Monday, May 07, 2007

Surefire Attendance Booster

One church in Kokomo experienced barking, meowing, and chirping in its service yesterday, and it was not because the Toronto Blessing finally hit our town. No, this was a "blessing" of a different variety.

St. Andrews Episcopal church held its annual Blessing of the Pets service yesterday. Yes, indeed, you can go to this link and see a turtle waiting in line for his priestly blessing, participate in animal liturgy, and hear Fido add his barks to the praise (or was that a howl at the off-key organ?). Though I know Father Tim Kavanaugh, the fictitious Episcopal priest in the Mitford Series by Jan Karon, has a dog who occasionally wanders into the service and even obeys better when Scripture is quoted, I never remember him being invited to worship. But then, as the saying goes, truth is stranger than fiction.

When churches resort to these cutesy things, the media obligingly follows along, takes cute pictures, and everyone has a good laugh. Yet sadly that's exactly what the world is doing. Laughing at the church, that is.

Alas, however, I assume too much. Perhaps some of my readers in cyberspace legitimately want to ask, "Why should animals not go to church? Is there anything in the Bible against it?" Maybe I am missing something, but my simple reading of the Bible reveals Jesus and the apostles preaching to people and people gathering for worship. Yes, Jesus does mention sheep, but to me at least it appears to read that He is comparing us to them, not telling us to invite them to church. Yes, hogs do get filled with spirits in Jesus' presence, but they rush away from Jesus and (yikes!) jump off a cliff and drown. And, okay, you got me when it says that fish were brought to Jesus by a little boy and blessed, but (correct me if I'm wrong) it sure sounds like He does this so they can be multiplied and eaten.

When we blur these God-given distinctions and start treating animals like people, something worse always follows. We begin to treat people like animals and animals like God, to the point God Himself says that we are starting to act like animals ourselves (Philippians 3:2; II Peter 2:12-16) or even worse (Isaiah 1:3). Certainly the Episcopal Church in our land is living proof of this, as they face being excommunicated by their own worldwide Anglican fellowship if they do not mend their ways. They have shown this lack of discernment in ordaining the very behavior God describes as beast-like (Romans 1:22-27).

Do not get me wrong. I am not a hater of animals; I just want them in their proper place. I like the steak on my plate medium rare, and thank the Lord for it whenever I eat it. I am a firm believer that Fido should be in a nice doghouse, just not in the house of God. I confess that the squirrels trying to attend our services in the ducts above the sanctuary were exterminated as the rodents they were. I believe all these beliefs and practices are in accordance with Scripture.

And neither am I a hater of folks in the Episcopal Church. It's just that I want them to know that the only animals I see in the Bible that were in worship were lambs, goats and bulls being sacrificed. You see, they were a picture of the perfect Lamb of God whose shed blood is meant to be your substitute, your only means of salvation. Your dog, cat and parakeet cannot believe that, but you must. Nothing in church should be brought in that would distract you from that, for fail to trust in Christ in this manner and you will eternally face the flames pictured in the altar.

And if you still are not convinced, could I at least then end by asking some practical questions:
  • Do your pets participate in communion? If not, why not?
  • Can your dogs join the choir?
  • If your parakeet repeatedly says, "I got saved," does it count?
  • What if someone wants to bring their horse? Besides certain "restroom" issues, could a denial not be seen as discrimination?

Friday, April 27, 2007

I Can Only Imagine

It's been one of those days where friends and my brother have sent me amusing video clips to watch. Dozens of fish just jumping out of the water at night toward a light and landing into a rowboat (somewhere in South America I believe). "Evangelism Linebacker," a spoof commercial on an effective witnessing program where wimps, who will not tell others the good news, get body slammed by an NFL-type who appears out of nowhere. So when my brother sent another one, I expected at my lunch break to have another laugh. Instead, I sobbed.

Why? Click here, read an incredible story, and be sure to watch the video.

Earlier this morning I had read the story of Mephibosheth. He was the grandson of King Saul who had been crippled as a child in an accident. When David took the throne of Israel, instead of having this family member of his enemy put to death, he returned Mephibosheth's inheritance to him and had this lame man dine at his table. I had thought that morning of how gracious my heavenly Father has been to me, a fallen sinner who has been invited to the King of heaven's table, but to be honest it only landed upon my heart as a familiar truth rather than hit me as a special one.

But the combination of being opened up by laughter then being "assaulted" by this powerful father/son story broke me down. The story is extremely touching. Yet what about the greater truth it illustrates?

Do you remember that Jesus said if earthly fathers, being evil, know how to give good gifts to their children, how much more will our heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him (Matthew 7:11).

As the song stated, I can only imagine, yes. But in Christ I already taste, and this story helps picture, what love the true Father has for us (John 17:23-26)! How He strives in me to urge and carry this struggling, disabled son of His onward to the goal of this life's race.

Friday, April 06, 2007

My Irish Eyes are Smiling

Or at least my eyes are smiling upon Ireland.

Following our arrival on Wednesday, Miriam and I spent a day with the Donnellys. On Thursday they brought us to the northern coast where we saw the spectacular Giant's Causeway. This area of the coast contains thousands of natural four and six-sided stone columns that form stepping stones you can climb upon, with rising cliffs behind them and grassy pastures on the top. They then dropped us off for a two-day stay at Portrush, which you can see at the center top of the map to the left.

The weather here has been extremely unusual the locals say, as the several straight days of sunniness and temperatures in the mid-sixties are even making headlines. Today we walked along the coast to Portstewart, which a sign said was six miles from Portrush. The path wound along the top and sides of cliffs of black rock. Laying upon grassy hillocks in the warm sun watching the foamy waves break and run over the rocks below was most relaxing. When we reached Portstewart we spent the afternoon going in and out of the seaside shops.

The surprise of the day was when Miriam glanced into a small restaurant and exclaimed, "Is that not Matt Kingswood?" Indeed it was! Matt and his wife Tara and their five children are here from Canada for three months, as Matt is filling the Trinity RPC pulpit for Ted Donnelly. His family was there for the day enjoying the sites as well. We had some great fellowship with them for a while as they ate their lunch, and look forward to worshiping with them and hearing Matt preach this weekend.

This evening we walked back and stopped occasionally as Miriam took more pictures. We again saw the sun setting over Donegal, a mountainous peninsula across from these towns that is in the gray area in the map above. If you would like to see a few more pictures, go here to the Kodak Gallery and hit "View Slideshow."

Here's one more. Miriam and I are sitting in what is known as "The Wishing Chair" at the Giant's Causeway. Certainly on this trip our wish has come true! We thank the Lord for the beauty of His earth and the love of His people that has made this time possible.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

A Likeable Hero

On Tuesday night of this week, I was privileged to attend the Indiana Family Institute's (IFI) Annual Banquet. Tony Dungy, head coach of the Superbowl Champion Colts, was there as he was awarded IFI's Friend of the Family Award. As you can see, my daughter and a few of her friends were able to get their picture with Mr. Dungy.

Being a practicing "Sabbatarian" (see my previous blog An Unlikely Hero), I had to give up watching pro football years ago except for the occasional Monday Night game. So I have not watched much of the Colts, though I do know who Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison are. However, I did not know the punter for the Colts was named Hunter Smith, who was at the banquet. He played music and gave a warm testimony of Mr. Dungy's Christian influence on his life.

Watching people's reaction in the presence of fame and football was interesting. A Colt's helmet signed by the coach sold for $9000 in an auction. The program was arranged like a football game, complete with a two-minute warning. Autographs were sought eagerly. A minister in his opening prayer started by praising the Lord, but then turned to addressing Mr. Dungy right in the middle of his prayer: "Tony Dungy, you are a great man. Thank you for blessing us with your presence tonight..." Yikes! I had to lift and shake my head at that. I trust it was nervous enthusiasm rather than an attempt at deification.

Yet far and away the evening was a delight. We enjoyed wonderful food, attentive service, and fascinating conversations. Hearing of progress IFI has made on issues impacting the family and of the attention Mr. Dungy gives to community service were encouraging. Clearly the chief highlight was when Mr. Dungy received his reward and responded. His humility and desire to honor God rather than be honored were seen in his easy manner and gracious speech.

After sharing anecdotes from football and explaining his concern for the family, toward the end of his speech Mr. Dungy spoke to the controversy that arose in the days prior to his accepting this award. As this article from the Indianapolis Star explains, pro-homosexual groups protested his appearance at this "homophobic, right-wing" organization. Many were pressuring him not to come to the banquet or to accept the reward. Yet not only did he come, he spoke right to the issue in a powerful way when he could have easily sidestepped it.

Mr. Dungy explained the pressure he had been receiving from these organizations and the media, and then told of how this reminded him of the Biblical account of Joshua meeting the armed figure outside Jericho. When Joshua asked this man whose side was he on, Joshua's or their enemy's, the man responded, "I am the captain of the Lord of hosts." At this Joshua fell down in worship and submission. Mr. Dungy said that the question is not whose side are you on, but whether or not you are on the Lord's side. He claimed, "I am on the Lord's side," and embraced IFI's position on marriage as representing the Lord's views expressed in the Bible.

