Brokenness is the Pathway to Spiritual Fruitfulness

Dear Friends,

     Today's "thought" confronts us with a reality we sometimes wish were not so.  Yet, it's a truth proclaimed both in Scripture and from the mouths or pens of numerous saints throughout history: Brokenness is the pathway to spiritual fruitfulness.  Before God can truly use you, He must first break you.  As much as we might wish it were otherwise, it is true. This selection comes from the devotional, "Streams in the Desert" by L. B. Cowman (with added content).  Enjoy.

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart, O God,

you will not despise.”

Psalm 51:17

     “Those people God uses most to bring glory to Himself are those who are completely broken, for the sacrifice He accepts is, "a broken and contrite heart.”  It was not until Jacob’s natural strength was broken, when “his hip was wrenched” at Peniel (Gen. 32:25), that he came to the point where God could clothe him with spiritual power.  It was not until Moses struck the rock at Horeb, breaking its surface, that cool “water flowed out of it for the people to drink” (Ex. 17:6).  It was not until Gideon’s three hundred specially chosen soldiers “broke the jars that were in their hands” (which symbolized brokenness in their lives, Judg.7:19), that the hidden light of the torches shone forth and brought terror to their enemies.

     It was once the poor widow broke the seal on her only remaining jar of oil and began to pour it out that God miraculously multiplied it to pay her debts and thereby supplied her means of support (2 Kings 4:1–7).  It was not until Esther risked her life and broke through the strict laws of a heathen king’s court that she obtained favor to rescue her people from death (Est. 4:16).  It was only when Jesus took “the five loaves . . . and broke them” (Luke 9:16) that the bread was multiplied to feed the five thousand.  It was through the loaves being broken that the miracle occurred.  It was when Mary broke her beautiful “alabaster jar of very expensive perfume” (Matt. 26:7), and destroyed its future usefulness and value, that the wonderful fragrance filled the house.

     Mary (the mother of Jesus) was not only told of the joy of her being chosen by God to give birth to the Messiah, but that her heart would be pierced also -- cut and broken in two, as if by a sword. Overwhelming grief would cut deep into the joys of bearing and raising Jesus.  Peter was broken of his stubborn pride through the crushing and humiliating experience of denying Jesus three times in His hour of greatest need. Yet, through such failure and humiliation, he was made more humble and dependent on the Spirit, readied through the pain of brokenness to lead the early church.  Heartless Paul was broken on the road to Damascus as Christ appeared to him and blinded him, and he was led helpless, dazed, humbled, and broken in spirit, into the city, like a little child.  Likewise, it was when Jesus allowed His precious body to be broken by thorns, nails, and a spear, that His inner life was poured out like an ocean of crystal-clear water for thirsty sinners to drink and live! 

     It is not until a beautiful kernel of corn is buried and broken in the earth by DEATH, that its inner heart sprouts heavenward and grows to produce hundreds of other seeds or kernels. And so it has always been throughout history — GOD USES BROKEN THINGS.  Those who have been gripped by the power of the Holy Spirit and are used for God’s glory are those who have been broken in their finances, broken in their self-will, broken in their ambitions, broken in their lofty ideals, broken in their worldly reputation, broken in their desires, and often broken in their health.  Yes, He uses those who are despised by the world and who seem totally hopeless and helpless, just as Isaiah said: “The lame will carry off plunder” (Isa. 33:23).

     ‘Oh, break my heart; but break it as a field is plowed and broken for the seeds of corn… Oh, break my heart; break it, victorious God, that life’s eternal well may flow abroad... Break it as when the captive trees, breaking icy bonds, regain their liberties.  And as thought’s sacred grove to life is springing, be joys, like birds, their hope, Your victory singing.’ (Thomas Toke Bunch)”

     This theme is spoken of repeatedly throughout church history.  Martin Luther once wrote in similar terms suggesting: “God creates out of nothing. Therefore, until a man nothing, God can make nothing out of Him.”  Another saint said, “God always builds on ruins.”   Alan Redpath said: “God will never plant the seed of His life upon the soil of a hard, unbroken spirit. He will only plant that seed where the conviction of His Spirit has brought brokenness, and where the soil has been watered with tears of repentance as well as tears of joy.”   Hudson Taylor the famous missionary to China said, “When God wants to do His great works, He trains somebody to be quiet enough and little enough, and then He uses that person.”  Revival, says Isaiah, comes not to those who think they have it together, but to the broken: “This is what the high and lofty One says – He who loves forever and whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.” (57:15).  Being broken is never pleasant, but it is the path that leads to spiritual fruit and usefulness.

