There is No Injustice with God, is There?

Friday evening, March 28, 2008
Most of you will be relieved, I feel sure, but just so you know that I didn’t fall off the earth, my “Perspectives” will be rather quiet for the next week, so quiet in fact that you won’t receive one. Now ain’t THAT a blessing!
Anyway, this is what Jesus said: “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his home town. But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of the was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian” (Luke 4:24-27). Now ain’t that a hoot!
As you can see, Jesus begins this passage with this warning (that might be too strong of a word, but I think not): No prophet is welcome in his home town. Obviously, He gave this warning because He knew that what He was about to say would be strongly rejected, just as it is strongly rejected today. For some reason, we cannot imagine our God being anything but fair; we cannot imagine Him not treating all people equally; after all, we were all created “equal”, or so I have heard. Who would want to serve a God who would choose to help only one of many widows, all of whom were needy? Furthermore, who would want to serve a God who would heal only one of many lepers, all of whom were doomed to terrible suffering?
This was the response of those who heard what He said: “And all in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things, and they rose up and cast Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff” (Luke 4:28-29). There is not wonder that He warned them that no prophet is welcome in his home town!
I find it strange that most of those, who fill the churches of today, react just as strongly to this kind of teaching, as did those who filled the synagogue in Jesus’ day. For a preacher to preach that God would choose to minister to one and leave the rest out would precipitate quite a throwing-off-the-cliff reaction, one that would label the preacher a heretic. But hold on and wait a minute: I promise you that you do NOT want God to be fair!
Think about this for a minute (more, if necessary): If God had chosen to be fair, every one of us would have been left to suffer the agony of an eternal Hell because every one of us is born into this world equal; not equally good, but equally terrible sinners, and each one of us deserves to suffer the worst of agonies.
Be thankful that God chose not to be fair and, instead, chose to be merciful, and to minister to that one widow and to that one leper. Even more, be thankful that God chose not to be fair and, thus, send us all to Hell; instead, He chose to be merciful and save some of us! The question is NOT, “Why didn’t God choose to save all of us;” instead, the question is, “Why did God choose to save any of us?”
As He said: no prophet is welcome in his hometown!

PS: I will be back in about a week! Blessings and love are yours in Him. Aren’t you glad He chose to save you? Remember this: everyone who wants to go to Heaven will go; the rest do not want to go.

Preaching the Gospel!

Thursday morning, March 27, 2008
Yesterday, I met with a pastor from another town for lunch; he wanted to talk with me about the possibilities of my preaching a “revival” (I put that in quotes because that word bugs me, especially in this context) at the church where he is pastor. The more I listened to him share his heart, the more convinced I became that the Holy Spirit is in this—a Divine appointment, indeed.
Just for the record, this is what Paul had to say about preaching: “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs, and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Corinthians 1:21-25; emphasis, mine).
To be sure, I get the message and it is this: If anything worthwhile happens during this time of preaching, it will be His doing and NOT mine! Furthermore (and this is really neat!), ONLY those who are “the called” will benefit; the rest will either stumble over the message or see it as foolishness—in either case, they will reject it. Fortunately, God will enable “the called” to see beyond the foolishness of the message preached, not to mention the foolishness of the preacher, and to, thereby, experience the power and wisdom of God! I must admit that, as a preacher, that stirs my heart with a renewed passion for the preaching of the good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ, which by the way is the power of God for salvation!
Again, and for the record, this is what Jesus said, soon after His resurrection, about preaching: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned” (Mark 16:15-16; emphasis, mine). Please notice that His instructions were very clear—preach the gospel!—and in His mind, when He referred to the gospel, He had something very specific in mind. Notice that He did NOT tell them to go out and preach the gospel, feeling free to adjust it along the way, in order to attract the masses; instead, He said, “Preach the gospel.”
To be sure (again!), I get the message and it is this: If this time of preaching is going to be powerful unto salvation, then all the promotional gimmicks that are usually used prior to these kinds of meetings, in an effort to attract the masses, to draw crowds, to “get people saved,” must be abandoned, and in their place, the gospel be allowed to be what it is—the power of God for salvation. In my mind, nothing could be more fulfilling than for the gospel to be preached during the first service and, as a result, the people go out into the highway and hedges (with passion!) to bring others to the next service, so they, too, can hear the gospel, and, then, to watch as He is calls “the called” unto Himself! Remember: the “called” are attracted to the gospel and offended by the gimmicks; however, the rest are attracted to the gimmicks and offended by the gospel!
For some reason, I would really like to see a genuine spiritual awakening, one that would be remembered for a long time to come, one that would attract the called and, thereby, honor Him!
Would you please begin to pray with me concerning this venture? I really would appreciate it. As I get more information, I will pass it on to you-

