Simple Authentic Loving

Forgiveness

In the book of Genesis, the boy Joseph was irritating to his brothers!

Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors, (Genesis 37:3).

If their father’s favoritism wasn’t bad enough, Joseph was a tattletale (37:1). On top of that Joseph not only had self-aggrandizing dreams, he told his brothers about them (37:5 ff.)! As a result, Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery and lied to his father about what happened to him.

We don’t have space to tell the stories about all the hardships Joseph had while he was a slave in Egypt, but the good news is: God never forgot Joseph. Later Joseph and his brothers were reconciled in Egypt, but they were worried that when their father died, Joseph would seek vengeance on them. Why didn’t he?

When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died: ‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.” ’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. (Genesis 50:15-21)

Why should we learn to forgive? First, because forgiveness frees us from the burden of hatred! Second, because forgiveness is divine. God forgave us so we should forgive one another. Third, because forgiveness is the foundation of love.

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony, (Colossians 3:13, 14).

How Do You Choose?

In talking with people about why they attend the church they do, I get many different answers. Some let their mothers choose for them. (“This is the church I was raised in.”) Others choose a church for their kids or their spouse. (“They would be happy there.” Notice the absent “I.”) Still, others join a church to promote their careers. (“This is where I make business contacts.”) Of course, there are those who choose because it has an appealing program (softball league, children’s program, etc.) and I like those people who choose a congregation because it supports a worthwhile project and they want to help. Of course, there are those who choose a church that is “easy on the ears” with a good preacher or great music. But all these reasons leave out the most important reason of all: Is it the True Church?

Truth has fallen on hard times. I see many different interpretations of Pilate’s question, “What is truth?” Some people suffer from the “Candy Shop Syndrome.” They are so busy looking at an issue “objectively” or “from every side” that they can’t come to a conclusion about what is true.

Another popular flavor of truth is “custom tailored” — “Whatever you believe is true for you” — while some believe in subjective truth, “If it feels right it is right.” (I’ve bought too many used cars using that principle! Next time, I’m looking under the hood.) There are also those who decide the truth in very “practical” terms: “If it works, it must be true.”

Christians, however, believe in objective truth — truth that is independent of how you feel or what you think. We believe there are eternal truths and absolute rights and wrongs. True Christians are not afraid to ask the tough questions. Truth is truth and cannot be harmed by inquiry.

Now that may seem very cold and logical, and it certainly can be, so we must guard against “Vulcan” Christianity. (In the popular series “Star Trek,” Mr. Spock represented the Vulcan race who stripped themselves of all emotions.) Christians know that a marble stallion may look like a horse but without the warmth, it won’t take you anywhere. The mark of the true church is a heart that beats with love as well as her obedience to the truth.

So how do we find the True Church? By comparing the product to the blueprint. If GCC is the true church then we must continually check what we do and what we believe against the “spec sheet” – God’s Holy Word (see 1 Peter 1:22-2:3).

Drop Out Kids

Thom and Sam Rainer have written an important book called Essential Church in which they explore the reasons why millions of Americans have stopped attending church. Most of these people would say, “I just didn’t see church as essential to my life.” Why?

Generally, people drop out shortly after entering college. It’s not the fault of higher education. Rather, many people discover, “My faith is not my parent’s faith.” If we explore that statement further, the Rainiers explain, “In our surveys, most young adults indicated they had positive family perceptions about the church.” The families of 76% of those surveyed attended church regularly, and 73% had parents who genuinely like the church. So if their families like church and attended worship, why do they drop out so soon after leaving home?

“The dropouts see spiritual hypocrisy in their own family. … Parents are not saying as they do … children are not receiving spiritual guidance from their parents.” In other words, while parents may be living Christian lives, they are not talking about spiritual matters with their children. “Teens must hear regularly from their parents or guardians as well as seeing their actions. Do as I do, and hear what I say.”

Unfortunately, we might be our own worst enemy. It might just be that by providing youth activities and youth ministers, we shrug off our responsibility to teach our children. “Pawning off the teaching and discipling of a child to the church without providing parental insight results in a greater chance of that child’s dropping out of the church. … Almost eight out of ten students who stayed in the church stated their parents or family members gave them direct spiritual guidance. … The children of the church need their parents to talk to them about spiritual matters. The doing of church must be accompanied by the telling of why it is important.” That’s not the youth minister’s job. That’s our responsibility as parents.

I highly recommend reading the book Essential Church, but the -Rainiers’ observation only repeats what Moses said many years ago: “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise,” (-Deuteronomy 6:6, 7).

