Category: Hear From the President

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard the phrase, “I’m finding myself,” or “I’m searching for my true self.” This search for one’s identity seems to begin in the teen years and continues into retirement. I suppose this journey of self-discovery dates back to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden where humanity lost sight of who they are in relation to God.

The story, found in the third chapter of Genesis, is not always viewed from the most accurate perspective. The book of Genesis begins with God creating the universe and declaring it “very good.” Then in chapter three, Adam and Eve disobey and are expelled from the garden. While it’s not hard to understand that doing the opposite of what is good can be bad for you, there’s more to the story than the one that many tell of an angry God who doles out punishment commensurate with the crime.

The idea that Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the garden is about an angry God who cannot allow himself to be stained by being in the presence of sin is false. Were it true, we’d have to toss out the Bible, because it tells of a God who first dwelt in the midst of his sinful people Israel, then sent his Son to live among sinners as their friend. Biblical language that speaks of God as being “separate from sinners” is metaphorical, representing the fact that God does not approve of evil. Rather than separating himself from sinners, God sent his Son right into the vortex of our sinful condition.

It is fundamentally wrong to think of God as a cosmic sheriff who, in order to uphold his justice, waits for Adam and Eve to violate his law. But if that’s not the way God is, why did he command Adam and Eve to not eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Why did he then bar Adam and Eve from reentering the garden after they disobeyed? We understand only when we rid ourselves of faulty perspectives and read the story from a Christ-centered perspective, understanding that it is part of the larger story of God’s plan of redemption and reconciliation brought about by his Son.

From that viewpoint, we see that Adam and Eve were created with a distinct identity—belonging to God and bearing his image. Humanity was created to live in community with God, in daily communication with him. Adam and Eve were created to be God’s co-regents over the garden. To borrow a modern idiom, “They had it made in the shade.”

But Adam and Eve lost sight of that identity and were deceived into thinking they had to figure things out on their own. They believed the lie that if they did what God warned them not to do—eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—they would actually become like God, deciding what was good and what was evil. They began to wonder what else God was keeping from them. They began to distrust God and instead trust their own judgments. It seemed to them that if they were going to be truly free, like God, they couldn’t depend upon God. He only told them about good and how to experience it—not about evil. They reasoned that they could only be free by getting to know both good and evil through their own experience and by deciding for themselves how to conduct their lives.

The results were, of course, disastrous. As one author noted, Adam and Eve “dissed” themselves. Their thinking became filled with dis-honor, dis-turbance, dis-trust, dis-grace, dis-repute, dis-belief and dis-respect. Not being God, they did not have the capacity to discern the difference between all good and evil. Even worse, they cut themselves off from a trusting relationship with God. As a consequence, all humanity has suffered: “…Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned…” (Romans 5:12).

The story continues in Genesis: “And the Lord God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.’ So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:22-24). In disobeying God, Adam and Eve gained some knowledge but lost far more. In particular, they lost the knowledge of who they were in relation to God. They lost their true identity. They now had the task of discerning right from wrong but were not prepared to handle that responsibility. As God had warned, their distrustful disobedience brought its own inherent consequence or penalty—the price for pursuing the knowledge of evil was death.

An important truth that we should not miss in this narrative is that God’s action to prevent Adam and Eve from returning to the garden of Eden was not punishment. Rather, it was protection. Had they returned and eaten from the tree of life, they would have lived forever in their fallen condition. God loved them too much to allow that to happen.

Adam and Eve’s decision to disobey did not surprise God. He foreknew what they would do. And, using a modern expression, he “already had it covered.” The ransom was paid, the lamb was slain “before the foundation of the world” (1 Peter 1:20, ESV; Revelation 13:8, ESV). God’s plan already included restoration and redemption. There was a prophetic element in what God did to clothe Adam and Eve when they were expelled from the garden: “The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21). This was not the first time animals would be sacrificed to provide a covering for sin. Like Israel’s animal sacrifices, this act pointed to the second Adam who would cover the sins of the whole world.

Clothing Adam and Eve and banning them from the garden were acts of God’s love and grace. He was protecting them—showing them mercy—when they didn’t know they needed it. Sadly, in the darkness of their misunderstanding, they probably left Eden wrongly believing that God was angry with them, punishing them for wrongdoing. This misunderstanding was the result of them not knowing their true identity, not understanding that they were God’s beloved children. As a result, they went on a wrong-headed search for identity—attempting to find it through self-effort, thus putting themselves on a path of self-justification. Notice the blame-shame game that went on between Adam and Eve when God found them and attempted to give them an opportunity to confess. That fruitless search for self-identity continues today as people try to “find themselves.”

Losing all sense of their true identity was bad news for Adam and Eve and for all humanity after them. But there is good news—Jesus came to restore, redeem and reconcile us, by telling us who he is and who we are in him. We no longer have to search for our true identity. It is restored and given to us as a free gift. We are made in the image of God, we have been reconciled to him in his Son Jesus Christ, and we belong to him once again. We now are called to share in God’s own love and life—to live as his beloved children in the presence and power of his Spirit. “I once was lost but now am found,” and I am looking no further.

Living in my true identity,

 

 

P.S. I came across an excellent video from Volkswagen recently. I wish every teen and the many adults who text and drive would view it. You’ll find it at http://youtu.be/JHixeIr_6BM.

