When the Walls Come Tumbling Down

            On Sunday afternoon following the worship service I noticed how quickly the VBS set came down. What had taken Jonathan and others days to build was dismantled in an hour or so. All the care… all the attention to detail… so easily and quickly pulled apart. It served its purpose. It was enjoyed for a week. But it still was a bit sad to see it go – especially so easily.

            People have felt this way about things in their lives. A man’s lifetime collection of matchbox cars or trains, etc., sells in a yard sale or an auction and is gone in a moment. A family’s home with all their memories goes up in flames or is swept away by flood. A World Trade Center collapses in hours after a terrorist attack. A village is leveled in an earthquake that lasts only a few seconds. One surgery and a life’s savings is wiped out.

            A moment can change everything in our lives. We don’t know what a day will bring forth. Yet in our minds we think of the stuff of our lives as if it was going to last forever… as if we were going to last forever in possession of it. But life doesn’t work like that. While we may have a few years to “enjoy” the blessings of God in our lives (whether or not we recognize Him for them), the things of this world are already passing away. They are only passing “through” our hands. Try as we may, we can hold nothing forever.

            I feel very sorry for the person so attached to a thing that he is overwhelmed with grief and inconsolable at its loss. Certainly it is natural to be sad when we have to “move on” from things – and even sadder when the loss is a person or relationship. Yet we can lose both things and people in a moment, and how our life changes… unless our life does not revolve around that thing or person. If we have held it/them “loosely” – recognizing they aren’t ours to keep (they don’t belong to us) – and if we have not built our lives on them, but on something, or Someone else, then we will be able to let go. We will be able to move on. We will even be able to experience joyfulness and peace.

            We so need the Lord to be the One of ultimate importance in our lives. Everything and everyone else is passing away, but not Him. There is nothing but gain when He is Lord of our lives, even through the earthly losses and hardships of this life. May His Spirit help us to see and believe this today.

Matthew 7:24-27 (NIV) ²⁴  "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶  But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

Philippians 3:8 (NIV) ⁸  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.

1 Corinthians 7:31 (NIV) ³¹  those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.

1 Timothy 6:7 (NIV) ⁷  For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.

 Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV) ¹⁹  "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Job 1:21 (NIV) ²¹  and (Job) said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised."

PRAYER:  Father, thank you for the blessings of this life. Lead me to hold them loosely, and to never let them take your place in my life. Let me always love the Giver more than the gifts you give. Help me to see the world for what it is: passing away. Thank you that all things eternal are in your strong hands. Thank you for giving me eternal life through Jesus Christ, your Son. May he be glorified in the daily priorities of my life, and may I be prepared to lose everything for his sake. With thanksgiving I pray, in Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!
Scott

The Eternal Rock

            The Bible verse our kids will be learning tomorrow night in VBS is “Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.”        (Isaiah 26:4). I’m helping Joanne with the Bible memory time each night at VBS, so I was thinking about ideas to help the kids understand and remember the verse. My first suggestion was to give each child a hammer and some stones (outside) and let them “go at it”. They would learn that the bigger the rock… the harder it is to do anything to it, and the longer it lasts. Joanne didn’t get too excited about the hammers. But, if God is the “eternal Rock”, how big is that? How immoveable and “unbreakable is He? And what does it mean for a rock to be “eternal”?

            The full verse (in non-children’s format) is… “Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.” (NIV). The New American Standard Bible says it this way: “Trust in the Lord forever, for in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock.”

            It’s the word “eternal” that is grabbing my attention. There is no earthly rock that is eternal. Earthly rocks may give the impression that they will last forever, but they will not. Just ask the folks of New Hampshire after the “Old Man of the Mountain” fell. This stone formation that looked like a face was a fixture for centuries – even millennia – but it fell off the mountain in a moment’s time on May 3, 2003. No one ever expected it. The collapse of the “Great Stone Face” was an emotional blow to the people of New Hampshire.

            Here on Mount Desert Island there are two rocks that stand out in the minds of locals and visitors alike: Bubble Rock on the South Bubble above Jordan Pond in Acadia National Park, and Balance Rock, a large stone along the Shore Path in Bar Harbor. Countless children (and adults) have tried to “push” these over… to no avail. They are massive stones. You would think they’ll be there forever. But someday (who knows when?) some force – erosion, earthquake, or who knows what? – will succeed in breaking these stones or causing them to fall. It may be years – centuries – after I’m gone, but someday it will happen. Why? Because these rocks are not eternal. And this is just as true of Mount Rushmore and every well-known and unknown stone in the world. Only God is the everlasting Rock.