     The way God makes us whole is to permit us to go through experiences that "break us" — because brokenness is the pathway to wholeness and restoration.  Pride is like steel that must be softened in the heat of the furnace before it becomes something that can be formed and molded.  The human heart is by nature like hard parched ground which must be watered with tears, and broken by the plow of trials, before the seed of His word can penetrate and take root. The will of man is like a hard lump of clay which the Potter must first pound and squeeze and stretch and then repeat the process all over again, before he can then take it and make it into a beautiful piece of colorful pottery.  Lord, how we wish there was an easier way... 

In His Service, Pastor Jeff

What do I look for in a Pastor?

Greetings All,

     Another week, another message!  I so look forward to sending out these gems I glean from my reading of Christian authors.
     This week's "thought"  has to do with the trend in the church to court or win the approval of the movers and shakers in the world by conforming Christian ministry to standards people in the world would find more acceptable.  It addresses the attempt to make ministry more proper, legitimate, credible and well-received in the eyes of the world -- more professional.  And to a degree the thought may seem good. But it must be approached with caution, lest the faith be made into something it was never intended to be - just one among a plethora of other legitimate admirable professions to pursue.

     This thought comes to you from John Piper in one of his less-well-known books, "Brothers, We Are NOT Professionals."   It's a good reminder in a world that often seeks to pressure the Church to conform to its standards. Though written primarily to pastors, it has a message for every Christian. Try to understand what he's saying and I believe you will see the validity of his points.  And at the end, ask yourself: What do I look for in a pastor?  Enjoy.

     "We pastors are being killed by the professionalizing of the pastoral ministry.  The mentality of the professional is not the mentality of the prophet. It is not the mentality of the slave of Christ. Professionalism has nothing to do with the essence and heart of the Christian ministry.  The more professional we long to be, the more spiritual death we will leave in our wake. For there is no professional childlikeness (Matt. 18:3); there is no professional tenderheartedness (Eph. 4:32); there is no professional panting after God (Ps. 42:1).  But our first business IS to pant after God in prayer. Our business IS to weep over our sins (James 4:9). Is there professional weeping?  Our business IS to strain forward to the holiness of Christ and the prize of the upward calling of God (Phil. 3:14); to pummel our bodies and subdue them lest we be castaways (I Cor. 9:27); to deny ourselves and take up the blood-spattered cross daily (Luke 9:23). How do you carry a cross professionally?  We have been crucified with Christ; yet now we live by faith in the one who loved us and gave Himself up for us (Gal. 2:20).  What is professional faith?

     We are to be filled not with wine but with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18). How can you be drunk with Christ professionally? Then, wonder of wonders, we were given the gospel treasure to carry around in clay pots to show that the transcendent power belongs to God (II Cor. 4:7).  Is there a way to be a professional clay pot?  We are afflicted in every way but not crushed, perplexed but not driven to despair, persecuted but not destroyed, always carrying in the body the death of Jesus (professionally?) so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested (professionally?) in our bodies (II Cor. 4:9-11). I think God has exhibited us preachers as last of all in the world. We are fools for Christ's sake, but professionals are wise.  We are weak, but professionals are strong.  Professionals are held in honor, we are held in disrepute. We do not try to secure a professional lifestyle, but are ready to hunger and thirst and be ill-clad and homeless. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slaughtered, we try to conciliate; we have become the refuse of the world, the scum of the earth (I Cor. 4:9-13).  Or have we?

     Brothers, we are NOT professionals!  We are outcasts. We are aliens and exiles in the world (I Pet. 2:11).  Our citizenship is in heaven and we wait in eager expectation for the Lord (Phil. 3:20).  You cannot professionalize the love for His appearing without killing it.  And it IS being killed.  The aims of our ministry are eternal and spiritual. They are not shared by any of the professions. It is precisely by the failure to see this that we are dying. "The life-giving preacher," says Richard Cecil, "is a man of God, whose heart is ever athirst for God, whose soul is ever following hard after God, whose eye is single to God, and in whom, by the power of God's Spirit, the flesh and the world have been crucified and his ministry is like the generous flood of a life-giving river." 

     ...The professionalization of the ministry is a constant threat to the offense of the Gospel. It is a threat to the profoundly spiritual nature of our work. I have seen it often: the love of professionalism (the desire for equality in status and pay with the world's professionals) kills a man's belief that he is sent by God to save people from hell and make them Christ-exalting, spiritual aliens in this world. If the world sets the agenda for the professional man; God sets the agenda for the spiritual man. The strong wine of Jesus Christ explodes the wineskins of professionalism. There is an infinite difference between the pastor whose heart is set on being a professional and the pastor whose heart is set on being the aroma of Christ -- the fragrance of death to some and eternal life to others (II Cor. 2:15-16).  God deliver us from the professionalizers!

