Love Made Manifest

Have you ever been in love? How do you know? Is it the tingles in your stomach? Is it the way you feel when your true love looks at you? Is it your desire to do anything to make the other person happy?

How would they know you love them? Do you say I love you? Do you give them flowers and gifts? Do you spend all day gazing into their loving eyes? An even more important love is the love of God for us. Do you know God loves you? How do you know? 

1 John 4:9 tells how we see the love of God for us through Jesus coming, "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him."

Through Jesus, the love of God is made manifest or show to us, and He does this in a number of ways. First, simply by coming and being with us, He gave us the very presence of God. Joseph and Mary got to experience God's love in a very unique way as the human parents to Jesus. They held Him as a baby. They raised Him as a boy, seeing Him grow and mature.

Then when Jesus started His public ministry, a large part of what He did was spend time with people. His disciples literally lived with Him for years. He went and stayed at people's houses and went to parties with many of them. Furthermore, He was not limited in spending time with just the good people or the important people. Rather, He spent time with the poor, the outcasts, and the sinner, but also with any leaders who would have Him.

He even got close enough to touch and be touched. He was held, cuddled, and swaddled as a baby. He walked among crowds where even ceremonially unclean people, like a woman with a bleeding illness could touch Him. He touched people with leprosy and with blindness. He allowed little children, who were not valued as much in that society, to come to Him.

He also came to tell us that we are loved. When talking to Nicodemus, He says that His coming is a very sign that God loves the world (John 3:16). He tell His disciples that He loves them, that they should remain in His love, and as a result they should love one another (John 13:34, 15:9). Furthermore, for those who chose to follow Him, we are told our very identity is transformed by belonging to Jesus (Philippians 1:21, Galatians 2:20). He spoke regular words of love and encouragement to His followers and through them to those of us who follow Him.

Jesus's words of love were backed up by actions of love. He said that He came to serve and to be served (Mark 10:45.) He healed the sick, fed the hungry, visited the lonely and outcast, rescued the demon-possessed, and taught the truth. Finally, He gave His life to ransom the prisons, namely us, from the chains of sin.

While we know how to show love through giving gifts at Christmas and other times, God gives the best gift in sending His son. The baby Jesus was wrapped up like a baby in swaddling clothes, but Jesus was also wrapped in burial linen. It was not until He was unwrapped at Easter that the final gift was revealed. He came to provide salvation from our sins and the gift of eternal life (Romans 6:23). So this Christmas, I encourage you to open your eyes to the love the God shows us through Jesus.

Greatest Miracle?

 

If you have been a Christian for a long time who has read their Bible and/or gone to church, then you know lots of miracle stories. Christians believe that at times God has supernaturally broken into the natural order and changed things for His purposes. You might remember Noah's flood, or the Red Sea dividing for Israelites to walk through on dry land, or the manna and quail to feed them in the wilderness, or perhaps you think of the miracles of Elijah and Elisha. And then we think of the miracles of Jesus from turning water into wine, to healing illnesses, to casting out demons, to raising others from the dead, to the fact that He was also raised from the dead.

Certainly each of the miracles is astounding in itself and beyond our comprehension, but have you ever considered which is the greatest miracle of all? Which miracle best displays God's mastery of time and space? Certainly the miracle of creation itself is bigger than all of those other miracles and if God can create the universe by speaking it into existence, then the other miracles that involve manipulating, restoring, or creating parts of the universe, seem small in comparison. But to me the most amazing miracle of all is actually what we celebrate at Christmas. Namely that the creator of the universe, the one who is before, after, above, and beyond the universe, came into the universe and became a human like you and me. 

Colossians 1:15–18 says this about Jesus "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent."

Jesus, the Son of God, God the Son, an equal and eternal member of the triune God, creator and upholder of the universe, the Alpha and Omega, became a human. This does not mean He gave up His divine nature, but instead He added to it human nature. Therefore He became truly human just as He was truly divine. The creator of a universe that is 93 billion light years across, entered into His creation and took on a form that is just a speck on a planet that is just a speck in a solar system that is just a speck in a galaxy that is just one of billions of galaxies. The difference between His divine nature and human nature is so vast as to be uncountable and unimaginable. That is why this miracle seems to be the greatest to me. God came down. God with us. Immanuel!

Why did Jesus do it? To redeem His creation that He loved. To redeem those who see His love and love Him back. So maybe the biggest miracle of all for me personally is that God came down to rescue and redeem me. Have you experienced the miracle of Christmas, namely that God came to love you and be with you?

Jesus, the Son of God, God the Son, an equal and eternal member of the triune God, creator and upholder of the universe, the Alpha and Omega, became a human. This does not mean He gave up His divine nature, but instead He added to it human nature. Therefore He became truly human just as He was truly divine. The creator of a universe that is 93 billion light years across, entered into His creation and took on a form that is just a speck on a planet that is just a speck in a solar system that is just a speck in a galaxy that is just one of billions of galaxies. The difference between His divine nature and human nature is so vast as to be uncountable and unimaginable. 

Do you call Him King?

Isaiah 9:6-7 says, 

For to us a child is born, 

to us a son is given, 

and the government will be on his shoulders. 

And he will be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, 

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 

Of the greatness of his government 

and peace there will be no end. 

He will reign on David’s throne

and over his kingdom,

establishing and upholding it

with justice and righteousness 

from that time on and forever. 

