Monthly Archives: August 2012

Run the Race

Posted on August 31, 2012 | 2 Comments
Hebrews 12:1-17
    Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and [the] sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  [2] looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

On the back of our bulletin last Sunday morning was a little story about a man who told his pastor that he didn’t need the church any longer. The pastor took a burning ember out of the fire and set it outside the fireplace and in a few seconds it had ceased to burn. When he put it back in it started to glow again. “I get your point Pastor” the man said and started attending again.

I am convinced that most of the church in North America has a warped understanding of community and that effects the way we do community in our churches. The Scriptures neither portray the church as communal living or individualistic. It is neither pull onself up by one’s own bootstraps or get others to do it all for you. I am certain that revival in the church will not happen if it is not marked by the kind of mutual interdependence we find taught in the Scriptures. I believe that whenever we find believers who are losing the battles against their besetting sins and giving in to loneliness, despair, and defeat, that there is a problem with community in the church of which they are a part or that the one overcome by sin is not a true part of the community that exists.

The text of Scripture at the top of the page speaks very much about the need for holiness in the individual believer through the common effort of the community of God’s people – holiness through the common effort of the community of the people of God. Put more simply – We are not as holy as we ought to be because our sense of community is flawed or we have not joined in the community life of the church. If we are going to know victory, obedience, joy, in our Christian lives we need to be more of a community than we are. We speak much of Bible reading and prayer but when these are done in solitude they will not be as powerful as they can be when we do them with others. This is how God designed things to be. And even though we speak much about going to church, real fellowship is more than just meeting in the same room once a week. Fellowship is one of the crucial marks of a New Testament church and we must work hard at developing it properly.

The Christian life here in Hebrews 12 is compared to a race. It is not a sprint. It is a marathon. Consider this:

“My country did not send me 5000 miles to start a race. My country sent me 5000 miles to finish a race.” The Christian faith is not about starting with a bang and ending with fizzle. It is about running until we reach the end. Finishing is winning.

Then there is this from the 1992 Olympics:

The point of the first video is that God did not put us in this race just to start, but to finish. He who endures to the end will be saved. The point of the second video is that when we pull a hamstring it is completely within the rules of the race we are in for someone to help us and encourage us even if in an Olympic race such help is forbidden.

For the next few days I want to share a few thoughts from Hebrews 12:1-17 about the importance of community in the church. I do not completely understand how community is meant to work in the church. I know the culture we live in influences the church with its individualism in ways beyond what we realize. I hope you don’t mind working through some of this with me. I preached from the Hebrews 12:1-17 last Sunday and thought it wouldn’t be too horrible to rework the notes for the blog.

→ 2 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

The Inheritance of the Nations

Posted on August 29, 2012 | Leave a comment

Psalm 111:6 (ESV)

He has shown his people the power of his works,

in giving them the inheritance of the nations.

God has shown the power of His works in giving His people the inheritance of the nations. The original intent of this text is to bring Israel to remember that God enabled them to win militarily over the nations in the land they were sent in to subdue. God went before them into the Promised Land and they took it from the inhabitants as God enabled. But is that where the application ends? How may this be true of the church today? Few Bible believing Christians would argue against seeing this as a reference to the fact that the church is comprised of people from every tribe tongue people and nation. God has added and is adding people from all the nations to the inheritance of the saints. They are added to the church. It is a great truth and we rob ourselves and the Gospel if we reserve application to ancient Israel alone. So far, so good. But the verse says that God gives His people, the church, the inheritance of the nations. May I be so bold as to suggest that this does not simply mean that the church is comprised of people from all over the world but means, more specifically, that these foreigners are added to the church wherever the church may be found.
I write this from the city that is considered to be the most cosmopolitan city in the world. More nations now call Toronto home than any other city in the world. Hundreds of languages are spoken in this city. This is true in most of the west. The United States has a phenomenal rate of growth through immigration as do Great Britain, and the rest of western Europe. It brings Acts 17:26 to mind: 
    And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,  
This does not mean that God put people where they are and they should stay put. We believe in Providence and we should believe that there is a purpose behind the great movements of the people of the world to countries that have freedom and opportunities that they have never yet experienced. North America is inhabited by people from somewhere else. The only residents who have any lengthy history here are the aboriginal peoples and we should be very glad that they did not have an immigration policy in the sixteenth century when our Europeans started venturing this way. Shoot, they might have treated our ancestors the way we now treat new immigrants. But I digress.
 
All kinds of political and economic and social reasons are given today as to why immigration to our shores should  be curtailed. I suppose that there are Christians on both sides of the debate, like there are Christians holding to various beliefs regarding various political issues. The Christian faith does not march in lock step with any particular political understanding of the world. How can it? Political understandings are formulated, fine tuned and held to by all kinds of non-Christians with all kinds of religious beliefs that conflict with Christianity. They are bound to conflict with the Christian faith at some point.
 