Though our trust cannot be in man and certainly we cannot pray to him, I thank the Lord that a man of Mr. Dungy's stature is taking this bold stance for Christ.

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

An Unlikely Hero

While enjoying a two-day get-away with my wife last week, I was fascinated to read this article about Elliot Huck. Elliot is a fourteen year old boy from Bloomington, IN, who in the past two years has won the regional Scripps Spelling Bee. Last year he finished 45th out of 250 plus contestants in the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. Yet despite training for about two hours a day over the summer to prepare for this year's bee, Elliot will not be there. Why? Because this year they moved the bee from Saturday to Sunday, and Elliot's convictions regarding the Sabbath Day means he does not believe he should compete on this day.

It was refreshing to read Elliot's views and attitude. He stated that he had sought to glorify God in previous years by spelling, and this year he will glorify God by not spelling. This story further piqued my interest (Or should that be "peaked my interest"? Help, Elliot, or any readers!) because Elliot attends Lighthouse Christian Academy in Bloomington, where Rachel Roberts, wife of Reformed Presbyterian pastor Bill Roberts, is the principal. How encouraging to see the Biblical training Elliot is receiving in his home, church and school giving him the strength to stand for his Biblical convictions.

And his convictions are Biblical. Isaiah 58:13-14, looking ahead to the days of the ministry of the Messiah, Jesus the Christ, promises this:

"If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot
From doing your own pleasure on My holy day,
And call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable,
And honor it, desisting from your own ways,
From seeking your own pleasure
And speaking your own word,
Then you will take delight in the LORD,
And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

This Sabbath and Lord's Day promised was the day of Christ's resurrection, the first day of the week (see Questions 57-62 here). Those who know Christ and the joy of keeping this day holy through worshiping God and resting from ordinary work and pleasures understand why Elliot would give up a goal he has worked extremely hard for all his life. He has done much like Eric Liddell did as dramatized in the movie Chariots of Fire.

With all the attention being given to sports heroes these days, many of whom claim to know Christ yet regularly showing no true regard for the fourth commandment, might we not point instead to Elliot as the true role model? Sure, he is bespectacled and lacks the chiseled physique of the athelete. Yet who does God Himself delight in - those possessing strength and speed or those who fear Him? Look at Psalm 147:10-11 if you need help with the answer!

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Timber!

Perhaps a blog with this name should not have a post with this title, but nevertheless...

Several weeks ago, when the temperatures were more like those of springtime than the ones we are experiencing now, I had the joy of helping fell a tree. In the woods atop the shore of Lake Michigan, Miriam's dad had a dead beech tree standing sixty feet tall that was leaning to the west. As the wind made it sway the beech creaked and moaned with the plea to be brought down to its final resting. Delighted to comply with this request, we watched as Dad notched its front side, brought in the bite of the chainsaw from the back, then stepped back as the trunk separated from the stump and came crashing down with a final groaning protest to the forest bed.

I will never forget the face of my son Spencer who was running down the driveway at the time. He was oblivious that the tree was about to fall. When he heard the sound of the the limbs of the falling tree thrashing madly at those of its neighbors, he looked up wide-mouthed at it. In in his nine year-old boy's mind it must have looked like a giant beast falling to its death. Then, a few seconds after the silence, his face broke into a smile of delight at the realization of the victory he had just witnessed.

The next few hours were filled with the joyful task of splitting firewood, throwing the logs into a large-wheeled cart, then rolling it to the wood stack and unloading it. Each piece was carefully placed on the growing pile, where it would await its turn to serve us by providing warmth to the wood stove within the house. As my wife and children along with their grandparents worked around me, stomping about in the crisp leaves that were ankle-deep, their flushed cheeks, grunts of effort, and vapored breath all served as testimony to the goodness of what we were doing. What a pleasure it is to accomplish a family project with diligent work and unity of labor! Like a Google search, this time brought to the main screen of my mind other memories, such as:
  • Cutting wood alongside Dad and "Granddaddy" as a boy in the woods surrounding my grandfather's North Carolina home. Thirty-five years later I could still smell the damp wood and exhaust from the time spent behind Granddaddy as I rode atop the pile in the trailer being pulled by his old lawn tractor, the chains on its wheels providing extra traction and bounce.
  • Gathering wood and then placing it upon the campfire on the only Boy Scout camp-out I went on as a kid in North Carolina. It helped me to earn my Tenderfoot pin, which was as far as I advanced in the scouts.
  • Laying on the floor with my "tender feet" on the mantle warming before the fireplace in our den in my home in Coldwater on many a snowy Michigan night.
As we chopped and hauled away, not only memories but Biblical images arose as well. How often the Bible compares men to trees! Evil rulers who have risen and fallen - like Nebuchadnezzar of old (see Daniel 4) or Sadaam who has fallen in the days since then - once stood like mighty trees boasting of their power only to be brought to ruin (Psalm 37:35-36). Yet they are considered only as stubble before the truly mighty Lord (Isaiah 40:23-24). On the other hand, righteous men who nourish themselves on the word of God (rather than their own reputations) are like trees that continually live and are fruitful (Psalm 1:1-3; Isaiah 61:3; Jeremiah 17:7-8). As they eat from the Tree of Life, they become like one themselves.

Psalm 96:12 says, "All the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord." Indeed, even now each tree proclaims the gospel, does it not? And so does each man's life. Whether we are looking at woods or crowds, do we not see that either you stand and grow eternally in Christ, or you face the awful prospect of serving as just so much timber in a fire that will never stop burning?

If that sounds like too harsh an ending to this blog, then remember with me one more woodcutting reflection. It was also a tree to which Christ was nailed (Galatians 3:13).

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Vowing, but Not to Get Even

During the Covenanter Young Adult Winter Conference, each year on Sabbath afternoons we have traditionally had a time called "Stump the Pastors" (affectionately dubbed "Stump the Chumps" by some) where a panel of pastors responds to questions from the young people. Usually these questions cover a wide range of topics, from creation to culture to calling. I wanted to follow up on some comments that arose regarding the subject of vows that I thought at the time were confusing and have heard since others have felt the same way.

In a discussion about the necessity of requiring vows for church membership, at least one of the pastors stated that the Reformed Presbyterian Church does not ask vows but rather queries. In other words, what I take this pastor to have meant is that when the new member is being asked the Covenant of Church Membership required to join the church, he is assenting to the truths and stating his beliefs found in the seven questions but he is not taking vows that solemnly swear himself to this behavior. This pastor also stated that Synod had declared this as its understanding.

Not wanting to start a debate at the time, knowing through my experience of serving on several different committees studying vows that confusion exists even among pastors, and wanting to be careful not to add to that confusion, I did not say anything at the time. Even now I am writing this not to embarrass anyone (hence my blog title), but to help us understand what we are doing when we or others respond to the Church Membership Covenant.

Simply put, there are both queries and vows in the seven questions contained in the Covenant of Church Membership. In a report by a synod committee regarding ordination vows I served on in 1998 that was approved by Synod, we defined these terms because of the confusion about them (Committee on Communication 98-10). A query is a "question or inquiry to ascertain information designed to give a public, official statement of one's beliefs," whereas a vow is a "solemn promise or assertion by which a person binds himself to an act, service or condition before God." With these definitions in mind, the report went on to differentiate that some of the questions asked at ordination were queries and others were vows.

The same is true of the seven church membership questions. The first three are queries, eliciting a statement of faith from the respondent:

1. Do you believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, the only infallible rule for faith and life?
2. Do you believe in the one living and true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as revealed in the Scriptures?
3. Do you repent of your sin; confess your guilt and helplessness as a sinner against God; profess Jesus Christ, Son of God, as your Saviour and Lord; and dedicate yourself to His service: Do you promise that you will endeavor to forsake all sin, and to conform your life to His teaching and example?

The last four are clearly vows, as the person taking them is binding himself before God to certain acts and conditions:

4. Do you promise to submit in the Lord to the teaching and government of this church as being based upon the Scriptures and described in substance in the Constitution of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America? Do you recognize your responsibility to work with others in the church and do you promise to support and encourage them in their service to the Lord? In case you should need correction in doctrine or life, do you promise to respect the authority and discipline of the church?
5. To the end that you may grow in the Christian life, do you promise that you will diligently read the Bible, engage in private prayer, keep the Lord's Day, regularly attend the worship services, observe the appointed sacraments, and give to the Lord's work as He shall prosper you?
6. Do you purpose to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness in all the relationships of life, faithfully to perform your whole duty as a true servant of Jesus Christ, and seek to win others to Him?
7. Do you make this profession of faith and purpose in the presence of God, in humble reliance upon His grace, as you desire to give your account with joy at the Last Great Day?

In the RPCNA Constitution, the Covenant of Church Membership is found in the section called "Vows" and has "Official Vows" printed on the page above where it is found. You can even see in the web link I gave above from our denomination's website that the understanding is that vows are contained in this covenant (www.reformed.com/rpcna-constitution/vows.htm).

