A Word of Thanks to All Veterans
My grandfather was one of the greatest influences in my life. He was an avid fisherman, a mediocre golfer, and a very good poker player (and I’m not sure he always played fair). He shared a good deal of his life and his wisdom with my brother and my sisters, but one part of his life was very private. My grandfather was a veteran of World War 2. He served as a tail gunner on a B52 over the European theatre. He was shot down in an aerial battle over Yugoslavia and spent approximately six months in a prison camp as a prisoner of war. His freedom came when a band of rebels overtook the Nazi prison camp.
His freedom came at a cost. He was free from imprisonment, but the Yugoslavian rebels did not have sufficient food to feed the prisoners, so my grandfather and his fellow soldiers traveled by night through Europe until they arrived at Allied-occupied France. Emaciated and wounded, my grandfather came home to start the rest of his life.
Through his experiences in the military were too painful for him to relive; he was a patriot through and through. He taught his grandchildren to stand during the national anthem and to honor the country that he fought to protect.
He also taught us gratitude for those who have served their country because a nation that refuses to honor those who are willing to give the ultimate sacrifice is a country that is not worthy of their service.
As a pastor, I have the privilege of serving in a spiritual capacity many who have served their country. On this Veteran’s day, my prayer is that you will know the gratitude of your church and your country and that you will feel the appreciation that your country has for you.
To all of our veterans.
We recognize that you have sacrificed for the men and women of your country. Many of you have put yourself in harm’s way to protect the safety, freedoms, and values that have made America the best country on the earth. My prayer for you this evening is that you will lay your head on your pillow feeling loved and appreciated by your country, your church, and your pastor.
Thank you, and may God continue to bless you.
Brian
Was That Really a "Presidential" Debate?
Many of you tuned in last night to the first of three debates for the presidential and vice-presidential candidates for 2020. As someone who has a background in debate, I have to admit that I found the whole spectacle a bit disappointing.
Policy platforms aside, the amount of interrupting, cross-talking, name-calling, mud-slinging, dodging the questions, and political posturing left very little oxygen left in the room for anyone to make any sense of what either actually stands for politically.
I’ve competed in debate at the collegiate level, I’ve coached debate at the high-school level, and I can confidently say that what happened last night wasn’t a debate.
It was, however, an illustration of the state of our country and our world.
As a pastor, it is not my place to tell the congregation how they (you) should or should not vote. In my own mind, the options are clear, given the platforms that the two political parties advocate.
But, as a pastor, it is my responsibility to point out that last night’s debate illustrates well why we cannot put our trust in earthly political leaders.
“Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.” (Psalm 146:3 ESV)
We should absolutely pray for our political leaders. We should ask God to give them wisdom and ask the Lord to help them govern justly.
But we can’t ask them to do what only Christ can do.
As I lay in bed, reflecting on the “debate,” I began to wonder what was happening to the country that I love. Then the Lord began to help me see that I ought to be wondering about why I would have expected anything different in this fallen world.
These are just men.
As much as Trump wants to, he cannot “make America great.” Only the Lord can do that because only the sinless Son of Man knows what true “greatness” looks like.
As much as Biden hopes, he cannot “build back better,” because the scriptures tell us that if the Lord doesn’t build the house, the laborers labor in vain.
Even if this is the best the world has to offer us in terms of leadership, it is still just the best this world can give us, and that pales in comparison to what God has for us.
We can, and should, vote our consciences, endeavoring to align our civic privilege and duty of electing our leaders with the principles of a kingdom we have not yet received. Yet we must remind ourselves that we have not received that kingdom.
I am reminded of something I learned early in my walk with Christ. The first pastor I ever knew as a believer was someone I deeply admired. He was an excellent orator, a compelling and insightful teacher, and a visionary leader. He was also removed from the ministry when he disqualified himself through sin.
As I worked through that sense of loss years ago, I learned that much of my disappointment was due to my misplaced admiration.
He was just a man.
There is a Perfect Leader. His Name is Jesus.
His is the Name above all names, and His leadership will never fall short.
My pastoral advice for the 2020 election boils down to this.
Study what each of the candidates proposes for the next four years.
Then study your Bibles.
Vote your conscience.
Trust in Jesus.
Keep safe, be well, and stay encouraged.
Brian
Praying for Unity
"Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise."
(Galatians 3:23–29 ESV)
One of the critical areas of prayer for our time is the need to pray for unity. Our nation is the most divided that I have personally witnessed during my lifetime. Some of you were alive to witness similar times of unrest in our nation's history during the civil rights movement and during the Vietnam war.
Perhaps what our nation's history teaches us is that national unity ebbs and flows. Our country's unity is perpetually dependent upon political agreement. When our level of agreement is strong, we experience national unity; when our level of disagreement is greater, we experience division.
There is a more secure platform for unity, but it is not based on any nation or worldly kingdom. It is based on the unity that all believers experience in Christ. This is the unity that Galatians 3 describes.
There is a solidarity that we all have apart from Christ. It is solidarity to which we belong regardless of race, religion, gender, national origin, or national citizenship. Unfortunately, it is also the kind of solidarity that no-one of sound mind desires. It is the solidarity of our slavery to sin. Paul tells the Galatians that before faith came, we were all imprisoned under the law.
Now, wait!
Haven't we been told that God's Law is good, holy, and righteous?