For another post on the topic of our true identity, see the post at https://update.gci.org/2014/10/our-true-identity-and-significance/.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Though in growing up in this denomination I developed a broad vocabulary (see my June 4 letter), I’m no language maven and certainly no expert in English language usage. However, I am fascinated by what some view as the decline of the English language—a decline that has been occurring for several hundred years. In the early 1700s, Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver’s Travels and dean of St. Patrick’s cathedral in Dublin, Ireland, wrote this:

I do here in the Name of all the Learned and Polite Persons of the Nation, complain to your Lordship, as First Minister, that our Language is extremely imperfect; that its daily Improvements are by no means in proportion to its daily Corruptions; and the Pretenders to polish and refine it, have chiefly multiplied Abuses and Absurdities; and, that in many Instances, it offends against every Part of Grammar (A Proposal for Correcting, Improving and Ascertaining the English Tongue).

I wonder what Swift would write today! Word meanings slip-slide in various directions over time, often making a word’s modern usage quite different from its original. Though this “semantic shift” typically is not a problem, it’s fascinating to observe. Each year, the dictionary adds the new meanings that have developed. A recent example is the word literally. British journalist Martha Gill explains:

“Literally,” the most misused word in the language has officially changed definition. Now as well as meaning “in a literal manner or sense; exactly: ‘the driver took it literally when asked to go straight over the traffic circle,'” various dictionaries have added its other more recent usage. As Google puts it, “literally” can be used “to acknowledge that something is not literally true but is used for emphasis or to express strong feeling.” ”…Literally,” you see, in its development from knock-kneed, single-purpose utterance, to swan-like dual-purpose term, has reached that awkward stage. It is neither one nor the other, and it can’t do anything right” (“Have We Literally Broken the English Language?”, The Guardian [UK], August 13, 2013).

Examples of semantic shift abound, especially as we look back to Old and Middle English:

• meticulous once meant “fearful or timid”
• sensitive once meant “capable of using one’s senses”
• thing once meant a “public assembly”
• silly once meant “blessed” or “innocent”
• officious once meant “hard working”
• aggravate once meant to “increase the weight” of something
• nice person once meant someone who was ignorant or unaware
• awful once meant wonderful, delightful and amazing (as in full of awe), now it means exactly the opposite!

Today’s media often help bring about semantic shifts as they seek to shape opinions and thus worldviews. The shift in the meaning of the term pro-choice is an example. The idea that everyone should have the right to choose sounds logical. But labeling one side in the ongoing debate as “pro-choice” misrepresents the other side and obscures the nature of the debate, which is about making moral choices and passing laws that promote right moral choices. All criminal laws restrict behavior in some way and become laws because they are believed to be morally right and thus a means to promote the common good. Those who are opposed to legalized abortion for any reason (often referred to as pro-life) advocate laws they feel are morally right and thus will be a means to promote the common good of mothers, the unborn and all society.

Freedom is another word that has been reloaded in our culture. For many, it now means the right of individuals to do whatever they want. It thus typically means freedom from, with little conception of freedom for. It’s perhaps most often used to refer to the “freedom” of having sex with anyone—typically without any relational ties or emotional strings, duties or obligations. The moral meaning and significance of sexual relations is thereby obliterated and the result is that sexual relations become little more than matters of personal preference—like preferring (or not) anchovies on one’s pizza!

Semantic shifts like these raise an important question for us to ponder: Who is discipling us—the culture or Jesus?

I lament the current shift in the meaning of the word Christian. The word, which once meant a follower of Jesus, is shifting to become something negative. Deliberately or not, the media now often uses the word to refer to someone who is intolerant, bigoted, extreme and even hateful. Though it’s true that a few zealous and uninformed Christians are intolerant, bigoted and hateful, the vast majority are not. I have wondered out loud if this change in meaning is fueled, in part, by Christians acting as though they are Old Testament prophets rather than those who join Jesus in his loving, transforming, redeeming ministry. To combat this negativity, many Christians now refer to themselves as Christ-followers or disciples of Jesus. I believe the more we join Jesus in sharing his love and his life with others, the quicker the word Christian will again evoke positive responses.

Regardless of the many semantic shifts occurring around us, the meaning of one word never changes: Jesus. He is the Word (John 1:1, Revelation 19:13) who having been made flesh…dwelt among us (John 1:14 KJV) to redeem the world he had spoken into existence. Jesus, the Word of God, is the life (John 6:48) and light (John 8:12) of all the universe. He is our hope, security and salvation.

Through Jesus, God speaks (Hebrews 1:1-2) and we as Christians must heed his words. He said that he came to give life…to the full (John 10:10)—not to condemn, but to save (John 3:17). Having received his word of life (Philippians 2:16) we are commissioned to share it with others—reaching out to our families, friends and communities—living and sharing the gospel (Mark 16:15). Congregations involved in that sort of outreach are active participants in the continuing ministry of the Word who is full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

Word meanings will, no doubt, continue to change. But, praise God, we know the Living Word who does not change. May we continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18).