With this in mind, let all who belong to the church or who are considering joining it know they are binding themselves in solemn covenant with Christ and His church. Yet let us not fear that, but rather rejoice, draw near to God, and fulfill our vows to Him. For as we sing in Psalm 65, "Praise waits for Thee in Zion! To Thee vows paid shall be."

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Creative Squirrel Uses 101

After a battle with them in our church building a while back, squirrels became a source of humor around Sycamore. In my office someone could get the mistaken idea that I am actually fond of the little rodents, as I have squirrel cards, lawn ornaments, pictures, a CD with a song about them, etc., on my bookshelves. I even have a squirrel sweatshirt. But as this picture shows, these fluffy rats can be dangerous. After all, even my squirrel sweatshirt has pictures of them on a "Ten Most Wanted" list like those in the Post Office.

If that does not convince you of their danger, maybe this link of them my brother sent me will. Though I do not recommend these uses of squirrels, at least we see some of them getting their due.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Covenanter Young Adults

Many blogging thoughts, but little blogging time these past few weeks.

Our congregation had the privilege of hosting over 100 college students and young working adults for worship and lunch this past weekend who were attending a Covenanter Young Adult (C'YA) conference nearby. Seeing the sanctuary filled with all those eager faces, hearing the praise of God harmonized in joyful song, and celebrating new members and a baptism were truly delightful. Our ladies made feeding 200 plus look easy with all their careful planning and hard work behind the scenes, and the fellowship that occurred over the tables was that taste of heaven you always pray that the Lord's Day will be. The Lord was in our midst.

Pastor Harry Metzger spoke on Developing a Heart for the Lost, and from what I heard and continue to hear the young people were greatly warmed by the messages. Harry's recent heart attack made his tender heart even more so, as the obvious concern God has given him to bring the gospel to unbelievers was poured out through the teachings, stories and tears he shared. His final challenge for the young people to pray and then work toward seeing God use them to win another to Christ this year was met with enthusiasm. May the Lord pour out fully His spirit on these gifted and serious-minded young people, and may the earth be shaken and souls be harvested as a result.

On a tangential note, with the Lord's bringing to our own congregation more college students, and two of my own children among them, I continue to think through education and the spiritual training and support of our covenant young adults. This article by Charles Murray is noteworthy, as it reminds us that there are worthy callings that do not require college degrees. The church and its families need to remember each young adult is unique in his or her gifts and calling. The "one-size-fits-all" stress in our culture for everyone to have a college education could be damaging to those who believe God is leading them in a different direction.

With this in mind, I noticed quite a number there this weekend who were not in college. So let's keep remembering that the C in C'YA is for Covenanter, not college, and rejoice in the variety of ways, be it in a vocation or at a university, that these young people will be sharing Christ this year.

Monday, December 18, 2006

Happy Circumcision Day?

Preached on Genesis 21:1-7 yesterday regarding the birth of Isaac. The joyous arrival of Isaac, whose very name means "laughter," to Abraham and Sarah after all those years of waiting and all the factors surrounding it invites us to think of the coming of the true seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ.

Yet the way the story is written makes this event central to Isaac's coming:

"Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him."

Why does God highlight a circumcision, and what was the significance of it being done on the eighth day? You may not realize this, but you actually will be celebrating the true significance of this act two weeks from today. What do I mean?

Well, first read this from the Wikipedia Encyclopedia:

"Most countries in Western Europe officially adopted January 1 as New Year's Day somewhat before they adopted the Gregorian calendar...This is sometimes called Circumcision Style, because this was the date of the Feast of the Circumcision, being the eighth day counting from 25 December."

Having the beginning of the year happen exactly one week after Christmas (eight days in the way the Jews counted it - Sunday to Sunday was eight days for they counted the first Sunday) is not just a coincidence but a deliberate setting of the time to correspond to Jesus' circumcision which also happened eight days after his birth. Listen to a Lutheran pastor explain this further:

"Many people, Christian or not, use the western calendar’s New Year’s Day on 1 January as a time of taking stock, evaluating decisions, and making resolutions. It’s also the Church feast day commemorating the Circumcision and Name of Jesus. Some churches celebrate one or the other of these events, some both, and some neither....(Why?) 'And at the end of eight days, when He was circumcised, He was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. (Luke 2:21)' Once the Christian Church established a date for Christmas, the commemoration of His circumcision was set for one week later."

Yet why would the church want to celebrate Christ's circumcision of all things? Wikipedia continues, "...It is a feast celebrating not only Christ consenting to submit to Jewish Law, but also the first time the Redeemer spilled his blood for mankind."

Then why was circumcision done on the eighth day? Some of the early church fathers perhaps understood these things better than we:

"The command of circumcision, again, bidding [them] always circumcise the children on the eighth day, was a type of the true circumcision, by which we are circumcised from deceit and iniquity through Him who rose from the dead on the first day after the Sabbath, our Lord Jesus Christ. For the first day after the Sabbath, remaining the first of all the days, is called, however, the eighth..." –Justin Martyr

"For because the eighth day, that is, the first day after the Sabbath, was to be that on which the Lord should rise again, and should quicken us, and give us circumcision of the spirit, the eighth day, that is, the first day after the Sabbath, and the Lord’s day, went before in the figure; which figure ceased when by and by the truth came, and spiritual circumcision was given to us." –Cyprian

Jesus arose on the first day of the week, also called the eighth day by the Jews (see John 20:26). He was the true circumcision, having taken away our sin and filth by His death and burial and giving us new life through His resurrection. All those circumcisions on the eighth day of Jewish boys from Isaac to Jesus through the ages were a bloody testimony to that which has now come. And the very calendar we use was set to start off each year by reminding us of this gospel truth.

So as you wish someone Happy New Year in these next few weeks, why not also say, "By the way, did you know....?"

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Prayer Requests from the Library

As I wrote last week, a proposal involving a huge downtown development project ($110 dollars, seven-towers, eleven city blocks) was published in a local paper. The map showed our church building surrounded on all four sides by their enclosed mall. No one from the library or community had spoken to us about it before it was published.

The counsel we had received from eminent domain legal specialists in our first go around was that when threats are proposed to not let a day go by without speaking to it. To that end, I wrote a letter to the editor (basically the material from the blog of last week) that was published in the Tribune on December 13th. A reporter had contacted me the day before so there was also a front-page article entitled "Church on the defensive" in the paper which you can read here: http://www.kokomotribune.com/local/local_story_346231202.html.

Yesterday I was on the phone quite a bit, as one library board member and then the board president called in response. Both conversations were cordial, and they both assured me that the firm making the proposal had indicated, despite what the map showed, that it would not involve taking the church. They both also identified with pressures they feel as citizens regarding the property tax burden mentioned in the letter. I am very thankful for their quick response and reassurance.

They also both expressed that they wished that I had spoken to them privately before going to the paper. Perhaps I should have. Yet had they followed that same principle and notified us before the article, I may not have written at all. For when information is spread publicly in this manner, what option do we really have than to chose the same method of communication they did?

We are hopeful yet will remain guarded, as other civic leaders beyond the library board are now involved in these decisions and, in communities across the nation, private property and churches are being taken for "the good of the public." Need evidence? Read this article about the Supreme Court docket or look here to see all the cases or see this 60 Minutes report to read about the latest. As one eminent domain lawyer quoted in the last link states, "This is a nationwide epidemic. We have documented more than 10,000 instances of government taking property from one person to give it to another in just the last five years." (emphasis added)

One final thing we all definitely agreed on. Both board members also requested prayer, as the turmoil in our city government in Kokomo, especially seen in the response to the library situation, has been difficult for them personally. Indeed, the board member has already written a letter to the church that was sent to me that day, which he concluded this way,

"I certainly understand your concern and, as I stated earlier, please rest assured that I will work to make sure your church is not threatened.

From one Christian brother to another I would ask that you, as well as your church, pray for me as well as all the others involved in the project that we would have the wisdom to make the best decision for our community. As the Psalmist says in the first part of Psalms 127:1 'Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.'"

We are praying for them to have wisdom and that the Lord's hand would be clearly seen in this matter. We are "seeking the welfare of the city and praying to the Lord on its behalf" (Jeremiah 29:7). As Psalm 127:1 above verse goes on to say, "Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain."

"Guard our city, O Lord Jesus."

Monday, December 11, 2006

Celebrating Graying Temples

I'm getting old. No surprise to you, I know, but it reads like the daily news to me. Reflect with me on these little reminders from recent comments:

  • "Your hair [what's left of it is implied in this comment] is getting more gray around the temples."
  • "Time for your colonoscopy again." [Sigh.]
  • "Your whole face fills with wrinkles when you smile." [Okay, I actually said that one to the face looking back at me in the mirror as I laughed at all my laugh lines.]

