Making New Year Goals, Commitments or Resolutions

Greetings All,

     The turn of the new year offers us a time to look back over the past year, and forward to the upcoming year, often with an eye toward setting new goals or making new commitments or resolutions. In keeping with that focus I came across two short thoughts that reminded me of things I need to keep ever before me. They are not new resolutions, but old ones I need to revisit.
     The first has to do with a challenge to true Gospel belief and what that should look like -- interestingly brought to me via the words of an anonymous atheist. I found this quote printed in a bulletin dated May 17, 1992 when I was still pastoring in Westport, MA but did not record the source.  The second comes from an article I was researching in preparation for my upcoming trip to India.  It has to do with materialism and its effect upon the soul.
     I found them both challenging and interesting as we enter 2015, and therefore I share them with you. Enjoy.

     "If I firmly believed, as millions do, that the knowledge and practice of religion in this life influences destiny in another, religion would mean everything to me. I would cast away all earthly enjoyment as dross, earthly cares as follies, and earthly thoughts and feelings as vanity. Religion would be my waking thought, and my last image before sleep sank me into unconsciousness.

     I would labor in its cause alone. I would esteem one soul gained for heaven worth a lifetime of suffering. Earthly consequences would never stay my hand or seal my lips.  Earth -- it's joys and its grief's -- would occupy no moment of my thoughts. I would strive to look upon eternity alone, and on the immortal souls around me, soon to be everlastingly happy or everlastingly miserable.

     All these things I would gladly do if I believed... but I do not, and judging by appearances, neither do most Christians."   An Anonymous Atheist

     The second is by Tori DeAngelis, New York Times, Vol. 35, No. 6, Print Version, Page 52, 2004.  It has to do with the negative effects of materialism and cultural consumerism on the soul.

     “Materialistic values may stem from early insecurities and are linked to lower life satisfaction, psychologists find... Compared with Americans in 1957, today we own twice as many cars per person, eat out twice as often and enjoy endless other commodities that weren't around then--big-screen TVs, microwave ovens, SUVs and handheld wireless devices, to name a few. But are we any happier? Certainly, happiness is difficult to pin down, let alone measure. But a recent literature review suggests we're no more contented than we were then -- in fact, maybe less so.

"Compared with their grandparents, today's young adults have grown up with much more affluence, slightly less happiness and much greater risk of depression and assorted social pathology," notes Hope College psychologist David G. Myers, PhD, author of the article, which appeared in the American Psychologist (Vol. 55, No. 1). "Our becoming much better off over the last four decades has not been accompanied by one iota of increased subjective well-being.".... consumerism is an example of an area where psychology needs to stretch from its focus on the individual and examine the wider impact of the phenomenon, Kanner believes. "Corporate-driven consumerism is having massive psychological effects, not just on people, but on our planet as well," he says. "Too often, psychology over-individualizes social problems. In so doing, we end up blaming the victim, in this instance by locating materialism primarily in the person while ignoring the huge corporate culture that's invading so much of our lives."

     The first thought challenges Christians to live their lives more in line with what they claim to believe. The second affirms what the Bible has said all along (though most still have a hard time believing it, since the advertising industry works so hard to get us to believe just the opposite) -- riches will not make you happy, and "Materialism is Bad For You" (the title of another good article by Carey Goldberg).

May your new year be one of significant spiritual growth, Pastor Jeff

The Trivialization of God

Greetings All,

     This week's 'thought' comes to you from Donald W. McCullough, and is taken from his book, "The Trivialization of God."  It is a perceptive look at the ways that we, or our culture, have "shrunk" God down to make Him more manageable, and comfortable to deal with, or be around.
     This selection has to do with the three popular American deities: The god-of-my-cause, the god-of-my-understanding, and the god-of-my-experience, concluding with the much needed God- beyond-my-view-of-God. By necessity I have tried to shorten one chapter into one page, using the cut and paste method. So, if you get a chance, read it all in his book. It's well worth the time. In fact, it's a must for people who desire to avoid the all-too-easy-trap of trivializing God. Enjoy.

