Mac's Perspective on the Intricacies of God's Amazing Grace

Burdens & Backpacks

2009-11-09T17:06:00.000-05:00

November 9, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Burdens and backpacks! To be sure, most adults carry tremendous burdens these days, and most all the kids carry backpacks. I find it interesting that Paul (the apostle) knew something of burdens and backpacks, as he talked about them in his letter to the Galatians. This is what he said: “Bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ” (VI, 2); “For each one shall bear his own load” (VI, 5).
On the surface, it sounds like Paul is contradicting himself, but things are not always as they seem to be on the surface. The word “burden” translates a Greek word that refers to a weight much too heavy for one to bear alone; whereas, the word “backpack” translates a word that refers to a weight that one can easily carry on his own.
Like it or not, Paul tells us to bear one another’s burdens, to get under the load that is much-too-much for a brother or sister to carry alone, and bear it for him/her. Just for the record: I have noticed that oftentimes the burden that one is futilely attempting to carry is really no burden at all for someone else.
Now, listen up: when you bear the burden of another, you are easily (usually) doing for them what they cannot do for themselves. Sadly, most of the church is not doing a very good job of this, as is evidenced by the number of brothers and sisters who are burdened beyond despair.
Paul also tells us NOT to carry another’s backpack; instead, let each one carry his own load. When we do carry another’s backpack, we are doing for him what he should be doing for himself and, consequently, we are enabling him to continue down the path of immaturity. Just for the record: I have noticed that most of us have a very difficult time allowing others to carry their own backpacks. For some reason, we rush in and do for them what they should be doing for themselves; consequently, there is much immaturity in the Body of Christ.
Sadly, we have created a society, both in the secular world and in the church, where most believe that it is their right not only to have someone bear their burdens, but also carry their backpacks—an immature society, indeed.
Please allow me to encourage you to find someone whose burden you can bear and, then, to do it. It will bless both you and them. Let me also encourage you, however, to stop carrying the backpacks of others, as they really do need to have the opportunity to mature into adulthood.
By the way, when it comes time to vote again, please do NOT vote for those who are in favor of programs that encourage others to expect someone to carry their backpacks.

A Real-life Response

2009-10-17T11:34:00.000-05:00

October 16, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
This is one of the responses I have received regarding my last several perspectives concerning “The Believer’s Club” (used with permission); I think many will identify with it: “I know I cannot live the Christian life... and I believe that the reason we get tired, frustrated and burnt out is because we are striving to do that which was never intended for us to at-tempt. I am tired of trying to do what I can't do.... I’m tired of trying to measure up according to someone else’s list of how I should live and what I should be doing. And I’m tired of someone trying to put this guilt-trip on me because I fail to measure up to their standards of what a Christian should be. I desire to enter His Sabbath rest..... Terry”
One more member of “The Believer’s Club!”
Although many of you have indicated your desire to be a part of “The Believer’s Club,” and some of you have indicated that you are seriously considering it, many of you have said nothing. Of course that is your privilege; however, because I really believe that we can make a difference, I want to encourage you to consider being involved.
Please rest assured that I am not going to ask you for money, nor am I going to ask you to read you Bible more often, to pray for fervently, to attend church more frequently, to feed the hungry more freely, to heal the sick, or to raise the dead. Instead, I am asking you to join a group of people who are stepping off the treadmill of trying to live the Christian life, a group of people who truly embrace the finished work of Jesus (the work He accomplished through His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension), a group of people who are diligent to enter the Sabbath rest that remains for the people of God. In the end, a group of people who practice the truth—I have been crucified with Christ, I no longer live; the life I now live is Christ living His life in and through my earthsuit.
I am eagerly awaiting your decision.

Sad, but True

2009-10-15T10:44:00.000-05:00

October 15, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
This is sad but true: the vast majority of church-goers fit into most, if not all, of these categories: burned-out, frustrated, angry, perplexed, unhappy, depressed, tired, and especially tired of church. Trying to keep-up-the-pace has done them in; yet, the pressure to continue in the fray is so great, that stopping is out of the question. The really sad truth is that most of them aren’t even able to admit the truth. It is as if most sincerely believe that the success of the Kingdom of God depends upon how involved they are in Christian activities. Incredibly, there are many who honestly believe that their local church will not survive without their involvement, that the lost will never be saved without their witness, and that many will die and go to hell unless they win them to Jesus.
Honestly, I do not want to hurt your feelings, but I do want to tell you the truth: If you should drop dead today, in less than 30 days most won’t remember that you ever lived. I can assure you that there will not be even a single blip on the radar screen of the Kingdom of God. Thankfully, the survival of the church depends upon Jesus, not any one of us, or all of us put together, for that matter; the salvation of God’s elect depends upon the efficaciousness of the blood of Jesus, not the witness of any one of us, or all of us for that matter; and whether or not someone goes to hell depends upon the grace of God, not our “winning” them to Jesus.
Listen to this dialogue between Jesus and His followers: “They said therefore to Him, ‘What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.’” (John 6:28-29 NASB). Those, my dear friends, are profound words of truth, but they are hardly ever preached, and, sadly, this same question is still being asked. The answer, however, is still the same, but few ever hear it. Why is this so? In my opinion, it is because man thinks much more highly of himself than he ought to think, and that arrogance has led us to believe that we are much more important than we really are, that God depends upon us, rather than the other way around.
I don’t mean to over-kill, but truth is truth: the Body of Christ needs to cease striving and, thus, to know that He is God! We need to enter that promised, remaining Sabbath rest! We need to admit that we cannot keep-up-the-pace, that we cannot live the Christian life, and, then, RUN TO JESUS, who is our life.
“The Believer’s Club” is growing and I have a vision for it—

The Believer's Club

2009-10-14T13:57:00.001-05:00

October 14, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
In case you haven’t figured it out, I am very serious about my belief that the church has been way off course in its relentless effort to teach its members how to live the Christian life. It has been as futile as it would have been, had the mission been to teach us how to walk on water. As I said earlier, the tragic truth is this: the church cannot produce a single piece of evidence that it has been successful, not one.
Oh, to be sure, it can produce many people who are trying very hard to live the life, doing their very best, but trying very hard, even doing our very best is simply not good enough, not even close. God’s standard has always been perfection, and that has not changed, nor will it change.
So, in my desire to “right the wrong,” I want instigate “The Believer’s Club,” a group of Christians who are not only finished with trying to do what they cannot do, but also are ready to begin resting in what He has done for us. In previous perspectives, I have provided a bird’s-eye view of what we in “The Believer’s Club” believe, as well as a rather lengthy list of the benefits of membership. Please review them.
Just to make myself clear: I want to begin a movement, something that will spread across America and, eventually, across the world, a movement made up of people who not only want to live in the freedom and rest provided for us through Jesus’ finished work, but also want to inform others of the good news, the good news that the pressure is off, that there really does remain a Sabbath rest for the people of God. “There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall through following the same example of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:9-11). By the way, in the New Covenant, the Sabbath is no longer a day of the week, but the Person of Jesus Christ, thus we rest in Him and in His finished work.
Before I move forward, I would really like to know how many of you believe that what I am offering is truth, and would, therefore, like to become a charter member of “The Believer’s Club.” If you would like to, or if you have questions, please let me know via email. I eagerly await your response.

The Believer's Club

2009-10-12T16:35:00.001-05:00

Mac's Perspective on the Intricacies of God’s Amazing Grace

October 13, 2009
Dear Fellow Travelers,
Hopefully, by now you are eager to learn of the benefits of membership in “The Believer’s Club.” As I said yesterday, they can easily be summed-up in this single sentence: The pressure is off!
I must believe (the evidence is too overwhelming) that most church-goers live in “pressure cookers,” and would love to learn that God has released them from the pressure the church and its religious people have imposed upon them. Well, I have good news for you (imagine that!): As far as God is concerned, the pressure is off, as in zilch, nada, zero, none. When Jesus uttered those incredible words, “It is finished!”, He really meant what He said.
With that, let me give you a bird’s-eye view of the benefits of membership in “The Believer’s Club”, known theologically as The New Covenant:
1. First of all, lifetime dues for full membership have been paid in full, so you will never be pressured by a bill collector for your dues (I think you know who paid them!).
2. You no longer have to live under the pressure of being sure you have con-fessed all of your sins, repented of them, and sought His forgiveness, as your certificate of debt has been cancelled, nailed to the cross, and you bear it no more. If you do not believe me, read Colossians 2:13-14.

3. Living in a continued state of forgiveness need no longer be a pressure for you because God has chosen to make you perfect—forever perfect, as is evidenced by this: “By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every Priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (Hebrews 10: 10-14). In other words, because of the death of Jesus, the once-for-all-time-death, every sin you will commit during your entire lifetime has been forgiven and taken away. As a result, you are sanctified and perfect—forever forgiven.

4. Meeting the requirements of the Ten Commandments need no longer a pres-sure for you because God did for you what the Law could not do for you, namely, this: “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 Spirit” (Romans 8:3-4). In other words, as a bona fide mem-ber of the Believer’s Club, you can cease striving to meet the requirements of the Ten Commandments (requirements that God knew you could not meet from the beginning) because Jesus satisfied the Law’s requirement for you, namely, that sin be punished by death.

5. You no longer have to live under the pressure of winning the world to Jesus, as He has already foreknown, predestined, called, justified, and glorified eve-ryone who believes. If you do not believe me, read Romans 8:29-30!
6. You no longer have to live under the pressure of trying to have enough faith to “get the job done,” as faith is His gift to you, not yours to Him. If you do not believe me, read Ephesians 2:8.
7. Facing God at the Great White Throne Judgment and having Him reveal to everyone the secrets of your life need no longer a pressure for you because He has chosen not to give you what you deserve, but to set you free from all judgment and condemnation, as is evidenced by this: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2). Not to mention that He chose never to remember your sins again, as is evidenced by this: “And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more” (Hebrews 10:17). In other words, God chose to provide a scapegoat for you and for your sins in the Person of Jesus. God gave Him what you de-served and gave you what Jesus deserved.

8. You no longer have to live under the pressure of wondering if you are praying according to God’s will, of not knowing how to pray as you should, as you now have an Intercessor, the Holy Spirit, who intercedes for you and He does so, always according to the will of God. If you do not believe me, read Romans 8:26-27).
9. Striving to maintain your relationship with God, so that He will not distance Himself from you by breaking fellowship with you, or by severing you from Himself altogether, need no longer be a pressure in your life because He chose to allow the New Covenant, unlike the Old Covenant, to be a covenant between Him and Jesus, and to exclude you from the covenant altogether, other than making you its beneficiary, as is evidenced by these passages: (1) “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14); (2) “And for this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, in order that since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it” (Hebrews 9:15-16). In other words, the success of the New Covenant depends upon Jesus, not you.

10. Striving to stop sinning, striving to overcome the power of sin in your life, need no longer be a pressure in your life because God chose to break the power sin had over you by releasing you from the Law—the Law of Moses, the Ten Commandments, the law of sin and death, the ministry of death, the ministry of condemnation—as is evidenced by these passages: (1) “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14); (2) “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.’” In other words, through Jesus’ death, God severed you from the very thing that gave sin its power, namely, the Law (Romans 7:8; 1 Corinthians 15:56).

11. Finding ways to hide from God’s Presence need no longer be a pressure in your life, even when your behavior is most despicable, because God chose to give you unconditional access into His Presence, as is evidenced by this: “Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:19-22). In other words, you can now feel comfortable in God’s Presence even when you are doing the most despicable sin you can imagine. Never again do you have try to hide from Him!

12. Striving to get to Heaven need no longer be a pressure in your life because God chose to give you a seat on the same return flight that Jesus took when He ascended back to Heaven, as is evidenced by this: “But God being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4-6). In other words, you are already in Heaven and comfortably seated at God’s right hand in Jesus!

13. Striving to live by a list of religious rules need no longer be pressure in your life because Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to live in you, as your guide and teach-er, as is evidenced by this: “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (John 14:16-17; 26). In other words, you can now wake up each morning thoroughly convinced that the Holy Spirit will be your guide and teacher, as you journey through the day. Caution: Do not throw your list away; instead, burn it, for fear that someone else might find it.

14. Last but surely not least, you no longer have to live under the pressure of having to measure up to the expectations of those who are not only trying to live the Christian life, but also trying to teach you how to do it. You are already accepted in the Beloved! If you do not believe me, read Romans 14:3:

The Believer's Club

2009-10-12T08:55:00.000-05:00

October 12, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Well, I trust that you have taken some time to consider my last perspective, and now, as a full-fledged member of the “I Can’t Live the Christian Life Club,” are ready to explore the benefits of membership.
The truth is I have never liked negative titles, so before I get involved with the ben-fits, I want to give you the “official” name of our club, a much more positive identification—“The Believer’s Club.” Of course, this begs a significant question: What is it that we believe? Please allow me to give you a bird’s eye view.
1. Each of us believes (is fully convinced) that we were born in Adam—dead to God, alive to sin, with no inclination for God whatsoever, and helplessly and hopelessly destined for Hell—justly so (see Romans 3).
2. Each of us believes that God reconciled us unto Himself while we were yet sinners (see Romans 5:10).
3. Each of us believes that we were redeemed from this Adamic, sinful family solely by the grace of God, by His choosing to do for us, what we could never do for ourselves, and could, certainly, have never deserved (see Ephesians 2:1-9).
4. Each of us believes that our redemption was accomplished through the vicarious death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, the Only Begotten Son of God, without any assistance from us whatsoever (see Romans 6).
5. Each of us believes that, having been purchased off the slave block (redeemed), we were justified, sanctified, and glorified by and through the precious, shed blood of Jesus—a perfect and complete work (see Romans 8:28-30).

6. Each of us believes that God has forgiven us forever of all of our sins—past, present, and future (see Ephesians 13-14).
7. Each of us believes that the person we were in Adam, actually died in Jesus, when He died on the cross [“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live . . .” (Galatians 2:20a NASB)].
8. Each of us also believes that that person, who was crucified in Jesus on the cross, was also buried in Him [“Therefore we have been buried with Him, . . .” (Romans 4a NASB)] and, therefore, no longer exists.
9. Each of us also believes that the life we now live is not our own, but the life of Christ being lived in and through us [“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; . . .” (Galatians 2:20 NASB)].
10. Each of us believes that we are, therefore, new creations in Christ Jesus—old things have, indeed, passed away and new things have come (see 2 Corinthians 5:17).
11. Each of us believes that it is not our task to live the Christian live, but to rest in His finished work—the work He accomplished in our behalf.
Now that you have a bird’s-eye view of what we believe, let me move on to the benefits of membership, which can be summed up with this single statement: The pressure to perform is off!
Enough for today! I will continue on the morrow—

On Not Living the Christian Life (continued)

2009-10-09T14:51:00.000-05:00

October 9, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
OK! Surely by now you have accepted the fact that you cannot live the Christian life; that doing so is above your pay scale—way above it. Hopefully, I have convinced you that even your trying is in vain—a complete waste of precious time. Yes, I know it is difficult to have to admit that “your righteousness” is as a filthy rag before God, that all the “good deeds” you have so enthusiastically credited to your account, amount to nothing more than dung for the compost pile. I am trusting, however, that you have humbled yourself and admitted what you know to be true, and that you are now a bona fide member of the “I Can-not Live the Christian Life” club.
It is quite possible that some of your are thinking, “OK, I will admit that I cannot live the Christian life, but, surely, I must do the best I can to keep the Ten Commandments, to honor God with my tithe, my time, and my talents, to love others, and to love God.” If you weren’t thinking it, you are now, so let’s talk.
Why should you attempt to do the best you can when it will NEVER amount to any-thing but rubbish? What makes you think that “the best you can do” is even worth considering? Please listen up: Jesus did not come to help you to do the best you can, He came to die, so you could die to doing your best, so He could live in and through your life, and, thus, credit His best to your account.
Before I offer more, please take some time and think about this, as I really do want you to get it, as in see it as truth, believe it, and take ownership of it. Doing so will change your life for the better, you will finally understand what Jesus meant when He said, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My load is light” (Matthew 11:28-30 NASB).

On Not Living the Christian Life (continued)

2009-10-08T14:07:00.000-05:00

October 8, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
It is my sincere prayer that you can now see the sheer impossibility of your living the Christian life, not to mention the utter foolishness of thinking that God accepts your “doing your best” as being sufficient for acceptance into His family. If doing our best were sufficient for our justification, then Jesus could have avoided His entire trip to this sinful earth, as we would not have needed Him.
Throughout my years in ministry, both as a pastor and a counselor, I have noticed that many people honestly believe they are doing quite well, when it comes to obedience to God, to living the Christian life. It is as if they wear a merit badge sash, fully decorated with the badges of obedience, similar to the one I used to wear as a Boy Scout. Just to clear the air: try as we might, none of us could ever earn a “merit badge” of obedience, and we can-not because God’s standard is perfection and our best efforts fall short—far short.
Even so, it has been the obvious mission of the leaders of the church not only to teach, but also to encourage its members to live the Christian life. Sadly, it does not have one record, not even one, where it has been successful. You think about that. Throughout all the years of the church’s existence, there is not one shred of evidence that it has been successful in this mission—not one!
Oh, I am sure it could provide us with many examples of those who have done, or are doing, their best, but that is simply not good enough. Even the couple who spent 50 years in ministry to the pigmies in the jungle of Africa didn’t do nearly enough. The man who sold all of his possessions and used the money to feed the poor of Ethiopia didn’t even get to first base. The evangelist who won 250,000 people to Jesus didn’t get one vote of approval from the Committee of Three. The lady who taught Sunday School for 60 years, came up 60 years short of the goal (at least!).
Will we ever learn that Jesus did not come to teach us how to live the Christian life? He came to rescue us from sin and death, to give His life in exchange for ours, to impute His righteousness to us as a gift of grace, and to deliver us from the kingdom of darkness and transfer us to the Kingdom of Light. He came not to give us life (though He did!), but to be our life!
Who in the wide world started the ridiculous rumor that He came to model for us “how to” live the Christian life? Folk, He came to die, so we could die, so He could live in and through us.
Maybe the Psalmist got it: “Cease striving (let go, relax) and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10 NASB; emphasis and parenthesis added).
Yes, I will continue this tomorrow—

Continued from yesterday

2009-10-07T16:11:00.000-05:00

October 7, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Continuing my thought from yesterday: It is one thing to say that we do not live the Christian life, but it is quite another to say that we cannot live it. Surely, no honest person would suggest that he actually lives the Christian life (the standard Jesus set is simply too high; perfection is out of our reach!); however, most would argue that we can and should live it, we just fall short, believing that “doing the best I can” is all God asks, when in reality it is far from it.
The evidence that we cannot live it is, frankly, overwhelming. Jesus’ death is evidence par excellence not only that we cannot live the Christian life, but also that we desperately need One who will take our place, and do for us, what we cannot do ourselves.
Let’s take a look at some His requirements for our living the Christian life and see how the evidence stacks against us:
(1) “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you” (John 15:12 NASB; emphasis added). If anything is obvious, it is that we do not love one another, just as He loved us, not even close.
(2) “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:20 NASB; emphasis added). Point made? I think so.
(3) “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 NASB). Well, what do you think? That is what I thought.
(4) “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love you neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; . . .” (Matthew 5:43-44 NASB). Maybe you just haven’t met the right enemy, as of yet; hang around, and you will.
(5) “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48 NASB; emphasis added). All I can say is that you had better hope that God grades on the curve!
(6) “Therefore, however you want people to treat you, so treat them, . . .” (Matthew 7:12 NASB). We can’t even get this done!
(7) “Then Peter came and said to Him, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:21-22). As a counselor and pastor, I have known many Christians, who haven’t been able to forgive once, much less seven times, and certainly not seventy times seven times; yet, they are “doing the best they can to live the Christian life!”
(8) “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37 NASB; emphasis added). Yes, and I actually had a pastor tell me that he kept all the commandments! I’m betting he could even walk on water!
(9) “And He said to them, ‘Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her, and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery” (Mark 10: 11-12). If the statistics are cor-rect, then this means that, at least one half of the Christian community is not living the Christian life!
(10) “Do not be afraid little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves purses which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near, nor moth destroys” (Luke 12:32-33 NASB). Oh, I’ll bet you had forgotten this one, but I do know that you are doing the best you can!
ENOUGH!! I will continue tomorrow—

On Not Living the Christian Life

2009-10-06T11:00:00.001-05:00

October 6, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
In my message this past Sunday, I made a statement that was not original, though I wish it had been. It was this: We cannot live the Christian life! If my memory serves me correctly, the author of that line was none other than Dr. Bill Gillham, the author of “Lifetime Guarantee.” Admittedly, when I first heard it (many years ago, now), I flinched, but after giving it some thought, I had to admit that he was correct. There is no getting around the fact that we cannot live the Christian life.
Today, I want to add this to his line: “and trying our very best to do so is futile.” This is the truth: There is not one of us who can live the Christian life, and our attempting to do so is but vainglory. If you should take a minute to get your breath, and then to be honest with yourself, you would have to admit that I am telling you the truth.
As far back as I can remember, the church, regardless of denomination, has been diligently, urgently, and with good intention trying to teach its members how to live the Christian life. Way back in my Sunday School and MYF days, it was obvious that the main purpose and mission of our teachers (one of whom was my Mother) was to teach us how to live the Christian life, and believe me, they were diligent to provide us not only with the rules of conduct, but also with the consequences of disobedience. Sadly, I have no memory of anyone ever suggesting to me that obedience was impossible. Not one time did anyone stand before us and say, “Give it up guys; you cannot live the Christian life!”
Oh, I do think a few people realized that the mission was failing, but no one could actually verbalize what was undeniably true (the cost would have been too great!). In an effort to shore up the failing foundation, to deal with the obvious without really dealing with it, the message became “do the best you can; give it all you have; and God will be pleased,” which, as I trust you know, is ultimate vainglory!
Like it or not, Jesus set the standard for our living the Christian life in the Sermon on the Mount, when He spoke these words: “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48 NASB). Well, if this is the standard (and it is!), then I have the strong conviction that our best efforts will fall far-short of whatever Jesus had in mind by His use of the word “perfect.” If you want a clearer picture of what He had in mind, read verses 20-48 from the same chapter, as I think doing so will not only clear that up for you, but it will also show you how futile your “best efforts” are!
I will continue this tomorrow, but for now, I do want to tell you that although you cannot live the Christian life, you can live the life of a believer, and you can do so very successfully.
You think about this—

The Call to Quit

2009-09-29T20:06:00.001-05:00

September 29, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
No, the hourly “ejaculations” to which Whitefield referred meant to “exclaim something suddenly,” not what some of you apparently thought. Now that I have that cleared up, let us move on to things a bit more theological, as opposed to illogical (I actually had someone ask me to remove her name from my perspective list!).
This past Sunday, as I was having lunch with some folk, one of them (right out of the clear blue sky) asked me if God hadn’t released me from preaching. No, this person is not one of my flock; in fact, I don’t think she has ever heard me preach, other than at a funeral service, so I am not sure what prompted her question. No one has ever asked me that question before! I must admit, however, that since then, I have done quite a bit of thinking about her question.
I guess I could be paranoid and believe that some of my flock found out that we were having lunch and put her up to asking me the question, hoping that I would come to my senses and retire, but I ain’t paranoid. Who is that following me, anyway?
Yes, I am rather old, especially for a man of my age, but I do still have a pulse and most of the time, I can read and write. Admittedly, I probably don’t, put all the, commas in the, correct, places, but I do, try. I will be the first to admit that the passive voice is some-times used by me, when the active voice should have been used, but who cares? John was hit by the ball—regardless. You can accuse me of doing so, if you so choose, but I never use split infinitives, to so do would be humiliating. And I never begin a sentence with “and,” and furthermore a preposition is something I never end a sentence with!
The fact that I lost my voice immediately after lunch is probably significant, but that just occurred to me, so I haven’t had time to process it. If it doesn’t return by Sunday, I will probably begin to think that this woman was a messenger from God, trying to tell me that I need to throw in the towel.
Admittedly, my congregation is small, consequently, I don’t preach to a very large crowd, which should probably tell me something, as well; you know, something like, “If your preaching days weren’t over, you would have a crowd of people standing in a long line waiting with eager anticipation to hear you preach.”
On the positive side, I can remember John 3:16, not to mention, Hebrews 10. That should count for something! If my memory serves me correctly, I can still quote most of Romans 5, 6, 7, & 8, as well as John 14 & 15, but my memory might not be serving me correctly. I think I can even name from memory the books of the Bible—all 26 of them, or was it 46?
Praise God! Hallelujah! Justification by faith! And God bless Abraham! That woman is not going to talk me out of preaching, and that is that! I might finally wind up with a room full of empty pews, but I will preach to them. Heck, a few of those who attend now, sleep through the entire sermon (but they do tell me how much they enjoyed it; go figure!), so what is new!?
I remember when God called me to preach the gospel but I do NOT remember Him calling me to quit, so I ain’t!

Keeping a List

2009-09-28T08:58:00.000-05:00

September 28, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,

For reasons that would probably seem strange to most people, I am reading Arnold Dallimore’s book, “George Whitefield: The life and times of the great evangelist of the 18th century revival” and I am loving every page of it (all 600 of them!).
As you may (or may not) know, he was a contemporary with John & Charles Wesley and they were all the better for it. Although it took some time for God to reveal the truth to Whitefield, when he finally saw it, his life was forever changed. The following is a quote from this book (p. 80) that he entered into his diary after his conversion but before the Lord revealed the doctrines of grace to him. It is a list of criteria which he used each night as a basis of judging himself on his actions during the day. Sadly, he faithfully carried out this exercise primarily out of his fear of having to face the judgment seat of God without suffi-cient assets in his account to satisfactorily please God.
Have I,
1. been fervent in private prayer?
2. used stated hours of prayer?
3. used ejaculation every hour?
4. after or before every deliberate conversation or action, considered how it might tend to God’s glory?
5. after any pleasure, immediately given thanks?
6. planned business for the day?
7. been simple and recollected in everything?
8. been zealous in undertaking and active in doing what good I could?
9. meek, cheerful, affable in everything I said or did?
10. been proud, vain, unchaste, or enviable of others?
11. been recollected in eating and drinking? Thankful? Temperate in sleep?
12. taken time for giving thanks according to Law’s rules?
13. been diligent in studies?
14. thought or spoken unkindly of anyone?
15. confessed all sins?
This is what Jesus said, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-29).
Of this I am certain: the only people who ever experience what Jesus said in this passage are those who are blessed to have been given eyes to see the doctrines of grace. The rest simply continue adding to Whitefield’s list.

On Missing the Point and Purpose

2009-09-17T10:05:00.000-05:00

Mac's Perspective on the Intricacies of God’s Amazing Grace

September 17, 2009
Dear Fellow Travelers,
This is what the apostle, Paul, said in that infamous, albeit often misunderstood, third chapter of his second letter to the church at Corinth, where he so aptly contrasts the Old and New Covenants: “But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; but whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:14-17 NASB).
In other words, their minds hardened and their hearts veiled, they missed the point and purpose of the Law. Their only hope for understanding and for freedom—for having the veil removed—was in their turning to Jesus and they weren’t about to make that turn.
Because their minds were hardened and their hearts veiled, they completely missed these life-changing truths: (1) In verse 7 the Law of Moses is called “the ministry of death” and, therefore, contrasted (in vs. 8) with “the ministry of the Spirit; (2) In verse 9 the Law of Moses is called “the ministry of condemnation” and, therefore, contrasted (in the same verse) with “the ministry of righteousness”; (3) In Romans 8:2 “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” is contrasted with “the law of sin and death.”
In other words, because their minds were hardened and their hearts veiled, they could not and would not accept the truths that would set them free and allow them with unveiled face to behold, as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, and to be transformed into the same image from glory to glory. “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 2”17-18 NASB).
In their minds, Paul, in calling the Law of Moses the ministry of death, the ministry of condemnation, and the law of sin and death, qualified as a heretic. There is no wonder he was on their “hit” list!
From what I have been able to observe, “they” are not the only people who have missed the point and purpose of the Law. Have you missed it? Are you using it as your means to justification and righteousness and freedom? If you are, you, too, have missed its point and purpose.