Remember Psalm 119:97, "Oh, how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day."
And it is, absolutely, good, holy, and righteous. It is God-breathed, and we do well to allow it to show us what a righteous life looks like, as did David.
But also, like David, we fall short of that standard, which is why Paul can refer to the work of that righteous law as a ministry of death.
"Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory?" (2 Corinthians 3:7–8 ESV)
The law brings death not because it isn't righteous, but because we aren't righteous. We all share solidarity in sin.
In contrast, the good news is a reflection of the ministry of the Spirit that Paul talks about in 2 Cor 3:7-8. It is also the spiritual truth that Paul talks about in Galatians 3, where we are no longer under the tutelage of the law that could never have conferred life. Rather, faith has come; we are no longer under the condemnation of the law; through faith, we have been made sons and daughters of God in Christ Jesus.
This is the second form of unity that we see in Galatians 3. Paul says that as many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ, and there are consequences that impact how we relate to one another. In Christ, the ethnic boundaries that separated Jews and gentiles were broken down. The status that separated slaves from free men and women has been erased, for we are all free in Christ, and we are also all servants of Christ. The antipathy that can exist between males and females is gone.
This unity doesn't erase those distinctions.
Jews were still ethnically Jewish. Greeks were still ethnically gentile.
Slaves were still enslaved and dependent on the financial providence of their masters; likewise, masters were given charge over the well-being of the servants in their home.
Men are still male, and women still female.
The distinctions haven't been erased, but the divisions have.
Jews and Greeks were now brothers and sisters in the Lord.
Slaves and free men and women were equal before God.
Men and women are fellow heirs of the grace of life.
The diversity isn't erased, but the disharmony has been remedied.
The unity we have in Christ is the only remedy to the division we see in our nation and in the world. And in Christ, though we are all different, we can continually bear with one another in love, showing grace despite our dissimilarities, because the blood of Christ, shed to unite us, is much more powerful than whatever the enemy might use to divide us.
Keep safe, be well, and stay encouraged.
Brian
P.S. We encourage you to join us as we pray for the unity in our country and in the church.
Two very helpful prayer resources that you can utilize can be found here on our website.
The Needed Hour of Prayer
“Therefore, let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him. You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.
Selah”
(Psalm 32:6–7 ESV)
Picture Courtesy of Pexels.com
If there is anything we need in our country in this hour, it is prayer.
2020 may go down in history as one of the most challenging years of the 21st century. Lord willing, the next 80 years will pale in comparison if the Lord does not decide to return.
In light of these incredible times, let us seek God while we are able.
Psalm 32 tells us to seek the Lord in prayer while He may be found.
There are a couple of important observations that arise from that passage.
First, there is an acknowledgment that God can be found. At the time of the writing of the Psalms, the nation of Israel enjoyed the presence of the Lord. The Glory of the Lord filled the temple in Jerusalem. The daily office of the Levitical priests was a daily reminder of the presence of God, and the forgiveness of God, in the midst of His chosen people. During the days of Jesus, the Lord had chosen to reveal Himself in the person of His Son Jesus Christ. Instead of a physical temple, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity took up occupancy on earth, uniting Himself to human nature in the Person of Jesus. When the Lord ascended to the right hand of His Father, the promised Holy Spirit was sent to indwell every everyone who would put their trust in the gospel. Now the temple of the Living God is the collective hearts of men and women who have chosen to believe the gospel. The very Spirit of the Lord intercedes for us when we pray as the apostle Paul reminds us:
“Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
(Romans 8:26–28 ESV)
God can still be found in this world.
But it may not always be so. And our responsibility is to seek the Lord in prayer.
On September 26th, Franklin Graham will be leading a prayer march on the National Mall. While many won’t be able to join in person, we can join with our brothers and sisters in the Lord, in prayer.
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has produced a 30-day prayer guide to help us bring the important issues of our nation before the Lord.
The first day is a prayer for God to open hearts across America to receive the good news of Jesus Christ.
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10 ESV)
Let this be the cry of our nations, but may it also be the cry of our churches. Let us ask the Lord to continue to do the work He started within us and continue to cleanse our own hearts so that we can reach out, in grace, to those who the Lord will make ready to hear the good news.
Will you take some time today to pray this prayer?
Back to School
It is time again to start talking about “going back to school. If you have kids or grandkids, you know that this year, “back to school” is a little different than it has been in the past. For some, it means wearing a mask all day, sitting behind a plexiglass barrier, and eating lunch at your desk. For others, it means back to distance education or some combination of in-class participation and online learning.
Learning in times of crisis can be quite tricky, but there is one thing that we recognize, students can’t simply push the pause button on education. Even in times of crisis, learning has to continue.
Picture Courtesy of Pexels.com
The same thing is true of our education at the feet of our Lord.
As we work through the book of Acts, we recognize that a devotion to the apostles teaching was one of the key aspects of being part of the movement started by Peter in Acts chapter 2.
“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (Acts 2:42 ESV)
Remember, the church, in those days, was experiencing a crisis.
Jesus had been the victim of a miscarriage of justice, both the Jewish authority and Romans have it out for those who follow Jesus. It won’t be very long before Peter is called before the Sanhedrin and commanded to be quiet about Jesus.
And yet they remained devoted to growing in Christ, learn from the words of Christ, and tell others about Christ.