Being blessed by the Word,

 

 

P.S. In this issue of Weekly Update we give tribute to our dear brother and fellow-laborer Bernie Schnippert, who announced last week his retirement from GCI employment. As you know, Bernie is battling cancer and his declining health makes this retirement necessary. Be sure to read in this issue the announcement of Bernie’s retirement and also the “Up Close and Personal” article about Bernie’s life, including his many years of faithful, excellent service to our church. I know you’ll join me in continuing to pray for Bernie, his wife Arlene and their children and extended family.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

A recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article quoted a poll showing that 51% of Americans do not believe the universe began all by itself, from nothing, with a “big bang.” What surprised me most about the article was its honesty in explaining why so many disbelieve the big bang theory, which is the prevailing model in cosmology to explain the beginning of the universe. The WSJ article said this:

The culprits might be “scientific atheists,” a small but vocal group of thinkers who employ science to claim that there is no God. Some argue that the universe came into existence all on its own. In particular, physicist Lawrence M. Krauss’s 2012 book A Universe from Nothing insists that the big bang occurred within a complete emptiness, and thus there is no need for a “God.” But the key assumption of Mr. Krauss’s conjecture is flawed and at odds with modern cosmology. The big bang did not occur in “nothing.” It had to be spawned in some kind of pre-existent medium, known by physicists as “quantum foam,” though we don’t know exactly what it is. [1]

Though, as noted in the article, the theory assumes that something did pre-exist the big bang, Krauss and other scientific atheists don’t want to leave room for God in their thinking. That viewpoint reminds me of the old Billy Preston song, “Nothing from Nothing” [leaves nothing]—an idea far more consistent with current big bang theory than any atheistic interpretation!

The idea of the big bang was first conceived in 1927 by Roman Catholic priest Georges Lemaître, who also was an astronomer and physicist. Up to that time, the accepted theory was that the universe had always existed in a “steady state” and that matter was eternal. Lemaître theoretically deduced the expansion of the universe and proposed that it was launched from a “primeval atom.” He rejected the steady-state theory because he believed the story in the first chapter of Genesis of a beginning and searched for a way to prove it scientifically. He did so using a complex mathematical proof based on Einstein’s general theory of relativity.

What’s ironic is that Einstein did not accept the big bang theory when it was proposed in 1927. In 1916, in what he referred to later as “the biggest mistake of my life,” Einstein altered his equations to fit the accepted idea of a steady-state universe. But in 1929, Edwin Hubble’s astronomical observations proved Lemaître correct about an expanding universe and Einstein and many other scientists came to accept the big bang theory.

The big bang theory continued to gain scientific credibility as it was used to predict certain phenomena later proven to be actual. Though the theory is now widely accepted, it is unable to explain the origin of the “bang” itself and the origin of the laws of physics necessitated by it. Still, it’s not difficult to visualize the expansion (called “inflation”) of the universe from a single point. Physicist Alan Guth conjectured this explanation:

During the universe’s first 10^-35 of a second, a period of extremely rapid, exponential inflation occurred, expanding the universe by a factor of at least 10²⁶. It would be the equivalent of taking a pea and expanding it to the size of our solar system in a time less than a millionth of a blink of an eye.

The big bang accounts for the uniformity in the universe of microwave background radiation. This phenomenon was discovered in the mid 1960s by Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson at Bell Labs using ultra-sensitive cryogenic microwave receivers. P. J. E. Peebles of Princeton then identified this radiation as the residual energy of the big bang. These discoveries changed humanity’s understanding of our universe.

Though big bang theory does not specify what kicked off the big bang itself, the nature of the event points to a pre-existing, intelligent agent. According to Berkeley’s George Smoot, the big bang was a “finely orchestrated event,” not a chaotic explosion. Astronomer Eric Carlson describes it as “incredibly, highly ordered…just the opposite of a chaotic event.” Had the expansion rate at the beginning been faster or slower—by a mere 1 part in 10⁶⁰—life would not have been possible.

As you will recall, Albert Einstein discovered that energy does not disappear, but changes into matter. This means that everything comes from the energy/material of the big bang—the universe has a material/energy oneness. However, there is no hint of consciousness in that material—no reason to think that the big bang orchestrated and ordered itself. That leaves open the question, what (or who) did? Physicist and science writer Paul Davies comments:

What is the source of those ingenious laws that enable a universe to pop into being from nothing? …There is no compelling need for a supernatural being or prime mover to start the universe off. But when it comes to the laws that explain the big bang, we are in murkier waters.

Though Davies’ questions bring him close to the truth, he does not connect the dots as we do. Big bang theory seems to fit well with our faith in the God the Bible tells us created all that is, which would include the laws and conditions that led to the big bang. Though our faith in God does not rest on scientific theory, the big bang theory does seem to offer clues as to the ultimate source of all that has come into being. As Paul wrote, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).

God has revealed himself to us in his actions in history. Those actions include creation as well as what God did to reveal himself to certain individuals and to the people of Israel. But, by far, the most complete revelation came when the God of all creation entered time and space in the person of Jesus Christ, thus providing for us his self-revelation. In that revelation we hear and see God as Creator, Sustainer and Redeemer of all history—from beginning to end. “For from him and through him and for him are all things” (Romans 11:36).

