Category: Hear From the President

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I was greatly saddened to learn last week that my dear friend and long-time colleague Bernie Schnippert had died (see the announcement linked at left). Please join me in praying for Bernie’s wife Arlene, for their daughters Crystal and Coral, and for the rest of the family. Bernie will be greatly missed, though we take comfort knowing that he is now free from pain and that we’ll see him again.

September is a busy month! In addition to back to school activities, there are celebrations of all sorts of things. In the U.S., September 15 is National Cheese Pizza Day and the first Monday of the month is Labor Day, which celebrates the achievements of workers and marks the unofficial end of summer. In Australia, a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Queen’s September birthday is celebrated with a holiday.

September also includes the Jewish festival called “Rosh Hashanah,” which in Hebrew means “the head of the year.” Among the traditions practiced by the Jews on that day are eating the head of a fish to symbolize the head of the year and greeting one another with “L’shanah tovah,” meaning “for a good year.” Tradition also correlates Rosh Hashanah with the sixth day of creation week when God made mankind in his image.

In the Hebrew text of Leviticus 23:24 the day is referred to as “Zikhron Teru’ah,” meaning “a memorial with the blowing of horns.” And so in English, the day often is called the Festival of Trumpets. Many rabbis teach that on Rosh Hashanah, a shofar (a trumpet carved from a ram’s horn) was blown a minimum of 100 times, including a series of 30 blasts indicating the hope of the Messiah’s coming. I have a shofar, and I can tell you it’s hard to make any sound when you blow into it. I’ve read that at Rosh Hashanah services, it was common to have a second trained person in the wings just in case the first one was unable to complete the task of blowing the shofar the required number of times.

Jewish sources indicate that three types of notes were blown that day:

• Tekiah—a long unbroken tone symbolizing hope in the strength of God and praise for who God is
• Shevarim—three shorter, more broken sounds, indicating wailing and sorrow for sin and fallen humanity
• Teruah—nine quick, staccato notes (like the sound of an alarm clock) representing the broken hearts of those who come to God

Regarding Teruah, the Talmud says this: “When there’s judgment from below, there’s no need for judgment from above.” Rabbi Moshe Ben Maimon (known as Maimonides), perhaps the greatest Jewish scholar and teacher of the middle ages, adds this important qualification:

It isn’t enough that God is my King alone. If all humanity doesn’t recognize God as King, then there is something lacking in my own relationship with God. Part of my love for the Almighty is to help guide all people to an appreciation of Him. Of course this is largely an expression of my deep caring for others. But it also affects my own sense of God’s all-encompassing Kingship.

Ancient Israel initially used ram’s horns for their trumpets, but by the time of Numbers chapter 10, trumpets were typically made of silver. The use of trumpets is mentioned 72 times in the Old Testament. They were sounded for various reasons: to announce national crisis, to call the nation to solemn assembly, to make announcements, and as a call to worship. In time of war, trumpets instructed soldiers as to how to prepare for and then proceed into battle. Trumpets also announced the arrival of the king.

In our day, some Christians observe the Festival of Trumpets as a mandatory day of worship, often viewing it as pointing to future events—Jesus’ second coming or the rapture of the church. As well-meaning as these interpretations of the festival may be, they miss how it points to what Jesus has done already.

As we know, the old covenant, which included the Festival of Trumpets, was temporary, given to point people to the coming Messiah who is Prophet, Priest, Sage and King. The blowing of trumpets on Rosh Hashanah not only signaled the beginning of a new cycle of annual worship in Israel, it proclaimed the celebratory message, “our King is coming!”

For me the most meaningful element of the Festival of Trumpets is how it points to and is fulfilled in Jesus’ first coming through his incarnation, atoning ministry, death, resurrection and ascension. Through these “Christ events,” God not only fulfilled his covenant with Israel (the old covenant), but changed all time, forever. Jesus is the head of the year—the head of all time, especially since he created time. He is our tabernacle and we have new life in him. As Paul wrote, “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Jesus is the new (the second) Adam. He succeeded where the first Adam failed. Jesus is our Passover, our Unleavened Bread and our Atonement. He is the One (and only One) who takes away our sin. Jesus is our Sabbath in which we have rest from sin. As the head of all time, he now lives in us, and all our time is holy as we live the new life that is ours in union with him. Jesus, our King, our Lord and Master, has blown the trumpet once and for all!

Living in Him,
Joseph Tkach

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As a child, there were many things I wanted to be “when I grew up”—but a trapeze flyer was not one of them! I recall watching these artists at work and being both fascinated and frightened. I’d hold my breath as they’d let go of the trapeze bar, soar through the air and be caught (hopefully) by a fellow artist. I wasn’t sure I would be able to trust anyone enough to take that leap of faith!

Miguel and Juan Vazquez were among the best trapeze flyers in the business. In 1982 they made history in Tucson, Arizona, when 17-year-old Miguel landed the first quadruple somersault on the flying trapeze (watch him do it on another occasion at http://youtu.be/qFEB7yFGgYE). This was a stunning accomplishment, not only because no one else had done it before, but because most experts thought it impossible. Miguel got a lot of praise, but the true hero was the catcher, Miguel’s brother, Juan.