If the comments are not enough, feeling the sore back every morning when I wake up, finding out recently that for months I have been calling a couple that I see regularly by the names of Larry and Nancy when they are actually Steve and Ruth, and hearing more adults using "Mr. York" rather than my first name serve as daily messengers that the "way of all the earth" has no exception clauses. We are all but a vapor (James 4:14), a fading flower (I Peter 1:24), each man a breath (Psalm 39:11) - from dust created and to dust returning. Sometimes this "dirty" truth occurs particle by particle, the dust flaking away imperceptibly until one day we awaken to find just how much has departed. My wife and I gave our bedroom a vigorous cleaning this weekend and removed all the "dust bunnies" under the bed. Are we not all just glorified dust bunnies - a brief appearance swept away in a moment of time?

Yet not all is gloom, ghastly and gray. Nothing worse than a grumpy old man. Though the outer body is decaying, there is a soul in that dust bunny. I can testify that, in Christ, with age also comes the renewal of the inner man. "The honor of old men is their gray hair" the proverb reads, and the Lord does honor age by giving wisdom as time marches on toward its unstoppable victory. The passing of years that has brought monumental struggles with sin, aching knees, and witnessing too many broken relationships has also tamed my bucking soul. I find that I can appreciate the simple blessings He daily brings, such as:

  • Having more fun watching and helping others, especially my sons, play basketball than playing myself.
  • Meeting a friend for lunch and enjoying listening to what is on his heart rather than always having to tell what's on mine.
  • Holding my four-year old on my lap in worship last night during the singing and hearing her belt out a psalm we are memorizing.
  • Finally admitting and laughing with my children that their untucked shirts are actually in style and not a sign of disrespect to my generation.
  • Not having to win every theological discussion.
  • Hearing my wife pray.

Each grain of sand falling in the hourglass serves not only as a reminder of the passing of time but as a picture of what is happening to us. We do well then to learn the wisdom God offers, proving that hearing and seeing in a spiritual sense can improvewith time. One final thing I would confess to seeing better now than as a young man is that, with all our glory fading as it is, we do well not to take ourselves too seriously. Some innocent fun along life's journey (as the picture below taken this summer at the fair may show) does not have to be beneath serious-minded Christians. Actually, is it not a small slice of the eternal enjoyment that will eventually transcend this time that, for now, indeed ages us, but will not and cannot defeat us? For besides bringing me aches and pains, is not time also bringing me closer to the source of all blessing and joy?

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Here We Go Again?

Faithful readers of this blog will remember the struggle our congregation had with the local library board a while ago (If interested, you can read about this here then there). The long and short of it was that the library, located diagonally from us across the intersection in front of our building, was considering using eminent domain powers to acquire our church's property in order to expand their facilities. After a four-month long campaign by our congregation that was supported by a local lawyer, the Alliance Defense Fund, and Advance America, the library board decided on February 5, 2006, not to pursue any plan involving the acquisition of Sycamore Reformed Presbyterian Church's property. The headline in the local daily paper the next day read "Congregation rejoices at library decision."

Yet in an article published this week in a local weekly paper, a $110 million, eleven city blocks, seven towers proposal was unveiled by an Indianapolis firm for the downtown area. Two of these towers would be directly in front of and beside the church building, and a map published in the paper shows these towers being connected by a building structure that surrounds the church property on all four sides? Though this firm is only in the proposal stage at this point, the library board has agreed to lay further planning aside for six months in order to see how this proposal develops.

Just like our first go-around with the library board, all these proposals are being made public first before we have even been contacted. Last year we found sites on the web showing our building gone. We were served papers for a building inspection to estimate demolition costs during Thanksgiving that threatened eminent domain. I was told the sheriff would serve a warrant if I did not comply with this inspection. All of this before anyone from the library even talked to us! As I repeatedly explained to them in their own meetings, does not wisdom, a sense of public service, and neighborly love dictate that plans involving other's properties be discussed with them privately before you print articles and publish maps showing what you hope to do with their property?

The library board has taken to blaming others for the political mess that has resulted from their expansion hopes. Yet they must have done enough to alarm our state legislators, who, made aware of this situation in Kokomo, included in legislation signed by Governor Daniels earlier this year the removal of eminent domain powers from non-elected library boards. They and other community leaders need to consider again what community service really means. Fancy buildings and flower-lined streets may look nice and welcoming, but if paid for by bullying and overtaxing the citizens of Kokomo (ahem, our property taxes were increased by forty percent last year!) these amenities will only be a testimony to the moral and spiritual poverty of our leaders. The Lord warned against those leaders who clean the outside of the cup, but inwardly are "full of robbery and self-indulgence."

Strong words, yes, but so were being threatened with a warrant and eminent domain.

Monday, December 04, 2006

An R-Rated Pulpit?

Know one story worse than what happened in Sodom before its destruction? You know the one in Genesis 19, where the angels visited Lot, his house was surrounded by a homosexual throng, and he offered his daughters to the lusters instead of the visitors they were seeking?

The story that immediately follows after the destruction of Sodom. Lot ended up living in this cave with his daughters and...well, go ahead and just read Genesis 19:30-38 for yourself. The sordid details are there, but for a clue just realize his oldest daughter named her new son "From father" and the youngest daughter called her pride and joy "Son of my (father's) people." What creative, shameless names.

As I have been preaching through Genesis, the question did arise whether this story was appropriate sermon fodder. One commentary expressed the sentiments of others: "This text should never be used for a sermon." Sensitive people and children are there, and we are in the presence of God for goodness sake. Yet Paul taught that we are to "preach the whole counsel of God," and being committed to expository preaching, I plunged ahead with a message entitled Sodom Reborn. The fascinating thing about preaching on Lot was that he must be treated as a righteous man, for that is what God says about him three times in II Peter 2:7-8. I sought to help the congregation see that this story is not to be a strange comfort for sin among God's people ("Lot committed incest but, hey, don't worry, he was forgiven"), but rather a strong warning against sin ("Look at the devastating consquences that being affected by sinful culture will have on you and future generations").

Anyway, my point is not to preach it again but to tell you what happened that day to make a point. It just so happened on that particular day a man was visiting the church who, unknown to me at the time, is being charged for a hideous act he committed against a minor while drunk, i.e., he had behaved just like Lot. Those who have knowledge of the situation told me later that each point addressed exact issues he was facing. May God also grant him the faith Lot had.

God in His wisdom put stories like these in the Bible because he knew people like this man - and people like this preacher - need to have every issue of life addressed and His ways made known. If we try to sanitize the Bible, and not be forthright in all that it contains, we will become prudish churches and pastors, and sinners will not be reached with the gospel.

So having this story preached might lead to the accusation of having an R-Rated pulpit, but the response would be that's because preachers have R-Rated congregations. Oooh, I know that might sting some, but consider having all your actions and thoughts over your lifetime put on a movie for others to watch like God sees you. Then you might just consider me generous in my rating. Or better yet, read Matthew 5:22 & 28 and see if that is not what in so many words the Lord Himself is saying.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Folly out of the Pulpit

Whoa! Being a mere babe in an internet savvy world, I had no idea when I wrote my previous post "Evil in the Pulpit" of the vast amounts of confirming commentary in cyberspace regarding both Senator Barack Obama and Pastor Rick Warren. Putting a conniving politician into the same room with a Bible-believing pastor should have the same result as gunpowder coming into a contact with a spark, reminiscent of Eljah before Ahab or Herod with John the Baptist, but these further revelations instead invoke images of, well, cornflakes meeting milk. Mush.

On the Obama front, Ben Shapiro reviews Obama's book with the title The Audacity of Hope (no, this is not a biography on Bill Clinton) and clearly delineates the senator's evil views on a variety of social issues by quoting him. Obama is pretty clever, for with one sentence he can show his support of homosexuality while simultaneously denouncing the infallibility of Scripture: "I [am not] willing to accept a reading of the Bible that considers an obscure line in Romans to be more defining of Christianity than the Sermon on the Mount." Shapiro then goes on quoting and showing how Obama should be seen as having more in common with Karl Marx than, say, Rick Warren.

However, one has to wonder. Faithful reader and friend Jeff Kessler cued me in on this WorldNetDaily article by Bob Unruh which tells of Warren's recent trip to Syria. Apparently Pastor Warren sang the praises of the freedom Christians have in this Muslim-dominated nation while he was there, much like Billy Graham did when he visited communist China. The only problem is that our own State Department disagrees. After some backlash, Unruh quotes Warren as saying, "In hindsight, I wish we'd been better prepared for our visit to Syria. We would have a handled some meetings differently, watched our words more close (sic), and been more aware of the agenda of their state press." But I'm sure after this admission he will handle Senator Obama just fine.

Is this what happens when one has a Purpose-Driven® pulpit?

Monday, November 20, 2006

Evil in the Pulpit

Often bloggers can do no better service than to point their readers to someone who has written an important article better than they can do.