On Being a Good Samaritan

2009-09-16T10:34:00.000-05:00

September 16, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
As you have probably figured out by now, I am an avid fan of Robert Capon’s writings, so without apology, I offer this as another example of his ability [Kingdom, Grace, Judgment” p. 213-214]: “For if the world could have been saved by providing good examples to which we could respond with appropriately good works, it would have been saved an hour and twenty minutes after Moses came down from Mr. Sinai. ‘For if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe’ (Galatians 3:21-22 KJV). Do you see the problem? Salvation is not some felicitous state to which we can lift ourselves by our own bootstraps after the contemplation of sufficiently good examples. It is an utterly new creation into which we are brought by our death in Jesus’ death and our resurrection in His. It comes not out of our own efforts, however well-inspired or successfully pursued, but out of the shipwreck of all human effort whatsoever.”
Capon wrote this in reference to his treatment of the passage we know as the story of the Good Samaritan (see Luke 10:25-37). Among other things, he is attempting to show that the main character in this story (parable) is not the good Samaritan, but the man who found himself in the ditch and half-dead. In other words, the example we need to follow is not the one of the Good Samaritan, but the one of the half-dead man in the ditch, who was helpless to help himself.
You see, if we are not careful (and most of us are not, when it comes to theology), we will find ourselves placing the Samaritan on a pedestal, and believing, much like the Galatians, that Jesus is essential, but our good deeds are also necessary for our salvation. The fact is this: Our good deeds are like filthy rags! “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; . . .” (Isaiah 64:6a NASB).
Just as a reminder, both the priest and the Levite saw the man in the ditch as being unclean—spiritually and physically—which is why they conveniently pass on by him. It never dawned upon them that the man they saw in the ditch was really themselves.
It is also noteworthy that Jesus offered this parable in response to the Lawyer’s question, “Who is my neighbor?”, and He ended it with this question: “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands”? In other words, Jesus placed the lawyer in the ditch, in an effort to help him understand his desperate need for Someone, namely the One who was speaking to him, to do for him what he could never do for himself!
Unfortunately, I don’t think he ever got the message.
Sadly, from what I can see, even today, most never get the message.
For if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law, but. . .

What Are We to Believe?

2009-09-10T14:17:00.000-05:00

September 9, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Bible study, to say the least, is quite challenging, especially in light of the fact that there are so many varied translations—NIV, NASB, KJ, NKJ, AMP, RSV, NRSV, ASV, to mention a few. In spite of all the good intentions of the various translators, it is virtually impossible for any of them to translate without theological bias; consequently, not every passage is translated in accordance with the original manuscripts. If you do not believe me, read, Ro-mans 5, 6, 7, & 8 in both the NIV and the NASB. I think the proof is in the tasting of the pudding, as someone much wiser than I has already indicated.
Since most of us are neither Hebrew nor Greek scholars, about all we can do is de-pend on those who are scholars for some understanding of the original manuscripts. Unfortunately, those who are scholars are biased—every last one of them—so we must be careful about jumping to theological conclusion and, then, casting the conclusion into cement.
Now, I do not want to be misunderstood, so listen up: I preach and teach from the Scriptures, and I do so because I am absolutely convinced that they are the inspired, inerrant, Word of God; however, I am not so naive, as to believe that each of the various translations from which I read are all without error, as in accurate. The fact is this: they differ in many places. Allow me to give you this example:
“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” (Romans 8:3 NASB).
“For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man” (Romans 8:3 NIV).
In the first place, the NASB capitalizes “Law”; whereas, the NIV does not, which in my opinion is very significant. In the second place, the NASB references “sinful flesh”; whereas, the NIV references the “sinful nature,” which is positively significant. In the third place, the NASB indicates that God condemned sin in “sinful flesh”; whereas, the NIV indicates that He condemned sin in “sinful man,” which is surely worth noting.
Surely, it is fair to raise this question: Why these differences? Is it because it is so difficult to translate New Testament Greek into English, or is it because it is so difficult to abandon one’s theological biases, when doing the translation? In my opinion, it is some of both, with most of the weight on the latter.
Anyway, this is what concerns me: Many people, who have virtually no knowledge of either Hebrew or Greek, think they can solve the translation issues by going to a concordance or lexicon and discerning for themselves what is accurate. BEWARE!
I well-remember the TV ad where the patient was talking on the telephone with his surgeon, who was telling him where and how to make an incision into his abdomen, so he could remove his own appendix. BAD IDEA! I also well-remember the TV ad that depicted an English speaking man sitting on his French speaking shrink’s couch, trying to understand his counsel. BAD IDEA!
It might be a good idea to be careful about casting your interpretation of the Scriptures into cement, especially in light of the fact that using a sledge hammer is very difficult work, not to mention, that your well-being just might be affected in a very negative way, if your interpretation happens to be incorrect.
On this you can rest assured: God will not change His mind to accommodate our ideas of truth, regardless of how convinced we might be of their truthfulness.

Salvation by Bookkeeping

2009-09-09T16:08:00.001-05:00

September 9, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Since your response to my excerpt from Capon’s book, “Kingdom, Grace, & Judgment” was rather positive, I think I will offer another for your consideration (p. 204): “It is not just the Samaritans, though, whose bookkeeping leads them to miss the point of Jesus’ determination to go to Jerusalem and death. In Luke 9:54, his disciples James and John turn out to be no better. Even though they have heard everything Jesus has said about lostness—even though they have been the butt of his irony about Gentiles, tax collectors, and other outcasts, and even though they have heard His words to Peter about unlimited forgiveness—they still instinctively resort to salvation by bookkeeping. Confronted with the Samaritan village’s rejection of the Jesus they have accepted as the Messiah, the only thing they can think to do is even the score. ‘Lord,’ they ask Him, ‘do you want us to bid fire come down from heaven and consume them?’ They say in effect, ‘We are the ones who are winners when it comes to Messiah-watching; let’s just get this villageful of losers out of the game with one good, hot blast.’ Yet, they were not winners; they themselves consistently failed to understand Jesus’ plain words about His coming death. It would only be much later, after they had seen Jesus Himself dead and risen, and after they came to see themselves as dead and risen in Him, that they would really be winners. And even at that, most of them would win only by martyrs’ death—by the very loss, ironically, that they were in such a hurry to inflict on the Samaritans.”
Whether or not you believe everything Capon said and/or implied in that excerpt is really not important to me; however, there are several implications that are undeniably true, not the least of which is this one: Salvation by bookkeeping always causes its adherents to miss the point of the gospel—always. Sadly, “salvation by bookkeeping” is the preferred method for most, and, consequently, they have missed the point of the gospel.
The truth is this: Jesus did not come to rank us according to our goodness; instead, He came to rescue us from the pit of sin and death. Yesterday, I read this line is a book (I do not remember the name of it): God does not reward us according to our goodness; goodness is our reward. I am not sure that reward is the best choice of words, but I think you get the point. Whatever you do, do NOT miss the point of the gospel!

In the Black!

2009-09-08T09:24:00.001-05:00

eptember 8, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,

The following is an excerpt from Robert Capon’s book, “Kingdom, Grace, Judgment” (p. 203): “Jesus came to save a lost and losing world by His own lostness and defeat; but in this wide world of losers, everyone except Jesus remains firmly, if hopelessly, committed to salvation by winning. It hardly matters to us that the victories we fake for ourselves are two-bit victories, or that the losses (and losers) we avoid like the plague are the only vessels in which saving grace comes; we will do anything rather than face either the bankruptcy of our wealth or the richness of our poverty. And what then is it that we do when we thus disregard our true wealth? We delude ourselves into thinking that our own salvation can be achieved by keeping books on others. The Samaritans wrote Jesus’ name down in red ink because He fell short in their religious audit; the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable looked down at the publican and thanked God that he himself was not a crook. And we do the same: ‘I know I’m no prize, but at least I’m better than that lecher, Harry’—as if putting ourselves at the head of a whole column marching in the wrong direction somehow made us less lost than the rest of the troops. It would be funny if it were not fatal; but fatal it is, because grace works only in those who accept their lostness. Jesus came to call sinners, not the pseudo-righteous; He came to raise the dead, not to buy drinks for the marginally alive.”
If you should be honest, you would have to admit that the church, even the one you attend, is very involved in the “religious auditing” business, and it has written the names of most of its members in red ink. I’m betting that it even has YOUR name written in red ink! If that is not true, then you are in the minority—a very small minority.
You can, however, count on this: Contrary to the way your church has entered your name, every name that is written in the Lamb’s book of Life is written in black ink, thanks to the shed, RED blood of Jesus. The certificate of debt that was against you and hostile to you, has been cancelled and nailed to the cross. “And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us, and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” (Colossians 2:13-14 NASB ).
Maybe it is time for the church to get out of the “religious auditing” business and get back to the preaching of the one, true Gospel, the one that proclaims this glorious truth: He did for us, what we could never do for ourselves; namely, satisfy God’s requirement for righteousness.
As Capon implied, it makes no sense at all to put ourselves at the head of a whole column marching in the wrong direction, thinking that, somehow, that makes us “less lost” than the rest of the troops.

That His Works Might be Displayed in our LIves

2009-09-07T13:00:00.000-05:00

September 7, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,

There is a passage in John’s gospel that has long-intrigued me: “And as He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was in order that the works of God might be displayed in him’” (John 9:1-3 NASB).
Now, take a minute to think this through: this man was born blind SO THAT the works of God might be displayed in him. In other words, God chose for this particular man to be born without eyesight—blind as a bat—and for this good reason: that His works might be evidenced (displayed) in his life. Sadly, when Jesus’ disciples saw him, they reacted out of their Jewish roots—“Rabbi, who sinned this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?”—apparently completely oblivious to the true reason for the man’s blindness. Religious people still think this way!
Admittedly, this passage is a bit difficult, especially in light of Jesus’ answer to their question: “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was in order that the works of God might be displayed in him.” In other words, this man’s blindness had no connection to anyone’s sin, not even the blind man’s; instead, it was the direct result of God’s own hedonistic choice (If you can read anything other than that into this, I would like to hear about it.).
In my opinion, most of us have the tendency to forget that God does, as God pleases [“But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases (Psalm 115:3 NASB)]. without regard for our feelings, nor consideration of our opinions. Whether we like it or not, this is the fact: God is not only free to cause a baby to be born blind, He is also free to do so for whatever reason that pleases Him. In this case, it was that His works might me put on dis-play in this man’s life. God caused this man to be born blind, so that He, in His time, could heal him, and, thereby, display His works.
But was that really the works He wanted to display? I think not. That was merely His attention-getter. The works that He wanted to display were these: His ability to forgive sins and to give sight to the spiritually blind. “Jesus heard that they (the Pharisees) had put him out; and finding him, He said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ He answered and said, ‘Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.’ And he said, ‘Lord, I believe.’ And he worshipped Him’ (John 9:35-38 NASB; parenthesis, mine).
Looking back, I feel sure that this man was incredibly thankful for God’s hedonistic choice, but I wonder how he would have voted, if he had been given the opportunity in advance, knowing only that through his blindness, God would display His works in his life.
By the way, God will demonstrate His works in your life and mine, even if it means that He makes another hedonistic choice.

Pleasing the Masses

2009-09-01T07:25:00.000-05:00

September 1, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
The following is a portion of an article from Ligonier Ministries (author unknown); please read it carefully:
We believe that God has ordained the preaching of His Word, prayer, and the sacraments as the means by which He sanctifies people’s lives. There is no substitute for the Scriptures if we want to know and please God, and this is especially true in our worship. Unfortunately, the church today is dethroning God and the power of His Gospel for alternatives and counterfeits. Instead of transcending cultural preferences and uniting the church on truths of His Word, contemporary worship seeks to please people by catering to particular groups and their tastes, thereby dividing the people of God. The result of using man-pleasing tactics rather than simply focusing on the preaching, reading, singing, and praying of God’s Word is that the knowledge of God’s glory is diminished, His people become spiritually malnourished, and the church becomes weak and susceptible to false teachers and their doctrines [a portion on an article from Ligonier Ministries; author unknown].
Deep within my heart, I know that this article is true. I am more-than convinced, that doing anything for the sake of catering to people and their preferences, serves only to create a man-centered environment, one that reproduces itself over and over, with each new generation being more self-serving that the previous ones.
In my opinion, when the church decided to abandon the Scriptures it also decided to abandon the gospel. When it abandoned the gospel, it abandoned its God-given mission and purpose—to glorify God—and took on a completely different one—to glorify man. The fruit is obvious: churches everywhere are working diligently, albeit futilely, to find ways to please man.
In my opinion, it is time (past time!) for you to take a stand against these self-serving, man-centered, religious shenanigans. Insist that the church you attend stop, as in cease and desist, trying to cater to the preferences and whims of the masses, and, instead, to simply preach the unvarnished, offensive Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you will notice, Jesus never wasted His time trying to please anyone, especially the masses. His mission and passion was single-minded—to please His Father.

As To Unfinished Business

2009-08-31T13:16:00.000-05:00

August 31, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,

If you have any unfinished business for August, you had better hurry and finish it, as today is your last chance. Speaking of unfinished business, have you noticed how most of us never seem to be able to finish anything. For the most part, we seem to be under such pressure to get to the next piece of “pressing business,” that we most always leave some unfinished business on our plates; there always seems to be something “we should have done” hanging over our heads. There is no wonder that GERD (reflux disease, aka as indigestion) is so prevalent among believers.
I well-remember that part of my life when I NEVER seemed to finish anything—literally. About the time I got the grocery store opened for the day, one of the several refrigerators would have a compressor go bad. As soon as the repairman arrived, someone would call needing the ambulance. As soon as I put the ambulance in motion, someone would call telling me that their roast was too-tough-to-eat. After “patiently” listening to that story, I would arrive at the accident scene, to learn that someone I knew very well had just been killed in a head-on collision. Obviously, that meant a trip to our funeral home, to begin the sometimes long process of directing a funeral. In the meantime, the repairman would call wanting to know where the circuit breaker was for the refrigerator. In the midst of all of this, the state health inspector would arrive at the grocery story to do his inspection, which meant that I had to leave everything, return to the grocery store, to accommodate his wishes. I know this is difficult for you to believe, but it is true, nevertheless: as I would walk into the grocery story to meet the health inspector, more times than not, someone would meet me at the front door, wanting to know, if I was interested in buying a couple of bushels of peas, to sell in our produce department.
There is more! As I would stop to consider the peas, one of my employees would come to me, telling me that Mrs. Smith (Jones, Andrews, whoever) was on the phone, wondering why I wasn’t at her house, installing her carpet. My response was quick: Tell her that I am late because John (Frank, Sam, Edith, someone) was killed in the auto accident, but I am on the way; should be there in less than thirty minutes. I purchase the peas, only to hear the phone ring again, hoping that someone else would answer it, but in my business, waiting was not an option, so, “Hello, this is Mac.” On the other end would be the raspy, demanding voice of one of Reynolds’ senior citizens, telling me that she needed me to deliver six coca colas—three cold and three at room temperature—and for Hanson (the delivery man) to put the three cold ones in her refrigerator and the other three in her pantry. She always needed them, immediately. Exactly three minutes later, she would call wanting to know why the Cokes were not at her house! I am serious!
As I looked over my shoulder, I could see the H.V. Kell (grocery company) delivery truck backing up to the door, which meant that Virginia could not be sick—not today—but of all days, she is sick and not at work. So, I say to the driver, “I have to go to the funeral home for a few minutes, so please stack everything in this hallway, and I will be right back to check the order.” (In my world, “right back” could mean anything from five minutes to 24 hours.)
With more loose ends, than a room full of people with severe diarrhea, I would finally make it home, somewhere around midnight, for a few hours of sleep. You guessed it! More times than not, about the time my head hit my pillow, the phone would ring, and the tone of the voice on the other end would tell me that I wasn’t finished, not by a long-shot.
I could go on-and-on, but thank God, He removed me from that world into the slow-paced world of the pastorate. Yea, right! That first part of my life was, merely, a boot camp that prepared me for the second part of my life—the pastorate. Trust me on this: that first part of my life was a piece of cake, compared to the second part. This past Saturday morning, I was listening to a Jewish Rabbi preach, and somewhere in his message he said (pointing to his thick brown hair), “See these gray hairs! This is what being a Rabbi will do to you.” I wanted to stand up and say, “See my altogether white hair? This is what being a pastor will do for you” but I kept quiet.
When I reached the ripe old age of 65, something significant happened: These words of Jesus (John 19:30) jumped off the page at me (though completely out of context): IT IS FINISHED! As I read those words in their context, this became very clear to me: The man who had the most important, demanding task ever given to anyone, the man, whose task it was to carry out, precisely, every detail of His Father’s plan of redemption, and to do so at the exactly the right time, had uttered the most astonishing words I had ever heard—IT IS FINISHED. No loose ends, no unfinished business, nothing left to do; His work was finished—perfectly and completely.
The Scriptures tell us that He, then, sat down at His Father’s right hand (after the resurrection, of course). I want to tell you that He did so, not because He was tired, or be-hind in His business, or running late, but because His work was finished. “. . . but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:12).
At that ripe old age of 65 (I am now 67), I decided it was time for me to take Him at His Word, to learn from Him, and never again to live my life, as if He needed me to help Him finish His work, to never again live my life, as if He somehow needed me to wrap us His loose ends. In other words, it dawned upon me, that only a few things are important, really only one (words that Jesus spoke to Martha), so I chose to SLOW DOWN, to cast off most of what I thought was important, especially, the “living according to the expectations of others” part, and to spend huge amounts of time doing what most consider a waste—sitting at His feet, listening to His Word, and resting in His finished work.
At first, this was very difficult because I had been programmed for a different modus operandi (sometimes, it is still difficult because of what I perceive to be the expectations of others, and my desire to please them!); however, I am getting much better at it, and, to be sure, I highly recommend it to you.
Listen up: YOU are not the world’s savior, not even close. If you should drop dead in the next ten minutes, life would not skip even one beat. God really does NOT need either of us to help Him finish His plan, or to get everyone saved. Get off the treadmill! I have never known a treadmill to take anyone, anywhere, except to exhaustion.
The fact is this: God does not need you or me! He can get along quite nicely without either of us. It is our neighbor that needs us, but most of us are too exhausted to be of any benefit to him; consequently, most of what we do for him is done with an attitude that probably doesn’t pass muster. You think about that—

On the Death of Ted Kennedy

2009-08-29T20:13:00.000-05:00

August 29, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Over the past couple of days, I have watched portions of Ted Kennedy’s various memorial services, along with a portion the funeral mass this morning. As I write these words, the hearse, that is transporting his remains to his gravesite near his brothers in Arlington National Cemetery, is about to reach its destination.
Let me cut to the chase: Ted did not “pass,” he died, as in graveyard dead. He will not show up for work in the US Senate on Monday morning, or Tuesday, for that matter. Contrary to popular opinion, we did not lose him, as we know where he is—standing before The Holy God of the Universe. He might have been known as the Lion of the Senate, but The One before whom he now stands is known as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.
Again, contrary to popular, Roman Catholic opinion, the Virgin Mary will prove inadequate for his entrance into the Kingdom of God; contrary to popular, political opinion, having served 47 years in the US Senate, will prove to be 3 years short of enough to get him a pass (just kidding, just kidding; it really takes 51 years!); contrary to popular liberal opinion, his being an “excellent” legislator, will count for nothing; and contrary to popular, military opinion, his having reached the rank of PFC in the US Army won’t help him, even one iota. The fact that thousands of people (mostly liberals) lined the streets today in his honor, did not impress the Lion of the Tribe of Judah one whit. The fact that all the TV networks, from ABC to XYZ, including Fox News, not to mention CNN, preempted virtually every other news item to showcase this historical event, did not impress the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, not at all.
You see, Ted’s days of running for political office are over; never again will his fate be determined by the number of votes he receives. Majorities make no difference for him now. The opinions of others are meaningless. Only one opinion matters, and it is the opinion of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.
What matters, is not if Ted knows Him, but if He knows Ted. What matters, is not if Ted was a member of the Roman Catholic Church, but if Jesus has included him in the Body of Christ (and there is a difference!). It matters not how “good” his friends deemed him to be; what matters is that God is The Good God.
This is what really matters: When Jesus died on the cross, did He include Ted in that death? I have no idea, but I do know that THAT is what matters; otherwise, Ted has no hope, none whatsoever.
Oh, I know what some of you are thinking: “Mac, you know that Jesus included Ted in His death on the cross; you know that He died for Ted’s sins! All Ted had to do was raise his hand when the priest gave the invitation, and, thereby, receive the gift of eternal life!” JUST FOR THE RECORD: No, I do NOT know that!
Again, and JUST FOR THE RECORD: If Ted Kennedy is in the Kingdom of God, he is because of what Jesus has done, NOT because of what Ted has done (or not done, for that matter), and, certainly, not because of all the “good” things that have been said about him, and for sure not because of the Virgin Mary.
As a reminder: funerals are for the living, not the dead, so they don’t even help.

PS: You and I are in the same “boat.” Our only hope is in Jesus—the Lion of the Tribe of Judah—and that is a good thing, a very good thing, because He is full of grace and mercy; albeit, very just.

On Practicing Righteousness

2009-08-27T09:55:00.000-05:00

August 27, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
This is what Jesus said: “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise, you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 6:1 NASB). In other words, self-righteousness, the kind we typically practice before men to be seen by them, the kind the scribes and Pharisees practiced in an effort to please God, regardless of how “self-righteous” it might be, is nothing but puffed-up flesh, whose end is death—eternal death.
As you remember, this passage immediately follows that portion of Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount,” where he dealt with the practice of righteousness. Listen to what He said in that sermon: “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20 NASB). If you had been among the crowd of people who heard that sermon, you would have immediately concluded that no one, not even the scribes and Pharisees, would ever enter the kingdom of heaven. You would have also missed Jesus’ point—completely.
They knew that they could not best the scribes and Pharisees, when it came to righteousness, which, certainly, precluded them as candidates for the kingdom of heaven, and they also heard that, even the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees was not good enough [unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees], which, also, eliminated them as candidates. We know that the scribes and Pharisees worked very hard to keep the Law, and for good reason—doing so was (in their minds) their “ticket to ride.” Paul even made this claim about himself, as a Pharisee: “. . . as to the righteousness which is in the Law, [I was] found blameless” (Philippians 3:6b NASB). As you can see, according to Jesus, the entire lot of them flunked His test! I wonder, though, how many of them caught His drift, and realized their need for a Redeemer, a Savior, One who could do for them, what they could never do for themselves? When your goal is to reach the wrong standard, you are in deep trouble!
In my opinion, Jesus made it very clear that self-righteousness, the righteousness which is found in the Law, is, simply, unrighteousness. To be sure, the scribes and Pharisees had a very different opinion (which is why the wanted to kill Him!), as they sincerely believed that this “righteousness” was, indeed, ultimate righteousness. They truly believed that, when the Messiah returned, they would meet Him and pass the test of righteousness with flying (pun intended, well maybe not!) colors.
Unfortunately (to use the words of Jesus, from this same sermon), the light that was in them was darkness and, consequently, the darkness was great. “If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness” (Matthew 6:23b NASB). Hmmmm-
From what I have been able to see, attempts at self-righteousness still prevail, even today. Sadly, the church continues today to preach the message of the scribes and Pharisee, of Jesus’ day. Jesus’ message, however, is the same: “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20 NASB).
SUGGESTION: RUN TO JESUS, AS FAST AS YOU CAN! TAKE HIS YOKE UPON YOU, AND LEARN OF HIM, FOR HIS YOKE IS EASY AND HIS BURDEN IS LIGHT! [Compare that to the message of the scribes and Pharisees!]
By the way, please “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise, you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven”

What is Normal About Following Jesus?

2009-08-25T11:21:00.001-05:00

August 25, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
To be sure, I cannot define “normal” for anything, but I do know this: the definition that most would give for the normal life of a believer is a far-cry from the truth. In the vast majority of instances, the message of the gospel is distorted in such a way, as to make it attractive to the masses, in much the same way, as the Ford Motor Company presents its line of vehicles—a far-cry from the way Paul presented the gospel. His mission was to preach the gospel—the real, unvarnished, gospel, and to leave the rest to God.
In my opinion, you will not find Paul tailoring the gospel in such a way as to popularize it, to make it appealing to the masses. You will not find him offering one thing for one group and another for a different group. It was very simple for him: one Lord, one Faith, and one Baptism.
Furthermore, he knew quite well that God’s elect are attracted to the truth and re-pulsed by the crowd-attracting antics of the church. The fact is God designed it this way. We either embrace the one, true gospel, or we do not, and that is that.
The following passage gives us a bird’s eye view of Paul’s opinion of what is “normal,” of what can normally be expected by those who are followers of Christ: “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh” (2 Corinthians 4:7-11; NASB; emphasis added).
If that doesn’t provide you with sufficient evidence, then listen to this: “. . . in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure” (2 Corinthians 11:23b-27 NASB; emphasis added).
There is simply nothing about the passages that remind me of the “If you will just come to Jesus, everything will be fine” notion of what is normal for those of us, whose faith is in Jesus for eternal life. There is absolutely nothing in these passages that entice me to want to join Paul’s “club”; in fact, had I known this in the beginning, I would have probably tried to run the other way!
If we should be honest, we would have to admit that we cannot get beyond the first few lines of the first passage [“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the sur-passing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves . . .”]. The fact is we want the power to be from ourselves, not from God; we want to be the one who is in charge; we want to have the power within ourselves.
Listen, now, to these words: “And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger from Satan to buffet me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And he has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weakness, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong’ (2 Corinthians 12:7-10 NASB; emphasis added).
Whoopee! Bring on the crowds! Give the invitation! Throw out the net!! Sing “Just As I Am”! The masses are running to the cross! Yea, right!
Yes, I realize that most want to hear a different story, the one that says, “Come to Jesus and everything will be A-OK, but the fact is this: God never intended the gospel for the masses; He never intended for salvation to be marketed as a product for everyone; He never intended for the preaching of the gospel to be done in such a way, as to imply that it can be accommodated to everyone’s pleasure and belief. He intended the gospel for every-one who believes (namely, His elect), to the Jew first, and then the Greek (Gentile).
Please allow me to tell you what will be true, if you should trust Jesus, as your Redeemer, Messiah, Savior:
1. God will have acted first because He will have had to raise the dead.
2. God will have already punished your sins, in Jesus, to the full requirement of the Law.
3. They will have forgiven you—forever forgiven you.
4. He will place you in perfect and permanent right-standing with the Triune Godhead.
5. Jesus will be your eternal guarantee of the New Covenant.
6. God will seat you at His right hand in the Most Holy Place, in Jesus.
7. He will give you the privilege and honor of trusting you life to Him—absolutely and completely.
8. He will provide you with enough adversity to demonstrate to you that His grace is sufficient for you, that His strength is make perfect in your weakness.
9. He will make you lie down in green pastures, lead you beside still waters, relentlessly restore your soul, securely lead you in paths of righteousness, and He will safely journey with you through the many valleys that are overcast with the shadow of death.
10. He will require that you walk by faith, which will scare the wits out of you—guaranteed!

