Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

If you had never heard of “the Strait of Hormuz” before, you have no doubt heard about it now. Because of hostilities, one nation is impeding the flow of ocean vessels through this strait, with ships “trapped” both inside and outside the Persian Gulf. One of the key categories of products being held hostage is energy.

This newsletter is not about geopolitics, so the description above is illustrative of another energy problem. When we think about the members of the Trinity: Father, Son and Spirit, it is the Spirit who brings energy to the church’s and the believer’s life in order to enable us to do the will of God. It is not oil, though that emblem is used in the Bible. It is a spiritual energy, a spiritual enablement that allows us to serve in ways that would be impossible without such energy.

As oil and fertilizer are being held up by the hostilities around the Strait of Hormuz, so spiritual enablements are similarly obstructed by spiritual hostilities. We sometimes summarize these hostilities by referring to an unholy trinity: the world, the flesh, and the devil. All three of these work against the free flow of the Spirit’s energy into the life of the church and the life of the Christian.

Think with me for a minute about that listing of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5: 22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control.” Is the flow of such things ever impeded in your life? Of course it is. Why? Well, it could be different reasons, but they would find their root in sins of the flesh, or the influence of the world, or the opposition of the devil. And as sure as there are hostilities between tribes and nations in the world, there are spiritual hostilities opposing the work of the Spirit in our lives. Some of these are very, very close to home.

And it is that battle close to home, inside our own souls, that we should address first. Yes, it is convenient for us to blame the ungodliness of the world or the schemes of the devil, but in the end, without the flesh, those may not be so effective. What is flesh? It is you and I adopting a self-sufficient attitude toward the governance of our lives. We want to do what we want to do. We choose to set our own agenda. We make our own decisions without time and attention to what God wants. And it creates an energy blockade.

The problem is the problem of one’s own self, and it is through our own self-centeredness that we obstruct the Spirit with the “Strait of Me.” We are our own worst enemy, and we ourselves are the obstacle over which we stumble, obstructing the free flow of the Spirit’s energetic graces, such as the fruit of the Spirit.

The Reformers who broke from the Roman sacramental system had to study their Bibles and reformulate how it is that God’s grace flows to us. In my understanding of the sacramental system, one is given “chunks of grace” per sacrament performed or to which one submits. Go to confession, get a chunk of grace; last rites, get your final chunk. But the Bible describes other “means (conduits) of grace,” and they see these means as ways of adjusting our posture before God to seek the continual flow of His grace into our lives. Prayer is one of these means of grace, not a meritorious act, but a posture of supplication for God’s mercy and grace in our lives. Attention to God’s Word is a means also, as is the gathering of the people of God under the ministry of the Word, including participation in the ordinances of Baptism and Lord’s Table. All of these put the self in its proper place, with bowed head and bended knee to the One whom we worship. We do not worship ourselves or the church. We worship the Head of the Church, the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us.

When we leave off from such personal and congregational practices, done honestly and humbly, we are in a position to enjoy the free flow of the Spirit’s energy that produces good things from above. May such straits be opened. May our hearts be open to what God wants to do in us and through us.

Hosanna Sunday

Hosanna Sunday

I know why they call it “Palm Sunday.” But I think they could have done better. It’s better than Easter, or “Ishtar,” or whatever. Both could be improved. The pastor under whom I served when a youth pastor a hundred years ago always used Resurrection Sunday for Easter, religiously. He would also wear orange on St. Patrick’s Day. He was an interesting dude.

For Palm Sunday I would suggest Hosanna Sunday. “Hosanna” is a Hebrew terms that means, “Lord, save us,” and was most probably a heart-felt cry on the part of many of the people as Jesus rode the colt into Jerusalem. As far as palms go, they are mentioned in the Bible, though I don’t see a clear connection.

In Leviticus 23:40, in the instructions concerning the Fall festival called the Feast of Booths (or, Tabernacles), we find this verse: 40 ‘Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days.” In another text, it seems that perhaps the palm branches were also used in constructing booths for the outdoor harvest festival. But Jesus’ approach to Jerusalem was just before Passover, in the Spring, not the Fall. Also, only John mentions palm branches. The other Gospels mention leafy branches (leafy branch Sunday?).