"God Of My Cause

     It's natural to want help... When I was younger, there was a boy named David. He could hit further, pitch harder, and field better than any kid in the neighborhood. We always wanted him on our side; he pretty much assured victory... The challenges may now be greater and the stakes higher, but I haven't grown out of wanting a David on my side. I doubt I am alone in this desire. The bigger the problem, of course, the bigger the help needed, and God is the Biggest Help available.

     So God naturally gets called in to lend almighty support to various causes -- even good causes -- holding the earth with concern, loosing the bonds of injustice, letting the oppressed go free, sharing our bread with the hungry, and bringing the poor homeless into our houses.

     What could be more appropriate than seeking God's help with these things? Indeed, this must please the God revealed in Scripture -- so long as a subtle shift does not take place. What can happen, though, is this: instead of serving God by working for a just cause, we serve a just cause by using God. The cause pushes God aside; the divine end becomes simply a useful means, and God gets trivialized. With the best of motives, we throw golden rings and bracelets of passionate concern into the fire, and a calf appears to lead the way to the Promised Land of social righteousness...

     If God is brought in secondarily, after the problem and solution have been defined (oppression and political or economic liberation), that will invariably shape our image of God. We may view God, for example, as simply an aid to fulfilling our human aspirations, or simply Big Help for what is essentially a human struggle for self-improvement... Reinhold Niebuhr wrote, 'Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith' -- faith, I would add, in a God who transcends history, who knows the beginning from the end, who holds the truth of any problem in the context of all truth. Seeing salvation from any other god will come to grief, for a god pressed into the service of a particular cause will be a god too trivial to offer significant help.

God Of My Understanding

     A child at the beach digs a hole in the sand and, with her little bucket, busily sets about transferring the ocean into it. We smile at the grandeur of her ambition, but only because we know she will soon mature beyond such pathetic futility. An ocean cannot be contained in any hole of any size on any continent. And neither can God be fully contained within any theological system.

     Yet well-meaning Christians, in seeking to bear accurate witness to God, often become so attached to their formulations they forget the discontinuity between God and what can be said about God. They forget that only in Christ Jesus has there ever been an exact correspondence between God and humanity. Doctrinal lines are routinely drawn in the dirt, enemies named and challenged, and offending notions bombed in 'jihads' of theological self-assuredness... An honest desire to think and speak accurately about God moves, too easily it seems, to a presumptuous conviction that our affirmations contain the whole truth about God, which has the practical effect of confining God to our truth statements....

     The theological enterprise demands humility as much as critical thinking. The best theologians have known this. Thomas Aquinas, after completing thirty-eight treatises, three thousand articles, and the ten thousand objections in his Summa Theologica -- one of the greatest intellectual achievements of western civilization -- abruptly quit his work on December 6, 1273.  He had a profound experience while celebrating mass in the chapel of St. Nicholas, and he announced to his secretary that he would write no more. 'I can do no more,' he tried to explain, 'such things have been revealed to me that all I have written seems to me as so much straw'...

     Our theological systems may succeed in containing the god-of-my-understanding, but never the holy God.

God Of My Experience 

     The things we experience, naturally, are the things of which we are the most certain. So, my form of worship, and my style of prayer, and my focus in service easily shape the pattern into which I squeeze spiritual reality...

     As a boy I attended a Bible camp run by a Pentecostal denomination... The preaching -- filled with interesting stories, as I recall -- aimed for our conversion and baptism in the Holy Spirit (evidenced by speaking in tongues)... One night I knelt for what seemed like enough time for God to turn me into a certified saint, let alone make me speak in tongues. A counselor did his best to help me: he prayed over me, laid his hands on me, suggested syllables for me to mouth, and held up my arms when they got weary. But he himself got tired, I suppose, and at one point I heard him whisper to someone who walked by, "He really doesn't want it." He really doesn't want it? Imagine what those words did to a boy trying his best to please God! How could I not want it? How could I not want the Holy Spirit?...