Changing Times

I can’t keep up with it all: MP3s, JPEGs, and Memory sticks. Do you remember vinyl records? You know those big, round things that look like black CDs? Oh, that’s right CDs are now DVDs or are they, Blue Ray? The conversation goes on: Beta, VHS, cassettes, and Eight Track. Paper tape became punch cards, the magnetic tape drives, hard drives, floppy drives, and the cloud. It seems the one constant is change!

The other day I was pulling into our parking lot, and I noticed Epiphras riding up Route 12 on his donkey. Frankly, I thought he looked pretty good for a two-thousand-year-old man. He waved at me, and I rolled down the window. “I’m looking for the Church,” he said.

“Well, you’re in luck,” I told him. With a sweeping gesture, I pointed to the building and said, “That’s the church over there.”

“But that’s a building,” he said.

“Oh, of course,” I blushed, “that’s the church BUILDING. It’s where the Church meets. Would you like to come in?”

“Yes, thank you. It’s been a long ride from Colossae.”

We walked in, and I showed Epaphras our facility. “What are those?” he asked.

“That’s the pulpit, and that’s where we sit during services. You know, when the communion trays are passed.”

“The what?”

“You know the communion trays.”

He looked at me with a blank stare, so I changed the subject. “We’re pretty modern here. I’m sure there have been a lot of changes in the last two millennia. Why we even use PowerPoint slides for our song service!”

Another blank look.

“Perhaps you would like to walk over to my office and have a soda. I’ll just put your donkey in the side yard.”

Poor Epiphras looked so bewildered until we sat down in my study. I took out a directory, and we began to talk about the members. Epiphras revived. His face lit up as we shared stories about the people and how the Gospel changed their lives. That’s when we discovered some things never change! It’s always been and always will be about the people and God’s unchanging love.

Drips and the Meaning of Life

I loved the sound of the rain drumming on the cabin roof as our sailboat gently rocked on the bay. The oil lamps cast a golden glow, and the stereo quietly filled the cabin with music. It was a great time to recline on the settee and read a good book or meditate. That was until I began hearing the inevitable drip.

It was so quiet. I was tempted to ignore it. Just focus on the rain or the music. Don’t listen to the drip … drip … drip. Try to think about something else. Concentrate on the book, the story, happy memories; anything but the drip … drip … drip. It’s not like the boat is going to sink. It isn’t a flood pouring in. No canon ball has pierced our hull. It’s not like we hit a rock and I’ve got to spring into action and man the pumps. It’s just a … drip … drip … drip. It won’t work. I’ve got to hunt it down, mop up the mess and put an end to it. There will be no peace until the drip is silenced.

Some questions in life are like that too. We can pretend they don’t exist. We can try to drown them out or ignore them, but eventually, we have to face them.

“Why am I here?” “Is there anything after this life?” “Is this all there is?” “Does anybody care?” These questions don’t seem as urgent as say taking out the trash or getting new tires put on your car but eventually you’ll have to face them. We don’t have the “pig’s advantage.” (Mr. Pig doesn’t realize he is piggy today and bacon tomorrow.) As human beings, we must ask these questions.

My Humanist friends dismiss the questions as “irrelevant.” “So what? It doesn’t matter,” but I say that it does. If life has a purpose, then it follows that for me to get the most out of life, I should discover that purpose.

“But life doesn’t have a purpose John!” my friend might object.

“And how do you know that? The very fact that we can ask the question hints that there is an answer.”

“Then I decide what the purpose is. I give my life meaning!” he shouts.

“That’s noble in a John-Waynish-kind-of-way, but it sounds more like you’ve put your fingers in your ears and are trying to avoid the hard work of finding the answers.”

The sun has come out, and the drips have gone away, but that doesn’t mean I can ignore them. It’s time to get out the calk and seal the leaks. Likewise isn’t it time to begin the quest and discover the purpose in life? But, of course, if you are a Christian, you’re already a pilgrim and well on your way to the grand discovery.

Chuck the Blueprints

“Honey, don’t you want to read the instructions first? That seems pretty complicated.”

I can’t begin to tell your many times my “man card” has gotten me into trouble. I don’t need the instructions. It’s obvious, but then as I get farther and farther into the project, I begin sheepishly looking for the directions.

The same is true about church. Many people don’t feel the need to study the Bible. They want to go by their instincts, but how many of us have bought a used car or tried to put together a computer just on instincts? (I won’t ask for a show of hands.) If our feelings get us in trouble in life, why should we trust them for decisions with eternal consequences?

