Out with the Old, In with the New!

 This past weekend a bunch of us were able to retreat to Rock Mountain for some spiritual input and challenge. Though we had a small group, it was a fantastic weekend filled with fun, food, and fellowship. The camp actually had some snow, which meant we not only got to go tubing, but nubing as well! Nubing = Night Tubing. Not to be confused with Noob Tubing, which is noobs using the rocket launcher to get kills in Call of Duty. Very different things.

Pastorian joined us as our speaker for the weekend, and "Bishop" led us in worship (with some help from Pastorian, Madframe, and Cole Train). The theme was "Impact" with a heavy focus on Romans 12:1-2 - "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will." Pastorian challenged us to take home one specific phrase: "It is impossible to have a true encounter with God and walk away the same." We cannot see and know God and remain unchanged because an encounter with God is an encounter with the Truth.

As usual, every morning after breakfast we broke away from the group and spent some Time Alone With God (TAWG). Today, I wanted to share some reflections from Sunday morning's TAWG. In it, we were challenged to read through Ephesians 4:17-32, which talks about the Christian casting off the old self and putting on the new self in Jesus. Below is an overview of the characteristics of the "Old Self" with their corresponding characteristics in the "New Self".

Old Self:                                                                        New Self:

Separated from the life of God                                      Connected to life through Jesus Christ

Hardened Hearts                                                            Soft / open heart

Ignorant of God                                                             Heard of and taught about God

Lost sensitivity to what is right                                     Follows after God's righteousness

Indulges in whatever feels good                                    Pursues holiness (what IS good)

Continually lusting/greedy for more                             Satisfied, content, fulfilled

Deceitful desires                                                            New mind focused on God's desires

Speaks falsely (liar)                                                       Speaks truthfully (honest)

Anger leads to sin                                                          Pursues reconciliation (lets go of anger)

Steals (thief)                                                                  Works with hands and provides for others

Speaks unwholesomely (puts down, curses)                 Builds others up with words

Grieves the Holy Spirit                                                  Honors the Holy Spirit

Bitter (holds on to past hurts)                                        Kind

Raging and angry                                                          Compassionate

Brawls (picks fights)                                                     Forgiving (just as Christ forgave us)

Slanders others (spreads rumors)                                  ^ ^ Builds others up with words and is honest

Full of malice toward others (wants harm for them) -> Forgiving, compassionate, and kind

After looking over this list, the next challenge is to consider which areas you find yourself particularly struggling. What parts of the "Old Self" are you holding on to? For me, indulgence in what feels good, greed for more (which could also be considered gluttony), and deceitful desires are where I struggle most. So for me, I can work on those areas by actively learning about what God says is pure and right and pursuing those things, finding contentment in what God has already given me, and turning my focus off of what I want toward what God wants. As I do this, I will be putting off the "Old Self" and taking on the "New Self".

What do you struggle with? How can you intentionally cast aside those areas in favor of the "New Self"? These are the questions you should focus on.

Also, if you have any questions about what some of these things look like in our world today (such as deceitful desires), ask in the comments and I will answer. Same goes for if you have questions about how to pursue the characteristics of the "New Self".

God bless.

Check Yo'Self B4 You Wreck Yo'Self

 We decided to go virtual for this Summit because the Winter Retreat is this weekend, and I for one did not want to take any chances of a Covid exposure and ruin the retreat. We tried out something I saw another youth group do, which is having one student "dance" "interpretively" through a song while everyone else does their best to mimic them. We opted for "I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys with The Whiz Kid as the lead. It was... interesting. Can't wait to see how it goes in person!

Well, as some of you know, I am currently taking a class on the practice and theology of worship – basically, what does it mean to truly worship God and what does that look like. Right now, the class is going through the Old Testament worship of the Israelites, back before Jesus came to the earth and died on the cross, and the author is comparing those rituals (and the sacrifices) with what Jesus did for us on the cross. The imagery alone is really cool.

I would like to share a quote with you from one of the books, and while I know it is hard to follow along, please try to listen to what is being said about sin, confession, and forgiveness.