Palm carvings are mentioned with regard to Solomon’s Temple in 1 Kings 6, and also Ezekiel’s future temple prophecy in the closing chapters of his book. But again, I’m not seeing a clear connection. Perhaps Revelation 7:9-10 opens a future look: Rev. 7:9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; 10 and they cry out with a loud voice, saying,“Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” But, as you know, Revelation hadn’t been written yet on this first Hosanna Sunday.

It is a strange Sunday, and it seems we don’t know exactly what to do with it. The pastor of the church we attended last Sunday was invited away this week, but chose to be home for Palm Sunday. The inviter said, “Why? We treat it like every other Sunday.” Obviously, I’m away as well, sitting under a palm tree as I write this, though I think this coming Sunday’s service in Milford, Hosanna Sunday, is going to be extra special.

This will just be the second Sunday before Resurrection Sunday that we have missed. The first time was 34 years ago when we had travelled to N. Carolina with our young kids and had planned to be home for Hosanna Sunday. Taylor was showing strange symptoms, always thirsty, and finally we called home to June Jones, an RN in our congregation. She said to go to emergency right away, and we did. It was a slow-moving little hospital in Blowing Rock, NC that also doubled as a nursing home. The old doctor plodded along until he took a blood test and said Taylor’s blood sugar was at 1300. If Taylor had been older than 8, he would probably have been in a coma. That was our introduction to Type I diabetes, and we weren’t going anywhere until they were able to get his blood sugars under control and until they could trust his parents to get him home safely (learning how to test and give shots). 

The doctor invited us to his church, Methodist, I believe, for their Palm Sunday service. You know, celebratory and all. We sat there with tears running down our faces as everybody said “Hosanna,” “Lord, save us.” Well, He did. Jeff and June travelled to N. Carolina to shepherd us home. Andy Rogers, our youth pastor, preached in Milford that Sunday, and I’m sure he did very well.

So I guess Hosanna Sunday carries differing overtones for different people, but right now, I’ve got to go dry my eyes and blow my nose. God is good.

Psalm 1

Psalm 1

Psalm 1 is one of the best-known psalms It seems to have been written as an introductory psalm for the collection of psalms, also known as the Psalter. It features an important and common theme: the distinction between the righteous and the wicked.

Psalm 1 begins with the word “Blessed,” and is contrasted with the unwritten opposite, “cursed.” While the first three verses describe the blessedness of the righteous man, the psalm ends with this “curse”: “But the way of the wicked will perish.”

The importance of this distinction cannot be overstated. There are only two kinds of people in the world. There are the righteous, comprised of those who have been made righteous and those who will be made righteous; and then on the other hand, the wicked. There is no middle ground. There is not a third party. Members of both parties have an eternal destiny, whether an eternity in the presence of God and enjoy the blessedness of that presence, or those who will be forever separated from God and will experience the cursedness of that existence. Many people would like to imagine a different kind of existence, whether this life ending in death and then nothingness, or heaven for all, etc. But if there is only one, true God, and if, as He says in His Word, that we were created with eternal souls, then we will either spend eternity with Him, or without Him. And to live without God and His blessings is a severe existence. God is the source of our good. No God, no good.

It is interesting that Psalm 1 begins with the blessed man and describes what he avoids. We could summarize the three phrases this way: he avoids the influence of the world, comprised of the wicked, the sinners, and the scoffers. The “postures” indicate that, though we live and function in this world, we are not hanging out with the world. We do not place ourselves in position to be easily influenced.

Rather, and this is the central point of the psalm, the blessed man, the righteous man, meditates on the Law of the Lord. That is, he seeks to be influenced by God’s Word as opposed to influenced by the world. He feeds his heart and mind on what God says.

