62

It's my birthday, a good day to reflect on my life. Today marks 62 years since my arrival in this world to two young, hopeful kids in a hospital in rural Iowa on a Thursday night. It's been an interesting life. The last decade has brought the greatest sorrows and deepest growth!

I look at that number and I am astonished at how quickly it arrived. That's probably a cliche but none-the-less, it is true for me. Seems like yesterday I was a little kid chasing sheep on a farm. Then, a blink and I was off to college to prepare for ministry.  God sent a lovely woman into my life, her beauty stopping me in my tracks and capturing my heart. Kids, work, and I was 35  and shepherding a church in Massachusetts.  Blink! And, the kids were gone, married, and we were neck deep in service to our congregation in NJ.

Then 2008 dawned and just a few days into that year, Dad found out he had terminal cancer and I walked that sad road with Mom and him until he stepped into eternity.  She died two years later. Life took a major, unforeseen twist for me with her death.  A new normal was just settling when we learned of Bev's cancer and somehow I knew that day she would be going home, and she did in December, 2015.

I might have concluded that life was mostly over, that it was time to retreat but that was not what the Spirit whispered. So, with a lot of encouragement, I struggled to find a new future, one I had never desired. And, I am still growing in grace.  Always a driven man, pressing to make things happen, I have learned to wait, to listen; not perfectly, but better than I once did.  I have found a new sweetness in God's truth, a precious hope in the Gospel - Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again.  

As I prayed at the beginning of this birthday, I felt this wisdom of the Word pressed on me.  "Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” (James 4:13-15, NLT)

In this my hope is renewed. Though many sorrows have found me and disappointments have clouded my vision for a time, I rest in the fact that -  My life is held in His hands; yes, even those things that I don't understand, that make no sense, are within the realm of His will. "If the Lord wills ... "  

Christian friend, whether you are 4, 40, or 84 ... center your life on Him. He is our hope. We do not resign to fate, we rest on faith. It is not a simplistic faith, but a complex joining of emotions, reason, and experience that we willingly submit to Christ, our King.

Here is a word from the Word, full of promise, from my favorite part of the Scripture. Lord, make it our hope, that Truth that secures us in this thing we know as 'life.'
"And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan." (Ephesians 1:10-11, NLT)
"The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him." (Ephesians 1:14, NLT)
____________

Good, Good Father (listen, learn, and worship at this link)

I've heard a thousand stories
Of what they think You’re like
But I've heard the tender whisper
Of love in the dead of night
You tell me that You’re pleased
And that I'm never alone

You're a Good Good Father
It's who You are
It's who You are
It's who You are
And I'm loved by You
It's who I am
It's who I am
It's who I am

I've seen many searching for answers
Far and wide
But I know we're all searching for answers
Only You provide
Because You know just what we need
Before we say a word
You are perfect in all of Your ways
You are perfect in all of Your ways
You are perfect in all of Your ways to us

Love so undeniable I can hardly speak
Peace so unexplainable I can hardly think
As You call me deeper still
As You call me deeper still
As You call me deeper still
Into love love love
You're a Good Good Father
It's who You are
It's who You are
It's who You are
And I'm loved by You
It's who I am
It's who I am
It's who I am

Anthony Brown | Pat Barrett © 2014 Capitol CMG Paragon (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing) Common Hymnal Publishing (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)
CCLI License # 810055

We don’t let those kind of people in here

This morning someone posted a link on Facebook to the obituary of a beautiful 23 year-old woman who died in at a Red Roof Inn in Danville, PA on Saturday.  I did not know Delaney, but her story made me weep. She was yet another life cut short too soon by addiction and heroin overdose. Her diary reveals a woman tormented, alone, in the grip of a terrible evil that stole her life, one injection at a time. I wondered if she was welcomed by anyone, if she ever tried to find peace in a church, if she ever felt that kind of rejection that says, “we don’t let your kind of people in here”?  The curse of drug abuse and addiction flows from multiple causes. It is a complex issue, but I believe that the roots are spiritual and that the ‘cure’ is the love of Christ and His family. But, can that self-described ‘junkie’ find Him if she is turned away at the door of His church?

Christian friend, loving people like Delaney is messy, difficult, and often disappointing. Their obvious brokenness reminds us of our less visible sinfulness, doesn’t it?  There is comfort in gathering with others in God’s family wearing smiling faces, clean clothes, and all the stuff that goes with a successful, middle class American lifestyle. Then, that person shows up who is ‘that kind of person,’ a haunted look, lacking the graces that we learned early, and they trouble us. We may not speak aloud, but does our body language loudly proclaim, “You are not us. You are not welcome”?