Things to Ponder

2009-08-24T15:53:00.001-05:00

August 24, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,

Some things to keep in mind from 2 Timothy 1 & 2, as we journey through these perilous times:
1. The significance of retaining the standard of sound words [See 2 Timothy 1:13]. What is the standard for sound words? Truth spoken in love.
2. The power of guarding the treasure which has been entrusted to you [see 2 Timothy 1:14]. What is this treasure? The one, true gospel of Jesus Christ.
3. The benefit of being strong in the grace that is in Jesus [see 2 Timothy 2:1]. What is this benefit? You cease striving and rest in the glorious truth that Jesus alone deter-mines your destiny.
4. The blessing of suffering hardship, as a good soldier[see 2 Timothy 2:3]. What is this blessing? You don’t waste precious time being entangled in the hardships of life and, thereby, allowing them to distract you from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Jesus.
5. The humility of remembering Jesus [see 2 Timothy 2:8]. What is this humility? It is the humility that come from realizing that life is about Him, not me; the ultimate humility, indeed.
6. The freedom of accepting the trustworthy statement [see 2 Timothy 2:11-13]. What is this freedom? It is the freedom to accept the truth that you no longer have to strive to become who you already are, who God has declared you to be.
7. The wisdom of not wrangling about words [see 2 Timothy 2:14]. What is this wisdom? It is the wisdom that allows you to keep the main thing, the main thing, thereby, preventing you from playing into the hands of the enemy.
8. The advantage of diligence, especially in studying God’s Word [see 2 Timothy 2:15]. What is this advantage? You are equipped to divide the Word of Truth, without the fear of being shamed, as the result of inaccurately dividing it—leading others into er-ror.
9. The common sense of avoiding worldly and empty chatter [see 2 Timothy 2:16-17]. What is this common sense? It is being astute enough not to get caught-up in criticizing and judging others, especially your leaders.
10. The joy of standing firm on this firm foundation—the Lord knows who are His [see 2 Timothy 2:19]. What is this joy? It is the inner ecstasy that comes from knowing that I will be able to recognize His voice, even in the clamor of life, knowing that He will never lose me, knowing that I will always find myself in the hollow of His hand, and knowing that I will never perish.

“The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen” (2 Timothy 4:18 NASB).

PS: I grew up on the small town of Reynolds, GA. Hollis and I were best friends, and continue to be best of friends today. Today, he turned 67 and caught up with me! Let’s everyone wish my dear friend a Happy and Wonderful Birthday!!

Offended? Probably a Good Thing!

2009-08-21T13:10:00.001-05:00

Mac's Perspective on the Intricacies of God’s Amazing Grace

August 21, 2009
Dear Fellow Travelers,
It continues to amaze me that after so many years of reading and studying the Bible, I still come upon lines that for some reason have escaped my notice. This is one of them: “And after He called the multitude to Him, He said to them, ‘Hear, and understand. Not what enters into the mouth defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.’ Then the disciples came and said to Him, ‘Do You know that the Pharisees were of-fended when they heard this statement’” (Matthew 15:10-12)?
This is the part of that passage that has escaped my notice: “Then the disciples came and said to Him, ‘Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement.’” You might be thinking, “So what?” but in my mind, this is worthy of note for several reasons.
In the first place, did the disciples really think that this had escaped Jesus’ notice? Surely, they knew better, but, apparently, they did not; otherwise, why did they ask Him about it? At any rate this presents me with a “golden” opportunity to remind us of something we should already know—NOTHING ESCAPES HIS NOTICE—nothing, that is, except our sins. Oh, He did notice them—BIG TIME NOTICE THEM—but that was then and this is now. Listen to these words: “And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, ’This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord; I will put My laws upon their heart, and upon their mind I will write them,’ He then says, ‘And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.’” (Hebrews 10:16-17 NASB). Do you realize that, ever since the cross, neither God, nor Jesus, have noticed your sins (if, of course, you are one of God’s children)? Now you know not only why the gospel is called GOOD NEWS, but also why Jesus said, “IT IS FINISHED!”
In the second place, did the disciples really think that Jesus gave a “flying hoot” about His having offended the Pharisees with His statement of truth? Just to set the record straight: He did not give even one “flying hoot” about it, nor did He lose a wink’s worth of sleep over it. You can rest assured that He did not apologize for speaking the truth; not then, not ever! And this gives me a “golden opportunity” to remind us of something else we al-ready know: If you are teaching the gospel, the one true gospel, people will be offended, and they will ultimately crucify you, if given half a chance; however, if you are teaching some man-centered heresy, they will honor you, praise you, flock to you, and kiss your feet. Now you know why so few teach the one, true gospel; if not, I will tell you—crucifixion ain’t no fun; very few are attracted to it—very few, indeed. Now you also know why Peter called Jesus a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense (see 1 Peter 2:8).
By the way, stop apologizing for speaking the truth, just be sure you are speaking it love (per His opinion, not the opinion of your listeners).

Impossible-to-follow-instructions!

2009-08-20T13:32:00.001-05:00

August 20, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Have you ever noticed how often Jesus gave people specific instructions, obviously intending for them to be obeyed, even though He knew they could not possibly comply? Take this, as an example: “And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, and saying, ‘Have mercy on us, Son of David!’ And after He had come into the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ They said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord.’ Then He touched their eyes, saying, ‘Be it done to you according to your faith.’ And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, ‘See here, let no one know about this’” (Matthew 9:27-31)!
Could someone please tell me how Jesus expected these two blind me not to let any-one know what had happened to them? I can see it now: one of them went home, walked into the den and started watching TV, pointing at the characters, laughing his head off, and his mother walks in and never even notices. The other man returned to his job at the local nursery, and began admiring all the flowers, “oo-ing” and “ah-ing,” but his boss is completely oblivious. Yea, right! Or better yet, the wife of one of them meets him for lunch, and he tells her how pretty her new shoes are, but it never dawns upon her that he can see. Sure! You can rest assured that these two men, in obedience to Jesus’ instructions, continued walking along the streets, tapping their canes, and begging for money. [You really don’t believe that, do you?]
Actually, the next verse gives credibility to my thesis: “But they went out, and spread the news about Him in all that land” (vs. 31; italics added). There was no way these men were going to follow Jesus’ instructions; in fact, they could not. Doing so, would be about like a woman, 8 ½ months into a pregnancy, hiding the fact that she is expecting a child. I mean, there are some things we, simply, cannot hide, regardless of Jesus’ instructions, and He knows it. So, why does He give such impossible-to-follow instructions?
There are many other examples; actually, too many to list in this brief article, but here are a few of them:
1. “Love you enemies . . .” (Matthew 5:44a NASB). Oh, I am certain that you are doing a fine job of this, but before you admit it, wait until you meet a real enemy.
2. “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; . . .” (Matthew 6:1a NASB). I feel sure that you would never be guilty of doing this; you are much too humble, even to consider doing anything to be noticed by anyone, but, then, you might (I say might) attend a funeral visitation so the family won’t think ill of you.
3. “Do not be afraid any longer, only believe” (Mark 5:36b NASB). Just to remind you: Jairus, the synagogue official, had just learned that his little daughter had died, when Jesus spoke these instructions to him. He twisted his right ear, punched his nose, grunted three times, and his fear left on the morning train! Yea, right! I am betting that Jairus’ fear didn’t leave until his daughter sat up in the bed and smiled. You can tell me all day long that nothing ever happens that scares the wits out of you, but I am going to tell you that I do not believe you, nor do I think you have mastered these instructions. Why would Jesus tell anyone not to be afraid, only believe, when it is apparent that the earth is about to fall into a black hole?
4. “And when it was evening, the disciples came to Him, saying, ‘The place is desolate, and the time is already past; so send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat” (Matthew 14:15-16 NASB)! My wife would shoot me, if I should call her at suppertime, telling her that I was on the way home with two guests, not to mention ten; only God knows what she would do, if that number were 5,000! One only needs to read the next verse, to learn of the disciple’s frustration: “And they said to Him, ‘We have here only five loaves and two fish” (vs.17)! The passage doesn’t say this, but I am sure they thought, “How do you expect us to feed this crowd, when we have no McDonalds, no grocery store, no any-thing but these few fish and this soggy bread?”

If you want more examples, look them up for yourself, but in the process, accept the fact, that most of what you think you know about Jesus is evidence that you really know very little—very little indeed. This just might be the best thing I have ever learned; to be sure, it removed the pressure of my having to make Him fit into my ideas of truth, into my ideas of how He should live His life.
Now, why did Jesus give us so many impossible-to-follow instructions? Isn’t it obvious? Apart from Him we can do nothing—absolutely, positively nothing—and He wants to be sure that we realize it. We can’t heal the sick, raise the dead, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, encourage the downhearted, give sight to the blind, love our enemies, treat others as we want to be treated, pray, teach, fast, preach the gospel, cast out demons, or even inhale our next breath—we simply cannot do these things. If they get done, it will be His doing, not ours—not in any way, shape, form, or fashion. We just need to get over our-selves and accept the fact most of what Jesus told us to do, He never expected us to do; instead, He wanted to teach us our desperate need for Him, not to mention our desperate need for Him to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.
What kind of student have you been?

What Pap Smears, The Quadratic Equation, and The Greek Alphabet Have in Common

2009-08-19T15:42:00.007-05:00

August 19, 2009
Dear Fellow Travelers,
Many years ago, actually one year shy of a half-century ago, at the close of the first day of what was a rather intimidating class at Asbury College, New Testament Greek, my professor, Miss Ruth Fess, said, “Boys, I will expect you to be able to write and speak the Greek alphabet by this time tomorrow morning.” I immediately looked at my watch and the second hand was moving faster than I had ever seen it move, and so was my pulse. Well, heck, I was from a small town in middle Georgia, where to my knowledge not one person had even heard of Greek, or Greece for that matter, so she might as well have asked me to be able to explain the difference between a pap smear and the quadratic equation.
Have you ever noticed how some people seem to be gifted at expecting more out of us, than we think we can possibly give (italics on purpose and with purpose)? Jesus was no exception—still isn’t—in fact, He is probably chief among those so gifted. The Sermon on the Mount is a good example. Listen to these words from that sermon: “Do not be anxious then, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘With what shall we clothe ourselves’ For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for you heavenly Father knows that you need all these things” (Matthew 6:31 NASB; italics added). In other words, Jesus is telling us not to be anxious about what we shall eat, drink, or wear BECAUSE our heavenly Father knows that we need these things. Well, that’s easy, IF you have food on your table, water in your faucet, and clothes in your closet; otherwise, it is asking much more than any of us think we can give.
The truth is I am not anxious about what I will eat for lunch or supper today, or tomorrow, for that matter; neither am I anxious about what I shall drink in the foreseeable future; and I am certainly not anxious about what I am going to wear, even to church on Sunday. However, let me be perfectly clear: that would NOT be the case, if I had no food on my table, water in my cup, or clothes in my closet, AND, I might add, I seriously doubt that your telling me that I am more important to God than a bird or a lily would help reduce my anxiety, by any measurable amount. [I might be telling you more about this preacher than I should, but you already know that I am old and just a bit “touched” in the head.]
The next time you have the opportunity, spend a few minutes with the single mom, a Christian, who has lost her job and sees no hope for finding one in the near future, and tell her not to be anxious about what she and her children will eat, drink, or wear tomorrow (or the next day for that matter) because her heavenly Father already knows that she needs these things, and He will, therefore, provide them for her [just don’t put your promise on a calendar!] When you finish, please let me know her response.
Of this I am certain, her anxiety will decrease much more quickly, if you should tell her not to be anxious about what they will eat, drink, or wear, because your heavenly Father already knows that she has need of these things and He has instructed YOU to provide for them, until such time as He tells you to stop. Hmmm . . .
Now back to my point: What was Jesus thinking when He told us not to be anxious about these things? Was He really expecting us to meet this standard, other than when we are rather certain we have on hand enough food, drink, and clothing for the immediate future?
This is the truth: When our resources are depleted, even knowing that our heavenly Father is well-aware, doesn’t eliminate our anxiety, especially, if we are of the mindset that He spends more time angry with us, than He does in being pleased with us (actually, that mindset increases our anxiety). Sadly, this is the mindset of most of God’s children!
For clarity, this mindset looks something like this: Had I been living a better life, I would not have lost my job and, therefore, I would not be in this mess. I know God is angry with me and I cannot really blame Him. The reason He is not meeting my needs is two-fold: (1) I have sinned; and (2) I don’t have enough faith. In a nutshell, (per vs. 33) I am in this mess because, obviously, seeking His kingdom and His righteousness has not the priority of my life. I have really tried to do my best, but, obviously, I have failed. Now, I am so consumed with trying to figure out how to feed and clothe my children, that I cannot even focus on my relationship with Him. Anxious? You bet I am, and it is getting worse by the minute!
For even greater clarity, the mindset often looks like this: “I have been obedient to God; I tithe, I pray, I give to the poor, I visit those in prison, I wear my hair in a bun, I drive a black car, I do not smoke, drink, or cuss (well, maybe occasionally!), I never commit adultery, and I attend church every time the doors open (except in the case of an emergency), SO will someone please tell me what I did to deserve losing my job. Why me, Lord? Surely, You do not expect me to be free of anxiety; after all, I deserve the privilege!
Hmmm. Need I remind you of what He said BEFORE He warned us not to be anxious? Well, listen up: “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they” (vs. 26); “Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they toil not nor do they spin, yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these” (vs.28b). Surely, these incredible words calm your anxiety! No? Gosh, what will it take? Oh, I know what you are thinking: I am neither a bird, nor a lily, and I am certainly not Solomon.
I learned today that a friend, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease about 6 months ago, learned about a week ago that she also has breast cancer. To add insult to injury, both her daughter and her mother have had to deal with the very same illness. I called her to let her know not to be anxious because her heavenly Father knows what she needs and He will provide for her, according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus. I told her that she was much more important to God than any bird I have ever seen, and, certainly, more important than all the lilies of the field, put together. [I didn’t really tell her any of that, but had I done so, I would have been telling her the truth!]
By the end of our conversation, she was dancing with joy and anxiety free; in fact, she threw all of her Xanax into the toilet, flushed them down the drain, and called her oncologist to tell him to forget the upcoming surgery.
If you believe that, then you will probably also believe that I slept like a baby the night before I was to write and speak the Greek alphabet in front of Miss Ruth Fess [She spoke and wrote 13 languages—fluently!], who was so gracious, that she gave us a “zero,” if we failed to perform perfectly!
By the way, I can still write and speak the Greek alphabet--perfectly!

Metastatic, Esophageal Cancer and Faith

2009-08-17T15:56:00.000-05:00

August 17, 2009
Dear Fellow Travelers,
Several weeks ago, the father of one the members of the church I pastor was told by his physician that he had metastatic, esophageal cancer [not good by the stretch of any-one’s imagination!]. Yesterday, he visited our congregation.
Presently, I am preaching through Paul’s letter to the church at Galatia, aka Galatians. As you might imagine, I am pressing, rather hard, Paul’s thesis that justification is through faith, not by works of the Law. In my “pressing,” I have made it very clear (I trust) that “living by faith” scares the wits out of me, and it does because all-too-often it doesn’t seem to work for me (I italicized “seem” because I know that things are not always as they seem). In some areas, I do rather well; for example, I went to sleep last night, having complete faith, that the sun would rise this morning, and lo and behold, it did! In fact, I am trusting that it will set this afternoon—no problem. When it comes, however, to things like being healed from metastatic, esophageal cancer, faith scares the wits out of me, especially if it means, like some contend, that all I need is enough faith—forget modern medicine. Truthfully, when it comes to someone being healed from metastatic, esophageal cancer, even modern medicine doesn’t do much to increase my faith.
Have you ever noticed that God seems to enjoy humbling “cocky” preachers? If you haven’t, I have. It is one thing to boldly preach “if you just have enough faith,” God will heal your illness, raise the dead, feed the hungry, and free the imprisoned, but it something else to do that, when someone is sitting, not fifteen feet in front of you, having just been diagnosed with cancer, and really wanting to be healed. You can rest assured that my comments to him were far-removed from my telling him, if he only has enough faith, God will heal him (I did not want God to have to humble me; still do not!). Actually, I told him (and the rest of my congregation), that living by faith scares the wits out of me. I didn’t say this but I will now: if you would admit the truth, living by faith scares the wits out of you, too; well, maybe not yet, but keep on hanging around and it will.
Anyway, I asked our visitor if he wanted to say anything, and by golly, he did! This is what he said: “When my doctor gave me my diagnosis, I went to Jesus and said, ‘Jesus, I cannot handle this, so I am giving it to you.”
This is what most of us would have said (especially, yours truly), “Jesus, I cannot handle this, so I am giving it to you, but . . .”
This is what genuine faith would say: “Jesus, I cannot handle this, so I am giving it to you.” In other words, I am so confident in your desire and ability to do what is best for me, that I offer no suggestions; instead, I choose to rest in who you are, and to walk where you lead me, knowing that You are the most practical person ever to live. (Yes, that scares the wits out of me!)
This is what fear would say: “Jesus, I have so much faith in you, that I will skip modern medicine (not see the doctor) and ask everyone to pray for my healing” (that really does scare the WITS out of me!). God did give us a mind, not to mention modern medicine, for some reason!
Now, having laid that groundwork, surely you know that your physical life will end (it is appointed once for man to die . . .) sometimes in the near (relative to eternity) future, and surely you believe that where you spend eternity is significantly important, as in very significantly important. BUT, do you realize that your spending eternity with Jesus in the Kingdom of Heaven is determined, not by anything you do or do not do, but in what Jesus has done for you? Do you realize that you are being asked to place your confidence for eternal life in One you cannot see or touch? Do you realize that faith is the substance of what you are hoping for and the evidence of what you cannot see? Scary, huh?
The story goes something like this: God so loved the world, that He chose to leave Heaven and become a man by being born of a virgin womb; to live as the son of a Jewish carpenter for some 30+ years; to begin an iterate preaching ministry, that was very antagonistic to the leaders of Israel—both the religious and political leaders; to spend His time with sinners of all varieties, giving sight to the blind, health to the sick, and giving life to the dead; to willingly die the horrendous death of crucifixion; to be placed in a borrowed tomb; to rise from the dead on the third; and finally, after some 50 days, to ascend back to Heaven—all to redeem sinners, such as you and I, and, thereby, to give us eternal life.
If you believe that story, then, believing that God will heal metastatic, esophageal cancer is a piece of cake! On the surface, one would think that anyone who believes either, is nuts, as in “mental hospital nuts,” but, for some reason, we tend to forget, that one can believe neither, UNLESS God gives him the faith to do so, and when He does, that one can believe nothing else, regardless of the opinions of others.
“Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord—for we walk by faith, not by sight—we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6-8 NASB; italics added).
Somehow, I think this is the mindset of the man who visit GCF this Sunday.

The Kingdom of Heaven is Like a Dragnet

2009-08-15T11:20:00.000-05:00

August 15, 2009
Dear Fellow Travelers,
This is what Jesus said: “. . . the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down, and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. So it will be at the end of the age; the angels shall come forth, and take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Have you understood these things” (Matthew 13:49-51a NASB).
Please take a minute to reread these words of Jesus, as they contain this very important and timely message: not everyone, who is caught in the dragnet of evangelism, is among the righteous—far from it. Notice that the dragnet gathers fish of every kind—both good fish and bad fish—but there will be a day of reckoning, even of weeping and gnashing of teeth, when the “good fish” will be eternally separated from the “bad fish.”
Notice, too, that there is no indication that the righteous and unrighteous should somehow live separately; in fact, the indication is that we will remain together until the end of the age, until the “day of reckoning.” Obviously, Jesus practiced what He preached, as he was labeled a glutton and a winebibber, as one who socialized with sinners.
It is also important to note that angels will do the separating, not the good fish! In other words, it is not the job of the “good fish” to judge who is and who is not among the righteous. Thankfully, God left in more capable hands! If you are already in this business, I suggest that you hang a “closed” sign on the front door, and get out of the business-sooner, rather than later.
As you can see (though most want to ignore it!), the penalty for being a “bad fish” is rather severe, albeit, very just (which you will not see, unless you are one of the “good fish” who has eyes to see). Even the thought of being cast into the furnace of fire should be motivation enough, but God’s elect are not motivated into His Kingdom by fear, or anything else for that matter; instead, they are “caught” in His dragnet.
Now, listen up: Paul in Galatians, chapter one, made it very, very clear that there is but one gospel—the gospel he preached—and he made it just as clear that, if anyone (including Paul, even angels) should preach a gospel (which is really no gospel) contrary to the one he preached, he should be accursed (eternally separated from God!). From what I can see, this means that it is very important, life and death important, that each of us be certain that we believe the very same gospel Paul preached.
With that I am going out on a limb and make this prediction: At the end of the age, on the “day of reckoning,” when the “good fish” are separated from the “bad fish,” when the righteous are separated from the unrighteous, two things will be obvious: (1) everyone of the righteous will believe the very same gospel that Paul preached; (2) the unrighteous, regardless of what they believe, will be cast into THE furnace of fire.
Now I have two questions:
1. Do you understand these things (His disciples said they did, but I doubt it!)?
2. Do you believe the gospel that Paul preached, the very same gospel that he preached (if you aren’t sure, I highly recommend that you take the time to be sure, as it is a life and death matter—no fooling!)?

“Take My yoke (teaching) upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:29-30).

Love's Extravagance

2009-08-14T11:17:00.000-05:00

August 14, 2009
Dear Fellow Travelers,
Most of you are very familiar with the story of Jesus’ visit to the home of Mary & Martha (Luke 10:38-42), the one where Martha was busy preparing supper, while Mary was sitting at His feet, doing (according to Jesus) the one thing that was necessary (sitting at His feet is really does rank that high on the list of things that are necessary!). As you re-member, Martha got a bit “testy.”
The characters in the following story are the same, with the addition of Lazarus, the brother of Mary & Martha, and, for some reason, Judas Iscariot. Listen carefully: “Jesus, therefore, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they made Him a supper there, and Martha was serving, but Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. Mary therefore took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said, ‘Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii, and given to poor people?’ (John 12:1-5 NASB).
It seems that Mary was much like John, in that she preferred to be as physically close to Jesus, as she possibly could; obviously, Lazarus was one of Jesus’ strongest supporters, as not too many people could lay claim to having been raised from the dead; Martha loved Him dearly, but she, for some reason, thought He was impressed with her serving abilities; Judas, although Jesus had chosen him as one of His disciples, was a crook, who loved money much more than he loved Jesus.
Enter Mary with a pound of very costly perfume, nard to be precise, that was worth an amount equal to roughly a year’s wages. By anyone’s stretch of imagination, it was valuable, and Judas had his “snake eyes” riveted on it, already trying to figure out a way to confiscate it, when the unthinkable happened—Mary broke it open and gently, lovingly poured it over Jesus’ feet, and then wiped His feet with her hair.
Judas was hyperventilating, barely able to constrain himself at the thought of this lost opportunity, as the stench of his hypocrisy tried, futilely, to overcome the fragrance of the perfume that immediately filled the house. The Sacred and the profane met toe-to-toe, and the Sacred won, as the powerful, healing, redeeming, fragrance of extravagant love saturated the air. What followed, however, is beyond the pale of evil.
These revealing words fell like hot, acrid vomitus from Judas’ lips before he even had time to form them in his mouth: “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii, and given to poor people” (vs. 5)? In other words, “Why this terrible waste?”
It is heartbreaking, indeed, to think that Judas never knew the extravagance of love.
It is even more heartbreaking to think that he saw love’s extravagance as a waste.
Is your love extravagant?
His is, and then some!

“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10 NASB). Extravagant love, indeed, and, thankfully, nothing wasted!

On Mary Magdalen

2009-08-13T09:42:00.000-05:00

August 13, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,

“It was in the month of June when I saw Him for the first time. He was walking in the wheat field when I passed by with my handmaidens, and He was alone. The rhythm of His step was different from other men’s, and the movement of His body was like naught I had seen before. Men do not pace the earth in that manner. And even now I do not know whether He walked fast or slow. My handmaidens pointed their fingers at Him and spoke in shy whispers to one another. And I stayed my steps for a moment, and raised my hand to hail Him. But He did not turn His face, and He did not look at me. And I hated Him. I was swept back into myself, and I was as cold as if I had been in a snow-drift. And I shivered. That night I beheld Him in my dreaming; and they told me afterward that I screamed in my sleep and was restless upon my bed.
It was in the month of August that I saw Him again, through my window. He was sit-ting in the shadow of the cypress tree across my garden, and He was as still as if He had been carved out of stone, like the statues in Antioch and other cities of the North Country. And my slave, the Egyptian, came to me and said, ‘That man is here again. He is sitting there across your garden.’ And I gazed at Him, and my soul quivered within me, for He was beautiful. His body was single and each part seemed to love every other part. Then I clothed myself with raiment of Damascus, and I left my house and walked towards Him. Was it my aloneness, or was it His fragrance, that drew me to Him? Was it a hunger in my eyes that desired comeliness, or was it His beauty that sought the light of my eyes? Even now I do not know.
I walked to Him with my scented garments and my golden sandals, the sandals the Roman captain had given me, even these sandals. And when I reached Him, I said, ‘Good-morrow to you.’ And He said, ‘Good-morrow to you, Miriam. And He looked at me, and His night-eyes saw me as no man had seem me. And suddenly I was as if naked, and I was shy. Yet He had only said, ‘Good-morrow to you.’
And then I said to Him, ‘Will you not come to my house?’ And He said, ‘Am I not al-ready in your house?’ I did not know what He meant then, but I know now.
And I said, ‘Will you not have wine and bread with me?’ And He said, ‘Yes, Miriam, but not now.’ Not now, not now, He said. And the voice of the sea was in those two words, and the voice of the wind and the trees. And when He said them unto me, life spoke to death. For mind you, my friend, I was dead. I was a woman who had divorced her soul. I was living apart from this self which you now see. I belonged to all men, and to none. They called me harlot, and a woman possessed of seven devils. I was cursed, and I was envied.
But when His dawn-eyes looked into my eyes all the stars of my night faded away, and I became Miriam, only Miriam, a woman lost to the earth she had known, and finding herself in new places.
. . . Then He stood up and looked at me even as the seasons look down upon the field, and He smiled. And He said again: ‘All men love you for themselves. I love you for yourself.’
And then He walked away.
. . . on that day the sunset of His eyes slew the dragon in me, and I became a wom-an, I became Miriam, . . .” [Kahlil Gibran, Jesus, The Son of Man (Alfred A Knopf, Inc., 1928), pp. 12-15.].

This was simply too good for you to miss!

Did Jesus Keep a Daily Journal?