How should Christians respond to growing immigration? Should we be concerned about the erosion of our culture? Should the job market be an issue of concern to us? Will people with several generations of history here be concerned about the changes being brought by those who have no history here at all? What ought to be thrown into the mix of issues being considered is the truth that God gives the inheritance of the nations to the church. Could it be that one of the ways He does that is by the mass influx of a mass of people to North American shores? Of course. Countries close borders, make harsh laws outlawing evangelism and changing one’s religion. People flee and come to us. The church should be among the first to see that God is at work in such things for at least the purpose of giving the Gospel to them. Some people are not fleeing from oppression but they want others to think they are. They lie. Just like everybody else. If they get caught they will be dealt with. In the meantime how should the Church respond to them?
 
There is a gentleman in our church who used to do Bible studies for people awaiting rulings regarding their application to be allowed into the country. They were living in a hotel until their claims could be processed. Some of them were converted. Some of those converted will be refused entry. They will take their new found faith back to their own country. Some were permitted entry and bring their new found faith into Canada and will be an influence for the Gospel here. In any case the purposes of God in redeeming people from everywhere is being realized. 
 
The Providence of God is simply a stunning thing and it is a thrilling thing to see, in some small measure how events dove tail together to produce new followers of Jesus Christ. One of them is the fact that He has put the world at the doorsteps of our communities in this country and other western countries and we do the Gospel and those we can share it with a great disservice if we only see culture and jobs and welfare rates as the things being affected by immigration. Christians should, as they seek to formulate their ideas about these hot issues, at least consider that one of our first responses to people, regardless of who they are, is to give them the Gospel. It is why they have landed so close to us. 

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Read Proverbs

Posted on August 24, 2012 | Leave a comment

Proverbs 1
[1]The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
[2] To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
[3] to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
[4] to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth—
[5] Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,

Solomon begins at the beginning of this compilation of proverbs, to tell us what they are about. They will give us wisdom and instruction so that we can understand words of insight and so that we learn how to deal wisely, live righteously, with justice and equity. It would be a fool who would avoid such a series of writings if they could really accomplish such things. And these proverbs can. Reading the Book of Proverbs is a great delight. These sayings really do give us insight into living life. The key to the whole Book is the wisdom that is spoken of throughout the whole Book. As you read through Proverbs see this wisdom it speaks of as the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the embodiment of this wisdom. See, for example the following truths about wisdom that Proverbs gives us and see them as true of Jesus. In these verses wisdom is speaking to a young man in the hope that he will listen. They are for you too.

Proverbs 2:1-6 (ESV)
My son, if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you,
[2] making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding;
[3] yes, if you call out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding,
[4] if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures,
[5] then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
[6] For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;

We must receive the words of Jesus (verse 1). We should pay attention to Him (Verse 2). We should call out for Him (verse 3). We should seek Him out like we would precious silver (verse 4).  If we do these things then the Lord will come to us and we will be truly wise, not in the eyes of the world but before God. And that really is all that counts.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Faithfully Wrong

Posted on August 23, 2012 | Leave a comment
I Samuel 5:5 – “This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.”
The Philistines had captured the ark of God and taken it to the temple of their non god, Dagon. They set the ark up next to a statue of Dagon in the temple. On the first morning after putting the ark in their temple the Philistines found their god face down on the floor in the temple. So, likely surmising that it had simply fallen, the re-erected it. Next morning the same thing except that this time Dagon’s hands and head were cut off from the body. Now they realize that these strange things are due to the ark being in their temple and they get it out of Ashdod and the ark makes an interesting journey from Philistine town to town because no one wants it near them.
But the thing of interest here is that this verse that tells us that ever since this incident of Dagon falling down, the priests and people of Ashdod do not tread on the threshold floor because this was where the idol of Dagon had fallen. Two related things about this: 1) The falling of their god before the God of Israel did not deter these people from being loyal to their own. Their god had fallen in the threshold and so they do not think it proper to stand where he had touched. The defeat of their god did not cause them to see him as any less worthy of worship. This is their god and even in the face of proof that he is pretty petty, they still remain  devout. Their reverence is still very high. 2) This event did not convince them that they would do better to switch allegiances and worship the stronger of the two deities. It actually caused them to adopt a practise that showed greater respect for their fallen god. 
 
