Truth Telling
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Thursday, December 19th, 2024
I have a laptop that I use quite a lot. Over a year ago someone in the church gave me a big monitor which I absolutely love. My laptop sits closed at the base of the monitor because I like using an external keyboard rather than trying to fit my big fingers on the small keyboard of the laptop. I have a Bible open to my favorite chapter in the Bible sitting on top of my closed laptop and a post-it “thingy” (it looks like an arrow that says, “Read me!”) pointed directly to my favorite verse. I have one pointing to Luke 24:32 since that verse is the theme for my 2025 year of preaching. When Jesus walked with the two men on the road to Emmaus following His resurrection, they realized who He was when He broke bread with them. Their words were “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” I want to keep that constantly in front of me as I study.
But hands down my favorite passage in Psalm 37. I have the post-it arrow focused on verse 5. Please allow me to share with you the words from Psalm 37:1-8 this morning. I can think of no better way to start the day than to read Scripture and focus on what it says. Maybe this will be just for you today.
“Don’t worry about the wicked or envy those who do wrong. For like grass, they soon fade away. Like spring flowers, they soon wither. Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you. (That was verse 5) He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun. Be still in the presence of the Lord and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes. Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper-it only leads to harm.” A little later in that chapter (verses 23-24) he writes, “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.” (Scripture from NLT)
I wrote it without verse divisions because I wanted you to see its flawless reading. How it flows. But most importantly the meaning and encouragement this chapter gives. I hope and pray you might take some time today to meditate on these verses and then allow them to flood your heart and soul. Who knows? They just may become your favorite as well!
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Tags: Bible/Scripture, Christian Living, God's Word, Lifestyle, Ministry, Miscellaneous, Opinion, Quiet Time, Reflection, Scripture look, Truth Telling
Monday, December 16th, 2024
For 2025 I have asked the church I pastor (Owen Valley Christian Fellowship in Spencer, IN) to accept a challenge. The challenge was to use Everyday Gospel, a daily devotional written by Paul David Tripp as their go-to this coming year. Thanks to the generosity of Crossway Publishing, who offered the opportunity to buy them in bulk for $10 each (order at least 10), our folks were able to get on board for the challenge. To date we have had to order…wait for it…120 copies of the book!! That means there will be at least 120 people who will be reading the devotional each day plus the Scripture corresponding to it. By the end of the year, we will have read through the whole Bible. But I did something even crazier, which really put a target on my forehead. I told them that instead of preaching a series or a book of the Bible or even topics in 2025, that I would base all my sermons on the Scriptures read the previous week (Sunday through Saturday). For example, on January 5th, the first Sunday of 2025, I will preach on Genesis 1-15, the Scripture passages we are to read for January 1-4. In all of my 50+ years of ministry, I have never-read that NEVER- preached on the whole Bible from the first Sunday of the year to the last. I’m not kidding you when I say I come with a bit of fear after I opened my mouth and made that statement. I wonder now if it was what drove people to sign up for the book.
But I also have to admit to a ton of excitement and cautious optimism for the task in front of me. As I stated earlier, I have NEVER taken on this task before. It will require some serious study and preparation as I weed through some great parts of the Bible but also some tough parts (how does one preach through parts of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers and make it exciting?). It has also required me reading the Devotional ahead of time, then I will go back and read it again on its planned day, along with the Scripture passage. Last night I read the devotions for January 26 & 27 in preparation for the sermon on February 2nd. My thoughts today are taken from the January 26th devotion.
We hear a lot during this time of the year about love, joy, and hope. My daughter Tami’s favorite Christmas song has the lyrics “The thrill of hope the weary world rejoices.” (O Holy Night). I know how this whole scenario ends (Jesus wins) but even with that belief/truth, it is hard not to feel like many others do: where is the hope? We sure don’t live in a hopeful society do we? I’m not even talking politics here. I’m talking about life. Before I went to my ManCave last night to focus my thoughts and heart and to sit with an ice pack on my new knee and a hot pad on sore places from the needles of that surgery, I heard about Syria, the death of the United HealthCare CEO, the pardons, the rhetoric which seemed to say murder was wrong “but,” the immigration crisis, etc. You get the picture. So, tell me, where is the hope? I have an 18 year old, soon-to-be a high school graduate grandson, who will be attending THE Ohio State University this fall. What kind of world will he grow up in? One without truth? One without boundaries? One without knowing right from wrong? One without HOPE! I pray not. I pray that Braden’s generation says, “Enough is enough!” and claws its way back to truth and the hope that comes with it. In his January 26th devotion, Paul David Tripp writes, “True and lasting hope is found in these words: “I will dwell in the midst of my people.”
