A Pastor's Hope for the Church in 2017

To the best of my knowledge, my dad never read a book from beginning to end. My memories of my dad’s consumption of the printed word begin and end at the kitchen table where he would thumb through all the ads in the Sunday paper, nursing a cup of strong, black Hills Bros. as he glanced at the pictures. After the headlines atop each section of the paper, the black letters on the white pages garnered no attention from him. I doubt my dad ever read a complete magazine article. I know he never read a blog post, including mine, and his Facebook practices were limited to liking my kids’ pictures and playing Candy Crush. My dad was not unintelligent, but he was simple, and his reading habits reflected as much. That’s what an eighth grade education delivers.

Most of you are not like my dad as evidenced by the fact that you are reading now. To some extent you appreciate the information gained by consuming the word on the page. Some of us appreciate a little, and a few of us appreciate more.

If my dad were still with us, I’d go back and try to help him, not to read the whole of a newspaper article, but in the reading of his Bible. How do you fare at Bible reading? Do you know what your Bible can do for you?

You will help yourself by reading your Bible. Your victory over temptation will become more frequent. Your capacity to act wisely in given situations will increase dramatically. Your decision making will no longer be regrettable as you look backward. You will be a lot less moody when the Bible settles your thoughts and emotions throughout the day. Coffee can't do this for you, but a diet rich in the Bible will. Your estimation of God’s greatness and grace will grow exponentially.

You will help your family by reading your Bible. Your love for siblings, parents, children and extended family will grow as you read of God’s love for them. Your positioning of their interests above your own will become more natural and less intrusive. You will become a more patient and just parent. The Holy Spirit will carry the advice you offer to your children to their hearts. You will position your family for generational faithfulness to our Lord. Years from now one of your descendants will offer, “Remember how grandpa would say, ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart?’”

You will help your church by reading your Bible. Your Sundaycorporate worship will flow from your daily Bible reading encouraging the worship of those gathered with you. Your participation in conversations will bless those in your small group or circle of close church friends as you offer, “Well, I was reading in Jeremiah the other day and God says…” Your spiritual maturity brought abought by the long term reading of God’s Word will contribute to the protection of the church when it is tempted to deviate from the Word of God in its doctrine or its methods. Your love for the church will grow as you read and witness our Lord’s love for the very same church of which you are a part.

You will grow in your desire to see people saved by reading your Bible. You will read of hell and weep for those condemned to a Christless eternity. You will see the self-consumed in the community and wonder not about their status but about their eternal destiny. You will read in the gospels the stories of the demonically oppressed and cry out to God for the release from the bondage of sin on display anywhere teens and college students gather. When you read your Bible for months on end, one day you will find yourself giving the gospel of Jesus Christ to someone in the most natural of conversations and afterward wonder, “What just happened?”

You will mature both in the content of your prayer and the frequency of your prayer by reading your Bible. Prayer is hard for those who do not read their Bibles. That makes sense. Without reading the Bible, knowledge of God is minimal. What knowledge does exist is second hand, what your pastor told you about God or what you parents said sometime long ago. As your intimacy with God grows from your reading what God says to you in his word, the natural result will be a prayer capacity you never knew possible. Bible readers become serious prayers who experience God’s power in answered prayers.

A while ago someone asked me about goals for our church in 2017. After some consideration and at the top of my list is this: our church needs to read the Bible. We have not conducted any surveys of our membership on the subject. The only information I have is anecdotal. The stories that make their way back to me suggest we don’t read our Bibles. We just don’t. But we can, we should, and we must for all the reasons listed above.

Often when I gather with our men to pray, one of them will offer, “Help our pastor as he leads us…” Sometimes I wonder what that means, as I lead us where? I’ll let you in on a little secret; there are times when leaders lead less than certain that the direction they are championing for the group is the way to go. On this one, though, I am quite certain. We need to read our Bibles.

But you don’t need to wait until January 1, 2017. You can start reading your Bible today. Read Proverbs 13, the proverb of the day. Or read Psalm 1, occupying the first position in the collection of the psalms for a reason. Or read Luke 1 in anticipation of the birth of Jesus. Or read Romans 8, one of the most important chapters in all of the New Testament. Or read Revelation 21 and marvel at what God has in store for us when this world ends.

Friends, you need, we need more of the Bible. Will you read it…a lot…often…more than you think you need?

As always, I welcome your feedback and any suggestions you might have for an upcoming Lunchtime Musing.

The Lie

Nothing I’ve written has been shared more across social media than a 2013 Lunchtime Musing on the subject of suicide. Recently on our church Facebook page, a reader wrote in response to that LM, Thank you for sharing this. My son also committed suicide in November, 2015. He was a Christian, a Bible college student, a passionate soul-winner for Jesus, and a shining light in the darkness. He saw 3 of his friends commit suicide on that same weekend, and eventually he too believed The Lie. This really ministered to my heart, reminding me that Paul is with Jesus, and I will see him again because I've trusted in Jesus as well.

