Friday I drove to Cheyenne to spend some time with my parents and then Saturday on to Casper for the Foundation for Christian Discipleship board meeting.  FCD oversees a number of student ministries on campuses in Wyoming, Nebraska and South Dakota called Campus Ventures.  I enjoy these twice-a-year meetings in spite of the long days getting there and back for church on Sunday.  I enjoy the fellowship of men and women committed to biblical discipleship.  One of our discussions on Saturday lead me to believe that our campus leaders and students don’t really know God in his glory, greatness and grace as they should, and that has been the root of some personnel problems we’ve faced in recent years.  The longer I live and preach, the more I believe Calvin had it right almost 500 years ago when he said all of our problems stem from the fact we don’t really know God.

            While driving home I pulled over at a rest stop I’ve visited several times (at least once each trip to Casper or to Ayres Bridge where my family has camped the last few summers).  While walking around the driveway to stretch my legs, I saw a sign pointing to a scenic overlook.  I was surprised I’d never seen it before, so I walked the path to some benches a few hundred yards away.  Just as I came to the end of the path, the sky turned bright orange and pink with some grey cloud wisps above the Laramie mountain range and Laramie Peak.  It was possibly the most gorgeous sunset I’ve witnessed in my life.  It took my breath away, and I said out loud, “Wow! You are an awesome God!”  I stood there speechless for a few minutes, just admiring God’s beauty, then prayed that I would be able to teach the next generation just how awesome God really is.

            “The heavens declare the glory of God!”  May I too declare that glory!

1 Thessalonians 2:1-12.  Paul spells out the difference in attitude and motive between today’s true and false teachers.  The major separating point is doctrine, but, as this passage indicates, there are other matters as well.  True teachers tell the gospel message of Jesus in spite of strong opposition; they work hard to communicate that message; their appeal is not from trickery or impure motives; they try to please God and not men; they don’t flatter, but they speak the truth in love; and in that love share not just a message but also their own lives; they speak sincerely and don’t put on masks.  False teachers, on the other hand, use trickery (I think that means anything other than communicating the truth) and false motives to get others to follow them; they speak to please their hearers, even using flattery to do so; they put on masks to cover up greed.

            Read carefully through this section of First Thessalonians and you can discern what is happening.  With the news in recent years of ministries that rake in millions of dollars yet have no accountability to the use of that money, I believe it’s clear to whom this word applies.

            God, may I speak the truth of the gospel in love, regardless of opposition; may I never use false methods and motivations to draw others; may I speak to please you alone and to your glory alone.

Gloria in excelsis Deo

            The tag line for my blog is “a teaching pastor’s devotional and theological thoughts.”  In that light, I have tried to avoid political comments.  There are plenty of blogs out there with those anyway!  Yet sometimes, theological/devotional thoughts overlap with political ones.

            This morning in my devotions, I read this question from Psalm 58:  “Do you rulers indeed speak justly?  Do you judge uprightly among men?”  And the answer is not a wishy-washy answer, “No, in your heart you devise injustice, and your hands mete out violence on the earth.”  That sounds like many politicians in power in the USA today.  They don’t speak what is best for men, though they couch everything they say in terms that sound good, at least to some; instead they mete out what amounts to violence and injustice.  I have heard references in recent months to some who have hoped for and prayed for Obama’s failure as a president.  Though I believe we must pray for his salvation, this psalm seems to indicate there’s nothing wrong with praying that sinful and misleading programs, and politicians, fail.  So seems to be the indication of verse 6-8 – a harsh prayer against David’s enemies.

            To the end that Obama’s programs further entrap the poor in poverty, while giving more to those in power, I pray that he fails, even if I personally think they’re wonderful programs.  To the end that his programs genuinely help with the injustices in the world, I pray that he succeeds, even if I am personally against such programs.  Ultimately, however, we want to see God glorified and people coming to know him, as the last verse of the passage indicates:  “Then men will say, ‘Surely the righteous still are rewarded; surely there is a God who judges the earth.’”