History had a beginning by the agency of the Triune God and it will culminate in the return of Jesus, the Creator, Savior, High Priest, Sage, King of kings, Judge and Elder Brother of the human race. The big bang was simply the beginning of an unfolding story (“his-story,” which through Jesus becomes ours) leading to the time when God creates “a new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1), in which his people will live eternally in a loving and joyful relationship with him through their eternal Mediator, Jesus Christ.

Always looking forward,

 

 

____________________

[1] “In the Beginning, There Was an Atom,” The Wall Street Journal, May 8, 2014; online at http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304101504579545833041628804.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Scanning the radio dial while driving to work, I tuned into J. Vernon McGee’s radio program just as he said this: “Don’t say that a loving God is going to send you to hell—he’s not. The thing that’s going to send you to hell is that you are a sinner and you don’t want to admit it.”

I enjoy such one-line quips. Here’s another, from C.S. Lewis: “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are in hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. [To] those who knock it is opened.”

G.K. Chesterton once remarked, “Hell is God’s great compliment to the reality of human freedom and the dignity of human personality.” Hell, a compliment? Yes, because God is saying to us, “You’re significant; I take you seriously. Choose to reject me—choose hell if you will—I will let you go because I love you and won’t force my will upon you.”

Many view hell as the place where God, in order to appease his wrath, sends the incorrigible, the unbelievers and those who don’t know him. The reality, however, is that hell is the result of people rejecting God and his love—pridefully insisting on autonomy and stubbornly holding to the false belief that they can give themselves life apart from God. Because God created us and upholds us by his love for relationship with himself, there are consequences for rejecting that relationship. Rather than the result of God’s wrath, hell is the result of peoples’ choice to reject God and his love.

God’s wrath is real, but rather than being opposed to his love (as though God were bipolar), God’s wrath is an expression of his love (1 John 4:19). We see this most fully at the cross where God, in love, poured out his wrath on the sin that destroys his beloved creatures. The cross is thus God’s judgment against sin and evil, and the revelation of his love for sinners that delivers them from evil to life.

God’s purpose from the beginning was to bring to fulfillment his love toward all humanity. But humans, in their rebellion, pride and alienation from God, set up obstacles to that love—obstacles that must be removed if communion with God is to be restored and made right. God’s judgment and wrath is his powerful removal of those barriers so that the purposes of his love might be fulfilled.

Jesus’ work at the cross made atonement for the world’s sin and gained victory over all evil (Ephesians 1:3-8). His wrath having achieved its objective, God reconciled us to himself in the saving work of his Son, restoring peace. God’s wrath against sin and sinfulness is presupposed in the sending of his Son. If God did not war against sinfulness—if he had no wrath against it—he would have not needed to do that. Wrath is part of God’s means to restore relationship, not a means to perpetuate estrangement. Isaiah 54:8 wonderfully shows how God’s wrath is expressive of his love. Note these three translations:

• “In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord your Redeemer. (NIV)
• “In a little burst of wrath I hid My face from you for a moment, but with age-enduring love and kindness I will have compassion and mercy on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer. (AMP)
• “In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee,” saith the Lord thy Redeemer. (KJV)

Here God, while telling his people to take note of his anger at their sin, wraps them in his loving embrace. Notice the encouragement in verses 9 and 10:

“To me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again. Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

God already has taken the actions necessary to end the enmity between himself and humanity, caused by our sinfulness. These actions flow from his heart of love, which is the essence of his being (1 John 4:8). God expresses his love by continuing to uphold us, giving us freedom to enter into a trusting and worshipful relationship with himself—even though we may abuse that freedom by rejecting his love and grace. God remains true to his nature, revealed in Jesus Christ, even for those who might choose hell—choosing to repudiate and despise the blessings of the life, light and love God has for them.

We praise God that he has expressed his love supremely in sending his Son, Jesus Christ—true God of true God—to achieve complete victory over evil and to reconcile himself in love toward all humanity (1 John 4:9-10).

Living free,

 

 

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

One of my thrills as a young father was going home from work when our children were young. I would arrive home from the office and there they were, eager and ready to run up and throw their arms around me. It was the highlight of the day and a picture that cannot be erased from my mind. I can’t help but speculate that it will be something like this when we first experience the fullness of God’s kingdom.

Father’s Days were even better! Tammy must have tutored the children to give me extra expressions of love and appreciation. I can say without a doubt, the best Father’s Day gifts I’ve ever received were hugs and kisses from my two children. And even though the kids are much older now, I still love it when they hug me, especially when the embrace is spontaneous and seems to serve no other purpose than to let me know that I’m loved and appreciated. This too, I believe, is a picture of what we will experience when we see our Father for the first time and we spontaneously run into his arms to share our love and appreciation to him.

I sometimes wonder, though, if we will have some laughs with God about things we’ve said, or the way we interpreted things he says to us. If your children are now adults, they likely have a good measure of fun reminding you of some of the things you said as they were growing up. When Stephanie is about to get into her car and drive off, I always say, “Be very careful, drive defensively. She has often said in reply, “Oh Dad, thanks for that reminder, I was going to try to average 120 mph.” It appears that sarcasm does get passed through the DNA. My son enjoys one of the proverbial statements my grandfather said to my father who then said to me, so I could not fail to pay it forward: “Remember, nothing good happens past midnight—it is better to be safe, sleeping in your bed.”