     I have no doubt that some people have been given the ability to pray in ecstatic utterance as a sign of the Spirit's presence; the New Testament validates this spiritual gift (I Cor. 14), and I have many friends who testify to its importance in their lives. But there is scant biblical evidence for turning this into a necessary proof of the Spirit-filled life. So little, in fact, that most of the church for most of its history, has seen this manifestation of the Spirit as one of the least important (I Cor. 12:31).

     What has happened, it seems, is that some have been so moved and helped by this gift, they have not only wanted others to share in their experience, but have made it normative for everyone. Those who lack the experience must therefore lack the fullness of the Spirit, which is another way of saying they lack the presence of God. The counselor of my youth assumed that the presence of God would always be shown in a certain experience, and thus without that experience, God could not really be present -- at least not fully.

     Not only does this assumption contradict the fact that the God revealed in Scripture seems to love diversity (I Cor. 12:28-30)... it also has the effect of limiting God, setting boundaries on the way God works in this world....  How easy it is to define authentic spirituality according to my particular experience and expression of it. And when I do, I end up with a very different god from the one revealed in Christ... a god, consequently, too trivial to lift me out of my self and beyond the distortions of my flawed experience.

God Beyond My View of God

     ...Concerns held with passionate conviction, theologies that provide a helpful framework, and formative spiritual experiences are not bad. A healthy Christian will have all these things!  They can be lenses through which we see important aspects of the being of God. The problem arises when we forget the vast difference between our view of God and the reality of God...

     Any god I use to support my latest cause, or who fits comfortably within my understanding or experience, will be a god no larger than I, and thus not able to save me from my sin or inspire my worship or empower my service.  Any god who fits the contours of ME will never really transcend me, never really be God.  Any god who doesn't kick the bars out of the prison of my perceptions will be nothing but a trivial god."

     I have to say that as I was reading that section of his book I thought to myself: guilty, guilty, guilty.  In fact, I had written the word "guilty" next to one of his comments in the book.

     After all, it's hard not to want God to be the way I want Him.  It's hard not to want Him to be on my side of any cause, or not want my experience to define how He is. Thank God, though, that He does not comply with my wishes! He is who He is, and remains true to who He is, even if ALL want Him to be different -- and most do on occasion -- myself included. 

     God help me -- God help us all -- to grow to learn and affirm all that you reveal about yourself in Your Word, remembering the need for humility as we try to do so, since there is so much more of You than our finite and limited minds can ever grasp.

In the service of Him who is loving, beautiful, immense, and holy beyond imagination, Pastor Jeff

The Marks of Spiritual Power

Greetings All,     

     Today's 'thought' brings some needed clarity to a reality that is often misunderstood in Christian circles -- the presence, power, and evidence of a true work of the Holy Spirit and His power.

     This selection comes to you from Richard Foster in an article entitled "The Marks of Spiritual Power."

It is found in a book by Randall Harris called: "The Contemporaries Meet The Classics on the Holy Spirit."

As one who has personally seen spiritual power exercised by others with great love and humility, but also misused and mislabeled, Foster offers some helpful reminders. Enjoy.

The Marks of Spiritual Power

     "The power of the flesh relies upon such things as proper pedigree, positions of status, and connections among those in the power structure (Phil. 3:2-6). But Paul, you see, had given up on the flesh. He said that he counted those things as 'dung' for his sights were set on a greater power -- 'that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death...' (Phil. 3:10-11).

     Now, when we see people desperately striving for the 'dung' of human power we can be sure that they know precious little of the 'power of His resurrection." 

     What then, are the marks of this power that proceeds from God?

     1.) Love is the first mark of spiritual power (Rom. 5:5). Love demands that power be used for the good of others. Notice Jesus' use of power -- the healing of the blind, the sick, the maimed, the dumb, the leper, and many others... Notice in each case the concern for the good of others, the motivation of love... Power for the purpose of advancing reputations or inflating egos is not power motivated by love.