We experience something that I call a “covenantal shift” as we read and apply these words. Yes, as Christians, we meditate on the Law of the Lord. But our devotion is not merely with a book. We have a relationship with God through Jesus, the Living Word, and our fellowship is with Him, defined for us and illustrated for us in the written Word. A person can be a student of the Bible but not be a Christian. To know God, and to know God by knowing Christ, is an essential aspect of the Christian faith, along with submission to God’s Word.

Let me say it again with the words of the psalm in mind. This relational Christianity that allows us to know the Trinitarian God personally while seeking daily direction from God in the Scriptures will produce fruit. A person can study Scripture mechanically, with the relationships mentioned above, and be as dry and brittle as a dead tree. They can discuss theology and the Bible with the best of them. But without the relationship, there is not blessedness, no vitality, no usefulness, no intimacy.

Such people will not have proper standing, as I would explain the phrase, in the judgment. We don’t stand well before God with Bible knowledge. We stand well in the judgment clothed in the righteousness of Christ which comes through faith and trust in Him, our Savior whom we love.

The world has had quite enough of dry Christianity (which is really no Christianity at all). The world does not need Bible answer-men. The world needs men and women who know Jesus, and live by His Word.

Be Killing Sin, or It will be Killing You

Be Killing Sin, or It will be Killing You

The Amalekites were enemies of Israel. They were a wicked and willing obstacle in God’s plan for His people, and because of this and their sin, they were to be destroyed. This is what the prophet Samuel told King Saul in 1 Samuel 15, something that Saul failed to do in its entirety, and it would come back to plague the people years, even centuries, later. Be killing sin or it will be killing you.

The king of the Amalekites was named Agag, not a particularly attractive name, but perhaps traditional. There was a reference to a king Agag of the Amalekites way back in Numbers 24, written in the wilderness. 1 Samuel’s events occur years later. But even back in Numbers 24, Balaam prophecies that Agag and the Amalekites will one day meet their end before Israel.

We do not have much appetite for the eradication of a people, but this is not an interpersonal or human rights matter; it is a divine disposition that the ungodly will not triumph over the people of God, whom God will protect to the uttermost. In the last judgment, we will see the full breadth of this divine determination in the separate destinations of heaven and hell. And, it is written explicitly in the Bible, God’s Word.

King Saul spared the king and some sacrificial animals. Samuel counters with the famous words, “Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the LORD?” (1 Sam 22:15). Saul was not fully obedient. He was not obedient in the killing of sin, and later, it would threaten to kill the people of God once again. It seems that there must of been other escapees of the required defeat and destruction, other descendants of King Agag, who Samuel killed himself when Saul would not. They would be called Agagites.

The Book of Esther covers events in the Persian Empire, dated in the 6th century, B.C. Some of the Jews from the captivity had returned to Jerusalem, but some had stayed, and Mordicai and his cousin Esther found themselves in the capital, Susa. The king’s second-in-command was named Haman. He was a man of almost comical self-promotion and arrogance. And, he was an Agagite: Esth. 3:1 “After these events King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him and established his authority over all the princes who were with him.”

Now the book of Esther is a fascinating story. You could read it easily in an hour, and you should. It is the amazing story of the preservation of God’s people, a fragment of God’s people, far from home and away from the Promised Land, surrounded by pagan people. Yet God was able to do so, and He did.

The enemy of the people of God in the Book of Esther seems to be a descendant of the Amalekite people, and a descendant particularly of the king’s family, the Agagites, that were to be destroyed by Saul 500 years earlier. He failed in his assignment, and since he did not “kill sin”, back then, it would still be alive to kill God’s people 500 years later. Be killing sin or it will be killing you.

The phrase that I keep repeating, and the title of this article, is not mine. It is found In John Owen’s work, “The Mortification of Sin in Believers.” Owen, the Puritan, is both thorough and helpful. But if you never read the book, you can gain a lot from just the little quote from the book: “Be killing sin, or it will be killing you.”