They didn’t push the pause button on learning because they were in crisis.
Neither can we.
This Sunday, I hope you will join us in being devoted to the apostles teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayers. Whether you are able to join us in person during our outdoor service or choose, for the sake of caution, to join us online, we hope that you will be with us this Sunday, with both your hearts and your Bibles open.
Eventually, we will be able to reconvene in our building, and things will return to a sense of normalcy that more closely resembles what we left when we started quarantine, but until then, we can’t push the pause button on growing in Christ.
Sunday after Sunday, rain or shine, we have to go “back to school.”
Keep well, be safe, and stay encouraged.
Brian
P.S. We will be starting at 9:45 to gather for socially distant prayer together. If you are joining us online, would you consider joining hands with your spouse and family to pray together?
The Power is Back On!
Thankfully, most of us have our power back after the complete disaster of Tropical Storm Isaias.
While there are still a few places in the state who still haven’t gotten their power restored, most of us have been able to crank up the air-conditioning and be thankful that God struck Ben Franklin’s kite with a bolt of lightning (if that did indeed happen).
Picture taken by Martinus and accessed from Pexels.com
It got me thinking, in our modern society, we can’t go very long without power. Without electric power the food in our refrigerator goes bad, the pumps in our well won’t run, and the electronic ways we interface with the world (including work) don’t compute.
We are “dependent” on electricity.
That can teach us something about our relationship with God.
Spiritually, we are dependent on God’s power to sustain us in our everyday lives.
If you have joined us in worship in the last few weeks, you know that we have been working through the book of Acts. Two weeks ago we looked at the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost and how that gave Jesus’ disciples power to accomplish the Great Commission.
For us, the Holy Spirit gives us the ongoing power to do the same in our daily lives. However, in addition to giving us the power to “do” good things for the Kingdom of God, it the Spirit also gives us the power to “be” hopeful in our everyday struggles.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
(Romans 15:13 ESV)
Paul reminds us that we abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Whatever it is you need hope for today, the good news is that the Spirit of God, which the Father has sent to live within us because of the finished work of His Son, has the power to give us this hope.
Keep safe, be well, and stay encouraged.
Brian
P.S. Lets keep all those still without power in our prayers.
Here Comes the Typhoon!
Here Comes the Typhoon!
“The LORD reigns; he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed; he has put on strength as his belt. Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
Your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting.
The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring.
Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the LORD on high is mighty!
Your decrees are very trustworthy; holiness befits your house, O LORD, forevermore.”
(Psalm 93:1–5 ESV)
This Psalm is a perfect Psalm to help us understand the sovereignty of God in the midst of the storm, and there is no better time to blog about comfort in the midst of a storm than during a tropical storm.
As I type, the winds are starting to increase. I am grateful for the roof over my head and the fact that I can watch a storm from the comfort of my little study.
But imagine being a fisherman, out in a boat, before the days of Doppler radar, caught in a storm, seeing the floodwaters surge, the mighty seas roaring, and the thunder and lightning over waters. That might get your attention a little more.
But the Psalmist says that as powerful, scary, and impressive as that storm may be. God is mightier than the storm. He is mightier than the thundering of many waters, more powerful than the fiercest waves of the sea.
Storm of life will come, but we trust in One Who is mightier than those storms.
Keep safe, be well, and stay encouraged.
Brian
Reading Someone Else's Mail...?
In my younger years, I've had some pretty interesting roommate situations. I lived off-campus most of the years I attended college. One of the room-mates I had was a snoop. I'd leave for class and intentionally close my bedroom door, and when I returned, it was open.
On multiple occasions, I had the distinct impression that roomy had "borrowed" a pocketknife, CD (those are physical disks that contained digital music for those too young to remember what life was like before streaming music services), or a tool. At one point, I found my toothbrush in my roommate's cup in the bathroom, and I am pretty sure I didn't put it there.
No, I didn't use it, I went straightaway to the grocery store to buy another.
The last straw came when I caught roomy reading my mail.
Seriously, who reads someone else's mail?
Well, now that I am a Christian, I realize that I do it all the time. Many of the New Testament books are actually letters written to particular churches in geographic locations (like the book of Romans) or to individuals (like the book of Titus). The book of Acts is one of those books.
"In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God."
(Acts 1:1–3 ESV)
Acts is a letter to a guy named Theophilus.
Now I'm the roomy reading someone else's mail.
Or am I?
I happen to be in the camp of those who think that Theophilus is a personification that Luke (who wrote both Luke and Acts) uses to address the church. I believe this because of what Theophilus means.
Theo is a form of the word Theos (θεος for those of you who will be impressed at my ability to type in Greek). Philus is a form of the word Phileo (φιλεω), which means love. In Greek, there are many words for love. This one means to have affection for, to demonstrate approval of, or to treat affectionately (welcoming someone as a guest, for example.) Luke may well have been writing to those who love God, and he wrote to inform those who love God about the life of the early church.
He wrote about how they lived, the persecutions they faced, the way they dealt with diverse people coming together in one church, and how they worked together to carry out the Great Commission that the Lord gave to them. All of this was done in the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit. The reason the book of Acts came to have its title (remember, the book names were added much later) was because it was a chronicle of the acts of the apostles of Jesus Christ. In other words, it was a book that told the life-story of those who have been sent by Christ with a message of the gospel.