After accidental injuries mostly related to car crashes, the leading cause of death for 10-34 year-olds in the United States is suicide. I suspect nearly all reading today know someone or a family where suicide has been a nightmare not merely a statistic. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), After a period of nearly consistent decline in suicide rates in the United States from 1986 through 1999, suicide rates have increased almost steadily from 1999 through 2014. While suicide among adolescents and young adults is increasing and among the leading causes of death for those demographic groups, suicide among middle-aged adults is also rising.

With that in mind, I share with you again pastoral thoughts I wrote in 2013 on the painful and very real problem of suicide among professing Christians.

The pain must be unbearable. The aftermath sucks the very life out of the family. No reasonable answers exist to answer the ultimate question, “Why did he do it?” On Mother’s Day Jonathan Hamilton died after a fall from the upper level of a Greenville, South Carolina, parking garage. The Greenville County Coroner determined the death a suicide. Jonathan grew up in a ministry home. He is the son of Ron and Shelly Hamilton, hymn writers and originators of Patch the Pirate. For those familiar with the music, Jonathan’s voice was that of PeeWee Pirate. My heart breaks for the Hamilton family.

This news follows that of Matthew Warren, son of Pastor Rick Warren. Like Jonathan, the 27-year-old PK (preacher’s kid) took his own life. My heart also breaks for this family and this pastor.

Why do people commit suicide? No simple sentence or paragraph can answer that question. The Bible tells of some who ended or attempted to end their lives. Jonah tried, but God intervened. Judas Iscariot succeeded as did King Saul. I think it is accurate to say that in the mind of the one who attempts the act there is a thought that rages, “Better dead than alive.” The thinking is, of course, a lie; nevertheless, the thinking seems, at the time, so true.

Many have a connection to someone who took or attempted to take his own life. I share that experience. Though I have no memory of him, my birth father took his own life when I was a toddler. In my capacity as a pastor, two church members took their own lives – one, a father of teens in our student ministry and another, a teen in our student ministry. Like most suicides, the families asked questions that could not be answered. To this day, my heart aches for those families.

The most recent statistics report nearly 43,000 suicides annually in the United States. Men commit suicide at a rate nearly 4 to 1 compared to women. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people ages 10-34. Every day 16 senior citizens end their lives. Among those 43,000 were many born again Christians, brothers and sisters in Christ who believed The Lie, “Better dead than alive.”

When a believer attempts or commits suicide, he accepts as truth the same lie that a non-believer accepts. In many The Lie brewed for months or even years culminating in that one final act. To overcome the act, one must overcome The Lie. Our task is to help them overcome The Lie. It is not easy, but it is possible.

A few answers to suicide questions:

Yes, a born again Christian does go to heaven even if he dies at his own hands. There is nothing in the Scriptures that teaches that God’s wrath remains on a man if he commits suicide. In fact, Romans 8:38 affirms that no death of any kind can separate a believer from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.

Yes, the church can help people tempted to commit suicide.Sisters in Christ can and must aid other women who are distraught to the point of suicide. Brothers must connect closely enough to other men that they can aid when a man is on the verge of believing The Lie. God has given to the Church His Word, His Spirit and His Son to address every need a man has, including any needs that might cause one to consider suicide.

No, this final act does not and should not define a person’s life. It is easy for a survivor to consider the loud and abrupt end of one’s life as the moment that characterizes him. This is an unfair and inaccurate conclusion. I appreciate what my friend, Jeremy Frazor, wrote about Jonathan. Jeremy is a staff evangelist at Jonathan’s home church in Simpsonville, South Carolina.

Praying for and grieving with the Hamilton family tonight. Thinking back on his life brings a big smile to my face. I remember when God got a hold of his life as a teenager. The zeal and joy he had. He was on fire for God! Going soul winning downtown Greenville, playing soccer for the Mohicans, teaching him gymnastics and watching him flip. What a gifted person. Fun times!!! In the last couple of years, I remember a song that our team did that he wrote called, “Higher Ground.” It was awesome! I know he is enjoying Heaven! He is with Jesus Christ his Lord. I’m jealous in a good way for him. Looking forward to seeing him again soon!

No, pastoral and ministry families are not exempt from believing The Lie. We are made of the same flesh that you are. Sometimes we feel that we cannot live up to your expectations. Sometimes our children no longer want to live in the glass house. Sometimes, we believe The Lie that Jonah believed, “Better dead than live a ministry life.” Pray for us and for pastor/ministry families that you know. Be attentive to their loneliness, their moves to isolation, and to the heavy burdens they endure like the heavy burdens you endure.