     When God used Paul and Barnabas to heal a cripple at Lystra, the astonished people tried to turn them into Greek gods, but they tore their clothes and shouted out, 'We also are men, just like you' (Acts 14:15). Many of us might not find the idea of deity status so reprehensible.  Think of the power over people we would have, and, after all, we would use the power to such good ends!  But power that is used to advance reputations destroys the user, because with it we aspire to be gods.

     2.) The second mark of spiritual power is humility. Humility is power under control. Nothing is more dangerous than power in the service of arrogance. Power under the discipline of humility is teachable (Acts 10:1-35, Acts 18:24-26, Galatians 2:11-21). Believe me, this is no small matter. Many have been destroyed in their walk with God simply because their power was not controlled by humility...

     Power destroys when it is not coupled with the spirit of humility.  To really know the power of God is to be keenly aware that we have done nothing more than receive a gift. Gratitude, not pride, is our only appropriate response. The power is not ours, though we are given the freedom to use it. When we truly walk with God, our only desire is to use power in the service of Christ and His kingdom.

     3.) This leads to the third mark of spiritual power -- self-limitation. The power that creates, refrains from doing some things -- even good things -- out of respect for the individual. Have you ever noticed the number of times that Jesus refused to use power?

     He refused to dazzle people by jumping off the pinnacle of the temple (Matt. 4:5). He rejected the temptation to make more 'wonder bread' to validate His ministry (John 6:26). He refused to do many wonderful works in His own hometown because of the unbelief of the people (Luke 4:16-27). He said no to the Pharisees' demand that He give them a sign to prove He was the Messiah (Matt. 12:38).  At His arrest, Jesus reminded Peter that He could have summoned a whole army of angels to his rescue, but He did not (Matt. 26:53).  Paul said, 'Lay hands suddenly on no man' (I Tim. 5:22 KJV)... Those who live and move in God know that there is a time to withhold the hand of power just as there is a time to use it.

     4.) Joy is the fourth mark of spiritual power. This is no grim-faced, dour effort. Far from it! To see the kingdom of Christ break into the midst of darkness and depression is a wonderful thing.  As M. Scott Peck writes, 'The experience of spiritual power is basically a joyful one.' ... 

     I hope you understand that I am referring to something more profound than the bubbly 'joy' of the superficial. The rich inner joy of spiritual power knows sorrow and is acquainted with grief.  Joy and grief often have a symbiotic relationship.

     5.) Vulnerability is the fifth mark of spiritual power. The power that comes from above is not filled with bravado and bombast. It lacks the symbols of human authority; indeed, its symbols are a manger and a cross. It is power that is not recognized as power. It is a self-chosen position of meekness that to human eyes looks powerless... The power from above leads from weakness, and is perfected in weakness (II Cor. 12:9-10).

     6.) The sixth mark of spiritual power is submission. Jesus knew what it meant to submit to the ways of God: 'The Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing; for whatever He does, that the Son does likewise' (John 5:19). As we learn to experience on a personal level this same kind of intimate cooperation with the Father, we will enter more deeply into the meaning of true power... We submit to Scripture to learn more perfectly the ways of God with human beings. We submit to the Holy Spirit to learn the meaning of obedience. We submit to the life of faith in order to understand the difference between human power and divine power. 'Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ,' said Paul (Eph. 5:21)... When we submit to others, we have access to their wisdom, their counsel, their rebuke, their encouragement... Human power is power over someone, divine power has no such need to control..."

     God's Spirit always works in conformity with God's character. Therefore, when it claims to be exercised, yet is done to sinful ends (self-exaltation, control, manipulation, etc.) we should be cautious and question if it is truly being exercised at all -- or if it is power of a different kind.

     Let us pray that the power of God may fall upon His people.  And with it let us pray that these six marks (or fruits) of divine power, which are so contrary to fleshly, human power, might also attend it.