 

“In the Old Testament forgiveness of sin was granted whenever confession was made… the sacrifice symbolically completed the process, showing that forgiveness was based on the shedding of blood. The confession without the ritual was incomplete, but the ritual without the confession was worthless. In this way the Israelite experience is not unlike the Christian’s. We also need to confess sins and acknowledge defilements in order to participate fully in the worship and service of the Lord. God forgives people when they confess to Him. The ritual is the public expression of faith in the provision of forgiveness through the blood of the Lamb.”

 

You all know that mankind suffers from separation from God because of sin, and that it is only through the blood of Jesus Christ, who died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins, that we can get to God and have a relationship with Him. On a grand scale, we admit to our sins and believe in Jesus, and we are saved. Romans 10:9 says “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord”, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Our salvation comes through confession of sin and belief in Jesus as our ritual sacrifice. His death in place of ours. And this bridges the gap.

 

But this is also true on a smaller scale. Jesus’ blood covers over our sins so that when we confess them before God we are forgiven. And I know from my own experience that when I have unconfessed sin in my life – where I have chosen to sin and then try to come before God – it is like that gap is back, like there is something separating me from God again. I haven’t lost my salvation or anything, but I have wandered away from God. How many of you have experienced this? Where you feel like you have somehow become far away from God again?

 

This is the result of unconfessed sin. When we are holding on to something, or doing something, that we know doesn’t please God. And when this is going on, it can be very hard to engage in worship, prayer, Scripture reading, and sharing our faith with others. And if we let it go on unchecked, it will lead us further and further from God. Sin, especially when we consciously choose it, drives a wedge into our relationship with God – it doesn’t separate us completely, but it certainly gets in the way.

 

This weekend some of us are going to Rock Mountain for the Winter Retreat (woot woot), and there we will be spending time in prayer, reading, and worship. But first, we need to prepare ourselves. We need to look inside and see what sin has taken hold in our lives. What are we doing (or not doing) that is driving us away from God? We need to identify those things and confess them to God, looking for forgiveness. Then, when we are at the retreat, we will be able to engage in full and genuine worship.

 

And this is not just for those going on the retreat. This is something we all need to do regularly – daily, weekly, monthly. I think the phrase is “check yourself before you wreck yourself”. Reflect on who you are and what you have been doing, identify any sin that exists in your life, and confess it to God. He will forgive you, but you must confess and believe in Jesus for forgiveness.

 

God is looking for worshippers who worship both in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). We must have a spirit which is willing to submit to God and be humble before Him, as well as be honest about who we are, who God is, and who deserves all the honor and glory. So tonight, tomorrow, and pretty much every day for the rest of your lives, “check yourselves before you wreck yourselves”.

Love > Fear

 Hey gang, so last night we were able to meet in person again and it was nice to see everyone's faces! Even saw a few of you connect through Zoom, which was awesome! For those of you who missed it, we got a special treat for the message time - we went to the Sanctuary. I think the last time we had our message in there was March of 2020.

Before you go any further into this post, I'd like you to check out this 3 minute video clip on YouTube. It is a short clip from the animated show "Avatar: The Last Airbender" - if you've never seen it, sorry, but spoiler alert. For the record, this is my all-time favorite animated show so you should definitely check it out in its entirety the next time you get the chance! Click here to view the clip.

There is one line in there I particularly hope you paid attention to: "You miscalculated. I love Zuko more than I fear you." You see, there are two motivational forces at work in this clip - fear and love. Azula (the angry girl) strictly uses fear when trying to motivate others to do what she wants. She uses fear to control people - including her "friends" Mai and Ty Lee. However, as we saw in the clip, fear wasn't strong enough to stop them from protecting the people they loved (Mai protecting Zuko and Ty Lee protecting Mai). This demonstrates a really important fact for us, that love is more powerful than fear.

Last week I focused on Proverbs 1:7 - "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction." This verse was written in the Old Testament, before Jesus came to the earth and died on the cross. So at this point in history, the only way to get close to God and find atonement (forgiveness) for sin was through regular animal sacrifices. The people lived in fear of judgment from God whenever they strayed from His Law (which, if you read through Israel's history in the OT, they did quite often).

When we look forward to the New Testament, after Jesus came and died and rose again, Paul reminds us in Romans that literally everyone strays from God's Law. Everybody sins, which means everybody is in danger of judgment, and the judgment for sin is death (not just dying here on earth, but being forever separated from God and Heaven).

