You're Fired!

Recently I responded to a note posted on one of the ministry bulletin boards that I subscribe to. The situation that I addressed was the potential illegal termination of a staff member at a church. Below is my response. I thought it might be of value to those of you who follow my blog.

I, too have had a couple of "bad" experiences in my 25 plus years in the ministry. The majority of my time in ministry I've been in either the second or perhaps the second to last chair on staff. I feel compelled to address a couple of concerns that have been raised here. There have been times when I felt I got a raw deal, too. But in every situation God was in control. He didn't go out for a cup of coffee only to come back and wring his hands saying "What have they done now?" Father is in and has always been in control!

We are called to be servant-leaders, as such shouldn't we expect to be treated as servants?

Yes churches have by-laws and there are laws in our country that are designed to protect us, but is that what we are supposed to do?? Rely on laws or rely on God?

Remember Joseph? If anyone had a raw deal it was him. From favored son to slavery, to jail, to "second chair" in Egypt. yet in Genesis 50: 20 Joseph says that what men did for evil God ultimately used for not only the good of Joseph, but also his family and entire nations.

Corinthians 61-8 also is pretty specific about not taking a brother (and I believe that could be expanded to include an entire church) to court. I would recommend that in church by-laws, constitutions, etc. add a clause to go to binding arbitration with respected Christians leaders either in your denomination or in your local community.

James 1:2-4 also tells us that the situation we go through (called trials in the Bible) are designed to mature us. Do you and I enjoy these times? No! But in James 1:12, James indicates that we are to stay under the problem. Pray for grace to endure the situation and persevere. Why, God wants us to Grow Up!

I haven't always appreciated what God has allowed me to go through but Father was trying to to conform me to the image of Christ. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 also tells us that the situation that we go through are designed to prepare us for our next ministry. perhaps my worst situation in the ministry prepared me for some of my deepest ministry. I hated what I went through and wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy, but now I wouldn't trade my tribulation for anything because it deepened my relationship with my God and it has given me a deeper ability to minister to others who have been through similar situations.

My belief is that this is true in this situation.

Praying for all of us in the midst of our "situations"

Pastor Val

The Shack

I love to read!

I have a wide and varied interest in many different genres and themes that I enjoy. From mysteries, to SciFi, to adventure, to espionage, to drama I like lots and lots of different types of books. I even have read and enjoyed the occasional gothic novel – usually because my wife tells me how good a particular story was. I also enjoy reading books on leadership, business and of course theology!

In general I don’t care for Christian authors of novels. I’ve tried to read a number of different authors form this unique group of genres and most often I find the writing pedantic, cumbersome and boring. I have grown up being disappointed in novels that are published by Christian publishers due to their lack of skills and often simplistic plot lines.

All of that being said occasionally I am surprised by some novelist like Frank Peretti from a number of years ago. I was fascinated by the way he was able to weave so much theology into his writing and the how even the smallest reference to angelic being was deeply explored in his series on angelic world and how it intersected our understanding of reality. His plots were suspenseful and exciting and theologically he held my interest and admiration on tackling difficult issues and showing us that there are more dimensions then the three or four that we are used to relating to.

Yes, I know that many of us enjoyed the Left Behind series. I too enjoyed the books and was amazed at how the authors were able to weave a pretrib, premil understanding into their books and many of them were good reads. Toward the end, in my opinion, they suffered from writer’s fatigue and I from readers fatigue in their almost Christian SciFi series of eschatology (end times).

Until this past week I wondered when I find another Christian author who would write a novel that would again challenge or at least embrace my understanding of God and the theology of His plan to redeem the world and usher in the Kingdom of Now and Not Yet!

I finished a novel that was written a couple of years ago and became a New York Times best seller. I can’t tell form the face page how many printings this book has done through or whether or not it was originally available in hardback.

What I can tell you is that I had a hard time putting the book down. Perhaps I’m getting more emotional in my advanced age or perhaps God is making me more tender-hearted but there were times that I wept and times when I soared when reading this book.

Oh you want to know the name of the book?

The Shack by Wm Paul Young

Yes it is a novel and as such there will be certain latitudes that the author will take that some will not agree with, but the broad brush of this novel addresses many of the issues that the World is asking and that we as Christ followers are hard pressed to adequately answer.

Questions like:
Why is there evil in the world?
Is God a wrathful God and Jesus a loving God?
What is the nature of the Godhead – i.e. the Trinity?
What is forgiveness and who is it for?
What does God demand of His followers?

These and many more questions are addressed in this novel by Paul Young.

I have to admit that I am still processing this read through my theological knowledge of God, salvation, forgiveness and living in community with fellow believers and more importantly with God.