The zeal of the LORD Almighty

will accomplish this.

In the Christmas story recounted in Matthew 1 & 2 and Luke 1 & 2 Jesus is called a son who is both Messiah and King in the line of David, who fulfills this promise. At the time, Joseph, Mary, the wise men and the shepherds, believed this because they had gotten special messages from God, but the baby Jesus was a regular human baby. He didn't yet fulfill these promises with any of his own actions yet. They worshiped the baby because they believed What God had said about Him.

We, on the other hand, have the advantage of reading the whole story of Jesus's perfect life, death, and resurrection. We also have 2,000 years of history showing his impact on billions of people and the whole history of the world. In his first coming and its after effects, he's already fulfilled many of the prophecies in Isaiah 9 and in other places, and they'll be completely fulfilled when it comes again.

So, around the Christmas season, as we think about these things, and we see various Christmas plays, it's easy in our mostly Christian context to mouth the words that Jesus is King and Messiah. So the real question for those of us who say that Jesus is our King at this time of the year is whether or not our words and actions show that He is our King, not just in December or on Sundays, but at other times. Is he your prince of peace on Monday morning when it is really hard to get up to go to school or work? 

Is He your wonderful counselor when you have to face that boss who is often unjust and selfish? Do you really believe He is mighty God when you're facing that cancer diagnosis? Do you still believe He is righteous and just when you see Christians being persecuted and killed around the world for their belief in Him?

It is good and right for us at this time of the year to remind ourselves who Jesus is and to sing Christmas carols declaring Him to be our King and Savior. But during the beautiful times of the season, let's commit ourselves to calling Him King and obeying Him as our master, even during the hard times.

Better than Santa

During this time of year our family watches Christmas movies, and many of them are  either about Santa or include him. Santa is almost always a good character that encourages people to behave better with the promise of reward. Christmas movies always turn out happy with a good focus on family and giving to others. For the most part then, watching Santa movies are happy times with the family, but I want to point out that while Santa may be fun, Jesus is an even better focus for the CHRISTmas holiday. If we compare the two, we will discover that Jesus beats Santa in every category.

Santa gives gifts to good boys and girls on Christmas. James 1:17 says that all good gifts come down from the Father of heavenly lights, and John 3:16 tells us that Jesus is the gift of the Father to the world so that those who believe in Him might have everlasting life. All good gifts are ultimately from God and for those who believe, we get to experience His goodness for eternity.

Santa seems to have quite a bit of knowledge of our activities since he knows when we are sleeping and when we are awake, and when we've been good and bad. Psalm 139 tells us that God knows us intimately and that there is no place where we can go that he is not there, and Psalm 147:5 says that God's knowledge is infinite, so God has more knowledge than even Santa.

Santa wants people to be good, not bad, but he seems to be kind of a legalist with your reward depending exclusively upon how good or bad you are. Some of the stories seem to indicate that if you are bad, you might only get coal for a present! God wants us to be good and gave us His law for our own good (Deuteronomy 10:12-13). Furthermore, Jesus tells us that if we love Him, we will do what He commands (John 14:15). But He also recognizes that on our own we cannot love Him, so He came to redeem us even when we were bad and still His enemies (Romans 5:8). Even our ability to be good after He has redeemed us comes from Him. He gives us His Spirit and changes our hearts so that we learn to love what is good. Then we can be good because we have new desires and the power of the Holy Spirit working in us (study Romans 6-8). 

Finally, while Santa is fun fairy tale to encourage us during the Christmas season, Jesus is really God incarnate who came to earth to show us God's love for us. He not just a fairy tale, but a real man, who lived, died, and rose again, so that we can know His love at all times and during all seasons. During the Christmas season it's okay to have fun with your family, give gifts to one another, and watch holiday movies, but it is most important to remember and put a focus on the one for whom the holiday is named. Christ is not just the reason for this season, but rather this season should help us remember that Jesus should be our reason to live and love well during all times of the year.

John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Christian Duty to Vote.

 If you are a Christian you should be a good citizen and seek the good of your nation, state and community by understanding the issues and voting wisely. It is one way to promote good values and by doing so we are loving God and loving our neighbors.

Sample Nebraska Ballots from the state of Nebraska.

Nebraska Online Registering to Vote. This closes today, October 18, but in person registration at your county courthouse stays open until the October 25.

Nebraska Voter Guide from Nebraska Family Alliance. A conservative group that promotes conservative family values. It will walk you through a ballot from your area, showing you information on specific  family related issues.

Information about Nebraska Ballot Measures 434 and 439 about abortion.

What Time Is It?

I've recently been preaching through the book of Ecclesiastes and came to Ecclesiastes 3, where the music group the Bryd got the lyrics of their song  “Turn! Turn! Turn!.” If you know the lyrics then you know some of the words of the Scripture. 

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh.

We can learn several lessons about time from this passage. First, we should prepare for different seasons of life. Sometimes we get to rejoice in the birth of a new baby, and other times we have to go to the funeral of a loved one. Jobs come and go. Friends come and go. Families come and go. The weather and the season change constantly. If we can only be happy and content if we get all the circumstances just right, then we are going to end up discontent tomorrow because a new season of life will come upon us.