Now, while Jesus was around, He had a bunch of disciples - a group of guys who followed Him and learned from Him. These guys grew up the same way the Old Testament people did, in a deep fear of the Lord. To find atonement they had to make animal sacrifices, too. However, when Jesus died on the cross and paid the penalty for sin, these disciples also got to experience the love and grace and forgiveness of God through Jesus. Their fear of the Lord led them to Jesus, and so their fear led them to the love of the Lord. You may recall, I ended last week's message with a quote, which concluded: "Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but love from the Lord is its completion." Fear of God leads us to the love of God.

This week's verse is 1 John 4:18-19 - "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because He first loved us." God's love, demonstrated through Jesus coming to the earth and dying on the cross for our sins, means that we do not have to live in fear of judgment. Jesus paid it all, and took our judgment on Himself. So, in Jesus, we become children of God and no longer need to be afraid of God and His power. But just as a child should respect and obey their father, so Christians should respect and obey God.

Fear compels us to do a lot - follow speed limits on the road (lest we get pulled over and ticketed), do our homework, obey our parents, etc. Fear is what Azula used to compel people to do what she wanted. God, however, chooses to use love as His motivational force. He first showed His love to us through Creation and later through Jesus Christ, setting an example of the kind of love He wants us to have - sacrificial love. This kind of love is what John was talking about in the verse above, because sacrificial love drives out fear. Mai's love for Zuko drove out her fear of Azula, and so she acted to save him even though she knew she could die for it (Azula is kind of mean like that). Ty Lee's love and care for her friend Mai drove out her fear of Azula, so that she acted to protect Mai, also knowing that there would be a cost. They sacrificed their own well-being for the sake of someone else - out of love. Sacrificial love means putting our needs and wants aside for the sake of others and for God.

The truth is, most of us come to faith in Jesus because we are afraid of judgment. We recognize that we have sinned before God and that the consequence for our sin is death, and we are afraid of that death. Our faith starts with a recognition of who God is, thus it is the beginning of knowledge - of knowing God. So, we come to Jesus. Fear of God's judgment brings us to the one person who can offer us salvation, Jesus Christ. And the reason Jesus can offer us salvation is because He chose to demonstrate His love for us by taking our place and paying the penalty for us. He put aside His life for the sake of our lives. So while fear is often where we start, we end up with love.

What is our response to this? Our proper response should be to praise God and love Him in return! Jesus told His disciples "If you love me, obey my commands". If we love God, and I mean truly love God, then that love should motivate us to do what He says is right. Jesus also said that all of God's commands can be summed up in two: Love God and love others. If we love God, then we will love what He loves, and He loves all of us. Every. Single. Person. Which means that we should love every single person. Summed up, this means being kind to others, forgiving others (even if they're not sorry), providing for the needy, standing up for the oppressed or bullied, and ultimately sharing God's love with everyone around us. I know sharing God's love (the message about Jesus) can be scary, and we often fear what people will say or how they will react. But remember, the love of God drives out fear. When we fully embrace the love He has for us, we will not be able to stop ourselves from sharing it with others.

So, if you have embraced the love of God, how are you loving others right now?

If you haven't yet embraced God's love and come to Jesus but are living in fear, you don't need to live that way anymore. You can look to Jesus for forgiveness and be free from fear.

Wherever you are at, find the next step in getting closer to God and take it.

Peace.

1-800-FEAR GOD

 So as some of you know, we had to switch Summit to Zoom last night because The Favorite's roommate caught the 'Rona (so she had to quarantine) and I caught a cold (yes, common diseases still exist during a pandemic). Not wanting to take any chances, and especially since people look at you funny every time you even cough or sniff, we decided it was best not to meet in person. So we didn't! Funny how that works.

On Zoom, we learned that some of yall really struggle with drawing. Then again, can I blame you for not being good at it with a mouse? These things are so hard to draw with... Anyway, for those that know, there was a blue circle. =) Good times.

Moving on to our topic for today, I'd like you to think about what it means to be afraid. What even is fear, anyway? Before we get to that, let me share with you a few times when I have had fear grip me:

When I was about 3 years old (shortly after I started actually remembering things), I had a nightmare about dinosaurs. Now, these weren't just any dinos, they were life-size version of the plastic ones I liked to play with. I was trapped outside my house at night, and they were everywhere - the streets, on the house, in the fields, everywhere. I pounded on the door, but no one answered. I tried to run away, but ran into more of them. Then, just before I woke up in a sweat, I heard the distant roar of a T-Rex. Dinosaurs can be scary even now, but for a toddler? They were absolutely terrifying!