            When you climb the trails on MDI, you will often come upon ledges that are becoming smooth due to foot traffic. The same is true on Katahdin’s Knife Edge. It’s true on Mars Hill in Athens, Greece. As hard and durable as it is, stone wears. It cracks and breaks. But God never “wears”. He never tires. His glory never diminishes. God never “breaks”. He is eternally omnipotent. He cannot be moved, because there is nothing stronger and greater than He is. No human effort, no natural force can weaken or lessen Him. There is only one “eternal Rock”. He is “the eternal Rock.”

            This is a wonderful truth to know and meditate on in a world of constant change, and in a world that persistently challenges the existence and character of God and His Son, Jesus Christ. The world invites us to hold on to it and what it offers, as if it never fails. The truth is… in the end - just like earthly stones – the world always fails. It always will. It may look good and sound good. The world seems like it will satisfy. But it can’t offer any lasting satisfaction. Only the eternal Rock can. Only the eternal Rock can protect us and give us an eternal hope. The next time you see any impressive rock, let it remind you that only the Lord will never fail.

Deuteronomy 32:3-4 (NIV)  – “I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.”

Psalm 18:2 (NIV) – “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

Romans 9:33 (NIV) – “As it is written: ‘See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.’”

PRAYER:  “You are the Rock of my salvation, You are the strength of my life. You are my hope and my inspiration, Lord unto You will I cry. I believe in You… believe in You... for Your faithful love to me. You have been my help in time of need, Lord unto You will I cleave. You are the Rock of my salvation, You are the strength of my life.* In Christ’s name I pray, AMEN.”

      * - lyrics by Teresa Muller. Listen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cMcsS2nOII.

Jesus Christ is Lord!

Scott

By Sight or By Faith?

            Yesterday I put up a couple of banners for VBS out from the front corner of the church building. I determined the leveling by sight. Have you ever done that? Something looks even… and maybe it’s even close to being even… but it ends up being “off” by just a bit, or by more than you thought. I don’t know about you, but crooked things bother me. Every time I walk by something that was mounted unevenly, I want to go and fix it, but I also don’t feel like tearing up a wall or making a mess. So I either have to grin and bear it or I have to invest the time and energy to change it. I like straight mirrors, paintings, and photos. I would guess that you do too. We must have some built in sense of “evenness”. And when something is off we want to fix… we want to make it right.

            Unless you use a level – a tool designed to help you accurately mount things – you will end up “off” line or off balance… you’ll end up crooked and uneven. Sometimes I am in too much of a hurry and I don’t want to be bothered to go and get my level. I will be tempted to think that my eyesight will be “just as good” as the level. Or I will be tempted to think. “Oh, that’s good enough!... However it ends up will have to do… If it bothers people, they can do it next time…!”

            I’m tempted to do this in my spiritual life as well: “That’s about as good as I can do. God will have to accept it. It’s good enough.” Or I may be tempted to think that I can “sight” the Christian life: “I’ll do it in my own strength. I’ll do it from memory of when I went to Sunday school.” Can you imagine a Sunday school teacher or a youth group leader thinking this way? “I don’t need to study for the lesson or the talk. I’ll tell some jokes, mention God, and tell what I remember of what the Bible says. I don’t need to spend any time praying before we meet. I’ll just ‘wing it’.” That kind of preparation often leads to some pretty crooked and shoddy results. Or what about the Christian who thinks s/he can go day after day after day… into weeks, even, without reading the Word or without spending any significant time with the Lord?

            How well will we face life’s everyday tasks and challenges without knowing and doing the Word? God’s Word is the “level”. It is the means by which the Holy Spirit guides us to be in line with God the Father. It is how we know Him, and it is how we know we are in His will and purpose… it’s how we know we are “straight” in His eyes. It’s the guideline for relationships. Without the Word, a man or woman is only “guessing” at what “straight” is. S/He can never know without this tool. What looks right to us, or okay to us, needs an objective measure to go by. The Bible does this for us. Can you imagine a home built on a foundation that was only “sighted” for what was level? Anyone who has a home wants this part of the house to be perfectly level, so that everything on it ends up “true” and level as well. If a man does not begin with the Word of God (as his foundation), what kind of life will he end up with? It will be unstable and unsure in so very many ways.