For a bit of humor, I thought I’d share some things some kids wish their parents would say:

• Here, take my wallet and GO CRAZY shopping.
• No son of mine is going to live under this roof without an earring. Now quit complaining and let’s go to the mall.
• Your mother and I are going away for the weekend … you might want to consider throwing a party.
• Whaddya wanna go and get a job for? I make plenty of money for you to spend.
• Let’s watch a really emotional chick flick tonight.
• When I was growing up, we had it so easy!
• Can you turn up that music?
• That skirt’s a little on the long side, don’t you think?
• Don’t bother to hang up your clothes, they’re gonna get wrinkled anyway.
• I understand why you let your car run out of gas. You have a lot on your mind.
• A date with a boy? Here, take 50 bucks to make it extra-romantic.
• You need more lipstick.

We try our best to raise our children the best we can, but we know we are far from perfect parents. That’s why when our children love and appreciate us on Father’s Day, it warms our heart. We often focus on our weaknesses and mistakes and can list all kinds of things we wish we’d said or done, or wish we hadn’t said or done. We are surprised when the kids don’t seem to be as focused on those things; rather they focus on the relationship we have and the good memories of their childhood.

I’ll never be a perfect parent, and neither will you. But thank God we have a good example to follow. And I mean that. Thank God because he is the perfect Father. We take great comfort in knowing that truth. And he’s not just perfect; he’s infinitely perfect.

Even the love we have for our children comes from God. John says, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love… This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another… We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:7-8, 10-11, 19).

I thank God for the ability and the blessing of loving my children. But even more, I’m grateful beyond words that he loves my children even more than I do. And in the end, I’m counting on that far more than my own parenting. I pray as we know God’s love more and more, may all of us who are fathers or father figures continue to learn even more how to love our children as our heavenly Father loves us as his dearly beloved children.

Happy Father’s Day,

 

 

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The cartoon below gives me a lasting chuckle, though my laughter is mixed with a tinge of sadness from my past. When I was a child, my parents taught me to take notes in church. There was “a method to their madness”—they wanted me to pay attention in church rather than retreat into my own thought world. Note-taking was a good way to help me concentrate. No matter how riveting or boring the message, each week my parents would check my notes to make sure I had been listening. The better my notes, the better I enjoyed my weekend. However, as we have all experienced, some sermons were easier to listen to than others.

The standard sermon format in the church of my youth had seven points, though some had 12 and others had three. Some sermons were pointless (pun intended), but that was not the norm. We were told to “inculcate” these various points “into our lives.” One advantage of listening to such sermons was that my vocabulary increased immensely, adding words like inculcate, admonish, reprehensible and proleptic (words you don’t typically hear a 10-year old say!). But there also were disadvantages. One was that by the end of the year I had 364 points that I was admonished to inculcate. By the end of the second year the list had grown to 728! Such is the burden of a “works-righteousness” approach to sermons and life. For a humorous take on this, see my video at http://youtu.be/YAPnszQ_V_E. By the way, I’m not against having points in sermons—some of the points I learned as a child were helpful.

Once when I was attending one of his week-long seminars, I joked with presenter John Maxwell about the proliferation of points in his presentations and books with titles like, 25 Ways to Win with People, 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth and 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork. John laughed when I said that I was still working on memorizing over 2000 of his points, and was wondering how many rules there are to efficient memorizing! Please understand that I’m not picking on John—there is much helpful information in his books and seminars.

Rightly used, lists and points can be helpful, even necessary. We have our own in the various GCI policy manuals. In some ways, I wish they weren’t necessary, but in a time when a growing number of people look to file lawsuits, we must have policies that minimize risk. Most importantly they help us stay focused on the simplicity that is in Christ, even as we function within a world of great complexity.

Though lists can be helpful, the ones I endured as a child often obscured the reality of who Jesus is in relationship to God and to us. It is on these things that our sermons should focus. The simplicity of our relationship with Christ is where we “live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). He is the one who places us in right relationship with the Father and Spirit. He is the one to whom we belong, with all our being. He brings us together and makes us one by his Spirit.

The church is a place where people should sense that they are wanted and loved—by God and his people. When they experience that belonging, their lives begin to change and unity of purpose is experienced despite differences of age, gender and socio-economic status. Let me illustrate this with a couple of examples.

One of our U.S. pastors, David Perry, led a fundraising project to buy bicycles for GCI pastors in Mozambique. In sharing his gratitude for the contributors, he told me where some of the donations originated. Six elderly people in a small house church gave $50.00—an amount that was all they could afford among them. David got misty-eyed as he explained that they just wanted to participate in an outreach project, despite limitations of age and finances.

Our church in Guadalajara, Mexico, pastored by Alfredo Mercado, has had an increasing focus on mission. Recently they had several baptisms. Last year, they hosted a GCI conference coordinated by Lorenzo Arroyo. Others attending from the U.S. included Lorenzo’s wife Rita, Heber Ticas, Gary and Cathy Deddo and Tammy and me. It was a delightful, joy-filled time. One family who drove several hours to attend was inspired to go back home and plant a house church. The conference was made possible by donations from GCI congregations pastored by Robin Chester in Bend, Oregon, and by Mike Swagerty in Sacramento, California.

