Loyal Opposition

Yesterday I learned that a person who had caused me no small amount of grief at a previous ministry was experiencing the same grief from some of his former cronies. My initial reaction was vindication and a certain amount of glee to see someone get what they so richly deserved… yeah I know I’m human!

My second thought was “Wait this person is a believer and I shouldn’t be rejoicing over his suffering I should be praying for him.”

For most of our country’s history, members of the opposing party in congress were referred to as members of the loyal opposition. When new congressional members came into office and referred to the opposition as the enemy they were gently corrected by elder congressmen that the members of other party were the opposition not the enemy. Just because someone didn’t agree with you didn’t mean that they were not trying to do the right thing or make him or her an enemy.

That trend seems to have changed in recent years. Congressmen from all parties routinely cast the opposition as villains out to destroy democracy, kill babies or older people, or in the very least the USA. Unfortunately this tendency has leached over into the church, where political agendas have often taken over the driver seat. And we no longer give the opposition the benefit of the doubt about their agenda. They are the enemy!

We have come to believe that if they aren’t with us then they are the enemy and must be destroyed (or at the very least driven out of the church). Now let me be the first to say that the Bible seems to indicate that in addition to those who follow Christ and those who don’t, there is another way of classifying people. Scripture teaches us that there wise, foolish, and evil (or wicked) people. These three classifications are clearly seen in numerous passages found in the book of Proverbs. Here are just a few:

Wisdom comes from God A wise man is a righteous man.

Proverbs 1:5 (NIV)
⁵ let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance--

Proverbs 1:7 (NIV)
⁷ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Proverbs 2:6 (NIV)
⁶ For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

Proverbs 4:6 (NIV)
⁶ Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you.

Proverbs 9:9 (NIV)
⁹ Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning.

Foolish people won’t listen to reason

Proverbs 1:22 (NIV)
²² "How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?

Proverbs 10:8 (NIV)
⁸ The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin.

Proverbs 12:15 (NIV)
¹⁵ The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.

Proverbs 14:9 (NIV)
⁹ Fools mock at making amends for sin, but goodwill is found among the upright.

Proverbs 14:16 (NIV)
¹⁶ A wise man fears the LORD and shuns evil, but a fool is hotheaded and reckless.

Proverbs 23:9 (NIV)
⁹ Do not speak to a fool, for he will scorn the wisdom of your words. 

Evil is the absence of righteousness and bent on doing harm

Proverbs 2:14 (NIV)
¹⁴ who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,

Proverbs 4:16 (NIV)
¹⁶ For they cannot sleep till they do evil; they are robbed of slumber till they make someone fall.

Proverbs 6:14 (NIV)
¹⁴ who plots evil with deceit in his heart-- he always stirs up dissension.

Proverbs 10:29 (NIV)
²⁹ The way of the LORD is a refuge for the righteous, but it is the ruin of those who do evil.

Proverbs 16:6 (NIV)
⁶ Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the LORD a man avoids evil.

So when a man sees the error of his way and goes about making amends that man is wise. When his former friends attack him for doing the right thing they have to fall into one of the remaining two categories. I’ll let God decide which category they belong in.

As for those who try to follow Christ and his way God says to rejoice when we suffer for doing right! (Matthew 5:10; 1 Peter 2:10 & 3:17)

In the mean time, I’m praying for this man and rejoicing that he is a wise person!

Still learning wisdom

Pastor Val

My thanks to Media Dagger for their brilliant cartoon!

http://mediadagger.com/?attachment_id=1452

Serving an Awesome God

This is my second trip to India and hopefully it won't be my last!

There is much that those of us in the USA can learn from this land. People value things differently here. The materialism that we battle in America is not an issue in a land of poverty. I was watching an Indian political talk show in the airport last Saturday and they were discussing the economic plight of this country. One of the hosts stated that out of the 88 poorest countries of the world India ranked 67th. Only 11 other countries were in worse economic shape than India and this is a country that competes with China of having the largest population in the world.

Like last time being here helps me realize what is and is not important.

I had the privilege to teach the MTS classes this past week. We studied Nehemiah and how he applied Biblical leadership to the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, helped bring about spiritual renewal for his country and dealt with economic inequity all wile facing down major political opposition both from within and from without.

It was so exciting to watch their faces as we took the lessons of Nehemiah and applied them to their current spiritual, political, and economic situation. As the light came on in their eyes they seemed to begin to understand how they could address issues both in and out of their pulpit.

We had had about 30 students (20 men and 10 women who were studying the Bible together. An additional unexpected experience were more then 10 pastors who attended these sessions. Some had traveled over 150 k to attend. The icing on the cake was the fact that two of these pastors had been students of mine last year. It was exciting to see how God had been blessing their ministry!