2009-08-11T19:51:00.000-05:00

August 11, 2009
Dear Fellow Travelers,
Yes, I know that my mind wanders into some strange places, and these are probably two of them, but have you ever wondered if Jesus kept a daily journal? Have you ever wondered why one of the books of the New Testament is not named “The Gospel According to Jesus?” To be sure, Paul was a good man, and what he wrote was inspired by the Holy Spirit, but I really wish Jesus could have slipped His own book into the Bible; it could have been “Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Jesus.” I’m betting it would have been read quite frequently and with much interest. I think He missed a good opportunity!
About His daily journal: What do you think are some of the things He would have written. I really do wonder about this! Do you think he would have been honest, or would He like, most of us, have been afraid that someone would find the journal, read it and publish their findings in the Jerusalem Daily Gossip? Oh, I know that most of you are scolding me for even suggesting that He might not have written the honest truth, but I don’t care, and I don’t because I believe there were some things that He wanted to keep to Himself. Anyway, I thought I would share some of the things I think He would have written in His journal, as I think His entries would surprise us.
4 Nisan: It is hot today, much too hot for me to be walking these dusty streets! How well I remember living with my Father in my other life; it was much better than this and much cooler. Thank goodness, I will be returning—soon!
5 Nisan: These Pharisees are driving me crazy with their self-righteous bigotry; truth is, I would much rather minister to the gluttons and drunks, at least they aren’t hypocritical! I had lunch with a young couple today; I hope her cooking improves; otherwise, her husband will be finding excuses to eat with his mama!
6 Nisan: I know I hand-picked Peter, so I can’t blame anyone but myself, but he embarrassed the daylights out of me today, as I watched him try to cast a demon out of some poor sap. I am afraid the sap is worse now, than before. Maybe Peter should spend more time fishing.
7 Nisan: The Spring flowers are really beautiful this year; I think I will pick some and leave them on Mary Magdalene’s doorsteps (I am really glad that Peter wasn’t available to cast out her demons!).
8 Nisan: Today I had lunch with a couple of drunks; the food wasn’t much, but the fellowship was some of the best. They were so honest, so open, and so hungry for truth, so much so that I called ahead to make reservations for them in my Father’s House. About 3:00 the news had spread and I was, immediately, labeled a winebibber and a glutton; I am certain that I will make the headlines tomorrow.
9 Nisan: It is as hot as Hell today, well not quite, but hot nonetheless, so I decided to take a dip in the Sea of Galilee, which proved to be a mistake. I had no sooner entered the water, when some women’s group, who were visiting the area, decided to take a dip, as well. They had not seen me, so they were stripping down to their undergarments and having a blast. I couldn’t believe my eyes, when that group of Pharisees showed up, as if they had been hiding in the shadows, waiting for the kill. I know for certain that I will make the headlines tomorrow—no doubt about it—and I already know how they will read: “Self Proclaimed Priest Enjoying Mixed Bathing!”
10 Nisan: Today, I stumbled upon a blind man, one who had been blind all of his life, and he was on up in age. I introduced myself to him, pretending to be a stranger from Capernaum, and asked him, if I could do anything for him. He didn’t want much, just to have his sight restored, but he had no idea that I could manage that for him. I squeezed a bit of juice from cactus plant and rubbed it on his eyes, then I asked him to slowly open his eyes, and when he did, the folks in Capernaum heard him shout, and that is the truth. I really enjoyed doing that for him; in fact, I called on ahead and made reservations for him in my Father’s House.
11 Nisan: In just a few days, I will be making my way to Golgotha. In some ways, I can hardly wait; in others ways, I could wait a long time. I know this is why I left my Father’s House, and I really want to accomplish His purpose for me; I just hope He knows what He is doing. Some will think I have an ace in the hole” but they don’t know what they are talking about. If my Father doesn’t come through, as He promised, I will be in one huge mess.
Go ahead and condemn me for making such assumptions, if you like. I never have been afraid to color outside the lines, anyway; in fact, I rather enjoy it. To be sure, Jesus colored outside the lines every time and all the time, and He, too, was condemned for it. I know He enjoyed it!
It would probably be good for you to relax a bit and do a little coloring outside the lines yourself. You might just be surprised at your creativity!

Faith or Fear?

2009-08-10T21:53:00.001-05:00

August 10, 2009
Dear Fellow Travelers,
In my last perspective, I mentioned to you that living by faith scares the wits out of me most of the time, and it does because it requires waiting to see, and sometimes the wait can be quite long; in fact, sometimes we never “see” faith’s promise.
As a matter of comfort, Hebrews 11 gives us quite a list of people, rather significant people, who died without receiving faith’s promise. They saw it from a distance, i.e. through the lens of faith, but they never actually saw it with their physical eyes.
Now that I have your attention, allow me to share with you what is really on my heart: From what I have been able to see, many people confuse fear with faith. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard someone declare they are walking in faith, when in truth, they are walking in fear (seldom do they admit it!).
Talk for example the person who has been feeling ill for several weeks, and the ill-ness is such that others notice it. Being the “strong” believer that he is, he finally admits that he is feeling ill, but he also announces that he is trusting God to take care of whatever is wrong, to heal him, and, thus, he refuses to go to the Doctor.
Just for the record, this person is NOT walking in faith; the truth is, he refuses to go to the doctor because he is afraid of what he will find out. This person is walking in fear, wearing the disguise of faith, which isn’t faith at all.
I know many pastors who lay claim to being men of faith, but their tendency toward micromanaging those who labor alongside them, nullifies their claim. Regardless of their claim, they are really walking in fear, not in faith. Genuine faith says, “I trust you to do your job, but if you need me, I am here for you.” Genuine faith is never afraid of failure; in fact, it expects it, even encourages it. How else can people grow and mature?
You can take this to the bank: Pride is the enemy of faith—always. The very familiar “If you just had enough faith, you wouldn’t be sick” mindset has locked many Christians in the prison of pride, and driven them down the road of fear, wearing the disguise of faith, which isn’t faith, at all.
The mindset that says, “If you people just had enough faith, we could easily raise enough money to build our much-needed fellowship hall” has locked many pastors in the prison of pride, and driven them down the road of control, wearing the disguise of humility and faith, neither of which is the genuine article. Listen up: true faith never attempts to be in control; that is what fear does—always.
The person who is truly walking in faith, is the person who is living in the freedom that Jesus died to give to him, the kind of freedom that allows for weaknesses, for failures, and, yes, even for fear (the kind of fear that does not have to hide behind a mask of faith).
“For without faith it is impossible to please Him . . .” (Hebrews 11:6a; NASB).

Boasting about Weaknesses? Really?

2009-08-09T21:10:00.001-05:00

Mac's Perspective on the Intricacies of God’s Amazing Grace

August 9, 2009
Dear Fellow Travelers,
The words of Paul have intrigued me for many years: “If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my weakness” (2 Corinthians 11:30; NASB). One of the reasons for my intrigue is the fact that, at least from my perspective, Paul was such an incredibly strong Christian. If he was weak, God help the rest of us!
Another reason for my intrigue with this passage is the fact that, at least at this point in my life, I am much more aware of my weaknesses, than I am of my strengths (age will do that to you!). Admittedly, I cannot claim to do much boasting about my weaknesses, but I am aware of them—very aware.
For example, Jesus said that, if we have faith the size of a mustard seed (very, very small!), we could say to a mountain, be thou cast into the sea and it would jump right in the ocean! Well, this is the actual quote: “. . . for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there, and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20; NASB).
Obviously, (to those of you who know me) I have very little faith (boasting about my weakness!), not even enough to equal the size of a mustard seed (really boasting about my weakness!), because I haven’t had much success moving mountains (the earthy kind or the metaphorical kind). Yes, I have seen God do some incredible things, move some genuine “mountains” in my life and in the life of others, but you can rest assured that it had nothing to do with my great faith (boasting about my weakness, just in case you missed it)!
Here is another example: Faith requires that we do not see; otherwise, why have faith. If I can see, I do not need faith. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1; KJV). Listen to what the writer of Hebrews (prob-ably Paul) is saying: Faith is the assurance (substance) of things I hope for, and it is the evidence (conviction) of things I cannot see. Well, trust me on this one: there is much that I hope for and even more that I cannot see, and make no mistake—hoping scares me to death (boasting about my weakness!); in my mind, a bird in hand is worth two under a bush. And I might add, I much prefer seeing over not seeing (boasting about my weakness!)!
And another: John tells us that there is no fear in love because perfect love casts out fear . . . and the one who fears is not perfected in love. If you want it, this is his precise quote, per the NASB: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love” (1 John 4:18). Well, so much for John’s fearlessness, but some things scare the wits out of me (and you, too, if you are honest!), which means, I suppose, that I have not been perfected in love (boasting about my weakness!).
I suppose I should also boast about this weakness: I have a very hard time loving some people, even some of God’s people; truth is, there are some that I don’t even like (re-ally boasting in my weakness!).
I could go on and on boasting about my weaknesses, but you would tire of reading and never get to my point, so I will stop (for now).
This is my point: I really do want you to know that is perfectly OK that you do not have it all together, that sometimes your “yarn” looks much like a tangled fishing line; that you haven’t arrived at perfection in your behavior, that sometimes you kick, and spit, and cuss; that some things scare the wits out of you and living by faith is one of them; that you haven’t gotten love all figured out and wrapped in a neat package with a ribbon on it, and, as a result, at least from your perspective, some of God’s children are just plain weird and hard to love, even like.
This is what Paul said about that: “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for [My] power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10; NASB; brackets mine). One thing is for sure, the Psalmist was correct: God’s ways are not our ways.

On Being Distracted

2009-08-08T21:00:00.001-05:00

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,

One of the things about the life of Jesus that has intrigued me over the years is the ability He demonstrated to remain focused, even in the midst of extreme adversity. For most of us, even the slightest adversity distracts us; consequently, most of us live life in a “state of distraction.”

The fact is no one has ever had to endure the relentless adversity that Jesus did; yet, His ability to remain focused is unparalleled. Some of you are probably thinking that He was able to do this because of who He was, but we must not forget that He was fully human, being tempted in every way that we are tempted.

His experience on the Mount of Temptation illustrates my point quite well (see Matthew 4:1-11). As you know, He had just spent forty days and nights in the wilderness, fasting under extreme adversity, when Satan shows up in an effort to distract Him through very enticing temptations. Amazingly, during this entire forty-day experience, He never lost focus, not even for a second; instead, He remained faithful to His mission and purpose.

Be honest. How easily are you distracted from God’s mission and purpose for your life? What (who) is presently distracting you? Are you presently experiencing an adversity that is distracting you? Is the focus of your life more on you and your circumstances, or on the abundant life that He died to give to you?

These are the words of Paul: “But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3).

I hope you will give this some thought, especially in light of the fact that Satan will do whatever he can to rob you of the joy of living in the simplicity and purity of devotion to Jesus.

On Devotion to Jesus

2009-08-06T21:15:00.004-05:00

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
One of the things about the life of Jesus that has intrigued me over the years is the ability He demonstrated to remain focused, even in the midst of extreme adversity. For most of us, even the slightest adversity distracts us; consequently, most of us live life in a “state of distraction.”
The fact is no one has ever had to endure the relentless adversity that Jesus did; yet, His ability to remain focused is unparalleled. Some of you are probably thinking that He was able to do this because of who He was, but we must not forget that He was fully human, being tempted in every way that we are tempted.
His experience on the Mount of Temptation illustrates my point quite well (see Matthew 4:1-11). As you know, He had just spent forty days and nights in the wilderness, fasting under extreme adversity, when Satan shows up in an effort to distract Him through very enticing temptations. Amazingly, during this entire forty-day experience, He never lost focus, not even for a second; instead, He remained faithful to His mission and purpose.
Be honest. How easily are you distracted from God’s mission and purpose for your life? What (who) is presently distracting you? Are you presently experiencing an adversity that is distracting you? Is the focus of your life more on you and your circumstances, or on the abundant life that He died to give to you?
These are the words of Paul: “But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3).
I hope you will give this some thought, especially in light of the fact that Satan will do whatever he can to rob you of the joy of living in the simplicity and purity of devotion to Jesus.

2009-08-06T21:15:00.001-05:00

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
One of the things about the life of Jesus that has intrigued me over the years is the ability He demonstrated to remain focused, even in the midst of extreme adversity. For most of us, even the slightest adversity distracts us; consequently, most of us live life in a “state of distraction.”
The fact is no one has ever had to endure the relentless adversity that Jesus did; yet, His ability to remain focused is unparalleled. Some of you are probably thinking that He was able to do this because of who He was, but we must not forget that He was fully human, being tempted in every way that we are tempted.
His experience on the Mount of Temptation illustrates my point quite well (see Matthew 4:1-11). As you know, He had just spent forty days and nights in the wilderness, fasting under extreme adversity, when Satan shows up in an effort to distract Him through very enticing temptations. Amazingly, during this entire forty-day experience, He never lost focus, not even for a second; instead, He remained faithful to His mission and purpose.
Be honest. How easily are you distracted from God’s mission and purpose for your life? What (who) is presently distracting you? Are you presently experiencing an adversity that is distracting you? Is the focus of your life more on you and your circumstances, or on the abundant life that He died to give to you?
These are the words of Paul: “But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3).
I hope you will give this some thought, especially in light of the fact that Satan will do whatever he can to rob you of the joy of living in the simplicity and purity of devotion to Jesus.

I Have No Idea!

2009-08-03T19:21:00.001-05:00

August 3, 2009
Dear Fellow Travelers,
With so many unsettling changes and broken promises being made by the leaders (on both sides of the aisle) of our country, I am very thankful that there is One who never changes, that there is One, whose Word is forever settled in Heaven. Many, many years ago, He gave me the faith to believe that I can depend upon Him to keep His Word, always to do what is best, never to leave me nor forsake me, and to get me Home before dark. For reasons far beyond me, the faith He placed within me still holds, as the anchor of my life. It really is the substance of things I hope for and the evidence of what I cannot see.
Oh yes, there are times when my faith is shaken to its very foundation, but even then, He never lets me forget that it is His faith, not mine, that is working in my life, so I need not panic. He has ways of encouraging me, that I could never in my wildest dreams imagine. When I am convinced there is no hope and no way out UNLESS He comes through, HE ALWAYS COMES THROUGH! No, He does NOT always come through the way I want Him to, but that is a tremendous blessing in and of itself.
A few weeks ago, Annis and I were having dinner with a couple, who have faithfully supported GCF (the church I pastor) with their prayers, their love, and their money for probably a dozen or more years. I have no idea how many prayers they have prayed for GCF, or how many expressions of love I have received from them, but I can tell you, that for that dozen or more years, they have not missed one single month of contributing very generously to GCF.
In these years of their lives, they have some dreams they really want to see become reality, very exciting dreams; it excites me, just to hear them talk of them. They have waited and waited for the doors to open, but thus far they have remained closed. In our conversation during dinner, I think I detected a bit of frustration, well maybe a bit more than a bit; after all, prolonged waiting for something you truly desire in never easy, even for committed Christians.
We are their friends, and we really want this dream to become reality for them, but, I must admit there is this one hitch: the fulfillment of their dreams will mean a severe decrease in their income, and, therefore, a severe decrease in what they are able to contribute to GCF. Honestly, as much as I want to see their dreams become reality, this causes me a bit of anxiety, well maybe a bit more than a bit; after all, the uncertainty can be a bit frightening, even to a committed, Christian pastor.
I will never forget the words these beloved friends spoke to us (the husband actually did the speaking, but his wife’s heart was with him): Knowing that God is using us to be a financial blessing to GCF makes all the waiting for our dreams to become reality worthwhile (my paraphrase but it is close to an exact quote). I couldn’t help but notice the tears that were welling up in their eyes, and, to be sure, I was humbled beyond mere words!
Would you please pray that our incredibly faithful God would allow the dreams of my friends to become reality—soon? Thanks! I knew you would.
On another note, I learned just this Sunday morning, that another dear friend, along with one of his friends, is going to be translating my perspectives, aka “Mac’s Perspective,” into Spanish and Portuguese, and, then, passing them on to believers in Brasilia, Brazil and Lima, Peru! I stand in deep appreciation for these friends, who will be extending my preaching of the gospel, even to the uttermost parts of the earth. Talk about encouragement!
To be honest, I have no idea how, in these tough economic times, God will continue to finance the ministry of GCF, I cannot even say that I know He will, but I can say this: I am very thankful that there is One who never changes, that there is One whose Word is forever settled in Heaven, and I am especially thankful that He gave me the faith to believe that I can depend upon Him to keep His Word, always to do what is best, never to leave me nor forsake me, and to get me Home before dark.
To each of you, who read my perspectives, who pass them on to others, who trans-late them into other languages, who pray for me, who encourage me, who so obviously love me, who financially support GCF, I want to express my sincere thanks.
“But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20: 24 NASB).

Grace lavished,

Mac

One Day, One Thousand Years?

2009-08-01T09:50:00.000-05:00

August 1, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Holy tamole, it is August!! I am telling you guys, it will be September in just a few minutes. The older I become the more I realize what Peter meant by his “with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day,” especially, the last part. Oh well—
In my reading to prepare for my sermon tomorrow, I came across something from John R.W. Stott’s book, “The Message of Galatians” (p. 179), that in my opinion is worth sharing with those of you who read my perspectives. Listen up: “And what is there about the cross of Christ which angers the world and stirs them up to persecute those who preach it? Just this: Christ died on the cross for us sinners, becoming a curse for us (Galatians 3:13). So the cross tells us some very unpalatable truths about ourselves, namely that we are sinners under the righteous curse of God’s law and we cannot save ourselves. Christ bore our sin and curse precisely because we could gain release from them in no other way. If we could have been forgiven by our own good works, by being circumcised and keeping the law, we may be quite sure that there would have been no cross. Cf. Galatians 2:21. Every time we look at the cross Christ seems to say to us, ‘I am here because of you. It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying.’ Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross. All of us have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary. It is there, at the foot of the cross, that we shrink to our true size. And of course men do not like it.”
This is merely my perspective, so factor that into your response: When we are living in the truth of what Stott has written, time really does fly, a thousand years is as one day; however, when we are living outside the parameters of this truth, time seems to be at a standstill, one day is as a thousand years.

Tax Collectors and Sycamore Trees

2009-07-29T13:37:00.000-05:00

July 29, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
OK, after yesterday’s perspective, I will move on to something more serious; however, I have thus far passed my physical, which is a good thing. Thanks to all of you who offered prayers in my behalf, I know the Doc and his nurse appreciated them, as well.
As you probably remember, Zaccheus was one of Rome’s chief tax-gatherers, i.e. he was very good at collecting taxes for Rome, and he was, especially, good at skimming enough off the top to make a good profit for himself; consequently, the Roman government loved him, and he was rich, as in filthy rich—literally. “And behold, there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus, and he was a chief tax-gatherer, and he was rich” (Luke 19:2 NASB).
The next verses really intrigue me: “And he was trying to see who Jesus was, and he was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. And he ran on ahead and climbed into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way” (vss. 3-4). Can you imagine Warren Buffet climbing up into a tree because he wanted so desperately to see Jesus? I am of the opinion that most of the folk in the crowd thought Zaccheus had lost his mind; a rich man sitting in a tree is enough in and of itself to make the Daily New headlines, but sitting there because he wanted to see Jesus, is quite another.
Have you ever wondered why this rich, tax collector, Zaccheus, wanted so badly to see Jesus? I mean, gosh, he had plenty of money, lots of job security, and Rome loved him (well, they loved the money he collected). Why was he so driven to see Jesus, that he made himself look foolish, sitting above the crowd in a sycamore tree?
I am of the opinion that he wanted to see Jesus for the same reason anyone wants to see Jesus—Jesus first wanted to see him. “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). You think about that, then read this: “And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, ‘Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house’” (vs. 5). I love the next verse: “And he hurried and came down, and received Him gladly” (vs. 6).
For some reason, I am wondering if you are in a hurry to see Jesus, if you are in a hurry to know who He really is, so much so that you are willing to make yourself look foolish, if that is what it takes.
I will say this: If you are, you are because He is in a hurry to see you, so make haste and come on down—

Paper Sheets, Voiding Cups, and Mango Metamucil

2009-07-28T20:43:00.001-05:00

July 28, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Tomorrow, I have my annual physical exam; for some reason, I thought you would want to know that. Gosh, now that I think about it, I hope I can muster up what it takes to pass it. The truth is I hope I can pass it with flying colors, which at my age, ain’t nearly as easy as it once was.
You think about it. At my age, I have to go into that small, freezing-cold, sterile-feeling office and take of all of my clothes, and put some flimsy paper sheet over my naked body, that is about half long enough to cover my important parts, and wait for the doctor to arrive. I already know his first question: How are you, today? I also know my answer: I am about to freeze to death; in fact, I have embalmed people who were warmer than I am.
Oh, I almost forgot! Before the experience in the “embalming room,” some cute nurse will have weighed me. For the life of me, I do not know why because I have weighed the same thing for the past 50 years, and she has it recorded on her chart. I tell her that every time, but she doesn’t listen. Just before I step on the scales, she will ask me, if I want to remove my shoes. I probably won’t say it, but, as always, I will wonder why in the wide-world it is so important not to wear shoes when weighing in. Maybe it is a Jewish custom or something.
Next, she will hand me a little cup and tell me to go into the bathroom, void in the cup, and leave it on the back of the toilet. It took me several years to figure out what “void in the cup” meant (in nursing language), so for most of my life, I just did the only thing that made any sense to me: I dipped a little of the toilet water into the cup and left it on the back of the toilet, and, inevitably, I would have to pee, thinking how glad I was that I had already dipped the water. Things are different, now that I know what “void” means.
Then comes the blood pressure thingy. I do not know why she has to pump that gizmo up so tight that my eyes bulge, but I guess it is necessary, even though I have never had particularly high blood pressure. When she finishes, she writes down what she learned, as if it is some kind of classified secret. Just to aggravate her, I always ask (tomorrow will be no exception!) if I have any blood pressure (most embalming room patients don’t), thinking she will laugh, but she never does.
You know what’s coming next! “When did you last have a bowel movement?” (I never have known why she wants to know that, but I will try to remember and tell her. Actually, I am sure it won’t have been all that long ago, so I should be able to remember, rather easily). Then, as if she hasn’t already been intrusive enough, she will want to know if I am constipated (Obviously, she doesn’t know me, so I tell her “yes,” which is a major lie, but I never tell her that, and, again, tomorrow will be no exception; instead, I will peep over her shoulder, as she very discretely writes in all caps—METAMUCIL; I have no idea what that means, or I would tell you).
As you can probably guess, she always asks me if I am sleeping at night (When else would she think I would sleep?), so I feel certain that I will get that question tomorrow. I usually tell her that I am on the night shift and sleep during the day, which is another huge lie, but I never tell her that either. Inevitably, she asks me where I work during the day? Of course, I reply with, “Did I say that I work?”). Somewhere, long about now, she says the Doctor will be in to see you in a little while. This is when I learn that she is a bigger liar than I, unless she measures minutes in hours.
Anyway, after some time, the Doc will come in and, as I said earlier, he will ask me how I am doing (I will wonder if he looked at the chart the nurse just filled out!) and I will tell him that I am about to freeze to death; in fact, I have embalmed people who were warmer than I am, albeit, covered with a similar sheet.
Thankfully, he won’t ask me when I last had a bowel movement, or if I am constipated, but before it is all over, he will want to know, if I prefer orange or grape Metamucil. Since, I have no preference, I will probably tell him that I prefer mango. To be honest with you, I have never been constipated in my entire life—far from it.
After a few probes in very interesting places, he will tell the nurse to do an EKG. To the untrained patient, those are just letters, but to an old experienced one like I, it almost creates panic. Before it is over, there will be very few hairs left on my chest, and all she will to say to console me is “Sorry; I know that hurt.” Truth is I know she enjoys it, otherwise, why does she always have that weird grin on her face? If Docs can install new vessels into our hearts, give us knee replacements, and remove our gall bladders through a laparoscope, why can’t they figure out to make those sticky things come off more easily?
You will have to be of the male sex to understand the rest of this but I will spare the details, other than to tell you that my youngest brother was having this particular test (you know, the one done with a digit) done by his doctor, a female, and in the process, he asked, “Does your mother know what you do for a living?”
I am not sure what all of this has to do with the intricacies of God's amazing grace, but I am sure you can make a connection, if you try hard enough.

“How blessed is he who considers the helpless; the Lord will deliver him in a day of trouble. The Lord will protect him, and keep him alive . . .” (Psalm 41:1-2a).

Our Addictions to People

2009-07-24T14:58:00.000-05:00

July 24, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Yes, another quote from Anthony de Mello: “How many activities can you count in your life that you engage in simply because they delight you and grip your soul” [“The Way to Love” p. 89]? Take a few minutes, many, if necessary, and make an honest list; I think you will be surprised.
From what I have been able to see, most people’s list will be rather short; in fact, I am betting that some of you will have a hard time coming up with even one activity, much less a list of them.
It is my guess that many of you get up in the morning, wishing you could remain in bed, but having to spend most of the day doing something you don’t even like to do, much less something you delight in doing. In fact, I am going to raise my bet and say that many of you are so weary, that you are about ready to throw up your hands and say, “I quit!”
Now, listen up, as I share another quote from de Mello (same book, same chapter): “Look at your life and see how you have filled its emptiness with people. As a result they have a stranglehold on you. See how they control your behavior by their approval and dis-approval. They hold the power to ease your loneliness with their company, to send your spirits soaring with their praise, to bring you down to the depths with their criticism and rejection. Take a look at yourself spending almost every waking minute of your day placating and pleasing people, whether they are living or dead.
Is there any wonder that so few of us engage in activities that delight us, that grip our souls? How can we, when we spend every waking moment attempting to placate and please people, when in fact we have sold our souls to our addictions to people, even dead people? “What will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, but loses his own soul?”

Sulfuric Acid, Garlic, Tar, Mentholatum, and Dirty Socks

2009-07-23T14:36:00.001-05:00

July 23, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
As we rode past the paper mill in Jesup, the odor was almost breath-taking. I wondered out loud how many of the employees had grown accustomed to it, no longer even noticing it. It brought back memories (not good ones!) from my growing-up days, when winds would carry the odor from the paper mill in Macon, some 40 miles to Reynolds, where I lived. The stench was terrible. It still is.
One of the members of my flock at GCF, Luke Wicker, invited me and my son, Michael, on a fishing trip to Morgan’s Lake, just off the Altamaha River, near Jesup, Georgia. Actually, there were four of us, as Luke picked up his brother, Pete, on his way down to Jesup. We were all very excited about fishing, especially after one look into the cooler of a couple of men, who had just returned to the fish camp. We quickly put our boats into the water, and got busy, not fishin’, but catchin‘! It soon became obvious that this was going to be a fisherman’s paradise.
We couldn’t help but notice, however, that the stench of the aforementioned paper mill was very prevalent. Interestingly, the longer we stayed, the more accustomed we be-came to the odor; the incredible scenery and the bountiful fishing were both powerful distracters!
At the end of the trip, we were all tired, so I iced-down the fish (some of the healthiest looking fish I have ever seen!) in one of my coolers and brought them home, where, motivated by the anticipation of a good fish fry, I would clean them. About two fish into the cleaning process, I said to Michael, “These fish smell just like that paper mill!” He brushed me off, thinking I was “imagining things.”
Well, sure enough, according to plan, I cooked a good mess of them, and lo and be-hold, they tasted just like that paper mill smelled and Michael agreed. (For those of you who do not know what a “mess” of fish is, listen up: it is about two more fish than the invited crowd can eat). Needless to say, this meant that I had more than a “mess,” because, well, I think you can understand why. I now have three gallon milk jugs of frozen fish in my freezer, that I can only discard. Trust me, not even the folks living under the bridge will eat these.
As of this afternoon, I have checked and that paper mill is permitted to dump, what-ever it is dumping, into the Altamaha River and is, therefore, meeting the EPA standards. Of course, it wouldn’t matter if they weren’t, as that company has plenty of money and enough political clout to get away with dumping toxic waste by the ton into the river, if it was so inclined.
A further check revealed that there is a lawsuit in the works, attempting to get this company to do something about this travesty; however, it is my guess that Jesus won’t live long enough to see any positive result.
Interestingly, whatever they are dumping must be good for the fish, as they are thriving (some of the largest bream I have ever seen!), but they are NOT for eating, unless you happen to like the combined taste of sulfuric acid, garlic, tar, mentholatum, and dirty socks.
So much for that. Now on to my point: substitute “religion” in the place of this paper mill and the resulting picture is much the same. Few have any idea what it is dumping into the river of their lives, and most are deceived, as to the significance of its affect upon their lives.
In contrast, taste and see that the Lord is good! “Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him, shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life” (John 4:13 NASB).

Free to be Free

2009-07-18T20:23:00.001-05:00

July 18, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
As I hope you know, tomorrow is Sunday, which means that in roughly 14 hours, I will be privileged to preach again. Preaching is my passion. With few exceptions, I have preached the Good News every Sunday (and many times between Sundays) for the last 30 years, and I have done so, passionately.
For as long as I can remember, that passion has burned at “white-heat” within the sanctuary of my soul; to be sure, the passing years have not diminished the passion. I must admit that for quite a few of those years, I was passionate about error. Oh, I thought the message I was preaching was truth, but when one is deceived he does not know it, and I was deceived—big time and on several fronts.
How were my eyes opened? Actually, I had to face the fact that my belief system, most of which was unquestioned, was not producing freedom—not in me, not in others. Jesus, however, was very clear: you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. To be sure, I was anything but free; in fact, I was a slave to religion. Obviously, I did not know the truth!
Even after all the years of living in the freedom that Christ died to give to me, I still ask myself this question: Are those who listen to my sermons experiencing the freedom that Christ died to give to them, or are they still imprisoned to religion.
Surely, the folk, who attend the church I pastor, have heard the gospel enough times to be preaching it themselves, so my mission is not to continue to pound the gospel into their heads; instead, my mission is to see the fruit of the gospel—FREEDOM—in their lives. It continues to be true: you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free!
Tomorrow my text is this: “For through the Law I died to the Law, that I might live to God” (Galatians 2:19 NASB). In other words, one cannot live to (for) God, i.e. one cannot live in freedom, until he dies to the Law.
I wish each of you could be present and, even more, I wish for each of you FREEDOM—the freedom that Jesus died to give to you.