Here is how Juan described the event in the book, The Greatest Trick:

Hanging upside down, I am swinging toward [Miguel] as he is hurtling toward me at 75 miles per hour. Now I’m reaching for him; my hands are straining toward his, his hands are straining toward mine. I have him! Our hands are locked and holding!

Even the most expert trapeze flyer is unable to pull out of a quadruple spin and grab the bar on their own. The catcher must grab the arms of the spinning acrobat, pull them in and then not drop them. Who would you trust to do that for you?

Fortunately, most of us will never be called upon to fly from a trapeze bar hoping that our partner will catch us. But we all will face situations in life where we must reach out in trust—and such trust doesn’t develop overnight. Miguel learned to completely trust Juan over years of working together.

Trust seems to develop in two ways: 1) Directly, through a relationship that involves trusting a person over a period of time. 2) Indirectly, through watching another person trust someone, and then, through that example, learning to trust that someone yourself. Both methods apply in learning to trust God.

Here are people of faith in the Bible who we can learn from:

• Noah believed God’s plan for him to build an ark.
• Abraham believed God’s covenantal promise to bless everyone through him.
• Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about the final resting place of his bones.
• Moses’ parents hid him for three months.
• Moses encountered God in the burning bush and led his people out of captivity.
• Joshua followed God’s plan to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land.
• The disciples left their respective jobs and followed Jesus.
• Paul went on his various missionary journeys.
• And, as the author of Hebrews writes:

I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground (Hebrews 11:32-38).

The Spirit enables us to learn to have faith in God through these examples of amazing trust. As we read the stories of faith in the Bible, we learn that God was, is and always will be faithful to us. No matter what Israel did, God remained faithful to his people and to the covenant he made with them. The Lord was also faithful in his mercy and love and faithful to his plan to send his Son to be the Redeemer, Reconciler and Savior not only of Israel, but of all people, everywhere and in all times. Reflecting on these examples, we learn to trust God as we grow in our own relationship of faith with him.

In Jesus, God has given us the perfect brother to work alongside: “Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters” (Hebrews 2:11). We trust Jesus because he is always with us and for us. Whether stumbling through the routine of daily challenges, or facing unexpected crises that feel like flying through the air doing quadruple somersaults, we know that Jesus is there to catch us—every time. Hear his words of reassurance:

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand (John 10:27-29).

We are secure in Jesus! We can trust him completely to always catch us, no matter how many “somersaults” life brings our way.

Trusting Jesus with you,
Joseph Tkach

P.S. We recently posted at www.gci.org/media/conference2014 video and audio recordings of the plenary presentations given at the 2014 U.S. regional conferences. I encourage you to watch them if you were not able to attend one of the conferences and to share them with others. They unpack our conference theme of GCnext: sharing Jesus’ faith, love & hope.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

How do you feel about being evaluated or evaluating someone else? I imagine many of us are uncomfortable with both. Maybe we’ve had a painful evaluation at work or in the church. Perhaps a little humor will help—here are quotes from actual employee evaluations (the employees probably failed to see the humor!):

• Works well when under constant supervision and cornered like a rat in a trap.
• Slipped into the gene pool when the lifeguard wasn’t watching.
• She brings a lot of joy when she leaves the room.
• Some drink from the fountain of knowledge—he only gargled.
• If brains were taxed, he’d get a rebate.
• Gates are down; lights are flashing; but the train isn’t coming.

Though evaluations within the church might seem at odds with respecting and loving our brothers and sisters in Christ, it’s our responsibility as leaders to appropriately evaluate those we are called to lead. Why? Because through processes of discernment, which include evaluation, we respond to what the Spirit is doing in the lives of those we lead. We acknowledge how they have been gifted (and not gifted), and observe their level of maturity (the presence in their lives of the fruit of the Spirit and wisdom—see Galatians 5:22-25 and 1 Timothy 3:6). With this understanding, we then work to provide clear and accessible “pathways” into opportunities where they are enabled to use their gifts to share in Jesus’ mission, through the church, to the world.

A lack of evaluation has, at times, led to appointing people to the wrong ministry roles. It also has contributed to a lack of intentionality in developing new leaders. Perhaps worse, failure to evaluate has led to a lack of discerning the rich variety of the Spirit’s gifting, evidenced by “yellow-pencil,” assembly-line approaches to developing leaders.

By pointing out these deficits, I’m not suggesting that all we did in the past was of the “yellow-pencil,” cloning ourselves variety. I was blessed to work under leaders who recognized that my gifts and skills were quite different than theirs. One pastor saw that I was a better speaker than he was and gave me more preaching assignments than he gave himself. Another saw that I had more administrative talent than he did and helped me get more involved in that area. I recall him saying to me, “Nobody likes paperwork, but you know how to get it done!” I have fond memories of all the people who supervised me as a ministerial trainee, assistant pastor and associate pastor.

It delights me that we‘re now taking a more comprehensive approach to leader selection and development. In the U.S. we’re now using a comprehensive system that includes assessments to help employed pastor and church planter candidates confirm that their calling, gifting and experience is a good fit for their prospective ministry role. These assessments are conducted by leaders who have been appropriately trained.