We finished the study of Nehemiah and they asked me to continue to teach. I had been asking God what I should do if I finished early and he had laid on my heart to teach Galatians.

It had been over a year since I had taught this great book but at the prompting of the Lord I launched into the study.

I'm always amazed at how God orchestrates things like this. I was teaching on some of the different Gospels that the Galatians were chasing after. I mentioned the concept of "Dualism" and how it emphasized spiritual things and downplayed the physical. This launched us into a hot topic that the local pastors were currently dealing with. It seems that a local pastor had taken a second wife, now having two wives at the same time. When this pastor was challenged he told his critics that he preaching a spiritual Gospel and didn't have to worry about the physical since it wasn't important.

We were able to discuss this and look at the Scriptures and determine what God had to say about this very relevant subject.

I know I shouldn't be taken by surprise when decided to show up like this and orchestrate events and people so that there are these God Moments, but I still am excited to witness them much less be allowed to participate in them.

Who is like our God?

Serving an awesome God!

Pastor Val

When God leads, God Provides!

I am always amazed at how God takes care of his children, who live by faith. I really shouldn’t be surprised but almost every time it happens I am.

This week I am returning to India to train pastors. The trip expenses are a bit much for me in my current financial condition.

When God laid it upon my heart to help train pastors half way around the world I knew I would need help from Christian friends and family to raise the funds necessary. It was a learning experience to realize that I needed community to accomplish the task that God was asking me to do. And I think that it was a learning experience for the community to pray the dangerous prayer, “Lord, what would you have me do?” and then obey whatever he tells you to do, even if the answer was not to help financially but to simply pray for the ministry.

Last year God brought in 30% more then I needed to fund the trip. And God was obeyed and honored by all who participated in the experience.

It has been my experience that when we first exercise our faith muscle God often builds our confidence by answering quickly and abundantly. But muscle is built by stretching it and then relaxing it. Now God always knows just how much to stretch our faith without giving us a faith Charlie-horse.

The first trip stretched me and this year again I felt God’s leading to return to India. So I asked my extended community to again pray the dangerous prayer and obey God’s leading. Last year the funds came in rather quickly but this year the funds come in much more slowly.

With less then two weeks before the trip I was still short 20% of the amount I needed to cover the trip’s expenses. I was beginning to look at how I was going to cover the shortfall. I knew that God wanted me to go and I knew that God would provide but I didn’t know how it was going to happen or when.

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that “When God leads, God provides!” A couple of nights ago I got a text from a friend who told me that he wanted to support my mission but had been late getting the funds off to the mission organization. And since he was late in getting the funds sent  he wanted me to know how much he was sending so I could plan accordingly.

Well the amount he felt God lay on his heart to supply was the 20% shortfall I needed!

PTL

At this rate, God will wait until the day I go to fully fund my next trip!

Once again I’m reminded that “When God leads, God provides!”

Getting ready to pack

Pastor Val

Biting My Tongue

A couple of weeks ago I had a profound occurrence. It was one of those experiences that rocks your world! This revelation came from the Holy Spirit through a conversation with my wife. Yep! My wife often has profound comments but this one really set me back on my heels.

I have to share a bit of the background for you to appreciate my experience. I had just come back from a Bible study that I have been participating in. This study meets very early (which is not a good thing from my point of view) and it is open to anyone who would like to join us. Now this is a great thing having many different traditions attending because it leads to some lively discussions. It also leads quite often to my biting my tongue when some people share things that are theologically questionable (at least from my perspective).

I had come home from the study and was fussing about some doctrinal issues and comments that had been said during our meeting. I had chosen to not immediately comment on some things that I knew were questionable at best. I wanted the people to feel open to express themselves and then I tried to navigate the rapids that had been created by their comments. While my desire was to come down hard on some comments I realized that the people who were sharing these comments were seeking answers and were vocalizing their thoughts and were expressing where they were in their spiritual journey. My desire was to knock some heads together and “straighten out their thinking” but my job was to gently help guide them through their journey not to correct each and every statement they made (2 Timothy 2:25).

I was home expressing my frustration to my wife on some of the people’s lack of progress in their spiritual journey. She looked at me and said, “If you are frustrated with them just think how frustrated God is with us with our lack progress!”

I have to tell you she took the wind right out of my sails!

I stood there and tried to imagine the frustration that I must cause God with my own lack of progress at times. Even in spite of my best efforts I seem to constantly fall short of where I want to be on my journey. And yet God is patiently encouraging me as I stumble on my way often making ridiculous statements that must cause him to wince. I look back at some of my past thoughts and comments and wonder how many times He’s had to bite his tongue at some of my outrageous comments.