     God, give us tears for our sins.  Forgive us for being so shallow in prayer, so thin in our grasp of holy truths, so content amid perishing neighbors, so empty of passion and earnestness in all our conversations.  Restore to us the childlike joy of our salvation.  Frighten us with the awesome holiness and power of Him who can cast both soul and body into hell (Matt. 10:28). Cause us to hold to the cross with fear and trembling as our hope-filled and offensive tree of life.  Grant us nothing, absolutely nothing, the way the world views it.  May Christ be all in all (Col. 3:11). Banish professionalism from our midst, Oh God, and in its place put passionate prayer, poverty of spirit, hunger for God, rigorous study of holy things, white-hot devotion to Jesus Christ, utter indifference to all material gain, and unremitting labor to rescue the perishing, perfect the saints, and glorify our sovereign Lord. Humble us, O God, under your mighty hand, and let us rise -- not as professionals, but as witnesses and partakers of the sufferings of Christ. In His awesome name. Amen." 

     Some of us (myself included) have lost elements of the passion we once had when we started out in the ministry.  In some cases wisdom has thankfully tempered a lopsided zeal, a blatant omission of duty, or a pride-motivated (rather than Christ-motivated) passion for service.  But in other cases the passion that drove us into the ministry can get driven out of us by the ministry -- sometimes by the expectations placed upon us that we need to be more like the successful worldly professionals around us.

     Yet other times it may even be due to the pastors themselves adopting the subtle worldly idea that ministry is a "profession" rather than a "calling."  One that is to be carried out even if there are no "competitive benefit packages."  Yes, carried out even if it were to mean persecution, the loss of all our possessions, or even our life (Hebrews 11:32-40 / Rev. 2:8-10).  Piper's point is well taken --  professionalization of the ministry can (and has) brought spiritual apathy to the church.  Maybe it's time to consider afresh what it means to be a follower of Jesus, and remember that the call to follow Jesus is a call to serve Him for His sake, at whatever the cost, no matter what comes our way as a result -- something most of the professionals I know would not be inclined to do in their particular professions.

In His Service, Pastor Jeff

The Power of Prayer in a Believer's Life

Greetings All,

I didn't get a chance to post a "thought" last week, so I wanted to rectify that this week!   This one is by Charles H. Spurgeon and has to do with prayer.  Actually, it has to do with the Bible's command for us to pray.  Many see prayer as an optional practice one can engage in if, or when, they choose.  But the Bible sees it differently.  Thus, I offer you Spurgeon's insights on the matter, which come from the book, "The Power of Prayer in a Believer's Life," compiled and edited by Robert Hall.   Enjoy!

Prayer is Commanded 

     "We are not merely counselled or advised to pray, we are commanded to pray. This is a great condescension to our needs, weaknesses, and struggles. When a hospital is built, it is considered sufficient that the doors are open for the sick when they need help.  But no order is given that the sick must enter the hospital's care.  It is thought to be enough to offer its services without issuing a mandate that people must take advantage of them.  It seems somewhat strange, therefore, that where prayer is concerned, people need to be commanded to be merciful to their own souls.

     So marvelous is the condescension of our gracious God that He issues a command of love without which the sons of Adam would rather starve (or remain sick) than come and partake of the Gospel feast or services to help cure their soul.  God's own people need -- or else they would not have been given it -- a command to pray. Why?  Because we are very subject to periods of worldliness.  We do not forget to eat, or go to work, or go to our beds to sleep, but we do often forget to wrestle with God in prayer and spend long periods in consecrated fellowship with our Father and our God.  With many believers, the worldly ledger is so large and bulky that you cannot move it, and the Bible -- representing their devotion -- is so small that you could fit it in the pocket of their coat. Hours for the world, minutes for Christ! The world gets the best, while prayer gets the leftovers of our time.  We give our strength and freshness to the ways of making money and our tiredness to the ways of God.

     Hence it is that we need to be commanded to attend that that very act that should be our greatest joy and happiness and highest privilege to perform -- to meet with our God.  "Call upon me," He says, for He knows we are prone to forget.  "How can you sleep? Get up and call on your God!"(Jonah 1:6) is an exhortation we need to hear as much as Jonah did in the storm...