There are many more such stories that illustrate a focus on the simplicity that is in Christ—churches where members see a need, then join together to meet it. Some of our churches are supporting church plants, others are supporting summer camps and several are covering the travel costs for elders to come to our Glendora office and other far-flung places to receive needed training.

When we focus on the simplicity that is in Christ, we focus on what Christ is doing—sharing with us the love and life of the Father, Son and Spirit. As we join with Jesus, we are transformed into his likeness. This is what the church is all about—living and sharing the gospel. I am more grateful than words can express for the ways our churches are joining Jesus in this gospel ministry. But I will just keep saying “thanks.”

Working together for the gospel,

 

 

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

The Guinness Book of Records calls it the world’s best-selling book, with over two billion copies sold to date. It is one of the most quoted (and frequently misquoted) books there is. I’m referring, of course, to the Bible.

Though we don’t know how many people have actually read it, it’s safe to say that billions have been affected by the Bible’s message. Prior to the 20th century, very few people had access to a Bible. Early in Christian history, churches typically owned only a single copy of the Old Testament (the Septuagint) and copies of various letters written by early church leaders. These were often stored in a cabinet called an “armarion.” Seminary professor Timothy Paul Jones comments on its contents:

It’s possible that not all of these texts would have been identical to the twenty-seven books that you find in the New Testament today. To be sure, the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, Paul’s letters, and probably John’s first letter would have had a place in the armarion. But the cabinet could lack a few writings that your New Testament includes—the letter to the Hebrews and maybe the second epistle that’s ascribed to Peter, for example, or a couple of John’s letters. A quirky allegory entitled The Shepherd might have made an appearance in some areas. You might even find a letter or two from a Roman pastor named Clement. The New Testament canon—that’s the twenty-seven texts that you find in your New Testament today—wasn’t yet clear to Christians everywhere.

Thankfully, this lack of clarity as to the content of the New Testament was resolved in the fourth century by councils representing the whole church. But sadly, recent surveys indicate that Bible reading in our day has declined significantly. There are numerous reasons for that decline, including the habit of reading the Bible in fragmentary ways, reading it only for personal devotion and failing to recognize the Bible for the amazing literature that it is. Another reason for the decline is the instant communication that has altered the way people engage with all books.

Sadly, another reason for the decline in Bible reading is the habit many preachers have of misusing the Bible by lifting out passages in a proof-texting manner to illustrate their own sermon ideas. In that regard, note this from author Peter Mead:

Not only does proof-texting fall short, but it also steals the experience of seeing the bigger picture, the sweeping thoughts, the epic narratives and the heart-stirring poems of Scripture. I often ponder the fact that the biblical men and women whom I most aspire to be like are not those with a ready quiver full of pithy proof-texts, but those who know the God of the Bible because they are washed in the Bible as a whole, book by book.

The Bible is a literary whole, and we gain the most when we read it as such. This means drinking deeply of the text to receive God’s message for us. Because the Bible’s communication patterns tend to be subtle, complex and nuanced, it takes time, skill and effort to do this. And the more experience you gain in doing so, the more you see the Bible for what it truly is: an unfolding narrative with plot and resolution. It is not a book of isolated bits and pieces for us to draw from in a proof-texting way.

My good friend John Halford likens the Bible to a symphony by Beethoven. John came to understand Beethoven well only when he listened to all nine of his symphonies—not just favorite parts of a few. John says that he has had the same experience with the Bible. Just as Beethoven’s symphonies fit together as a unified whole, so it is with Holy Scripture. In that regard, note what Paul wrote to Timothy:

There’s nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us (2 Timothy 3:15-17 The Message).

The Bible is not merely a “to do” list from God. Rather, it is the dynamic and unified story of his love for humanity. In the Bible the Triune God of the universe shares with us his very heart and mind, nature, character and purposes. We find there the unfolding of his faithfulness and plan for us, inviting us to participate in what he is doing. The Bible holds out to us his promise of eternal relationship with him—it’s our story of hope, redemption and sonship.

I encourage you to read the Bible personally and, as preachers and teachers, to encourage others to do so in order to find answers to life’s biggest and most important questions: Who is God? and, Who am I in relation to God?

Reading with you,

Joseph Tkach

P.S. We have many helpful articles about the Bible on our GCI website. You’ll find a list at www.gci.org/bible.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

One of the verses in the Bible that has always intrigued me is Hebrews 13:8. There we read that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” My first thought about this verse was always that Jesus is perfect—always has been and always will be. But as many of you reading this will remember, our fellowship used to use this verse in support of the erroneous teaching that God commands Christians to observe the seventh-day Sabbath. We wrongly assumed that if Jesus is never-changing, then so must be the Sabbath command. We also wrongly believed that law-keeping, including Sabbath observance, would somehow make us “perfect” like Jesus (Hebrews 2:10; 10:1).

But the reality is that God gave the Sabbath to Israel under the old covenant, not to perfect his people, but to provide a sign pointing them toward the ultimate, eternal rest found in Jesus, who alone is perfect (Hebrews 4:1-11). In misusing Hebrews 13:8, we ascribed to the Sabbath more than God intended, treating it as if the sign was the reality. For more about this, I encourage you to read Gary Deddo’s helpful article, “A Sign Forever.” It’s included in this issue.