Owen also is not producing original thoughts. As a good preacher, he relies on the Scriptures, and he finds there verses like this: Gal. 5:16 “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Our actions in this regard are to be repeated, so often as sin begins to emerge from the dirty soil of our hearts. The ultimate destruction of sin is at the hand of Christ. But the instruction comes to us, and we must be careful to obey: “Be killing sin, or it will be killing you.”

Don’t Bet on It

Don’t Bet on It

Gambling is having its moment. But I’m not sure it’s a moment. Once accepted as acceptable, like living with your girlfriend, I don’t think society will trend back to a a higher morality or more wise sensibility. Gambling is a game, or, if you are poor, your last best chance to solve your problems. It’s a dumb game and a worse life choice, but let’s think about it.

First, I’m not an expert gambler, so perhaps you may think I have no standing by which to weigh in. And, I am confused about what gambling is and what it isn’t. I would wager (no, I wouldn’t) that you are confused about it as well.

Was Warren Buffett a gambler? No, most would say that he was an investor. What is the difference? One factor asks if the activity leans toward chance, or skill. Buffett was a skilled investor. Some perhaps could “play” the stock market, and for them it would be gambling. No skill. In addition to skill, gambling demands that you put something like money on the bet. A guessing game is not a gambling bet unless you put money on it. Buffett, of course, invested lots of money. But the money alone doesn’t make it gambling. And also, is there a prize? Bragging rights that you were right and your buddy was wrong is not a gambling prize. But if you are able to win something of value, it may be gambling. Buffett won on many of his investments, and lost on a few as well. It seems that it was skill that sets him and other serious investors apart.

The point that makes sense to me is whether it is a serious thing or a play thing. Gambling seems to be a play thing. Since it is a game of chance, it is not serious. It is dangerous. We do not know what tomorrow holds, and research simply cannot reduce the level of chance. The number of factors involved make the serious likelihood impossible.

We take risks every single day, and we may be confused at times as to whether a “gamble” is involved. We want to be responsible and serious, and there are ways to do that. But it seems necessary to remind ourselves that only God has no risk and never gambles. Why? Because He knows at once all the contingencies of yesterday, today, and all the tomorrows for eternity. It is a reason to trust God, because we dare not trust ourselves to weigh all the factors which we cannot possibly assemble in our poor and prejudiced brains.

Perhaps the presence of “discretionary income” explains the rise of the gambling industry. We are a prosperous people, and many have money left over after the bills are paid. What to do with it? Gamble it away. I’m not sure I believe this theory, since poor people seek to get in on the gambling as well. When they lose, and they will, they have no way to get out of the hole they have created.

But I would like to question the validity of “discretionary income” for the Christian. We believe that life and all that we have is a gift from God, and as His servants, we are to steward our resources, not primarily for the good or pleasure of ourselves, but for the good or glory of the Master who redeemed us. Has God blessed us with “discretionary income” so that we can buy lottery tickets or place a bet on how many points some basketball player that we don’t know will score or what will end up being the balance of Republican vs. Democrats in the House and Senate following the 2026 elections? Is that why he has placed us in this particular tie and place, so that we can blow money on vapid games?

In the parable to the talents, three who were accountable to the Master were given various sums to invest, with the principal and interest to be returned to the Master in the future. Two were serious. One was a lout. He dug a hole and threw the money in. Was he commended by the Master? Don’t bet on it.

If … Then

If … Then

The Bible is written in words, and those words comprise the Word of God. The Spirit of God superintended over men to write, using words, that which God wanted written. The writings bore the style of the writers, using their vocabulary and grammar, and yet they wrote exactly what God wanted. We call this the inspiration of Scripture. No other set of writings is so inspired.

In our daily emails, we have been studying patterns of words and phrases in the Bible: all the “but’s” of the Bible; things sinners say; most recently, references to pride. I have looked at all the promises of the Bible, and will likely sample the “do not’s” of the Bible in future daily emails. But right now, I’m working on “if … then” statements.