Worried and Bothered

2009-07-17T19:24:00.001-05:00

July 17, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
This is what Jesus said to Martha in response to her being upset because Mary was sitting at His feet, “leaving her to do all the serving”: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41 NASB).
For some reason, the story doesn’t continue far enough for us to find out how Martha responded to what Jesus said to her; instead, we are left to use our imaginations, and mine says, that after Jesus’ rebuke, she neither enjoyed His visit or the supper she had prepared. I am imagining that she probably sulked through the entire evening, wondering why she ever agreed to have Him over for supper, in the first place. [Yes, I could be wrong!]
I am also imagining that she didn’t speak to Mary for a couple of days, at the very least, because she was convinced that the entire fray was her fault, and nothing Mary could say would change her mind. To be fair, however, I am rather certain that Jesus’ words pre-vailed in her heart, and she came to her senses in a few days. I hope I’m correct!
Has you imagination caused you to wonder what Jesus was referring to, when He told her that she was worried and bothered about so many things? Was she worried that the bathroom hadn’t been cleaned? Was she bothered by the fact that Mary wasn’t bothered by her having to “do all the serving?” Was she worried that the bills weren’t paid? Was she bothered by having to live with her sister and not a husband? Had she just received news that her grandmother had stepped in a hole and broken her left leg? Had she just heard about the new tax increase that was going to be levied, so everyone could have health care? Was she worried that the Stalagmites were going to defeat the Amalakites?
Heavens, I have no idea what was controlling her thinking but I do know this: it was preventing her from sitting at Jesus’ feet and enjoying His Person.
I have a question: What has you so “worried and bothered” that you haven’t been sitting at His feet and enjoying His Presence?
Just thought I would ask—

A Road Less Traveled

2009-07-13T13:15:00.003-05:00

July 10, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
One of my readers informed me that she had begun reading Anthony de Mello’s book, “The Way to Love,” so, as you might imagine, I ordered it myself, and all I know to say is “Wow!”
The following is a quote from the book (p. 13-14): “If you take a look at the way you have been put together and the way you function you will find that inside your head there is a whole program, a set of demands about how the world should be, how you should be and what you should want. Who is responsible for the programming? Not you. It isn’t really you who decided even such basics as your wants and desires and so-called needs; your values, your tastes, your attitudes. It was your parents, your society, your culture, your religion, your past experiences who fed the operating instructions into your computer. Now, however old you are or wherever you go, your computer goes along with you and is active and operating at each conscious moment of the day, imperiously insisting that its demands be met by life, by people and by you. If the demands are met, the computer allows you to be peaceful and happy. If they are not met, even though it be through no fault of yours, the computer generates negative emotions that cause you to suffer. For instance, when other people don’t live up to your computer’s expectations, it torments you with frustration or anger or bitterness. Another instance: When things are not under your control or the future is uncertain, your computer insists that you experience anxiety, tension, worry. Then you ex-pend a lot of energy coping with these negative emotions. And you generally cope by spending more energy trying to rearrange the world around you so that the demands of your computer will be met. If this happens you will be granted a measure of precarious peace; precarious because at any moment some trifle (a delayed train, a tape recorder that doesn’t work, a letter that doesn’t arrive—anything) is going to be out of conformity with your computer’s programming and the computer will insist that you become upset again. And so you live a pathetic existence, constantly at the mercy of things and people, . . .” (italics added).
Whether or not you believe what de Mello says, the fact remains that we are con-trolled by the paradigm out of which we view life, and that paradigm was developed from what we learned from the significant others in our lives. Sadly, it determines our perceptions, and our perceptions determine our “reality.”
Is there a way out? Sure, but it is not an easy way; indeed, it is “a road less traveled.” Step one is to realize that your perception of reality is in all probability incorrect, which is no easy task. Step two is to realize that your “computer” is relentlessly insisting that reality be reshaped to conform to your perception of reality, i.e. to its programming. Once you “see” this, then you can begin refusing to conform to its demands.
You give this some thought—

One More Bit More on Forgiveness

2009-07-12T15:46:00.001-05:00

July 9, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Before I temporarily leave the subject of forgiveness, there is one other passage that I want to bring before your remembrance: “But Jesus was saying, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing’” (Luke 23:34 NASB). OK. I want all of you who believe they did not know what they were doing to raise your hands. Hmmm. That’s what I thought. I didn’t see a single hand. Oh, they knew what they were doing, and for the most part they were convinced that they were doing the “right” thing. They were, really!
There is another side of this coin, however, and it is this: they really did not know what they were doing! They had no idea that they were fully cooperating with God’s plan of redemption. They had no idea that they were merely carrying out a piece of the plan of redemption that God set in motion before the foundation of the world. These criminals were in this designated place, at this appointed time, to carry out God’s rearranged plan.
These men were the scum of the earth, murderers, having no conscience, no sense of compassion, eager to torture and, even to watch with glee the suffering servant’s life’s blood flow from His battered body. If anyone ever needed forgiveness, they did; however, they did NOT deserve it—no way! It was His gracious gift to them. Jesus and His Father agreed to mark their debt paid in full—no contingencies whatsoever. Talk about grace!!
Now, listen up because this is really a three-sided coin (well, I guess I should call it a three-legged stool) and most NEVER realize it. This is the third leg of the stool: we forget that we were the “scum-of-the-earth, the murdering with no conscience and no sense of compassion” sinners; we were the “if anyone ever needed forgiveness we did” sinners, whose sins brought Him to this terrible cross, and, sadly, we, like they, thought we were doing the “right thing.” We did, really!
Did we deserve to be forgiven? Absolutely not! We weren’t even asking for forgiveness, primarily because we didn’t think we needed to be forgiven! But He ignored that, and without even asking for our permission, He forgave us. His words still ring clearly—“Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” At the time, we really didn’t; in fact, we didn’t even have a clue.
If you are His, then you are forgiven—forever forgiven. He paid you debt in full!

A Bit More on Forgiveness

2009-07-08T19:31:00.001-05:00

July 8, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
[Yes, I know I made a typo yesterday; looser should have been loser! Sorry but I ain’t perfect and I am old, not to mention that I wear trifocals, so be patient with me!]
Jesus said some things about forgiveness that for the life of me I have never been able to fully understand. I want to offer a few of them, so you can explain them to me:
1. “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Mat-thew 6:12 NASB). Hmmm. As we also have . . .? Careful!
2. “And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your transgressions. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions” (Mark 11:25-26 NASB). Oh my! If we do not, neither will He?
3. “And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us” (Luke 11:4 NASB). Do we really?
4. “Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him” (Luke 17:3-4 NASB). A piece of cake!
You know, this notion of forgiveness just might be a bit more important than we think! Maybe we have been too busy focusing on keeping the Sabbath holy, instead of focusing on forgiving one another. Maybe we have been too busy judging one another, instead of forgiving one another. Maybe we have been too busy keeping an account of wrongs suffered, instead of forgiving one another. Maybe we are all so sick that we enjoy being en-slaved to those who offend us. As I said yesterday, there is but one way out; yep, just one way. Fight it all you wish, but you will lose—I promise.
There is no cancer as aggressive and deadly as the cancer of “unforgiveness,” and, I might add, there is but one cure; yep, just one.

What If We Forgive?

2009-07-07T20:50:00.001-05:00

July 7, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Your responses to yesterday’ perspective let me know in no uncertain terms that most of us need a regular reminder of the importance of forgiveness, especially our forgiving others. In my opinion, that says lots about the whole lot of us.
How can those of us who have been forgiven of so much, love so little, as to have a difficult time forgiving others, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ. How can we with integrity receive God’s forgiveness, when we refuse to forgive those who offend us? How can we lay claim to personally trusting the efficacy of Jesus and His vicarious sacrifice, when we do not trust it’s effectiveness in the lives of others?
Yes, I know that some of you have been hurt—really hurt—by the actions (or lack thereof) of others, and I know that anyone, who would have to go through what you have experienced, would also have a difficult time releasing that enormous debt. I also know this: none of us have been hurt nearly as much as He was hurt by our rejection, our sinfulness—there is simply no comparison; the debts are incomparable. Furthermore, I know this: in spite of the depth of His hurt, in spite of the enormous debt we created (one we could never, ever repay!), He has forgiven us—forever—and He has chosen to call us His friend. The truth is this: He reconciled us to Himself while we were yet sinners (you can check that out in Romans 5, if you like)!
There is a bit of irony in this notion of forgiveness: we are slaves of the people we refuse to forgive. Really, we are! How foolish is that? Just for the record, there is only one way to freedom—F-O-R-G-I-V-E-N-E-S-S. You can live in your deception for as long as you wish, but you are the looser, not the offender.
I wonder what would happen in the Body of Christ if everyone who is refusing to for-give, did? I wonder what would happen in the Body of Christ if everyone who is holding another in his/her debt would mark that debt “Paid in Full”?
Maybe, just maybe, this is more important than we think.
You think about that—

Forgiveness

2009-07-06T09:09:00.000-05:00

July 6, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
In my message yesterday, I intended on pointing out some of the characteristics of Jesus’ life that separated Him from the world of religious folks; characteristics that, once seen, help to remove the scales of legalism. There were ten that I intended to share, but on my way home, I realized that I had omitted one of them, a very significant one of them.
These are the nine I shared: (1) Jesus was a man of relentless tenderness; (2) Jesus was a man of incredible courage; (3) By His own admission, He did not come to condemn the world but to save it; (4) Jesus’ weapons were mercy, grace, and love, not swords, guns, and muscles; (5) Jesus was a man of humility, not arrogance and pride; (6) He hated sin, but loved sinners; (7) Jesus was a man of few words, but when He spoke, the trees clapped their hands, the sea roared, and the heavens thundered; (8) Jesus was a man with few true friends, but He, nevertheless, calls each of us “friend”; (9) In Jesus’ eyes the Sabbath was made for Him, not the other way around.
This is the one I unintentionally omitted: Jesus was a man of instant forgiveness, never keeping a record of wrongs suffered. The truth is, He took the “record of wrongs committed against Him” and nailed it to the cross not only for His good, but especially for our good. That “certificate of debt” no longer exists—period!
I find it interesting that we can so quickly and eagerly accept His forgiveness of our sins, but we often find it very difficult, seemingly impossible, to forgive others, when they sin against us.
Just for the record: forgiveness in NOT what most think! It is not pushing feelings aside and pretending that all is well; instead, it is releasing another from a legitimate debt. Forgiveness can be accomplished only after the debt, that was created by the offense, is paid in full. The problem with that is this: not one of us has the resources to pay the debt, even a portion of it, much less the entire debt, which is why we so desperately need a Savior, especially One who never keeps a record of wrongs suffered—instant forgiveness.
It is very difficult for me to understand how anyone can receive His forgiveness with-out readily forgiving others. It is very difficult for me to understand how those, who have been forgiven so much, can be so diligent in keeping a record of wrongs suffered.
Remember this: YOU are a slave to the one you refuse to forgive. THAT person controls more of your life than you probably realize—what you think about, where you go, your sleep, your attitude, your relationships, et al.
For the life of me, I do not understand why He did not remind me of this yesterday, during my message. Oh well-

Just As I Am!

2009-06-28T21:30:00.002-05:00

June 28, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Realizing that you probably think I am stuck on de Mello’s books, I am, nevertheless, going to offer another quote from “The Song of the Bird” (p. 67-68): “I was a neurotic for years. I was anxious and depressed and selfish. Everyone kept telling me to change. I resented them, and I agreed with them, and I wanted to change, but simply couldn’t, no matter how hard I tried. What hurt the most was that, like the others, my best friend kept insisting that I change. So I felt powerless and trapped. Then, one day, he said to me, ‘Don’t change. I love you just as you are.’ Those words were music to my ears: ‘Don’t change. Don’t change. Don’t change. . . I love you as you are.’ I relaxed. I came alive. And suddenly I changed! Now, I know that I couldn’t really change until I found someone who would love me whether I changed or not.”
If I am not mistaken (and in this instance, I am not!), this is the way God loves us! Thankfully, we do not have to change in order to gain His love; He loves us because He is love and that is what love does.
Anyone who takes ownership of this incredible truth, anyone who believes that God is not requiring him/her to change in order to gain His love, does, indeed, change, so much so, as to come alive and really live.
Stop trying to be someone you are not. Stop trying to change to accommodate someone’s desires, to earn their love and acceptance. Accept the fact that those who really love you, love you as you are—whether you change or not.
God does and you can count on it!
That is good news—really good news!

The Fox & the Tiger

2009-06-26T11:24:00.001-05:00

June 26, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
This quote is also from de Mello’s book, “The Song of the Bird” (p. 79): “A man walking through the forest saw a fox that had lost its legs and wondered how it lived. Then he saw a tiger come in with game in its mouth. The tiger had its fill and left the rest of the meat for the fox. The next day God fed the fox by means of the same tiger. The man began to wonder at God’s greatness and said to himself, ‘I too shall just rest in a corner with full trust in the Lord and He will provide me with all I need.’ He did this for many days but nothing happened, and he was almost at death’s door when he heard a voice say, ‘O you who are in the path of error, open your eyes to the truth! Follow the example of the tiger and stop imitating the disabled fox.’”
Recognizing that this is merely my not-so-humble opinion, I am offering it, nonetheless: From what I can see, we are living in a society that has been (for the most part) well-trained to imitate the disabled fox, not the tiger, and, I might add, it has been and continues to be a path of error.
Yes, I do know what Jesus said about “looking at the birds of the sky,” and about “not being anxious about our provisions,” and about “observing the lilies of the field,” but I also know what He said about our “seeking first His Kingdom and His righteousness” and how this is a prerequisite to these “things” being added to us.
It is very difficult for me to imagine how anyone could have, as his priority, the seeking of God’s Kingdom and His righteousness, while imitating this disabled fox.
Which are you imitating, the tiger or the fox?

A Handful of Wheat

2009-06-20T20:49:00.001-05:00

June 20, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
This quote is also from de Mello’s book, “The Song of the Bird” (p. 47): A handful of wheat, five thousand years old, was found in the tomb of one of the kings of ancient Egypt. Someone planted the grains and, to the amazement of all, the grains came to life.”
This is his comment: “I used to think the words of Scripture were dead and dry. I know now that they are full of energy and life. But it was my heart that was stony and dead, so how could anything grow there?”
This is my thought: there have been many times in the life of every believer, when the Scriptures seemed to be void of life, but inevitably He would plant them into our hearts and, lo and behold, they would come to life within us and for us.
Things really are not what they seem! Regardless of how they might appear on any given day, or in any given circumstance, His words are always full of energy and life—His life!
You think about that-

An Illusion

2009-06-18T10:14:00.001-05:00

June 18, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
This is another quote from de Mello’s book, “Awareness” (p. 51): “Anytime you have a negative feeling toward anyone, you’re living in an illusion. There’s something seriously wrong with you. You’re not seeing reality. Something inside of you has to change. But what do we generally do when we have a negative feeling? ‘He is to blame, she is to blame. She’s got to change.’ No! The world’s all right. The one who has to change is you.”
de Mello went on to point out that he was not suggesting that we should do nothing when an obvious wrong has been committed; instead, he was suggesting that we should act, but with objectivity, which negative emotions prevent.
Again, whether or not you agree with de Mello is not my concern, but I do trust that you will take a moment to evaluate how your own negative emotions cloud your objectivity, and in the end, cause negative reactions, rather than positive responses.
I do think it is time for us to stop blaming others for the things that produce negative feelings, and I, certainly, think it is time for us to realize that the only person we can change is, well, I think you know. If you do not, look into the mirror.
Of this I am convinced: neither God nor man is too concerned about my or your happiness, so it would behoove each of us to get over ourselves. God is not concerned about our happiness because He has a much higher dream for us; namely, that we find ultimate fulfillment in His Son. Man is not concerned about our happiness because he is too busy trying to adjust his own circumstances, so he will be happy.
May we get past the illusion-

Dependence

2009-06-17T13:05:00.001-05:00

June 17, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
When we finally come to the place where we no longer see others as a means of satisfying our addictions, we are, then and only then, able to love. Prior to this, we see others through the lenses of fear—the paralyzing fear that they will fail to provide us with what we believe we desperately need—their love and acceptance and approval. When you no longer give others the power to make you happy (or miserable, for that matter), you are finally free to love.
Anthony de Mello, in his book, “Awareness” (p. 172-173), asked this question: “Can you imagine a life in which you refuse to enjoy or take pleasure in a single word of appreciation or to rest your head on anyone’s shoulder for support?” He went on to add this: “Think of a life in which you depend on no one emotionally, so that no one has the power to make you happy or miserable anymore. You refuse to need any particular person or to be special to anyone or to call anyone your own.”
Please take a few minutes and consider what de Mello has said, and whether or not you agree, I do hope it will remind you of just how much our unhealthy need for others, causes us to sap the life out of them, to sabotage relationships with them, and to leave us in a perpetual state of dependence.
“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore, keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1; NASB).

Alexis & Allison

2009-06-15T10:01:00.002-05:00

June 16, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
In my church bulletin for yesterday, I wrote an article (with a particular motive in mind), telling my congregants that later in the evening I would be officiating at the wedding of Alexis and Allison. I emphasized the fact, that although I have married many couples over the past 30 years, this was my first time for an “Alexis & Allison” couple. I took the time to be sure that everyone had read the article, and, then, I asked if there were any comments. The looks on their faces and the whispers from their mouths were a dead giveaway—they minds were in gear and they were (for the most part) all thinking the same thing.
Have you noticed how quick we are to jump to conclusions? Have you noticed how easily our minds can be manipulated? Have you noticed how quick we are to make judgments based upon our perceptions, rather than on facts? Have you noticed how often what seems to be true is not true at all? Have you ever stopped to think about the number of rumors, false rumors, that you have initiated, as the result of your jumping to conclusions be-fore getting the facts? Have you ever considered the number of lives you have trashed be-cause of your making judgments based upon your perception of truth, rather than on actual truth? Have you ever stopped to consider the fact that much of what you perceive to be truth is not truth at all?
Of this I am confident: Had I not taken the time to clarify their perceptions of truth, the news would have somehow leaked out that I had married a gay couple, and, to be sure, the rumors would have been flying (Just for the record, that would not have bothered me in the least; in fact, I would have probably enjoyed it, even though I am quite convinced that God has made His position on the subject of gay marriage quite clear—He is against it. Yes, I am aware that my perception of God’s opinion on this subject could be very erroneous).
For this article, however, the subject is not about gay marriage; instead, it is about our tendency to jump to conclusions before we have the facts; it is about our tendency to believe that our perceptions of truth are actually truth; it is about our tendency to trash others based upon our perceptions of who they are, rather than who they really are.
Just for the record (in case you haven’t already figured it out), Alexis is a full-blooded, able-bodied male, and Allison is a beautiful female. The wedding was beautiful and it presented me with an incredible opportunity to love others because He loves me.

Some Thoughts from a book . . .

2009-06-11T10:54:00.000-05:00

June 11, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Last night I finished a book that might be of interest to some of you (it is not for everyone!)—“Awareness” by Anthony de Mello. One of the many things that intrigued me about the book is the way he makes the reader (in this case, yours truly) rethink things he believes. I know this turns some people off, but I actually enjoy it. Anyway, I thought I would share with you a few quotes from the book. I would love to read your comments.
1. “Your beliefs give you a lot of security, but faith is insecurity” (p.18).
2. “We see people and things not as they are, but as we are” (p.88).
3. “No one has the power to put pressure on you” (p89).
4. “You are responsible for the negative feeling, not the other person” (p.90).
5. “I have no right to make any demands on you” (p.90).
6. “The selfish thing is to demand that someone else live their life as YOU see fit” (p. 93).
7. “It is not selfish to life your life as you see fit” (p-.93).
8. “You can’t imitate Christ by imitating His external behavior” (p. 96).
9. “Nobody was mean to you. Somebody was mean to what he or she thought was you, but not to you” (p. 97).
10. “Nobody ever rejects you; they’re only rejecting what they think you are” (p. 97).
11. “The final barrier to the vision of God is your God concept” (p. 102).
12. “. . . most people spend all their energies trying to rearrange their exterior world to suit their tastes” (p. 110).
13. “Not even the greatest guru in the world can take a single step for you” (p. 112).
14. “Life is something that happens to us while we are busy making other plans” (p.114).
15. “We always hate what we fear” (p. 117).
16. “We think we know, that is our tragedy; so we never discover” (p. 129).
17. “You always empower the demons you fight” (p. 147).
18. “You don’t chase darkness out of the room with a broom, you turn on a light” (p. 147)
19. “Loneliness is when you are missing people, aloneness is when you’re enjoying your-self” (p. 149).
20. “Dying is wonderful; it’s only horrible to people who have never understood life” (p.150).
21. “Wisdom occurs when you drop barriers you have erected through your concepts and conditioning” (p. 160).
22. “One cannot make a slave of a free person, for a free person is free even in prison” (p. 161).
23. “You were given a taste of the drug called approval, appreciation, attention” (p. 162).
24. “Learn to enjoy the solid food of life. Good food, good wine, good water. Taste them. Lose your mind and come to your senses” (p. 164).
25. “Unfortunately, people have gone crazy, and they’re getting more and more addicted because they do not know how to enjoy the lovely things of life” (p. 165).

Sight to the Blind!

2009-06-05T18:38:00.000-05:00

Mac's Perspective on the Intricacies of God’s Amazing Grace

June 5, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
This is Jesus’ response to the two blind men, who were crying out to Him to have mercy on them: “Do you believe that I am able to do this” (Matthew 9:28)? This is their response: “Yes, Lord” (vs. 28). Sounds simple enough to me.
These two men were blind—physically blind! Obviously, they really wanted Jesus to give them sight. The incident went off without a single hitch. A beautiful story! An incredibly beautiful story! Dramatic and undeniable proof that Jesus is able to do the impossible. For the life of me, I cannot imagine why every blind person in Israel didn’t run to Him and ask for the same thing. In any case, I am confident that these two men served as very effective advertising agents.
Did you notice, however, that Jesus told them (very emphatically, I might add) not to let anyone know what had happened. These are His words: “See here, let no one know about this” (vs. 30)! Talking about being a “party pooper!” How in the wide-world did Jesus expect them to obey His directive? They were blind, but now they could see! How would they hide that? Did He expect them to continue walking around with a black and white cane, wearing shades and tapping the pavement? Did He really expect them to hide their excitement? Did He really expect them to remain calm the first time they saw the sunset? Did He really expect them to remain unaffected the first time they saw the rain? Whatever He expected, this is what happened: “But they went out, and spread the news about Him in all the land” (vs. 31).
This is the truth: When anyone, who is blind to the truth, experiences the freedom that comes from having been given sight, the kind of sight that allows him to see truth, there is no putting that light under a bushel!
Do you believe that He is able to open your eyes to truth? Good! Now, do you believe that He will? Hmmmm . . . that’s what I thought you would say. Go figure-

The Nuts & Bolts of the Matter

2009-06-04T18:53:00.000-05:00

June 4, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
This Sunday, my sermon topic is this: “The Nuts & Bolts of the Gospel.” I am afraid there will be more “nuts” than “bolts” but that will not hinder my pursuing the subject in the least. For some reason, I have the feeling that, when we all of us who teach the Scriptures get to Heaven, we will have to face the fact that we were all “nuts”! I am certain that none of us are as knowledgeable about the Scriptures, as we would like for others to think. Actually, our biggest hindrance to knowing God is our concept of God. Our perceptions of Him determine what we believe about Him, and the truth be known, our perceptions of Him are all probably way off the mark of truth.
I know of no other subject where it is advantageous for the teacher to know that he/she knows little, if anything, about the subject matter. A mathematics teacher must have an excellent working knowledge of mathematics; otherwise, he will fail as a teacher. In the same way, a language teacher must have a excellent working knowledge of the language he is teaching; otherwise, he will fail as a teacher. Interestingly, however, the opposite is true for the teacher of theology; the more he realizes just how little he knows, the more effective he is as a teacher. Don’t panic, as God’s ways never have been our ways, nor will they ever be, at least not this side of Heaven. You see, knowing God has little, if anything, to do with facts and figures, with principles and formulas, with permutations and combinations; instead, knowing God has to do with love, and, well, I think you know what I was about to say about that.
Anyway, nuts & bolts have a neat function; they hold things together! I will never forget the Christmas that Santa brought Amy her first swing set. When I opened the box to put the set together, and realized how many nuts & bolts were necessary for the proper function of the swing set, I nearly fainted. I counted them! There were exactly 4,219 bolts and exactly 4,218 nuts! It was that one missing bolt that kept me up all night, as without it, the set simply would not hold together. I think it was the king pin! (I really didn’t count them, but I didn’t have to, because it became obvious toward the end that a major nut was missing!) Anyway, I finally found it, neatly tucked away in one of the corners of the box.
Just for the record, there are several “nuts & bolts” that actually hold the gospel to-gether, without which the “good news” becomes “very bad news.” Sadly, they have been long-since lost, or so it seems, as is evidenced by the many perversions of the gospel that run rampant throughout the church.
Gosh, I wish all of you could be present this Sunday, as I really would like for you to get your “nuts & bolts” together! (-:

Blessings,
Mac

Enough faith?