Growing up, my older brother was known as the pest in the family. However, I also liked to mess with my siblings from time to time, and especially my brother. The problem was, he was bigger than me. And stronger. And just a little bit meaner. So when I would annoy him for too long or do too much, he would jump up and chase me down and try to hit me. And let me tell you, as soon as he jumped up I was GONE. I was running for my life! Because I knew that if he managed to catch me there was going to be pain. You may ask, "Well, why did you mess with him then?" And the answer is, well, because I wasn't thinking about how he would react, only about the fact that I wanted to mess with him.

When I was much older, after my first year of college, I was driving back home with my dad. It was super late at night and I was a very inexperienced driver. What I did know was that my parents almost always drove in the left lane of the highway. Left lane = fast lane. That's what I knew. So that's what I did. I wanted to go fast, and even though there were no other cars on the road I was in cruising in that left lane. Queue me reaching for my Coffee Coolatta from Dunkin, queue me looking down for a second to find the holder to put it back, and queue the van swerving off the road sideways, sliding across the grassy median between the Northbound and Southbound lanes of the Garden State Parkway, skidding backwards across the opposing lane, smashing the driver side window on a reflector sign, demolishing the driver side wheel on a concrete ditch, and coming to stop in the trees on the far side of the highway from where I started. Through all of that I was frozen. I couldn't move, I couldn't think, I couldn't even touch the brakes - all I could do was grip the wheel and hope this wasn't the end. Everything was a blur of grass, glass, and road.

Fast forward a little more to another year in college. My friend Leroy Jenkins and I would sometimes take midnight walks through the campus' extensive woods. On one of these walks, we heard a splashing noise through the trees. Didn't think too much of it and kept walking. But, then, we heard it again. And this time, it was closer than before. We kept walking, trying to move away from the lake where the splashing was coming from, but whatever it was kept following us. Now, you need to be aware that this is during the peak of my irrational fear of zombies, and in my mind this splashing wasn't just anything, it was a zombie coming up out of the water and shambling after us. I was freaking out. I was pushing Leroy to walk faster so we could get away, and the THING KEPT FOLLOWING. When we finally reached the edge of the woods and came across a road, I chose to walk all the way around the woods on the well-lit road rather than trek back through the forest. To this day I have no idea what was following us, but I was certain at the time that our lives were at stake that night.

So what is common in all of these situations? Well, in each case the thing (or person) I was afraid of was something I thought could hurt me or something that would have power over me. I recognized that he or it was stronger than me and I could get hurt.

Think now about some healthy fears that we have: heights, spiders, fire, bees, the dark... We fear these things because we recognize they can hurt us. We could fall from heights and get seriously hurt. If a spider is venomous and bites us and we could get sick or die. Fire can be really destructive if it gets out of control, and could burn us (remember what happened in California not so long ago?). Especially for someone who is allergic, bee stings can be dangerous, and at the very least they hurt a lot. And who knows what could be lurking in the dark, or what we could stumble across.

See, these fears actually help to protect us - they cause us to respect things and people who are stronger than we are, or at the very least, are dangerous. Well, fear should cause us to respect these things, though we sometimes forget that they're dangerous anyway (like my big bro). When I go rock climbing, I recognize that falling from a great height could hurt or kill me, so I always use a belay system. When we had our bonfires at the church for Summit back in the Fall, I would always bring out a bucket of water to make sure the fire didn't get out of control, because I recognized that would be dangerous. Our fear of the dark causes us to bring flashlights (or some kind of light) instead of just stumbling around, because we know we could get hurt walking blindly.

Proverbs 1:7 is a fairly popular verse which says "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction." So let me ask, what is the fear of the Lord?

"Fear" is the belief that something or someone is dangerous and it is the anticipation of danger. It means recognizing something or someone as dangerous and responding as though you are expecting danger. So then, the fear of the Lord is the belief that God is dangerous. But, why should we think that God is dangerous?