With that in mind, please go to Kevin McCullough's article at Townhall.com entitled "Why is Obama's Evil in Rick Warren's Pulpit?" The gist is that Warren has invited Illinois Senator Barak Obama, whose public stance on marriage, abortion, and homosexuality runs contrary to the Scriptures Warren claims to belief, to speak at his Saddleback Church on World AIDS Day on December 1

Admittedly, pastors of small churches such as myself criticizing leaders of megachurches can come across like a guy sucking sour lemons. Yet McCullough's article points out how the fellowship of light and darkness undermines the faith, which is already doctrinally compromised within the megachurch movement. He is seeking to get people to call or e-mail Saddleback. Stay tuned to see if there is any response to this by the church.

All of which goes to remind us: When you start standing up for everything, you end up standing for nothing.

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Preacher Confessions

If the title led you to believe you would read a juicy bit worthy of the National Enquirer, sorry to disappoint. Thankfully, that is not the case. The confessions I am about to make would be more like the equivalent of a fumble in football or error in baseball rather than a betting or doping scandal. Also, these are preacher confessions versus minister or pastor confessions. We are talking pulpit errors here.

However, I do not want to diminish the importance of carefulness. In his experience-filled book on the work of preaching called Preaching & Preachers, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones speaks of the need for attentiveness to the true theme of the text in sermons. "...there is one golden rule, one absolute demand - honesty. You have got to be honest with your text." The goal of the preacher is to bring out God's truth in the text. He must then treat the text honestly by relating to the congregation accurately God's purpose in giving us that portion of His Word. If this be the case, then a carefulness to the details of the text, or any aspect of the sermon for that matter, is essential.

Having fumbled, bumbled and mumbled over some things the past few weeks, and having had them brought to my attention either by others or by that nagging feeling something was amiss, I thought it would be good to go public here and clear the air. If magazines feature corrections for the sake of accuracy, why not preachers?

1) Historical blunder- A couple of weeks ago, to illustrate Abraham's military move to rescue his nephew Lot, I told the story of Richard Cameron and his urgent prayer "Lord spare the green and take the ripe!" before he rode off into battle and his own life was taken. My problem? In the midst of telling this story I kept saying "Richard Baxter." Though perhaps I could defend substituting in the name of a English Puritan pastor (whose book The Reformed Pastor is one of my faves) for a Scottish Covenanter pastor in the same time period by saying that was better than calling him, say, "Richard Dreyfuss," for those new to or learning church history it could be quite confusing. And for those who knew the difference, nothing like taking away the power of the point you are urging on the congregation than a repeated faux pas. How can they listen to you when they keep hearing a mistake that's like fingernails on chalkboards?

2) Orinthological misidentity - In Genesis 15, Abram is instructed to prepare birds and animals for a covenant ceremony God makes with him. We are told that "birds of prey" then swooped down on the dead animals. Abraham had to drive them away, and God explains this as a prophetic warning that Abraham's descendants would be oppressed by other nations. Wanting to make a connection with the verse where our Lord states that "where the corpse is, there the vultures are also," I kept referring to these birds of prey as vultures. Yet the mistake pointed out to me is that birds of prey are birds like eagles, hawks, falcons, etc., not scavengers like vultures. My eagerness to make a valid connection caused me to read the connection back into the story and misemphasize it. It is one thing to be circled by vultures and quite another to be circled by eagles. Not too many teams named the Vultures!

3) Theological blurring - Lately, when teaching about an early church heretic named Cerinthus, I called him a Docetist. That is true only in that Cerinthus' teachings led to Docetism. Docetists were people who believed Jesus only appeared to be human, that actually he was a spirit who took a human form. Thus, they denied the actual crucifixion of the man Jesus. Cerinthus, however, distinguished between Jesus the man and Christ the spirit. He believed prior to the crucifixion the Christ-spirit left Jesus the man who then really died on the cross. Later followers of Cerinthus' teaching fell even further from truth into the Docetic heresy by saying Jesus the man did not even exist.

One of my favorite quips about preaching is by Jay Adams, who said, "A mist in the pulpit is a fog in the pew." Clarity is essential to preaching, and in reality is ultimate to it. So on a more serious note, I hope these confessions will clear up any dimming of the glory of the Lord that may have been brought on by this preacher.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Little Men

As our nation grieves over the outbreak of violence in the recent school shootings in the Denver, Colorado and Lancaster, Pennsylvania areas, we may want to take this opportunity to teach our sons a lesson.

They need to be men and protect the women in their life, no matter how little they may be or how dangerous the situation.

Have you noticed that both shooters walked into classrooms and ordered all the boys to leave? According to news reports, none of the boys involved refused either gunman's request. No boy's life was taken. They all complied and in each case left girls with a man obviously intent on harming them.

Is the only story of resistance by any boy the one that ended up being a lie? A young man went on the Today show portraying himself as one who had initially resisted gunman Duane Morrison at the Platte Canyon High School tragedy. Yet the very next day he appeared again on the same show admitting he had not even been in the same classroom. He said, "I hope that people will know me for who I am, and not a liar." Sorry, but after trying to get attention as a hero, when girls are being molested and dying, it is a bit too late for that. And besides, even his lie reveals cowardice. As part of his lie, the fifteen year-old boy had said he still left when his life was threatened by Morrison. Are not heroes supposed to be willing to sacrifice their lives?

Some might object that expecting preteen boys or even high school guys to face down a mad gunman is asking too much. Yet I direct you to the only story of bravery I have so far run across in these tragic events, which almost reads like an indictment against my gender. Fox News reports that in the one-room Amish school house, some of the girls who survived the shootings related that thirteen year-old Marian Fisher, one of the older girls whose life was taken, begged to be shot first. Apparently she hoped by giving her life that the other girls would be able to escape. Should it not be the boys, in this violent, terror-filled world, who are trained to protect girls with their very lives? Again, the objection may be they are too little. Sorry, but even grown men feel like grasshoppers at times - just ask ten of the spies who went into the Promised Land (Numbers 13:33).

The church must train its boys to be little men who grow up to be big ones. At a young age they need to learn to show respect for their mother, sisters and other ladies in their lives. Small acts done early such as holding the door open for a lady or standing when a woman enters the room will develop into larger ones such as providing for and protecting wives and children later. Boys should be taught when it is appropriate to defend themselves and others. They must be trained and directed into leadership responsibilities in the church. And they need to be severely reprimanded when they fail in any of these things. Most importantly, they need to be inspired by the men in their lives with instruction and stories of courage such as what men did on the Titantic or on United Flight 93. If called upon, it is a man's duty to show the greatest love as Jesus did, which is laying down your life for another (John 15:13).

The evangelical church has grown feminine or, in the words of another, its "men are soft." How much more ecclesiastical and societal decay (translate that "death") will have to take place before strong bass voices, theological acumen, male moral purity, men crying to God for strength they do not have, and even a sword or two when necessary (see Luke 22:36-38) will be found among the people of God again?

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

America's First Book

The first book published in colonial America was the Bay Psalm Book. According to the website of the Cambridge Reformed Presbyterian Church (which my friend Dr. Christian Adjemian pastors),

"The book was published in 1640 in what is now Cambridge, Massachusetts in a print shop now long gone, located in what is today Harvard Square...The preface to the Bay Psalm Book was written by John Cotton...(and is) an explanation and defense of the American Puritan understanding that the Book of Psalms is God's hymnbook for the Church. This is a belief that was shared by all Presbyterian churches until the 19th Century."

One of the ten existing copies of this work is on display as "America's First Book" in the Library of Congress. The Bay Psalm Book was used extensively throughout the colonies and went through many revisions and improvements.

My point in drawing your attention to this is to encourage you to read the preface which supports and defends the practice of the church singing the psalms in its worship. The preface begins with this eloquent statement:

"The singing of Psalms breathes out nothing but holy harmony and melody..."

but then quickly raises the concern against the church setting psalm singing aside:

"...but such is the subtlety of the enemy, and such is the enmity of our nature against the Lord and His ways, that our hearts can find discord in this harmony and notes of division in the holy melody."

The preface then goes on to answer the following three questions:

1) First, which psalms should be sung in churches: the psalms of David and other biblical writers, or psalms composed by godly and gifted men throughout the history of the church?
2) Second, if we sing psalms from scripture, should we sing them in strictly literal translations, or should we use the metrical forms common in English poetry?
3) Third, by whom are they to be sung? Should the whole church sing with voices together, or should one man sing alone while the rest join in silence and close by saying "amen"?

The answers, though not a complete treatise, are worthy of our study. As the preface closes with the following words, note how different is the spirit of these godly forefathers than the one typically found in the modern evangelical church:

"If the verses, therefore, are not always as smooth and elegant as some may desire or expect, let them consider that God’s altar does not need our polish (Ex. 20). We have chosen to respect a plain translation rather than smooth our verses with the sweetness of paraphrase: and thus we have honored conscience rather than elegance, fidelity rather than poetry, in translating the Hebrew words into the English language and David’s poetry into English meter; that so we may sing in Zion the Lord’s songs of praise according to His own will; until He take us from hence, and wipe away all our tears, and bid us enter into our Master’s joy to sing eternal Hallelujahs."