I can tell you that much of this writing I resonate with and my soul explodes in praise to my creator as I hear and read the issues he tackles. I can only wish that I had had the ability to articulate as well as the author does his understanding of Who God is and What He wants from each of us.

A brief synopsis of the story is that a man, Mack, who has suffered a life battering experience of the abduction and death of a young daughter, is invited ostensibly by God to meet with Him at the place where Mack’s daughter died. Not knowing what or who he will find at this back-woods shed that has been the sight of the greatest tragedies of Mack’s life, he goes that spends a weekend.

While there in an almost Dickens-like tale Mack encounters a number of personalities during his time at the shack. At the end of the weekend Mack’s life is changed.

If you are questioning God or have ever wondered who God is this book will challenge many of your preconceived notations and ideas about God and whether or not He truly is a loving God.

I hope you will read the book and join me in a discussion!

Serving a loving God and Father

Pastor Val

Let The Party Begin!

God is throwing a party by invitation only. I can’t speak for you but I can speak for myself. I want to be invited! Psalm 15 is a list of the qualities that God is looking for in the people He plans to invite.

I think I come out OK on most of the qualifications but one was really tripping me up, the idea of not taking up a reproach against another. Usually this verse (Ps 15:3) is translated that you will do no harm against another. But there is another just as valid way of interpreting this verse. We are not to shoulder the wrongs done to a friend of ours either. You see they have cause for action but we don’t and when they are given redress or cancel the debts for the wrongs done to them we can still be royally angry and there is nothing we can do about it but let it go. The wrong was not done against neither are we owed an apology for what our friend suffered.

“So how does that apply?” you might ask.

Have you ever had people who are no longer a part of your life because they disappointed you or failed to live up to a Biblical principle? I recently was thinking about a person who at one time was a friend of mine and who miserably failed to do the right thing, the honorable thing the Biblical thing for a mutual friend of ours.

It has been years since the incident happened. And I had kinda let the friendship drop because when push came to shove my friend chose the safe way and not the right way. He ran away from the issue instead of meeting it head on. I have always felt bad about the outcome. Our mutual friend was hurt and a leader in authority continued to sexually assault women for years because witnesses valued their jobs over the truth. Sometimes it easier to turn your head and pretend it never happened then to stand for truth, justice and the Biblical way.

So what made me re-approach my friend from years ago? A couple of things: One, I needed to forgive him for being weak. After all I haven’t always been as strong as I should have (Something about casting the first stone or something like that). And two, Psalm 15 tells us that we are not to take up an offense for another. (Yes, Gertrude, the Hebrew can be read that way. The ancient rabbis encouraged us to look at each Biblical concept taught in Scripture as a multifaceted jewel with many different connection points.) So, for me to continue to carry a grudge, for a wrong not done to me but to my friend, has no Biblical basis.

Someone who wants to be invited into God’s house we must be willing to live up to the expectations laid down in Psalm 15. That’s how you and I get invited to God’s party.

So let the party begin!

Pastor Val

The Secret to the End Times

I was recently asked by a lady: “Are we approaching the end times or are we in them?”

My question back to her was “Why are you asking? What difference does it make to you where we are in God’s timeline?”

As far as end times goes the big problem is that we try to figure out when it's going to happen. Paul, who wrote much of the New Testament, tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2 not to be concerned “about times or dates – for you know very well that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.”

As if this special knowledge will gain us greater insight into the Scriptures. It would be better to be faithful in doing what God commands - Love God, Love others and Serve this World as Christ did.

When the Bridegroom comes what's important is that the bridesmaids are found faithfully obedient, not looking for God's secret into understanding the end times. (Matthew 25:1-13)

While it's interesting and even fun to speculate on what is happening and when it's going to happen, remember that every generation, for many generations, have believed that the Lord would return during their life time. In fact we are commanded to expect his imminent return. I'd rather be found serving God as He commands rather then worrying if the end times are here.

After all don’t most Baptists (but not all) believe in a pre-tribulational, pre-millennial rapture of the church? If this is true, then we won't be here anyway – so, so what if the end times come? Even if we are here we are still commanded to be faithful in our quest to advance His Kingdom until He returns.

On the other hand, suppose the end times are right around the corner - how should we prepare for them? And more importantly how does this differ as to how we are commanded to live, especially we are to be anticipating His return at any moment! Be prepared! (Matthew 24:44, Luke 12:40)

So the secret to the end times is simply this be watchful for His return and be faithful in His service. For truly, he comes as a thief in the night and no man knows the hour or the day except the Father. (Matthew 24:36)

Even so, Come Lord Jesus!

