The Book is Better than the Movie

The Book is Better than the Movie

A well-intentioned lady asked me about the difficulty of coming up with new material after preaching in the same place and to the same people for so long (completing 38 years this week with this Resurrection Sunday being our 39th). I told her that the Bible was a very big book. She was not convinced, and then tried to persuade me that I should give “Chat gpt” a chance. Evidently, the system knows more than I do. I suspect some people think the system knows more than God does.

Yesterday, while driving, I listened to an interview from a pastor’s conference involving John MacArthur and John Piper. I thank Chris for sharing this, and it was worth hearing on many counts. The questions were about pastoring and preaching, and the subject of what to preach, of how to find material, was asked. MacArthur didn’t hesitate to talk about “the inexhaustibility of Scripture.” Yes, it’s a big book, but it is a deep book. The mysteries uncovered are worth reviewing over and over, not just in the sense of reviewing the same material, but in the sense of discovering new, buried treasure.

Then John Piper talked about the amazing thing that God, the Creator of the universe, gave us a Book. “He gave us a Book!”, Piper said, with the kind of passion that is typical of Piper. “Why wouldn’t we want to tell people what’s in the Book!” Further, he said, “God knows everything, and we know nothing. How could we not want to know what is in the Book?!”

I have a friend who read a book (little “b”) that introduced him to a method of reading the Bible where you don’t take it literally. I suggest that he no longer takes it seriously - same thing. The Bible becomes a wax nose that can be shaped and re-shaped according to “the spirit of the age.” The Bible then merely reflects back one’s own imaginations, which you didn’t dream up yourself. You assimilated them from our ungodly, present-world milieu.

So let’s think about this Book:

It is historical, and prophetic, where God lays out our beginnings and our endings. Are all of our questions answered? No. But He gives us what we need, and we are not left to concoct our own story lines. It begins in Eden. It ends in heaven or hell. Anyone interested in reading the Book?

The Bible is logical. It has a narrative, and it elucidates a problem in which we all share, and reveals a solution that is available to any who will receive. Worth reading?

The Bible is climactic, and the climax of the Bible is Jesus. If you want to know Jesus, you must read the Bible, and if you miss out on Jesus, you will have missed out on the Center-Point of the world, human history, and God’s plan for humanity and for you. Are we able to step far enough away from the reigning media and read the Book?

The Bible is the deliverer of Good News so good that you can’t live without it; and it is also the deliverer of bad news that if you don’t pay attention, “you will surely die,” as God said to Adam and Eve in the Garden. We need both, and while these two “news” may be contained in a tract or a movie, the authoritative version of the Good and bad news is in the Book, because the Book is always better than the movie.

I Just Want to be Left Alone

I Just Want to be Left Alone

You might hear the sentiment, “I just want to be left alone,” from many different people, young or old. We live in a marketing age, and there are more groups using more methods to seize upon our attention. Most of us receive unwelcome scam calls and uninvited text messages. And then, the email comes asking you to take a survey. “I just want to be left alone.”

But to be honest, the sentiment goes beyond media. A person leaves a busy day at work and just wants to be left alone, only to open the door of the house to a high level of chaos. We might find there is a full schedule of school meetings or children’s (or, adult’s) activities that have turned from being opportunities to obligations.

And then there’s the preacher. He just keeps talking about God, God, God - and a person might respond, “I just want to be left alone.” But that’s a problem. We were made for fellowship with God, and God is intent on inviting you into that relationship. He has many methods of invitation.

There is a verse in Psalm 8 that asks the penetrating question: “What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him?” God is interested in you, and He wants what is best for you, which includes you being interested in Him. But you say, “I just want to be left alone.” That is, you would like to be autonomous. But you are not. You and I are daily dependent upon gifts from God to continue living; things such as oxygen in the air and rain for the crops and food on the table. God has to do with all those things, and without Him, they would not exist. So are we actually saying, “I just want to be left alone, except for all the necessary things”? And if we lack any of those things, guess what happens? We blame God for not doing His job.

Thank God He does not leave us alone, and thank God, He uses many methods to gain our attention. Sometimes it is a kind word or a sweet blessing. Sometimes it is a broken heart, or a broken back. Many people have found their interest in God resurrected when lying in a hospital bed or kneeling at a graveside.