I encourage our pastors to have in place within their congregations a process for identifying and developing new leaders (assistant pastors, ministry leaders, etc.). I know there often is pressure to recruit people to fill ministry slots, but it’s usually best to leave slots unfilled than to force-fit the proverbial “square peg into a round hole.” Developing leaders takes time and focused care that includes appropriate evaluation.

I recall that in one church I attended, a musically-challenged elder was appointed to lead the choir. It wasn’t a matter of not having gifted and qualified people to serve in that role, it was just a bad discernment-appointment process. The results were disastrous.

As one author put it, “What the Lord anoints, the church appoints.” I like that, because it reminds us that raising up new leaders is about spiritual discernment (Who has the Lord anointed, and how?), and about investing time and other resources to develop those individuals, leading to appointing them to roles within the church that are consistent with their divine calling. I’m grateful to see that many of our established leaders are investing time and other resources in this way. A wonderful example is our U.S. Intern Program directed by Jeff McSwain (you can read about that program at www.gci.org/internprogram).

As we follow the Holy Spirit’s lead in developing leaders, it’s important to remember that leadership within the church is not limited to a special, professional class. Christ’s ministry, including roles of leadership, is to be shared by all of his followers in accordance with the way the Spirit fosters in them both gifts and fruits. My deep thanks to all who serve, and special thanks to those called to lead who understand that a big part of that calling is to identify, equip, mentor and then release other leaders. That is the way of Jesus, and I’m delighted it’s becoming our way more and more.

It’s vital to the joy and health of each congregation that its members participate in mission with Jesus–most as ministry workers, some as ministry leaders. Every member and thus every congregation is like the vine to the branch, organically connected to and dependent upon Christ for its life (see John 15). As a living organism, the church’s concern should not be, “What do we want to do?” but rather, “What is Christ doing and how may we get involved?” The difference may seem subtle, but it’s critical.

I pray that we all work together to follow where Jesus leads, doing what Jesus does, and bringing with us others whom the Spirit is calling to active participation.

On mission with Jesus and with you,

Joseph Tkach

P.S. For some helpful resources on our website related to developing leaders, go to http://www.gci.org/content/competency-multiplying-leaders-ministries-and-churches.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Ask 20 ministers from multiple denominations to define grace and you’ll likely get many different definitions, along with some lively discussion! Ask several GCI ministers and you’ll likely get some variety, but there will be a common core of understanding. One thing is for sure, in GCI we’ve stopped trying to force-fit grace into a framework of legalism. Thank God!

Grace defies simplistic, one-size-fits-all definitions. It’s too profound for that, which is why the Bible reminds us that God’s grace is an inexhaustible topic—one worthy of a lifetime of study. That’s why Peter admonished Christians to “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). The more I read, study, think and write about grace, the more I find my understanding expanding.

Google grace on your computer and you’ll uncover multiple definitions. Probably the best-known is this one: “Grace is God’s unmerited favor or pardon.” A. W. Tozer defined it this way: “Grace is the good pleasure of God that inclines him to bestow benefits on the undeserving.” Dutch-Reformed theologian Louis Berkhof defined grace as, “The unmerited operation of God in the heart of man, effected through the agency of the Holy Spirit.” I find the following definition from Karl Barth to be particularly profound (though as often is the case with Barth, it must be carefully read to get the full impact):

Who really knows what grace is until he has seen it at work here: as the grace which is for man when, because man is wholly and utterly a sinner before God, it can only be against him, and when in fact, even while it is for him, it is also a plaintiff and judge against him, showing him to be incapable of satisfying either God or himself? ….What takes place in this work of inconceivable mercy is, therefore, the free over-ruling of God. It is not an arbitrary overlooking and ignoring, not an artificial bridging, covering-over or hiding. It is a real closing of the breach, gulf, and abyss between God and us, for which we are responsible. At the very point where we refuse and fail, offending and provoking God, making ourselves impossible before him and in that way missing our destiny, treading under foot our dignity, forfeiting our right, losing our salvation and hopelessly compromising our creaturely being—at that very point God himself intervenes as man (Church Dogmatics, Vol. 4.1: The Doctrine of Reconciliation).

I like Barth’s expression, “inconceivable mercy.” It refers to what God, in Christ, through the Spirit, has done and is doing to write within us a new law that emancipates us from sin as well as death. Paul put it this way: “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death” (Romans 8:2).

The Greek word charis, usually translated “grace” in the New Testament, has multiple shades of meaning, referring to something that affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness, goodwill, loving-kindness, favor or gratitude. Scripture tells us that grace is ours by God’s initiative alone. In Christ, through the Spirit, the Father’s will for us is perfectly fulfilled. God’s grace takes us by surprise because nothing that we can do and nothing that we are earns grace. We are predestined and elected in Christ, the Lord and Savior of the whole world. The story of our lives begins and ends with God’s unfathomable, amazing grace.

When I hear or read world news, I wonder why God bothers with us at all. Our brutality, cruelty, bigotry, hypocrisy and greed boggles the mind. But God knows there is another way to live, and his purpose is to share that life with us. He loves us far too much to allow the final result of life—any life—to be determined by our own behavior. In the sovereignty of God’s grace, evil has no future. Christ is making all things new. The new heavens and earth will be established!