Second, we need to understand what time it is. We need to spend time considering the times. Each day we should reflect on what that day holds. At each season of life we should consider how things have changed. Parenting a 4 year old is different than parenting a 14 year old and still different than parenting a 24 year old. And it will be different still when you are 84 and your kids need to help parent you. If you do not recognize how things have changed you are not going to love others well. For instance, if you think a 14 year old is just going to believe you and obey you just because you said so in the same way a 4 year might, then you are in for a shock! Likewise, if you are getting older, you should consider that in your desire to not burden your kids and to remain independent, you may be causing them more trouble because they can see you need help, but you keep resisting them.

Therefore, at each stage of life and each change of circumstances you should reconsider how things have changed and how your attitudes and actions might change accordingly. Furthermore, wise people will plan for the future recognizing that changes will be coming. How might you plan for retirement? How might you help your kids or grandkids prepare for their futures? If you do not know what to expect or how to prepare, then get help from those who have been through those changes already.

A final lesson from this chapter is that God has put eternity in our hearts, so that we can see that there is more than just this earthly life, so our consideration of time needs to be made with eternity in mind. Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount talked about things on this earth will be destroyed, but we can build up treasures in heaven. It is always the right time to consider our relationship with the eternal God. Am I spending my time today in such a way that God is glorified and I am becoming the type of person who is ready to spend time with Him in heaven? The more we learn to love like Jesus in our time on earth, the more we will be prepared to spend eternity with Him.

Who is your family?

 

In my last article, I talked about the goodness of family, and that we as Christians should promote and support families. But many people do not have great families, and because of that they lack the natural support that is supposed to come from a Dad, Mom, siblings, and extended family. In our current culture we do see more brokenness in families than in previous generations, it is not a new problem in the world. Scripture tells us on a number of occasions to look after widows and orphans (see James 1:27; Psalm 146:9), so we know that throughout time people have been without good families.

The biblical solution is not just to set up a program to minister to the needs of people “out there” who need help, but rather to become a new family. When questioned about His family Jesus did this: “And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother”” (Matthew 12:49-50). In other words, Jesus was intentionally setting up the church to be a new kind of family. We see the early church live this out when they started to meet in the homes of members and treat one another like a big extended family (Acts 2:42-47). 

This new eternal family will last longer than our earthly families. For those who follow Jesus, God is our Father because we are adopted into His family (Galatians 4:5, Romans 8:15) and Jesus is our older brother (Hebrews 2:11, Romans 8:29). In light of this in the early church they called one another brothers and sisters. In that culture, family was the source of your identity, so for the early church to welcome outsiders as family was a very big deal. The gospel is open to anyone who follows Jesus, so this new family included people of all kinds of ethnic and economic backgrounds. 

Now if Christians really live like family, we are going to get uncomfortable. People who are different than us can be part of this family. They might have different customs, and they might even have shady backgrounds. They might not know how to behave properly in church society, especially if they have had the blessing of a good earthly family. And frankly, we might be that person for someone else. They might look at us and think, I do not want that person in my family! But just like with human families, the kids don’t get to choose. It is the Father who draws people into the family and adopts them. If we do not accept those who He accepts, then we are dishonoring our heavenly Father, and we will miss out on the blessings of God’s family where love, grace, and mercy reign. Just like we receive those from Him, we have the opportunity to show that kind of family love to people who might not have experienced it before.

In practice this means being willing to have people in your home for meals or even providing shelter when necessary. It means taking time to listen and be a friend. It means going into places, homes, and communities where they live to show that you care about them on their own turf. Obedience to God is challenging because He wants us to become like Him and welcome those He welcomes. But take heart, He is a good Father and He wants good for you too. Helping to welcome the single person, the widow, the orphan, and the disconnected, into the family will be a blessing to you and the rest of the family.

The Goodness of Family

Have you ever taken someone for granted and not understood their importance until they were gone? Sometimes the good things in our lives are like background music that we don’t even know is playing. A few years ago, I was listening to a news report about how to fix some of the societal problems in depressed areas, and various solutions were offered such as better education, better healthcare, counseling, and more social services in general. I was fascinated that at no point did any of the reporters mention the word family or talk in any way about how to restore and/or strengthen families. Yet, I can show you in study after study that family breakdown precedes larger societal breakdown. Family is so fundamental to our well-being that we sometimes take it for granted and only feel its lack when we see so many people hurt by not having it.

Even Christian ministries can get so focused on doing social good and sharing the good news about Jesus that we can take family for granted. I was reading 1 Timothy 5 the other day where Paul is instructing Timothy and the church about how to take care of widows who would otherwise be destitute. In the midst of encouraging the church to this good social work, Paul makes this comment in verse 8, “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” The family was so central in society that Paul assumes that even non-Christians would take care of their relatives, and that the church should only have to come along and help those who have no family to take care of them.

The Bible story is a family story from the creation account of the first family to the Old Testament history which follows family lines, and into the New Testament where Christ comes to adopt people into a new eternal family. While the church should be a family, it is clear from Paul’s admonition that it does not replace the physical family. We were created to function best in families. Most men and women have a natural and God-given desire to have a mate and so should seek to get married. Marriage is one of the good things God has given us, and we should show and tell young people about its goodness. Further, kids were meant to be raised with their Dad and Mom in a secure marriage, and on average have much better outcomes when they are.