God's Standard for Holiness!

Wednesday morning, March 26, 2008
You cannot tell it but this is my third attempt at writing this perspective! For some reason, I cannot get into my usual “groove” and it is frustrating, to say the least. For some reason, I love to write, especially about Him, but today I am struggling. Usually the words flow freely but not today; instead, I am tempted to close my computer and forget about writing.
I wonder how many times Jesus felt like “closing His computer” and telling His Father that He was having a hard time getting into His “grove.” My guess is this: more than we think; after all, He was a man, you know. I feel sure that Paul felt like “closing his computer” many times and probably did so—frequently. Oh well—
This is what Jesus said (and He was very serious when He said it!): “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Gosh! How in the wide-world did He expect us ever to reach this standard? As far as I know, “perfect” is, well, it is perfect, but if it has a superlative, as Jesus seems to imply, then God’s perfection certainly demonstrates it, and I certainly cannot attain to it—period. Neither can you—period—so go ahead and admit it!
In case you haven’t already noticed this, I will go ahead and tell you: Jesus loved to raise the standard for holiness (righteousness) far above anything anyone could reach; to be sure He raised it above anything the Ten Commandments required. Take this for example: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’, but I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matthew 5:27-28). Obviously, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to recognize from this passage that Jesus’ standard for holiness was much higher than that required by the Ten Commandments; however (and sadly), most Christians see them as the standard for holiness, and most honestly believe that they come close enough to pass the “standards” test!
Just for the record: God does NOT grade on the curve and Christianity is NOT about our reaching some standard for holiness. In fact, Christianity (true Christianity) is not about us at all; instead, it is about Him and what He accomplished by and through the cross, the resurrection, and the ascension. Obviously, the cross, the resurrection, and the ascension all took place because we could not reach the standard and, desperately, needed a Savior, a Redeemer.
Let me say that this way: if your getting to Heaven depends upon your reaching the standard for holiness, you can forget it and make other plans. Thankfully, your getting to heaven depends upon Him and upon what He accomplished in your behalf—a thing of grace, indeed.
This is the good news: you can and should cease striving and, simply, rest in His finished work. He has already taken care of everything that will ever need to be taken care of—period (again!).

My Perspective: If you haven’t already done so, RUN TO JESUS and, then, rest from your running!

Amen!

Do You Believe This Story?

Tuesday evening, March 25, 2008
This past Sunday, I began my message by telling the congregants that on the previous night, I had been asked to embalm a lady (which I usually do not do on Saturday nights!) and, as I was about to begin the procedure, I said, “Lord, tomorrow is resurrection Sunday and this would be a great time for you to do something that I have never before seen you do—raise this lady from the dead!” I told them that I prayed for her resurrection and, lo and behold, as I prayed she opened her eyes and quickly sat upright on the embalming table! As you might imagine, some of them looked very doubtful of my story; consequently, I asked, “What is the matter? Don’t you believe me?” I even asked for a show of hands from those who did not believe me and I think everyone raised a hand! Isn’t that something? The pastor tells the congregants about someone being raised from the dead and none of them believe it happened! How sad-
I followed with this: if you think that story is unbelievable, allow me to tell you one that is even more unbelievable. I went on to tell them of the God, who left heaven to come and live on this earth among the likes of us, as the result of a virgin birth, then to be crucified on a cross, placed into a borrowed tomb, and on the third day to resurrect from the dead. As if that were not enough, I went on to tell them that He “appeared” to His disciples in an upper room in Jerusalem following His resurrection, and after 40 days, He ascended back to Heaven! AND to add even more, He promised to return to this earth for His bride and to do so in the same manner that He left, with this one minor problem—that promise was made 2008 years ago (or thereabouts)! Then I raised the same question I raised from my story: How many of you believe this story? The truth is no one would possibly believe this story, as it is simply unbelievable, UNLESS of course He gives us the faith to believe it.
The good news is this: He has given some the faith to believe this most unbelievable story, and those who do believe it can do nothing but believe it! The irony is this: our doubts evidence our faith! You see, if we had no doubts, we would have no need for faith; however, because we do doubt, we actually evidence our faith, our belief that the story is genuine. Now that is a novel thought!
Now having said all of that, please allow me to remind you that He promised another resurrection: “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of the God; and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; emphasis, mine).
Now, do YOU believe THIS story? If you do (really do!), it is because He gave you the faith to believe it—period—and, if you do believe it, then you are eagerly awaiting His return and your resurrection!
Amen!