No, we will not shame you or judge you if you tell us that you are tempted by The Lie. I suspect that many people, including me, have entertained the thought, “Better dead than alive.” By God’s grace we overcame through the power of the risen Jesus Christ. We know that apart from God’s grace, we too would be a statistic. We want to help you to overcome too and conclude, I have been crucified with Christ: it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life which I know live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me (Gal. 2:20).

Praying for the Warren family. Praying for the Hamilton family. Praying for the people of First Calvary Baptist Church that none would believe The Lie and that all would assist any who may now be believing The Lie.

As always, I welcome your feedback and any suggestions you might have for an upcoming Lunchtime Musing.

Give Thanks

“If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a hundred times” remains one of the consistent sayings from generation to generation in American families. Moms weary from open milk cartons left on the counters and dads befuddled by hand tools left in the sandbox repeat the mantra told to them by their parents. The cycle continues.

Still, not every repeat message occurs because the hearer forgets or is neglectful. Often the importance of the message requires repetition. When God repeats something over and again, wise people listen. At more than 130 times, few topics have more references in the Bible than thankfulness.

• Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
• Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:20).
• Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God (Philippians 4:6).
• And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful (Colossians 3:15).
• Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever (Psalm 118:1)!

Developing a pattern of thankfulness is not merely a practice in good manners. To be a genuinely thankful person is to a be a spiritually maturing person. Think about it:

Thankfulness produces liberty when you realize your life, both temporal and eternal, does not depend on you. The Christian who sees the hand of God dispensing every good gift, from his salvation to his daily bread, finds great mental relief when he affirms in thankfulness that sustaining life does not rest on his shoulders because his Father in heaven bears the responsibility to care for him.

Similarly, thankfulness delivers security when you realize that your Father in heaven watches over you in constant vigilance. Anxiety can paralyze a woman or make a man unable to act. The Christian who woke this morning thankful to God for the protection through the night finds herself in the position of protection from her Father in heaven in her restless and anxious moments of the day.

In the battle against pride, thankfulness wins the day. How can you express pride in your achievements, your stature, or your wisdom when you first express humility in thankfulness to God for the endowment of your skills, for the unknown acts of providence that delivered to you your position, or for the understanding of a situation because of the insight God gave to you?

In a world fraught with hardships and the daily penchant to complain, thankfulness overcomes grumbling, whining, and protesting. Your spouse will be much lovelier to you when thankfulness to God for her starts your morning thoughts about her. Your parents will be much less of a bother to you when you begin your day with thankfulness to God for them. You will appreciate your job all the more and work through the real challenges you face when your workday begins with thanks to God for what the income from your job provides for you and allows you to do.

While some historians debate the finer points of the story, Matthew Henry’s thankful response serves as an example to us. An English preacher in the late 1600s and early 1700s, Henry traveled by horseback on a preaching circuit through the English countryside. On one occasion four thugs attacked Matthew, robbing him of the little bit of money he possessed. Later, Henry recorded in his journal these thoughts: Let me be thankful first because I was never robbed before; second, because although they took my purse, they did not take my life; third, because although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed.

While doing God’s will and serving God’s people, Matthew Henry experienced the reality of living in a sin-filled world. Who would condemn him for complaining? Yet, he finds in the event that left him poorer and the victim of a crime occasion to express thanks to God. You can do that too, can't you? As you do the will of God today as a dad, mom, son, daughter, employer, employee, and a brother or sister in Christ and experience some difficulty great or small, some point of dissatisfaction, some reason to complain, can you find a reason to be thankful to God?

Be thankful today. Your Father in heaven has been, is, and will continue to be good to you.

As always, I welcome your feedback and any suggestions you might have for an upcoming Lunchtime Musing.

You and the New Government

America survived the first week of the not yet Donald Trump presidency, who knew?

Like many, Brenda and I stayed up into the early morning hours watching election returns. As we watched the returns and the pundits sheer disbelief at the news they were reporting, I smiled from ear to ear. The American people denied Hillary Clinton’s pursuit of the American Presidency.

I am no fan of Mrs. Clinton. Her public policies, her lawlessness, her suspect ethics, and especially her dereliction of duty concerning Benghazi put me firmly in the #NeverHillary camp early on in the election cycle.

To be clear I am no fan of Mr. Trump either, not yet anyway. My vote during the primary season went to a more conservative candidate, but my candidate of choice was not on the ballot for the general election. I could become appreciative of Mr. Trump if he somehow leads in such a way to hold the line against progressive liberalism or even rolls back policies of the left as he boldly campaigned. Time will tell if he does what he said he intends to do. Like all government before him, I suspect we will be disappointed at some point over the next four years.