So, let’s be reasonable. If we are going to please God, we need to know what God desires. It is indeed possible for God to speak to each one of us (and many people claim God has spoken to them) but that hasn’t been my experience. I suspect the voices most of those people are listening to are just echoes of their imagination. I say that because the one thing we should expect of God is consistency. There are many reasons to believe the Bible is the Word of God (and we’ll talk about those reasons in the future) and so it is reasonable to compare what these people are saying with what God has already revealed. If there is a contradiction, I’m going to stay with the Scriptures.

Other people interpret the Scriptures in light of ecclesiastical traditions. Those traditions get modified periodically to meet present circumstances. It must feel very secure to have a thousand years of tradition supporting your beliefs but what if those traditions and interpretations are wrong? Tradition isn’t on the same footing as infallible Scripture.

I believe The Bible is the full and final revelation of God and as such is the rule for matters of faith and practice. Not only is it possible to understand the Bible, it is God’s will that we do so. To the extent people have strayed from the pattern, they must return to it.

“Honey, have you seen those instructions? This looks pretty complicated, and I want to get it right!” (See 2 Timothy 1:13.)

Let’s Get Started!

I’m afraid it’s obvious: I love to eat. I like to go out and enjoy a delicious meal at a fancy restaurant where the waiter tends to your every need and the chef takes great delight in preparing a fantastic treat. But in recent years, I’ve also learned to enjoy cooking in the kitchen with Jan. Frankly, nothing beats a good home cooked meal.

Likewise, it is lovely to sit and listen to great Bible teachers and preachers. They are truly gifted, and they inspire me, but, just like the joys of home cooking, nothing is as rewarding as personal Bible study. So why don’t more people dust off their Bibles and search the Scriptures for themselves?

Perhaps it’s because reading itself seems to be falling on hard times. People don’t have time, or they can’t pronounce the names, or it just doesn’t seem relevant. People like multimedia presentations. Perhaps if we had the Bible projected on the big screen or the computer screen or even the tiny screen on your phone, it would be more popular. No, considering what Hollywood did to the incredible story of Noah, I don’t think that’s such a good idea.

Sometimes we just need to roll up our sleeves and dig in. Think about it. Gold is buried in rock and pearls are found in the deep, blue sea. The truly worthwhile things in life require hard work. The same is true with God’s word. He will reward our efforts a thousand times over, but it will need some work.

First, it will require setting some time aside on a regular basis. You can’t just sit down one day and drink it all in! Plan to study — perhaps only fifteen minutes — but do it every day. Next, sharpen up your pencil. The difference between reading and study is writing. Finally, and most importantly, pray. Ask God to help you!

Here is a straightforward, very easy way to begin studying the -Bible on your own. Read one chapter a day. (That’s usually less than a page!) Then think about it and chose the best verse. That’s the one that stands out to you. It might be a promise. It could be a warning or an example. You’ll know it. The Holy Spirit will speak to you. That’s exciting! So write it down on a post-it note or an index card and carry that passage with you all day long. Pull it out and read it. Smile and think about what God is telling you.

Don’t worry about the things you don’t understand just now. Later, in Bible class or from the pulpit or in conversations with other Christians, you’ll find the answer, but the important thing today is just getting started. Try this simple method to begin with. I guarantee if you use it for a month (that’s 30 verses in your pocket!), it will change your life.

Heaven, We Have a Problem

According to Pew Research, America has a literacy problem. “When was the last time you read a book? For almost 1 in 4 of us, it was more than a year ago, according to Pew Research. That’s three times the number who didn’t read a book in 1978.”¹ The problem is even worse than that because, although Christians claim to believe the Bible is the Word of God, we aren’t reading it.

“A recent LifeWay Research study found only 45 percent of those who regularly attend church read the Bible more than once a week. Over 40 percent of the people attending read their Bible occasionally, maybe once or twice a month. Almost 1 in 5 churchgoers say they never read the Bible—essentially the same number who read it every day.”

What about Great Britain? The United Kingdom Bible Society surveyed British children and found many couldn’t identify common Bible stories. When given a list of Bible stories, a staggering 59% didn’t know the story of Jonah came from the Bible, and almost 1 in 3 didn’t know the story of the birth of Jesus was in the Bible! Parents didn’t fare much better. Around 30 percent didn’t know the stories of Adam and Eve, David and Goliath, or the Good Samaritan are in the Bible! Worse, 27% think the story of Superman is in the Bible. 1 in 3 believes -Harry Potter is a Bible story and more than half (54%) believe The Hunger Games is or might be a story from the Bible!

It shouldn’t be this way! Nine out of ten American homes (Christian or not) have at least one Bible in them. The average American (Christian or not) owns at least three Bibles.