     It may be helpful for some of you to find out how often in Scripture you are told to pray. "Call on me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you" (Psalm 50:15). "Trust in Him at all times, you people, pour out your hearts to Him" (Psalm 62:8).  "Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near" (Isaiah 55:6).  "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and the door will be opened to you" (Matt. 7:7).  "Watch and pray, that you do not fall into temptation" (Matt. 26:41).  "Pray without ceasing" (I Thess 5:7). "Let us therefore come boldly before the throne of grace" (Heb. 4:16).  "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" (James 4:8).  "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful" (Col. 4:2). I need not multiply texts on the need for prayer when I could not exhaust them.  I have picked only a few from this great bag of pearls...

     There are also times when God commands His people to pray not only in the Bible, but directly in their hearts by the motions of His Holy Spirit. You who know the inner life understand my meaning. You suddenly feel the pressing sense that you must pray.  It may be that you do not at first take particular notice of the inclination, but it comes again, and again, and again -- "Pray!"  I find that in the matter of prayer I am like a water wheel that runs well when there is plenty of water pouring over it, but turns with very little force when the brook grows shallow. Whenever our Lord gives us the special inclination to pray, we should double our diligence. Scripture says we should pray always and never give up" (Luke 18:1), yet when God gives us the special longing and compulsion to pray, you have another command that should compel you to cheerful obedience...  See to it that you use the golden hour and reap a harvest while the sun shines. When we enjoy visitations from on high, we should be particularly constant in prayer.  If some other pressing duty comes our way, let it pass.  When God in a special way bids us to pray by the motions of His Holy Spirit, we should obey and pray." 

     It may come as a surprise to hear that God commanding us to pray is part of His condescension (in a good sense) to our struggles and weaknesses. He knows we struggle to pray. He knows we are distracted. He knows other things nudge it out. He knows we have sinful inclinations that encourage us not to pray. Therefore, out of a grace that pushes us to do those things that are good for us, He commands us to pray.  And He does so not only through the written and recorded Word in Scripture, but even more personally in our hearts by His Spirit. Spurgeon is right. Those who know the Lord know that He frequently moves us internally to pray, or want to pray, or feel we must pray, and that if we don't we will be defying Him!

Just some thoughts to ponder, Pastor Jeff 

Here & Now: Americans – Disassociated from Religion

Greetings All,

     This week's thought is about the growing number of "nones" in American society.  According to a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News Survey, younger Americans don’t value patriotism, having children, or organized religion as much as young people two decades ago. These are the so-called “Nones” whose religious affiliation “none.”  And since the early 1990s the number of them have tripled.

     Below is an interview involving Derek Thompson, senior editor at “The Atlantic” about why this has happened, taken from NPR's - Here & Now:  Americans – Disassociated from Religion. It really is very thought provoking and worth the read - especially if you know young adults who have left the church, or distanced themselves from all forms of organized religion (some sections condensed and clarified due to discussion format). Enjoy.

     Host: You write that more than 9 out of 10 Americans belonged to an organized religion throughout the 60s, 70s, 80s, but then came the 1990s. You spoke to a sociology and religion professor at Notre Dame. What did he tell you about what happened in the 1990s?

     Derek: The rise of the religiously non-affiliated, otherwise called the “Nones,” is an incredibly modern phenomenon in the US… that took off in the early 1990s.  So I asked him.  What happened in the early 1990s?  He said, “Historically speaking there's sort of 3 events we have to key in on.”  The first, is the association between the Republican Party and the Christian right.  That did not necessarily exist in the 1960s and earlier.  It was instead, a reaction to a series of things that happened in the late 60s early 70s.  The sexual revolution, the Roe versus Wade decision, the nationalization of no-fault divorce laws, and the Bob Jones University case where it lost their tax-exempt status over its ban on interracial dating.  Because of all those things the Christian right sort of jumped into politics and merged with the Republican Party in a way that, I think, offended a lot of moderates and liberals, who then began to detach from both organized religion and Republicans.  That's number one.  Second, is the end of the Cold War. For the previous, say, 40 years, there had been an association between those who didn’t believe in God (the communists) and “the evil empire.” Once the Cold War was over, being godless wasn't necessarily considered as evil [as it had been].  And third, I think after 911, during the Bush years, a new association – not between godlessness and the evil empire, but rather, between religion and zealotry (at the national level with the USA, or at the international level with al Qaeda) fed into the rise of religious non-affiliation.

     Host: This is so fascinating.  I mean, take the end of the Cold War reasoning.  You know people (as you remind us) could suddenly say: “Well I don't I don't belong to a church” and not be thought to be communists, which previously they might have been. And then after the al Qaeda attacks, there were people wanting to distance from organized religion, and there was also the scandal in the Catholic Church.

     Derek: Absolutely!

     Host: So, who is doing this non-affiliation?  Is it one specific demographic?