We may not be big "A" Apostles, those seats have already been filled by the 12 Jesus appointed (we will look at the abdication of Judas' apostleship in future posts), but we are still little "a" apostles to the extent that the word apostle (αποστολος) means "one who is sent with a message." In a sense, the story of Acts is our story as much as it was the story of the early church, as we do the same work and encounter the same challenges. We must also witness to others, endure persecutions, welcome diverse peoples, and work together to carry out the Great Commission in the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit.
So, we aren't reading someone else's mail after all.
Keep safe, be well, and stay encouraged.
Brian
On The Way Up The Mountain
If you have ever done any mountain climbing, you know how important it is to pay attention to the trail markers. Those trail markers are there for an important reason. They aren’t there to arbitrarily constrain us, they are there so that we can continue to make progress on our way up the mountain without losing our way. The consequences of disregarding the trail markers can be treacherous.
Periodically, we will hear tragic stories of individuals who have lost the trail during a hike or a mountain climbing expedition. Search parties are dispatched. Communities wait with baited breathe to hear of the news of their whereabouts. Hours pass into days and news commentators begin to report the presumption of the worst-case scenarios.
The lesson is clear, stay on the trail, pay attention to the trail markers. The Proverbs give us a comparison that is very pertinent to the illustration above.
“Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint but blessed is he who keeps the law.” (Proverbs 29:18 ESV)
There are a few things that need to be defined in this Proverb.
First, the notion of “prophetic vision” needs some definition. The temptation is to view this phrase as a neo-charismatic call for “words of knowledge.” However, the context of the passage is clear. The “prophetic vision” that is being spoken of in the passage is what God has already revealed, not some new form of revelation to the nation of Israel. The prophetic vision to which Proverbs 29 refers is the law of God.
Second, the word “law” is a translation of the Hebrew word “Torah” which does not just refer to the do’s and don’ts of the law of Moses, it also refers to the entire Old Testament Canon (at least the Canon written at the time). In one sense, the law of God refers to the commands, in another sense, it refers to the entirety of the Old Covenant scriptures, in still another sense, the law of God refers to the entirety of the Bible. The very important point is that the prophetic vision to which this Proverb is speaking is the revealed word of God. Consequently, the idea being presented is that the people cast off restraint where there is no scripture, or where scripture is ignored, the people simply cast off restraint,
This leads to a third term that needs a little defining. Restraint is a word that has a negative connotation in our culture. It is often thought of as a way to curtail freedom. But, let’s keep the mountain climbing metaphor alive, shall we? I took a rock climbing class during college. I took it for easy credit. Rumor had it that if you took both Geology and rock climbing the professors who taught both would play favorites and give you an easy A in both courses. However, I ended up really liking rock climbing and began saving up for equipment. The first thing you need to buy for rock climbing is a harness, sometimes referred to as a restraint. The restraint isn’t there to arbitrarily curtail freedom it is there to keep us from having the freedom of falling to our demise.
The trail markers on a trail are similar, they aren’t there to curtail our freedom, they are there so that we can enjoy the freedom of hiking or climbing without getting lost.
Proverbs 29 says that without the prophetic vision of God’s law, the revealed word of God, the people cast off restraint in much the same way that a foolish rock climber unhooks from his harness or a foolish hiker veers from the trail markers. Spiritually speaking, we cast off restraint, unhook from our climbing harnesses, and veer from the trail markers on our way up the mountain when we disregard God’s word or when we look to other sources of wisdom to live our lives.
I’m afraid this happens far too often, and it is very likely because the world around us mischaracterizes God’s laws, standards, and teachings as arbitrary rules designed to accomplish two things.
First, the world sees the law of God as a power grab.
“Who are you to tell me what to do?”
This is the common refrain from those mountain climbers who have veered off of the path and are making their way into the woods on their way to being terminally lost.
Second, the world sees the law of God as a set of arbitrary rules designed to curtail freedom.
“You aren’t the boss of me!”
This is the rallying cry of rock climbers, 200 feet up, who have unhooked from their safety harness. It looks fun, until your foot slips and then the results aren’t pretty.
God has given us a prophetic vision fully contained between two leather covers that have the ability to guide us up the mountain and can keep us from falling when we slip, provided that we pay attention to it.
Keep safe, be well, and stay encouraged.
Brian
City of God
Augustine wrote a book called the “City of God.” In this book, Augustine spoke of two cities. The “City of God,” hence the title, and the “city of man.” The idea, without ruining the book if you ever want to read it, is that there are two spiritual powers that we as Christians must contend.
In one sense, we belong to the “city of man.” We live, drive, parent, work, and mow our lawns on an earthly dwelling that operates according to principles that we all understand relatively well. Prior to coming to faith, we got comfortable living in this city.
However, there is another city, the “City of God.”
Augustine didn’t come up with this concept on his own; he totally plagiarized the idea from the Bible.
“On the holy mount stands the city he founded;
the LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.
Glorious things of you are spoken, O city of God. Selah”
(Psalm 87:1–3 ESV)
Well, maybe he didn’t “plagiarize.” I think he may have cited Psalm 87 a time or two.
Psalm 87 reminds us that there is another city. As followers of Christ, we are citizens of that great city as well.
