

Lord remind us today that each day is Yours and I have the privilege to live in it. Thank You Lord.