A Time Between Times

Saturday, March 22, 2008
All I can tell you is this: the time between Jesus’ crucifixion and His resurrection must have been one horrible (and then some!) experience for those who loved Him. In their minds (and rightly so!), all was lost; the One in whom they had placed their trust was dead and His body sealed away in a tomb, a borrowed one at that. Their sense of loss was overwhelming, not to mention that they were scared witless because they were certain that, as His followers, they would be next in line for some terrible form of death. From what they could see, those who hated Him had won and won big time. There is no wonder that they scattered!
Then, there was John (the disciple whom He loved), and Mary (His mother), and Mary Magdalene (the one out of whom He had cast out seven demons [see Mark 16:9]; I can assure you that no one else experienced the level of grief they experienced, and I can also assure you that each of them had completely different experiences. John’s relationship with Jesus was, indeed, intimate but it was very different from His mother’s intimate relationship with Him. Of course, Mary Magdalene’s relationship with Him was different from either that of John or His mother—very different. She loved Him, to be sure, but she was never able to express her love for Him, as did John and His mother, as least not the way she really want to express it. I might also add this: Jesus’ love for John was different from His love for His mother, and His love for Mary Magdalene was different from His love for either John or His mother. He loved Mary; you can take that to the bank!
From what I can tell, after His resurrection, He revealed Himself first to Mary Magdalene, and to be honest, I cannot tell who was most excited; to be sure, both were beside themselves! For Jesus it was a “piece of cake” but for Mary Magdalene, getting to that moment was the most difficult, arduous three-day journey of her life; for reasons known only to her and to Jesus, she somehow had that inner-knowing that death could not hold Him and she refused to believe that it would, which is why she made her way to that tomb so early in the morning! When she saw Him, their verbal exchange was a mere two words—one apiece: “Mary”; “Rabboni!” Sometimes words just get in the way of what really needs to be said!
Anyway, Jesus loves you, too; He really does! The truth is He is head-over-heels in love with you AND He really does want to reveal Himself to you; He wants to reveal to you the Resurrected Christ—He really does! Oh, sure, you might be thinking that He has already done so, but take it easy, as you probably haven’t seen anything yet. It is already late on Saturday night, so keep watch and watch carefully.
Remember: it is late Saturday night and Sunday IS coming!

And We Call it Good Friday!

Good Friday morning, March 21, 2008
Somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 millennia ago today, Jesus was crucified, and we (those of us who speak English and live on this side of the cross) call it Good Friday! For some reason, I have a difficult time believing that His followers (those who lived on the other side of the cross) saw this particular Friday as a being anywhere close to a good one. The truth is the day of Jesus’ crucifixion was a nightmare for them—every second of it. Strangely, the only person who got any pleasure out of this day was none other than God Himself! Listen to the words of the prophet, Isaiah, keeping in mind that God is eternal (He lives on both sides of the cross simultaneously!): “But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering, . . .” (Isaiah 53:10). Go figure!
The truth is “Mourning Friday” would better describe what Jesus’ followers did on the day of (and the couple of days following) His crucifixion. In their minds, all was lost and they were frightened (actually scared-to-death!) and angry (infuriated is a better descriptor), not to mentioned confused, as in “termite in a yo-yo confused.” They were mourning (what was to them) an incredible loss! Try as we might, it is very difficult, if not impossible, for those of us who live on this side of the cross, to even imagine what they went through on the day of Jesus’ crucifixion, and it is, certainly, impossible for us to begin to comprehend what Jesus went through on this Good Friday.
Now, listen to these words: “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him” (Isaiah 53:5-6). And we (those of us who speak English and live on this side of the cross) call it Good Friday and for Good reason— “. . .and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24). Hallelujah for the cross and for the Christ of the cross!
“Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb! Redeemed through His infinite mercy; His child and forever I am.” Although those are not my own words, they surely do come from my heart!
Remember: it is Friday and Sunday IS coming!