          My wife mentioned the other day that her Sunday School class had a discussion about the prayer requests we make in churches today, that most all of them are for temporal rather than eternal matters.  The next morning I read the following verse in my devotions, “Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.’” (Luke 12:13)  I laughed when I read it, because it is exactly like us, asking God to intervene in a matter of temporal importance, while ignoring the eternal.  Now there’s nothing wrong with prayer requests of a temporal nature; Jesus taught us to ask for our daily bread, and he answered requests for physical healing, food, and even wine.  The problem is that most of us live our lives there, and never get beyond the temporal.  When Jesus fed the 5,000 he used it as a lesson in eternal matters (see John 6:26-69 and Mark 8:14-21).  He operated on both levels with an emphasis on the eternal; we tend to operate on only the temporal level, or we operate on both but emphasize the temporal.  In the follow up to the demand to arbitrate the inheritance, Jesus mentioned many things about the eternal.  To the man who made the demand, Jesus responded, “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (v15)  He then told a story of a man who built bigger barns for his abundant crop and decided to “eat, drink, and be merry.”  (Did you know that famous phrase came from Jesus’ lips?)  God took the man’s life away that night, and Jesus concluded, “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself, but is not rich toward God.” (v21)  After a command not to worry about temporal things, Jesus added “Seek his kingdom and all these things will be given to you as well” (v31)  And finally he concludes the entire section with “Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (33-34)  Along with our constant pursuit of the temporal, let’s seek purses that will not wear out, let’s seek God’s kingdom first.

1 Corinthians 10:1-13  The last verse of this section is certainly well known and loved by many.  “No temptation has overtaken you …” but I never considered the context.  The verse immediately preceding this famous saying is, “if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!”  And the context of that statement is the history of the Israelites in the wilderness.  Though they had seen the miracles and passed through the Red Sea, though they ate the manna and drank water from the rock, God was not pleased with them, and they died without seeing the Promised Land.  This chapter contains a list of the sins they were guilty of, and thus reminds us that we can stumble over the same temptations.  They were guilty of idolatry, sexual immorality, testing the Lord, and grumbling.  This list sounds like some of the same things we see rampant in the church today.  We too are idolaters who “set our hearts on evil things;” we see rampant sexual sin, even in the church; we grumble all the time, even the church leaders (and pastors); and we test the Lord by living on the edge of what we believe we can get away with.  Yet what happened to Israel happened as an example and a warning to us (said twice in the passage, verses 6, 11).  And God tell us, “No temptation has overtaken you … God is faithful … and, with the temptation, will provide a way of escape.”  The forgiveness of these sins is through God’s faithfulness and grace; so also the escape from these temptations is through God’s faithfulness and grace.  We face temptations no different than those faced by generations of God’s people.  The temptations haven’t changed.  Neither has God, he is still faithful!

            I’ve spent a lot of time in Acts recently.  My most recent Sunday morning class was a video overview of the book; I’m preaching through Acts; just a few weeks ago I read through it on my devotion reading schedule.  I’ve enjoyed it so much that I decided to read through it again while on my recent vacation.  Here’s one phrase that stood out to me though I hadn’t thought about it before.  When Jesus gave his apostles instructions to wait for the Spirit in Jerusalem, he was eating with them (1:4).  The book’s author, Luke, tells us this detail right after saying “he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive.”  In the book of Luke, we’re told that, when the disciples did not believe he was alive, only a ghost or a phantom, Jesus asked them for something to eat.  Though none of the other gospel writers mention Jesus eating anything after the resurrection (John 21 may imply he did), Luke, the physician, mentions it twice.  In other words, one of the convincing proofs that Jesus was alive was his ability to eat solid food.  Phantoms and figments of imagination can’t do that.  The eleven were so convinced of Jesus’ resurrection that they were later willing to die for their testimonies to the fact.  They were certain Jesus was alive because they’d been with him, they’d seen him, and they’d even eaten with him.  Jesus is alive!

Psalm 11:1-3.  Verse three of this psalm is an interesting verse, and I have heard it often quoted in the context of our culture.  “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?”  I have always heard this verse cited as a reason to take up arms in the political fight against the moral decay in our culture.  Certainly the reason for the moral decay we see around us is the attack of wicked people, and that is also the context of this statement.  Note the previous verse that says “the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.”  I appreciate those who take an active political role in fighting the destruction of our moral foundation, and I see more of that destruction today that ever before in my lifetime.  However, this poem is not about taking up arms.  Those who advocate such a fight need to find another verse for a rallying cry.  This passage is about finding our refuge in God.  Read the first verse: “In the LORD I take refuge.  How then can you say to me: ‘Flee like a bird to your mountain?’”  David, who wrote this poem, is not calling men to fight in the battle of the foundations; he is stating the best and first thing to do when the foundations are being destroyed.  We don’t first flee to the mountains, nor do we first take up arms in the political battle; the first thing we must do is take refuge in God.  Verse three is not a call to arms but a call to refuge!  First, take refuge from the battle in God, from that reference point further steps can be determined.