“If … then” statements are conditional statements rather than absolute. Oh, there is an absoluteness to them, but it is conditional on the action you or another party take. The very first “If … then” statement in the Bible is in Genesis 4, and it is God speaking to an angry Cain, who even at this moment may be contemplating the murder of his brother Abel. God says to him, “If you do well, will (you) not be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” (Genesis 4:7 NAS95) You will notice that there is no printed “then” in the text. It is understood. We do the same thing in our contemporary speech.

I take “doing well” or “not doing well” to refer to how one approaches God. Abel approached God with an acceptable offering, with a sacrificed lamb, foreshadowing our approach to God through the sacrifice of Christ. Cain had approached God with goods from the garden, things which quickly rot. He had not done well, but it appears that he still could do so. But if not, then sin is lying (better than “crouching”) at the door. It is lying in wait. It is seeking to gain the upper hand. God says, “you must master it.” But, can you?

The stakes are high. If you do well, your will be raised up. I take that to mean an offering that admits the need for atonement that will result in forgiveness and favor. If you do not … well, that is another story, and a sad one at that. “You must master it.” But can we master sin?

The account of much of world history is that men and women have more often been mastered by sin rather than they themselves mastering it. For many, life is comprised of a difficult dance with sin, seeking to blunt its attacks and mitigate its influence. We seek to hide it and keep it secret. We end up being deceptive about sin, and thus deceive even our own selves. We find that as we seek to manage sin, it manages us. We excuse and rationalize and blame. But managing sin and mastering sin are two very different things. And with sin at the door, we have to be on our game all the time.

I am glad that in the face of our failure to master sin, God has followed the “if … then” with a “so then.” In light of our inability and unwillingness to defeat the sin that is at the door, both inside and out, God sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sin. That is, Jesus is the One who came and lived the one sinless life that has ever been lived on this planet, and then died the only satisfactory, sacrificial and substitutionary death in our behalf. He mastered sin when we could not. He mastered sin for us. He mastered sin for those who will recognize Jesus as their Master.

I do not have the last word on this, thank the Lord, but it appears Cain never found or accepted his or God’s mastery of sin. He went his own way, did his own thing, and died his own death. He died with his sin, and away from God. He could have done better, by following Abel; by following Christ.

Righteousness - Doing the Right things Rightly

Righteousness - Doing the Right things Rightly

We are not saved by our righteousness. It’s a good thing, because we do a lot of wrong things, or perhaps a lot of right things wrongly. No, we are saved, first and primarily, not by our righteousness but by Christ’s righteousness. By faith in Him, He gives to us what we could not accomplish ourselves, and then, and only then, we seek to follow Him righteously - that is, doing the right things rightly. But what are the right things?

Some would go to the Ten Commandments, but I’m not sure whether we get the depth of it all, right from the beginning: “no other gods before Me.” It also ends with a tough demand: “you shall not covet.” Those are right things, and big things. If we find the Decalogue inconvenient, where do we go next? The short form these days seems to be “Love God, love neighbor.” Good direction, but short on the detail. What does it entail?

I would like to suggest two passages from the Bible that seem to outline the proper direction, one from the Old Testament, and one from the New. The first is from the prophet Micah, chapter 6 and verse 8. The first line answers the question we are asking:
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 NAS95)

To “do justice” does not mean just to talk about it. It does not say to fix things in places where you have no influence. Where you live, in your setting, with people around you, do justice. This would naturally point you to “hard luck” cases and the disadvantaged. It leads to the second element, which is to love kindness. This translation, “kindness,” is very weak. It speaks of covenant love and loyalty. Love those to whom you are bound, your family, your church family, your community. And yes, be kind. And in all of this, you walk in the shadow of God’s presence and grace, not making a name for yourself, but giving glory to Him. That’s a start in doing the right things rightly.