PS: We will have a Good Friday service at Grace Christian Fellowship tonight at 7:00 and you are invited. If you cannot attend (for some of you distance might be somewhat of a problem!), please pray for us as we gather to celebrate the cross and the Christ of the cross.

Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday evening, March 20, 2008—the first day of Spring!
Those of you who know me well, know that I have a strong affinity for the Eucharist—the Lord’s Supper, if you prefer, even Holy Communion—so much so, that it is celebrated every Sunday at the church were I am pastor. Over the course of the years that this has been true, I have had several conversations with other pastors about the fact that we celebrate it every Sunday morning and, inevitably, I get this response: “I just don’t know how you have the time to fit it into every Sunday’s service!” Obviously, what they are really saying is this: other things are more important.
To be honest, I fine it a bit strange that they always have time to fit their sermon into each Sunday’s service, not to mention singing, announcements, children’s sermons, and who knows what else. Why most even have time to fit 45 or more minutes of Sunday School into each Sunday’s service. The truth is many protestant churches celebrate Holy Communion so infrequently, that the congregants could not possible view it as being very important at all. This is sad, especially in light of the place of importance that Jesus gave to it on that Thursday night, just prior to His crucifixion on Friday.
Listen carefully to His own words: “And while they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom’” (Matthew 26:26-29; emphasis, mine). Surely, it goes without saying, that when Jesus instituted this “supper,” telling the disciples to “do this in remembrance of Him,” He meant for it to have a place of high priority (actually, highest priority!) every time the church met together, from that point forward.
It is difficult, if not impossible, for me to comprehend how the church can know that Jesus referred to the wine of the Eucharist, as being His blood, and the bread of the Eucharist, as being His body, and at the same time treat the sacrament, as if it is of little or no importance in the life of the church. I just do not get it!
Tonight, as I write this, I cannot help but wonder what would happen within the Body of Christ, should its members begin to give the Lord’s Supper the place of prominence it deserves, the place of preeminence Jesus gave it. I will tell you this: Jesus loves this table and He holds it in very high esteem.
I suppose I should also remind you of this: it was in this “last supper” that Jesus washed His disciples feet, thus Maundy Thursday; it was in this “last supper” that the King of all Kings, the Son of God, the creator of the universe, sat as the most humble man ever to live, demonstrating to each of us what it means to be His follower.
Maybe some of you should sit down with your pastor and let him (her) know that you would like to see him begin to give the Lord’s Supper the place of preeminence that Jesus gave it. Just for the record: after years of celebrating it every week (often several times per week), it has NOT become a mere ritual. The more frequently I celebrate the supper, the more precious He becomes.
Remember: it is Thursday and Sunday IS coming!

It is Wednesday and Sunday IS Coming!