Counting the days

Pastor Val

Here’s Your Sign

Do you remember “playing post” office as a kid?

This is the game in which involved a group of kids who start off whispering a story to the person next to you and so on around the circle. At the end of the circle the last person would tell the group what they heard and the first person would tell everyone what was actually said. It’s always a stitch to see how the message morphed.

Unfortunately “post office” happens in real life much to often.

Usually it happens in “well-meaning” gossip. What happens is some one questions something that they heard, saw, or read and instead of going to the source and clarifying the situation they share it with another person and that person shares it with the next person and so on and so on. Ultimately we have a mountain that was simply a molehill and potentially a life or reputation is ruined.

2 Thessalonians 3:11 (NIV) 11 We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies.

Proverbs 16:28 (NLT) 28 A troublemaker plants seeds of strife; gossip separates the best of friends.

Number of years ago a pastor friend of mine was doing research on the Internet searching for some resources on Christian body life. He was studying in his office and at his computer he typed in the phrase “the tie that binds” and hit search. What he found was a list of websites that were S&M sites. He was mortified and absolutely scared that someone would find out and accuse him of surfing the Internet for porn.

He told me the story in confidence some ten years ago and has since said it was OK to pass this story along.

The fear has long since died down but the humor has not passed.

Suspicion and lack of trust runs rampant in many churches and reputations can be ruined and ministries affected by the loose lips of well meaning people. We are all prone to doing foolish things that can take on a life of their own. We need to grant grace in the same way that we have been given grace. Otherwise...

...as Bill Ingval would say:

“Here’s Your Sign!”

Pastor Val

Why I Worship On Sunday

A number of months ago I received an email from a friend who recommended a blog that he has begun reading http://cole-slaw.blogspot.com by Neil Cole. Neil is one of the leaders of the organic church movement and in one of his blogs he asks if attending Sunday services is really all that important. He uses scripture and so called history to prove his point that it is not. You can read Mr. Cole’s specific blog at http://cole-slaw.blogspot.com/2008/12/biblical-support.html

I agree with many of the things that Mr. Cole says about abuses that we see in our Sunday worship some 200 centuries since the founding of the Church, but I also disagree with some of his conclusions.

First we must consider what the climate was like for the first century church and what would happen to the church in 3 short centuries of time. Yes, Mr. Cole is correct that many of the gatherings were in homes. And you can read the description of what one of their meetings was like if you pick up a copy of “Going To Church In The First Century” by Robert Banks. In this book Banks accurately describes what a normal worship event was like in many towns and cities throughout the Roman Empire.

But we also know that many believers also met in larger buildings when they were not being persecuted. In the beginning chapters of the book of Acts we find over 100 people together in an upper room holding a prayer meeting. In fact at one time over 500 people witnessed Jesus after His resurrection (see 1 Cor.). We don’t know if this was an open air event or held in a building.

We also see that the Jerusalem church had many people coming together for common meals. When the problem arose regarding the care of the Grecian widows during the meal times 7 men were chosen to act as waiters at the tables to ensure that everyone received their portion of the meal. (We did something similar during our Christmas Breakfast here at Grace. We were concerned about some of the young children in the front of the line taking more then they could eat and there being nothing left for those who were at the end.) So we limited the portions one could take the first time through the line.

The second issue and perhaps the more important issue is: “Should a church meet on the first day of the week?

To this I again would look to the fact that the early believers meet throughout the week as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. But I would also point out that special emphasis is placed on meeting on the first day of the week, primarily to commemorate and celebrate Christ’s resurrection from the dead on the first day of the week. (Matthew 28:1) I would further point out that Mr. Cole is correct that the passage in 1 Corinthians 16:2 is speaking about the church collecting an offering for the Jerusalem believers who were suffering a drought and many were impoverished. While the passage does not say that believers gathered for worship on the first day, it has to be implied in the passage. Otherwise we have people who have worked a long day coming together to simply drop off their offering and nothing more. (Un)common sense would suggest that this time could and would make perfect sense for a worship service to happen. Also in Acts 20:7 it is recorded that the disciples in Europe gathered together to break bread (code word for communion) and to hear Paul speak. This seemed the natural thing to do. In my thinking it becomes obvious the Sunday worship was a common occurance.