God’s plan is to remake us into the image of his Son as we receive his grace by our repentance and faith in him. God even enables that response—one that, by the Spirit, grows deeper throughout our lives, as Paul noted:

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified (Romans 8:29-30).

After observing what God is doing in our lives by grace, Paul proclaimed confidently that, “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). God is not finished with any of us—he alone is the author and finisher of our salvation and he knows how to complete the story that he has begun writing in our lives. In Ephesians 2:10, Paul proclaimed that, “We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” The Greek word here for “handiwork” is pōiema, from which we get the word “poem.” By his grace, God is writing the story of our lives—we’re a divinely written ballad, sonnet (or in some cases, a haiku!), full of ups and downs and twisting plot turns. Because of God’s grace, we look forward with hope and confidence to how the story will end.

With love in Jesus’ name,

Joseph Tkach

P.S. I recently participated in a GCI conference in Montegrotto, Italy, attended by about 110 of our Italian brothers and sisters. During the conference we ordained Francesco Bernard, pastor of the GCI congregation in the Puglia/Bari region named Acquaviva Dele Fonti (Living Water of the Well). Here is a picture, with James Henderson, GCI missions director for Europe, leading the ordination prayer.

During the conference we also re-commissioned several ministry leaders who serve GCI’s churches in Turin, Milan, Ferrara, Rome, Sardinia, Catania and Palermo, Italy (see the picture below). Our thanks and congratulations to all these servants of our God of grace.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In The Message, Eugene Peterson has a wonderful way of highlighting the nuances in Scripture that may be missed in other Bible translations. Here is his take on Psalm 8:1-2:

Can’t you just hear atheists sniggering at that? They consider the songs of preschoolers to be where belief in God belongs. For them, the only smart choice in a sophisticated, educated modern world, is a materialistic worldview where there is no room for belief in God or in the supernatural.

But not so fast! Recently I came across an article that presents research showing how humans may be “hardwired” to believe, and that even hard-core atheists can’t avoid an inbuilt bias towards metaphysical beliefs. According to journalist Nury Vittachi…

Cognitive scientists are becoming increasingly aware that a metaphysical outlook may be so deeply ingrained in human thought processes that it cannot be expunged. While this idea may seem outlandish—after all, it seems easy to decide not to believe in God—evidence from several disciplines indicates that what you actually believe is not a decision you make for yourself. Your fundamental beliefs are decided by much deeper levels of consciousness, and some may well be more or less set in stone. [1]

Vittachi goes on to quote atheist Graham Lawton, who admitted that, “Atheism is psychologically impossible because of the way humans think.” Vittachi continues:

These findings may go a long way to explaining a series of puzzles in recent social science studies. In the United States, 38% of people who identified themselves as atheist or agnostic went on to claim to believe in a God or a Higher Power (Pew Forum, “Religion and the Unaffiliated”, 2012). While the UK is often defined as an irreligious place, a recent survey by Theos, a think tank, found that very few people—only 13 per cent of adults—agreed with the statement “humans are purely material beings with no spiritual element”. For the vast majority of us, unseen realities are very present…. The implication is that we all believe in a not dissimilar range of tangible and intangible realities. Whether a particular brand of higher consciousness is included in that list (“I believe in God”, “I believe in some sort of higher force”, “I believe in no higher consciousness”) is little more than a detail. [1]

The more we learn about the cosmos, the more we realize that there is much more to it—and to us—than what meets the eye. Not all scientists are atheists by any means. Many on the cutting edge of scientific discovery know that a purely materialistic view of the cosmos does not fit the facts. According to a 2009 Pew Research Center poll, “Just over half of scientists (51%) believe in some form of deity or higher power; specifically, 33% of scientists say they believe in God, while 18% believe in a universal spirit or higher power.”

Of course, some scientists are atheists and argue that metaphysical beliefs are just in our heads—the result of impersonal, unintelligent evolutionary processes and so not to be trusted. But new discoveries are giving us deeper insight into the reality of the creation as God actually made it, not as we might assume it to be. And though we must admit that scientific research can never prove that the God of the Bible exists, and that he has created and redeemed us in Christ, we should expect that whatever is discovered about creation will be compatible with the revelation of the creator God given to us in and through Jesus Christ.

There is nothing irrational or unscientific about trusting in the claims of revelation as given to us by prophets and apostles in Holy Scripture and as further confirmed through personal experience. Also, there is no threat to God in scientific discovery. After all, God is the one who made whatever is discovered. One leading physicist even suggested wryly that in the decades ahead, we may learn more about God from science than from theology. I don’t mean to imply that scientists will be “preaching the gospel.” That’s our job. The job of science is to study created reality, and God is not a created physical object. But scientists are discovering that what is “real” in creation leaves plenty of room for rationally affirming metaphysical claims such as the reality and existence of a transcendent and personal God who has the intelligence, power and motivation to make himself known.