Wednesday afternoon, March 19, 2008
Obviously, I cannot be sure but it is my guess that the following passage took place on the Wednesday just prior to what we call Maundy Thursday: “And it came about on one of the days while He was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes with the elders confronted Him, and they spoke saying to Him, ‘Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?’ And He answered and said to them, ‘I shall also ask you a question, and you tell Me: Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?’ And they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.’ And they answered that they did not know where it came from. And Jesus said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.’” (Luke 20:1-8).
Don’t you just love it when Jesus corners the chief priests and the scribes and the elders and beats them at their own game? Oh, they were determined to get Him to say (or do) something that would give them legitimate reason to put Him to death, and the truth is they really thought they had finally cornered Him, leaving Him with no way out. I love this line:”THEY CONFRONTED HIM” (vs. 1b)! Can you imagine being so dim-witted, so ill-advised, so religious, as to confront the One to whom The Creator of the universe had given all authority in heaven and on earth (see Matthew 28:18)? Well, they were just that dim-witted and ill-advised—religious to be precise.
Now listen up: religion will make a fool of you—every time and all the time! It will elevate your pride to such an extent that you will attempt to do the same kinds of foolish things these religious leaders attempted to do! It will propel you into the utter ridiculous, leaving you looking just as foolish, if not more so, than these chief priests, scribes, and elders looked. By the way and just for the record, they knew they looked foolish (which was very humiliating!), as was evidenced by the fact that they reasoned among themselves, finally deciding (and wisely so) to take the easy way out in answering Jesus’ question! Actually, they were concerned with much more than looking foolish; specifically, they were terrified that Jesus’ followers would stone them to death (see vs. 6). What a turn of events!
Notice this: Although Jesus was in the midst of the toughest week of His earthly life, knowing full-well what was in front of Him (not to mention, having to deal with these religious idiots, who constantly harassed Him), we do not find Him whining and blaming; instead, He is preaching the gospel in the Temple! Wow! Incredible!
Now listen up again: please do not allow your religious friends (and you do have some!) to persuade you to become religious during the rest of this week, and get so caught-up in doing what the religious do, that you miss what He is doing and end up looking as foolish as the aforementioned religious leaders looked. His death, burial, and resurrection have nothing to do with colored eggs, new dresses, white suits, lilies, drama productions, musical performances, and Sunday dinners (By the way, I am not against any of these; in fact, I am for them but not if they serve to distract me from celebrating the freedom Jesus purchased for me through His death, burial, and resurrection).
It is Wednesday and Sunday IS coming, so rest in His finished work and celebrate Jesus!

The Indescribable Gift!

Friday, March 14, 2008
This is what Jesus said concerning His relationship with the Law and the Prophets: “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17). On the surface, this seems simple enough: Jesus came, not to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. What could be complicated about that? Nothing, IF you understand what He meant by “fulfill”.
In this perspective, I am not too concerned about the “prophet” part of what Jesus is saying; instead, I am calling your attention to what He is saying about the Law—the Law of Moses, to be exact. You know, the Ten Commandments (by the way, can you list them?)!
In order to understand what Jesus meant by His fulfilling the Law, we first must know God’s purpose for the Law, and in my opinion, the Scriptures are clear: (1) To give us knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20b); (2) to define sin (Romans 3: 7); (3) to give sin power (Romans 7:8b; 1 Corinthians 15:56); (4) to arouse sinful passions (Romans 7:5); (5) to show us sin’s exceeding sinfulness (Romans 7:11); and finally (6) to be a school-master to lead us to Jesus, who is our righteousness (Galatians 3:24). Did you notice what is obviously absent in my list? It is absent because God never intended for the Law to make us righteous. Strangely, this is what Paul said: “And the Law came in that the transgressions might increase; . . .” (Romans 5:20). In other words, the best the Law can do is to stir-up disobedience by giving sin it power and to, thereby, drive us in utter desperation to Jesus, who is our righteousness.
If you will notice, Jesus raised the standard of obedience much higher than the one raised by the Ten Commandments. A quick look back to Matthew 5 will give evidence to this: “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court’ but I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; . . .” (vs. 21-22a; emphasis, mine); “You have heard that it was said, ’You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart” (vs. 27-28; emphasis, mine). Notice that He repeats this four more times in this 5th chapter of Matthew and, then, ends the chapter with this: “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (vs. 48). Are you getting the picture? Jesus came to give to us by His perfect obedience what we could never earn by our futile attempts at perfection, in in doing so, He fulfilled the Law, it purpose and its requirement!
Although most do not seem to know it, I think this is why we celebrate Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Resurrection Morn!
You think about it and, as you think, cease striving to earn His indescribable gift!