2009-06-02T10:43:00.002-05:00

June 2, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Yes, I took a month’s Sabbatical from writing my perspectives; sometimes, one needs to regroup, to clear his mind, to refocus, to rid himself of the cobwebs, to rethink his perspective. Since several of you have contacted me, wondering why you weren’t receiving my ramblings, I am back, at least for a while. Hopefully, this “season” of my ramblings will be meaningful to you.
Anyway, this is what Jesus said to the woman with the “issue of blood”: “Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well” (Matthew 9:22). This is what the woman was thinking before Jesus said those words: “If I only touch His garment, I shall get well” (Mat-thew 9:21).
Have you noticed how often we place the emphasis on faith, rather than of Jesus? For some reason, the message has been, “If you have enough faith, you can get anything you want.” In other words, the more faith one has, the greater the possibility of his receiving want he wants from God. Ironically, however, Jesus said this in response to the disciples asking Him why they could not cast the demon out of the young boy (see Matthew 17:14-19): “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there, and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you.’ But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting” (Matthew 17:21).
Notice that Jesus made it clear that faith is necessary. The “littleness of their faith” was apparently the problem, but His following comment indicates that their “littleness of faith” was no faith at all! If faith as a mustard would have been sufficient, then obviously, their “littleness of faith” was really no faith (the last time I checked, a mustard seed is SMALL!). In other words, Jesus was not diminishing the importance of faith; instead, He was making it very clear that apart from faith, we are in heaps of trouble. Keep in mind that the though a mustard seed is SMALL, it is powerful—very powerful—as is evidenced by its fruit.
From my perspective, if faith as a mustard seed is sufficient to move mountains, then quantity is not the issue; the issue is the object of one’s faith. For example, you might have faith the size of a mountain in Allah’s ability to heal the sick, but you can rest assured that the sick will remain sick. However, you can have faith the size of a mustard seed in Jesus’ ability to raise the dead, and, if He desires to raise the dead—up they will come!
In my opinion, this was the secret of the woman’s healing—her mind was centered on Jesus, not on how much faith she had or didn’t have. The truth is this: she was tired and weary from having done everything she knew to do, even spent all of her money on doctors, and all to no avail. In other words, her faith was definitely of the “mustard seed” variety. It was sufficient, however, because her focus was on Jesus, not on her faith, or the lack thereof.
This should be quite a relief for those of us who have been convinced that Jesus’ response to our requests is directly related to our having much faith. Actually, much faith is only the size of a mustard seed, and even that is His gift to us! Why, if He should give us faith the size of a golf ball, there is no telling the chaos we would produce.
Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Blessings,
Mac

New Wineskins

2009-04-29T12:26:00.002-05:00

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
This is what Jesus said: “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough’” (Luke 5:37-39 NASB). Wonder why? Let me explain.
As the new wine continues to ferment, the gasses that are released will burst the al-ready-stretched, pre-used old wineskins and, obviously, both the wine and the wineskin will be lost. If you know anything about drinking wine, then you know that, with rare exception, older vintages are much better than newer ones. Of course, the vintage year has lots to do with this, but the principle is true, nonetheless. Yes, some wines age much better than others, but, again, the principle remains true. Should you ever get to enjoy an older (good vintage year!) Bordeaux, for example, you will, well you try it and see for yourself.
Those of you who know me (many of you do not!), know that I am rather opinio-nated, when it comes to theology, especially the gospel. What would one expect from someone who has spent the better part of his lifetime not only studying the Scriptures, but also teaching them? I simply cannot imagine teaching from a position of uncertainty, nor can I imagine anyone wanting to learn something, as important as the gospel, from someone who isn’t sure about the subject.
Having said that, I must hasten to tell you that it is my confidence in the gospel that allows me and encourages me to continue in a teachable mode. To be sure, I would not want to sit under the tutelage of a teacher, who isn’t teachable, regardless of his/her expertise, nor would I expect anyone else to do so.
To say that another way, I am very desirous of being a fresh wineskin, and I am be-cause I want Him to be willing to pour new wine into my life, into a life that can withstand the process of “fermentation.” I might add this: there is nothing quite like the power of the spiritual gasses that are released, as new (fresh) truth ferments within our lives; old wine-skins simply cannot withstand the pressure.
These old wineskins come in several forms: tradition; religion; denominations; fear; idolatry; to mention a few. A new wineskin, however, comes in only one form—an empty, willing vessel, that has never been stretched by any of the aforementioned. Maybe, just maybe, this is one of the reasons that old man has been crucified and buried—done away with. The new creations are, well, you consider yourself one of them and see what happens.
Blessings with much grace,
Mac

So Easily Deceived!

2009-04-27T09:53:00.001-05:00

Mac's Perspective on the Intricacies of God’s Amazing Grace

Monday, April 27, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
If Paul is correct (and he is!) and there is but one gospel—the one he preached—and if the gospel is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16), then, as I said earlier, it would behoove each of us to be certain that we understand and believe the gospel, exactly as Paul preached it. There is very good reason for this: any other “gospel” is a perversion of this one, true gospel and is, therefore, no gospel at all.
As you might imagine, I am tempted to point out all the obvious fallacies that are proclaimed as true gospel, but I have lived long enough to know that that would serve no useful purpose. The truth is this: if you really want to be able to recognize the one, true gospel, you will never reach your goal by studying the perversions of it; instead, you must become familiar with the one, true gospel—the one Paul preached.
As you remember, Paul left no room for error—none whatsoever. In fact, he felt so strongly about the accurate preaching of the gospel, that he believed that anyone (including Paul, himself, even an angel from heaven) who preached a perversion of the gospel that he preached should be eternally separated from God. At first glance, that sounds rather harsh; however, once you realize the significance of heretical preaching, it doesn’t sound quite so harsh. What we believe is much more important than most of us realize.
Oh, I am very familiar with the popular mindset that says what we believe really doesn’t matter, as long as we believe in Jesus. HINT: Satan believes in Jesus, probably more strongly than most of us. Listen up: It is not enough to say, “I believe in Jesus!” The Judaizers, who came to Galatia believed in Jesus, but they also believed that circumcision was essential for pleasing God. As you well-know, most church-goers today would tell you that they believe in Jesus, but they would also tell you that you must “remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy,” and they would be just as fervent in their efforts to influence you, as were the Judaizers, who tried to influence the members of the church at Galatia. In case you missed it, their heretical attempts infuriated Paul, so much so that he wrote the letter we are presently studying, the one in which he clearly defines the one, true gospel.
Just for the record: the Galatians were much more easily influenced than even Paul imagined, and there is good reason for this: the one, true gospel is unbelievable! It is so much easier to believe something that includes our participation, even if that “something” is circumcision!

Accursed?

2009-04-24T13:53:00.000-05:00

Mac's Perspective on the Intricacies of God’s Amazing Grace

Friday April 24, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
As I review Paul’s letter to the church at Galatia, there can be no mistaking his mission and purpose—to establish for both Jews and Gentiles, that there is but one, true gospel; that any “gospel” that is not in full agreement with the gospel he preached, is in fact no gospel at all. Listen to his own words: “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; on-ly there are some who are disturbing you, and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even though we or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you have received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1: 6-9). By the way, his use of the word “accursed” means “eternal separation from God.”
There are several conclusions we can draw from these verses; however, in my opinion, this one stands out among all the rest: it would behoove each of us to be certain that we clearly understand and believe the gospel that Paul preached. If his words are true, then any addition or subtraction to the gospel he preached, creates nothing more or less than a distortion of the gospel of Christ, aka, heresy. Paul felt so strongly about this that he warned his readers with this very stern admonition: But even though we or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed (vs. 8).
Sadly, most modern-day church-goers are easily deceived, just as were the church-goers of the region of Galatia, during Paul’s time. Even more sad, is the fact that most modern-day church-goers simply receive whatever is “preached” to them, without ever at-tempting to validate its truth by holding it against the plumb line of the gospel Paul preached. Unfortunately, most modern-day church goers have very little knowledge of the one, true gospel, or so it seems.
All I know is this: Paul was rather adamant regarding the fact that there is but one, true gospel, and those believers, be they Jew or Gentile, who would choose to attempt to add anything to it—circumcision, observance of holy days, eating “clean” foods, et al—were in fact falling from grace and making Christ of no benefit to them (see chapter 5).
You really should give this some serious thought, at least that is Paul’s opinion--

Appetizers

2009-04-23T15:55:00.001-05:00

Thursday April 23, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Over the next several months, I will be devoting my Sunday morning messages to a study of Paul’s letter to the church in the region know in his days as Galatia—Asia Minor. That means that you might expect to see some of the results of that study here in my perspective, today being no exception. Although the members of my congregation already have this, I felt impressed to pass it on to you. I am calling it “Appetizers” and I must admit that I gleaned most of it from John Stott’s book, “The Message of Galatians.” Hopefully, these “appetizers” will whet your appetite for some of soul food!

1. Satan would have us prove ourselves holy by the law, which God gave to us to prove us sinners.

2. Everybody is living either living in the Old Testament or the New, and derives his “religion” either from Moses or from Jesus. He is either “under law” or “in Christ.”

3. People cannot see the beauty of the pearl because they have no concept of the filth of the pigstye.

4. God still speaks through what He has spoken, and nothing is more necessary for the life, health, and growth of Christians that that they should hear what the Spirit is saying to them through His ancient—yet ever modern—Word.

5. The death of Jesus was primarily neither a display of love, nor an example of heroism, but a sacrifice for sin.

6. The gospel is a rescue, an emancipation from a state of bondage.

7. The gospel doesn’t teach me what I ought to do (for that is the proper office of the Law), but what Jesus Christ the Son of God has done for me; to wit, that He suffered and died to deliver me from sin and death.

8. The Law requires works of human achievement; the gospel requires faith in Christ’s achievement.

9. The Law makes demands and bids us obey; the gospel brings promises and bids us believe.

10. The gospel offers blessings; what must we do to receive them? The proper answer is “nothing.”

11. Obeying is an attempt to do the work of salvation ourselves, whereas believing is to let Christ be our Savior and to rest in His finished work.

12. The gospel is not good advice to men, but good news about Christ; not an invitation to us to do anything, but a declaration of what God has done; not a reward, but an offer.

13. If we are “in Christ” our “religion” is characterized by promises rather than by law.

14. God intended the Law to reveal sin, and to drive men to Christ. Satan uses it to reveal sin, and drive men to despair.

15. You shall remember that you were a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you.

You think on these things—
Mac

Proven a Weenie!

2009-04-21T18:58:00.001-05:00

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Over the past four weeks, my belief that I am a “weenie” has been strengthened, times several, and most of that “strengthening” has come from my weakness—I do not suffer well. For some reason, I much prefer being well, over being sick, and I doubt that this will change, at least not in my lifetime on this earth, and probably not even in Heaven. Truth is I don’t even mind if you call me “weenie,” as truth is truth and that is that.
Thankfully, today my doctor prescribed cortisone, and for that I am very thankful, as I believe it will cure this monster of an illness. Hopefully, it will “kick-in” and “kick-butt” quickly and set my feet to dancing, as I am tired of “weenie-ing” around, trying to do life on one cylinder, and it with a bad spark plug. Hopefully, tomorrow will bring a new day, and I’m betting it will!
Having said all of that, I do want you to know that I am aware that God never said that life would be a smooth journey—not potholes, no gnats, no frogs, no snakes, no speed bumps, no alligators, no bats, no pains in the neck, no spoiled picnics, no mad mama bears, no bad preachers, no sweat, no broken finger nails, no flat tires, no disobedient children, no disappointments, no runny noses, no IBS, and no mad hatters.
He did, however, tell us (actually, He promised us) that He would never leave us or forsake us—PERIOD; that He would complete the good work that He started in us; that He would meet ALL of our NEEDS according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus; that light and darkness are alike to Him; that His strength is made perfect in our weakness; and that His grace is sufficient for us!
I can only speak for myself, so I will: thus far, His promises have proven true; His Word has proven faithful; and He has proven trustworthy.
Amen! You think about this—

Grace lavished,
Mac

Tax Day 2009

2009-04-15T11:16:00.001-05:00

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Well, it is here once again—Tax Day! Actually, every day is Tax Day, here in America, and from what I can see, it is only going to get worse! I once knew a man, who kept up with every penny (literally) that he spent. He carried a small notebook with him, in which he kept a record of everything he purchased. At any moment, he could tell you exactly how much he had spent for everything from toilet paper to filet mignon (which he didn’t purchase very often); he could even tell you how much he had spent for sales tax, ad valorem tax, gasoline tax, alcohol tax, et al! If he were alive today, he would definitely need a computer, along with an excel worksheet, just to keep up with the various kinds of taxes he would be paying, not to mention, a bottle to Xanax to calm his nerves.
Anyway, I tell you that story, to remind you that should you decide to actually keep up with the total amount of taxes you will pay this year, you would need a special assistant, who devotes all of his/her time to that project, and, I might add, you would need more than one bottle of Xanax to calm your nerves, more like a case of Jack Daniels!
There is a piece of me that wants to say that I really don’t mind paying taxes, but that “piece” of me is a liar—a bald faced liar! If I had a choice, I would much prefer taking whatever amount of money I will have paid in taxes for 2008 and burning it in my front yard; at least, I would be in agreement with what was happening to it.
The way I see it, it will not be much longer before the amount of taxes we are paying will prevent most of us from being able to maintain our standards of living. In other words, it will be very difficult for anyone to pay his/her present mortgage and car payment, purchase clothes, groceries, and gasoline, tithe, AND pay the amount of taxes that will be levied. I really do not believe that any of us really realize the level of deceit that is being carried out by both our state and federal governments. The fact is this: I do mind paying taxes, and contrary to what you are probably thinking, I do because I love America—the America in which I grew up, the America that provided me the opportunity to pursue my dreams, the America that treasured family, the America that valued Christianity, the America that believed hard work was a thing of honor, the America that thrived on “mom and pop” businesses, the America that did not believe that everyone is entitled to a certain standard of living, the America that did not believe that everyone is entitled to health insurance, and the America that did not believe that laziness, slothfulness, and lawlessness should be rewarded.
Yes, it is Tax Day 2009—HALLELUJAH!!

PS: I do have two suggestions: (1) The next time elections roll around, let us clean house—thoroughly; and (2) Sooner, rather than later, let us insist on eliminating the present Tax Code, along with the IRS, and beginning again, with something that is reasonable and understandable for all—fair tax, flat tax, anything but what he have.

Holy Week?

2009-04-08T13:06:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
If we could rewind the film and take an up close and personal look at the events of Jesus’ life, some 2000 years ago today, I think we would be astonished, to say the very least, to see all that was going on in His life. Even a casual look at the events that led up to His final visit to Jerusalem, His triumphal entry into that city He loved, gives us much insight into what was going on in His mind and heart. Let me encourage you to begin reading in Luke’s gospel, beginning in the 31st verse of chapter 18, and continuing through at least the end of chapter 19, so you can have your own personal look into these particular hours of His life.
As I read these stories, I can’t help but wonder how we can be so uninvolved, so dis-interested, so unengaged. Yes, I know that 2000 years is a long time, per our sense of time, but I also know that the reality of what He accomplished during this week of His life, is as relevant today, as it was then. It is difficult for me to imagine why every believer is not completely absorbed in the wonder of His Person and in the miracles that He accomplished during these days, even though they took place so long ago.
This verse intrigues me, especially in light of what I have just said: “And as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, saying, ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord; peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’” (Luke 19:37-38 NASB).
I have no idea how many miracles you have seen, but I do know that, as a believer, you have experienced at least one—The New Birth—and that one miracle should cause you to live in humble adoration of The One who died, in order that you might be free to live and to love. Nothing, and I do mean nothing, should ever distract us from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Him, not even the shenanigans of Easter.
The other day, I heard President Barack Hussein Obama declare that the United States is not a Christian nation, but a nation of citizens. Yes, I reacted and thought, “How can the president of this country make such a statement, especially in view of the fact that this country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles!” After thinking about it for a while, however, I wonder if he did not, inadvertently, speak the truth. Based upon the way we have “pagan-ized” the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, with our pagan appeals to the flesh, with our pagan efforts to attract the masses, and, especially, with our apparent attraction to and love for these pagan efforts, I am afraid that he was correct.
Tomorrow is Thursday of Holy Week—Maundy Thursday—the day that marks His last supper with His disciples, including Judas!, His washing their feet, and, especially, His changing the shadow of Passover into the substance of Holy Communion—the Eucharist. I am looking forward to gathering with my small flock and leading them in thinking about the significance of these events, and, certainly, in sharing with them the bread and the wine of the Eucharist. We will remember Him and we will be astonished and we will stand in humble adoration of His Person and we will thank Him for the gift of life—eternal life.
We will love Him and we will love each other, and we will do so because He first loved us.

Holy Week

2009-04-06T12:07:00.000-05:00

Monday, April 6, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
According to the Christian calendar, this is Holy Week, the week that marks the most significant events in all of history. If we could, somehow, rewind the "film" and relive this week, as eyewitnesses to the actual events, I think our concept of "holy" would change; in fact, I know it would. If Jesus wept over Jerusalem (and He did!), as He rode into that Holy City on the back of a borrowed donkey colt, some 2000 years ago, what is His response today, as He observes the church's attempt to "holy-ize" this incredible week?
Folks, we cannot make the profane holy, regardless of how we dress it up, and profane is just what the shenanigans we call Easter really are. In fact, the more we try to dress up the events of this incredible week, the more profane they become, and the more Jesus weeps. It really is true: we will do anything to diminish the offensiveness of the gospel--hide it in colored eggs, paint over it with pastel colors, dress it up with new dresses, suits, and hats, disguise it as an Easter Bunny, even present it masqueraded in musical productions.
Oh, I almost forgot: if we do not promote all of these shenanigans, then we won't reach the masses for Easter Sunday, Sunday School attendance will be less than last year, the church down the street will have the largest crowd, and above all else, the church coffers won't be filled. Sadly, no one will have anything about which to brag, and that would would be terrible!
Maybe we really do need to spend more time around the events of His last supper, His changing the shadow of Passover, into the substance of Holy Communion, and His washing the disciple's feet. Maybe we do need to spend more time trying to enter into the gut-wrenching experience of Jesus' pointing out that Judas would betray Him and his running out into the night to take his own life. Maybe we need to visit the Mount of Olives and Gethsemane (the place of crushing!), just to be reminded of what that "crushing" involved. Maybe we need to feel the sting of the whip and the crown of thorns, just to be reminded that Someone took our place. Maybe we need to be reminded that holy ain't about shenanigans; it is about a Man called Jesus--the Holy One of God!
Maybe we need to be reminded that we are holy, not because of our shenanigans, but because He made it through this terrible week, as victor! The King of Kings and Lord of Lords really is alive, and He does NOT need the help of any of our shenanigans!

Run to Jesus, as He is enough, and then some!

Making Work Pay?

2009-04-02T16:49:00.001-05:00

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,

The following advisory was included with my wife's pension check for this month: "The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires the use of new withholding tables that reflect the Making Work Pay credit, as outlined in the Federal stimulus package. These new tables take effect April 1, 2009 and may reduce the amount of income tax withheld from your pension benefit. Please note that pension plan distributions do not currently qualify for the new Making Work Pay credit, thus the new tables could result in under-withholding. You may want to submit a revised W-4P and/or consult with a tax advisor to ensure enough is withheld from your pension benefit."

In my humble opinion, this is an excellent example of the incredible "wisdom" of the stimulus package! Please, go back and reread the first paragraph and tell me how this will stimulate anything other than the ire of the taxpayer! Think about it: As the result of the stimulus package, Annis' payroll tax has been reduced, giving her an increase in her net check; HOWEVER, because this will result in an under-withholding of her tax responsibility, come tax time next year, she will have to scratch around and find whatever amount that might be, and include it with her return. Of course, she could choose not to do that and pay it later, along with interest and penalty! Oh, I forgot: she will have to pay her CPA an added $250 for an hour's work to straighten all of this out. And one more thing: the whole point of this stimulus package is to encourage spending. Gosh! if she spends this gargantuan amount, where will she get the money at next year's tax time? In case you haven't figured it out, the leaders of this good ole USA are deceiving us--big time--by taking money out of our pockets and putting it into theirs (we used to call that "sleight of hand")!

I know you are asking what this has to do with the intricacies of God's amazing grace, so I will tell you: Socialism and Religion have much in common and without God's amazing grace, we will survive neither. Both socialism and religion imprison, control, manipulate, deceive, and destroy. Sadly both are here to stay! Do not be deceived; you will never again know the freedom that capitalism has given to you. The promises your are given by your leaders are hollow and deceptive, not to mention self-serving. A warning: if you should choose to continue living under the umbrella of religious hypocrisy, you will NOT survive the days and months that lie ahead. A suggestion (strong suggestion!): RUN TO JESUS AND TRUST HIM AND HIM ALONE!

You think about this--

The Foolishness of the Message Preached?

2009-04-01T20:16:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
This is what Paul had to say about the message of the cross: “For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18 NASB). He went on to say this: “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” (vs.21).
As some of you might know, I am having a great time making people aware of what I believe is the finest health drink around—Zoe Life. It comes packed with the nutrients of some 20 fruits and vegetables, and loaded with antioxidants. There can be no denying the fact that very few, as in very few, of us eat the amounts of fruits and vegetables our bodies require, nor do we even come close to meeting our body’s requirement for antioxidants. One serving per day of Zoe Life can turn that around and make a remarkable difference in one’s life.
Yes, I know that sounds like a sales pitch, but it was not (reread it!), and, yes, I know this is April Fool’s Day, but I am not fooling! Zoe Life is going to prove to be much better than I have described it; however, it will be ONLY for those who drink at least one serving per day. The rest will see it as, well, as foolishness. I would love to be able to change that but I cannot; all I can do is to continue to “preach the foolish message” of Zoe Life. But, there is more!
As a distributor of Zoe Life, I also have the opportunity to earn no small amount of money. Notice that I said the “opportunity to earn” no small amount of money! In spite of popular opinion, money does motivate Christians, even those who declare that it does not. The problem comes when we learn that the money must be earned. When that part of the equation is revealed, the motivation vanishes into thin air! In our society, the notion of having to earn one’s living is as foolish and offensive to the needy (which is oftentimes why they are), as the message of the cross is to the lost.
The other day, I was talking with a young man, whom I have known for several years, and who is more needy than even he realizes. His life is, shall I say falling apart, from the inside out; in fact, I think it is safe to say that it is already in shambles. Interestingly, He came to my door to deliver a shipment of Zoe Life. What a set up! Without getting involved with too many details, let me simply tell you that I told him, that if he would follow my lead, I could offer him an opportunity to help himself—physically, financially, and spiritually. I looked at the package and said to him, “The key is inside this package.” His response was classic! “Oh, are you talking about Zoegetics? I have already heard about that and I don’t have time for it.” I said, “That’s fine; however, before you leave, I do have one question: How many packages from Zoegetics are you delivering on your route?” His answer was astonishing: “It has increased just one of my routes by 60 stops!”
As he ran across my yard to the delivery truck (12 hours per day at minimum wage and no benefits), I thought, “You are working 12 hours per day for minimum wage, grumbling every step of the way, to deliver to others the very product, that someone could be delivering to you, a product that could be changing your life.”
It is strange how we can often look right into the face of the answer to our struggles and see it as, well, as foolishness. I wonder how often Paul had that sense of “strangeness” come over him, as he preached the message of the cross? Often, to be sure.

A Week from Hell

2009-03-29T20:27:00.000-05:00

Sunday evening, March 29, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Yes, indeed, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, but my gosh, I had no idea that “awry” meant to fall headlong into a week from Hell. Yes, I have had a few bouts of illness during my 67 years on this earth, but I have never been as sick as I have been during the past 3½ days of that sojourn. Well, if I have been, I do not remember it, and that is a good thing—a very good thing!
After eliminating every other possible diagnosis, I have decided that my body contracted the Old Fashioned Flu, aka, influenza. I took my usual flu shot, but rest assured that the makers of that dose managed to leave out the particular strain of the virus that I managed to contract, which is another example of the not-so-Biblical-fact that the “best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” I feel sure the makers of the “dose” I took intended to include the particular strain of the virus I contracted, and I know that I received the dose expecting it to be included, but, “the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry,” and that is just not up for effective debate.
Well, I am finally back in Macon and, actually, feel a bit better, but I am still intrigued by my not-so-Biblical-fact. Let me tell you why.
It is obvious to me that many people have made their own plans for eternal life and most of them are based primarily on what they have done or will do for Jesus, not on what He has done for them. You see, these people are more interested in elevating “self,” than in elevating Jesus; they are more interested in the opinions of others, than in His opinion; and I might add, they place more confidence in their own plans, that in His plans. For some reason, I have the strong feeling that these will learn (sooner or later) that the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, as in, well, I think you get the point! A week from Hell is one thing; an eternity in Hell is quite another.
Anyway, you think about this—

Mary "Ma" Stumph

2009-03-21T12:26:00.007-05:00

Many years ago, when I was leading Lay Witness Missions (mid to late 1970’s), I met a precious lady—Ma Stumph. She was one of the most incredible women I have ever met. She never had any of the material things that most of us enjoy, she learned to read by the light of the fireplace, as she studied with her young son, who was also learning to read, and she trusted God, like few I have ever known. Many were the times I would call on her to stand in front of a large congregation of people to share her testimony, and without exception, she would bring the crowd to a standing ovation (which she never sought!)! After I entered the pastorate in 1979, I scheduled a Lay Witness Mission for that church (Benevolence), and asked my dear friend, Jim Proffitt, to lead it, which he graciously agreed to do. He included Ma Stumph on his team and on Sunday afternoon, just before she left to return home, she handed me something she had written in her own handwriting , which she had entitled, “Who is Jesus?” It was stapled together with a safety pin. She had made copies of it for her children, but she wanted me to have the original. After 30 years, I still have it, and believe me, I treasure it! I think you will enjoy reading it.(You can click on the images to enlarge them)

Amazed at His Teaching!

2009-03-20T12:17:00.000-05:00

Friday March 20, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
This is what the Scriptures tell us regarding the listener’s response to Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount”: “The result was that when Jesus had finished these words, the multitudes were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes” (Matthew 7:28-29 NASB: emphasis added). How long has it been since you were amazed at His teaching? Not a bad question, actually.
Notice that at least one of the reasons for their amazement was that He taught, not as the scribes, but as one having authority. I wonder if some of the lack of amazement we see today is not due to the powerless preaching and teaching that most listen to on TV and radio, even from the pulpits of local churches.
I say “powerless preaching” because the gospel has long-since been abandoned for “tricks of the trade,” aka the tools for church growth. The fact is this: the gospel is the power of God for salvation, and when it is preached, the preacher/teacher is seen as one having authority, and those who have ears to hear are always amazed, even astonished.
The Elect of God have never had much of a taste for the pious pabulum that spews from the mouths of those who are more interested in attracting the masses, than they are in preaching the one, true Gospel (if you are unfamiliar with it, read Paul’s’ letter to the Romans).
If you are interested in knowing the difference, I will share it with you: the preach-er/teacher of pious pabulum edifies himself; whereas, the preacher of the gospel edifies Jesus. The next time you listen to someone teach the Scriptures, apply that litmus test, and note the outcome.
The next time you attend a worship service, notice how many of the songs edify man, not Jesus; in all probability, you will be shocked. Notice how many of the lyrics describe what we will do, or are doing, instead of what He has done. Again, you will be shocked! “My Jesus I Love Thee”, “I Stand Amazed in the Presence”, “I Am Resolved No Longer to Linger”, “I Come to The Garden Alone”, to name a few. Now, I am not implying that we should throw these songs away, but I am implying that most of the songs we sing, have more to do with what we are going to do, or are doing, than they have to do with what He has done. A reminder: It is what He has done that matters! What we have done, or are doing, matters not one bit!
If we ever plan to be amazed at His teaching, we need to begin to concentrate on what He has done for us and forget about ourselves; we need to focus on the good news of the gospel and stop trying to edify self.
You think about this—

Let the Dead Bury Their Own Dead?

2009-03-18T16:36:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
A certain scribe came to Jesus and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go” (see Matthew 8:19). This was Jesus’ response: “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (vs. 20). In other words, Jesus was telling him that it might be a good idea for him to find out more about what it means to follow Him before he commits to the journey.
I find it interesting, especially in light of Jesus’ caution to this scribe, that most people in evangelism NEVER caution people to carefully consider what they are making a commitment to; instead, they make it sound like following Jesus is the easiest and most productive thing on earth. As you know, the message is this: If you will just follow Jesus, if you will do the simplest thing you could ever do, everything will be fine, your problems will go away, your bank account will increase, your health will be perfect, and your marriage will be blissfully wonderful, et al.
Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father” (vs. 21). In other words, he was saying, “I have thought this thing through, and I really want to follow You, even if the scribe changes his mind, but my father just died and his funeral is tomorrow, so give me enough time to bury him, and I will be ready to follow You wherever You go.” In my opinion, this was a reasonable request by anyone’s standards, but this was His response to him: “Follow Me; and allow the dead to bury their own dead” (vs. 22). Tough, if you ask me! In my opinion, His methods of evangelism did not attract too many followers.
Again, I find it interesting, especially, in light of Jesus’ response to this grieving son, that most people who are trying to encourage others to follow Jesus, NEVER tell them that Jesus does not play “second fiddle” to anyone.
Years ago (actually 1961), as a sophomore at Asbury College, I was dating a girl, whose mother did not like me. She knew that my family was in the funeral business and in-formed her daughter that the Bible said, “Let the dead bury their own dead” and, therefore, she should have nothing to do with me (she believed that the only vocation worthy of her daughter’s boy friend was the ministry). Somehow, I think she missed the point. Although she never convinced me that Jesus was opposed to a man taking the time to bury his own father, nor did she convince me that He was against the funeral service profession, I never have forgotten her bizarre interpretation of Jesus’ words. Another example of the misuse of the Scriptures.
Rest assured that Jesus is A-OK with you taking the time to bury a loved one, UNLESS you think it is more important to bury the dead than it is to follow Him.
You think about this—

Why Are You Anxious?