May Tripp’s words be a signpost for my grandson’s generation. Really, for every generation still living and will soon be living. “May you dwell in the midst of your people, Lord.”
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Tags: Bible/Scripture, Choices, Christian Living, Church, God, God's Presence, God's Word, Opinion, Reflection, Truth Telling
Wednesday, December 4th, 2024
Learning Journal #5: WHEN SOMEONE YOU LOVE…
…is dying
…has died
…has a long-term illness
…has dementia or Alzheimer’s
…turns his/her back on their faith
…comes out of the closet sexually
…disowns you or turns against you
…makes bad decisions
As one can imagine, the scenarios would never stop. Those are just the tip of the iceberg.
Funny thing (not ha-ha funny) is that many are either too hard to answer or really have no answer. The hard truth is that sometimes there is no answer, or at least, an easy one. But there are people who think they have the answer. But, generally, they don’t have answers. They have cliches.
- “God is good all the time; all the time God is good.” I cannot even begin to tell you how annoying that is. Let me use one word: REAL. It’s not that it isn’t true. It is to an extent. But you just don’t go spouting that cliche off to a parent whose child announced he/she is leaving the faith or is seeking gender surgery or cancer has been found. Or a man’s wife stares back at him with no recollection of who he is. Yeah…not good words to say carelessly.
- “Praise the Lord anyhow!” No. Curse Him is what we really feel like doing. The last thing God wants for us to do is pretend all is well. He will be there as we continue soothing our heart and working through our pain and seeking His will.
You get my drift. Sometimes we are just better off keeping our words and cliches to ourselves. Sometimes all that other person needs is for someone to just show up. Galatians 6:2 says, “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.” (NLT) Doesn’t get much plainer than that.
And you don’t even need to use words.
{Note: if you get a chance check out this post I read the other day. It says it much better than I can}
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Tags: Christian Living, Cliches, God's Plan, Hurting, Kindness, Ministry, Opinion, Reflection, Scripture look, Story, Suffering, Sympathy, Truth Telling
Thursday, November 21st, 2024
In the previous post (November 20) I referenced Erwin Lutzer’s book, The Eclipse of God, where he stated there were 3 gravediggers who built a coffin for God. A quick recap:
Gravedigger #1- Karl Marx: An Attack on God as Ruler.
Gravedigger #2- Charles Darwin: An Attack on God as Creator.
And today’s- Gravedigger #3-Sigmund Freud:An Attack Against God as Lawgiver. Freud saw a belief in God as a fantasy. Freud made his own rules. His real fantasy was sex, sex, and more sex. No holds-barred sex. Sex of all kinds. One of his disciples was Alfred Kinsey, a bisexual who interviewed sex offenders, child molesters, and sexual assaulters for his “Kinsey Report.” I remember hearing about that as a young pastor but was clueless as to its meaning or impact. This man is S.I.C.K. He even believed child rape poses no problem for children! SICK and WRONG! So very wrong.
The satanic spawn of the gravediggers attempts to destroy God can be found in 3 philosophies. I’m sure you have heard of: Communism, Nazism, and Fascism. We have certainly seen the children of those beliefs.
What does this all mean for we who are Christ-followers? We need to stop play-acting. We need to stop posing as Christians. We need to become real Christ-followers. For the record: I see a distinct difference between calling oneself a Christian and one being a Christ-follower. More than anything else, this world needs to see genuine followers of Jesus.
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Tags: Culture, Miscellaneous, Opinion, Story, Truth Telling
Wednesday, November 20th, 2024
I wrote this and after finishing realized it was way too long for a one-off post. So this will actually be Part 1 and tomorrow I will post Part 2.