PS: I might add this: if you are so foolish, as to think that you have (through your own efforts) reached God’s standard of perfection, then you are of all people most foolish!

A New & Better Covenant!

Wednesday morning, March 12, 2008
This is what God said through Jeremiah, the prophet: “The time is coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people. . . . For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (Jeremiah 31:31-34; NIV).
It is unmistakable: God entered into a NEW covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, a covenant UNLIKE the first covenant He entered into with their forefathers, when He led them out of Egypt. What is it about this that is so difficult to understand? Why does the church insist on its members living in the Old Covenant, when God has provided a new and better covenant?
Listen to what the writer of the letter to the Hebrews has to say about this: “But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted with better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. . . . When He said, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is read to disappear” (Hebrews 8:6-7; 13). [vss. 8-12 are his quote of Jeremiah 31!]
These are two very distinct covenants—one the covenant of Law and the other the covenant of grace—yet, the church for the most part refuses even to acknowledge the existence of the latter—the covenant of grace—even though the first has become obsolete. In spite of the fact that the Scriptures plainly teach that the second covenant, the Covenant of Grace is a much better covenant, with better promises, the church does everything in its power to keep its people living under the tyranny of the Covenant of Law. The reasons are several—
First, most church leaders do not understand the nature of the New Covenant and they do not because their eyes have been blinded to truth.
Second, because their eyes have been blinded, their understanding of the New Covenant is distorted; consequently, they do not to trust their congregants to live in the freedom the New Covenant provides. In their minds, if the congregants should be released from the Law, which is what the New Covenant does, they would sin all the more, licentiousness becoming the norm of the day. Somehow, they fail to recognize that the Law gives sin it power (see Romans 7:5-8).
Third, most church leaders honestly believe that obedience to the Law, especially the Ten Commandments, is equated with Godly living; consequently, most church leaders, insist on requiring obedience to those commandments. Somehow, they have failed to see that the Law was given, not to make us righteous, but to lead us to Jesus, who is our righteousness. The obvious fact being overlooked: we cannot keep the commandments, certainly not to the standard required, which is perfection. Anything less than perfection is total failure. Go figure!
Fourth, most church leaders seem to have failed to realize that Christianity is NOT a religion, whose success is measured by how perfectly its participants obey the Ten Commandments, but a relationship with Jesus, whose success is measured by how perfectly He met the Law’s requirement in our behalf.
Now, I have a question: Why don’t you take this to your pastor and ask him to read it and to give you his opinion of it. Doing so, just might open your eyes to something that will forever change your life.
Finally, I do have one more question: Are you living in the Old Covenant of Law or in the New and Better Covenant of Grace?
Feel free to let me know, as I really am interested—

A New and Better Way!

