Category Archives: The Majesty of God

A Good Church?

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There’s a lot of weird churches out there.  Unhealthy, conflicted and sometimes dangerously wrong in what they teach.  Trouble is, these problems often lie hidden.  You can’t tell the condition of a church by how nice it looks, how upbeat the music is or by the size of the congregation.  Good churches come in many shapes, flavors and sizes.  So, how can you know if you’ve found a good one?  What do you look for?  Here’s a description of the first church, the initial gathering of people who knew Jesus.  I think it describes some of the most important things to look for in a church:

Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.  (Acts 9:31)

Good churches will surely have a peaceful vibe and will seem to be growing stronger and adding people.  But not necessarily always.  For example, what seems like a lack of peace may actually be a manifestation of honest willingness to address a tough problem.  And what seems to be peacefulness may be an unhealthy passivity of a congregation that is under someone’s thumb.  Same thing with temporary swings in attendance.

But central to the health of a church are the two phrases highlighted above.  A good church is very aware of the awesome and somewhat frightening presence of Almighty God.  They understand His amazing power and perfect understanding and are reverently responsive to Him in a natural way.  And a good church is mostly made up of people who, by having put their faith in Jesus, are alive with the Holy Spirit.  Instead of going through religious motions, they are engaged in an exhilarating relationship with the Spirit, being encouraged, strengthened and instructed by Him.   A church where these two are present will likely be one where you will be blessed and changed.

Whose Life Matters?

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Shepherds were outcasts, considered subhuman lowlifes.  Not welcome in town, they lived and slept out in the fields with the animals.  According to the American Journal of Biblical Theology,  “…because of their vocation, shepherds were considered unclean and could not take part in temple worship without ritual cleansing.  They were despised by the people, considered untrustworthy, and unable to testify in a court of law.”  Interesting it was shepherds to whom God initially announced the birth of Jesus. 

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  (Luke 2:8-11)

People who could not readily enter the Temple were chosen by God to receive His most important message.  He chose people considered despicable and untrustworthy, unable to testify in court to be His first witnesses.

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.  (Luke 2:20)

 Those marginalized and rejected by society were the very ones God chose!   But why?  Why not chose people more respected and trusted?  The answer is contained in verse 10 above.  One little word; can you see it?

It’s the word, “all.”  The good news of great joy would be for all the people.   Why all the people.  Because all the people mattered to God.  He loved all the people.  He sent His Son as a gift to all the people.

Even you.  You matter to God.  This good news is for you.

To slightly change what Tiny Tim said, “God blessed us, every one!”

Peace on Earth 3

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You are driving your rental through a city you have never been in.  The British lady on the GPS says, “Take the next right hand turn ” but you are pretty sure that where you are going is off to the left, somewhere.  You shut off the GPS and turn left.  Now what?  You think, “I guess I’m on my own here…”   If you have ever been there and done that, you know your stress escalates.  There is no peace at that moment.  It is much more peaceful to simply follow instructions than it is to find your own way.  Despite occasional glimpses of “deja vu,” your future is a place you have never been.

In this third post about finding peace, the kind of peace Jesus said He gives us (John 14:27 – scroll down to read the two previous posts), Jesus models peace that comes from following His GPS (God Positioning System).

30 I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, 31 but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
“Come now; let us leave.  (John 14:30-31)

Faith in God does what He says.  So-called faith that does not obey God is not really faith. When you know for sure God has a plan (Peace on Earth 1), He knows what is going to happen and is in control (Peace on Earth 2) it really makes sense to obey Him.  And it brings peace.  Obedience to the instructions and commands of an expert is much more peaceful than guessing what to do on our own.   You want peace?  Act out your faith by doing exactly what God tells you to do.

Jesus taught this same principle:

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  (Matthew 11:28-30)

“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me” means, let me tell you what to do “and you will find rest for your souls.”  You want peace?  Obey Jesus, obey God.  Sounds simplistic but sometimes the things that work best are simple.

Here’s a prayer for all you who read this, that you will enjoy real peace during this Christmas season, and all throughout your life – right here on earth.

