Jul
18
New website for Warrens in Ethiopia
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Andy and Bev Warren, MTW missionaries to Ethiopia (and dearly beloved by all of us at FPC Kosciusko) have launched a new website to explain and chronicle the Ethiopia AIDS project.
May
15
Share in the gladness
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From Gadsby’s Hymns (1838), #408
O what shall I do my Saviour to praise,
So faithful and true, so plenteous in grace;
So strong to deliver, so good to redeem,
The weakest believer that hangs upon him?
How happy the man whose heart is set free,
The people that can be joyful in thee!
Their joy is to walk in the light of thy face,
And still they are talking of Jesus’ grace.
Their daily delight shall be in thy name;
They shall, as their right, thy righteousness claim.
Thy righteousness wearing, and cleansed by thy blood,
Bold shall they appear in the presence of God.
For thou art their boast, their glory, and power;
And I also trust to see the glad hour;
My soul’s new creation, alive from the dead;
The day of salvation that lifts up my head.
Yes, Lord, I shall see the bliss of thy own;
Thy secret to me shall soon be made known;
For sorrow and sadness I joy shall receive,
And share in the gladness of all that believe.
Apr
21
The worship leader in your pew
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Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great.
What a privilege it is to lead public, gathered worship! From where I stand, I can see everyone’s faces as we sing or as I preach. Some are joyful and engaged; others bored and drowsy. Some sing heartily; others stand silently with hands in pockets. Some respond readily and tenderly to the Word; others strike an almost defiant pose. In one very important sense, every worshiper is a worship leader. I don’t mean that in the “every member is a minister” sense that obliterates all distinctions between ordained and non-ordained leadership in the church. At FPC Kosciusko the ministers, the elders, or those in training for such officiate in the worship services.
Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory.
What do I mean by “every worshiper is a worship leader”? I mean that together we are building a particular culture of worship in our congregation. Every worshiper contributes to it, either positively or negatively. Joyful, engaged worshipers influence others, demonstrating that the Triune God is worthy of our attention and affections. When people who love God because he first loved them come together to lift their hearts, minds, voices, wallets, etc. to the Lord, there is nothing like it in this world.
Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!
On the other hand, bored and drowsy worshipers influence others, demonstrating that there are plenty of other things in this world more worthy than Almighty God–namely, self, pleasure, and possessions. Fathers and grandfathers who show themselves utterly disengaged from the worship of God are sending such a message to their families and those sitting around them.
Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.
Of course I’m not pleading for phony, contrived emotions. I’m not saying that worship is to be done to impress others. I understand that sometimes you come into a worship service ill-tuned and poorly prepared: bad sleep the night before, those antihistamines you took so you wouldn’t sneeze through the service (imagine preaching with “medicine head”!), an argument with your wife that isn’t as resolved as you think it is, the frustration of searching for your daughter’s missing dress shoe that morning, rushing in so you’re not late, not much sense of the presence and peace of God in your life the week prior (and I haven’t the time to go into the matter of confession of sin and repentance in this blog post). All these factors militate against reverent, joyful worship. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Having said all that, I want to ask some important questions about worship:
- Does the Gospel of God’s free grace in Christ move you to respond to God? Why or why not?
- Does the work of Christ change you from the inside out? How?
- Do you believe he’s worthy of all the praise and glory you can give him? How is that expressed in your life?
- What conclusions about God and his ways can others draw from sitting next to you in worship on the Lord’s Day?
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!
Apr
15
April 15 and shrewd dealing
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A little reflection on taxation and the Biblical narrative for your April 15…
The book of Genesis ends and the book of Exodus begins with the descendants of Jacob living in Egypt in prosperity and favor as a highly respected colony of foreigners in Pharaoh’s land. Some time after the death of Joseph, we read of a turn in their collective fortunes:
Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field.In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves. [Exodus 1:8-13]
The narrative is typically sparse. I’ve always wondered how they were enslaved. Moses tells us only that the Jews were a prosperous and growing political minority, and that Egypt felt that national security demanded some shrewd policy changes. Would the people of Israel be loyal to Egypt when the chips were down? Would they leave, which apparently would disastrous for Egypt (perhaps economically)? These questions were faced by a new pharaoh, one who did not know Joseph–suggested by some scholars to be Sesostris III, who ruled over what is called the ‘feudal age’ of Egypt. (Other candidates include Amosis, founder of the 18th Dynasty, who ruled 300 years after Sesostris III.)
Under the legal codes of the time, which are believed to be very static and fixed, a person could be enslaved for being a criminal, a prisoner of war, or a delinquent debtor or taxpayer. If that is so, then it is quite likely that the new pharaoh could have assessed new taxes or tributes upon the Jewish population and set the rate so high that it could not be paid. Delinquency or rebellion against taxes would have given pharaoh justification to confiscate Jewish wealth and assets and to enslave them. It may very well have been through the “ways and means” of burdensome taxation that the new pharaoh dealt shrewdly with the children of Israel.
History shows us that many rulers and governments have followed this example–an unpopular wealthy class that is growing in number and influence, without political power, is taxed into oblivion, emigration, or rebellion. In the 20th century, Adolf Hitler imposed confiscatory and unjust taxes on Jewish communities in Germany as his initial steps in addressing “the Jewish problem.” Even in the modern nation-state of Israel the high Arab birthrate in the West Bank and Gaza strip is a key reason why some Israelis want to solve the problem of the occupied territories now, before Arabs outnumber Jews. [And no, I'm not equating Israeli and Nazi German policies--just pointing out contemporary manifestations of the concerns about growing "foreign" populations. Similarities could be traced in the U.S. over Hispanic immigration or in EU countries of the rapidly growing Muslim population.]
