So sophisticated, aren't they?

Worldly sophistication; it is so seductive. You own it by cultivating the right look, the right tastes in fashion and music, the right kind of attitude- slightly bored, ever cynical. But the glitter is superficial for sophisticates do not have the richness of character that belongs to the wise. A few moments with one truly wise makes a person feel like he's reached solid ground, found a treasure.  Sophistication is to wisdom what pyrites are to gold. Pyrites are a brass-colored mineral commonly called 'fool's gold.' Though it gleams, it is essentially worthless. It can deceive those looking for the real thing at first. Just a little bit of heat quickly reveals the difference between real gold and iron pyrites! The authenticity of the character of the wise is revealed in the fiery tests of life.

The Bible points us down the road of wisdom. It does not necessarily run through Princeton's portals! The Word says that 'the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom!" Here's the context of that statement.
"Wisdom has built her spacious house with seven pillars. She has prepared a great banquet, mixed the wines, and set the table. She has sent her servants to invite everyone to come. She calls out from the heights overlooking the city. “Come home with me,” she urges the simple. To those without good judgment, she says, “Come, eat my food, and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your foolish ways behind, and begin to live; learn how to be wise.” Anyone who rebukes a mocker will get a smart retort. Anyone who rebukes the wicked will get hurt. So don’t bother rebuking mockers; they will only hate you. But the wise, when rebuked, will love you all the more. Teach the wise, and they will be wiser. Teach the righteous, and they will learn more. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in understanding. Wisdom will multiply your days and add years to your life. If you become wise, you will be the one to benefit. If you scorn wisdom, you will be the one to suffer." (Proverbs 9:1-12, NLT)

God invites us to His counsel. He says, "live with humility, with integrity, with obedience. This is wisdom." Sophisticates learn how to project their power, to shrewdly navigate legalities that protect their profit, to work at being submissive to no one.  Those who are 'wise in their own eyes' mock their counselors. Sophisticates appear often to be 'winning' at life!

In the 73rd Psalm, the writer opens his song with a lament over the apparent success of those who are wise to the ways of the world. "Pretentious with arrogance, they wear the latest fashions in violence, Pampered and overfed, decked out in silk bows of silliness. They jeer, using words to kill; they bully their way with words. They’re full of hot air, loudmouths disturbing the peace. People actually listen to them—can you believe it? Like thirsty puppies, they lap up their words." (Psalm 73:6-10, The Message)

As he settles himself in prayer, considering the promises and eternal values of God, he discerns that true wisdom is better than momentary acclaim. "When I was beleaguered and bitter, totally consumed by envy, I was totally ignorant, a dumb ox in your very presence. I’m still in your presence, but you’ve taken my hand. You wisely and tenderly lead me, and then you bless me. You’re all I want in heaven! You’re all I want on earth!" (Psalm 73:21-25, The Message)

Do you desire wisdom? Then, invite the Holy Spirit to lead you to His table. Open the Word and let the counsel of God transform your mind with wisdom. Though some may regard you with contempt because you do not adopt the superficial pretensions of the wisdom of the age, do not be deterred. "Wisdom will multiply your days!"

If you lack knowledge, go to school.
If you lack wisdom, get on your knees!
Knowledge is not wisdom.

Wisdom is the proper use of knowledge.
    - Vance Havner

Here's a word from the Word, May this passage increase your hunger for wisdom.

"Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her. “I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion. To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. Counsel and sound judgment are mine; I have understanding and power. ... by me princes govern, and all nobles who rule on earth. I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me. With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity."
(Proverbs 8:10-14; 16-18, NIV)

Cursing the Hard Times

The tough times are the growth times! I don't like them, you don't either, but without them we would be shallow people. So, you're saying "That's just fine with me. If I am shallow and don't know it, what's the harm in that?"  Do you really want to be a person who spends hours on his hair and the shine on his car, who looks at women as a collection of body parts, and who thinks the good life is getting drunk while watching sports on TV? Is that really all right with you?

Desperate times can free us from our preoccupation with sex, food, and stuff;  forcing us to reach out to actually love somebody, making us consider the claims of God on our lives. And, yes, I am convinced that hard times can wean us from our love of this present world, helping us to yearn for Heaven as our true home.

Here's the wisdom of a man who knew suffering well. "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer." (2 Corinthians 1:3-6, NLT)  Paul wrote that after enduring terrible persecution for preaching the Gospel. It was so bad he reported that "We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life." (2 Corinthians 1:8, NIV) 

Suffering does not always ennoble a person! Those who do not receive it with faith, who will not allow the Spirit of God to work in them with grace, turn into mean, miserable people. The difference is hope. Suffering that is tempered with hope is transformational. When met with despair, suffering destroys the human spirit. In the middle of the deadly persecution, Paul said that he made a decision to truth the Lord. "Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us." (2 Corinthians 1:9-10, NKJV) 

Are you going through something hard?  Rejection, illness, misunderstanding, journeying in a dry desert spiritually, financial struggles, feelings of worthlessness - are common human experiences. How will you meet this moment? Will you rail at the darkness, curse God for not doing what you think He ought to do? Or, will you pray for faith and wait patiently on God? It will not be easy, it will not be without pain, it will not produce instant results. But, from hopeful faith a deeper, more beautiful, tender life is born, one that looks like Jesus.