Israel’s rabbis and other teachers understood that the Law of Moses, particularly its commands related to Sabbath and Holy Day observance, apply only to national Israel under the old covenant. When Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27), it was to show the Pharisees (representatives of old covenant Israel) that they misunderstood why God had given Israel as a nation this holy time. In stating that he was “Lord even of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:28), Jesus was confronting the Pharisees’ attempt to subvert his authority in this matter, thus wrongly claiming it for themselves.

There is no question: Jesus is perfect and Hebrews 13:8 reminds us that his perfection never ceases—not even when the Son of God became the Son of man—100% divine and 100% human. The union of human and divine in Jesus did not diminish God’s perfection in any way, though Jesus yielded himself fully to the limitations of our humanity—going so far as to suffer and die in the flesh in order to redeem us.

Through his incarnation, life, death, resurrection and ascension, Jesus redeemed not just humanity, but all the created order, including time. Jesus is Lord of all time: “Yesterday and today and forever.” The New Testament speaks of time in a rather fluid way—both as chronos (the chronological passage of time, one moment after another) and kairos (the “times” of God’s redemptive intervention within the universe of created space and time). In the article “Time” in The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Carl Henry says this:

While the New Testament [in speaking of chronos] gives prominent scope to the future…its central kairos is the life and death and resurrection of the incarnate Christ, which is decisively significant for the kingdom of God. The terms, “day [of the Lord]” and “hour,” “now” and “today” gain dramatic significance in the New Testament context whenever the eternal order impinges upon the sweep of ordinary events (Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, article “Time,” p. 1095).

Grasping the concept of time as both chronos and kairos helps us understand the biblical teaching that the “end time” began with Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and ascension. With this great and decisive “Christ event,” kairos intersected chronos, bringing healing “Today”—the continuing time when the salvation that is present in Jesus is being received by those who rest (trust) in Jesus (Hebrews 3:13-15).

How sad (and foolish) that some would try to limit God by setting dates for his future intervention within chronos. Many such dates have come and gone: 1844, 1917, 1975, 2000, 2008, 2010 and others. All of these predictions have failed, including ones of our own. By God’s grace, we learned how utterly futile date-setting is. We no longer try to pin down the sovereign God in this way. Instead, we rest in his present and continuing salvation.

Israel lived mainly in chronos time as evidenced by her observances of the Sabbath and Holy Days (Leviticus 23). Her lunar-solar calendar was rooted in the world of physical time and space and looked forward to events yet future. But the gospel proclaims that the promised future has arrived: “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). As Christians, we live in two “time zones”: both chronos and kairos time. In both, we experience the perfection of Christ as he weaves his new (resurrection) life into the fabric of all creation, including all people in all places and all times. And that includes weaving his life into the fabric of our lives—all of our life, including the times when we suffer.

I’ve been thinking a lot about that suffering recently. Several dear friends are battling cancer and other serious illnesses. Some are suffering a great deal, and some have died. Though I can’t heal the sick and certainly can’t raise the dead, I trust Jesus to show up in such times whether in life or death. In all such times, he comes bearing a complete victory that extends into and beyond all time. That’s how great our Lord and Savior is. In him, in his perfection, we have rest. By the Holy Spirit we are united to Jesus—bonded cosmically, as it were, to the Lord of all creation, including all time.

Resting in Jesus, we have the calling to bear witness to who Jesus truly is and to tell the story of what he has done, is doing and will yet do for our salvation—the eternal Sabbath rest that we have in him.

Resting with you in the perfection of Christ,
Joseph Tkach

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We all want The Good Life, don’t we? But what, exactly, is it? For many, it’s about material possessions, money, security and opportunity.

Referring to the rap song “Good Life” by hip hop artist Kanye West, the Urban Dictionary offers this definition of The Good Life:

Living life drama and worry free. Do your thing, be thankful for what you have, and take full advantage of everything you do have while still improving on your situation. The Good Life usually consists of being healthy, having confidence, having fun, partying and hooking up with sexy girls but varies from each person. Try not to become jealous of other people and don’t make a big deal out of everything in life. Just live your life, have fun, be positive, and you will be living The Good Life. [1]

Composers Distel and Reardon addressed The Good Life in a song by that name, popularized by singer Tony Bennett. Here are the lyrics:

Oh, the good life, full of fun
Seems to be the ideal
Mm, the good life lets you hide
All the sadness you feel

You won’t really fall in love
For you can’t take the chance
So please be honest with yourself
Don’t try to fake romance

It’s the good life to be free
And explore the unknown
Like the heartaches when you learn
You must face them alone

Please remember, I still want you
And in case you wonder why
Well, just wake up
Kiss the good life, goodbye

Of course, the ultimate answers to life’s big questions are not found in song lyrics. We also understand from life experience that material possessions are not what make life “good.”

The question, What constitutes The Good Life? is not new. The ancient Greek philosophers pondered the question. According to historian Arthur L. Herman, Plato and Aristotle disagreed on the answer, leading to the founding of two schools of thought. Plato’s Rationalism defined The Good Life as consisting of “ideal forms” such as truth, justice, beauty and goodness. Aristotle’s Empiricism defined it as possessing knowledge that is gained through experience. Both philosophers taught that The Good Life comes from the contemplative life of the mind.