     Derek: Yes. The group that is most pulling away from organized religion over the last 20 to 30 years are young white liberals.  Young white liberals are the ones that are leading the rise in the “Nones.” You don't see a similar dramatic increase from the Blacks and Hispanics.  It is being led by young white liberals who see that the Republican Party has become more and more entrenched with the evangelical movement. Distancing themselves is their way of saying: “I’m not a Republican.”   By proxy, by rejecting the Republican Party, a lot of young whites (I think) feel like they have to reject organized religion as well.  And so, what's ironic to me is that there was this thesis from the late 19^th century that said that religion was going to lose its halo effect because of science. Science was going to drive God from the public square.  But, in fact, in the last 30 years, there's been no grand scientific revolution to make people lose their faith in God.  Science hasn't driven God from the public square, politics has!  And it’s particularly driven religion from the public square for young white millennial's.

     Host: Well, we should clarify that there are many young white millennial's who are very active in churches, or temples, or mosque.  We know that.

     Derek: Absolutely.  But also there is another factor.  Which is that when young people nowadays are delaying having their families, and having their own individual lives for longer, by the time they settle down they may not have time for activities on Sunday morning, or Saturday morning, because they have gyms to go to, and they’ve got this other kind of schedule that's interesting.

     Host: Yeah.  But then you also write about what may be one of the paradoxical downsides.  I mean obviously very religious people might worry about this from a different perspective, but you know, it becomes harder to have a social life without an institution to attend.

     Derek: Yeah, I think that’s a good point. I should add that Christian Smith listed a lot of non-political reasons why religious non-affiliation might be growing, including as you mention, maybe rising divorce, delayed adulthood, etc.  You know, it seems to me that religion isn't just theism. It's not just a belief in God.  It's a bundle. It's a community. It's a theory of how the world works. It's a way of finding individual peace. And I find that a lot of people who have rejected the organized religion bundle shop for individual pieces of that bundle à la carte.  So, you know, maybe their work is a religion, or their politics is a religion, and spin class is a church, and not looking at your phone for a few hours is akin to a digital Sabbath. So, it's interesting to me that although so many millions of Americans have abandoned organized religion, they have only sought to recreate it everywhere they look. They've given up God to a certain extent, only to seek him out everywhere else.” 

     We could surely add other things -- like the Jimmy Swaggert and James Baker scandal in evangelicalism, the misuse of funds and gifts given to ministries, and many other things -- that may have soured people against organized religion.  Yet, regardless of what led to it (and I do believe they are right in suggesting that the end of the cold war, a far too close an association with one political party, and religious zealotry involving violence are to blame) we are left with what we are to do about it?  And the fact that people have come up with all sorts of religious substitutes for organized religion suggests that if we could learn from our mistakes as we move forward, some may be drawn back -- since it the desires for religious expression seems hidden in human nature, even when we try to repress it.

Living in the Grace of Jesus, Pastor Jeff

How an Atheist Journalist became a Christian Believer

Greetings All,

     This weeks "thought" is the story of one many's journey from atheism to faith in Jesus. It is the story of Peter Hitchen's - a British journalist whose well-known brother Christopher was sometimes called the "arch-atheist."  I found it well-written, helpful, and intriguing, and thought I would pass it on to you as well.  So, without any further introduction I offer it to you. Enjoy.

How an Atheist Journalist became a Christian Believer

     "The story of Peter Hitchens' adult conversion to Christianity traced a very different path to that of his arch-atheist brother Christopher.  Christopher Hitchens, along with Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, and Richard Dawkins was one of the so-called “four horsemen of the New Atheism” that led the charge against religion around the turn of the century. As a professional journalist, Christopher Hitchens was possibly the most eloquent of the four, and his wit and humor accomplished more for the cause than the bluster of the other three combined.

     Christopher Hitchens' popularity was so great that atheists and Christian apologists alike mourned his passing in 2011, as did his brother, Peter. Peter, also a journalist, was an outspoken atheist like his brother. Despite their similar professions, views, and upbringing, the two brothers were always at odds, practically since childhood Though both were raised in a nominal faith, they began their slide into atheism in early adulthood.

     Peter’s journey toward atheism began when he was still in boarding school at the age of 15. He chose to make his rebellion against religion and all of the conventions of his upbringing official by the ceremonial burning of his Bible – a gift from his parents - in the school yard.  After burning the book, he intentionally began to do the things he had always been instructed were wrong: using foul language, mocking the weak, lying, stealing, using drugs and betraying friends and family members. Peter describes the cultural mindset that he believes led him and his brother away from organized religion:

     “I have passed through the same atheist revelation that most self-confident British members of my generation - I was born in 1951 – have experienced. We were sure that we, and our civilization, had grown out of the nursery myths of God, angels and Heaven. We had modern medicine, penicillin, jet engines, the Welfare State, the United Nations and  'science', which explained everything that needed to be explained.”