Jesus faced off with the Pharisees and gave them a piece of His mind, that being the mind of Christ. Here is what He said:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; (Matthew 23:23 NAS95)

It seems that the Pharisees were doing some of the right things, but wrongly. It is wrong when we focus on minor issues and neglect major issues. If you give your spouse a birthday card, good for you, but not if you are cheating on him or her. Whatever the dumb card says, it is a lie. “Justice, mercy and faithfulness” are major. It seems that this NT passage mirrors the Old: the first elements line up; mercy corresponds with the covenant love and loyalty of Micah 6:8; and faithfulness can easily hold hands with a humble walk with God. The Pharisees were certainly in a place to help people who were hurting, but instead, they were counting and weighing the spice drawer. Jesus didn’t die for the spice drawer. He died for that neglected kid down the street. The Pharisees were also very good, extremely good, at keeping track of other people’s sins. This makes them experts at passing down judgment, which is not the same things as justice, and which is the exact opposite of mercy. Those who are called children of God have received a God-sized boatload of mercy, and we should be extravagant in sharing it with others who need it, and especially those who know that they need it. And then there is faithfulness, which means, in part, do things every day, starting today. May God help us to do the right things in the right way.

Your Clock and Your Calendar

Your Clock and Your Calendar

I have this scenario in my mind that is of a cartoon nature. Moses is up on Mt. Sinai taking dictation from God. The content is the Law of God, the covenant stipulations by which Israel will be held accountable. Every word is important. But dictation in those days was difficult. Moses would have been using some kind of stone chisel on stone tablets. It had to be hard work. And so as God speaks the words of God, Moses takes dictation, and finally, in frustration, Moses says to God, “could You please slow it down a little?”

The irony of this is that we say the exact opposite to God all the time. God is working out His purposes in human history, shaping nations and individuals according to His infinite wisdom. If we were to multiply all the pleas directed heavenward, there would be many voices saying, “Could you please hurry it up?”

The point, of course, is that we are not in charge of God’s pacing. It is wrong for us to think that God, the Creator of heaven and earth, should accommodate our clocks and calendars. In fact, to a large measure, I would hold that our clocks and calendars matter little to God.

There verse in Galatians 4:4 reads: “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law.” I’ve sat through calendar meetings, and I’ve heard people say of a suggested date, “That doesn’t really work for me.” Could you hear Joseph or Mary saying such a thing about the birth of Jesus? “God, this is not the ideal time for me.” But what Paul is saying in Galatians 4, among other things, is that the fullness of time is decided by God, not by you or me. How could we possibly know anything about the fullness of time or the skinniness of time? We have already forgotten the lessons of yesterday and we don’t have a clue about tomorrow. How could we possibly decide? And if that is true for the birth of Jesus, I suspect it is also true of a whole host of other things as well.

You might sit with your clock or your calendar and plan things out very carefully. You try and cover all the angles; all the contingencies. And do you know what happens? Something interrupts. God interrupts. Your calendar is soon filled with scratch marks.

Jesus said in John’s Gospel, chapter 7, “My time has not yet come.” He implies that there will be a time when His time in fact has arrived. But not yet. He seems to know something of that time. The disciples do not. God is bringing together many threads that will result in the death of the Messiah, in the fullness of time; at just the right time. The disciples are thinking about human risk factors. Jesus is thinking about eternal salvation. It will involve His death, His time.

Are there calendars written this week that have that kind of “time,” the day of one’s death, planned out? We don’t know, do we? But God does. Our clock and calendar will not reflect that major death-event in our plans, but God already knows. And, we yield to His perfect plan. We yield to it because we have no other choice.

Let me just add one more thought on top of the last. It says above, “we yield to His perfect plan.” We have being talking about God’s choice of time, but we should also think about God’s choice of Person, of His Son, Jesus, as the fulcrum of history and the source of salvation. If you really want to yield to His plan, you will keep your eraser close to your calendar, but you will also bow before His Person. Just as your calendar does not dictate to God the order or timing of events, neither do you get to choose your own savior. God has appointed only one, and His name is Jesus, and according to Scripture, the time for you to accept Him is now

- 2Cor. 6:1   And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain — 2 for He says, “AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU, AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU.”
Behold, now is “THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,” behold, now is “THE DAY OF SALVATION” —