Even as we age, having family is the best social security that you can have. Just like in Paul’s day, it is still much better to have family to rely upon than an impersonal government program. The other day, I got to take a 4 generation picture with my dad, my son, and my granddaughter, and later this week, our family will celebrate my wife’s parent’s 50th anniversary. It is great being part of a legacy of faith and family that runs for generations. While none of us is perfect and our families are not perfect, our parents have given us a firm foundation upon which to continue building no matter what happens in the wider society around us.

Furthermore, families built on the solid foundation of Jesus have the physical and emotional resources to reach out in love to those in society that do not have that foundation. In my next article I want to highlight how the church can and should be a welcoming family to those who do not have that legacy of faith and family, so that their lives can be changed and solid families can be built that create new legacies.

Celebrate Jesus

 

As anyone with a TV or internet knows, the summer Olympics are going on in Paris right now. There was quite a controversy caused by the part of the opening ceremonies that featured what looked to many like a mockery of a famous painting of the Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci. The part of the ceremony featured a celebration of various sexualized behaviors and identities, with men in drag, several nearly naked individuals, and some children there as well.

The creator of this part of the ceremony, Thomas Jolly, said that he did intend to offend and wanted the production to “celebrate community tolerance,” and I believe that was his intent. What the controversy shows is the wide divide between what various people think should be celebrated. The producers of the show are likely far enough removed from people with traditional religious views that they likely do not understand that rather than a celebration of various identities it looks like an intentional mockery of traditional Christian values and beliefs. 

But in their desire to celebrate tolerance, we do see an expression of the universal need to belong and be accepted. We all ground our understanding of ourselves in something. When we do not have a stable grounding for our identity outside ourselves, we look inward to create our own identities. This happens for many people in the western world because of the loss of faith in the external things which used to ground our identities. Many people have lost their trust in God, their families have broken down, and they’ve also lost trust in many other societal institutions. Unfortunately for us, we, in ourselves, are not a stable enough foundation upon which to build an identity. That is why people who seek to create their own identities crave affirmations from others. They want and need to be celebrated by others because they are not okay simply by themselves.

Jesus says in Matthew 7:24-27 that we should build our lives upon His words. When we follow Him as our Lord, we will stand firm on the rock of Jesus in the midst of the storms of life. Everyone will face the storms of life, such as illness, financial insecurity, and interpersonal conflict, so it makes a difference what we use as a foundation. If we build on anything in this world, including money, friends, family, country, or our own self-concept, these will eventually prove to be sand and cause our lives to crumble when the trials come. Jesus is the risen again Savior, who has even defeated death. He is the Lord of the whole world, and He wants us to recognize our need for Him. If we build our lives upon who Jesus is and what He has done, then we will not need any other source to celebrate us to make us feel valuable.

 When we humble ourselves before Him, He will lift us up (James 4:10). So, by celebrating Jesus and making Him the foundation of our lives, we ground our own identity on the strongest rock possible. Then whether we are at the pinnacle of the sporting world in Paris or living a simple life in NE Nebraska, we will not be shaken by any of the storms that will inevitably come. 

Is Your Love Bank Full?

 

I am currently rereading a book called, Love is a Choice, by three professional Christian counselors, and it is about the condition that they term, “codependency,” which they say many people have. The main issue with this condition is that people become unhealthily dependent on people or things, such as drugs, work, sex, anger, food, and bad relationships. Most of these unhealthy dependencies started in their childhood because they did not get the love that they needed and then sought to fill their internal love tank with things or people that could not give them true love. These things or people cannot truly make them whole again when they have such a love deficit and so they go deeper and deeper into an addictive cycle.

We are created to love and be loved. The greatest commandments are first to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39). The most famous verse in the Bible is about God’s love for us through giving His son so that we could have eternal life (John 3:16). So it should not surprise us that when we face a lack of love and/or abuse, especially in our early, formative years, that we end up being wounded and seeking to make up for what we did not get. Unfortunately, when we do not know good love, we do not know how to give good love. Our addictions and sinful patterns perpetuate the problem to the people around us, especially if we have kids of our own. They end up not getting the appropriate love that we should be giving them, and thus the cycle continues on and on until someone intentionally seeks to break the cycle.

Some of these addictions, such as drugs or alcohol, have more immediate outward effects that others can see and lead to lives collapsing more quickly. If you go to jail for a DUI or your kids are taken away because of your drug addition, you are forced to at least consider what has gone wrong in your life. But other patterns are more subtle and sometimes are even encouraged by the society around you. Many of the examples given by the counselors in the book are of people who are externally very successful, but who are miserable in their marriages and personal lives. They highlight multi millionaires and starlets who have “made it” in worldly terms. Their clients even include “good Christians”  who put on a mask of happiness in public, but who hate each other in private.
Are you one of these people? We live in a fallen world where each of us has experienced some love deficit or abuse in our lives, so almost certainly you and I have sought out wrong ways of making up for that. Have you ever taken the time and energy to examine how you have been impacted by your past and what patterns have developed as a result? If you are living in pain right now, even private pain that you hardly even admit to yourself, God does not want you to stay there. Jesus came to give us an abundant life (John 10:10), but before we can love well and even be loved, we have to be willing to let God examine our hearts (Psalm 139:23-24). Then we can understand how we have run to the wrong things to find love and let God’s true love heal us. This is not just a one and done process, but rather a lifetime of learning to examine ourselves and then letting God change us into the person He created us to be!