It is the place that God loves more than any other because it is the city where He rules. The citizens there learn from His Book; they walk with the Ruler of the city, and they enjoy seasons of worship and sweet fellowship with His Son. There they study, sing, learn, and enjoy the company of the King.
But we must all still maintain our address in the city of man, the city of our birth and a place that we are, unfortunately, relatively comfortable.
It reminds me a little of the Baptist Fellowship snowbirds.
We, like many New England churches, have some folks who will attend church at Baptist Fellowship in the spring and summer but will flow away like snowbirds to places like Florida in the late fall and stay through winter. Most of them attend another church while they are away.
I like to think that Baptist Fellowship is their home church, but I suppose the churches that see them go in the spring and come back in the fall probably think the same thing.
They can think that all they like, I’m still going to welcome them “home” in the spring.
Nevertheless, this does illustrate how one person can be a parishioner of two churches, a citizen of two cities.
As Christians, we are citizens of two cities.
And we must make sure we regularly visit the “City of God” while we attend to the duties in the “city of man.”
In one sense, we are “spiritual commuters.”
We live, work, parent, and mow our lawns in the city of man. But there is a shining city, the City of God, that could use a visit.
Maybe its time to schedule a trip.
Keep safe, be well, and stay encouraged.
Brian
Sometimes You Need a Guide.
In some places, hiking trails aren’t so easy to follow.
I don’t hike as much as I once did.
There was a time before Seminary, and marriage, and the birth of my son, and pastoral ministry, and grey hair (yes, I have grey hair in my goatee…), when I would go hiking on more challenging trails
Some trails are easy to follow; they are well marked and well worn.
Other trails aren’t so easy to follow, you should probably bring a map and a compass.
There are, however, a few trails that I have been on that a map and compass are still insufficient.
What you need is a guide, someone who knows the trail so well that they can direct your path.
Psalm 80 is one of those Psalms that ask for help.
The first part of the Psalm asks for restoration from the Lord and recounts Israel’s history from the time of the Exodus until, very likely, the northern kingdom of Israel was taken into captivity by the Assyrian Empire.
Then the Psalmist cries to the Lord with this phrase:
“But let your hand be on the man of your right hand, the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!
Then we shall not turn back from you; give us life, and we will call upon your name!”
(Psalm 80:17–18 ESV)
Israel is lost. The people need a shepherd; they need a guide.
So the Psalmist asks for God to place His hand on the Man of His right hand.
This person may have been a mystery at the time of the writing of the Psalm, but it is not a mystery to us.
We know the man who is the right hand of the Lord to be His Son, Jesus the Messiah.
God’s hand was upon Him during His earthly ministry, and now He sits eternally at the right hand of the Father.
When the Son of God gives us life, through the regeneration of the Holy Spirit, we have the guide that we need when we lose the trail. His voice guides us, therefore we will not turn back.
Keep safe, be well, and stay encouraged.
Brian
What a Mess
What a mess.
I saw a video recently of a bear that had found its way into a Montana home. The residents weren’t there, so there was no one in danger, but an in-home security camera caught a bear raiding the refrigerator, tearing up the couch, and leaving “evidence” of its presence on the living room rug.
What a mess.
Can you imagine how the owners must have felt when they finally came home?
God must feel a little like that. He created a world that was good, and since the fall, we have been making a total mess of it.
Humanity has treated this world like we created it, as if we could do whatever we wanted with a home we did not create.
Humanity has dishonored the Creator and treated those who are made in His image contemptuously. Humanity has disregarded God’s law and has chosen to live by our own unrighteous standards.
Humanity has rejected the rightful Judge and Ruler of this world, and we have chosen wicked substitutes to rule in His stead.
Now, the house is a real mess.
But, there will come a time when the Owner of this house will return.
“At the set time that I appoint I will judge with equity. When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants, it is I who keep steady its pillars.
Selah
I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’ and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn; do not lift up your horn on high, or speak with haughty neck.”
For not from the east or from the west and not from the wilderness comes lifting up, but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another. For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.” (Psalm 75:2–8 ESV)
God has set time, of His own choosing, when He will send His Son to step back into this world’s history.
There are people who have treated this world as if they created it. As if they could do whatever they choose, make as big a mess as possible, and then just move on.
But they are wrong, and the world which was created by the Word of God will once again see the Word of God return; on that day, God will set all things right.
Then, those who know Him, who love Him, and who have chosen to follow Him, will live in the home with no bears.
Keep safe, be well, and stay encouraged.
Brian
Heaven's Vantage Point
If you have ever climbed a mountain, you know what it is like to finally see the landscape of the world in a whole new light. There have been a few mountains that I have climbed in my lifetime. I remember, on one occasion, climbing a peak in Colorado, the name of which I have long since forgotten. I remember how cranky our little scout troop was when the hike was muddy, or when the mosquitos were so thick, you couldn’t talk without swallowing a few (which was a great lesson on complaining since the only solution was to keep your mouth shut). Or how miserable it felt to get caught in the rain while breaking camp so that you had to sleep in a wet sleeping bag that evening.
I also remember how the weather changed almost instantly once we got above the tree line (the elevation on the mountain where trees won’t grow). I remember what it was like to finally stand at the peak, to have the bitterly cold wind blow in your face enough to make your eyes water and sting, even in late June. But what I remember most was the breathtaking view at the top when we could all see farther than many of us had ever seen in our lives.