Reliable

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Mom stands by the curb, tearfully watching her little one board the schoolbus for the first time.  Dad swallows hard and wraps his son in a fierce embrace.  The young man will board a plane and head off to his first deployment overseas.  This is the heartbeat of God as He allowed His chosen people to be carried off to exile.  Here’s what He told them:

“Listen to me, you descendants of Jacob, all the remnant of the people of Israel, you whom I have upheld since your birth, and have carried since you were born  Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you.  I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”  (Isaiah 46:3-4)
Almost sounds like God is saying, “This will hurt Me more than it does you.”  But notice carefully God’s promise to sustain them and carry them, even in their time of banishment.  And rescue them.  That’s the heartbeat of God.  “For God so loved the world…”

That’s His heart toward you, too, even if you have wandered off into an exile of your own making.  You may have run from Him, but He loves you and will never run from you.

Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

(Psalm 139:7 -10)

One

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When his football team was in hopeless disarray, Vince Lombardi took them back to the first fundamental: ​”Gentlemen, this is a foootball…”  When God’s people were in hopeless disarray, He did the same.  

He said, [I want you to] “…know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior.”   (Isaiah 43:10b-11)

That’s the foundation.  Start there or nothing else will make sense.  And yet, people commonly refer to “my god,” as distinguished from “your god.” The real God is the only God, from eternity to eternity.

He is One.

What Moses Saw

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Moses could see it coming; he knew they couldn’t keep it.  He had just rescued his people from slavery in Egypt.  He’d been sent to deliver them to a land where God promised to bless them. But, before they even set foot in the land, Moses knew they would eventually mess it up, turn away from God and lose evrything they had. He warned them.  You can read it for yourself in the 29th chapter of Deuteronomy.   

Moses saw it coming and it happened, just as he said, 800  years later.  The Promised Land was overrun and destroyed.  The survivors were carted off to Babylon to live in exile.

But Moses also knew:

“…and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you.  (Deuteronomy 30:2-3)
As unlikely as that would seem, it also happened, exactly as he said it would.  I am convinced God allowed that to demonstrate the tangible benefits of turning back to love and obey God “with all their hearts.”  Jesus also proclaimed this to be the most important commandment.

These days I sense a general attitude of despair and pessimism in the USA, a sense we have stumbled off in the wrong direction from which there seems to be no possible course correction.  Maybe Moses was on to something.

Post Foxhole Stupidity

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“O Lord, if You get me out of this, I promise, from now on, I’ll…… ”   Ever pray one of those?  The king of Israel did and God came through in an astonishing way.  One day he was on his death bed.  Then, miraculously, his life was extended.  It was such an amazing answer to prayer, when the word got out, some high officials from Babylon came visiting, wondering,  “What’s he got that we don’t?”  This was exactly how God had intended to attract others to faith in Him, as they noticed the blessings He bestowed on His people who followed His instructions.

But King Hezekiah didn’t follow through.  When the Babylonians showed up, he didn’t take them down to the temple and explain about his prayer.  In fact he did the exact opposite:

1 At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of his illness and recovery. 2 Hezekiah received the envoys gladly and showed them what was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices, the fine olive oil—his entire armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them. (Isaiah 39:1-2)

God bailed him out, answered his foxhole prayer.  The neighbors came around and asked, “How did you get healed?”  Hezekiah’s answer amounted to bragging about how important a man he was, backing up his boasts by showing them how rich he was.  But he learned a pretty tough lesson in the process.  By failing to give credit to God, where it was due, and by bragging about all his riches, Hezekiah doomed his future.

5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord Almighty: 6 The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord.   (Isaiah 39:5)

God doesn’t mind foxhole prayers; He is happy to respond.  Just don’t forget Him when the dust settles…

Forever

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Geoffrey Wilkinson, George Henderson and Mark Frankel.  Do you know thesse names or what they have in common?  Geoffrey was a world renowned chemist.  George, a priest and politician.  Mark was an actor who played “Leon the Pig Farmer.”  They all died 20 years ago today, September 26, 1996.  How did you do?  Me neither.  Twenty years after you die, maybe your family will remember who you were but the chances of much more of a lingering impact are slim.