If even the federal government can acknowledge this work as "America's First Book," what does it say of modern churches and their leaders who do not even know this heritage exists?

Sunday, October 01, 2006

A Child Will Save

Joseph McDougall was a physician in Nova Scotia who in the middle of the last century had a twenty-three year-old woman patient dying from tuberculosis. She was the mother of a one-year old child and had contracted this disease from her husband, a soldier in World War II. Perhaps if McDougall had practiced in other places, he could have performed procedures to help. Yet this young woman had a tubercular cavity in the lower lobe of her right lung and he could not operate. One procedure they had tried already had nearly killed her. So as she went from 125 pounds down to 87, they explained to her and her husband that she would likely die.

She made it known several weeks beforehand that she wanted to go home from the ward for Christmas. They did not think she would live that long, but on Christmas Eve she was still alive. She honored her promise to the doctor, not holding her young child at all and wearing a mask all the time except when she was alone with her husband. She returned to the medical center late Christmas day, and in the ensuing days her condition worsened further still. Yet she hung on to life. By February, she fell below 80 pounds, and began vomiting and refusing food. That is when they discovered a gift that she had been given on her trip home at Christmas. She was pregnant.

A medical abortion was refused, and the doctors reasoned that her body would reject the baby eventually. The doctors fed her intravaneously as she struggled for weeks, sure she and her baby would succumb. Yet in late March, they began to notice improvement. Her temperature went down. She began to eat and gain weight. An X-ray showed that growth of the tuberculosis cavity had stopped, and a later one revealed that the diaphragm from the growing womb had pushed up and closed the cavity. The end result was that a normal baby was born and the mother was healed. In this case, the child saved the mother.*

Knowing that you live in a nation where daily thousands of young children, by the desire of their parents, are ripped to pieces before they ever see the light of day, and that this practice is defended as a "civil" right, can be disheartening and just plain sickening. Yet the story above is not just a medical marvel, but a reminder of a Biblical truth that can encourage us in the pro-life community. Children will eventually save us from this plague, for children always do.

When Jewish babes were being tossed into the Nile by order of Pharaoh to diminish Israel and appease Pharaoh's gods, one was tossed obediently into the Nile but just happened also to be in a wicker basket. That child, named Moses which means "drawn out," grew to draw out Israel from this awful slavery. Recall the last plague on Egypt? The God-ordained death of the wicked's firstborn, an act not only of God's perfect justice but a foreshadowing of where true mercy and salvation would come. For this Moses was merely a picture of a "greater Moses." In the days when "Rachel was weeping for her children" because Herod had ordered mass infanticide, a child was carried away from this bloodshed by his parents down to that same Egypt. This child, the Son of God, arose to lead all who believe in Him out of the awful slavery of sin, leading his own mother to say of this child, "my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior." In that case, the child saved the mother - and a whole multitude more.

So let us not lose heart. Even as those outside the kingdom of God work hard to protect the right to kill their own offspring, the Lord is raising up a generation of children who love Him and will be used by Him to persuade hearts of abortion's wrong and draw us away from this evil practice. It will happen, for remember that "from the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength because of Your adversaries, to make the enemy and the revengeful cease" (Psalm 8:2). We do not merely have to hope that will be the case. Because of the Son of God, the One who though dead now lives, we must believe it shall be.

*From the December 2000 Focus on the Family Newletter. Go here to read the more complete details of this amazing story.

Friday, September 29, 2006

ALERT!

I know it is rare that I blog twice in one day. However, knowing how trends always begin in California and sweep east, after reading this article I felt it my moral obligation to utilize the blazing speed of the internet to alert my readers (all three of them) to this danger and call on the Sycamore men to go into "high alert mode" as you have been trained! Be sure also to take the survey 100 times on this page and always answer "Yes."

(For background to this alert, you may want to go to the last story on this page.)

In Response to a City Councilman

A city councilman in Kokomo wrote an editorial this week (which you can read here) calling his readers to have compromising views with respect to such issues as abortion. My "Letter to the Editor," which I submitted but do not know if it will be printed in its entirety, follows. As many of us will be participating in the Life Chain this Sunday, October 1st, I thought this letter might remind us of the issues at stake.

In his editorial "A Revisitation of Religion and Politics," Greg Goodnight used an assortment of quotes, Bible citations and personal reflections to support the idea that most American want "a ceasefire in the culture wars" and that individuals and churches should not use God's name to win votes. Though certainly Christians must be careful not to put their hope in political power nor abuse it, and his personable style seeks to disarm criticism, the fact that Mr. Goodnight contradicted his own thesis within his column invites response.

Mr. Goodnight cites a survey that says sixty-six percent of Americans want a "middle ground" on abortion and that six out of ten white evangelicals also support compromise. This position reflects his own publicly-stated, pro-choice political views regarding this practice. He then refers to the Bible as a basis for having compromise when it comes to issues like abortion: "The point is that the Bible is open to interpretation, and fair-minded Christians may disagree or come to different conclusions about specific points," such as the abortion issue he had just raised. See the contradiction of his own thesis? Mr. Goodnight does not want Christians to use God to influence politics, but has no problem referring to God and His Word in order to defend his own pro-choice views. He then slips even further when he goes on to quote a reference (I Corinthians 13:12) from the Bible to try to support the idea the Bible is not clear. See then the inconsistency of his argument? He claims that people should not use God for political purposes, then uses God to address his view on abortion; he states that on an important topic like abortion, the Bible is unclear; to support the statement that the Bible is unclear, he quotes the Bible!

Mr. Goodnight, the Bible is explicitly clear, and just because someone goes to church and also believes in abortion does not invalidate the perspicuity of Scripture. An unborn child is a person (Psalm 139:13), and parents who take the life of their own children have committed a vile offense against the child, society and their Creator (Exodus 21:22-23). To those who believe this and want this practice stopped, your muddled arguments for compromise and for us to be silent are patronizing. The next time you preach to others (for that is what you were doing), perhaps beforehand you need to think more deeply upon the Shakespeare you offered the rest of us from the Merchant of Venice about even the devil quoting Scripture, and then look up the line that follows. As the Bard of Avon said elsewhere, "This above all: to thine own self be true."

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Old Testament Survey...of Me

The fifth year of Sycamore Covenant Academy has begun with a bang. Though still relatively small in size, this ministry of our church that provides academic and discipleship training for home educated youth has grown this year as we have more students and teachers helping us than ever. What is exciting to me personally is the enthusiasm for learning and the friendships with the young people, parents and teachers that I enjoy. Yet perhaps most exciting is that not only am I teaching my standard math (Algebra II) and Greek (Beginning) courses, but this year I am also teaching Old Testament Survey.

My goal for this class is to hopefully give the students just a taste of the experience I had in seminary while sitting in the class of Dr. Clark Copeland. Class after class I would sit there and have him open up for me the Old Testament Scriptures in ways that I had never seen before. Just as the guys on the road to Emmaus had their hearts burning when Jesus explained the Scriptures to them (Luke 24:32) and the disciples had their minds opened that they might understand the Scriptures about Him (Luke 24:44-45), so I had that experience while attending class.

So not only am I preparing new lessons each week, learning to use a PowerPoint presentation for the first time (on our new SCA video projector!), and putting more hours in the classroom, but I am working to help these young people see Christ in the Old Testament Scriptures. Like the rising sun in the picture above that serves as the backdrop for the opening title in PowerPoint for each class, the Law and the Prophets colorfully shine with the anticipated glory of the coming Christ.

One of my favorite moments thus far was to tell the class during our study of the book of Exodus that Moses is also a New Testament character, and then to ask them where he appeared. Then as they recalled the story of the Mount of Transfiguration, where Christ shined with a glory surpassing that of Moses on Mt. Sinai, we looked at what Moses and also Elijah (the Law and the Prophets being fulfilled!) discussed with him in Luke 9:30-31. The topic was Jesus' "departure," or, as it says in the Greek, His "exodus!" As the new Moses, Christ was preparing for the cross to provide His people an exodus from their slavery to sin. I don't know if the students were excited, but I can testify that the teacher surely was!

Yet most of this course is taking place outside of the classroom. You see, as I prepare this Old Testament Survey, I am being stretched to clearly explain the whole counsel of God's Word. I am seeing how little I actually know about the Book I have devoted my life to studying and teaching, and am feeling the weight of how careful I must be in accurately handling the word of truth before these young minds. I feel shame at how pitiful my devotion to the glorious Lamb of God really is, how casual my regard for His sovereignty can be, how quickly I forget or even disbelieve His promises. I start each study examining the Word of God carefully, like the students in Biology class looking at a specimen with the microscope. Yet how come it is that my studies so quickly turn to the feeling that I am the amoeba on the slide?