Another thoughts regarding the Gospels is that all four Gospels indicate that the Resurrection was discovered early in the morning on the first day of the week (Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1). Six of the eight appearances of Christ to his followers after the Resurrection took place on the first day: to Mary Magdalene (John 20:1–18), to the women bringing spices to anoint Jesus’ body (Matt. 28:7–10), to two disciples on the Emmaus road (Luke 24:13–33), to Simon Peter (Luke 24:34), to the ten disciples when Thomas was absent (John 20:19–23; cf. Luke 24:36–49), and possibly (although the text uses the phrase “after eight days”) to the eleven disciples when Thomas was present (John 20:24–29). These appearances of Christ on the first day were sufficient to set it apart as a day of particular significance. If the crucifixion of Jesus took place on the sixth day of the week (Friday), as is traditionally held, then the day of Pentecost that year was also on the first day of the week, since it falls fifty days after Passover (which would have coincided with the Sabbath). If so, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the apostles also occurred on the Lord’s Day (Acts 2:1–4).[1]

A couple of final thoughts on the subject, this one also taken from the ancient church. Justin Martyr (c. 100–165) explains that the church chose this day for worship because it was both the first day of Creation and the day of the resurrection of Christ. Thus the Lord’s Day contrasts with the Sabbath in a second respect closely related to the Resurrection. Whereas the Sabbath, or seventh day, marked God’s resting from his creative activity (Gen. 2:1–2), the Lord’s Day is a day of “new creation.” By worshiping on the first day of the week, the Christian church is making a statement about the new beginning God has made in Jesus Christ and the people of the new covenant (2 Cor. 5:17; Rev. 21:1–5).[2]

The church practiced something called the 8th day of the week. The counting of the survivors of the flood with attention to the fact that there were “eight” (i.e., Noah and his wife, his three sons and their wives, Gen 7:13) is attested elsewhere in early Christian literature (cf. 2 Pet 2:5; Theophilus, AdAutol 3.19; Sib. Or. 1.280–81), where “eight” was sometimes given a symbolic significance (e.g., representing Sunday, “the eighth day,” in which Christ rose from the dead: Justin, Dial. 138.1–2; cf. also Barn. 15.9)[3] They believed that the 1st day of the week was the beginning of creation and that like the first creation the new creation began on the 1st day of the week with the resurrection of the Lord. Additionally they saw the first day of the new creation or the 8th day of the week to be the culmination of God’s creation by the new creation that begins to set right the fall of the first creation because of our parents Adam & Eve.

In the early church the number eight held special significance in the understanding of numbers. Just as the number 3 = equaled God (ie trinity) and 4 = creation then 3 + 4 = 7 = completion. The number 8 = resurrection and recreation or new creation. For examples of the number eight and how it means recreation see 1 Peter 3:20 and 2 Peter 2:5.

I firmly believe that we honor not only our Lord’s resurrection but His recreation of a fallen world by worshiping on Sunday the first day of the week!

A part of the re-created order, I’m

Pastor Val

[1]Robert Webber, The Biblical Foundations of Christian Worship, 1st ed. (Nashville, Tenn.: Star Song Pub. Group, 1993), 196.
[2]Robert Webber, The Biblical Foundations of Christian Worship, 1st ed. (Nashville, Tenn.: Star Song Pub. Group, 1993), 196.
i.e. id est, that is
cf. confer, compare
Sib. Or. Sibylline Oracles
e.g. exempli gratia, for example
Dial. Dialogue with Trypho
Barn. Barnabas
[3]J. Ramsey Michaels, vol. 49, Word Biblical Commentary : 1 Peter, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 2002), 212.

The Bank Account

The Bank Account

I read an article on line today about a New Zeeland couple who went to the bank to negotiate a line of credit. They were asking for NZ $10,000 and through a series of human errors they were given NZ $10,000,000 about the equivalent of $6.8 million dollars US.

As you can imagine when the “lucky” couple realized the mistake they made use of the credit and transferred the funds to a bank account out of the country. They are now on the run and there is a massive manhunt underway trying to track them down. Needless to say the bank was quite upset about this turn of events and they are trying to recoup their mistaken largess. So far they have recouped about 2.8 million dollars US and are frantically searching transactions around the world looking for their money.

I got to thinking about how we are beggars who have asked the King for help with our financial needs only to discover that He has offered to adopt us. We find out that we have access to an unlimited the bank account and we don’t have to pay it back!

The Bible tells us that we are joint heirs with the Father’s natural Son and we have been given a bank account full of good things that are there for our use if we only ask for them.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Ephesians 1:3 (NIV)
for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. Psalm 50:10 (NIV)
Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. Romans 8:17 (NIV)
Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:13b-14 (NIV)
So what are you going to do with your new found wealth? Horde it or share it?

I’m trying to share it with those who need what we have and are anxious to receive it!

It seems that the more I give it away the greater my return on my investment!

Giving it away!

Pastor Val