     It was not, however, a tragedy or desperate turn of events that caused Peter Hitchens to turn back to his childhood faith. As he grew out of his young rebellion and into his established trade of journalism, he became modestly successful. He enjoyed a pleasant relationship with his girlfriend, and was able to pursue his interests and distractions such as holidays on the continent.  His youthful Marxist convictions had been overturned by his experience as a journalist in Soviet Russia and seeing the tragedy brought on by the atheistic state. As he settled into his adult routine, he fell back into attendance of Anglican church from time to time. This was not out of a sense of religious conviction, but rather out of respect for British tradition. But as he did so, he began to recognize that the faithful men of history who had preceded him were no more foolish for their faith. In fact, their convictions had added to their brilliance as statesmen, artists, scientists and so on.

     Staring at the picture Hitchens felt sudden and true conviction.  It was staring at the picture of one such artist – Rogier van der Weyden’s Last Judgment – that Hitchens felt sudden and true conviction. Seeing the naked figures as they fled the fires of hell, all of his intentional rebellion and misdeeds came back to his mind, and with them, the realization that his life was a testament to the truth found in the painting before him: that misdeeds required justice, and that if anyone required saving from this justice, it was he.  It was on the heels of this sobering incident that Christmas came, and with it, a much more uplifting experience. For many years, Hitchens had feigned disdain for the Christmas season, however now he began to truly enjoy the caroling and joy that came along with the seasonal celebration.

     Following this, Hitchens held his wedding in a church, became baptized, and generally began to participate in church affairs, even as his confidence in political solutions to world problems began to dwindle and fade.  Becoming a Christian in the world of journalism has no small amount of stigma attached to it, and given his formerly radical stances, Hitchens tried to conceal his growing faith from his friends and colleagues.  However, as the years passed, Hitchens began to make his Christian faith part of his identity as a journalist, and especially as his brother achieved fame for his atheist stance, to distance himself from his now-famed sibling. This has ultimately had the effect of carving out a unique niche for Hitchens who now uses his position as a journalist to campaign for the various causes his worldview leads him to embrace."

     (Hitchens’ story may be found in his book: The Rage Against God: How Atheism Led Me to Faith.)

     It's a testimony to ponder, for he challenges us to think through the ultimate issues of life.  I often say atheists are not people who have asked all the questions, or have all the answers, but people who haven't asked enough questions. That is, enough, "where, or how, did this come to be?" questions.  Why is there so much order and beauty in the world?  What purpose does it have?  Where does that inner sense of justice come from? How is it that our DNA (biological matter) has information imprinted upon it?  Where did this information come from? How does order come out of chaos? How does design come about apart from a Designer?  How does one explain that something came from nothing, or that "being" came from "non-being"?  How does one explain miracles or paranormal activity in a world that is supposedly came about from little more than chemical reactions over time?  And on and on the list could go ...  To me atheism requires a far greater leap of faith than belief in a Creator.  That's why so few people (given the world population) jump onto a bandwagon so poorly constructed.

     As many scientists are now acknowledging, the scientific evidence strongly and ultimately points in the direction of intelligent design, and thus ultimately to the reality of a Creator.  But for the atheist there's a downside to acknowledging a Creator -- a downside which has lead many to adopt atheism instead.  It's not any profound "no-God" or "anti-God" evidence. It's not the supposed "God-particle."  It's the fact that people intuitively know that if there is a Creator (who has placed the fingerprint of his beauty, wisdom, orderliness, design, power, justice and the like, on all he has made) it suggests there had to have been a purpose in creating, and a specific plan for those that were created to inhabit what he made. A plan that includes how we should  live and interact with him and each other, and treat what has been created and given to us as a gift.

     Which means that faith in a Creator ultimately leads one to believe there must be some sort of ethical expectations; righteousness and sin issues (do and don't issues); morality and justice issues.  In atheism anything goes, for if life simply evolved from nothing (an impossibility by the way), then it has no meaning. There is no true basis for law, justice, right or wrong, or morality issues. Without a Creator there is no intelligent basis for absolutes.  In creationism, however, life becomes infused with meaning and purpose and divine expectations cannot be avoided.