His patience is beyond my imagination and certainly beyond my ability but it is a goal for each of us as we nurture fellow believers. We must gently speak the truth in love and encourage them when their progress slower then we would like.

I’m thankful for God’s patience with us

Treating my bruised & bloody tongue

Pastor Val

Keys to the Kingdom

When I was younger I saw everything as pure black and white with very little gray. As I’ve matured in my spiritual walk I have come to realize that yes there are doctrinal issues that we must take a firm and unshakable stand on, but there are other things that are more culturally driven or even spiritually unclear questions. These questions are what I want to address in this paper: things like contemporary or traditional music, liturgical or non-liturgical style services, the proper role of women in the church, gifts of the spirit and many more that I could mentioned.

How do we address these issues? How do we resolve them to the general satisfaction of the individual independent local church or denominational group?

I believe that before the Lord’s death he gave us the tools to deal with these issues. Further I believe that the book of Acts gives us a prime example of how to deal with these divisive issues. I call it the Keys of the Kingdom.

In Matthew 16 Simon Peter has declared that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God. The passage continues with Jesus blessing Peter and made reference to Peter being “a stone” but the truth that Peter has proclaimed is “a boulder” upon which Jesus will build his church. Then I believe Jesus said one of the most puzzling yet profound things he ever said to the twelve (and not just to Peter):

¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
Matthew 16:19 (NIV)

To understand this verse we must remember a number of things. Matthew who records this saying is writing to Jewish believers. As such he is showing that Jesus is not only the greatest Rabbi to ever have lived but also Jesus is the promised Messiah and the very Son of God.

 Rabbis had a way of teaching and they often spoke in “Rabbiese” much like many Christians today speak “Christianese” If you lived in the culture of the time you will understand what Jesus is saying. But being almost 2000 years removed and living in a western culture vs. a Hebraic eastern culture we miss the significance of the message. 

When a student (disciple) was ready to graduate from his training under his teacher (rabbi or master) he would be granted permission to carry on his teacher’s work. If he encountered a situation that the teacher had not specifically covered he was given permission to make decisions based upon his understanding of training for the teacher and his followers. He was given the “keys to the kingdom.”

Now this played out in the early church with what is known as the first Jerusalem council in the 15^th chapter of the book of Acts (the history book of the early church). Paul and his fellow missionaries had shared the good news with Jews and gentiles alike. This influx of gentile believers of Jesus Christ into the church had caused concern for the more traditional Jewish believers. Did these non-Jewish believers need to convert to Judaism (with all of it’s rituals and rules) or not.

Both sides presented their concerns and positions to the leadership of the church that included not only the apostles that were in Jerusalem but also the church leaders (specifically James) of the mother church. Following the discussion and after seeking God’s direction through prayer James made his judgment. Gentile did not have to become Jews to be considered full followers of Christ. The leadership of the church had practiced Matthew 16:19 and the Lord blessed their decision with a great influx of gentile believers in the years to come.

So how does all of this apply to some of the more the cultural questions you have asked me to address? My answer is that some answers need to be made based on carefully seeking God’s will for our local church. Not every church will come to the same conclusion and that is fine in not essential doctrines. Each church (and leader for that matter) will stand before God to give an account for what they decided. There will be occasions when these decisions will be right for one group but not another. And that is okay. Paul and Barnabas agreed to disagree regarding taking John Mark on a missionary journey and they separated ways. The net result was that the gospel reached more people because they multiplied their efforts. Neither was right or wrong. Furthermore what might be right at one point in our journey might change with the passing of time. Later in life Paul commented on how helpful John Mark had become to him in the ministry after previously rejecting him for that second mission.

In conclusion while I have opinions and preferences on cultural issues I am more desirous to partner with the spiritual leadership of the church to seek God’s leading and do His will regarding these and other non-essential issues. Our concern should always be what does the Lord want and not what do we want. After all we have all been taught to say “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven!”

Now if I can just find those keys…

Pastor Val

I’m Willing

I just came back from attending the 2011 Global Leadership Summit. It was two days of nonstop learning this year. Often there is a session or two that are less than stellar but this year it seemed like I came away with handfuls from every session.

One specific session dealt with leading under difficult situations. We heard the stories of two modern leaders who lead under remarkably difficult conditions. Their unique stories were more reminiscent to the martyrs of bygone eras not experiences of the 21^st century.

The final message of this session was taken from Jeremiah, a book out of the Old Testament section of the Bible. It really was an overview of the ministry life of this ancient prophet who was chosen by God to speak to the nation of Judah of coming judgment if they failed to return to God.