Here's a word from the Word. Pray it! "Prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do." (1 Peter 1:13-15, NIV)

_____________

I'm trading my sorrows.
I'm trading my shame.
I'm laying them down
For the joy of the Lord.
I'm trading my sickness.
I'm trading my pain.
I'm laying them down
For the joy of the Lord.
Yes, Lord, yes, Lord,
Yes, yes, Lord.
Yes, Lord, yes, Lord,
Yes, yes, Lord.
Yes, Lord, yes, Lord,
Yes, yes, Lord, amen.

I am pressed but not crushed,
Persecuted, not abandoned,
Struck down but not destroyed.
I am blessed beyond the curse
For His promise will endure,
That His joy's gonna be my strength.

Though the sorrow
May last for the night,
His joy comes
With the morning.

Trading My Sorrows

Evans, Darrell
© 1998 Integrity's Hosanna! Music (c/o Integrity Music, Inc.)
CCLI License No. 810055

Earthquake!

Earthquake!

Californians are smiling at us here in the Northeast United States. A 5.9 quake hit on Tuesday just before 2 in the afternoon. We emptied out of buildings, clogged phone lines, and literally got ‘all shook up!’  I’ll own up to my fear. When the pictures on my office walls started tapping, the building groaned with stress, and my chair moved without any hand touching it, it was unlike anything I have ever experienced. The ‘solid ground’ was jelly for a few seconds. That’s frightening. Interestingly, several of my Christian friends asked if this strange experience was a harbinger of the ‘last days.’ My secretary called her elderly Italian grandmother who lapsed into her native tongue speaking of the ‘apocalisse.’

The strangely awesome experience speaks to me about my small place in the world. It shook me free, yet again, from my illusions of control. It was my first earthquake, but certainly not the first shaking of my world. Periodically, things happen that are beyond my ability to manage and I hear the voice of the Spirit say, “I am God and you are not.”  The prophet boldly declares, "The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel." (Joel 3:16, KJV)

Disciple, is your hope resting squarely on the immoveable Rock of our salvation?  

Is His Word the truth around which you make your daily choices?

We loudly sing, “On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand,” but live as though life will go on forever, building our houses on the sandy soil of this world. We gather treasure, scurry about working feverishly, anxiously fretting about our place in this world. I am guilty as charged!  Too often my work as a Pastor is much more about managing the business of a religious organization than it is about shepherding the flock of God. I am way too concerned about how many are in the pew and how much is in the offering plate. When those metrics are not reaching expectations, my first impulse is to re-double my efforts, to work harder than I already do, as if making a bigger cloud of dust will somehow assure my ‘success’ in life.  Then comes the earthquake.

10 minutes after the ‘quake, I walked through the sanctuary and realized that if the earth had shaken just a bit harder or for a few more seconds, the building I so carefully tend probably would have crumbled! Later, in my prayerful reflection, it became clearer to me that if the American economy collapses, and it is fragile needing only a tremor or two to come tumbling down, the enterprise I lead will lose the funds I so carefully manage. “The Lord will be the HOPE of His people!” 

I renew my hope in Him. May my life be defined, not by what I own, who I know, or what I have done. My prayer is to be His servant, so that no matter the scale of the ‘quake I stand secure in eternal hope.  Here’s a word from the Word. Lord, challenge and comfort us with Your Truth. Amen.

"For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power." (1 Corinthians 15:22-24, NIV)  "Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:58, NIV)

______________

His oath, His covenant, His blood,

Support me in the whelming flood.

When all around my soul gives way,

He then is all my Hope and Stay.

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,

All other ground is sinking sand.

All other ground is sinking sand.

The Solid Rock

Mote, Edward / Bradbury, William B.

© Public Domain

What kind of love is that?

In his book, The Pastor, Eugene Petersen has a chapter about his Uncle Sven, a man he never knew except through the stories his mother told. Sven was her favorite brother, 20 years older than she was. She told about a dashing, charismatic man that everybody loved. As an adult Eugene discovered that there was another side to the man. He was murdered by his wife after he came in drunk and sullen, abusing her yet again. A jury refused to convict her calling her choice to shoot him “justifiable homicide.”  Which picture was an accurate portrayal of Uncle Sven? In fact, he was both – a charming man and a cruel, drunken lout. Like all of us, he did not fit neatly into a little box of definitions.