1. He spoke the earth (as well as the rest of the universe) into being. Read through Genesis 1. You'll notice that everything God made, He made by just uttering words. He said "Let there be light", and it was so. Light appeared because He said so. Now THAT is power.

2. Since God created everything, He can also destroy everything. Matthew 10:28 has a warning from Jesus to His disciples: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell." Jesus is pointing out that anything we face in this world can only hurt us so much. At best (or worst?), they can end our lives. But this world has no power over our souls, our spirits. Only God has power over that. And Jesus is warning His disciples to make sure they recognize that God is way more dangerous and powerful than anything else they could possibly be afraid of.

So God really is dangerous. He could hurt us, far more than anything else. But remember what the verse in Proverbs said. It didn't say "The fear of the Lord is debilitating," or "God is super scary so be afraid, be very afraid". No, it said "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge..." Unlike my fear on the road, this fear leads to something more. When we have a true fear of God, it puts everything else into perspective, so that we can better understand the world in which we live - the world God created. In order to truly understand our world, ourselves, and God, we first have to recognize how great and powerful and mighty our God is. We have to start there. We have to recognize that God is not some far away, mystical force, but an active and powerful God who stands in judgment over the whole world.

When we do this, when we see God's power and fear Him (because He is dangerous), it puts everything else into perspective for us. Our everyday fears don't seem as big or scary - not compared to God. It also causes us to respect Him way more, because it forces us to see that He is not some vending machine in the sky (we put our prayers in and He gives us what we want), but a holy and powerful God, one who created all things simply by speaking. This then gives us more respect for the Bible, which we often call the "Word of God". It isn't just some book, but a collection of God's power written out on paper for us to read and be transformed by. When you approach the Bible this way, it can really impact you in a new and profound way.

So, here is what I want you to do. As you go through this next week (and hopefully the rest of your lives), I want you to start thinking about what or who you fear. Make a list. Is God on that list? If He is, good, you're on the right path. If He is not - if you are not afraid of God - then that means you do not have an accurate picture of who God is or what He can do. My mom used to say "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out." Well, God created all things, and He can take it all out - with a word. That's scary.

Now, not wanting to leave you curled up on the floor in the fetal position in fear, let me add that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, not the end. Fear of God means we have recognized His power and now show Him the respect He deserves. It gets us started. But the Bible also reveals that this same God and loves and cares about us. We fear Him, because He is powerful. Yet we can also have a relationship with Him, because He is loving. In closing, let me share this quote:

"Unfortunately, many of us presume that the world is the ultimate threat and that God's function is to offset it. How different this is from the biblical position that God is far scarier than the world... When we assume that the world is the ultimate threat, we give it unwarranted power, for in truth, the world's threats are temporary. When we expect God to balance the stress of the world, we reduce him to the world's equal... As I walk with the Lord, I discover that God poses an ominous threat to my ego, but not to me. He rescues me from my delusions, so he may reveal the truth that sets me free. He casts me down, only to lift me up again. He sits in judgment of my sin, but forgives me nonetheless. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but love from the Lord is its completion."

May the love of the Lord wash over you today and tomorrow and all future days as you walk with Him, in full recognition of His almighty power and in complete acceptance of His forgiveness and grace.

Church - For Our Own Good

 Since we had the intrusion of a miniature "snowmageddon" yesterday we had to go virtual for the third week in a row. While none of us wanted this, it was definitely necessary because the roads got bad last night! I'm usually not too worried about driving in the snow because there was one winter when I was in college that I had to drive home in the middle of a blizzard. An experience like that hardens you, and while last night's snow didn't compare to that blizzard, I also recognize that there is always potential for accidents on the road. The real issue isn't even my driving skills (or those of your parents), but the other drivers on the road. I could be the very best driver in the world and still have to worry because there are other drivers out there who have no business having a driver's license. So anyway, we went virtual last night.

We tried out a new game (I say new, but really it's an oldy) - Scattergories. There is a website that lets you set up a game for free and invite friends, so we gave it a shot. I realized that I am not so good at coming up with words on the spot, but I think we had fun seeing what everyone did come up with. We had a surprising underdog win from one of our middle school students, who I will refer to as Hummingbird.