In the bonds of Christian Charity, Pastor Jeff

Following Jesus with Reckless Abandon

Greetings All,

     This week's 'thought' comes from a fascinating little book entitled, "Holy Fools - Following Jesus with Reckless Abandon." I picked it up at a local bargain basement for $.99. (One of the better deals I've found in recent months, especially when one considers the quality of the book!)
     It's written by Matthew Woodley who began his journey as a 'holy fool' after coming to realize his life as a comfortable, respectable, and "nice" pastor wasn't exactly what God had called him to be -- nor us.
     The book is honest, well-written, realistic, theologically sound and challenging. And it lives up to the claim made on the cover: "A spiritual jolt for when your respectable faith becomes deadly dull." This particular selection (a story of sin on Woodley's part, and the grace he learned) has to do with "Embracing Ragged Sinners." Enjoy.

     "I'm afraid that we (in the church) have become so ghettoized that we no longer (like Jesus) make contact with 'sinners' -- and we like it that way... 

     So we return to Phillip Yancey's question: 'What would it take for a church to become a place where prostitutes, tax collectors, and even quilt-tinged Pharisees would gladly gather?' I would answer: It takes holy folly -- and not just one or two holy fools, but an entire community of holy fools. If it takes a village to raise a child, it also certainly takes a community to embrace fellow sinners and raise new followers of Jesus.

     About a year ago a bunch of big, tough-looking, pasta-addicted Italian guys with names like Sal, Vinny and Johnny, rented the abandoned restaurant next to our church building. They were trying to create a fine dining experience in an ugly part of town. Even after everyone told them it was a dumb idea (in five years this location had chewed up five restaurants), they did it anyway. They called it "316" because it was located at 316 Main Street.

     As they were getting ready to open for business I paid them a visit, because: (1) I'm a very nice Christian neighbor and (2) I wanted to scope out the building so that after the restaurant failed we could use it for a cool young worship service. But when Sal and Vinny and Johnny discovered I was a local pastor, they asked me to come back in a week and bless the building. Of course, this put me in a tough spot: How do you bless something you want to fail?

     A week later I returned and offered one of the most insincere blessings ever given in two thousand years of professional Christian blessings. It was very awkward. They kept calling me 'Father,' and I kept waiting for the Godfather to show up. They begged me to stay for a drink, so when I asked for ginger ale they laughed hysterically and poured me a glass of their best Scotch. (Just for the record I hate Scotch, but I did sip some of it despite the elders meeting that night.)

     My wife and I became good buddies with Sal and Johnny and Vinny. They let us eat expensive meals at 316 for free. When my wife read to them 3:16 from the Gospel of John, they were so moved they framed it and hung it in the middle of the restaurant. I even repented and started praying with utter sincerity that God would bless 316.

     We invited them to church, and Johnny actually showed up for Easter Sunday, and occasional Sundays after that. Another guy named Guido (or Jimmy) wanted to come, but Vinny told me he had to spend a few years at 'college' (i.e., the local jail). 

     About two months later, Johnny pulled me aside after a worship service. He showed me a pretty little box and said, 'I want you to pray for this box.' After praying for a building, I figured I could pray for a box. 'Sure, Johnny, but what's in there?' Tears welled up in his eyes as he said, 'These are the ashes of my twenty-nine-year-old daughter. She was murdered in Vegas. She told me that she had found Jesus through a church out there, but then she was shot. Will you bless her remains, and will your church help me do a memorial service for her?' My heart shattered, I gasped for air, and I whispered, 'Of course we'll be there for you Johnny.' I couldn't meet Johnny's request to pray for dead remains, but I would do everything in my power to walk beside Johnny in the depths of his grief. 

     The next week my wife and some other folks from the church helped me with the memorial service. We packed out the place with big Italian guys who stood by Johnny and wept like babies. I spoke from Isaiah 53 about how we're all just a bunch of lost sheep but Jesus loves us like a Good Shepherd. They wept even louder. Through it all, I was proud of our church family. I had started out acting like a religious jerk, but God used the entire church anyway to reach beyond our ghetto walls. We were acting like a community of holy fools.