Saturday morning, March 8, 2008
On this particular Sabbath, Jesus went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees (a member of the Sanhedrin!) to have lunch and, as you might imagine, lunch was short-lived. As he entered the house, He practically stumbled over a man who was suffering from dropsy (we would call it edema today; in his case, severe edema), which meant that this man probably had heart and kidney problems, even pulmonary problems. In other words, he was sick and needed to be in the local hospital—yesterday!
This is the question Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees (what a group!) who were carefully and closely watching Him, hoping to catch Him violating one of the Ten Commandments (truth is I think it was a set-up!): “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not” (Luke 14:3)? Whatever else you might conclude from His question, you can rest assured that He knew what their answer would be, no doubt about it! Just for the record, He also knew that “Remember the Sabbath Day to Keep it Holy” was one of the Ten Commandments! What they did NOT know, that He knew very well, was this: He is not only Lord of the Sabbath, He IS the Sabbath!
If my memory serves me correctly (which is doubtful!), in their effort to interpret and apply this particular commandment, the Jews came up with 210 rules that told them what they could and could not do, not the least of which made it clear that it was unlawful to heal on the Sabbath, which was exactly what Jesus was about to do, even though He was well-aware of the law and of the consequence of violating it—death!
Interestingly, their response to Jesus’ question was silence—deafening silence—even though they were lawyers and leaders of the Pharisees—members of the highest court in Israel. Funny what silences idiots and fools!
Anyway, Jesus did not hesitate; instead, he took hold of the sick man, healed him, and sent him on his way. I can only imagine the fury that was churning in the minds of these religious bigots; the last thing they wanted from this “set-up” was for this man to walk away completely healed, especially, against the backdrop of Jesus’ question.
As you have probably already guessed, Jesus broke the silence , and He did so with this rhetorical question: “Which one of you shall have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day” (vs. 5)? Again, they responded with silence [“And they could make no reply to this” (vs. 6)] because they knew that Jesus knew what they would do, and they also knew that an honest answer would betray their own inability to keep the very laws they required others to keep.
Sadly, what they did not know was this: Jesus came to usher in a new and better way, to take away the first (covenant) in order to establish the second (covenant) [see Hebrews 8:6 and 10:9]. To be sure, in the Old (first) Covenant, the Sabbath was supposed to be a day of rest from work (one of the many ways men attempted to please God); HOWEVER, in the New (second and better) Covenant, the Sabbath is no longer a day, but a Person, who has done all the work for us, a Person in whom we eternally rest from our labors and efforts at keeping the commandments.
Now, I want you to notice something, something very significant: These men took the business of keeping the Sabbath Day holy very seriously, life and death seriously; consequently, when Jesus healed this sick man on the Sabbath, He took an incredibly bold stand, one that could and did bring Him much grief. Why did He do this? He did because He came to take away the futility of attempting to please God by maintaining certain standards of behavior AND to establish a new and better way, by doing for us what we could never do for ourselves—meeting the Law’s requirement of perfection in our behalf. “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did; sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Sprit” (Romans 8:3-4).
By the way, are you taking a stand and spreading the good news about this new and better way, or are you hiding behind the façade of being a keeper of the commandments? If you are doing the former, you should know because the religious are giving you hell, just as they did Jesus; if not, they love you with all of their hearts.

Imitating Holiness

Friday afternoon, March 7, 2008
This is what Jesus said to a woman who for eighteen years had had a sickness CAUSED BY a spirit (she was bent double and could not straighten up at all!): “Woman, you are freed from your sickness” (Luke 13:12). This is what Jesus did to this woman after he set her free from her sickness: “And He laid His hands upon her. . .” (vs. 13a). This is what this woman did in response to Jesus’ words and touch: “. . . Immediately she was made erect again, and began glorifying God” (vs.13b). Wow! This is about as good as it gets! Simple, straightforward, no hoopla! I love it!
It is intriguing to me that we seldom identify any sickness, as being caused by a spirit; it is as if we have become so sophisticated in our theological ideating that we have somehow decided that “spirits” no longer exist, even the Holy Spirit. Sadly, most of the precious few, who do still believe in the Holy Spirit, have so discounted His Person and His Power, that they know nothing of this aforementioned woman’s experience.
The fact is because of modern medicine this woman would have been treated much more differently today, and from what I have seen, she would have gone to her grave in this terrible condition. Please do not assume that I am condemning modern medicine because I am not; instead, you can rest assured that I thank God for it, especially in light of the church’s attitude toward the Holy Spirit. Neither do I want you to go to the other extreme and refuse to see your doctor because “you have such faith in the Holy Spirit’s desire and ability to heal your sickness.” In my opinion, in either case you would be walking in fear, not in faith.
The truth is I have no idea, as to whether this woman was walking in fear or in faith, but I do know that in her case it really did not matter because Jesus had decided to heal her and that was that and nothing was going to stop Him, not even the “spirits,” with all of their “power”! Yes, I know that this throws a wrench in the theology that some of you hold dear but, hopefully, it will be a good thing. We desperately need to get over ourselves and to submit our lives to Him, accepting the fact that He does as He pleases, irrespective of our opinions and our dearly held beliefs.
Now, I have said all of that, so I can say this: Most of us are so caught-up in our dearly-held beliefs, our “inerrant” theological paradigms, that we miss the everyday miracles of the Holy Spirit; we are so convinced that “spirits” no longer exist, that we refuse to see the exorcism that takes place right before our eyes; we are so convinced that the Holy Spirit is a figment of someone’s imagination, that it never occurs to us that EVERY healing, every exorcism, and every erect spine is the direct result of His intervention.
Take a look at the response of the religious leaders, the synagogue officials, to this incredible act of mercy and grace, this exorcism, this miraculous healing: “And the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the multitude in response, ‘There are six days in which work should be done; therefore come during them to get healed, and not on the Sabbath day’” (vs. 14). It is quite easy to see the folly of another, is it not? This synagogue official was convinced that he was “right” and Jesus was “wrong”; in fact, he hated Jesus but he loved the Law of Moses, so much so, that in his mind, keeping the Sabbath day holy was far more important than this woman’s healing.
Sadly, I am afraid that this is true for most modern-day Christians; to put it mildly, most look and act much more like this synagogue official than the healed woman—trying to imitate holiness, rather than accepting our need for a healer. This synagogue official was so busy trying to imitate holiness, that he wasn’t even aware that his condition was worse, much worse, than the woman’s; at least, she knew that she needed a healer, so much so that the Sabbath was fine with her.
Are you aware of your need for a healer? Are you willing to accept Him on His terms, or must He come on yours? When the pain gets severe, any old Sabbath will work, even if it involves an exorcism! And by the way, holiness cannot be imitated!