From that vantage point, we could see all the places we had been, the roads we traveled on to get to the base camp, and the towns we passed through on our way. They all looked so small.
The world simply looks different from way up there.
I imagine that experience was but a small taste of what it must be like to consider our world from a heavenly perspective.
The psalmist writes the following in Psalm 67.
“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us,
Selah
that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.
Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!”
(Psalm 67:1–3 ESV)
The psalmist makes three requests.
First, the psalmist acknowledges that we all need grace.
No one is an exception to this.
I need grace, you need grace, together we need grace.
They, clearly, need grace. Whoever they are, they really need grace.
Funny, though, they probably think the same about us.
Imagine how different our world would be if we all took a deep breath and acknowledged that we all need grace.
Second, the psalmist asks for God’s face to shine upon us. This isn’t the same thing as requesting to see God’s face. To look upon the Glory of God almost certainly meant death. Isaiah said,
“And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:5 ESV)
Rather, the psalmist is requesting that God’s favor would be toward His people.
In the fullness of time, God answered that prayer in a powerful way. In sending His Son into the world, God’s favor was upon His people.
The third request the psalmist makes is that God’s way may be known on the earth. That we might have a glimpse of what the world looks like from God’s vantage point. To get there, we have to keep walking through it all. There are days we look, and we catch a glimpse of what it will be like, and other days where we feel like we are slogging through the spiritual mud. But someday, the same God who began the work of salvation in you will bring it to completion, and all those who have trusted Christ will get to see the world from heaven’s vantage point.
On that day, His way will be known on earth.
Keep safe, be well, and stay encouraged.
Brian
You Gotta See This!
You’ve gotta see this!
Has your child, or spouse, or friend every said that to you?
They have seen something, maybe in a book, maybe out of the living room window, maybe something on TV. They have gotten all excited about what they have seen and they are excited to have you join them in this remarkable experience.
The Psalms say the same thing in Psalm 66.
“Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.
He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot. There did we rejoice in him,
who rules by his might forever, whose eyes keep watch on the nations— let not the rebellious exalt themselves.
Selah”
(Psalm 66:5–7 ESV)
The psalmist invites us to take a look at what God has done.
And the psalmist does so by appealing to two of the most amazing events in the nation’s history.
First, we are reminded of the work of Moses. Moses, you remember, led the nation of Israel out of slavery in Egypt. He led them all the way to the Red Sea when Pharaoh decided to change his mind and pursue the people of God.
Moses cries out to the Lord and God delivered His people through the Red Sea, parting the water.
Then the psalmist reminds the nation of the crossing of the Jordan River.
The nation who rejected the Lord’s providence had perished in the desert. God did not disown them, He continued to provide for them, and He continued to love them, but the nation who refused to hear the testimony of Joshua and Caleb perished in the desert. Then Joshua was called to lead the nation into the Promised Land.
So Joshua crosses the Jordan River, and when the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant touched the water on the banks of the Jordan River the waters were parted and they cross on dry land.
This God is the God in whom we place our confidence.
These are not the only remarkable accounts of God’s goodness.
The testimonies of God’s goodness abound in the pages of the Book.
You have to open it up to see.
Come and see!
Keep well, be safe, and stay encouraged.
Brian
Searching For The One Who Has Already Found Us.
If you know me, you know that losing things and then looking for things is a regular part of my everyday existence.
Nikki bought me “tile” for my birthday so I can beep and ring my wallet and keys, which is something I do almost every time I need to leave the house.
But there are only so many tiles and so there is always looking for the book, or the computer mouse, or the paper I printed, or the screwdriver that I took out of the toolbox 20 minutes ago when I started the project and then took a call on my cell phone.
Someone once recommended I buy a book on getting organized so I bought it and brought it home to read it. I’ll let you know when I find it.
The frustrating thing, for me at least, about looking is the uncertainty of finding.
But we are guaranteed to find God when we earnestly seek Him.
“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.”
(Psalm 63:1–4 ESV)
David gives us this picture of someone who is seeking God like a man who is seeking water in a dry and thirsty land. This is the level of earnest that David seeks after the Lord.
David has good reason to seek after God with such fervor. He said that he has looked upon God in the sanctuary and that he had witnessed God’s power and glory. David wasn’t a priest, therefore he was not permitted in the Most Holy Place in the sanctuary, but David saw God’s work and knew the presence and power of the Lord was with him and with the nation of Israel during his reign.
Here we have a bit of a paradox.
David sought after a God who was with him already. God had already found David.
And so do we, we know we have the presence and power of God in our midst. The Holy Spirit has come to live within us and we are sealed for the day of redemption. We know that the Lord will never leave us or forsake us. We have already been found by God.
Yet we too have times in which we need to seek God in earnest so that we can find the wisdom in confusing times, strength in troubled times, and courage when we are otherwise overcome by fear.
Let’s not forget to seek daily the One Who has already found us.
Keep safe, be well, and stay encouraged.
Brian
Waiting Can Be Hard...
Sometimes it can be hard to wait.
For God alone, my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. (Psalm 62:1-2)
Sometimes we wait, and we cry out to the Lord with pleas for help, mercy, and forgiveness.
Sometimes we wait for God, and we rejoice in the abundance of blessing that the Lord has given to us through His providential love.