The Bible gives more than ample instruction to Christ’s followers concerning our role and responsibility to government. Paul writes extensively about the conduct of a believer in the Roman Empire. We see in the Old Testament faithful examples we can follow in Joseph (Gen 37-50), the Hebrew midwives (Ex 1), and in Daniel and his friends, while John the Baptist, the Apostles, and our Lord provide our model in the New Testament (Mark 12:17).

The common thread in each example or command is “we are told to bend over backwards to honor the king or be obedient to the civil magistrates.”

• Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God (Romans 13:1).
• Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God…Honor the emperor (1 Peter 2:13-17).
• Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient (Titus 3:1).

Both Peter and Paul give the same directive without qualification or condition: Christians willingly submit to every civil authority. Someone retorts, “What if obeying man means I disobey God?” Of course we “obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). But here’s the fact, I suspect few, if any of my readers, have ever faced the situation where obeying an ordinance of man meant disobeying a command of God. It just doesn’t happen that often in 21st century America. The default position for Christians is submit to every obligation government lays upon us.

The Christian response goes farther than simply obeying civil laws. “It also includes genuine honor and respect for government officials as God’s agents for maintaining order and justice in human society.” Christians who made crass jokes about President Bill Clinton did so in violation of God’s commands. Any who used a racial slur in reference to President Obama were not merely politically incorrect or rude, they were wicked and ungodly. Snickering at a politician’s speech patterns or faux pas, critiquing his policies, or condemning his immorality is one thing; sharing a meme on social media that mocks his office or the image of God he bears is something altogether different.

So, we have a new president and a greatly altered government at every level. At best we are certain that we are not certain what our country will look like four years from now. To this we must commit: we Christians will be model citizens in this United States of America.

As always, I welcome your feedback and any suggestions you might have for an upcoming Lunchtime Musing.

Celebrating Infanticide

100 years is a long time. Only a small number of us will live to that grand ol’ age. Few technologies stay in use that long. It is not common for an organization or business to mark that milestone. Yet astonishingly, Planned Parenthood, the abortion industry’s leading agency for ending the life of the unborn, recently celebrated its 100th year of operation. And celebrate they did.

President Obama tweeted, “For a century, Planned Parenthood has made it possible for women to determine their own lives. Here's to another #100YearsStrong.”

Hillary Clinton said, “I’m proud to stand with Planned Parenthood. I’ll never stop fighting to protect the ability and right of every woman in this country to make her own health decisions.”

Advancement in medical technology over the last 100 years confirms what the Bible teaches and what expectant mothers know intuitively, life begins inside the womb. Still, Planned Parenthood has murdered nearly seven million babies since the Roe v. Wade decision of 1973. Leading politicians, elected government officials, lauded celebrities, national media outlets, college professors, and so many more applaud the organization founded by the notorious eugenist, Margaret Sanger.

In a day of political correctness, it is beyond belief how so many cling to Sanger. Some debate exists which quotes actually originated with her, but consider this quote from the New York Times April 8, 1923:

Birth Control is not contraception indiscriminately and thoughtlessly practiced. It means the release and cultivation of the better racial elements in our society, and the gradual suppression, elimination and eventual extirpation of defective stocks — those human weeds which threaten the blooming of the finest flowers of American civilization.

“Better racial elements”…”defective stocks”…”human weeds”... Who gets to make these judgments? Who determines which elements of race are better than others, which stock is defective, and who among us is a weed that threatens the rest of the beautiful flowers? This is wicked speech born out of a rebellious heart toward our Creator. And so many of the elite in the American culture applaud without shame or caveat Margaret Sanger and Planned Parenthood.

Reprehensible.

In 2014, the year for which most recent statistics are available, Planned Parenthood murdered more than 300,000 unborn children. That same year across the United States, 1,000,000 babies’ lives were terminated by elective choice.

Supporters of Planned Parenthood like to note that only 3% of its funding goes toward abortion services. So what? Are we supposed to say, “Oh, ok, then. You only kill babies with a little of your money. My bad.”

Most of you are staunchly pro-life and stand firmly against abortion. You do not need me to persuade you to the horrors of infanticide. My purpose in this Musing is to remind you again of the tragic reality of the American culture of death. We kill our babies when the fact of their existence is inconvenient to our way of life or desired lifestyle. My purpose to call you to hold your ground concerning the sanctity of life.

Do not give up a single inch.

As much as I could hope and pray that abortion would end, it won’t any time soon. The heart of man is deceitful and desperately wicked. Abortions will end when the Lord of the gospel dominates the hearts of human beings. So we take a two-pronged approach. We decry the action of abortion and we defend the unborn by every legal means possible. And we determine to be about the business of gospel conversations for the sake of those yet to be born.

As always, I welcome your feedback and any suggestions you might have for an upcoming Lunchtime Musing.