I Will NOT Deny You!!

Thursday morning, March 6, 2008
This is what Jesus said to His disciples, just prior to Gethsemane, the place of crushing: “You will all fall away, because it is written, ‘I shall strike down the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.’ But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee” (Mark 14:27-28). This is what impetuous Peter said in response: “Even though all may fall away, yet I will not” (Mark 14:29). This is Jesus’ rebuke to Peter: “Truly I say to you, that you yourself this very night, before a cock crows twice, shall three times deny Me” (vs. 30). This is Peter’s reaction: “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You” (vs. 31a)! I think you know the rest of the story; however, this is the ending line: “And immediately a cock crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had made the remark to him, “Before a cock crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” And he began to weep (vs. 72).
Not too long ago, I was listening to an addiction counselor, as she spoke to a group of addicts, and in the listening, I heard her say something that has stuck with me: “Addicts do not know how to live life according to life’s terms.” She went on to explain the reason: the addict thinks he/she is “right” and everyone else is “wrong”. As you might imagine, my mind thought, “WOW”!
As you probably know by now, I tend to examine everything in light of the Scriptures (one of my quirks!) and this was no exception. My mental response was immediate: if this is true, then all Christians must be addicts because we certainly do not know how to live life according to life’s terms. To be sure, most of us are thoroughly convinced that we are “right” and everyone else is “wrong” and the evidence is plenteous!
As I continue to muse, I made a bit of a correction and concluded this: For the most part, Christians do not know how to live life according to God’s terms and we do not because we believe (far too often) that we are “right” and He is “wrong,” and the evidence of our stupidity is abundant. IF we could just learn that He is ALWAYS right and live life according to His terms, rather than our own, we wouldn’t have to listen to the crowing of nearly as many roosters.
Peter, as you can see from the text, was convinced that Jesus was wrong about his falling away; it simply would not happen. Notice, however, that Jesus was more than convinced that, when the heat was turned up, Peter was going to tuck his tail and run like a scalded dog. You know who won and you know it wasn’t Peter! I was about to tell you that I wonder how Peter felt when he heard the rooster crow, but the truth is I know and I do because I have been there and done that—not once but several times (it does seem that one such experience would have been enough for anyone, but we know better, don’t we!).
Anyway, I do want to remind each of us that He really does know what He is talking about, every time and all the time, and it would behoove us to listen to Him and to follow His lead, even when it seems so contrary to what we think is truth. I think Peter honestly believed that he would die with Jesus before he would deny Him, which is why it was so difficult for him to accept the warning that Jesus gave to them. Notice, too, that the “falling away” was really not the issue, as Jesus had that covered; instead, the issue was whether or not Peter would accept the fact that Jesus loved him enough to warn him that he was about to make a fool of himself, not because he would deny Jesus, but because he refused to humble himself and admit that he was wrong and Jesus was right.
I think this is the issue for you and for me, as well—