The Bible has a story about a man who was called “a man after God’s own heart,” who was capable of stealing a trusted friend’s wife, plotting his murder, and trying to keep it quiet. This same man penned many of the most beautiful songs of the Scripture including the one that opens with the phrase, “The Lord is my shepherd.”  Was David a saint or a rogue? Both!  His sins were spectacular, his repentance heartfelt. Many of would likely refuse to be a friend with David if he attended our church or lived in our neighborhood. We probably would say, “why doesn’t he pull his act together?”

Life and the people living it are incredibly complex and that is why Jesus urges us to deep love which the Bible says "covers over a multitude of sins." (1 Peter 4:8, NIV) We are not being told to sweep it all under the rug! We live a life of patient love that allows grace to mature, full of a love that "is not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs. … always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." (1 Corinthians 13:5-7, NIV)

Some churches choose to create a culture of superficial ‘holiness.’  It is simple to understand – do this, don’t do that- dealing in stark black and white. It makes clear who is ‘in’ and who is ‘out.’  It tolerates no ambiguity of human nature. A first glance finds a church like that neat and tidy, no messed up people to deal with, no struggles apparent. But, all is not what it seems. Life refuses our quick fixes. People are not healed with formulas of behavior. My point today is not to excuse sin or justify hypocrisy. I simply want to remind myself and you that it is a fool’s game to think that people are simple to understand or that everything can be explained in simple terms. Some think the world would be easier to navigate if life were starkly black and white, no shades of gray. There would be good people and bad people, right choices and wrong ones. Doing good things would always bring good in return and nice guys would really finish first. But, it is simply not so.  Peterson quotes H. L. Mencken: “For every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.”

The true life of the Spirit is one of patience, one that understands that God judges none of us based on the actions of a simple moment. Amazingly and wonderfully, He sees us in the totality of our experience. He alone is capable of tracing the threads of today’s thought back through the tangles of yesterday and the yesterdays before that. That is sobering, too, for it leaves us without excuse when He offers us grace and leads us to change. We cannot hide behind any rationale, person, or hypocrisy. In a word that sobers and comforts, we find this assurance. "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account." (Hebrews 4:12-13, NIV)

May the Lord help us to pursue holiness, matched with love, and patiently wait for the completion of His work in us and our brothers.

One size fits all?

One size fits all?

I appreciate clothing that fits well. I’m not much on style, preferring boring earth tones and plain dress, but when the fit is wrong, it irritates me. So, on those occasions when some article is advertised as ‘one size fits all,’ I smile and pass it by!  Some Christians bring that same idea to their practice of the faith. Their presentation of the Gospel never adapts to the person, place, or culture. What worked in one place or time becomes ‘the way it’s done.’ That’s not only foolish, it ignores the examples of the Scripture.

Paul said "When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ. When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings." (1 Corinthians 9:21-23, NLT)  His personal preference, his place of comfort was squarely in the center of the Jewish traditions that had shaped his life from his childhood, but he was willing and able to step outside of those ways to reach out to Greeks and Romans to communicate Christ’s love in a manner they could understand.

Yes, some use that passage as an excuse to dive into the murky waters of sin. Paul was not suggesting we join the party and get drunk, that we sit down at the table of those who scheme to oppress the poor and endorse their greed, or that we adopt the profanity of the street to reach those who live there. But, he did not share the separatist ideas of the Pharisees among whom he had once walked either, men who openly showed their sense of disdain for those they considered sinners too far gone for the mercy of God, who prayed: ”I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else." (Luke 18:11, NLT)

We cannot truly reach people with the Gospel IF we regard them as ‘those people’ with condescension! Increasingly, over the years, the Lord has worked in my life to help me to understand and identify with ‘the others’ that I once thought were beyond my reach. Often He has done this by breaking me, by bringing me into circumstances that revealed that in spite of superficial differences, I share a common human experience with those of varying background, race, education, and economic status. And the Gospel of Christ finds application to each one, in a very different way despite being an unchanging Truth!

Disciple, we are all called to the work of taking the Good News of God’s love and eternal life in Christ to our world. Jesus’ mission statement is not for some elite squad of super-Christians. It’s our mission: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen." (Matthew 28:19-20, NKJV) But, one size does not fit all. Let the Spirit teach you how to love people where they are, how to identify with them at their point of need, how to communicate in a way they can understand.

Jude offers this which the word from the Word.  May it warn and inform us for this day. "Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh." (Jude 21-23, NIV)

______________

Out in the highways and byways of life,

Many are weary and sad.

Carry the sunshine where darkness is rife,

Making the sorrowing glad.

Tell the sweet story of Christ and His love;

Tell of His pow'r to forgive.

Others will trust Him if only you prove true

Every moment you live.

Make me a blessing, Make me a blessing,

Out of my life may Jesus shine;

Make me a blessing, O Savior I pray,

Make me a blessing to someone today.

Make Me A Blessing

Wilson, Ira B. / Schuler, George S.

© 1924. Renewed 1952 Word Music, Inc. (a div. of Word Music Group, Inc.)

CCLI License No. 810055