            Another leveling tool in my life is my small group: four men who listen, give feedback and encouragement, pray for me, and point me always to the Lord. Our weekly gathering always brings the “level” of God’s presence and plan to my life. It’s a great blessing to have them.

            Are you “winging it” when it comes to following Jesus? What do you honestly think He thinks of that? You can “sight it” - try to figure it all out on your own… you can “try” to live the way Jesus wants… you can “make it up as you go”. Or, you can live by faith… depending daily on the Holy Spirit to apply God’s truth to your life. Let us live in such a way that we believe that His results will always be better than our own.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV) ⁵  Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶  in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Isaiah 64:6 (KJV) ⁶  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Psalm 139:23-24 (NIV) ²³  Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. ²⁴  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 127:1 (NIV) ¹  Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.

PRAYER:  “Lord, be my foundation for life. Show me in Your Word what “level” means in every situation I encounter. And lead me to trust Your standard and not my own. Give me the joy and assurance of a life built on the foundation of Jesus Christ, and let me walk confident in Him. Thank You for Your grace. Thank You for Your mercies which flow anew every morning, setting my feet over and over again on level ground. Thank You that life is not “guesswork” and I can know Christ and know Your Word. I trust You. In Christ’s name I pray, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!

Scott

Now That's An Idea!

            I just finished eating one of Joanne’s sticky buns – just after it came out of the oven. And this is the second day in a row that I have done so. You might wonder if I’m confessing, or bragging, or something else. The simple truth is that we have company. And when we have company, Joanne cooks. And I get to eat. I also get sticky buns on Easter Sunday and maybe once in a great while the rest of the year. I can live without sticky buns, and I do. But I also enjoy them from time to time. Any more often than that and I get tired of them, believe it or not, just like I get tired of lobster or any other food that I enjoy.

            For years we have joked around in our family that Joanne should open a shop to sell sticky buns. “Oh yeah… that’s a great idea!” It could be successful. Most people who try them like them. Have you ever had a “great” idea for a product or a business or some kind of endeavor that would be wildly prosperous and make you a million dollars? How far did you go with it?

            All ideas – even great ones – sooner or later run headlong into reality. This reality typically involves hard work, various complications, unforeseen challenges and details, laws and regulations, costs relating to money, time, energy… a whole dose of reality. This is not to say that ideas never come to be. Hard work, timing, support from others, and other factors enter into success for some. But many ideas never make it. This past Sunday I mentioned in my sermon the “Museum of Failed Products” in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It’s a place full of “ideas” that were marketed with high hopes, but the products failed. The museum is proof of just how common failure is. I guess you could commend the people behind them for trying, but trying and succeeding are two different things.

            In church ministry and ministry to my family over the years I have had many ideas. Some have succeeded. God has blessed. Many never got anywhere, though. Why is that? In some cases I was not able to create a vision. At times I did a poor job of motivating people. Then there were times when I gave up… I didn’t stick with it. Sometimes the ideas were just not very good ones. As a pastor, many ideas come across my desk, to my email inbox, in conversations, and out of my own mind. I have to pray about and evaluate each idea as to whether it should be passed on to others in the church for consideration and implementation.

            With every ministry possibility – and there are thousands of things we “could” do – comes a need to count the cost. The financial resources are necessary, as is strong, dedicated, trained leadership (“make it happen” kinds of people). We have to be on track with the Lord’s will. We have to be patient and dedicated to an idea for ministry. And we should not give up. Success is doing what God made us to do. And the “success” of seeing an idea for ministry become a reality involves much prayer, steadfast faith, surrender to and humility before God, willingness to do what needs to be done, openness to training and help, flexibility with others, perseverance, hard work, personal sacrifice, holding a long view, good communication, a teachable spirit, a willingness to be equipped, and an absolute, unequivocal dependence on the Lord.

            A youth ministry this coming year at FBC: that’s a good idea! New outreach ministries that touch people’s lives: that’s a good idea! A ministry that serves those in need: that’s a good idea! Certain changes in our building to facilitate ministry: that’s a good idea!

            What are you thinking about for serving the Lord in the year ahead? Now, that’s an idea!

Psalm 127:1 (NIV) - ¹  Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.

Galatians 6:9-10 (NIV) - ⁹  Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. ¹⁰  Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

PRAYER:  “Lord, You do all things well. And You are doing that in and with my life. Whatever the ideas in me and in my church that You want to bring to reality, let me be ready, willing, and able to say “Yes!” to You, in every way You would call me. I will be faithful. Success will come from You. Thank You. In Christ’s name I pray, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!
Scott