But what does the Bible say?

The prophet Micah wrote this: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8 ESV). God gave Micah this prophetic insight during a time when calamity and exile awaited Israel. This pivotal passage tells us that living life with fairness and kindness, in humility before God, is the basis of The Good Life.

Interestingly, the Greek philosophers agree with the biblical wisdom that The Good Life has nothing to do with material possessions. Instead, it’s about possessing knowledge that then is rightly applied in relationship to the world around us. But the Bible adds a vital insight: The Good Life has God at its center. It’s about possessing the Word of God made open to us by the Spirit of God. Karl Barth said it this way:

The hearing of the Word of God the creator, which makes human life to become Christian life, is not man’s work but God’s: the Holy Spirit’s work. Just as our spirit cannot produce the Word of God, so too it cannot receive it… A sheer miracle must happen to him, a second miracle in addition to the miracle of his own existence, if his life shall be a true Christian life, which is a life within the hearing of God’s word. This miracle is the office of the Holy Spirit. [2]

The Good Life is life centered on the Living Word of God, who as its Creator and Redeemer, has a foundational relationship with all of life. Thus The Good Life is not something that is bought or sold. It is not about a transaction of any sort. Rather, it’s about being in a personal relationship with the very Source of life. In that relationship, we are freely given God’s own kind of life. It is sent to us from the Father, through the Son and in the Spirit. And we receive that life as we surrender in worship by the Spirit, through the Son, to the Father. And that relationship of worship to God bears fruit in all of our other relationships, expressing itself towards others in a spirit of justice, kindness and humility.

Jesus (his being and his acts) constitutes The Good Life. And by grace, through the indwelling Holy Spirit, we are given to share that Life with Jesus. In him, we are alive. In him, we have life eternal. This is ultimate reality. This is The Good Life!

Sharing The Good Life with Christ and with you,
Joseph Tkach

[1] www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=The+Good+Life
[2] Karl Barth. The Holy Spirit and the Christian Life: The Theological Basis of
Ethics, pages 10-11.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Research shows that women, on average, talk about three times as much as men. The average woman notches up about 20,000 words in a day, which is about 13,000 more than the average man. Women also generally speak more quickly and devote more brainpower to speaking. So far, research has been unable to explain exactly why, though some evidence points to a genetic cause. [1] After 60 years of my own observation, I think I have a plausible explanation: motherhood.

Mothers typically spend more time with their children than fathers, and thus say much more to them. With that in mind, here is some Mother’s Day humor, speculating on what some mothers might have said to their famous young sons:

• Columbus’ mother: “I don’t care what you’ve discovered, you still could have written!”
• Michelangelo’s mother: “Can’t you paint on walls like other children? Do you have any idea how hard it is to get that stuff off the ceiling?”
• Abraham Lincoln’s mother: “Again with the stovepipe hat? Can’t you just wear a baseball cap like the other kids?”
• Albert Einstein’s mother: “Can’t you do something about your hair? Oil, styling gel, mousse, anything …?”
• George Washington’s mother: “The next time I catch you throwing money across the Potomac, you can kiss your allowance goodbye!”
• Thomas Edison’s mother: “Of course I’m proud that you invented the electric light bulb. Now turn it off and get to bed!”

That’s all in fun, of course, but there is no doubt that mothers have had a tremendous impact on history, as noted by American poet William Ross Wallace (1819-1881) in “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.” Here is the third verse:

Woman, how divine your mission,
Here upon our natal sod;
Keep—oh, keep the young heart open
Always to the breath of God!
All true trophies of the ages
Are from mother-love impearled,
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

Indeed, mothers have a vital calling—a divine mission. It is therefore fitting that we honor them on Mother’s Day. As we do, let’s remember the divine mission that was given to Mary, the mother of Jesus.

For some, Mary is a super-human, mystical object of devotion. That’s unfortunate in that it can cause one to under-appreciate the courage and faith that Mary showed in humbly accepting her divine calling with these words: “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38 NASB). To serve as the Messiah’s mother was a daunting responsibility. But Mary drew strength from her faith in God and comfort and support from her Aunt Elizabeth and her husband-to-be, Joseph.

Mothers today also face great challenges—these are not easy times to bring up children who are content in themselves, have a vital faith and are able to resist the pressures of moral compromise. Often the effort, skill and experience that it takes to be an effective mother (or father!), is devalued in our society, which seems only to value earning money. Investing in “people-making,” as some call parenting, is seriously undervalued as a high calling that takes intelligence, discipline, maturity and a wide range of both practical and personal abilities. Although we tend to think of God in masculine images, we perhaps get the best glimpse of his unrelenting, unconditional love for us when we see the selfless love of a mother for her children.

As Mother’s Day approaches (May 11 in the U.S.), I hope you’ll take time to show appreciation for all mothers, including your own.

Your brother in Christ,

Joseph Tkach

P.S. Though a mother’s true value is not measured in dollars and cents, it might interest you to know that in 2013 a stay-at-home mom’s work was valued at an annual cost of $113,568. [2]

____________

[1] http://news.sciencemag.org/brain-behavior/2013/02/language-gene-more-active-young-girls-boys?ref=hp

[2] http://www.salary.com/2013-mom-infographics/