     How do we heal the wounds of broken people living in a broken world? It doesn't happen with programs or strategies. It happens person to person, through a complete identification of oneself with others. And it happens not just with a solo holy fool, but with an entire community committed to a lifestyle of holy folly."

     What else could one add?

     May God bless you as you seek to venture out of the fortress, or the "church ghetto" of respectability and niceness, as he calls it, and identify with those "sinners" living in the border lands all around us.

In Him, Pastor Jeff

The Birth of the Song "Precious Lord'

Hi All,

Just got back from a trip and was wondering what to send along when I received this from a friend. Thought it was encouraging enough to pass along. It goes along with what I wrote to a grieving parishioner not long ago. "In the crisis' of life God most often gives us peace, comfort and consolation and not answers."

THE BIRTH OF THE SONG 'PRECIOUS LORD'

Back in 1932, I was 32 years old and a fairly new husband. My wife, Nettie and I were living in a little apartment on Chicago's south side.
One hot August afternoon I had to go to St. Louis, where I was to be the featured soloist at a large revival meeting. I didn't want to go. Nettie was in the last month of pregnancy with our first child. But a lot of people were expecting me in St. Louis. I kissed Nettie good-bye, clattered downstairs to our Model A and, in a fresh Lake Michigan breeze, chugged out of Chicago on Route 66.
However, outside the city, I discovered that in my anxiety at leaving, I had forgotten my music case. I wheeled around and headed back. I found Nettie sleeping peacefully. I hesitated by her bed; something was strongly telling me to stay. But eager to get on my way, and not wanting to disturb Nettie, I shrugged off the feeling and quietly slipped out of the room with my music.

The next night, in the steaming St. Louis heat, the crowd called on me to sing again and again. When I finally sat down, a messenger boy ran up with a Western Union telegram. I ripped open the envelope. Pasted on the yellow sheet were the words: YOUR WIFE JUST DIED.
People were happily singing and clapping around me, but I could hardly keep from crying out. I rushed to a phone and called home. All I could hear on the other end was 'Nettie is dead. Nettie is dead.'
When I got back, I learned that Nettie had given birth to a boy. I swung between grief and joy. Yet that same night, the baby died. I buried Nettie and our little boy together, in the same casket. Then I fell apart. For days I closeted myself. I felt that God had done me an injustice. I didn't want to serve Him any more or write gospel songs. I just wanted to go back to that jazz world I once knew so well.
But then, as I hunched alone in that dark apartment those first sad days, I thought back to the afternoon I went to St. Louis. Something kept telling me to stay with Nettie. Was that something God? Oh, if I had paid more attention to Him that day, I would have stayed and been with Nettie when she died.

From that moment on I vowed to listen more closely to Him. But still I was lost in grief. Everyone was kind to me, especially a friend, Professor Fry, who seemed to know what I needed.

On the following Saturday evening he took me up to Malone's Poro College , a neighborhood music school. It was quiet; the late evening sun crept through the curtained windows. I sat down at the piano, and my hands began to browse over the keys. Something happened to me then. I felt at peace. I felt as though I could reach out and touch God. I found myself playing a melody, once into my head they just seemed to fall into place:

'Precious Lord, take my hand, 

lead me on, let me stand!

I am tired, I am weak, I am worn,

Through the storm, through the night, 

lead me on to the light,

Take my hand, precious Lord, 

lead me home.'

The Lord gave me these words and melody, He also healed my spirit. I learned that when we are in our deepest grief, when we feel farthest from God, this is when He is closest, and when we are most open to His restoring power. And so I go on living for God willingly and joyfully, until that day comes when He will take me and gently lead me home.

-Tommy Dorsey-

Have a great week. In His Service, Pastor Jeff

www.christcommunitybiblechurch.org