I guess what I'm seeing is that surveying the Old Testament really ends up in an exercise of the Old Testament surveying me. So though I can only pray that my students end up with burning hearts and opened eyes, so far the only result I can report is a dust-covered forehead of the teacher who, like the saints of old (i.e. sinners saved by grace), is overwhelmed again by the awe of the holy Lord.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

The UNChrist

"I emphatically declare that today's world more than ever before longs for just and righteous people with love for all humanity, and above all longs for the perfect, righteous human being and the real savior who has been promised to all peoples and who will establish justice, peace and brotherhood on the planet."

Does not the above quote sound like the end of a sermon? In a sense it was, but not the type you might think. Nor was the audience a congregation gathered at church on Sunday morning hearing about the return of the Lord Jesus. The speaker concluded his message with this loudly-proclaimed prayer: "Oh Almighty God, all men and women are your creatures and you have ordained their guidance and salvation. Bestow upon humanity that thirst for justice, the perfect human being promised to all by you, and make us among his followers among those who strive for his return and his cause."

These words were spoken by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the United Nations on September 19th. As several bloggers such as Hugh Hewitt and Rush Limbaugh are reporting, the media has abundantly covered Ahmadinejad's condemnation of President Bush and the United States, but few reporters have caught the significance of these closing words. Ahmadinejad, based on his Shiite Muslim views, believes that the Twelfth Imam, the messianic figure who will return at the end of the world, will emerge in the next few years during a period of worldwide chaos and bring the justice for which he prayed. To that end, Ahmadinejad had a $20 million mosque constructed in Qom, Iran, recently to receive the savior. And to that end many believe he is saber-rattling because he wants to provoke the war that will bring the great Mahdi out to save the world.

So on American soil, our sworn enemy not only condemned our nation but preached an antichrist. Can you imagine the uproar if George Bush, who also spoke to the UN this week, had preached Jesus and prayed for His return? The media and the United Nations will accept uncritically their UNChrist, but not the true Savior of mankind.

One thing you have to hand to the Iranian president/preacher is at least he is bold. Psalm 33:12 says, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD." When will the church find its voice again to preach and to pray as if it believes that?

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

A Bald Eagle Sighting


Ran across this picture and thought I'd share it with you.

It was taken back in February at Senior's Night for my son Jamey's basketball team called the Eagles. Miriam and I were supposed to walk out with Jamey before the game, hear some nice words read about Jamey and his future, and then have Jamey present his mother with a rose. I had even donned a tie for the occasion. Simple, right?

The only problem was that the other team did not show up.

We called the other team, but seems that there was a scheduling problem. They did not even have us down. So with a rented gym, referees, all that money spent on roses, and three seniors looking forward to being honored, we figured we better get an opposing team together quick. So some dads and alumni ran home, grabbed some gym shorts, and cobbled together a team. What fun we had that night! We even gave the Eagles a good game, though they came through with the victory at the end.

By the way, if you decide to form a home school team, don't choose Eagles as your mascot. It is the most popular high school team name, and that's even more true in home schooling circles. The Eagles versus the Eagles every game gets a bit redundant. However, in keeping with this spirit, our old man's team was dubbed the Bald Eagles for obvious reasons.

And I still got to wear my tie.

Thursday, August 31, 2006

Youth Groupee

Telemarketers can be annoying, but they can also be a source of mild entertainment. Especially the ones who call the church hawking the latest Christian trinket. I particularly enjoy this type of conversation, which happens once a month or so:

"Hello, Sycamore Reformed Presbyterian Church."

"Yes, this is Christy from Teen Rage with an exciting offer that will help your youth love Jesus! May I speak to the director of your youth group, please?"

"We don't have a youth group."

"Oh," followed by the long pause of a telemarketer who doesn't have that response on her script. "Ok, well, thank you," spoken with the voice of one who has mistakenly dialed up a leper colony.

Our congregation really doesn't have a youth group, but this blog is not an anti-youth group rant. Rather, I wanted to tell you that I've just enjoyed a great summer hanging out with youth, be it my own youth group of six kids at my house, the young people in the congregation, or those at church camps and conferences. The highlights:

1) Monday through Wednesday of this week we had our second annual Youth Summer Service Project (YSSP) at the church. Fifteen teenagers attended. The three days started with devotions, ended with a fun time at Kokomo Raceway Park on Wednesday, and contained tons of hard work and laughs in the middle. What spectacular results were accomplished! They transformed from drab to classy two classrooms; either threw out or organized thousands of piles of stuff around the building, in the process finding many items lost for years; cleaned, waxed and polished everything in sight and even things that were not; weeded and trimmed hedges; changed a paint-peeling, uninviting nursery to a welcoming, bright environment (that wasn't even supposed to be on the list); and much, much more. And it was all done with nary a complaint or problem! I praise the Lord I was able to be with Hannah, Breanna, Emily, Megan, Luke, Rachel, Haley, Addie, Moriah, Chelsea, Kaitlyn, Melanie, Jamey, Lindsay and Trevor these days, and for all the others in the church who prepared for and supported their efforts. Thanks especially to Jason & Jenny!

2) I brought four messages to about 45 youth at our denomination's Youth Leadership Conference July 21-24 from Psalm 110 on the topic Bound to the Crown: Held Captive by Our Wills in Service to Christ. As this psalm speaks of the kingly power of Jesus Christ, verse 3 tells us one of the dramatic impacts that will occur: "Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power; in holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Your youth are to You as the dew." That verse promises that Christ will bring forth the covenant young people to live holy lives and offer themselves in service to their King, bringing refreshment and life to the church. As we see serious-minded youth throughout the RPCNA giving themselves to such things as mission work home and abroad, spending three weeks at Theological Foundations for Youth learning at our seminary and serving in local churches, or being vital parts of their local congregations, we are witnessing Jesus fulfill this promise in our midst. Thanks especially to Will & Sarah!

3) We've been busy preparing and getting ready for our fifth year of Sycamore Covenant Academy (SCA), a supplemental educational and discipleship program for home educating families. We have more teachers (six) this year offering classes and more students (pushing 40) than ever, and beyond my regular classes of Beginning Greek and Algebra II I get to teach an Old Testament Survey Class. I'm looking forward to an exciting year.

4) With Jamey starting full-time at IUK, Lindsay entering her senior year and taking classes both in Marion and Indianapolis, Trevor being the first kid to get to play two sports in our family (on a soccer team in addition to basketball), Emory continuing to progress in violin and taking lessons on the north side of Indianapolis, Spencer incredibly entering the fourth grade (it does not seem possible), and Celia turning four with her latest trick being dragging a yo-yo behind her like a dog she calls "O-yo," Miriam and my cup runneth over with youth activities. (And no, Honey, Celia does not need a pet, despite what you said. See how busy we are? And she's got lizards, remember?)

5) Sitting on the window sill of my office is a card with a picture of three kids on a bike being followed by a dad on a small bike with training wheels. Inside it says, "Happy Father's Day to the Biggest Kid on the Block." With all this activity, our neighborhood "Cops & Robbers" games have been too few this summer. But the kids haven't forgotten - I just got asked this week by one of the little neighbors if I could come out and play. That's my plan this Friday night, Lord willing.

So we may not have a youth group, but I hope I am never too old to be a youth groupee.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Obedience: A Learned Behavior

Recently a friend going through a tough time asked me for a copy of the following that I wrote quite a number of years ago. The title makes it self-explanatory. Perhaps a thought or two may be helpful to you.


Learning Obedience through Suffering
What the Lord Taught a Pastor as the Congregation He Served Struggled through Division that Threatened Its Existence

  • If my perfect Lord learned obedience through suffering, so must all who follow Him.
  • Nothing helps like dry and thirsty times to bring out the sweet taste of the Psalms.
  • The best prayers are often offered with a libation of tears.
  • God provides an oasis in our deserts. They are called friends.
  • If God destroyed a whole generation for grumbling and complaining before they entered the land of promise, what will He do to those who grumble who are in Christ and His church?
  • In backyard basketball, we say, “No blood – no foul.” In other words, quit complaining about every infraction and just keep playing. That makes for a loose but good paraphrase of Hebrews 12:4-5, “If you have not started bleeding yet, then your trial isn’t nearly as bad as it could be. Accept the discipline of the Lord and press on.”
  • Often silence is the answer.
  • As Spurgeon said, those who slander your name would really have something to talk about if only they knew the truth about you. When others speak ill of you, be glad they do not see you as God does. Then take refuge in Christ your Advocate.
  • Your foe is probably not as wicked as you make him out to be. Neither are you as righteous as you think you are.
  • Roosevelt’s “Speak softly and carry a big stick” is not only pithy, it is Biblical. The Lord’s bondservant must learn to avoid entangling arguments while he trusts in Biblical discipline to run its course.
  • As a shepherd, be tenacious in protecting the flock from those who sow stumbling blocks and dissension. They are the wolves in sheep’s clothing you’re supposed to be watching out for.
  • Keep written records and have witnesses to all interactions with parties under church discipline.
  • The Proverbs state, “Drive out a mocker and out goes strife; quarrels and insults have ended.” The peace in our congregation following our struggles demonstrates the truthfulness of this statement.
  • While struggling, find joy in serving others. There is always someone more miserable than you are.
  • Often the fastest way to church growth is through subtraction, not addition.
  • “Be angry, yet do not sin.” Take your frustrations out on pursuing the offenders, not your kids.
  • “An excellent wife, who can find?” By God’s grace, I have.
  • It is pride - not godliness - that refuses to ask for help.
  • Finally, thanks be to the good Lord that I am a Presbyterian. I have a place to go when I need help.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Do What You Cannot Do

He came banging in through the church door last Saturday, calling out with his thick tongue, "Hel-wo! Pas-ta!" As this "pas-ta" came out of his study and walked down the hall toward him, I recognized the form swaying unsteadily inside the door. He is a local fixture in this neighborhood, a middle-aged man whose body is twisted with cerebral palsy that makes his words and steps jerky and disjointed. The only time he moves about fairly freely is when he is seated upon his three-wheeled bike with the basket as he tools along the streets. One looking upon him instantly feels sorry for him.