          Two more thoughts on the battle for our moral foundations:  First, as Christian people, we can’t fight the battle of the foundations ourselves; we simply are not strong enough to fight it.  However, when we find our refuge in God, he can fight that battle for us, and we can more clearly see our part in it.  Second, since studying church history, I’m not convinced that God always wants us fighting that battle on the political front.  The church has almost always done better spiritually when an evil regime is in power. Who are we to say that God’s kingdom will move forward better when the government is righteous?  Such thinking denies the pattern of history and can easily confuse our worldly kingdom with God’s kingdom, as though the USA was God’s kingdom on earth.  Let’s commit to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.

          Here are some recent random reflections from my devotions in Mark.  After feeding the five thousand, Jesus walked on the water and calmed the storm.  The disciples shouldn’t have been too surprised at this, because they’d seen him calm storms before, and the multiplying of the loaves proved once and for all who he was.  But still “They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.” (6:52)  I wondered about people I know who don’t understand who Jesus is, in spite of the evidence in front of them.  I prayed for one man who is a part of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and with whom I’ve had some conversations about Jesus; I prayed for a long-time friend who reads the Bible but has yet to see Jesus as the One who completely paid for his sin; I prayed for our congregation, because there are probably many who hang around church but don’t really know who Jesus is.  Even after a second meal of multiplied bread, the disciples still didn’t understand that God would use his resources to meet their needs. (9:21)

          “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.”  Jesus had compassion on the lost crowd.  He also had compassion on the individual sinner.  Of the rich young man inquiring about eternal life, we are told that “Jesus looked at him and loved him.” (10:21)  I often see the sinful crowd as hostile to Christianity and in the way of what I should be doing.  I often see the individual sinner as one who should stay lost.  Not Jesus.  He loved the crowd and he loved the individual.  May I have the same compassion for those without Christ!

          Jesus’ attitude about the above is also reflected in this famous statement. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (10:45)  I hope my attitude toward others, both in and out of the body, grows more into one of serving.  I like serving the body with my gifts, but serving those outside is sometimes harder.

            We’ve been out camping and vacationing for the past week, so I’ve done no writing on this blog.  One morning I was reading and pondering Psalm 39 and these words spoke to me about men in midlife crisis. “Show me, O LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you.  Each man’s life is but a breath. Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it.  But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you.” (vv 5-7)  So many men in our culture get to middle age and begin to realize that their life is short – a mere handbreadth.  They also begin to wonder what they are so busy about – why they are heaping up wealth to no purpose.  They question what they have been investing in for most of their lives.  I’ve seen it with some friends of mine.  For many men, that leads to a complete questioning of all life – a reevaluation of purpose and meaning.  I can’t say I will never be there, and so far I have been graciously preserved from that; however, I can make David’s prayer my prayer.  “Lord, show me how fleeting my life is.”  We all need reminders that life as we know it is temporal.  That most of what we pursue will never last.  If a time of complete reevaluation must come into my life, may I do it with an understanding of things eternal.  Help me, God, rather than heaping up temporal wealth, to invest in eternal things, and ultimately to put my hope in you.

          I am at Ponderosa Baptist Camp near Colorado Springs with our church middle-school youth group for the first few days of this week.  With the loss of our youth pastor, many people are filling in wherever they can.  My wife Cathy will be here all week, but Pastor Wes will replace me tomorrow.  Fortunately, I don’t have to do all the small group leader things, so I can do some of my own work while I’m here.  We brought 12 kids, including my daughter Amber, and I pray they would encounter God this week.  Both Cathy and I have prayed how to balance our own work and alone time with the opportunity to invest in young lives.  May God use us to help direct these kids this week.

          This morning I read Matthew 23 and was pondering the idea of being a teacher.  I am called a “teaching pastor;” the Bible says that some are gifted as teachers, and that some are given to the church as teachers; even in this passage Jesus promises to send prophets, wise men and teachers.  Yet the balance to that is found in the words, “You are not to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one teacher, the Christ.”  That passage is followed by six “Woes” to the hypocritical “teachers of the law.”  I would hope I fall into those who are sent by God as teachers, not into the group who are cursed, but I cannot presume that.  I can only take the “woes” to heart:  I am one of the condemned teachers if I make entering God’s kingdom difficult; if I get caught up in the details of righteousness but neglect mercy and justice; if I look wonderful on the outside but am full of greed and self-indulgence and deadness on the inside.  Help me God never to presume to be a teacher, but to humbly accept the teaching opportunities you give me, and to accept them with a deep reliance on you, understanding my own depravity, greed and self-indulgence.