During my rehab (which is still ongoing), I finished reading The Eclipse of God by Erwin Lutzer. Mr. Lutzer is a retired pastor and at the age of 83 I am not sure if I know anyone who has his finger on the pulse of our culture more than him. I have NEVER been disappointed in any of his books (I have about 5-6 of them). They are insightful, thought-provoking, and IMHO spot on. This one is no exception.
However, this is not a book review. The basic premise of this book is “our nation’s disastrous search for a more inclusive deity (and what we must do about it)”. {Note: front cover subtitle}
What I found especially beneficial-and it sets the foundation for his analysis-is that he lists 3 gravediggers who prepared a coffin for God and we are paying that price today. Those 3 gravediggers are Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, and Sigmund Freud. With the limited space I have, I’m just going to give Pastor Lutzer’s main points and add a few thoughts of my own.
Gravedigger #1: The Theology of Karl Marx-At Attack on God as Ruler. To Marx, religion was worthless. He believed religion arose because men needed a purpose, and so he created the idea of God. There is much more to his philosophy, but let’s just ask this question: How is his system working out? Let me give you common thoughts and words that illustrate his philosophy: “Defund the police.” DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion). CRT. Abolishing the importance of family (including taking decisions out of the hands of parents). At the core is a hatred for religion. A disciple of Marx’s philosophy is Nietzche (“God is dead”).
Gravedigger #2: The Theology of Charles Darwin-An Attack on God as Creator. Darwin said, “Science has nothing to do with Christ.” One bitter fruit from his philosophy is the more one applies Darwinism, the more racist one becomes. His theory led to eugenics (you decide characteristics, appearance, get rid of the “undesirables,” etc) which leads to his beliefs that there are “doubtful species.” Talk about racism! Darwinism spawned Mein Kampf, written by the ultimate racist, Adolph Hitler.
You can see the outcome of these first two gravediggers. Just look at the disciples. Look at the resulting, more common thoughts we have been dealing with over the past few years. Gravedigger #3 will post tomorrow.
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Tags: Culture, Opinion, Reflection, Story, Truth Telling
Wednesday, October 30th, 2024
In my daily Bible reading, I began this morning in the book of Romans. Considered Paul’s magnum opus, it is chalk full of truth. All kinds of truth. The purpose of this devotion today is not to give an overview of the whole book, but to give a glimpse into chapter 1.
- Verses 1-7 has Paul greeting the Roman followers of Christ. He gives some serious doctrinal truth as to who Jesus is.
- Verses 8-17 has Paul grateful for the Roman followers of Jesus because the love they have for Jesus has spread and others have heard about their love. He gives, perhaps, the most succinct purpose of the Gospel in verses 16-17: “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes-the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in His sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, ‘It is through faith that a righteous person has life.'” (NLT)
But then he lowers the boom. He writes about God’s displeasure with sin-all sin. His approach is multi-pronged:
- There are those who disregard God Himself. They deny His existence. I would put them in the “We can’t see Him so He is not real” camp. Paul says they are without excuse. (v.20). He says those who want to think that way are fools. Instead of worshiping a real God, they worship a fake god (images of people, birds, animals and reptiles).
- Then comes a very distinct and very confrontational passage: verses 24-27. These are called “clobber verses” because they are used as clubs to confront, judge, condemn and beat people over the head who struggle with SSA. In all honesty, only those who want to justify theirs-or someone else’s actions-can overlook this. BUT…
- I am stopped dead in my tracks by verses 28-32. Lest I get arrogant and stand on a self-righteous soapbox, there is a laundry list of sin that condemns us all. We may say, “SSA? Not me!” and feel good about ourselves. But hold on! Look at the list: every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. Then Paul writes, “They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents.” As each one is leveled, we start hopping around lest His divine foot stomp nail our feet to the floor and expose our sinful heart.
Short recap I know. There is so much more to say. I simply say: investigate on your own. Read this chapter slowly, all the while asking God to speak to your heart. The message will not only be clear; it is one you cannot escape. I think we all need the message of Romans 1, but I especially am grateful for the simple words about Good News in verses 16-17 (see above).