Independence from God will not yield the satisfaction that you are seeking, and submission to His proper place in your life will help you find the meaning and purpose that each of us needs. Independence will produce shallowness and selfishness. Submission will relieve the pressure of orchestrating what you were never designed to do.

Let me give you one more reason, whether any of this sounds attractive to you or not. We live every day immersed in graces that God gives - from the simplest of pleasures to the most profound experiences that we can have on this earth. God, though He invites, does not coerce. And so, when you tell God, “I just want to be left alone,” well, He may just allow that, for the rest of your eternal life. But beware, He may just do what you have asked - and with His absence go all of those graces which have made your life enjoyable, or even tolerable. And then, you will probably blame Him.

The God I Never Knew

Several years ago, I was on the lookout for cedar shakes which are now on the gable ends of our house and above the front porch. I found a supplier at, of all places, the Trufant flea market. There was a man there named Johnny Fish who had driven an old couple home from Florida, and then lived with them and worked for them on a farm in Six Lakes. He had a separate little barn with a large circular saw set almost horizontal which turned cedar logs into shakes.

I visited more than once, sometimes dealing with Johnny Fish, and sometimes Mr. Petersen. Later, Johnny didn’t seem to be around, and then I had an unusual encounter with Mr. Peterson. He asked me if I would come into the house with him. I had never been in the house before. I had seen his wife at the door on previous visits, but not this time. I guess he knew that I was a pastor. I don’t know how people know, whether its how we walk or how we smell, I’m not sure. But he asked me to come in and then led me back to the bedroom.

He said his wife had died recently, and then, in the bedroom, he pulled open the top drawer of a dresser which I assumed had been hers. The top drawer was filled with pieces of paper on which were written poetry. Mr. Petersen started to cry, and he said, “I never knew my wife wrote poetry. I never really knew her.” Two people living as relative strangers for decades in the same house. Oh, I’m sure they knew a great deal about each other. But he didn’t know the interior of her life. He hadn’t bothered to notice. He hadn’t expended the energy to ask. He may have been too occupied with self.

We could talk about marriage health and all, but I’m thinking about “The God We Never Knew.” This God has given to us His Word, written over a period of 3000 years by many different authors, but all inspired by His Spirit so that it says exactly what He wants it to say, not written for Him, but for us. It is so that we can know who He is in truth, not just what we would like to imagine Him to be.

Now we must be clear, God knows us inside and out. We are not a mystery to Him. He does not need to read our poetry to figure us out. He knows us better than we know ourselves. No, it is we who need to know who God is, and it is not an
intuitive process. Intuition only allows us to project what we see in ourselves on others.

No, the need that we have is to get to know God, and that happens through a relationship with Jesus, by faith. But faith must be formed, and the formation of that faith comes through the content of what God has given us in His Word. We need to actually open the top drawer of the dresser and pull out the Bible and read what it says, take it to heart, and act upon it. We need to allow those words to facilitate an
introduction to God that allows us to know Him as He is, which will lead to worship and submission.

I don’t know much about how husbands and wives will relate to one another in heaven. But I’m sure that there will be no one in heaven who is left to admit, “You are the God I never knew” - the God you never bothered to notice; for whom you never expended the energy to seek; perhaps too occupied with self.

Both Zealous and Jealous

Both Zealous and Jealous

“Zeal” is generally regarded as a positive; “jealous,” not so much. But in the Bible, “zealous” and “jealous” are actually quite close to one another. We will look at their positive use.

First, we should notice that God describes Himself in the Bible as jealous: Ex. 34:14 — “for you shall not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God”; and Deut. 4:24 “For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”

God is jealous for His own glory. For God, that is a righteous thing, whereas if you are jealous for your own glory at the expense of others, that is a sinful thing. The difference is that God is unique, and He has no rivals. So attempts to “steal” the glory of God are an offense, and stirs God’s righteous jealousy. When you get all worked up because someone has slighted you, you’re just being petty.

God is zealous for His glory, moving him to jealousy when that glory is violated. There are some areas where this rightly applies to us. As a married person, if someone violates your spouse, you have every right to be moved to jealousy, and you should have a righteous zeal to recover or protect their honor and to see that justice is done. In fact, if you are not j(z)ealous with regard to this offense, then there is a moral nerve missing from your character.