Abortion Amendments

 

Dear Nebraska Friends & Family

I wanted to make you aware of some possible state constitutional amendments about the issue of abortion. This is a moral issue that is dear to my heart and that I think is important for our state and our country. 

Here is a description of three potential amendments taken from this article. https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/05/28/nebraska-abortion-initiative-with-the-most-votes-would-become-law-if-voters-pass-more-than-one/

"Three groups are circulating potential constitutional amendments on abortion for the November ballot. Each appears at odds with the others.

One initiative, put forward by Protect Our Rights Nebraska, would enshrine the right to an abortion in the state constitution up until fetal viability, which most place between 22 and 24 weeks.

A second, put forward by Protect Women and Children, would prohibit most abortions after the first trimester, much like current law, but it would let the Legislature restrict abortion further in the future. 

A third, put forward by Now Choose Life, would grant “personhood” under the law to embryos and fetuses in a mother’s womb, making the law treat them like a child who has been born."

The first of these is supported by pro-abortion lobby and has had a great deal of support, meaning that it already had enough votes to make it on the November ballot. While the amendment says abortion would be legal until the age of viability, which is a subjective time, it also gives doctors the right to make exceptions later in pregnancy based on a very board definition of "life or health" of the mother. In practice this language has been used to mean that a doctor and a woman could make exceptions for abortions through all 9 months of pregnancy.

The second is a middle of the road amendment by some pro-life groups meant to specifically counter the pro-abortion amendment that would allow abortion for all nine months of pregnancy. This pro-life amendment would constitutional restrict later term abortions and still allow for further laws to be passed that would restrict abortion even more.

This is the amendment I am supporting because it has the greatest practical chance of being passed and gaining more votes than the pro-abortion amendment. They need signatures for the petition to get it on the ballot, and Dacey Nelson is working on this effort as she works for Senator Ricketts. If you would like to sign (and I encourage you to do so) and do not have her contact info, please contact me.

The last amendment is the one that reflects my true understanding of the issue, namely that all human life from the moment of conception on is valuable and should be protected. This attempt is late to the game and because it would basically restrict all abortions will likely not pass at this time in our history. Now you can sign both pro-life petitions and I probably will, but I do not believe a total constitutional ban is likely to pass and may even cause the pro-abortion amendment to do better if it is the only other option.

Finally, I want to make a short defense of why the issue of abortion is so important to me, and why I believe it should be to you too. The main moral issue is the value of human life. Not just unborn life, but all humans. Why is your life important? Why do you have value? The prevailing view in the western world over that last century has come to be a secular one that says that humans are simply the result of random chance accidents and have not more or less value than other forms of life. Therefore our value is contingent on various factors such as quality of life or utility to society. This has lead to a devaluation of not just unborn life, and we see this idea playing out with the promotion of assisted suicide and euthanasia in many places now. Older people, handicap people, and even depressed people are being encouraged to end their lives in countries like Canada because the value of their life is being judged by its utility.

The previous understanding of the value of human life came from the Christian understanding of the inherent value of all human life, grounded in the concept that we are made in the image of God. Therefore, no matter the age, sex, skin color, ability level, or utility to society, a person has value because they are valuable to God who is the grounding for all morality. The founding of our country that began to extend individual rights, the abolitionist movement, the women's suffrage movement, and the Civil Rights movement were all grounded on the idea that inalienable rights are tied to our value given by God.  Likewise, unborn humans are just that, human. They should be afforded the same basic rights as other humans because they have the same value. If your life has intrinsic value, then their life should as well. If we begin to make the value of their lives subjective, then it is only a matter of time before the value of every life is subjective. 

If we don't defend those who cannot defend themselves, then we will find ourselves in the position of German Pastor Martin Niemöller who said after WW2 in 1946,

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—

     Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—

     Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—

     Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

True Holiday

The traditional greeting on Easter is, “He is Risen,” to which the proper response is, “He is risen indeed.” Most Christians (probably most of you reading this article) firmly believe this to be true and have not questioned it in a long time if ever. But what if someone were to ask you, “Is He risen?” How would you answer? Do we even need to answer? In our world of individual “truths” does it matter whether Jesus rose bodily from the dead? 

Well here is what the apostle Paul said about the importance of the resurrection, “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17). In other words, the bodily resurrection of Jesus is so important that if it didn't happen, we aren't saved from our sins. Death is not defeated, and we won't have eternal life. So yes, the truth of the bodily resurrection is pretty important.

How can we know it's true though? Well, we know it's true because it's the best explanation for the evidence that we have. Let's examine some of the evidence.

First, Jesus actually died on the cross.The Romans knew how to kill people and they were very efficient at it. In fact, the soldiers responsible for their crucifixion would have been under a death sentence themselves if they didn't make sure that their prisoners were actually dead. That's one of the reasons that they either broke the legs of people still alive to kill them from suffocation or, as in the case of Jesus, stab them in the side to make sure that the heart-lung sack was punctured. 

Second, there's the empty tomb. No historian worth their salt actually questions that the tomb was empty. Otherwise, the Jewish authorities or Roman authorities simply would have produced Jesus' body to squash the growing conspiracy. 