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Tags: Bible/Scripture, Choices, Christian Living, God's Word, Jesus, Lifestyle, Love, Ministry, Opinion, Quiet Time, Reflection, Scripture look, Sin, Story, Truth Telling
Tuesday, September 24th, 2024
“Becoming a Christian doesn’t make one sinless, but it ought to make one sin less.“ (Conway-p.35)
I’ve been reading a book the past few days entitled Does Christianity Still Make Sense? by Bobby Conway. Conway was a pastor, a host of the YouTube podcast One Minute Apologist (now called Christianity Still Makes Sense) who went through a crisis of faith-a dark night of the soul-where he questioned his Christian faith. He came out on the other side and has written a book looking at objections to Christianity. One of those is answering the question “Why are there so many scandals in the Church?” The follow-up question is the next chapter, the oft-used “Aren’t Christians just a bunch of hypocrites?”
No doubt those are two questions that crop up again and again. I’ve been asked them and I’m sure if you are a pastor or a Christ-follower, you have also. Maybe you have even asked them yourself.
I’ve often been tongue-tied trying to answer those questions because I know I struggle with that. I know I’m a sinner and sometimes exhibit that truth way too much and find myself a very poor representative of Jesus. But I’ve also come to the conclusion that the saying I started out with depicts me. While “I’m not perfect, just forgiven” can be flippantly tossed out to justify sin, I’m not trying to do that here. Exact opposite actually. Just because I have been forgiven doesn’t mean I won’t sin. I’m not sinless, but I should sin less.
Does my sin discredit Christianity? No. Just because a batter strikes out, he doesn’t represent the whole team. Just because I fail (sin) does not mean Christianity is a failure. The ultimate example-Jesus-never sinned. My trying to be like Him won’t make me sinless, but as I have said, it should make me sin less. My ultimate goal-any Christ-followers goal-should be to represent Jesus as close as we can. I will never do that perfectly.
Christianity doesn’t rise and fall on me. My sin brings a stain, but doesn’t undermine the rock solid truth of Jesus as the perfect and firm foundation. Is sin a problem? Yes. Is hypocrisy a problem? It can be. But Jesus offers the solution to the problem. If you or someone you know keeps using these excuses, stop making excuses by pointing fingers at fallible people and start looking at an infallible Christ.
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Tags: Christian Living, God, Hypocrisy, Jesus, Lifestyle, Opinion, Reflection, Sin, Story, Truth Telling
Thursday, September 12th, 2024
Abe Lincoln is credited with saying, “It is better to keep your mouth shut and thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.” That is actually an echo and restatement of Proverbs 17:28-“Even fools are thought wise when they keep silent; with their mouths shut they seem intelligent.”
My reading in Proverbs today was chapter 13. As I read it struck me how much of it talked about the mouth/tongue/speech. I thought it would be fun to list them for you:
- Verse 6- “The words of the wicked are like a murderous ambush, but the words of the godly save lives.”
- Verse 13- “The wicked are trapped by their own words, but the godly escape such trouble.”
- Verse 14- “Wise words bring many benefits, and hard work brings rewards.”
- Verse 15- “Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others.”
- Verse 17- “An honest witness tells the truth; a false witness tells lies.”
- Verse 18- “Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing.”
- Verse 19- “Truthful words stand the test of time, but lies are soon exposed.”
- Verse 22- “The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in those who tell the truth.”
- Verse 26- “The godly give good advice to their friends; the wicked lead them astray.”
There are references to listening, being quick-tempered (which often includes the mouth shooting off), jealousy, and others. Maybe it is time for us to seriously stop and consider what we say and how we say it before Abe’s advice is found to be true in us.
{Note: All Scripture is from the New Living Translation}
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Tags: Choices, Christian Living, Lifestyle, Opinion, Reflection, Scripture look, Speech, Truth Telling
Tuesday, September 10th, 2024
“Faith Over Fear.”
If there was one saying that was prominently used during the COVID desert it was this one. The most prominent-at least among Christ-followers-was “God’s got this.” But I’m thinking this ran a close second. Sometimes it might be seen in a symbol: big letters FAITH on top of a line over the letters FEAR.