He asked for five bucks because he said he was hungry. Jason, who was with me, asked if he had gone to the Mission, which offers two free meals a day, every day. He said people there made fun of him and asked for five bucks again. We flat-out said no. He said he would come to church if we gave it to him. We told him to come to church the next day then we would start talking about it. Without another word he turned and stumbled out the door in disgust.

Were we cruel?

Well, before I tell you a bit more about this situation, meditate with me upon a truth about the gospel. Did you ever consider that when the gospel is preached, it is a call to the impossible? That you are asking the hearer to do something he is completely incapable of doing? In essence you are saying to him, "Do what you cannot do."

For recall how often the Lord made incredible demands on His hearers:
  • "Get up, pick up your pallet and walk." -Command to a man who had been paralyzed for thirty-eight years (John 5:8).
  • "Go and sin no more." -Words spoken to woman caught in adultery (John 8:11).
  • "Lazarus, come forth!" -Shouted to a man lying dead in a tomb for four days (John 11:43).
In other words, He was telling them to do what they could not do.

Calling people to faith and repentance is the same. We tell them to repent of their evil ways and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. Yet God is the one who ultimately grants repentance (see Acts 5:31) and ultimately gives faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). When the gospel is preached, the hearer is powerless to obey just as the preacher is powerless to create obedience. Because the hearer is dead, blind and lame, we must rely on the Spirit of God to enable him to do what naturally he can neither understand nor accomplish (I Corinthians 2:14), which is entrust his life and soul to Christ. Seeing the impossible occur is how God receives all the glory in our evangelism.

So often, because we are overeager to get a response or to feel good about helping someone, we preach the gospel "lite." No sacrifice is called for and the truth about Christian discipleship is minimized. Yet Jesus preached the gospel "heavy." He demanded of people such things as "Go get your husband" when a woman at a well was not even married but shacking up; "I cannot give the children's bread to the dogs" when a foreign woman was begging Him for the life of her child; and "Go sell all you have and follow me" to a rich, young ruler to tell him what he needed to let go of in order to receive the eternal life he claimed he wanted.

Now back to our refusal to help the palsied man. I also know this man because several years ago he was in my study. On that night, as several of us tried to minister to him, we realized by the testimony of a neighbor and the smell that his speech was slurred and his pants were soaked in urine not because of his palsy but due to his drinking. He also spoke openly, even proudly, of his immorality. We called him then to quench his thirst in Christ alone, and he left us that evening in disgust as well. You see, he uses his palsy to play upon peoples' sympathies in order to subsidize his wicked lifestyle. Last week we reminded him he had been here before, and repeated the message that his hunger was due to his disregard for God's ways. We invited him to come to church to learn of Jesus. He left, for it is clear that was asking him to do something he could not do.

Exactly.

Far worse than physical palsy is the spiritual inability to walk with God. We must preach the gospel so that people realize they need to cry out to God to bring about what they cannot. Then how we must pray that God would attend the sowing of His word with His Spirit and power.

In the words of a Puritan, "Repentance with man is the changing of a will; repentance with God is the willing of a change."

Exactly.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

VBS for Pastors

Usually Vacation Bible Schools are held during the summer so squirmy little kids can learn what they did not know about the Bible.

Last month, this preacher felt like he went to VBS for Pastors, though my squirming was due to paying attention to the lesson rather than trying to escape it.

My family had the privilege of attending our presbytery's family conference called Covfamikoi (a name derived by combining the words "covenant" and "family" with the first letters of the states represented at the conference). I had the opportunity to sit under the mature, masterful preaching of Pastor Ted Donnelly from Ireland as he brought messages to us from the book of Jeremiah. As I listened to the warm, probing sermons, one lesson I learned is how much I am still learning about the Bible. To be honest, having never done an in-depth study of this book myself, I learned such things as:
  • The theme God gave to Jeremiah's ministry is contained in the six verbs of Jer. 1:10, "to pluck up and break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant." This theme is repeated throughout the book (for instance, see Jeremiah 18:7-10 and 31:38).
  • The phrase "a new covenant" is found in the Old Testament and used only in Jeremiah (31:31).
  • Just as God promised to write the law of God on hearts in the new covenant, He also threatened to the people of Jeremiah's day to inscribe their sins on their hearts by an iron stylus with a diamond point (17:1).
  • Jeremiah's life mirrored Christ's to the point many in Jesus' day wondered if He was Jeremiah reincarnated (Matthew 16:13-14). Both Jesus and Jeremiah were rejected in their hometown, hated by the religious establishment, charged with treason, wept over Jerusalem and killed by their own people.

I share some of the fascinating things I learned as an encouragement that even pastors need to go to VBS, i.e., being a disciple of Christ means being a learner of the Scriptures your whole lifetime. Every week I prepare messages I am amazed at the things I see new or for the first time in Scripture. Maybe you are tentative to jump into Bible study or reading because you do not think you know very much about the Bible. I say plunge in and join the crowd!

Perhaps most encouraging and challenging to me - and the source of my squirming - was to hear that Jeremiah spent over 40 years of ministry being rejected by the people of God even as he persistently told them to turn back to the Lord. VBS 2006 for this pastor means persistently telling hardhearted people of the need to repent of their sins and seek the Lord. Even this very day He gave me the hour and a half opportunity to do that with someone who has been excommunicated. Even as I hung up disappointed for his failure to listen, Jeremiah 7:27 has become my strange comfort, "You shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you; and you shall call to them, but they shall not answer you."

Friday, July 07, 2006

Summer Ramblings

Between attending denominational meetings, packing to leave for a family conference, sending a family to Scotland, caring for my mom and trying to do my necessary work, little time is left for the leisurely sport of blogging. So here are a few "bloggettes" rolling around in my mind:

1) Synod went well last week, as much wisdom and unity was displayed. The humorous comments made on the floor offered some very practical wisdom to us that I'll attempt to "proverbialize," such as...
  • "Some of our current tunes require going through four time zone changes to get to the end." -A deliberately humorous remark made to the Psalter Revision Committee. Proverb #1 - If a Covie-chord cannot sing it, do not put it in the Psalm book.
  • "Sir, you do not need to respond to every comment on your report." -Spoken by the moderator to a zealous young man defending his report from criticisms. Proverb #2 - Moderate your own mouth or it shall be done for you.
  • "Please, let us end this agony." -Made after a rather lengthy debate, immediately after which a vote was taken and the discussion was ended. Proverb #3 - Better say nothing than speak and say nothing.
Anyone there have others to add? Much of this reminds me of what I believe has been called "Spear's Law for Synod Debate" (named after a beloved father in the church whose few, relunctant words always bring light and impact to a discussion): "If you wait long enough, someone else will say what you were going to say better than you can say it." And its corollary is also true: "If you speak too soon, someone else will say what you said better than you said it."

2) A "tragedy" struck the York household this weekend, as Celia came wailing that a pet lizard had died. Seems that they wanted to see the lizard run along the chain of the exercise bike while the wheel was turning, and the lizard was not quick enough to avoid being caught between spokes and chain. Ugh - I had to take the bike apart to clean it out. The only laugh that was elicited from my young was that they realized that in addition to having the name Arwen, they also had a more common name for the lizard: Squishy. Quite prophetic. And for all you members of PETA who read this blog (I know you are out there), please understand this was an accident by kids who love their lizards. Celia now runs up to Mom every day and asks, "Mom, can I hold a lizard..., I mean, the lizard?"

3) Preaching through the flood account and noticed in Genesis 7:18-20 that in three consecutive verses God's Word says that the flood waters "prevailed" upon the earth. The Hebrew word translated "prevailed" means to "conquer or triumph," like one army prevailing over another. God was utterly conquering evil by covering the whole earth in flood waters, even to the point that the highest mountains under the heavens were covered with more than 22 feet of water (see the verses!). As it says in II Peter 3:5-6, the whole world was destroyed in the flood. Those who try to teach a localized flood account cannot really believe the Bible nor do they take seriously enough the judgment the flood teaches us is yet to come (see Matthew 24:37-38).