Third, many people claimed to have seen Jesus alive. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul says that over 500 people saw Jesus alive, and this was written within 25 years of the event, so he encouraged those who did not believe to go talk to some of those people who were still alive. This wasn't just the illusion of one or even a few people at one time. He was seen many times over a 40-day period by many different people. He even ate with some of them and encourage them to examine his scars.

Fourth, many of those people were persecuted and killed because they believed that Jesus had risen from the dead. Lots of people might die for something they believe to be true. But in this case, the claim is that the disciples would have had to make up the story and would have known it was false. Who dies for a lie? Chuck Colson, a lawyer in Nixon's White House during Watergate, said he saw people giving up on the lie after three weeks of possible prosecution, so he couldn't believe the disciples would be telling a lie and endure a lifetime of persecution and then execution unless they really believed in Christ's resurrection.

A final evidence is that the church took off after the resurrection of Jesus, growing to thousands within a few weeks. The disciples recount how they were locked away and scared after the crucifixion. But once Christ rose, they became bold and right away were willing to put themselves at risk and to proclaim the good news about Jesus.

Put together, the best explanation for this evidence is that Jesus really did rise from the dead. If that's the case, and I believe it is, then his resurrection verifies the work of the crucifixion and his teachings about himself. He really is the Messiah. He really did die to take away the sins of those who call on him for forgiveness. He really will come back and restore all things. He is the reason for this season.

He has risen!!

Lonely Holiday

When Jesus started His public ministry, He was doing amazing miracles and teaching some profound truths, so many people started to follow Him. At times He had crowds over 10,000 listening, and He likely had as many as 120 regular followers if you include the men and women. Furthermore, from those regular followers He chose 12 men who were particularly close to Him and seemed to do everything with Him. Even among the 12, He had three, Peter, James, and John, that were even closer and who were with Him in the most intimate moments like the Transfiguration (see Matthew 17:1-8). Jesus’s life was so full of people that at times He had to move on from places to not get swamped, and He also went away some nights to be alone and pray with God the Father.

Yet as He approached the time of His crucifixion, He began to be clear about the cost of following Hi
m and many people left. He even asked the 12 if they were going to leave, and Peter said “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). When Peter said those words, I am sure he meant them, just like he and the other disciples meant it when they claimed they would die for Jesus rather than abandon Him (Matthew 26:25). But in the Garden of Gethsemane they could not stay awake and pray for Him, and then they all ran away when He was arrested, even Peter! I am sure that Peter felt like an incredible failure and totally alone when he wept after having denied even knowing Jesus three times that same night.

The next day as Jesus suffered and died on the cross, He even felt abandoned by the Father, repeating the words of Psalm 22:1, “My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?” He did not deserve the punishment for our sins, and He did not deserve to be abandoned. But Jesus willingly allowed Himself to be abandoned and forsaken because He knew it was necessary so that we would not stay alone. He endured the cross so our sin would not mean that we had to stay guilty, ashamed, and alone after our failures.

When He rose again, Jesus took Peter aside and restored him. Three times He asked Peter, “Do you love me?” to which Peter answered, “Yes Lord.” After each answer, Jesus commissioned Peter to care for others. He was showing Peter that he was once again loved and accepted not just as a follower, but as a valuable member of Jesus’s kingdom.

Likewise, the brokenness of the world and our own brokenness can leave us feeling abandoned and alone. Jesus knows what it feels like to be alone. He came to the world to seek those who are lost and alone. He came to restore those who are broken. He came to connect the disconnected. Because He took on and defeated death, the ultimate aloneness, we can have abundant rich fellowship with both God and man. We can be restored and like Peter be part of reaching out in love to others who are still hurting and alone. 

This Easter, no matter your circumstances or your sins, come to Jesus to find a friend and be restored. You do not have to be alone because Jesus made a way for us to find everlasting love and to learn how to give that love to others.

Bloody Holiday

 

In 1 Kings 8, Solomon is dedicating the new temple to the LORD and they have a two-week festival in Jerusalem during which they sacrifice 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. Having just helped my family process three cows in 2 ½ days, I can attest to the enormous amount of work that must have been. In fact, I think that would be a lot of work even for some of the modern processing plants near us. 

Now why did they have to sacrifice so many animals just to dedicate the temple? Likely, it was because so many people came to the festival and they all wanted to sacrifice to the Lord and because they used much of the meat for the festival itself. But if you read the Old Testament description of tabernacle and temple worship you have to admit that God required lots of sacrifices and the whole process of worship really was bloody. The temple was really a slaughterhouse filled daily with animals being killed. 

Then when we get to the New Testament we see that Jesus is called the Lamb of God and He endured a bloody awful death on a cross. Furthermore, He even established the practice of communion in which His followers were supposed to look back on this bloody sacrifice by “eating His flesh” and “drinking His blood.” This unusual practice was so misunderstood that early in church history, other people thought Christians were cannibals. At this time of year, we especially remember Christ’s sacrifice on a day we call Good Friday even though the most evil act in history took place. The perfect sinless Lamb of God was killed on that day! 

Is all this blood and death necessary, and if so why? Do you know? We find the answer in Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve sinned they were broken and the world was broken. Not only that, but we learn in Romans 3, that it is not just Adam and Eve’s fault, but that no one is righteous and that all (you and me) have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Sin causes death, and a holy and good God that made the world just, must balance the scales of justice. If sin causes death then for sin to be forgiven and individuals restored, Hebrews 9:22 says there must be shedding of blood. 