Simple enough: I believe it. I John 4:18 says, “Perfect love casts out fear.” (ESV)
Last week I spent time with an old friend. He was a bike-riding friend of mine of about 4-5 years when suddenly he ghosted me. A conspiracy theorist, he didn’t like it when I told him to be careful of making an accusation against someone and putting it in writing because he was setting himself up for a charge of slander. That was 2014. Ghost time. About a year or so ago I felt a burden to check up on an old friend. He was basically living a life of a hermit, paralyzed by his fears. I went away burdened but decisive that I was not going to put myself through that again. Last week he called me out of the blue asking a favor of me. Even though my day was full, I said yes to his request. When he asked why later, I told him, “Because I want to be Jesus to you.” He didn’t say much to that but what I learned is a leopard doesn’t change his spots. I won’t go into details, but long story short, he asked me if I was afraid. I told him no. “Not afraid? Of COVID? No. Evil? No. Sick people? No. Why? “Because the Bible says, ‘Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world.'” “That’s a lie,” he said. I disagreed and respectfully tried to explain it to him. “I tried it your way Bill. It didn’t work.”
There was more-much more-but I left saddened…again. I also left resolved to keep toxic-thinking people at arm’s length. And I left even more convinced that I have nothing to fear. I refuse to live my life afraid of my own shadow. Because, you see, I believe that no matter how much evil there is in the world (and I don’t deny there is), faith conquers fear.
I do know who wins in the end. And it ain’t the enemy, Satan.
J.E.S.U.S. W.I.N.S.
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Tags: Christian Living, Faith/Trust, Fear, God, God's Presence, God's promise, Jesus, Opinion, Reflection, Story, Truth Telling
Thursday, June 27th, 2024
All people matter to God, therefore they should matter to us.
Lately I’ve been reading a book on dementia entitled Finding Grace in the Face of Dementia by John Dunlop, MD. Because it seems to be becoming a bigger issue these days, I thought I’d read up on it and learn more. It has been an eye-opening book (in a good way). Over and over Dr Dunlop has emphasized the importance of dignity for the dementia sufferer, as well as it’s kissing cousin, Alzheimer’s.
Dr. Dunlop is a committed Christ-follower so his perspective is different than many in the medical field. Instead of writing them off as a “nuisance” and a “bother” for others, especially their caregivers, he pushes the belief that showing them dignity is first and foremost. One very helpful section is found on pages 123-125 where he gives a number of practical way we can express dignity. He does it from the perspective of entering their “world.”
But this devotion is not a book review. While he has obviously focused his attention on the dementia patient, I couldn’t help but make the correlation to others in our sphere on influence. Each person we come in contact with should be deemed a person who matters. Whether it is the same sex, ethnicity, color, position in life, or social status, we need to, no, we must see them as people who hold special importance in God’s eye. As a Christ-follower that means they must hold importance in my eyes as well. We may not always agree, we may not always get along, we may butt heads from time to time, but that should not change how much each of us should matter.
In James 2 James warns the church about choosing sides and showing preference to one group over another. He says it is a shame and a black mark to do so (my loose translation). Jesus Himself told the parable of the Good Samaritan and showed how a man who was hated because of his ethnicity was actually more of a brother than the so-called “religious people.”
We have all seen people snubbed because of political affiliation. We have all seen people snubbed because of color. We have all seen people snubbed because of sexual orientation. We have all seen people snubbed because of status. We have all seen people snubbed because of a medical condition. It is ugly. Like I said, I may not agree with someone’s opinion or lifestyle, and can’t compromise the truth, but at the same time that gives me NO RIGHT to denigrate or write someone off as being persona non grata because we are different.
Dementia patients deserve loving treatment. We all do. Let’s begin to give dignity to others. Let’s begin to treat others as we would like to be treated.
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Tags: Alzheimer's, Choices, Christian Living, Church, Dementia, Dignity, Friendship, Jesus, Kindness, Lifestyle, Love, Ministry, Opinion, Reflection, Truth Telling