2009-03-17T10:29:00.001-05:00

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Based upon the responses I received from yesterday’s perspective, it is apparent that I am not the only one who has problems living-up to Jesus’ commands regarding anxiety. Actually, I didn’t think I was, which is why I offered my perspective. Anyway, I am convinced that it is impossible for anyone to live on planet earth (other than those who are comatose) without experiencing anxiety from time to time. Yes, I know that the religious prefer to call it “concern” but do not be deceived, it is for the most part genuine anxiety.
In spite of what Jesus said and implied about anxiety, and regardless of your spiritual maturity, when the Doctor tells you that he wants you to come back in a week for another test, because he is concerned about something he saw in an x-ray, you WILL experience anxiety for the next seven days!
When your promiscuous teenage daughter tells you that she has missed her “period,” you will experience anxiety, regardless of how many consecutive days you have a “quiet time.” When the police call to tell you that your teenage son has been involved in an auto accident, and is in the ER at the local hospital with a severe head injury, you will NOT lounge around with a cup of coffee, saying, “Thank you Jesus.” You WILL experience anxiety.
Now, sadly, some people spend their entire lifetimes, with only brief intervals, feeling anxious about everything, even the things at which most of us would never blink an eye. The truth is, most of the time they cannot explain why they are anxious, they are just anxious. Obviously, these people desperately need the benefit of medical treatment, but few ever get it—their anxiety prevents them from going to the Doctor and facing the truth. Those who do go, take the medication until they feel less anxious, and then stop taking it, becoming their own physician—foolishness, indeed.
Anyway, for most of us, anxiety is just a normal part of everyday life; in many ways, it keeps us on our toes—alert. So, why did Jesus tell us not to be anxious? Why was He so adamant about it? The answer: like most of what He said, He knew His saying it, along with our inability to obey, would drive us to Him. After all, where else can we be free from anxiety?

Anxiety? Surely Not!

2009-03-16T11:28:00.001-05:00

Monday, March 16, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Some of the passages I read in the Scriptures are very difficult, actually most of them. This morning, in reading over a portion of Matthew 6, I came across some good example; listen to these: “Do not be anxious for your life”; “Why are you anxious about clothing”; “Do not be anxious then, saying ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ . . .”; and finally, “Do not be anxious for tomorrow.” You might find these easy to obey; however, this not-so-humble servant get anxious, even thinking about not being anxious, especially regarding such things as life, clothing, food, drink and, especially, tomorrow!
Now, don’t get me wrong; for some reason, I have already enjoyed 67 rather healthy years, never had to go naked, never missed a meal, and never been without water, and I have made it through all of my tomorrows, except of course the ones that are yet to come. Someone did tell me that tomorrow never comes, which is true, I suppose; even so, I am looking forward to many more “tomorrows.” I just wish I could say that I am looking forward to them with eager anticipation and no anxiety, but, well, but.
This really makes me anxious: “Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34 NASB). It is the “each day has enough trouble of its own” that gives me the hebbie jeebies! There is no wonder I can get a bit anxious about tomorrow!
No, I am not so anxious that I am taking Xanax—never have been that anxious—but for the life of me, I cannot understand why Jesus could expect us to live in a state of such tranquility, especially in light of the fact that each day has enough trouble of its own. Yes, I know that He told us to consider the birds and the lilies and Solomon and the grass. He even told us that He knows what we need, but I still cannot meet the standard.
He did tell us to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and then ALL these things will be added to us. Maybe this is my problem: I can’t even get my priorities straight. I do wonder, however, if I would not be a bit anxious, even if He added “all these things” to my life. The truth is, they have already been added to my life—and then some—and I can still be a bit anxious.
There is no getting around it: I need a Savior 24-7!

Running on Ahead!

2009-03-13T11:26:00.000-05:00

Friday, March 13, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
As you know, when we think about our being disciples of Jesus, we think more about our following Him, than we think about His following us. This probably stems from His words to Peter, Andrew, James, and John, when He said to them, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19 NASB). Ever since, most of us have been “following hard” after Him, or so we say.
This morning, however, I noticed something a bit different, something that really caught my eye (I already told you that I sit up close to the front, when He is teaching!) and it is this: “ . . . behold there came a synagogue official, and bowed down before Him, saying, ‘My daughter has just died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.’ And Jesus rose and began to follow him, and so did His disciples” (Matthew 9:18-19 NASB; emphasis added). Truthfully, this is difficult for me to picture; yes, I know that Jairus was in a hurry to get Jesus to his house, and was in all probably keeping up quite a gait, but this notion of Jesus bringing up the rear is, well it is strange. Yes, I know all about the first being last and the last being first, but that doesn’t make this any easier.
Now that I have had a few minutes to think about it, I am wondering just how often we do the very same thing that Jairus did. I am wondering just how often we find ourselves running on ahead in our intense desire to get Jesus to follow us to some destination, so He can do something that He has already done. I can see most of us now, as we run out in front, looking back at Jesus, urging Him to hurry. There it is again, the “Looking Back Syndrome!” Don’t you remember that song: “I was looking back to see, if you were looking back to see, if I was looking back to see, if you were looking back at me, and your were cute as you could be, standing, looking back to see, if I was looking back to see, if you were looking back at me.”
There must have been “method” in this “madness,” as I am certain that Jesus chose to follow Jairus, rather than to lead the way, or merely walk beside him, for good reason. In my opinion, Jesus does this far more frequently than we realize. He simply allows us to run on ahead, to get way out in front of Him.
You think about this, and as you do—REMEMBER LOT’S WIFE, LOUISE!

Pillars of Salt

2009-03-12T12:15:00.000-05:00

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
This is one of the many cautions Jesus made to His disciples: “Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32 NASB). Then He went on to say, “Whoever seeks to keep his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life shall preserve it” (vs. 33). I can only imagine that Lot’s wife, Virginia, had many faults, but she, obviously, had one that caused her significant problems; I call it the “The Looking Back” syndrome (I was kidding about Lot’s wife being Virginia, actually, it was Louise!). As you remember, Louise and Lot had been given clear instructions, not to look back, as they were leaving Sodom (see Genesis 19:17); Lot managed to keep his focus out front, but Louise’s Looking Back Syndrome kicked in, and she turned around to take a look at the past. Whammo, and she became a pillar of salt, the kind that rusts one’s shovel, not the kind that makes one thirsty for Jesus! Well, now that I think about it, I could be wrong about that, as this “pillar of salt” has probably made many thirsty for Him!
Anyway, from what Jesus said to His disciples (“Whoever seeks to keep his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life shall preserve it”), I can only assume that Louise was having a hard time leaving her past, even though everything in it was being burned to the ground, as in eliminated, because God was just a tad angry with the entire mess. Can you imagine anyone wanting to hold on to something that God detests? Anyway, as God said, in trying to hold on to her life (as she knew it), she lost it!
Well, dear friends, I am afraid that there is a pandemic of the “Looking Back Syndrome” among my Christian brothers and sisters, not to mention, the entire populace. Over the years of my being a pastor/counselor, I have encountered many people, who insist on spending more time focused on the past, than I have those, who are willing to put the past behind them and move on to higher ground. For reasons that I won’t take the time to explain here, they have, sadly, grown comfortable in their misery, and are fearful of moving forward, outside their comfort zone.
I have known some incredible people, incredibly talented people, who have lived for years in the misery that is the product of foolish choices and fear, and, sadly, they refuse even to entertain the possibility that there is a better future for them. They have for years lived out of the paradigm of their past, where rejection, insecurity, and fear rule their lives, and consequently, they live far beneath their God-given potential. In other words, as I look over the landscape of life, I see hundreds, yea thousands, of “pillars of salt” that litter its beauty.
I think Paul’s words are very fitting and appropriate: “. . . one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal . . .” (Philippians 3:13-13 NASB).
In other words, stop making excuses for your misery, stop living in your past, and reach forward to what lies ahead—press on toward the goal! Stop blaming others (those in your past) for your own misery and take responsibility for your own life!! We have enough salt pillars!
You have the God of the Universe on your side!

New Wine into Old Wineskins?

2009-03-11T13:14:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
This is one of the things Jesus had to say about wine: “Nor do men put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out, and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved” (Matthew 9:17 NASB). I am so very thankful that Jesus loved wine, not because I want to get drunk, but because His love for it brings such clarity to things that would, otherwise, never be understood.
In this passage, the point is very clear, at least from where I am sitting (Admittedly, I usually sit down close to the blackboard when He is teaching!): If anyone should be so foolish, as to put new wine into old wineskins, well, the result would be even more foolish—he would lose all of his wine. Why? The old wineskin has already been stretched from previous fermentation, and, consequently, as the new wine continues to ferment, creating alcohol and CO2, the old wineskin will burst and, thus, the wine will spill out and be wasted. A tragedy, indeed, for some like Jesus and me, who happens to love the stuff.
I love the story of Jesus changing the water into the best-ever wine at the wedding in Cana of Galilee! As you remember, it was His Mother, who involved Him in this, when she said to Him, “Son, the wine has run out; they have no wine.” His response to her is quite interesting and noteworthy: Mama, what am I going to do with you? Please don’t do this to me just now, as I am not ready to let people know everything about me (my paraphrase of “Woman, what do I have to do with you? My hour has not yet come.”). Well, as you know, Jesus, like the rest of us boys, had a hard time saying “No” to His Mother, so, well you know the rest of the story. The party was not lost after all—120 gallons of the finest vintage wine ever produced (I think His mother was thinking more along the lines of a few bottles of wine, not 120-180 gallons, but, then, I must assume that the Jews loved to drink wine at wedding parties, and I know for sure that Jesus always does things in a superabundant way!).
Anyway, the headwaiter tasted the wine and said to the groom, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when men have drunk freely, then that which is poorer; you have kept the good wine until now (I think the reason is obvious, but if you don’t get it, let me know and I will explain it in tomorrow’s perspective! Well, on second thought, I will go ahead and tell you now: To give drunks the best wine last, amounts to the same thing as putting new wine into an old wineskin—the wine is wasted. Drunks think Mogen David is “good” wine!).” Let the festivities begin! I really like it when Jesus throws a party, mainly because He runs off all the religious bigots before the real party begins.
Then of course there is the wine of the Eucharist; HOW HE MUST HAVE LOVED IT! I find it so sad that so many pastors attempt to water-down the wine of the Eucharist, taking it in a completely reverse direction. Jesus turned water into wine, but they have turned wine into water (grape juice).
Didn’t I tell you that it is foolish, not to mention, wasteful, to put new wine into old wineskins? If I didn’t, I meant to!

Salt & Light

2009-03-08T14:59:00.001-05:00

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
This morning, two passages are “front and center” in my mind: “You are the salt of the earth”; You are the light of the world.” As you know, both of these are from that familiar sermon Jesus preached, the one we call “The Sermon on the Mount” (see Matthew 5).
As you know, salt can accomplish many things. It can melt the ice on one’s driveway, morph a “fresh” ham into a “country” ham, make food “tasty,” rust your shovel, and make water much less than potable. There is one thing that it can do, with which we are all most familiar: it can make us thirsty!
When I was much younger, my Mother would soak kit fish (mackerel infused with brine) overnight and fry them early the next morning, for a group of men who were going on a quail hunt or a dove shoot. My were they good, especially with grits, hoe cakes, and hot coffee!! Wish I had a mess of them RIGHT now!! There was one catch, however, and it was this: Unless you wanted to be miserably thirsty all day long, you had better take along a big container of water. Why? Salt makes us thirsty!!
I must believe that a part of what Jesus had in mind, when He said, “You are the salt of the earth” was this: Our lives will make others thirsty for truth (note that I said “will make,” and I did so because He said we ARE, not should be, the salt of the earth). Am I missing something? Is this book we call the Bible really true? Had Jesus had too much wine? Do you get my drift?
Again, as you know, light can also accomplish many things, many more things than salt! It can cut through solid steel, travel faster than a speeding bullet (much faster!), excise a tumor, cook food, burn your bohinney, and separate into red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. There is one thing it does, however, with which all of us (well almost all of us) are very familiar: It dispels darkness!
Since Jesus said that “we” are the light of the world, I must assume that at least a part of what He meant was this: Our lives will dispel the darkness that is the enemy of love. Again, am I missing something? Am I living on another planet? Had the sun “gotten to” Jesus and caused Him to hallucinate? Is this sermon like the sermons I preach—foolishness? Do you get my drift?
Now, instead of becoming religious and attempting to “rust someone’s shovel” or trying to “shine for Jesus,” remember this: Salt does nothing to be salty, it simply “rusts shovels” and make people thirsty; light does nothing to dispel darkness, it simply cannot coexist with it.
You ARE the salt of the earth and the light of the world—period!

An Important Matter

2009-03-06T20:08:00.001-05:00

Friday, March 6, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Sometimes life throws curve balls at us—one after another—and hitting them can be virtually impossible, especially when the most precious people in our lives are being snatched away, without any warning whatsoever. One of my “flock” knows what I am talking about—FIRST HAND.
Several years ago, her husband was killed in a tragic automobile accident, but that was, merely, the first curve ball that came flying across her “plate.” Not too many years lat-er, one of her teen-aged sons was killed in tragic automobile accident, the second of the curve balls that came flying across her plate.
Unbelievably, there was to be a third curve ball thrown across her plate; I can only pray that the “three strikes and you are out” rule applies to her life! This morning she told me that she received a phone call about 4:30 AM, telling her that her brother’s 28 year old son, her nephew, was killed in a tragic automobile accident. He left a wife, a 6 year old son, and, of course, his extended family. I can only imagine the pain this precipitated, and I really cannot do that.
Debbie is one of the most precious people I know, but that does not mean that she is any less human. Her feelings are real—very real! Her confusion is legitimate—very legiti-mate! Her desire to run and hide under a rock are normal—very normal! I hope she has all the freedom in the world to kick and scream and spit!
The people in our part of the Body of Christ love her without condition, and it is so very easy to do so because she first loves us, without condition. I have no problem under-standing why Jesus chose her to be His bride, none whatsoever, but my gosh, He has al-lowed her to go through some pretty tough stuff!
Of course, she called me this morning because she knew that I, being so old and wise and experienced, would have all the answers for her! If you believe that, you need to have your oil changed! She called me because she KNEW that I would not have a clue, not the first one. What in the heck could I possible say to someone, who has been through the fire and come out on the other side like pure gold?
When she first learned of her late husband’s death, she found herself sitting in a parking lot (literally) somewhere in Alabama or Arkansas (I cannot remember which), completely distraught, with her Daddy leaning over her. This is what she asked him in that agonizing moment: “Daddy, what are we going to do now?” His reply was, well, this was his reply: “We will keep on trusting Jesus!” In that moment her Daddy empowered her, as never before!
Now listen up, after three terrifying curve balls, Debbie is still trusting Jesus, not be-cause she is so spiritually astute, but because He has given her His faith, the kind of faith that brings peace in the storms of life, AND, I might add, because her Daddy spoke the power of Jesus into her life.
Needless to say, I hold Debbie in a place of high esteem, very high esteem, and I love her—no conditions attached.
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love . . . Love NEVER fails! Not ever!
Please pray for Debbie and for this 6 year old child and his mother, as well as the entire extended family. You will be glad you did!
By the way, the Lord has given her a new husband, Dudley, and they really love each other and bless the rest of us beyond measure! I am sure that she is leaning on his broad shoulders, even as I write this.

Missing the Point

2009-03-05T16:01:00.000-05:00

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Yesterday, I ended my perspective with this: I am wondering if they did not miss His point; after all, it was their fear and amazement that evidenced the location of their faith—IN HIM. As you remember, Jesus had just asked the disciples this very probing question: “Where is your faith?”
The truth is, I am wondering, if all of us haven’t missed the point, especially when it comes to faith. Notice that Jesus’ question was not, “Why don’t you (of all people) have faith?”; instead, it was “Where IS your faith?” In my mind, there is a difference. It would have been one thing for Jesus to have asked them, “Why don’t you have faith?” but it was quite another for Him to ask, “Where is your faith?” The former implying that they had no faith; however, the latter implying that they did have faith, but it wasn’t working properly.
He could have been asking, “Is your faith in your ability to survive this storm, or is it in My ability to calm the sea?” The truth is, however, I don’t think He was really asking them anything (yes, I know that it appears that He was); instead, I think He was teaching them a profound truth, making an incredible point, but I have reason to believe that they missed it, and I have even stronger reason to believe, that most who read the story today, miss it. HINT: I do not think He asked the question from an angry, frustrated heart, but with tongue in cheek.
I think He was simply demonstrating for them (and us!) this profound truth: there cannot, I repeat, CANNOT, be a crisis when He is in the “boat” with us, and He is—always! Even when the “storm” is so great that surviving seems impossible, He can calm it, with less than a whisper. Yes, it might seem that we are in a crisis, a major crisis, but a crisis cannot exist in His presence! Our perception of reality is not always equated with reality, and this is a prime example.
The truth is, the location of my faith is really not important, and I will give you three guesses, as to why. It is, however, HIS faith, working in and through my life, that matters! Why? He has perfect faith!
Yes, I think we have missed the point! Faith (not mine, but His) comes by hearing the Word of Christ, not by doing religious gymnastics, such as calming storms, healing the sick and raising the dead. Rest assured that I, for example, could never even believe the gospel; it is just too bizarre for me to believe; however, He believes it for me, i.e. He gives me what I do not have, the kind of faith that brings peace, even in the midst of the storms of life.

Where is Your Faith?

2009-03-04T12:21:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
“Now it came about on one of those days, that He and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, ‘Let us go over to the other side of the lake.’ And they launched out. But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended upon the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger. And they came to Him and woke Him up, saying, ‘Master, Master, we are perishing!’ And being aroused, He rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm. And He said to them ‘Where is your faith?’ And they were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, ‘Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him’” (Luke 8:23-25 NASB; emphasis added)?
On one of those days! If you are like me, then you can empathize with that phrase, because such days come all-too-often, or so it seems. How many times have you said (or thought), “That was one of those days!”, after having spent it dealing with everything—including the proverbial “kitchen sink.” For the disciples, this was going to be just a routine trip across the lake, but it turned out to be anything but routine, and for several reasons, not the least of which was a terrible storm, one with fierce winds and surging waves, so much so, that these seasoned sailors were fearful of dying—then and there.
As you know, it did not take them long to wake Jesus and inform Him of heir dilemma, hoping against hope that He could save them (I say that because they had never seen Him calm a raging storm). His response is, even to this day, quite amazing: He rebuked the fierce winds and the surging waves and, immediately, the sea became perfectly calm. I can only imagine that it took a few minutes for their emotions to catch up with what their minds had just witnessed. Before that “few minutes” could transpire, however, Jesus hit them with this soul-searching question: “Where is your faith?”
If you look at the text, you will see that their response was much like ours would have been (still is, for that matter!): “They were fearful and amazed . . .”
Fearful and amazed in the Presence of the I Am, trying to answer the most important of questions—Where is your faith?
I am wondering if they did not miss His point; after all, it was their fear and amaze-ment that evidenced the location of their faith—IN HIM. You think about that--

What an Incredible Shepherd!

2009-03-02T11:52:00.001-05:00

Monday, March 2, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,

“Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
And He will delight in the fear of the Lord, and He will not judge by what His eyes see, nor make a decision by what His hears hear; but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; and He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.
And righteousness will be the belt about His loins, and faithfulness the belt about His waist.
And the wolf will dwell with the Lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little boy will lead them.
Also the cow and the bear will graze; their young will lie down together; and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
And the nursing child will pay by the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
Then it will come about in that day that the nations will resort to the root of Jesse, who will stand as a signal for the peoples; and His resting place will be glorious” (Isaiah 11:1-10 NASB).

WHAT AN INCREDIBLE SHEPHERD!

Enough said!

2009-03-01T19:46:00.001-05:00

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
It snowed in Macon, GA today—more snow than I have seen in Macon in a long time. No, I didn’t make a snowman, but my grandchildren did! Today is my son’s (Michael) 36th birthday, which means that I am old, especially when you factor in that my daughter will be 41 on June 3! Now, on to what I am about, at least for the moment—
Today in our service at Grace Christian Fellowship, I asked the Lord to give me a passage for His people today and, immediately, He took me to Isaiah 9. Listen to these words: “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6 NASB; emphasis added). Wow! Talk about timely and fitting!
My message had to do with the fact that the politicians in our government are rapidly and deliberately taking away our freedom, and in doing so, they are taking control of our lives. If I did not know that He is everything He has ever promised to be, I would be scared out of my wits! Even with that, I must admit that I am a tad (well, probably more than a tad) nervous (I am still very much human!).
Although I have read Isaiah 9 many times over the years, and have read it to others, especially at Christmas, today I saw something that I had never seen before, certainly not within the context of what is happening today in our good ole USA—THE GOVERNMENT WILL REST ON HIS SHOULDERS!
Enough said!

Have a blessed night!
Mac

Freedom or Tyranny?

2009-02-27T14:09:00.001-05:00

Friday, February 27, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
These are Paul’s words: “Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses” (Acts 13:38 NASB). In my opinion, this is a pretty good deal—forgiveness AND freedom!
By the time Paul preached this sermon, the Jews were thoroughly imprisoned to the Law of Moses, and not just to the Law of Moses, but (and especially) to all of the Pharisaical interpretations of that Law. Long before he preached this sermon, the Ten Commandments, which no one could obey in the first place, had been increased to some 79 very large volumes of laws. Sadly, the Jews were convinced that, in order to please God, they had to obey these laws, not to mention, that the penalty for disobedience was rather severe—death by stoning [If you happen to see the woman who was caught in adultery, ask her, as she will vouch for me!]. In the wildest stretches of my imagination, I cannot imagine that anyone really enjoyed this kind of lifestyle, with the exception of the narcissistic Pharisees, who enjoyed “lording it over” their subjects and, thus, controlling and destroying their lives.
The response to this portion of Paul’s sermon is quite remarkable: “ . . . the people kept begging that these things might be spoken to them the next Sabbath . . . and the next Sabbath nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of God” (Acts 13:42, 44 NASB). Of course, the Pharisees were not too happy about what they were seeing and hearing, so they began to contradict what Paul was saying (see vs. 45). Interestingly, it was at this point that Paul & Barnabas left the Jews and took this good news to the Gentiles.
As I write these words, I am keenly aware that we (you and I) are watching, as the US Government takes more and more control over our lives. Oh, the politicians always have some lame answer, but the truth is, we are losing our freedom—fast! We already have more laws than the Jews ever thought about having (the tax code far exceeds all of the Jewish laws!) and, ironically, we have more people incarcerated than we have prisons to house them. In other words, the laws are giving disobedience power. Imagine that!
As I see it, we are well on way to socialized medicine. The doctors will all be from India or Iran, but at least everyone will have affordable health care. Yea, right! It will be affordable because those of us who pay taxes will be paying the bill, and this means that there will be fewer and fewer of us, who pay taxes, because there will be no reward for working. Not to worry, however, because Uncle Sam will figure out a way to transfer wealth from the rich to the poor; you can count on that! The one thing our Uncle will not figure out, however, is this: how to maintain quality health care! I seriously doubt that many are going to want to go through the rigors of medical school, internship, and residency, in order to have some half-witted government appointed jerk telling him/her how to practice, on whom to practice, and how much they will be paid to practice. To be sure, not many will be willing to take this on for a meager $60,000 or $70,000 per year.
I might add, that although our educational system has gone down the tubes, there is a “fix” for it—let’s socialize it, too! Let us give the US Government, and the State government, for that matter, the power to control education, and all will be well. Yea, right! Virtually every decision any local school board makes is already tied to whether or not making it will decrease or increase funds from either or both levels of government. I wonder if ANY decision is ever made based upon what is best for the children in the classrooms. Oh, I forgot: No Child Left Behind solved all of our educational problems!! (my tongue is in my cheek!).
As some of you know, I am old enough (and then some) to be drawing my Social Security benefits, and I am doing just that. But do you know what I did before I was paid the first penny of those benefits? I paid into the system for almost 50 years, and for all of those 50 years, with few exceptions, I paid both the employee’s and the employer’s portion. Do you know what the US Government did? Without my permission, it decided to use most of the monies in this fund for OTHER things, and in my opinion the people who made those decisions are guilty of a much worse crime than Bernard Madoff, and should be jailed and made to pay every penny back into the fund, with proper interest. But don’t worry about it because the US Government will fix this problem, too, with, well I think you know how it will fix it! The sad truth is this: many of you will never see one dime of the money you have so graciously put into this system, because I am drawing out what you are putting in! By the way—THANKS!
By the way (again), I am 67 years old, which means that, as of February 15, 2009, I had lived a mere 2,115,244,890 (two billion, one hundred fifteen million, two hundred forty-four thousand, eight hundred and ninety) seconds. It takes 31,688 YEARS to use 1 trillion seconds! How long will it take to retire a 2 trillion dollar debt, at the rate of $1 per second? Go figure! But hurry because time is of the essence!
Let me stop this and, simply, say, “I choose freedom over tyranny!” Let it go on the record!
“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore, keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1 NASB). Please do not be deceived! We are relinquishing our freedom, one step at a time, and from my vantage point, we don’t have many steps left. I am really glad I know Who is in charge!

Sick, as in Ill

2009-02-25T18:36:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Since this past Friday night, I have been sick. Yes, I am a weenie, so my sick might not be as sick as your sick; however, I have been sick, nonetheless. I hate being sick. There is nothing about being sick that I enjoy—nothing. I am still sick, not as sick as I was, but sick, even so. No, I am not the throwing-up kind of sick that you are probably thinking; I am sick with a cold, a sinus infection, laryngitis, a cough, the general upper-respiratory cozzutics. I have tried to give it away, but no one will take it. I am having a difficult time not looking at life through the lenses of this malady.
My get up and go, got up and went; my appetite is suppressed; my focus is out of focus; my smeller is confused; my taste buds don’t; sleeping sounds like the best idea; noise is irritating; Bible study doesn’t come easily; this cold weather is driving me nuts; and I am ready to be well.
Tomorrow night, my church is meeting for our monthly “Bible Study & Wine Fest” and I don’t feel very festive (I have already told you that Bible study isn’t coming easily!). Not to mention, that most of the people, who will gather for this incredible time, would probably rather not have this bug passed on to them. Not to worry, however, as I will wear a surgical mask, before I miss this event.
Actually, I am much better now and have every reason to believe that I will be nigh 100% by tomorrow evening. The power of positive thinking! But I really am better! The evidence? I am alive! One of these days, someone is going to discover a cure for these kinds of viral illnesses, and, believe me, I will be more than happy to take the shot because I do not like being controlled by a runny nose and a cough!
This is what bugs me, however: No Christian enjoys being controlled by sin; however, most are, even though God has provided us with the means to break sin’s power. He has provided THE CURE but most reject it! What is it? He released us from the Law! “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; . . .” (1 Corinthians 15:56 NASB); “. . . for apart from the Law, sin is dead” (Romans 7:8b NASB).
What shall we say then?

A Divine Appointment!

2009-02-24T18:31:00.000-05:00

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
The following is one of the responses I received from yesterday’s perspective. I received permission to share it with you, so read it and “shout for joy”:

Mac, About the scriptures below, this will take some meditation to answer your question, because when I first read them, I took each one separately. However, after reading several times, there is a flow here...like a scriptural Map-Quest taking me where I want to go....

For example, separately, I have agreed with #4 many times, seeing it as condemning our present condition—yet, maybe that is not what it meant—maybe it was not us it was condemning...maybe the dirty dress that represents sin in my mind, is no longer MY dress...Also, previously, I have been confused by #6 and #7. I will try to explain. (yep, pour yourself some tea and pull up a chair)

Please know that no matter how I come off, Jesus and His precious blood have saved me, and I know He alone has done it, and yes, He gave me the faith to believe in Him, so absolutely nothing is of me. It is only because of the blood of the Lamb that I will go to heaven, and this was true before I read these verses today. The hymn is true, I love Jesus, because He first loved me—and I have been grateful for that for a long time.