We had a special guest speaker, our church's very own Serminator, who brought a message on "Why We Go to Church". He opened with a story about his days as a youth pastor and his experience with a foreign car. Evidently, this car had a manual transmission (which meant he had to manually shift the gears, using the clutch). The hydraulic system in the car contained a little message - "Use Castrol Girling Green Only". Apparently, it was common practice for manufacturers to include little advertisements for products in the car, so he assumed this was the case. Well, every six months or so the hydraulic system would break down and he would have to go to a mechanic and get it fixed. And every time, the mechanic would look at it and need to replace the entire system (which was pricey). When the Serminator moved to Denver to attend Denver Theological Seminary, this happened again. But this time, he had very little money and couldn't afford to take it to a shop, so instead he decided to try and fix it himself. He went to a shop to scope out the parts he would need and described his problem to the clerk, who handed him a small plug in a plastic bag. "That's all you'll need," the guy said, and then pulled out a big canister of hydraulic fluid. "You can refill the reservoir with this, too." And guess what the canister said - "Castrol Girling Green". "If you use anything else, you'll have the same problem in about six months." Evidently, that label had been there for his own good, and he had ignored it, causing this recurring problem that he had to deal with every 6 months.

According to the Serminator, church is very much the same way. It is there for our own good. He had us look to a passage in the Old Testament of the Bible, Deuteronomy 10:12-13 - "And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?" He broke it down for us in 5 parts:

1. Fear the Lord. This is not the same as being afraid of the dark or swimming in the ocean. Instead, it means to have a deep respect for God and to worship Him as the Lord.

2. Walk in obedience to Him. There is a sense of togetherness that comes from following God and aligning ourselves to His path. Just like going on a hike with others, walking in obedience to God builds us up as a community. It is where we can experience fellowship.

3. Love Him. Obedience to God, walking in His ways, is not a checklist for the Christian to check off. Christianity is not about rule-keeping. Instead, it is a relationship with God. There is give and take, and personal intimacy to be found with the Creator of the universe.

4. Serve the Lord. We have a responsibility (as well as the great opportunity) to work alongside God and help His people as well as others. There is stewardship involved in our faith. God has entrusted us with the responsibility to working to further His Kingdom and spread the message of His Gospel to others.

5. Observe His commands. This is discipleship. A disciple listens to and obeys the commands of the master/teacher. The disciple also carries the responsibility of discipling others - teaching them to obey the commands of God. There is a passing on of knowledge and faith.

All of these things in Deuteronomy are there for our own good. They will help us. Worship keeps our attention on God, fellowship allows us to have community and be encouraged, the relationship we have with God strengthens us in our faith and keeps us close to God, stewardship allows us to express our faith and love to others, and discipleship gives us opportunity to invest in others as we keep the commands of God.

We "go to church" for several reasons. For one thing, it meets the expectations of God. He expects us to gather together as believers regularly. As Christians, we base our lives on the Word of God, and church is one of the places where we study and learn about what God has to say in the Bible. Interestingly, the Bible tells us to meet together regularly, which would include going to church.

And finally, we go to church for our own good. The Serminator shared an illustration that many of us have recent memories of - a fire pit. For those of you who joined us when we met outside for the first part of the Fall, we had a fire pit almost every Wednesday. Well, he had us imagine that we took tongs and removed one of the logs from the fire and placed it on the ground. At first, it would continue to burn brightly. But, over time, the log would go out, becoming dark and cold. Now, imagine what would happen if you took that dark, cold log and put it back in the fire? Naturally, it would be rekindled, and begin to burn brightly again. The Christian life is very much like this. When we are regularly attending church and meeting together, our faith is strengthened and encouraged and we "burn brightly". However, when we stop meeting together and try to do it on our own, our fire begins to fade. Our faith wavers and we struggle to remain close to God. God never intended for us to "go it alone" in our faith. We are meant to meet regularly together and worship, have fellowship, build relationships, engage in our stewardship, and train in discipleship. The church offers all of this. It is the complete package, and not just another item on the Christian checklist.

Church is there for our own good. 

As Hebrews 10:25 advises all Christians, do not give "up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

Prayer - What Does It Do, Exactly?

 So last night we were once again meeting virtually. Technically the wife and I were cleared from the 'rona, but I had asked the Prayer Warrior to share the message and she wasn't going to be able to meet with us in-person. So, we kept it virtual. Had a great time with a little scavenger hunt, and found out Changa has some fast hands. Honestly, I hadn't even finished saying what the item was before he had it on screen.