May these questions confront our pride, our fear, and our judgments. "For what gives you the right to make such a judgment? What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift?" (1 Corinthians 4:7, NLT)  The fact, unpleasant as it may be, it that in our natural state we are broken rebels, cursed to destruction.  "All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved." (Ephesians 2:3-5, NIV)

The tragedy is that so many of us, after having been graced by love, conclude that we are part of a meritocracy, that we now ‘deserve’ the lives we have found. We may, for years even, sail along convinced that we are somehow better than those people, above their sins and addictions.  Jesus has little time for that self-righteousness. The Pharisees who earned much scorn from Him were ‘good’ people, responsible citizens, and keepers of the religious rules. Yet, they were blind to their own spiritual poverty.  Jesus shocked them by calling them ‘white washed tombs,’ gleaning on the outside but full of death!  He said they were the ‘blind leading the blind.’ 

Ah, Christian friend, it is not that we celebrate sin or dysfunction. It is not that we do not rejoice in our spiritual freedom. We pursue holiness, but always remembering that we are the graced, the forgiven, those who have received mercy.  In that humility we are always ready to love and accept, because being loved, we love.

Here is a passage I love. May His beauty shine through the cracks of my life, His grace seep from me to those who are in need, the love I have found in Him be the love I give away without respect of person, place, or position. "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body." (2 Corinthians 4:7-10, NIV)

Abba, make me a lover of others;

Gentle as You are,

Persistent in the face of disappointment,

Wise in the ways of love,

Every hopeful, never cynical,

Child-like in trust,

Open and authentic.

Jesus, I thank you for loving me,

Then and now, in brokenness and wholeness.

Thank you for the Cross that bridged the gap

Between me and my Father,

For the Resurrection that closed the chasm between

Time and eternity.

Spirit of God, make me a man of purpose and passion,

To defeat evil, to lead the lost, to show the Way.

Amen.

How beautiful are you?

   It ranks high on my list of awesome things.

My tour of Meramec Cavern in Sullivan, MO was well worth the fee and the time. We walked for over a mile beneath the earth’s surface. The cave was amazing, though dark, damp, and chill. The guide told us that the formations in front of us were millions of years in the making, minerals left behind by drops of water seeping through the rocks. Earth’s beauty captivates me- roses, towering mountains, pounding surf at the beach. And, there, hidden alongside of a river beneath a Missouri hill, was a different kind of God’s work!

Human beings are drawn to glory, aren’t we? We love beauty, through each of us would define that word somewhat differently. We are most like our God when we are making things beautiful – be that relationships, organizations, or the tiny plot of the earth entrusted to our stewardship. He’s made us to love His glory.  He’s called us by His Spirit to be people who radiate His glory. Do you? Do I?

Solomon, the king of Israel, built a Temple in Jerusalem. He spared no expense and the place was a wonder of the ancient world, resplendent with gold, designed to produce awe for the Name of the LORD. But, there was something about that place that was more than the stone, wood, and gold used to build it.  The ancient chronicler of Israel’s history noted this - "The priests could not continue their service because of the cloud, for the glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple of God." (2 Chronicles 5:14, NLT)  The Glory of the Presence!  That phrase caught my attention as I read the Word today.  Let it take hold of you. Do not rush past it. Ponder what that means.

What do people take away from an encounter with you, friend?  As a ‘temple of the Spirit of God’ I believe that the most beautiful thing can and should be His Presence.  We vary in our intelligence, our physical attractiveness. Some are blessed with sunny personalities, others with beautiful faces. A few of us are able to do amazing feats in some way.  But, all of us who are in Christ can radiate God’s glory, leaving others awed, not by us, but by the Spirit who lives in us. Yes, we are His holy temples.  That ancient temple fell into neglect decades after Solomon built it, the glory of the Lord departed as the people chased other gods and filled that place with clutter. A boy king, Josiah, cleaned it out and restored the former glory!  In much the same way, our lives can become cluttered with other things, His radiance obscured by our sin, our willfulness, even our love of other ‘gods.’

Paul teaches us that God has a plan to reveal His beauty through us and in us.  He writes to us, inspired by the Spirit, to say that “Christ’s love makes the church (you and me) whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness.” (Ephesians 5:26-27)   

We used to sing a chorus in church that prayed -
Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me,

All His wonderful passion and purity;

O my Savior divine, All my being refine,

‘Till the beauty of Jesus be seen in me.

Make it your prayer today. Other ‘beauty’ in our lives will fade with time and age. But, the splendor that comes from a heart and mind full of Jesus’ love never fades, growing only more beautiful as time passes. So, what glory will you pursue?  Will it be the pretty face, the perfect body, the awesome accomplishment?  Or, will it be the glory of God?