Sin is serious, destructive, and even deadly, and as the righteous judge of the world, God must respond and deliver punishment. We are responsible for our sins and deserve to face the judgment of death. We deserve to shed our own blood for our sins! But God is also loving and does not desire for anyone to perish, so He provides a sacrifice on our behalf. Jesus, God the Son, came down to be the better sacrifice than any ox or sheep. He shed His blood so that we do not have to face eternal death. The offer of forgiven is available for anyone who is willing to admit there own guilt and ask Jesus to take on the punishment for us.

Therefore, those who truly understand what Jesus did celebrate this bloody holiday because we know it is our blood that should be shed. He who did not sin and did not deserve death, died on our behalf. On Good Friday, I often end up contemplating my sin and the brokenness in my own life as I remember Jesus’s broken body and shed blood, but my focus eventually comes back to His love and goodness which shine bright on the darkest of days.

My Favorite Holiday

I am looking forward to writing the next few pastor articles for the local paper, because I get to focus on Easter, my favorite holiday. It is my favorite because, it is filled with hope and joy. We start out with the bad news of Good Friday, but end with the best news of Easter morning: He is risen! He is risen indeed!! All the songs we sing on Easter Sunday are filled with joy and praise and hope because death has been defeated.

The first Easter is the center of history. I know that the Christian calendar starts at what was thought to be the year of Jesus’s birth, but in fact Easter, Christ’s rising from the dead, is the moment that makes our new birth into the family of God a reality. The work of redemption was accomplished on the cross, where Jesus died to pay the penalty for the sins of those who believe in Him, but it is only at the resurrection that His followers and the world can recognize the effectiveness of His work.

Easter is when we can answer the definitive question of history, “Who is Jesus?” In the modern world, we are uncertain about what we know and how we know it. Many people even struggle with knowing themselves let alone the many other questions about meaning and purpose for the whole world. One of the reasons we struggle is that we do not perceive a firm place on which to stand and from which we can make sound judgments. So many things from politics, to family, to personal identity, to even the very definition of truth seem up in the air. But Jesus claimed to the “THE way, THE truth, and THE life,” and if what He says about Himself is true, then He can and should be the starting point for the rest of our investigation of reality.

Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do you say I am?” Peter responded, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Yet not long after, when threatened, Peter denied even knowing Jesus. Why? Because while at one level he did believe in Jesus, he was not convinced enough to actually surrender His life. But the resurrection changed that for Peter because it verified Jesus’s claims to be the Messiah. 

By rising from the dead, Jesus proved He was the Messiah. He proved that the sacrifice for sins was acceptable and that our sins can be forgiven. He proved death was defeated, and that if we trust and follow Him, we can have eternal life with Him. Peter’s and all the disciples' lives were radically transformed when they saw the risen Jesus. So much so that even though they faced persecution and death soon after, they were more than willing to continue to proclaim the good news that Jesus was their Savior and Lord.

So the question remains for us, “Is Jesus who He says He is?” If He really raised from the dead on Easter morning, then yes. He is right now, the living and reigning Lord of the universe. He really is your Lord and your sins really are forgiven (or can be if you believe). You really can have assurance of eternal and abundant life with Him, because He is risen! He is risen indeed!!

Should Christians Go To A Gay Wedding?

Here is my argument of why I would not recommend any Christian attend a "wedding" among those identifying as LGBTQ+.

1. Any formal or informal relationship involving sexual intimacy outside of a marriage of one man, one female, for a lifetime marriage is sin. Any gay or trans intimate relationship therefore involves sin and they cannot have a true marriage. 2. A wedding by definition is a public affirmation and support of a marriage.

3. Therefore, again by definition anyone voluntarily attending a wedding is giving affirmation and support to the "marriage" either implicitly or sometimes explicitly (I specifically charge the congregation with affirming and supporting the couple). 4. If a wedding is affirming sinful behaviors and relationships, then giving support and affirmation is also sinful and thus Christians should not attend. As an addendum, if going to a wedding ceremony is simply about showing love to an individual and not about supporting their sinful behaviors, why would they be upset if you lovingly declined based on your conscience? What are they upset about? Is not the intent of having a public wedding to get support for the relationship from those you love and who you want to love you? Of course that is exactly what the wedding is about and that is exactly what anyone having any kind of "wedding" is seeking. So expressing your disagreement verbally but actually attend the ceremony is communicating opposite things, and actions speak louder than words.

With this argument in mind, perhaps then someone can challenge one of my premises or perhaps bring to bear other biblical principles that might make a greater good or lesser two evils argument. But until you acknowledge the substance of the argument you should not simply make a call out to maintaining a relationship or loving the person. It is not loving to affirm sin.

What Plans Does God Have for You?

This morning in my daily Bible reading, I came across a very that most Christians have seen hanging on someone's wall at some point. It is Jeremiah 29:11, "I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

My question for you is what does this verse mean for us? Can we /  should we take this verse as a promise for us? If so, what kind of promise is it. 

I raise this question as a way of challenging you to think about how you interpret and apply scripture to your life, because if you have in mind when you read that verse or see it on someone's wall that God is promising you a long life, good family, and lots of good things, then you are misapplying and misusing the verse.

So let me take you through the verse and the passage to see what if any promises we can glean from the passage. 