On a scale of one to ten with one being the lowest possible results of a lifetime of ministry Jeremiah’s would have to be pegged at a minus 3 at the best. But through it all and even after a chapter or two of complaints Jeremiah comes to the conclusion that in spite of the difficulties and dangers serving God is better then any alternative.

During one point in the message a large piece of pottery was shattered on stage to remind us of the brokenness of all of us and yet God can still use us in our brokenness. At the beginning of the day each of us was given a broken piece of pottery. After the session we were asked to consider writing a message on it indicating our willingness to serve regardless of what our called to do and then to date it.

My message read “I’m willing! 8-12-11”

Now I have to say that I have said this to God for the past year to year and a half but God’s answer has been wait…not yet. Apparently I had (more likely still have) lessons to learn before I’m properly prepared for what God has next for me.

BTW waiting is not one of my strong suits but the thing about learning patience is that it takes time. It’s kind of like on the job training!

I have to be honest when I came home I put the piece of pottery on the counter and never bothered to tell my wife or anyone else about it. I had some errands to take care of this morning and didn’t get back home until mid afternoon when I finally checked my email prior to doing some finishing work on my message for tomorrow.

Sitting in my inbox was an email from a church I had sent my resume to eleven months ago. Five months ago I had received a communication from them inquiring if I was still available and interested in this church. A month ago I had sent them an email checking with them to see where they were in their process and had heard from them that I was still being considered.

For those of you who have not had the pleasure of hunting for a job or ministry lately I have to tell you that you can usually tell by thickness of the letter or whether an email has an attachment if you are still being considered. Thin letters or emails without attachments usually mean that you are no longer being considered for the job/ministry. But thick letters or emails with attachments usually mean that you are still being considered and td you have a questionnaire to fill out.

I’m sure that you are wondering about the email I received this afternoon… It contained an attachment and I’ve been asked to fill out a questionnaire.

Now I’m not saying that my wait is over or the church that contacted me is the one that God has for me but it is kind of exciting to realize that God heard my prayer and wanted to encourage me during my patience experience.

Just clay in the Potter’s hand

Pastor Val

Knowing God’s Will ... for Others

Have you ever had someone other than God play Holy Spirit in your life?

If you have, you know the sense of frustration in dealing with these “well meaning people.” It has always amazed me how the Lord always seems to tell them what He wants me to do but fails to reveal His will to me. When Paul writes in his letter to Timothy he says  ^“For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” 1 Timothy 2:5 (NIV). Too often these “well-meaning people” substitute their name in place of Jesus.

Now I’m not talking about the clear will of God, like God’s desire that no one should perish but all come to the saving knowledge of God. Nor am I referring to things like the 10 commandments. What I am referring to are areas in our lives where we need to determine God’s will for our lives.

Let me give you an example of what I’m talking about. Suppose you felt God’s call to the mission field, a field where you had originally been born into and spent the first 20 years of your life. After years of preparation and raising support you arrive on the field. You have spent four years of successful ministry there and have seen substantial fruit and now you travel back to the states for a furlough.

While you are back here in the USA you meet with the missions committee of your sending church and there are new people at the helm of the missions committee (or board). They review what your ministry and decide that they feel the Lord is calling you to another portion of the country where they speak the same language but the dialect and customs are different.

Let’s throw one more wrinkle into the mix. Let’s suppose that you are a native of the province where you have been serving and you understand the people who you are ministering to. The Lord hasn’t bothered to clue you into this change in His will but you are assured by this leader of your home church that this is God’s will for you and unless you change your ministry location they will cease funding you.

Or what if you are the pastor of a church and a person of prominence tells you that the direction that you believe God is leading the church is wrong?

Is this any different then the non-follower of Jesus who tells you that the decision or direction you believe God is leading you is wrong?

Do these people speak for God? Why has God chosen to speak to them but He has never bothered to clue you in?

What would you do? Where would you turn? Who would you believe? 

We rely on the one true mediator between God and man – Jesus. We spend time in dialog with Him. Notice I said dialog and not monologue! Way too often we are way to fearful of what man thinks and we’re too willing to obey man rather than God!

Are you willing to follow the revealed will of God for your life? The will that he promises to reveal to you and not another? Even if it means loss of position or funds or even prestige?

Follow God regardless of the outcome (at least form a human perspective). Do it for His glory so that his Kingdom is advanced!

²⁹ Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than men!

⁴¹ The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.
Acts 5:29, 41 (NIV)

What great example for us! 

May we also be willing to follow God’s leading regardless if man agrees or not!

Pastor Val