As some of the ideas now shaping scientific thought become better known, and as the limits of science become more widely recognized, I suspect that an atheistic worldview will be seen more and more for what it is: a metaphysical assertion that cannot be justified on the basis of the growing scientific knowledge of the universe. I think that more and more people (including scientists) will find themselves in the same position as David who, having come to know God through the prophets and the history of Israel, looked up at the majesty of creation and proclaimed these words (Psalm 8:3-4, The Message):

I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous, your handmade sky-jewelry,

Moon and stars mounted in their settings.

Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,

Why do you bother with us?

Why take a second look our way?

God created us in his image to know and to trust him. To that end Jesus dedicated his life and ministry: “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32). We may not believe him, but placing ourselves absolutely beyond the reach of Jesus’ ministry is not an option that God has given us. Some people are drawn to Christ willingly, while others put up fierce resistance. But whatever the case, it’s Jesus’ ongoing ministry (which was decided before creation and is now being carried out by the Spirit) to confront all people with the reality of his existence and the reality of God’s gracious gift of salvation. Sooner or later, all must come to terms with it.

Some may think that the arrogant claims of militant atheists are more rational and scientific than the claims of faith from those who have come to know God through the witness of historical revelation gathered up and passed down through the centuries. But the unbelief of atheists has made them hard of hearing—deaf to the evidence. They should listen more carefully when “nursing infants” sing their praises to God (Psalm 8:2).

Your brother in Christ,

Joseph Tkach

P.S. Recently I participated in the last of the 2014 U.S. regional conferences in Orlando, Florida, and the annual Canadian national conference in Edmonton, Alberta. The presentations in both locations were well received and the fellowship was outstanding.

Following the Canadian conference, we held the annual general meeting of the GCI Canada board and the Edmonton congregation celebrated its 50th anniversary.

While in Canada I had the joy of sharing in ordaining Wendy Moore (wife of GCI-Canada director Gary Moore—see the picture at right) and Mark Kuberski (who serves the Edmonton congregation). Congratulations to both!

_______________

[1] “Scientists discover that atheists might not exist, and that’s not a joke,” Science 2.0, http://tinyurl.com/lbljujh.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

David Letterman, who hosts the CBS Late Show, is known for his humorous Top Ten lists. I’m often asked for my top ten lists—of movies, books, songs, foods and beers. You probably have lists of your own. Over the last few years, some of my articles have sprung from my top ten list of Bible verses. Here are six of them:

• “The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:8, NASB).
• “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).
• “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:17).
• “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
• “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
• “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).

It’s motivational to me to read verses like these—I refer to them as “gold nugget verses.” Over the last several years, as I’ve continued learning about God’s amazing, never-ending love, my list of favorite verses has changed. Searching them out has been like mining for gold, a precious substance that occurs in nature in many forms and shapes—plates, scales, microscopic pieces, large spongy pieces and what is referred to as “hackly masses.” Like gold in all its amazing, unexpected variety, God’s unconditional love, which is all around us, is found in unlikely places and forms.

Theologian T.F. Torrance describes that love in this beautiful summary of the gospel:

God loves you so utterly and completely that he has given himself for you in Jesus Christ his beloved Son, and has thereby pledged his very being as God for your salvation. In Jesus Christ God has actualized his unconditional love for you in your human nature in such a once for all way, that he cannot go back upon it without undoing the Incarnation and the Cross and thereby denying himself. Jesus Christ died for you precisely because you are sinful and utterly unworthy of him, and has thereby already made you his own before and apart from your ever believing in him. He has bound you to himself by his love in a way that he will never let you go, for even if you refuse him and damn yourself in hell his love will never cease. Therefore, repent and believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior (The Mediation of Christ, p. 94).

Our appreciation for God’s love grows as we read the Bible, for Jesus, who is God’s love, is the focus of all Scripture. Thus it saddens me to learn that recent surveys show a rapid decline in Bible reading among Christians. That’s ironic in light of the fact that 87% of those responding to a survey conducted by Bill Hybels’ group concerning spiritual growth listed “getting help from their church to understand the Bible in depth” as their number one spiritual need. It’s also ironic that respondents identified, as one of the top weaknesses of their church, a failure to help members understand the Bible.

The way we discover the gold nuggets in Scripture is by digging them out through repeated, thoughtful Bible study (see the cartoon above). Recently, I was studying the book of Micah (one of the Minor Prophets) where I came across this gold nugget:

Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy (Micah 7:18).

Micah declared this truth concerning God at the same time Isaiah was prophesying a coming exile. It was a time, seemingly, of doom and gloom. Yet, Micah was filled with hope because he knew that God delights to show mercy. The Hebrew word here translated “mercy” has its roots in the language of covenants made between persons. Such covenants involve promises of faithful loyalty that are binding, yet freely given. And so God’s mercy is to be understood here as promised, sure mercy. Micah mentions that God had promised this mercy to Israel’s forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, despite the fact that they were undeserving. It’s encouraging and motivating to realize that God, in his mercy, does the same for us.

The Hebrew word for mercy used in Micah and elsewhere can also be translated as “free and faithful love” or as “steadfast love.” We can rest assured that God’s mercy will never cease because it is his nature to be faithful and he has given his promise. God will never move from his position of love. He will never fail to be merciful to us. For that reason, we too can confidently cry out, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13). Now there’s a gold nugget verse!