     What joy, meaning, and value is infused into life simply by acknowledging a Creator, Pastor Jeff

It Is Well With My Soul

Greetings All,

     My daughter Bekah sent me the link to this devotional by Tori Kelly the other day, because she knows Horatio Spafford's hymn "It Is Well With My Soul" is one of my favorites. I opened it, read it, felt there was much honest transparency and biblical truth in it, and therefore thought I would pass it along to you. I trust it will encourage and speak to you as well.  Enjoy.

SOUL’S ANTHEM (IT IS WELL)

     Suffering is guaranteed in this life. The devil is always throwing fiery darts at us. Right now in this moment he’s trying to attack my family, my health, my relationships, and my peace. He’ll do anything to take my eyes off of Jesus.  He wants to take everything away from me, and most importantly, he wants to take my faith.

     Our faith is not grounded in our circumstances.  Neither can our joy in Christ be.  Recently, my grandfather passed away in the time I felt I needed him most.  I felt like I had lost my best friend. It was so painful to go through and I cried so much -- until my eyes had nothing left.  But through every tear, God was with me in those hard moments. I could still be in a dark and lonely place, and even be mourning, but my joy could not be stolen because it is secured in Jesus.  No matter what happens, no matter what arrows are thrown my way, no matter how dark it gets, I know I will be okay.  It’s not always easy to believe, but I know that when I remind myself that God is in control I find rest and am able to sing, “it is well with my soul.”

     Most importantly, I can always sing “it is well” because God spoiled the movie for us and we get to know how this story ends. “It is well with my soul” because there is a place called heaven where death will be no more, every tear will be wiped away, and any tears shed in this life will be redeemed (he has bottled each one).

     Maybe your suffering is different than losing a grandfather. Maybe it’s worse. Maybe it’s as bad as the writer of “It is Well” who lost his entire family in the days prior to when he penned this hymn.  Even still, God says all of it is not even worthy to be compared to the glory to come to us.  Like an adult reflecting on his experience in kindergarten, so believers in heaven will remember their suffering in this life, saying, “Oh yeah... I think I vaguely remember...”

     Suffering comes to each of us in a different way - broken relationships, physical illness, economic hardships, loss, crime, slander, betrayal, depression, humiliation, you name it. Scripture assures us of this. Jesus assures his disciples of this. "In this world you WILL have trouble (tribulations). But take heart!  I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).  Jesus never promises us a trouble-free life in this world. His promised overcoming of the world means, as Tori Kelly rightly points out, we already know how the story ends!  Jesus is the Victor!  It's already a done deal!  God has won!  The world loses!  And we get to be over-comers with him in the victory he's already won!

     John 16:33 was spoken prior to the cross and resurrection.  Yet it is spoken in the past tense - "I have overcome..."  It is spoken before the cross an resurrection, but with as much confidence and assurance in the promise as if those those things had already taken place!  (If only they had truly "heard" him!)  In fact, in a very real sense the cross had already taken place, as John assures us in Revelation 13:8, where it speaks of Jesus as, "the Lamb slain from the creation of the world."   Jesus' ultimate victory of overcoming the world had already been decreed and determined and worked out in the providence of God before God ever created the world!  And we get to rejoice and participate in many of the benefits of that victory in this life (not all of them just yet), remembering as Paul assures us,  "Our light and momentary trials are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all" (I Corinthians 4:17).

     Resting in the victory of God until the promise becomes our experienced reality in eternity, Pastor Jeff

Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory

Greetings All,

     Yesterday I received a book in the mail sent to me by a wise old friend. As one who loves to climb mountains, the title captured my attention when I opened the package: "Canoeing the Mountains," by Tod Bolsinger. Yet, the secondary title clued me into the fact that it probably was not what I initially thought - "Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory."

     As I read the first chapter I felt like the author had been a fly on the wall in many of my conversations in recent years!  He even mouthed some of the exact phrases I had used!  So, today, I let you in on an issue that has been weighing on me (and many others in ministry) for at least the past decade or longer - trying to minister in a post-Christian (often anti-Christian) culture.  This selection below is just to give you a taste of what he will address in the rest of his book -- offering hope for a breakthrough where many seem to have run into what FEELS like an impenetrable wall we were not trained or equipped to break through. Enjoy.

     "One night after a long day of meetings, an older pastor let out a heavy sigh. He was nearing retirement, and we were working together on a project that was supposed to reorganize our entire denomination in order to help our church better minister in a changing world. And that changing world weighed on him.  He remembered well how not that long ago life was different. He stirred his drink and said to me, 'You know, when I began my ministry in a church in Alabama, I never worried about church growth or worship attendance or evangelism. Back then, if a man didn't come to church on Sunday, his boss asked him about it at work on Monday.'