First, we need to understand that Jeremiah 29 is written to a specific group of people at a specific time. Jeremiah is a prophet of God writing at the end of the independent kingdom of Judah about 600 years before Christ. They have already been captured by the large kingdom of Babylon and some of the people have been exiled over to Babylon, while some of the people remain in Jerusalem and Judea. Jeremiah is given this prophecy to both sets of people. In the first part of chapter 29, he is writing to the people in captivity and telling them that God has not abandoned them, and that they have a future and hope. This is a specific prophecy of future blessing in this world when they will be brought back to the land. In the second part of the chapter God warns the people who remain in Judah that if they resist and rebel against Babylon that they will be destroyed, so they should obey him and not rebel. They did rebel and they were destroyed. Likewise, the Jews in Babylon were returned to the land after a 70 year exile. So we see in this passage a prophecy of blessing and destruction, and we find out from later historical writings that these prophecies were fulfilled.
So one of the clear lessons that we can take from this passage is that God keeps His promises, both for blessing for those to whom He promised blessing, but also for cursing to those He promised cursing.

But are there any specific promises in this passaged for anyone besides the Jews that we should count on? Well, not exactly in this passage, but if we continue to read the context in the next couple of chapters, we see some promises for Israel that were not fulfilled in the immediate context of the people returning from Babylon 70 years later.

For instance, Jeremiah 31:33-39 says,
“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
after that time,” declares the LORD.
“I will put my law in their minds 
and write it on their hearts. 
I will be their God,
and they will be my people. 
No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the LORD,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the LORD.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”
This is what the LORD says,
he who appoints the sun
to shine by day,
who decrees the moon and stars
to shine by night, 
who stirs up the sea 
so that its waves roar —
the LORD Almighty is his name: 
“Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,”
declares the LORD,
“will Israel ever cease
being a nation before me.” 
This is what the LORD says:
“Only if the heavens above can be measured 
and the foundations of the earth below be searched out
will I reject all the descendants of Israel
because of all they have done,”
declares the LORD.

“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when this city will be rebuilt for me from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. The measuring line will stretch from there straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn to Goah.

In context, this passage seems to be a continuation of the blessing talked about being promised in chapter 29. Since the eternal types of blessing did not seem to be fulfilled, we can and should look further out for what God has done and will do. 

Did God give a new covenant where His people wrote His law on the hearts of His people? Yes, we can say that in fact, that has happened through the work of Christ. His people are no longer just the physical descendants of Abraham, but all those who Christ has saved. Can we then claim some of the goodness of the promise in chapter 29 has already been fulfilled by what God does for those who trust Jesus? Yes if you are a Jesus follower.

Furthermore, we can also say that the promises of an everlasting kingdom of peace are promises that we can look forward to. We have repeated promises like this in the New Testament where the saints are to look forward to the eternal kingdom.

But I want to warn you about a couple of bad uses of this passage. One use would be to think that God is promising any current believers earthly blessing right now. The promised earthly blessings from Jeremiah 29:11 are not even fulfilled for the current generation of Jews living at that time. Yes, God does promise to bless them in Babylon if they submit to the leaders there and try to bless the kingdom, but they current generation not only did not have hope to be brought back to Judah, but were told to expect a delay of 70 years for fulfillment, so none of the original readers of the passage should have expected the kingdom to get fulfilled right then. And those physical fulfillments were for a specific group of faithful Jews who would get to come back to their homeland. That's not us.

In fact, what are we promised as far as physical blessing in this life? Well, if we look at various proverbs and consequences of living according to God's laws, then in general, we should be have better outcomes. Faithful, trustworthy, loving people generally have more stable families, better jobs, and make better neighbors. As we let the Holy Spirit write God's laws on our hearts, we should becoming more and more like Christ, so in some respects our lives and the lives of those around us should improve. 

But, what happened to Jesus in this world? He got killed. What does He promise will happen to us if we follow Him? Matthew 5:10-12 says, "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Many times in the New Testament, followers of Jesus are warned that they will face trouble and persecution simpy for following Him. Not only will our lives not necessarily be blessed, but in this life, we should expect trouble. Our hope, our blessing is not to be found in the things of this world. We were made and are being remade for the next world. 

So if you see Jeremiah 29:11 hanging on someone's wall. I want you to remember that the true fulfillment of those promises even for the Jews was not in some partially restored kingdom 70 years later or some blessing that you are hoping for next week, next year, or next decade. Rather the true plans God has for His children are much bigger and much longer than that.

A couple nights ago, Traci, Abigail and I watched a movie called, 
"I still believe," which is a story about Christian singer Jeremy Camp and his first wife Melissa. It tells the story of how Jeremy and Melissa met in college dated and even got engaged rather young. Very soon after they got engaged Melissa found out she had cancer, and they began to pray earnestly that she would be healed. Miraculously she was healed of all of her cancer right before going in for major surgery. They got married 6 months later, but on their honeymoon, Melissa found out the cancer had returned. Again they prayed for healing but the cancer was spread too far that they did not even go in for treatment. Right before she passed away, she declared the pain was gone and that God had healed her. Then she died.

She was right. God did heal her. In the most complete way. In a way that matched God's plan for her life. A plan that He has for all of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. A plan for good and not evil. A plan for hope and an eternal future.

That's what I think of when I read Jeremiah 29:11, and I hope you will too.