Mining Scripture with you,
Joseph Tkach

P.S. Here are a couple of videos that Pastor Charles Young in Atlanta recommended. I think you’ll enjoy them. They bear a humorous, yet important message about extending God’s love by inviting people to church.

• www.youtube.com/watch?v=Umhs2a6KDI4
• www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkA_v13q7i0

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you are as excited as I am to read the reports from our youth camps (click on the link at left to read recent reports). At our camps, which are scattered around the world, thousands of young people are setting a course for life. This is vital, because so many young people today are growing up in a world of negativity, defeatism and failure. Our campers have lots of fun at camp, but it’s fun with a purpose. They learn first-hand about choosing to live life in relationship with God.

It’s sad that many young people don’t know about that choice. They grow up in an environment where knowledge of God is considered superfluous, even dangerous. Note Paul’s warning about that:

The basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can’t see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being…. (Romans 1:20, The Message).

We hold our youth camps in areas of natural beauty, so everyone can have a “long and thoughtful look” at the creation, and thus learn more about the Creator. Sadly, many today deny that there is a Creator, attributing everything in our world to only natural, material causes. Paul warned of that danger:

People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn’t treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life (Romans 1:21-22, The Message).

I have followed with interest the research concerning human consciousness, including the topic of free will. As illustrated at right [1], some scientists believe that what we call “free will” may be little more than the “background noise” of neurons firing within our brains. One researcher put it this way:

Though purposeful intentions, desires and goals drive our decisions in a linear cause-and-effect kind of way, our finding shows that our decisions are also influenced by neural noise within any given moment. This random firing, or noise, may even be the carrier upon which our consciousness rides, in the same way that radio static is used to carry a radio station. [2]

Some neuroscientists have declared that, “Free will is an illusion.” They believe that our thoughts, decisions and behaviors are solely the products of impersonal biochemical processes operating within the brain and body. [3] But if they are correct, why accept as true what anyone’s brain comes up with? The problem with their declaration is that, rather than being scientific, it’s the outcome of philosophical assumptions that determine how relevant scientific data is selected and interpreted.

It’s interesting to note that a recent study concluded that when people are told that free will does not exist, their brains tend to follow suit. Subjects in the study reading passages discrediting the idea of free will experienced an immediate decrease in brain activity related to voluntary action. Other studies found that discrediting free will seems to trigger an increase in cheating and aggressiveness—encouraging people to be less helpful and generally sapping their motivation. It seems that embracing a purely materialistic understanding of free will causes people to become, as Paul wrote, “illiterate regarding life.” That’s why it’s so important that we give young people a solid biblical foundation.

The Bible tells us that God created us in his image and in his divine freedom, granted us freedom to discern the truth and the good and then act on it. God does not force his will on us—he does not absolutely prevent us from abusing our freedom and throwing it away. But as we surrender our wills to God and his will for us, a great work of renovation occurs—a process brilliantly described by C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity:

Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.

Young people (and old) who understand this biblical truth will never be illiterate regarding life. I’m thankful that our youth camps are helping so many young people set a course for life that embraces the knowledge of God and his plan for humanity. My thanks to all who are making that possible!

Your brother in Christ,

Joseph Tkach

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[1] Found at http://briankellysblog.blogspot.com/2014/03/stanford-physicist-vast-powerful-realm.html

[2] “Is Free Will an Illusion,” Pacific Standard, http://www.psmag.com/navigation/health-and-behavior/free-will-illusion-83861/.

[3] “Is Neuroscience the Death of Free Will?”, New York Times, http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/is-neuroscience-the-death-of-free-will/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0.

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters is Christ,

Have you noticed how it’s getting harder to determine if news reports in print, online, and via radio and TV are true? It seems that no matter how serious or sobering the topic, such reports are more about entertainment than accurate information. And with the way news is typically being reported, it’s increasingly difficult to determine what we actually need to know.

Let me illustrate with a pet peeve of mine—the conflicting information concerning global warming (often referred to as “climate change”). On the one hand, dramatic news reports tell of rapidly melting polar ice-caps that may result in whole countries being inundated. But other reports say that the amount of sea-ice in Antarctica has been increasing since satellite measurements began in 1979. [1] So it’s hard to know what to believe, given the complexity of this topic and the penchant the news media has for sensationalism.

Reporting news accurately is, of course, a great challenge. It requires facing the conflict between truth (accuracy) and trendiness (to achieve high ratings). We face a similar challenge in presenting the gospel. These days we hear a lot about the need to be relevant in order to connect with a younger demographic. Of course, we would be shortsighted not to use available media tools to communicate the gospel to younger audiences. But in doing so, we must not become bedazzled with gimmicks, sensationalism and special effects. To paraphrase Marshall McLuhan, we must not let “the medium become the message.”

Sadly this has happened in some Christian circles, where the focus has shifted from truth to trendiness. We guard against this shift when we remember that the ancient, biblical gospel is relevant in all places and times, within all cultures and generations. Certainly we need to communicate its timeless truths in ways that are clearly understood within different cultures, but let us not forget that the gospel’s fundamental, truthful relevance really cannot be improved upon.