Well, as you can imagine from the title of this here post, the Prayer Warrior (I suppose her nickname gives it away, too) shared a message on prayer. She opened by sharing that she loves to pray (hence the nickname) and that she usually goes to bed praying through different requests from people which she writes on 3 x 5 cards. She flips through them, praying, until she falls asleep. She shared that she prays through Isaiah 41:10 every night - "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

One of the main points from this message is this: God answers prayer. If you do not believe this, write down your prayers - whether it be on your phone, on a notecard, or in a notebook. Make sure that it is somewhere you can go back to and look at. Then, as you continue to pray over those things, write down whenever God answers those prayers. You see, what usually happens is we will pray over a situation or a request and then forget about it. We never go back and thank God for answering, so we often don't feel like He does. But, He does. He answers prayer. And taking notes can help us to keep track of that and to see that.

What I just wrote above is the practical application from this message, so if nothing else, give it a try. Below are some biblical examples of God answering prayer, as well as an explanation for what prayer can do.

Luke 18:1-7

Here is a woman who demonstrated persistence in her request. She begged and begged and wouldn't stop until the unjust judge gave in to what she wanted. God is not like this unjust judge, He actually wants to work with us and help us (and He wants us to work with Him and help Him). But the point we can take away from this passage is that prayer is not a "one and done" thing. We don't just pray for something once and hope for the best. We should be like the woman and continue to pray, over and over, until God answers. What this does is it draws us to God often (since we are praying more) and then when He does answer, we are more aware of His presence and action in our lives.

2 Kings 20:1-11

In this passage it almost seems like God changes His mind because of prayer. This is not exactly what happens. Instead, what happens is that God tests the king's faith, and the king responds by crying out to God. As the Prayer Warrior put it last night, "The Lord graciously favors those who faithfully seek and serve Him". Prayer can attune us to God in a way that nothing else can, and God answers those who turn to Him. He may not always give us the answer we want, but that does not mean He does not answer at all.

Nehemiah 1:11-2:5

In this passage we see Nehemiah praying in the midst of a very stressful situation. He prays beforehand, and he prays again in the middle of the situation, and God answered. How many times do we cry out to God in the middle of a stressful situation? Probably a lot less often than we should. Instead, we try to handle it on our own, which doesn't always work out for us. We should follow Nehemiah's example to pray when get put in a tough spot. God is always listening, and He will hear you.

Hebrews 11:6 - "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

The Prayer Warrior pulled out a Russian Nesting Doll as an illustration. They are those dolls that have one big one, then another slightly smaller one inside, then another even smaller one inside of that one, and so on until you get to this really tiny doll in the middle. Well, the point of the illustration is that some people have really big faith, while other people have really small faith. The size of your faith DOESN'T MATTER, as long as you HAVE faith. We just need a little faith, and then as we pray and God answers, our faith begins to grow. The important thing is to pray believing that God will answer.

Mark 14:35-36

What is interesting here is that Jesus, who we know to be God, is praying to God to change His mind. He expresses in this passage a desire to not have to die on the cross. Well, we know that God said no to this part of His prayer, because Jesus did go and die on the cross. However, God did answer the last part, because Jesus said "not my will, but yours be done". Jesus recognized that the human part of him, the part that didn't want to go suffer and die on the cross, was going against what God wanted, and so His prayer was for God's will to be done, no matter what.

God is not a vending machine. We don't put in payer and get what we want in return. Prayer is a conversation, and God often uses it to help us understand (and come to terms with) His will for our lives. Prayer can help us to see what God wants us to do. He gives us direction through prayer.

Romans 8:28 - "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

The Prayer Warrior shared a story she had heard from some college friends who had gone to Spain. There was a day where rain loomed on the horizon, but hadn't started to fall yet. One of the friends was out at the store and prayed to God that it wouldn't rain until she got home. The other friend was with her host family and was praying for rain. So we have two different people praying for opposite things - one for it not to rain and the other for it to rain - and God answered BOTH. He made it rain, but until after the first one had gotten home. We can trust God to work for our good, and we should always look to Him in prayer in all things.