Here is a word from the Word. "If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes us right with God! In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way." (2 Corinthians 3:9-10, NLT)  "For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image." (2 Corinthians 3:17-19, NLT)

Lord, make Yourself glorious in us. Amen.

______________

Beautiful Things

All this pain

I wonder if I'll ever find my way

I wonder if my life could really change

At all

All this earth

Could all that is lost ever be found

Could a garden come up from this ground

At all

You make beautiful things

You make beautiful things out of the dust

You make beautiful things

You make beautiful things out of us

All around

Hope is springing up from this old ground

Out of chaos life is being found

In You

You make me new You are making me new

You make me new You are making me new

Lisa Gungor | Michael Gungor

© 2009 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055

 Jerry D. Scott, Pastor

Faith Discovery Church

www.FaithDiscovery.com

This amazing nation

Road trip! I got home a few hours ago after taking a 3000 mile jaunt from NJ to Missouri, then looping up through Kansas and Nebraska, into Iowa, and then back home crossing through parts of 9 states in 7 days!  Iowa is the state where I was born and where many relatives still reside.  Driving through those wide-open places, through little towns that dot the landscape, visiting a church and worshiping among ‘strangers,’ seeing the fields of grain, the ‘wind farms’ that produce electricity, and the changes of culture from place to place - my realization of the vast resources and potentials of America was renewed. “America, America, God shed His grace on thee!”

I also saw and heard the fractures that plague this nation, too. Racial, economic, political, and religious divides are not just cracks; they are deep chasms. In some of my conversations it was clear that even those with whom I share heritage and DNA ‘see’ this nation from a much different perspective than I do. Were I to wander even farther into the South, the Mountain states, or the West Coast, I am sure I would discover many that see the same things I see but with a much different set of eyes.  I heard and saw simmering anger at the sweeping changes that are turning these United States into a country even I have a hard time recognizing as the country into which I was born 6 decades ago. I sat with those of one generation older than I and understood their confusion at the state of our affairs.

As I drove I listened to a book (what a marvelous invention, the digital book!) that told the story of Alexander Hamilton, the first treasurer of the United States. We need to know that ours is not the first generation of Americans to be confused by rapid change, nor are we the first to grapple with problems that threaten to tear us apart.  Intrigue, pride, greed, and betrayal were very much a part of the lives of the ‘fathers of our nation,’ though we tend to romanticize them and think of them only as wise, noble, and self-sacrificial people. Nonsense. Their fights were much like those that fill up our news in 2017!

Does that mean we have no need of concern? Not at all.  A generation after Hamilton, America’s divide over slavery exploded into a war that was fought in a sea of blood. I pray that our divides do not bring about such terrible consequences. Oh, how we need to remember this 4^th of July that we are indeed a blessed nation, rich, powerful, and still a place of opportunity unlike any other nation in the world.

Christian we are citizens of two ‘kingdoms.’  We are first subjects of the Great Kingdom of Heaven, called by God to live under His reign, and to serve His purposes.  Transformed by Christ, invited to love God and others in His Name, we are empowered to live honorably as citizens of these United States.  I am humbled to call myself a Christian and glad to be an American. I pray that my first calling makes me a better person in my beloved America!  I am convinced still that the Church remains the hope of America, but only if we are radically committed to Christ’s call to love.  Christians cannot join the hate, the intolerance, the racism, the greed, and the xenophobia that infect our nation like a wasting disease!  We are people of hope, our vision inspired by the promise of an eternal home where there will be just rewards and judgment.  

If America is to be great, we who are in Christ must lead the way from ‘me first’ attitudes that seek only our own good to a place of brotherhood that Katharine Lee Bates envisions in the song that seems almost naïve in our time. 

Happy Birthday, America.  On this Independence Day, I pray for a true spiritual renewal that goes beyond a civil religion of kindly ethics, a place where Christ is Lord and we are people who share in the ‘abundant life’ that He gives.  Only then, will that dream of making America great again become a reality!

O beautiful for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America!

God shed His grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet,

Whose stern, impassioned stress

A thoroughfare for freedom beat

Across the wilderness!

America! America!

God mend thine every flaw,

Confirm thy soul in self-control,

Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved

In liberating strife,

Who more than self their country loved

And mercy more than life!

America! America!

May God thy gold refine,

Till all success be nobleness,

And every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream

That sees beyond the years

Thine alabaster cities gleam

Undimmed by human tears!

America! America!

God shed His grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!