Isaiah wrote:

6 A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass. (Isaiah 40:6-7)

But he wrote those words 2700 years ago in a country about the size of Rhode Island that was on the verge of being conquered and exiled!  And you know his name and can almost certainly quote or paraphrase some of what he wrote.  Try it; fill in the blank:  “The people walking in darkness have _____________.”   Or, “For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given and the government will be on __________.”    See what I mean?  What are the odds?

Of course, the reason Isaiah’s work has been preserved and is widely known is because it is in the Bible.  That’s because, over the centuries, it has stood the test.  He accurately prophesied the rise and fall of kingdoms in the Middle East (try that today!) and the exile and eventual release of the Jewish people, well over 100 years before it happened.  Most significantly, he foretold the coming of Jesus with amazing accuracy and clarity.  The only explanation is that Isaiah was writing God’s words.

Including these next lines from the quote above:

8 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever.”   (Isaiah 40:8)

Yes, it does.

A Simple Prayer

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And you thought you had problems…  Looking out his window, all Hezekiah could see were invading troops, about 200 thousand of them.  These ferocious, slobbering knuckle-draggers had been stomping through Israel, picking off one fortified town after another, until only Jerusalem was left.  The people of Jerusalem were holed up inside the walls, shaking in their sandals, as the commander of the troops outside loudly boasted about how mighty they were and how weak and untrustworthy King Hezekiah and his God were.  He told them, “Give up and come out and I’ll make sure you have wonderful farms and vineyards, or stay inside the walls and wind up eating your own feces.”  And then he sent a copy of his threats directly to the king.

Maybe you thought being a king would be a pretty cushy job, with all sorts of kingly perks. But Hezekiah was definitely having a bad day.  What to do?  How would you have handled the situation?  Here’s what he did:

“Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord.  And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord.”  (Isaiah 37:14-15)

I’m struck by the simplicity and humility of that act.  He took the letter, filled with threats and insults, and he opened it up  and spread it out before God.  So often, when we are faced with problems we can’t solve, if we do pray we act as though we know what is needed.  “O Lord, here’s what I think You need to do…”  Hezekiah’s action said, “Lord, I haven’t got the slightest idea about how to get through this; I’m turning it over to You.”

I’m moved by that.  How much better, when we pray, to simply share with God the details of how we see our situation.  “Lord, they said I’d probably be laid off tomorrow and I can’t imagine how I’ll make ends meet.”  “Father, the doctors have said they have done everything they know to do…”   “Oh God, I don’t know where my son is right now and I’m scared.”  Then let Him be God.

By the way, if you read through the rest of Isaiah 37, you’ll see how that all worked out.  It was pretty cool…

Daddy’s Shoes

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Little boy comes clomping around the corner with his tiny feet in Dad’s huge shoes.  It’s an unselfconscious act, cute, but with a profound heartbeat.  It says, “One day, I want to be just like Dad; when I get big I want to fit in his shoes.”  Same thing with girls and Mom.  
This pertains to a verse of Scripture that initially makes me recoil.

And everyone who thus hopes in him [Jesus] purifies himself as he is pure.  (1 John 3:3)

The word I most readily associate with purity is “boring.”  It reminds me of being forced as a child to wear an itchy wool suit and sit at the dinner table with my hands folded and my mouth shut. Why would I want to do that to myself now, as an adult?  Give me jeans and fire up that motorcycle…

The problem is twofold: 1) we don’t have a good understanding of what purity is, and, 2) we don’t understand the right motivation for purifying ourselves.  

Jesus modeled perfect purity but, as far as I’ve been able to determine, never wore a wool suit.  He was not One to follow pointless, restrictive rules derived from other people’s inhibitions, but lived with an easy and attractive “rightness.”  When you think purity, think about how comfortable Jesus was inside His own skin, how He effortlessly lived in harmony with God’s perfect design.

The verse that preceeds the one I quoted puts the motivation for purifying ourselves in the proper perspective.  John began his thought with these words:

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.   (1 John 3:2)

We tend to think of reluctantly struggling to be pure so God won’t be angry with us.  Instead, think about happily clomping around in Daddy’s shoes, with the childlike hope and trust that says, one day, I’ll be like Him.