     Sociologists and theologians refer to this recently passed period as 'Christendom.' The seventeen-hundred-year-long era with Christianity at the privileged center of western cultural life. Christendom gave us 'blue laws' and the Ten Commandments in school [and prayer in schools]. It gave us 'under God' in the pledge of allegiance and exhortations to Bible reading in the national newspapers. (I have a copy of the Los Angeles Times from December 1963 that has stories on the Warren Commission (investigating the assassination of John F. Kennedy), the nine-thousand-member Hollywood Presbyterian Church, and a list of daily Bible readings for the upcoming week.  Can you even imagine the Los Angeles Times exhorting people to read their Bibles today?) It was the day every "city father" laid out the town square with the courthouse, the library, and a First Church of _______ within the center of the city.  For most of us these days are long gone. (For some of us, that is good news indeed. Did you notice the reference to 'man' in my friends statement?)

     In our day (unlike then) cities are now considering using eminent domain laws to replace churches with tax-revenue generating big-box stores, Sundays are more about soccer and Starbucks than about Sabbath, Christian student groups are getting derecognized on university campuses, the fastest growing religious affiliation among young adults is 'none,' there is no moral consensus built on Christian tradition (even among Christians), and even a funeral in a conservative beach town is more likely to be a Hawaiian style 'paddle out' than a gathering in a sanctuary.  As we see all this we know that Christendom as a marker of society has passed.

     Over the last ten years I have had one church leader after another whisper to me the same frustrated confession: 'Seminary didn't prepare me for this. I don't know if I can do it. I just don't know...'  A number of pastors are ready to throw in the towel. Studies show that if given the chance to do something else, most pastors would jump at it. Reportedly, upwards of fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry EVERY MONTH  [Every year more than 4000 churches in the U.S. close their doors, almost double the number from 20 years ago.] 

     A couple years ago I learned that three of my pastor friends around the country had resigned  -- on the same day. There were no affairs, no scandals, and no one was renouncing the faith. But three good, experienced pastors turned in resignations and walked away. One left church ministry altogether.  The details are as different as the pastors themselves, but the common thread is that they finally got worn down by trying to bring change to a church that was stuck and didn't know what to do. Their churches were stuck and declining, stuck and clinging to the past, stuck and lurching to quick fixes, trying to find an easy answer for what were clearly bigger challenges. What all three churches had in common was that they were mostly blaming the pastor for how bad it felt to be stuck.

'If only you could preach better.' 

'If only you were more pastoral and caring.' 

'If only our worship was more dynamic.' 

'Please, pastor, do something!'  (That is what we pay you for, isn't it?)

     And to make matters worse, the pastors don't know what to do either. As a seminary vice-president I am now charged with confronting this reality head-on. Our graduates were not trained for this day. When I went to seminary, we were trained in the skills that were necessary for supporting faith in Christendom.  When churches functioned primarily as vendors of religious services for a Christian culture, the primary leadership toolbox was:  1. TEACHING (for providing Christian education).  2. LITURGICS (for leading Christian services).  3. PASTORAL CARE (for offering Christian counsel and support).  In this changing world we need to add a new set of leadership tools..." 

     If you would like to know what those new and necessary tools are, you will need to purchase his book for yourself!  As a pastor who has lived long enough to see Christendom progressively and purposefully deconstructed, and replaced at almost every turn with secularized and post-Christian alternatives, it has been stretching.  I'm not one of the pastoral casualties he lists, but in all honesty there have been times I have come pretty close. In fact, given those statistics it may be time to start a "pastor support group" for those who feel they are on the verge of being one of those 1500 pastors every month who leave the ministry.

     I haven't had time to read far into his book, but I wanted to share the introductory chapter so people can know there is a voice of encouragement from someone who has his ear to the ground, and has himself been a pastor ministering in our post-Christian culture.   A culture where traditional styles of leadership and ministry (which garnered much fruit in the not-so-distant past) can actually be a hindrance and obstacle in the present. His word to pastors - "Start with conviction, stay calm, stay connected, and stay the course - even when navigating loss."

     Ministry has always required people to, "run the race with perseverance"  (Hebrews 12:1-2).  Yet today is one of those cultural seasons or times when like a runner in a marathon on a hot and humid day, people in ministry are encountering what in the Boston Marathon is called, "Heartbreak Hill" -- a long gradual incline at the 20 mile mark.  It's a "grueling test of endurance" as one writer puts it, which drives many to give up before the finish line.  A place where one must be mentally prepared, make adjustments, and persevere, or become a casualty.  If you happen to be at that place, maybe you might want to see what Bolsinger has to say.

Living in the Grace of Jesus, Pastor Jeff