Sometimes we wait for God as we contemplate His word, storing up His truth in our heart.
And sometimes, our circumstances are so confusing that we simply wait for the Lord in silence.
David understood the depths of human depravity. He reflects on it in the next few verses.
How long will all of you attack a man to batter him, like a leaning wall, a tottering fence? They only plan to thrust him down from his high position. They take pleasure in falsehood. They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse. Selah (Psalm 62:3-4)
Sometimes, amid violence, injustice, and hypocrisy, we are tempted to wonder why God is taking so long.
Why does God wait as the innocent suffer, the liars utter their falsehoods, the violent attack, and the hypocrites wag their tongues?
What, exactly, is taking so long?
David doesn’t get an answer.
Neither do we.
So he goes right back to where he started.
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. (Psalm 62:5-7)
David goes back to calmly waiting for the God he knows will eventually come and make all things right.
Our world has been a pretty crazy place lately. The good news is that those who wait for God alone will not be put to shame.
Keep safe, be well, and stay encouraged.
Brian
Our Mess, God's Plan.
Our world is a mess.
Sometimes we recognize it.
Most of the time, we don’t recognize it.
My first car was a 1977 (I think) Volkswagen Bug. As a teenager, I was not the best at keeping the inside of the car all that clean. When I’d have a soda in the car, the can went in the back seat. When I’d enjoy a candy bar, the wrapper went in the back seat. When I’d stop by the local Arby’s for a sandwich (since our little Wyoming podunk town didn’t have a large enough population to get a McDonalds), the sandwich box went in the back seat.
Gas receipts? Back seat.
Graded assignments? Back seat.
At one time, there was a small collection of dirty socks in the back seat of the Volkswagen Bug.
Since I drove the car daily, I didn’t notice.
Not until I was heading home late from school one night after Jazz Band practice and a classmate asked me for a ride.
Then I began to panic, making up excuses for why I would have loved to have given her a ride but couldn’t.
My car was always a mess.
Most of the time, I didn’t notice until the mess was brought to the forefront.
Our society has been a mess for a while, but in the last week, it has become very apparent just how much of a mess it has really become.
We all know the mess to which I am referring.
A man named George Floyd violently and tragically lost his life at the hands of police officers who had pledged to protect and serve. While many reacted to this awful even with appropriate anger and lament, others responded by looting, rioting, and perpetrating acts of violence against others.
In the six days since Mr. Floyd was unjustly murdered, businesses and homes have been burned to the ground, store owners and police officers have been injured, and the number of fatalities related to the rioting is starting to increase.
Our society is a mess, but it has always been a mess, it is only now that we see it.
So how can we respond?
Psalm 61 gives us a clue to a solution.
Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. (Psalm 61:1–3, ESV)
The hope David is speaking of in this passage comes to us in three ways.
First, David directs his cries for help to the Lord.
Our world isn’t going to do that. Our world is going to look at any solution and every solution to the problem other than the Lord. For some, the answer will be political, and they will hope to get the right person into a position of political power to solve our problems for us. For others, the problem will be solved when other people change and start to see the world precisely the way they see it.
David’s response was to look to the Lord.
Second, David recognizes that God’s wisdom is higher than his own, and the solution isn’t likely harmonious with David’s initial reaction.
Isaiah says the same thing when he proclaims:
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9, ESV)
This is a humbling truth, but it is still true; our first reactions, to most situations, are wrong.
Unless we have sought God, we will not have a godly reaction.
David said that his vantage point was insufficient, so he asked to be led to a higher rock to have a better vantage point and a greater degree of security.
Third, David reminded himself of God’s faithfulness.
The Lord is still our refuge and strength. He is still the tower that stands against the enemy of our souls.
I have some bad news.
The enemy isn’t done, causing chaos. We have not seen the end of injustice, violence, rioting, looting, prejudice, death, and destruction.
I also have some excellent news.
Jesus offers us a refuge to find safety from the enemy. He is a strong tower that withstands the enemy of our souls. He has a plan amid our mess, to care for those who trust in Him.
Keep safe, be well, and stay encouraged.
Brian
The Banner of Christ in the Fog of War.
This world is an ugly place lately.
In the last 24 hours, I have seen more videos of violence than I care to remember.
Our country is once again embroiled in turmoil.
Closer to home, we are grieving the loss of a dear friend and brother in the Lord.
It is all a little disorienting at times.
Psalm 60 describes that sense of disorientation quite well.
O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses; you have been angry; oh, restore us. You have made the land to quake; you have torn it open; repair its breaches, for it totters. You have made your people see hard things; you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger. You have set up a banner for those who fear you, that they may flee to it from the bow. Selah That your beloved ones may be delivered, give salvation by your right hand and answer us! (Psalm 60:1-5 ESV)
David describes his feeling of being rejected. Everything around him gives him the impression that God has rejected him. His defenses have been broken. The land beneath him isn’t stable. He looks around and sees “hard things,” things that shake his confidence and cause him to grieve. He is staggering around, disoriented. David’s enemies shoot arrows from afar, hoping to take advantage of the disorientation.
Where is God in all of this?
David gives us this line, buried in the midst of the chaos and confusion.
“You have set up a banner for those who fear you…”
Picture from Ancient-Origins.net
A banner was more than just a symbol during the time of David. It was a means of communication.