A final note is that prayer doesn't change God. Prayer changes us. It engages us in conversation with the all-powerful God of the universe, and helps us to see things from His perspective. It also helps us to see how much He cares for us when we go back and remember how He has answered our prayers in the past. And, this builds our faith. Prayer is not important for the Christian, it is ESSENTIAL.

God Wants Me to do WHAT!?

 Politics. It is a hot topic, to be sure. I know most of you reading this are not of voting age, and yet this past year we were all subjected to angry posts, fierce protests, online arguments, and not-so-friendly (or informative) debates as the 2020 Presidential Election drew near. The last few weeks leading up to the election were filled with hot debates between supporters of each candidate. Here's a question for you to think about:

Why do you think politics and elections are so divisive? Why do they always find a way to drive people apart and cause anger and disagreement?

As I am writing this post, we are on the other side of the voting process. The election process isn't quite over yet, but it is looking like Joe Biden is going to be our next president. Tell me, which side do you think Christians should have voted for? Why?

My purpose here is not to pick a side or endorse one over the other. The truth is, neither side is Christian. The Reds have some values which reflect Christian values, and the Blues also have some values which reflect Christian values. But neither side is strictly Christian. And this is part of why politics can be so divisive - picking one side over another puts some values over others. But anyway, I digress. My real purpose in this post is to share how we, as Christians, should approach politics and elections, and the following passage gives us some insight:

1 Peter 2:9-17 - “9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. 13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. 16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. 17 Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.” (emphasis mine)

There are 3 things I want to highlight from this passage. First, we are not Americans first. Too often when we approach elections and the topic of politics, we come at it from an American perspective, not a biblical one. We are Christians first. We are God's people. Peter says here "once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God". He is talking about the church. The one thing that draws us together and unites us is our faith in Jesus Christ. And the apostle Paul echoes this idea in Philippians 3:20 - "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ". Our citizenship is in heaven, not on earth. Our identity comes from Jesus, not from the Republican or Democratic parties. This means our values come from God, and our main goal is to do what pleases God and what is going to bring Him glory. And what pleases God?

Well, this brings us to point #2. God has instructed us to submit to "every human authority". For some context, this particular passage is part of a letter the apostle Peter wrote to a church in the Roman Empire, around the same time that the Roman Empire was imprisoning and killing Christians. According to Peter, just because the government is a bad government doesn't give us the right to rebel against them. It pleases God when we submit to authority, regardless of whether they are Democrat or Republican.

Finally, it pleases God when we show respect to others. The last verse of the passage above says "Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor". So, that means that when someone opposes my political views (say, they are a Democrat and I am a Republican), I should yell at them for being stupid and ignorant, right? Wrong. That is not showing respect to everyone at all. The apostle Paul sheds a little more light on this in another letter to a young pastor named Titus: "Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always be gentle toward everyone". Here Paul tells us that in our dealings with other people we should not talk bad about them, we should show respect, be considerate of their feelings, and always be gentle. Does this sound like any of the arguments or posts you've seen online or heard from other people? No, probably not. Instead, many Christians have chosen to slander, yell, bully, fight, and be rude to others - none of which pleases God.

God wants us to submit to the governing authorities, whoever they may be. Of course, out first priority is obedience to God, so in cases where the government tells us we have to do something that God says is wrong, we should not do it (for example, if the president ordered that everyone worship him, we should NOT do that). Obedience to God also means treating others with kindness and respect, no matter how mean, rude, or inconsiderate they may be toward us.

Now, after the last presidential election, a lot of people refused to accept the results. They wailed and protested and for the last 4 years have done everything they could to change the results or get Trump impeached. Let me be clear, this is not the way God wants us to respond, no matter which way this election goes. Fighting, arguing, causing division and rebellion - none of these reflect a spirit of submission. Instead, God tells us this in Paul's first letter to Timothy: "I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth".

God wants us to pray for our leaders, including our president. So, as the final results of the elections come to light and the country moves forward, I want each of you to spend some time in prayer over our leaders. And don't stop there, either. Continue to pray over the response of the people (as well as your own response). As citizens of Heaven, we need to entrust the affairs of this world over to God, our ultimate leader and Lord. He is our King, whom we worship and obey, and whom we follow. His will is that we pray for others, treat others with respect, and look for every opportunity to do good in this world as we patiently wait for the next.

God bless and peace be with you all.