Where am I heading with all this? As you send off your tax returns today or check off the list in your mind that you really did send them off some time ago, think about the command of the Apostle Paul in Romans 13:7, that we should pay taxes to whom taxes are due. In addition, as citizens of a democratic republic, we ought to be alert and vigilant. Tax policies have always been about something more than raising revenues for governments to function. They can also be tools of injustice and oppression.
Feb
8
Back from Belize
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Belize was great. I’m finally digging out from being gone for four days. Right now I’m wishing that life had a pause button so that I could catch my breath. But I know our God gives us exactly enough time to do what he wants us to do. So this list of highlights will serve as my mission report.
- The lady at the airline desk who thought Belize was a city in Brazil
- Sitting next to a woman who thought I was absolutely insane to believe that the Bible spoke of only one way to God
- Participating in a new members class of 20 women and children
- Learning how to say “What are you doing?” in Creole–it sounded something like, “Da widi gowan”
- Getting bear hugged 20 times over the course of the weekend by Ernest–a gregarious seminary student
- Spending the weekend catching up with an old seminary friend
- Catching tropical fish off of the second biggest reef in the world using a hand line while listening to our guide talk about the benefits of smoking pot
- Sharing the gospel with said guide
- Lecturing for six hours on 1 and 2 Peter–Peter’s letters have to be some of my favorite material in the whole Bible
- Hearing that Hallie was at home with four children sick with an upper respiratory infection
- Coming down with a said respiratory infection 48 hours into the trip
- Teaching a Sunday School class on the person and work of Jesus Christ
- Almost missing my connection in Atlanta after spending 20 minutes on the runway
- Hearing the flight attendant announce the Giants’ victory when we landed in Jackson
- Finding out they didn’t have the type of rental car I had rented and being given a Ford Mustang convertible instead
- Being humbled by the Christ exalting work of God in missions
- Seeing Hallie and children again after missing them terribly for four days
It really was a great trip. These highlights don’t do it justice. If you have read this far, pray for Belize and all those who are ministering the gospel there. Pray especially that God would raise up a generation of pastors to shepherd the sheep of Jesus in that country.
Oct
2
Halo 3 and the Gospel?
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When I was a youth minister I had a thriving Halo 2 ministry. My students saw to it that I gradually progressed from, “What does this button do?” to, “Yeah, I hit your warthog with a sticky!” I have to admit that it wasn’t all horrible. As far as bonding with students goes it was a great past-time.
As I played the game more and delved into some of the single player levels I discovered some implicit biblical themes. The enemy aliens are called The Covenant. They tend to occupy planets through their circular space craft, thus Halo(s). Their leaders are sometimes referred to as Prophets. Then you have the humans who are headed up by a super commando, Master Chief, who is part man and part superhuman battle-suit.
I figured that Halo was just another Matrix knock off, a product of a Christianized culture, picking up Christian themes haphazardly like stepping in bubble gum on the pavement. There didn’t seem to be enough intentionality behind the imagery to necessarily assume the writers/producers/creators of the game were trying to make any pro or anti Christian statement.
Well, I’m no longer a youth minister. I don’t play Halo. My skills are back to “What does this button do?” However, I have followed with some interest the release of Halo 3, the next installment of Master Chief vs The Covenant.
Since I don’t own Halo 3 much less a game system much less a television, my interest has been largely fueled by watching the Halo 3 trailers on youtube. They are told as if war veterans from the Halo 3 war were years later standing in a war museum providing interviews on their experiences in that particular battle.
What fascinated me was the overtly Messianic themes applied to Master Chief. Like I said, I have not played the game nor do I intend to. I’m not even that knowledgeable of the story line. However, what I do know about is the gospel. I know similarities to the gospel story when I see them.
Each commercial has the war veterans relaying two major themes. First, they were outnumbered, out gunned, and outmaneuvered. They were on the brink of the destruction. It is at this point that the interviewer asks some sort of, “How did you find courage to continue on?” Each answers with what I found to be the second major theme, “I knew Master Chief was there and still alive.” Then, one of the particular trailers ends with one veteran saying, “I was nearby when Master Chief armed his grenade.” It is followed by the image of Master Chief being held limp and apparently lifeless by a large Covenant Alien. The camera pans to his hand and shows him switch on a grenade. What you see unfold is a Messianic hero who conquers his enemies just at the point at which he has apparently been defeated in death. Each commercial ends with the word, “Believe”. Gospel parallels anyone?
I don’t mean to say by this that Halo 3 is a Christian video game or even a good video game. Nor do I mean to say that the gospel parallels are close enough to clearly explain what Jesus did on the cross. What I do mean to say is this is yet another example of what JRR Tolkien used to call “the one story.” There is one story, a meta-narrative woven into the hearts of all men and women. This one story is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the warp of redemptive history. Everyone knows the world is broken. It is so broken it feels like war everyday. Everyone has hopes of a Messiah and knows that they are not he. Maybe their Messiah is drink, intimacy, ambition, success, or other vice. But every once in a while that Messiah-longing breaks into fiction and you can catch glimpses of a human heart longing for freedom from sin, longing for victory over a broken world, longing for Jesus. They may only be glimpses and snatches of story line. But they are there.
Halo 3 is a reminder to me that the world does indeed long for and need a Master Chief. The travesty of Halo 3 is that it tells thousands of gamers that they can be their own Master Chief and overcome through skilled game play. The world desperately needs the real thing. The world desperately needs Jesus. Can’t you see it?
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I’ve included the video embeds for you to view through the link below.