In addition to moral jealousy with regard to horizontal, human relationships, people created in the image of God (that would be all humans) have a responsibility to their Creator to be jealous for His glory and zealous in cultivating reverence for Him. Obviously, most do not do this, but those who are Christians certainly should. And this applies to Jesus as well. Peter says, “but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15). We are to j(z)ealous for His honor, to fail to do so is to be missing a core element of being a Christian.

Elijah, a prophet during evil Ahab’s day, was zealous for the Lord. He boldly proclaimed God’s honor in the face of powerful, idolatrous opposition. He was involved in the vindication of God’s honor on Mt. Carmel, a lone prophet against the horde of the prophets of Baal. And God revealed His power and potency; His glory. Then .. Elijah ran for his life. Here is his testimony: “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” He is asking, “Was it worth it?”

But God gently reminds Elijah that it was indeed worth it; that the story was not finished; that Elijah was never truly alone. And God reminds us of something else. God is not only jealous and zealous for His own glory. He is also jealous and zealous for His people. He calls us “the apple of His eye:” Zech. 2:8 For thus says the LORD of hosts, “After glory He has sent Me against the nations which plunder you, for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye.” Your eye is a part of you that you instinctively guard most carefully. God’s instinct is to even more carefully guard His children. Jesus shows this instinct as He prays for His disciples and for us in John 17, just before His arrest: “Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. (v.11); “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me” (vv.20-21). If Christ is j(z)ealous for me, then I can be j(z)ealous for Him.

Mindfulness and Prayerfulness Distinguished

Mindfulness and Prayerfulness Distinguished

Of the many life strategies advocated in print and digitally, one that caught my attention was the recommendation of “mindfulness.” I would like rather to recommend “prayerfulness.”

First of all, they are not the same thing. Mindfulness can be practiced by anyone who sets their, well, “mind” to it. What exactly their “mind” is, or how it is equipped to engage in this activity, who knows? When it comes to minds, we are all dealing with a flawed tool.

But prayerfulness, and I am speaking of Christian prayer, is much different. First of all, it is a function of the soul, that non-material part of your being that doctors cannot examine but that God can. Similar to physical lungs, the soul’s “breath” is prayer. Sadly, most people’s souls don’t “breathe” much. Mindfulness need not engage the soul; true prayer does.

Prayer has an object. You are not talking to yourself in prayer, nor the ceiling. You are talking to the Creator and King of the universe, who is also, by virtue of faith in Christ, your heavenly Father. This alone sets it far apart from mindfulness. But also, Christian prayer is mediated by our ascended Lord, Jesus, who is at the right hand of the Father. He is called our High Priest, and every word or thought of our prayers reaches the ears of the Father through the Person of Jesus. And still more, this ascended Lord, Jesus, has given His Spirit into the hearts of those who believe in Him, that is, every true Christian, and this Spirit, among many functions, helps us in our prayers. He inspires us to pray; He guides us to pray aright; He edits our wrong-headed prayers. That is, we don’t pray in isolation, all by ourselves.

Now compare this to mindfulness. Since there is no divine element in mindfulness, you are indeed talking to yourself. Think about that. Whereas in prayer, you are talking to the one, true God, in mindfulness, you are talking to the biggest authority that you recognize, yourself. That is, you consider yourself to be your own god (if there are many gods, the “g” cannot be capitalized).

And in mindfulness, you are the facilitator of your own activity. Think back to the Old Testament where only Israel’s high priest could take the offering into the Holy of Holies once a year for the atonement of the people. That is now fulfilled in what Jesus did for us on the cross, a one-time event that completed fully the demands of God’s justice and also salvation for those who come to Christ. But with mindfulness, your messy mind is your own not-so-holy of holies. You are fabricating your own redemption through your half- baked thoughts collected indiscriminately from last night’s late show. And you are replacing the Spirit’s “energy” for prayer with an instinct to “reach out” or “reach up,” all the while asserting your own sovereignty and deity that starts and stops with you. You are, in essence, saying, “I can fix myself.” God’s Word says otherwise.

Now, have I overstated or been unfair? Perhaps. Christians who pray can also be mindful. But, this must be admitted. Christian’s pray. A Christian who does not pray is a contradiction of terms. And when we stand before God one day, Christian prayer is an assurance that we will not be talking to a Stranger. Mindfulness cannot make that claim.