Faith, not just the true faith of those who know Jesus Christ, is a very powerful thing. People need something to believe in and it will not always be the truth. But it will give them some help and hope, no matter how false it is. Faith enables people to persevere, endure, hope … . It would be silly to think that only faith in a real God or in real situations is able to help people. How many false messiahs of one variety or another have prophesied the return of Christ, the destruction of the world, the landing of aliens? When their prophecies do not come to pass as they said, they lose very few followers. But they gain explanations from those followers who remain loyal.
The worshippers of Dagon may have come up with explanations as to why Dagon had fallen in the presence of the representation of God. Faith, ultimately, is only as good as its object and that is why the faith of the Dagonites would ultimately betray them. But the fact remains that even in the face of objective proof that Dagon had some power issues, his followers did not give up on him. When Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel many came to their senses and affirmed God as the only true God. But there is no indication that the prophets themselves did as they had their necks bared to Elijah’s sword. We know that it certainly did not change Jezebel’s mind. What greater evidence did she need to prove that Baal was nothing compared to the God of Israel? She needed exactly what anyone needs in order to abandon their gods – an inner working of the Holy Spirit. Abraham told the rich man in hell that even if someone came back from the dead his brothers would not believe. A miracle is not the deciding factor in bringing people to faith. God is. And His chosen method for bringing people to abandon their false gods is the preaching of the Gospel.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Our Father

Posted on August 22, 2012 | Leave a comment
Matthew 6:9 
    Pray then like this:
    “Our Father …”
Here is an excellent article on prayer entitled “If Prayer is Such a Good Thing Why is it so Hard?” Give it a read. It’s a short article but well worth the read because it joins up prayer and the cross. The key to what he says is this quote from the article:

We must look at the cross vertically—what the cross did to God, how the cross affected infinite holiness. How the cross satisfied God.

As with every other blessing we get from God, prayer is an immense privilege that exists because of the cross, not only in what it does for us, but in what it does for God. The cross is what enables us to call God our Father and be heard. He is pleased with the work of the Son for us and is more willing to hear and answer than we are to ask. Because of the work of the Son, on the cross and at His side.

The man who taught me “Life of Christ” when I was in seminary, always began class with prayer. The prayer I remember above all the others (I don’t remember the others at all) was this one: “Our Father. Amen” and then he began the class. This is what the cross did and every time we pray we should think of it and rejoice.

This, of course means that we should use the actual words “Our Father” which I believe we should. Nothing wrong with praying “Dear God”, or “Dear Jesus”, but I think there is a reason that Jesus said to pray “Our Father” and I think it relates to the relationship that is purchased for us at the cross. Contemplate on all the unfathomable qualities of God that the Scriptures give us and then say “Our Father”. It is simply stunning that we can call such a Being as He is, our Father. Because of the cross. I can’t think of a better thing to help me pray.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Hello Again

Posted on August 21, 2012 | Leave a comment

Welcome back. It’s been a while since anything new was posted on here. I was on holidays for four weeks and last week just spent time getting caught up and reintegrated into the work. Amazing how the world continued to turn and lives didn’t disintegrate in the absence of new daily postings. It’s good to take a break from things from time to time, if for no other reason, than to remind oneself that the only indispensable One in anything is He who called us to Himself and chooses to use us to do things that He can do flawlessly. It’s a great privilege to be used by such a Father. We serve Him with all our might and talent, not because He needs us in order to get His purposes done, but because there simply is no greater privilege in the world, or out of it for that matter, than to serve our Saviour. We love Him and our hope is that this little contribution will be used by Him for the good of those who happen to stumble upon it. If you have stumbled upon it because you are looking for a church to attend or have some need you would like to talk about, then just check out the information on the home page about us and give us a call. We cannot possible promise to have all the answers to any questions that may be asked, but we do know the one who does and it is amazing  how He helps us.

So, we are back in the saddle again. Here is a little something that I hope does you some spiritual good today.

 Proverbs 24:20-21

20 for the evil man has no future;
the lamp of the wicked will be put out.

21 My son, fear the Lord and the king,
and do not join with those who do otherwise,

The lamp of the wicked will be put out. Now there’s a promise that is worth latching onto. It comes in the context of the writer warning his readers not to fret over evil doers. The solution to fretting here is far sightedness. We need to keep an eternal perspective. They will not burn long. The things that they do and possess are the very things that will bring them to eternal destruction, because they love these things more than God, they allow these things to get in the way of seeing God properly. They blunt the heart and soul. They cause people to think that these trinkets that are so alluring are what life is truly about. But human beings cannot live without something to push toward. They cannot survive without something to strive for, reach for, live for. This is the way we are made and the envy of the wealthy, the fretting over the power of the wicked is due to an idolatrous longing to have what they have. The solution to this is to fear God., This is what the writer tells us in verse 21. You want something to fear? Fear God. There is something really worth fearing. What can the wicked do to you? Kill you? They can do nothing beyond that. And this is the proverb writer’s point. You can tremble and fret at the wicked and avoid the pain that comes from having them on your back. Then enter eternity and suffer with them. Or you can fear God and tremble before Him and dwell in unimaginable glory forever. It’s a no brainer. And most people miss it.

 

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Uncategorized