Today, culturally-bound distortions of the gospel abound: the health & wealth gospel, prediction-addiction schemes and concepts that make God out to be a cosmic sheriff or an on-demand vending machine. Other distortions include equating the gospel with a political party, a social cause, an ethic group, or a particular style of music. Such ideas load the gospel with “cultural baggage,” resulting in little or no gospel at all. We should remember Jesus’ warning: “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:8-9, ESV).

Our challenge in presenting the gospel is to be both truthful and relevant. Martin Luther once said that if we are not preaching the gospel in ways that people understand, we are wasting our time. Theologian N.T. Wright emphasizes that “translating the New Testament is something every generation should be doing.” In the fourth Gospel, John writes that “The Word became human and made his home among us” (John 1:14, NLT). Here John used the Greek word logos, which we translate “Word,” but also can be translated “logic” or “reason.” The Greeks associated logos with divinity. William Barclay comments:

Jesus is the expression of the mind of God. It is as if John said to the Greeks: “For the last six centuries you have been speaking about the mind of God in the universe. If you want to see what the mind of God is, look at Jesus Christ. Here, full-displayed, is that mind of God about which you have always been thinking and talking. The logos has become flesh. The mind of God has become a person.”

Jesus, who is Truth personified, is always relevant. He spoke about and lived out the truth about a right relationship with God and the fruit produced by that relationship—right relationships with people. Such relationships are always relevant—important for all people everywhere in all times. In fact, “We live and move and have our being” within such relationships—first with God (including our right or wrong ideas about God) and then between people—parents and children, men and women, neighbor with neighbor.

As we strive to accurately present the gospel on the cluttered stage of today’s sensationalist media, let’s be careful not to let our efforts become “trendy” in ways that might distort the truth of the gospel. God, who in Christ reconciled the world to himself, calls us to live reconciled to him and to be his ambassadors of that reconciliation to the world. Let us be about that gospel mission.

Your brother in Christ,

Joseph Tkach

P.S. I often receive from Weekly Update readers links to entertaining videos. I like sharing the fun! Here’s one that shows a good way to recycle beer bottles: http://youtu.be/NkbZlautuUc.

____________

[1] Cryosphere Today, Polar Research Group, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I’m sure you’ve heard it said that most wars have been caused by religion. This statement has been repeated so often that few question its validity. But even cursory research shows that it is not true. For example, one researcher evaluated a list of wars published in Wikipedia and found that only 14 of the 126 wars listed were started for religious reasons. Another examined the horrific murders perpetrated by dictators during the 20th century and found that few if any of these despots were motivated by religion (for an illustrative chart go to https://update.gci.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/religious-wars.jpg). [1]

 

Of course, religion has been the root cause in some wars and a contributing factor in others. But claiming that religion is the cause of most wars is simply wrong. Making such a claim is often part of an effort to disparage religion in general and Christianity in particular. Thankfully, some authors are more careful with the facts. Note what anthropologist Scott Atran wrote in “God and the Ivory Tower” in FP magazine:

The chief complaint against religion—that it is history’s prime instigator of inter-group conflict—does not withstand scrutiny. Religious issues motivate only a small minority of recorded wars. The Encyclopedia of Wars surveyed 1,763 violent conflicts across history; only 123 (7 percent) were religious. A BBC-sponsored “God and War” audit, which evaluated major conflicts over 3,500 years and rated them on a 0-to-5 scale for religious motivation (Punic Wars = 0, Crusades = 5), found that more than 60 percent had no religious motivation. Less than 7 percent earned a rating greater than 3. There was little religious motivation for the internecine Russian and Chinese conflicts or the world wars responsible for history’s most lethal century of international bloodshed.

Note also what Charles Phillips and Alan Axelrod wrote in the Encyclopedia of Wars:

Wars have always arisen, and arise today, from territorial disputes, military rivalries, conflicts of ethnicity and strivings for commercial and economic advantage, and they have always depended on, and depend on today, pride, prejudice, coercion, envy, cupidity, competitiveness, and a sense of injustice. But for much of the world before the 17th century, these “reasons” for war were explained and justified, at least for the participants, by religion.

Note that what Phillips and Axelrod conclude from their study of history lines up with what we find in the New Testament concerning the root cause of war:

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions (James 4:1-3, ESV).

These human tendencies war against the “great commandments” of the Law of Moses to love God and to love people (Matthew 22:36-40), and against the command of Jesus: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34, ESV). As Christians, we seek Jesus’ own love and his peace, not war. Jesus said this to his followers, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you” (John 14:27, ESV). In his writings, Paul exhorted Christians to live Jesus’ way of love and peace: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21, ESV). “Always seek to do good to one another and to everyone” (1Thessalonians 5:15, ESV).

Sadly, love and peace have been rejected by many, and war has resulted. People (including Christians) are not perfect and they make mistakes and have fought in battles and wars that they should have avoided. But, it is far from the truth that religion in general, and Christianity in particular, has been the root cause of most wars. Christianity preaches and lives the message of love and peace, and whenever it fails, it knows it must seek forgiveness and turn back to seeking after justice and reconciliation and making peace. Let us be ambassadors of God’s love and peace in this war-torn world.