However, as I sat in church yesterday, at one point (and only one point - don't remember which point), I was wondering, "is this simply semantics"? Yet, after church, as we talked with Kitty and Josh, and I shared the old analogy about the chicken who had its feet tied together, so that when they were untied, he did not attempt to fly, even though it could... (or some type of bird - can chickens even fly? sorry, not a country girl - oh well, you get what I am trying to say.) Kitty added the one about the fish in a tank, where they put a piece of glass in the middle of the tank, cutting the tank in half, for so long, and then they take it out. However, the fish does not attempt to swim to the other end of the tank, although there is no longer a barrier, because it just doesn't know it can...

So, does salvation mean more than I knew? Do I have a position, an identity....that I did not know I had? Can I fly or swim further than I knew? Did I think my Father left me a $1000, when He actually left me a BA-ZILLION DOLLARS??? Something is brewing here....

Anyway, today, there was something different as I read the verses, so I must think and pray about this further. Something happened in my spirit while reading, meaning, while I was reading #7, I realized I was smiling. That was the verse - the one that had caused such confusion before, and all of a sudden, it was like a, "Yes, that's it. This IS the truth," was resounding in me!

So, for now, things I have not been able to explain are starting to focus. I feel like the man who was blind, who Jesus touched, and then this man saw "men as trees". Consequently, Jesus touched the man again, so that He could see clearly. I am in the "seeing men as trees" stage,...but PTL, I now know the men look like trees, and I know there is more to see. And, I WANT to see clearly! - So, I am no longer blind, and I am convinced He will touch me again, so that I will see clearly before this journey is over...

So, Mac, I think you're on to something...coming to your church was and is a divine appointment....Some type of anticipation is brewing, like Christmas Eve for a child...
I think He has given us a much greater gift than I ever realized...just not sure what it is...
(You remember the old trick of starting out with a big gift box, and burying a smaller one in it, so the recipient does not know what you are giving them....Well, the Lord has refined this one, and put the big box inside a small one...not possible? He already did...when the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords and the Savior of all mankind was placed in a baby in Bethlehem....but somehow, this gift is also meant to get inside our package...I think it's tied in with the "new wine in old wineskin" thing...

You know what this feels like? Helen Keller discovering that words were symbols that identified actual objects and weren't just words...that w-a-t-e-r represented water that you could feel...the light bulb is coming on...

As you might imagine, THIS is why I love teaching the gospel!!

A Few Good Verses!

2009-02-23T18:02:00.001-05:00

Monday, February 23, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
And a good Monday morning to each of you! Today, I want to offer you several “interesting” passages of Scripture for your consideration, so hang on for the ride:
1. “ . . . and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness” (Romans 6:18 NASB ).
2. “But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God . . .” (Romans 6:22a NASB).
3. “But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter” (Romans 7:6 NASB).
4. “But if I am doing the very thing I do not wish, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me” (Romans 7:20 NASB).
5. “. . . knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin” (Romans 6:6 NASB).
6. “No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him” (1 John 3:6 NASB).
7. “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin because he is born of God” (1 John 3:9 NASB).
Now, after having carefully read these passages, would you please write in your own words what you believe is their central truth and how that truth affects your life, and, then, please email your response to me?
Thank you so much!!

Beer, Pizza, and Bible Study

2009-02-20T14:46:00.001-05:00

Friday, February 20, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Yesterday’s perspective, the one in which I said, “Gosh, I think I’ll have a beer!”, must have been right on, as the response has been utterly astonishing! You made it very obvious that you are tired (and then some) of the hypocrisy of the church, especially its leaders. The next time I make that comment, I am going to say this: All of you, who want to join me for a beer, meet me at Joe’s Bar tonight at 7:00. Based on your response, I will have quite a lot of company! Now that I think about it, Joe’s Bar is probably not large enough!
Interestingly, I have for years now, wanted to have a Bible study in a bar, with free beer and pizza for everyone (I am pretty sure that Anheuser Bush would sponsor it!). Yes, I know that some would over-indulge, but they would over-indulge, even if they had to pay for the beer and pizza, and there was no Bible study. And, yes, (for those of you, who are worried about it) I would want to be sure that those, who did over-indulge, were provided with a ride home, even if they lived under a bridge. Just for the record, I am fully aware that drinking and driving is not only dangerous, but also foolish and irresponsible; trust me on this one, I have picked up more victims, both dead and alive, than probably all of you put together!
You might be wondering why I would want to do such an “out of the box” thing, so I will tell you: (1) I am convinced that Jesus did much of His ministry this way; otherwise, why would they have called Him a glutton and a winebibber?; (2) I am convinced that Jesus came for those who could not help themselves; otherwise, why would the gospel be a thing of grace?; (3) I love to irritate the religious, those who are quick to point a finger at those who drink alcohol, but never mention the thoughts of their own hearts (Jesus called these folks, hypocrites!); and finally (4) If I were ever stopped on the side of the road and needed help and I had only two choices, the bar on the north bound lane or the church on the south bound lane, I would choose the bar, not the church, and the reason should be obvious—the folk in the bar would be happy to help, expecting nothing in return; whereas, by the time the church finished evaluating my need and sharing their version of the “gospel” with me, as a stipulation for their help, the group at the bar, would have had me merrily on my way.
Listen to this: “And it came about on another Sabbath, that He entered the synagogue and was teaching; and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely, to see if He healed on the Sabbath, in order that they might find reason to accuse Him. But He knew what they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Rise and come forward!’ And he arose and came forward. And Jesus said to them, ‘I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good, or to do harm, to save a life, or to destroy it?’ And after looking around at them all, He said to him, ‘Stretch out your hand!’ And he did so; and his hand was restored. But they themselves were filled with rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus” (Luke 6:6-11 NASB). I LOVE IT!
I really like this: “And it was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spend the whole night in prayer to God” (vs. 12). Believe me, I can surely empathize with Him, at least in this.
Anyone for beer, pizza and a Bible study?

Gosh! I Think I'll Have a Beer!

2009-02-19T11:07:00.004-05:00

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
I read with interest the article in this morning’s “Macon Telegraph” entitled, “Senate Panel Takes up Sunday Sales Bill.” For those of you who do not live in Georgia, we are one of three states that do not allow alcohol sales on Sunday, and as you might imagine, this creates quite a controversy. On the one hand, the owners of grocery stores, liquor stores, gas stations, and those who are addicted to alcohol are much in favor of allowing the sale of alcoholic beverages on Sunday (and every other day, for that matter); whereas, Mothers Against Drunk Driving are passionately against it. The governor of Georgia, Sonny Purdue, who identifies himself as a “conservative” Christian, is also against it, primarily for two rea-sons: (1) it will increase injuries and fatalities on our highways; and (2) Sunday is the Lord’s Day and it should be respected as such. Of course, most of the rest of those who lay claim to being “conservative” Christians are also against it, as doing so would surely desecrate the Sabbath Day, the Lord’s Day.
Ironically, these buy their “Sunday stash” of alcohol on Friday or Saturday, which tells me it is the “purchasing” of alcohol on Sunday, that is their problem, not the drinking of it! Of course, that begs this question: What is the difference between purchasing alcohol on Sun-day and purchasing milk on Sunday, IF the purchasing, not the drinking, is the issue?
Actually, my mission today has nothing to do with my being “for” or “against” the sale of alcohol on Sunday; instead, it has to do with one of the reasons many “conservative Christians,” (including the Governor of Georgia) use to justify their being against selling alcohol on Sunday—“Remember the Sabbath Day to Keep it Holy.” I have no problem with anyone being against selling alcohol on any day, especially those whose lives have been torn asunder by the abuse of alcohol. I have no problem with anyone using legitimate statistics, as their reason for being against selling alcohol on Sunday, or Tuesday, for that matter. I have no problem with anyone being against selling alcohol on Sunday simply because the wind is blowing out of the North. I do, however, have a problem with anyone using the misuse of the Scriptures to legitimize their being against (or for) anything!
If you want to continue living, as an Old Covenant Christian, help yourself—be my guest! If you want to continue trying to keep the Ten Commandments in an effort to please God, to get His blessings, help yourself—be my guest! But for those of you, who are a bit weary in the effort, a bit tired of trying, more-than-tired of wearing a facade, I have some good news for you—you have been released from the Law, you are no longer under the Law’s jurisdiction, because you are under grace (see Romans 6:14!), and there is a significant difference.
Now, listen up! In the New Covenant the Sabbath is NOT a day in the week, but a Person, namely, the person of Jesus Christ, and I seriously doubt that we need to be concerned about “keeping Him Holy!” We live in The Sabbath, every day of every week! Jesus is our Sabbath Rest, not Sunday! When He finished His work, He sat down, not because He was tired, but because He was finished doing whatever needed to be done to deliver us from Old Covenant living and transfer us to New Covenant living!
Please, let us stop this nonsensical misuse of the Scriptures to legitimize our own preferences. Gosh, I think I will have a beer!

To Serve or to Be Served?

2009-02-18T19:08:00.002-05:00

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Sometimes, Biblical passages are so familiar to us, that it is hard for us to see anything, other than what we have already seen, and the following is no exception: “But Jesus called them [the disciples, especially James & John] unto Himself, and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not so among you, but whosoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many’” (Matthew 20:25-28 NASB; brackets added).
In case you have forgotten, Jesus made this statement because the mother of James and John came to Him, asking (really, demanding!) that her two sons have places of honor in His kingdom—one to sit on His right hand and the other on His left hand. His immediate response was very forthright: “You do not know what you are asking for. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink” (vs. 22a)? Their response, however, was a bit telling, if you know what I mean: “We are able” (vs. 22b). This reminds me of Israel’s response to Moses, when he relayed the Ten Commandments to them, telling them that should they keep them, God would bless them: “All that the Lord has spoken, we will do” (Exodus 19:8a)! Yea, right!
Because I know you are such an astute Bible student, I know that you can see the obvious in this: Be careful what you ask for because it might be more than you can handle! To say that another way: Be sure you brain is in gear before you put your mouth in motion! Great theological truths!
With that, Jesus proceeded on with the statement I gave you in the first paragraph, telling them some things they probably did not want to hear, certainly not in the moment. This is my paraphrase of what He said: The Gentile rulers got it all wrong in “lording it over” their subjects, in exercising such authority over them, because they believed that greatness came from having the best seats in the house, from controlling others, rather than serving them. This is not the way things work in My Kingdom. The fact is, in my kingdom, if you desire to become great, you must become a servant, a slave. In case you have forgotten, I came not to be served by you, but to serve you, and to give My life a ransom for yours.
Did you see it? Can you think outside the “box” and see what most never see? Go ahead and give it a try! It might be like the old Polaroid picture—slow to develop—but it will come. Be patient!
OK, I will help you. When you attend “church” this Sunday morning, to hear the Word of God preached, and to eat the bread and drink the wine of the Eucharist, remember this: He is there to serve you His Word, His Body, and His Blood; it is NOT the other way around. You should not attend church to serve Him; instead, you should attend to allow Him to serve you. When He has completed serving you, THEN you go out into your part of His world and serve others. He really does not need your help, BUT your neighbor does!

Another Milestone

2009-02-16T12:50:00.002-05:00

Monday, February 16, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Wow! I made it past another milestone—my 67th birthday! For some reason, 67 sounds much older than 66; it has the “get your stuff in order because you are using up your years” ring to it, the ring that 66 did not have. Now, don’t misunderstand me, as I am not packing my bags for the trip Home; instead, I am, merely, telling you that I am older than I have ever been and younger than I will ever be. I might add that I am trying to focus on being “younger than I will ever be,” rather than being “older than I have ever been,” which is quite a challenge. My friend, Phil, who lives in the “show me” state of Missouri, reminded me of this last night, and I have been thinking about it ever since (I pay attention to his comments because he is much older than I).
Anyway, I thought I would share a few things with you that seem to be important to me, at this juncture in my journey:
1. After all of these years, I still believe that the gospel is the power of God for salvation, not the antics of man.
2. Without understanding “why,” I am fully convinced that God really did call me to preach the aforementioned gospel.
3. It took my getting over the religious teachings of my formative years before I could see it, but today I am confident (beyond question), that the gospel is not God’s unveiling of what we are to do for Him, but His announcement of what He has done for us.
4. After a life-time of attending organized church, not to mention 30 years as a pas-tor, I am fully-persuaded that it has become the enemy of the True Church, and that grieves me.
5. Even so, “I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that Day.”
6. In my opinion, God has given the preaching of His word and the celebration of the Eucharist a place of priority within His Church, that is much higher than most realize.
7. Although there have been times when it seemed otherwise, I know that God is in control—every time and all the time—and that is a source of great comfort to me.
8. Absolutely nothing can separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus.
9. True friendship is of far more value than great riches.
10. The older I become, the more I realize just how little I know about Him.
11. One of the most grievous mistakes a Bible teacher can make is to cease being a student.
12. Rather than evidencing little, or no faith, my doubting that evidences the genuineness of faith.
13. God descended to me, I did not ascend to Him—of this I am certain.
14. My sin debt has been canceled and nailed to the cross—I no longer bear it!
15. When I am deceived, I do not know that I am.
16. God chose me; I did not choose Him, and that is for certain.
17. Jesus rescued me from sin and death.
18. God’s prescience did not determine His choice in election.
19. My will is free to do righteousness because I am a slave to righteousness.
20. Keeping the Ten Commandments is a “piece of cake,” when compared to Jesus’ commandment for me to love others, even as He loves me!
I could go on-and-on, but suffice it to say that I am still enjoying the journey (for the most part), being fully persuaded that His grace is sufficient for me.

Two Crashes; One God

2009-02-14T11:08:00.003-05:00

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
As most of you know, somewhere around 10:00 PM Thursday night, as Continental Airlines Flight 3407 approached the airstrip in Buffalo, NY., it fell from the sky, killing all 49 people on board in a fiery crash. In our high-tech society, the news of this tragic “accident” spread very quickly, and soon family members, friends, and most of the rest of us were not only grieving but also wondering how a good, God could allow such a terrible thing to happen.
On January 15, at 3:31 PM, almost one month earlier, US Airways Flight 1549 with 155 people on board “ditched” into the Hudson River in New York and everyone survived. In our high-tech society, the news spread very quickly, and soon survivors, family member, friends, and most of the rest of us were talking about how good, our Good God really is!
Notice that in paragraph one, I placed the word “accident” in quotes, and I did so for good reason: From God’s perspective, there are no accidents. God never scratches His head, wondering, “How did that happen?” He never says, “Gosh, if I had been paying attention, I could have prevented that tragedy from happening!” He certainly never says, “Oh, I am so sorry, but accidents do happen, you know.” No! God is in control every time and all the time! Obviously, I cannot speak for you, but for me that is good news—very good news!
It really is true: God is in control every time and all the time, and in much the same way, God is good every time and all the time. However, it oftentimes appears that God is not in control every time and all the time, and it also oftentimes appears that God is not good every time and all the time, the aforementioned airplane crash being a prime example of both. In the crash, where so many people died, our hearts want to say that God was either not paying attention and, therefore, not in control, or that He is, simply, not good, at least not all the time and every time.
To be sure, from our perspective, the outcome of the crash into the Hudson was, in-deed, good, really good—everyone survived; whereas, the outcome of the crash into a house in Buffalo was bad, really bad—no one survived. But, then, our perspectives are determined by our limited and twisted concepts of good and evil.
To be sure, God is good, every time and all the time; consequently, nothing happens, absolutely nothing, unless He deems it for His glory and for our good.

Jesus Learned Obedience from Suffering!

2009-02-12T08:06:00.000-05:00

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
The more I contemplate the passage I shared with you yesterday from Luke’s gospel, the one where an angel from Heaven was sent to strengthen Jesus in the moment of His own intense struggle with His Father’s plan for His life, the more it encourages me. Read these words again: “’Father, if Thou art willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Thine be done.’ Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. And being in agony He was praying fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground” (Luke 22:41-45 NASB; emphasis added). I really do believe that most of us find it difficult to accept the fact that Jesus really struggled when He encountered adversity. For some reason, we have a difficult time accepting His humanity, when the truth is, doing so would give us so much hope and encouragement. The author of Hebrews has this to say about Jesus’ humanity: “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8 NASB; emphasis added).
Jesus learned obedience? What a novel idea. Not only that, He learned obedience from the things He suffered! This just blows my mind (No, this is not the first time I have read this passage, but it still blows my mind.)! We all know that He suffered, but His learning obedience from the things He suffered, is a bit much, especially for those of us who believe that obedience was not a problem for Him. In other words, contrary to popular opinion, Jesus came to live among us in perfect obedience to His Father, without an “ace in the hole!” He actually struggled, just as we struggle, so much so that God dispatched an angel to strengthen Him, to gently nudge Him across the line—“ . . . yet, not My will but Thine be done!” Hallelujah!
Listen up! God has a predetermined plan for your life (and mine!) and quite a bit of that plan involves our learning obedience from the things we suffer (if this was necessary for Jesus, it is, certainly, necessary for us!), but keep these words of Paul in mind: His strength is made perfect in our weakness, just as His strength was made perfect in Jesus’ weakness! “Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). When I am suffering, I do not think “well content” is the correct descriptor for me, but remember, I am old and I am doing the best I can! (=:

Anyone Believe in Angels?

2009-02-11T09:28:00.001-05:00

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
In yesterday’s perspective, I said this: Coming to that place of compliant surrender to His sovereign, predetermined plan for my life, is no easy task; in fact, I cannot do it. To be sure, it is one thing for me to say that I trust God; however, it is quite another for me to truly trust Him. Oh, I can talk-the-talk, but walking-this-walk, well, it is too difficult for me.
Because I know the mentality of many of the “religious” church-goers of our day, I am certain that there are those who would say that they are so “sold-out-to-Jesus,” that they live in this place of “compliant surrender” twenty-four-seven. Well, I do, too, when things are going my way, but when they are not going my way, it is a different story; rest assured that one would be hard-pressed to describe my response to adversity as “compliant surrender.” In other words, I am very familiar with Paul’s “kicking against the goads” (Acts 26:14)!”
Were it not for what I know about Jesus’ own struggle with “compliant surrender,” mine would probably do me in, as there have been many times in my life, when I was bombarded by adversity, the present being no exception, and without exception, I have proved to be a weenie. Jesus’ experience in the Garden of Gethsemane has been a source of genuine encouragement for me: “And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, ‘Father, if Thou art willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Thine be done.’ Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. And being in agony He was praying fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground” (Luke 22:41-45 NASB; emphasis added).
Have you ever wondered why He needed the help of an angel to get Him through this struggle? He did because He was STRUGGLING, in the same way that we struggle, almost to the point of trying to find a way to avoid God’s predetermined plan for His life!
Anyone believe in angels?

Does God Really Have a Plan?

2009-02-10T09:30:00.000-05:00

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
This is a portion of what Peter had to say about God’s foreknowledge and His predetermined plan: “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know—this Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. And God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power” (Acts 2:22-24 NASB; emphasis added). You can rest assured of this: If Jesus’ life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and seating was the result of God’s foreknowledge and predetermined plan, THEN the details of your life are, certainly, no surprise to Him! Count on this: You are living precisely what God foreknew and predetermined for your life and, I might add, this is NOT subject to change.
Based, however, upon the way most of us react to adversity, it is obvious that we think we have the ability to change, avoid, even eliminate God’s predetermined plan for our lives, and, thus, modify what He foreknew.
Not only that, but most of us honestly think it is in our best interest to do so! For some reason, we seem to believe that we know better that God what is best for our lives; consequently, when adversity comes, we immediately begin the futile attempt at getting God to change His mind and do what we think is best, rather than what He thinks is best.
Furthermore, many honestly believe it would not have been fair for God to have preplanned our lives, as His doing so would have reduced us to mere puppets, which would rob us of our “free will,” and this would certainly not be fair; after all, we are “free moral agents” (or so we think!). All I can say in response is this: the last thing we want from God is for Him to be fair! We had better trust that He continues to be merciful, rather than fair!
What I am saying is this: For many (most), it is fine for God to have foreknowledge, even perfect foreknowledge, but it is NOT fine for Him to have a predetermined plan for our lives! As one of my friends recently said, “In my opinion, God’s predetermined plan determined His foreknowledge, not the other way around,” which in my opinion is probably correct, and if it is, we should hurry and get used to it. I will say this: I had much rather know that God has a predetermined plan for my life, than to think that I am wandering aimlessly, trying to exercise my “free will” in an effort to have my own way.
Let us look at an example: God planned and, therefore, obviously, foreknew that John Doe would break his leg by stumbling over his lawn mower on July 10, 2008. Obviously, if God planned in advance (before the foundation of the world!) that this event would take place, then it took place, just as He and planned, thus, foreknew.
From what I can see, most people have no problem with God having foreknowledge of this event; the problem comes, however, when someone even hints that He caused this event, that His predetermined plan and foreknowledge determined this event, and it comes because we do not want anyone, even God, to exercise this kind of control over our lives. It makes us feel trapped, and we detest that feeling.
To say that God allowed something, is one thing; to say that He caused it, is quite another, and it is because it eliminates any control we might think we have over our lives! As I said earlier, it robs us of our perceived “free will”.
To be sure, when we begin to realize that His plan for us is contrary to what we de-sire for our lives, many (if not, most) of us begin doing whatever we can to avoid, change, even eliminate His plan! Of course, the way to accomplish this is simple—“have enough faith!” After all, faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains! Reminder: He has instructed us to ASK, but He has never instructed us to DEMAND anything from Him—faith or no faith.
Even so, I do have this question: If it is true that God allows ONLY that which He (He, not we!) deems best to come into our lives, that which is for His glory and for our good, why, pray tell me, would we want to do anything to avoid or change or eliminate it? Why would we want to remove a “mountain” that He has placed, or allowed to be placed, into our lives for His glory and for our good?
Even if you cannot accept that God actually brought an adverse event into your life, surely you have to accept that He allowed it to come into your life (He is God, you know!), and surely you believe that everything that happens in your life must first filter through His loving, compassionate, just hands—everything! If this is true, then why are we so quick to try to escape the adversity?
As I said in an earlier perspective, coming to that place of compliant surrender to His sovereign, predetermined plan for my life, is no easy task; in fact, I cannot do it. To be sure, it is one thing for me to say that I trust God; however, it is quite another for me to truly trust Him. Oh, I can talk-the-talk, but walking-this-walk, well, it is too difficult for me. I really am a weenie but don’t be too hard on me because you probably aren’t much different! If you think you are, just hang around a while and He will change your mind!
As you journey, remember these words of Paul: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28 NASB). You might want to keep this in mind, as well: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39 NASB).

How 'bout Them Apples?

2009-02-09T09:13:00.000-05:00

Monday, February 9, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
I had a brief exchange with my Calvinist friend yesterday afternoon, following this email he sent me earlier in the day: Now my good brother Mac, Joseph Arminius would certainly be proud of you! You know full well that God is not manipulated by what we choose. In other words, God is not subject unto us, moreover, we are subject unto Him. When He calls, we must come! You know I am a "died in the wool" Calvinist-as are you! Prior to my diligent study of the Scriptures, I was Arminian. Any good student of the Scriptures must embrace the intertwined doctrines of Election, Foreknowledge, and Predestination. God has predetermined the boundary, which is defined by the person of Christ. To be in Christ is to be one of the elect, according to the foreknowledge of God. Ephesians 1 is good proof text for this discussion. In my opinion, God's election determined His foreknowledge and not the other way around. The elect are foreordained of God with a destiny of full and final salvation realized in Glorification (Romans 8). In short, God has chosen in His sovereignty to lavish upon me the riches of His grace, realized in the conformity to the very likeness of His precious Son. I am not there yet, however, He is able to complete that good work which HE has begun in me. How 'bout them apples?
You can rest assured that Mr. Arminius would NOT have been proud of this Calvinist, aka, Mac Goddard, not even one bit; in fact, he wouldn’t even have allowed me to attend his church (not that I would have wanted to!). Of course, my Calvinist friend knows this and knows it well; the truth is Mr. Arminius wouldn’t have allowed him to attend his church, either! Well, he might have allowed him to put some money in his offering plate, but that would have been about the extent of it.
To tell you the truth, I really love my Calvinist friend, and I am continuing to pray for him, as he listens to that still small voice. Presently, he is having to drive almost 6 hours (one way) to work, to do something he really does not want to do, but both he and his family like eating, so he does what he has to do. He has a calling on his life, along with the God-given passion that would naturally accompany it. I am looking forward to seeing just what the Holy Spirit has in store for him. Rest assured (to use my friend’s own words!), nothing ever occurs to God! In other words, my friend does not have to wait for it to “occur” to God that he is, as a “fish out of water!” Much to the contrary, He has perfect foreknowledge and a predetermined plan for his life and, I might add, this predetermined plan is for God’s glory and for my friend’s good! Eye has not seen, neither has in entered into the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him! How ‘bout them apples?

Did God's Foreknowledge Determine His Choice in Election?

2009-02-08T19:35:00.000-05:00

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
I received the following email from someone, who is obviously encouraged by these recent perspectives; I think you will appreciate it: That God would have the foreknowledge to know what this old woman would be and do and become; what she has been and is and will be, and, yet, still loves me so much that he would not only choose even me, but also accomplish what He did on that cross to cancel out all those sins that would have kept me separated from Him forever, is so totally amazing to me. These truths give me the awareness of humility I wish I had known, or at least wanted to know , before it all began. Tell us more— CC
The “tell us more” part is the challenge, so let me be on with it. I realize that most Christians believe, strongly believe!, that God’s foreknowledge DID determine His choice in election. In other words, God looked down the corridors of time and saw something “good” in some of us, namely, that we exercised our “free will” and accepted His offer of salvation, and, thus, He chose us, i.e. He chose those He foreknew would choose Him. Sometimes (most of the time), it is not a good idea to accept something as truth simply because most people believe it is truth. I might add, from what I have been able to see, many of those, who accept this position, do so based on some inner feeling, rather than on objective truth.
Contrary to popular opinion, I am persuaded that God’s foreknowledge did NOT determine His choice in election, and the reasons are many, not the least of which is that by virtue of the fact that God is God, His choices are not contingent upon anything, certainly not our decisions. To say that God’s decision to choose me was contingent upon my decision to choose Him, forever excludes me from salvation, because I would never have chosen Him, apart from His having first chosen me and given me His life. In other words, my choosing Him can come ONLY after regeneration, not before. I am born again, so I can believe, not the other way around! Yes, I am familiar with the answer Paul and Silas gave to the Philippian jailer in response to his question, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”. This is a direct quote: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, and your household” (Acts 16:31; NASB). Admittedly, this seems to contradict what I just said; however, it does not. Obviously, one must believe on the Lord Jesus in order to be saved [“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8)], but do NOT put the cart before the horse. One cannot believe on his own; in fact, he doesn’t even want to believe, until “by grace through faith” He is given the life of Christ. You see, salvation has to do with what God has done, NOT what we have done. We really do need to get over ourselves! You think about this, and I will continue on the morrow—

A Half Century Ago

2009-02-07T20:24:00.006-05:00

On June 6, 1960 three of us in this picture graduated from Reynolds High School, home of the Tigers! The oldest looking (second from left) graduated in June of 1959--50 years ago. Although, our lives have gone in different directions, we have remained close friends through the years. Last night (2/6/209), some 13 of us gathered at the Grits Cafe in Forsyth to eat and fellowship. Afterward, we moved to the home of Brer, aka Lamar and Carey Russell for desert. We had a blast! You should have been with us! It would have made your study of theology much more interesting![l-r: Hollis Goodroe, Brer Russell, Gene Brunson, Mac Goddard]