In an age where you can’t email, text, call, or even use radio for communication, the banner, or a standard was a means of communicating.
The banner David refers to says two things.
First, it says, “I am still here.” The banner David speaks of is a reminder that God is still present. Like a flag over a fort, the banner reminds everyone who is still in control.
Second, the banner says, “this is the way.” In the heat of battle, a raised standard would communicate the direction of advance to soldiers in the fog of war.
Our world is in chaos. If you don’t feel at least a little disoriented lately, you haven’t been paying attention.
But in the midst of it all, God has His banner with the Name of Christ written upon it, and it tells us, “He is still here,” and “this is the way.”
Keep Safe, be well, and stay encouraged.
Brian
P.S. Baptist Fellowship will be participating in a memorial parade for Gil Pepin this Sunday, May 31st. We will gather at Horace Porter School at 1:30 PM and will parade past Penny’s home on Chesbro Bridge Road in Columbia.
Please feel free to make signs to display our love for Penny and Todd.
If you would like to bring cards or flowers, we will be collecting them at Porter, and Tracy will deliver them as the last person in the parade as traffic flow cannot stop during the parade.
Remembering a faithful friend.
If you have spent any time around Baptist Fellowship, you will have had the occasion to meet Gil Pepin.
Gil went to be with the Lord on Monday.
Gil was a faithful deacon at Baptist Fellowship. You could find him passing out bulletins with a smile most Sundays at Baptist Fellowship. He also faithfully served at the Foodshare event that Baptist Fellowship hosted every other Thursday for years.
Whenever I would ask Gil how he was doing, he always responded by saying, “outstanding!”
If I ever referred to him as Mr. Pepin, he would always say, “Mr. Pepin was my father.”
Gil could be readily identified by the railroad cap that he wore. However, that cap was noticeably absent for the last couple of years.
Gil served, alongside his wife, Penny, in the Samaritan’s Purse ministry, Operation Christmas Child.
When he would pray over the offering at church, he would read from a carefully written prayer that he had written (and maybe printed off the internet a time or two).
😊
Wherever the prayer came from, every word was a reflection of his heart.
For us, Gil was the small engine guru. Gil has fixed more lawnmowers than I can count. Gil also was the Keldsen family expert butcher. If we weren’t sure about a roast, we’d call Gil.
These are just a few windows into the heart of a man who loved Christ, loved his family, loved his church, and was an excellent friend.
Proverbs tells us about the character of a good friend.
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. (Prov. 17:17 ESV)
In the 15+ years that I have known Gil, I don’t think I have ever heard him complain. He was a man of few words. Gil let his actions speak for him.
He was a generous and faithful man who will be very missed.
But we will see him again.
The Bible reminds us that we will be reunited with Gil on the great day of resurrection.
For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 ESV)
Keep safe, be well, and stay encouraged.
Brian
Memorial Day Reflections
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.-“
These words from the Declaration of Independence are a constant reminder that our country has been, from the very beginning, a nation designed to safeguard the rights of the people. America is the land of the free and the home of the brave, but ensuring the rights of a nation often require men and women in arms to make the ultimate sacrifice to defend the cause of freedom.
Today is Memorial Day.
Today, our country remembers those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, giving their lives in the cause of freedom.
Freedom comes with responsibilities.
The first responsibility is to protect it.
“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”
This is a quote that has been, perhaps, misattributed to Thomas Jefferson.
Whoever coined the term, the principle remains the same. The freedoms we enjoy come from our willingness to defend them from those who seek to remove them.
When the 13 colonies declared independence from a tyrannical monarchy, there were those who stood up to defend the movement at the cost of their lives.
When our country engaged in a civil war to secure the freedom and liberty of our African American brothers and sisters, there were those who lost their lives in the cause of freedom.
When our country again stood up to tyranny fighting alongside our allies in the First World War, there were those who paid the ultimate cost, and when our country responded by an unprovoked attack at Pearl Harbor and stood against the Axis powers during the Second World War, rescuing the world from tyranny and genocide, there were brave soldiers who did not return home to reap the blessings of liberty they bravely fought to secure.
We have since lost brave soldiers in the Korean War and the Vietnam War. We have lost brave soldiers during Desert Storm, and in Afghanistan when the United States reacted to the 911 attacks. We have lost soldiers during the war in Iraq.
America is not a perfect nation, but we have been a defender of freedom both at home and abroad since our humble beginnings in 1776 when we declared that freedom was a practice and ideal worth defending.
We, who live under the canopy of freedom, have the responsibility to remember those whose lives were lost in the cause of defending the mantle of freedom.
We also have the privilege of using our freedoms responsibly.
“Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.”
(1 Peter 2:16 ESV)
Ultimately, we owe our freedom to the providence of God.
Peter reminded the believers in the province of Galatia that they had become God’s people, united in faith to Christ, and to those who have chosen to walk with Him.
While we live here in this world, we are sojourners, exiles on the earth as our full and final citizenship is in heaven.
Thus, we use the freedoms that we have been providentially given while we live here, away from our permanent home, to serve the Lord.
Today let us engage in two acts of remembrance.
Let us remember those who have given their lives in the cause of freedom.
Let us also remember that our freedom has been providentially provided so that we can love and serve the God who gives us our ultimate freedom.
May the Lord be with you this Memorial Day.
Keep safe, be well, and stay encouraged.
Brian