Sharing with you the life and ministry of the Prince of Peace,
Joseph Tkach

P.S. If you would like to read more about this topic, here are two helpful books:

• The Gods of War: Is Religion the Primary Cause of Violent Conflict? by Meic Pearse.
• Holy War in the Bible: Christian Morality and an Old Testament Problem by Heath A. Thomas, Jeremy Evans and Paul Copan, editors.

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[1] Chart downloaded from imgur (http://i.imgur.com/eyUnc.jpg[/IMG]). The chart summarizes information posted at http://popten.net/2010/05/top-ten-most-evil-dictators-of-all-time-in-order-of-kill-count/.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

While watching the news as a young lad with my grandfather, he would often respond to reports of disturbing events with the complaint, “The world is going to hell in a handbasket!” When I was a teen and young adult, I would often hear my dad voice the same thing. What’s amusing is that when I encounter distressing news today, I often hear their words in my “mind’s ear.” But I try to remember that there is usually more to the news than what the media is reporting. Sadly, they often report partial information or in other ways distort reality.

A prime example of that distortion is the frequency with which the media give “front stage” to those referred to as “angry atheists.” We hear from them so often that you would think their viewpoints are held by the majority and their contentions are based on proven fact. The reality is there are relatively few of them and if pressed, some would admit that they are not sure of their positions. Their arguments are not airtight.

I think what often happens is that these atheists, angry about certain world events, wrongly conclude that what they perceive as a lack of intervention from God proves he does not exist. Some also reason that the presence of evil in the world proves that God, who is supposed to be a deity of love, cannot possibly exist. Others reason that if there is a God, he must be a judgmental despot and they refuse to believe in that sort of deity.

Though atheists and agnostics (those who believe we can’t know whether or not God exists) formerly dominated the field of philosophy, the situation has changed over the last 20 years. Our friend and theologian Alan Torrance commented that when he studied philosophy, “You could count the number of Christian philosophers on one mutilated hand.” But now, as noted by Quentin Smith, former chief editor of the journal Philo, philosophy has become de-secularized. Today, 25 to 33% of philosophers are theists, and the majority of those are evangelical Christians. There are now about 4,500 members in the Society of Christian Philosophers.

When watching the news, many of us, understandably, get those “The world is going to hell in a handbasket” feelings. But we must be mindful that such feelings may be the result of incomplete or otherwise faulty information, including bad reporting. We must be careful to align our feelings with the often hidden reality of the presence of God’s kingdom. Jesus told his disciples that the kingdom of God is present and those who trust him enter in, even now. In his kingdom parables in Mark 4:26-29 and Matthew 13:33, Jesus said that the kingdom starts small, but grows large. It’s here now, though its fullness is yet to come.

Our faith in the present and future reality of the kingdom is not about feelings based on what we see in the world and certainly not on what is reported in the media. Our faith is in Jesus and his kingdom rule. The stunning, though often hidden reality, is that Jesus saved, redeemed and reconciled the world through his death, resurrection, ascension and outpouring of the Spirit nearly 2000 years ago—events that inaugurated the kingdom. And now the presence of the kingdom in the person of Jesus is experienced as we trust and obey him.

Understanding the reality of Jesus and his kingdom comes only through the revelation that Jesus is and gives. He is the truth; his rule is the kingdom. And he, and thus his kingdom, is with us all the time. He never forsakes or leaves us. Present with us through the Holy Spirit, Jesus leads us, guides us and walks beside us—even when we are not aware of it. So the next time it feels like the world truly is going to hell in a handbasket, or like you are in that basket yourself (because you’ve messed up or because you face insurmountable obstacles), remember this:

Noah was a drunk, Abraham was too old, Isaac was a daydreamer, Jacob was a liar, Leah was ugly, Joseph was abused, Moses had a stuttering problem, Gideon was afraid, Sampson had long hair and was a womanizer, Rahab was a prostitute, Jeremiah and Timothy were too young, David had an affair and was a murderer, Elijah was suicidal, Isaiah preached naked, Jonah ran from God, Naomi was a widow, Job went bankrupt, John the Baptist ate bugs, Peter denied Christ, the disciples fell asleep while praying, Martha worried about everything, the Samaritan woman was divorced (more than once), Zaccheus was too small, Paul was too religious, Timothy had an ulcer… and Lazarus was dead! (p. 15, Naked Before God: Out of Darkness Unto Light, A.B. See, Jr., Tate Publishing, 2011).

Despite such circumstances, God can use you to your full potential. Note what the apostle Paul wrote:

For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us (2 Corinthians 4:6-7, NRSV).

Whenever I get those “to hell in a handbasket” feelings, I remind myself that Jesus did not come to condemn the world, but to save it (John 3:17). If there is a handbasket, it’s the one we are in with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Enjoying kingdom life with Jesus,
Joseph Tkach

P.S. One of the blessings God showers on us is the joy of music. You might enjoy the music video at http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=FcLF5wopyjo with Andre Rieu directing a large ensemble of musicians and singers (including singing nuns) in a creative (sometimes humorous) performance of a song made popular many years ago by Petula Clark.