What can we do?

We need to confess our lack of study and ask God for forgiveness.
Set aside a regular time – even five minutes a day – to read the Bible.
Use a Daily Bible Reading plan to guide you.
Join us for Wednesday night Bible class. A recent study “shows that as Christians increase their participation in small groups, their Bible engagement scores go up.”

¹ http://www.smallgroups.com/articles/2015/epidemic-of-bible-illiteracy-in-our-churches.

We Have Met the Enemy

A few years ago, Jan and I were driving home after services. I told her “I just didn’t connect with the worship this morning.” At the stop light, I continued. “The prayers seemed more like performances, and the songs were so disjointed! On top of that, the sermon just didn’t seem relevant. I wonder why I even bothered to get up this morning.”

My sweet wife smiled that knowing-wife smile and chided me. “Maybe you were the problem. Did you take time to prepare for worship?” I sulked as I pulled away from the light and then had to admit, “You’re probably right. I hadn’t thought about that.”

So how do we prepare for the most important meeting of the week?

Shift Gears. Early on in driver’s training, you learn to shift into a different gear when you start to climb a hill. Before we can truly worship God, we must take a moment to “shift gears” and center our thoughts on Him.

Discover the Power of Gratitude. “Christians aren’t perfect – just forgiven.” As you are preparing for worship, take a moment to appreciate the gift of grace.

Drop Your Inhibitions. A lot of people are afraid of their own voice. They are too self-conscious to sing. We have so many wonderful singers here it can be tempting to sit back and listen, but the Lord loves a “joyful noise” and who are you to argue with God?

Tap into the Fellowship. There is an energy in corporate worship. Have you felt it? It’s always there, but sometimes our “receptors” are out of order. Reach out and tap into the power!

Confession is Good for the Soul. Sin and guilt make it hard to worship. Confess your sins by name and feel the power of forgiveness.

Be Filled with the Spirit. Paul told the Ephesians (and us) not to get drunk on wine “be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” (Ephesians 5:19, 20).

Finally, expect great things! What you receive from worship is equal to what you put into worship. If you expect the singing to be bad and the lesson to be boring, I suspect that’s what you’ll receive but if you come expecting great things I promise you’ll receive even more blessings that you anticipated.

John McKeel

Balance

So how hard is it to steer a boat in a straight line? It’s much harder than you think! Our oldest granddaughter, Rachel, loves to steer, but she thinks it’s all about turning the wheel. Hang on! If Rachel is at the helm, everything is in chaos.

Navigating is mostly about holding a steady course, but the wind and the waves and the boat itself can conspire to work against you. Sail handlers will talk for hours about the different forces that react with the sails. There is the “center of effort” and overlaps and exit angles and aspect ratios. Helmsmen will talk about angles of attack and how to steer through a set of waves. What they are saying is, if your boat and sails aren’t balanced, you can’t steer a straight line. On an old cruising boat like Santa Teresa, with her long deep keel, if you set the sails properly, you hardly need to touch the wheel at all. She’ll hold her course, and you can relax and enjoy the ride.

Likewise, people need balance in their lives. Some people are experts at organization and time-management. They remind me of a well-organized hat rack. There they are, all the hats neatly arranged and on display. I can grab my daddy hat, my work hat, my husband hat, my social hat, my guy’s night out hat, and my church hat. They are all there. Unfortunately, I often have to wear several of them at the same time, and that looks a bit silly.

When I was a boy, I loved my bicycle. It gave me my first taste of freedom. I could ride to school, to a friend’s house, to the movies and deliver my newspapers. I loved my bike, but I also enjoyed taking things apart to see how they worked. I remember one day I completely disassembling my bicycle on the driveway. It was carefully arranged with all the spokes in a neat row. The frame was there. The rims and the chain were carefully laid out side-by-side along with the seat, the handlebars, and the pedals. It looked great but was worthless. It couldn’t deliver papers or jump over garbage cans.

Some people are like that too. Their lives are neat and in order but aren’t going anywhere. To do that, the spokes need to be firmly attached to the hub. There must be a center to your life. Just like sailing, if you are not going to be continually making course corrections, there must be balance.

So what – or better – who is the center of your life? What holds it all together? If it’s your job, what happens when you retire? If it is a person, what happens if that person leaves? Hobbies are too transient, and causes are too nebulous. Only God is a worthy center. He gives my life meaning. God advises me not just about what is right and wrong, but also about what is good, better and best. My faith isn’t just worth living for; it’s worth dying for.

Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” (John 14:6).