Against the Anger of My Foes

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me. Psalm 138

I hope you took time to read the verse above slowly. Probably the first thing you felt was protection. I hope so. The Psalm is telling you that even in the midst of your crisis God’s protective hand is upon you, saving you.

I hope you also noticed exactly what God’s hand is against – the anger of your enemies. I don’t want to overstate the case here, but I think we often view God as having sides and because we count ourselves among the righteous, that means God is opposed to those who stand opposed to us. We can find many Psalms that speak about God in more aggressive ways concerning our enemies. However, this one seems to speak against the anger of our foes.

The word is about frustrating the plans some may have to harm us, to bring disgrace on the name of our God through the negation of his blessings to us. The verse from Psalm 138 speaks not so much against our enemies as against their plans for us, because, as hard as it may be for us to grasp, God loves those who oppose us too.

Yes, that can be an uncomfortable realization. God loves our enemies. He may not love what they do to us, what they say about us, or how they might work to nullify his purposes in our life, but he loves them. Why does God call us to love and forgive our enemies? Because that is what he does with them!

Imagine that person you have been at war with for years, the person that, regardless of the issue, the two of you are on opposite sides. God loves that person and wants to work in their life to bring blessings and peace. This may mean the two of you begin to agree on things, but it may not. God will work in their life to bring about his own purposes and glory, not just to make your life easier.

So, the next time you find yourself in a friend – foe situation, remember, your foe may still be God’s friend. Love and forgive them because God himself has done that very same thing for them as well.

Pastor Craig

Whatever I Command!

At the beginning of the prophecy of Jeremiah God gives Jeremiah a message to deliver to the nation of Israel. It is not a pleasant message, for it is a message that documents the history of their faithlessness to the covenant. Jeremiah is commissioned to say words that nobody really wants to hear.

After God discloses the message, or at least a summary of it, he says to the prophet, “Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them.”

Jeremiah might find himself asking, “Just who is this judgment directed towards? I thought I was supposed to be the good guy in this story, the obedient one!”

 God is telling the prophet that He is with him, and when God is with a person they have nothing to fear at all. Don’t water down the message! Don’t dilute it! Say exactly what I command you to say! If you get scared, if you back down, if you diminish the message I am giving to you, then you will indeed be terrified before the people.

 What must it have felt like to be caught in the middle? You were about to go and tell a king that he was responsible for leading a people astray and that the punishment for this failed leadership would be the downfall of his kingdom? This king could have you executed on the spot!

On the other hand we have God who is saying that the consequences of delivering anything other than exactly what you have been told to say will have personal and severe as well. What can a poor prophet do?

 God has good news though. God, Himself, prepares the prophet for the audience. “Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land – against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land.” You shall be stronger than all of them put together! They shall not touch you because I have forbidden it!

God knows that much of what we are called to do may play to our weakest personality traits. The task is not about making us look good. The task is about delivering the Word of God to people who need to hear it. To this end, God has equipped you with everything you could possibly need to get it done. You are a strong tower, even though you feel like a leaf tossed on the wind. You feel like the Cowardly Lion, but God has given you a courageous new heart! Walk boldly from this place led on by the power of the One who has put His message in your heart and on your lips!

 Pastor Craig

To the Anxious of Heart. . .

Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God.
(Isaiah 35:4)

Do you worry? Are you fearful for the future? Are you anxious about many things? Any things?

 There are a great many things about which a person can have anxiety or fear. The Documentary Channel broadcast a show called The End of the Road: How Money Became Worthless. The theme? The world banking system will collapse within 5 – 10 years and there is little you can do about it. I don’t know about you, but that causes me some anxiety.

The History Channel has broadcast a whole host of shows involving the end of the world. One of the shows discussed the different versions of the coming apocalypse based on different religions. The viewpoints range from total and instant obliteration to epic collapses involving much pain and suffering over extended periods of time. Each comes with numerous contemporary events and prophecies that support its own theory. Usually, it doesn’t matter which one you may choose to believe, the time is close, VERY close.

Isaiah has some words of comfort. God is coming! I think it is quite important to notice that Isaiah does not minimize the seriousness of one’s source of anxiety. While I do not believe in a coming zombie apocalypse that seems to make millions of dollars for authors and movie makers, I do believe in an end to our world. And, as most of us know, endings of such magnitude are seldom peaceful and calming events. But, Isaiah’s source of comfort is not based on discrediting the events or minimizing an individual’s concerns about those events. It is based on the One who will come to be with the anxious of heart through those events.

The verse says that God will come with vengeance. Many of the Biblical translations translate that to mean wrath poured out on the enemies of God’s kingdom and His people. That may be so, but it certainly means that God will come with passion as well. That passion is based on a care for you and me. Are you still anxious? Nervous? Fearful?

Take comfort, your God will come, come to deliver, come to save, come to restore, come to comfort your fears and anxieties.

 Pastor Craig

My Job

And the Lord saw everything that he had made and it was very good. (Genesis 1:31)


Doubtless, like me, you have heard the Creation story countless times. Has anything ever bothered you about the verse above? Have you ever thought that it is just a little “off?” If it should be changed, what should the new words say? Take a moment to think about it before you read on.


Perfect. The writer of the Creation account left out the word perfect. The Creation is very good, but it is not quite perfect. There is something else that is needed, something to make it complete, something which, once added to everything else, will allow for the possibility of completion, possibly even perfection. The addition of mankind was not the answer. Mankind had something that might have been the answer.


With the addition of humanity came instructions. “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion!” (Genesis 1:18) These humans were told to go out and have a whole bunch of baby humans, to take care of things, to renew things, and subdue things. There were things that needed to be conquered. Notice, humanity is not commanded to stay in the Garden. Their job was to venture out and to make a difference in the planet through subduing and replenishing and multiplying and through governance.


God knew humanity needed to be busy, so he gave them a regular job in addition to his broad commission for the whole planet and he “took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and keep it.” (Genesis 2:15) Humanity had a job, given directly from God. They knew what they were supposed to do. The world had a place as well. It responded to the “dressing and keeping” of humanity.


However, a problem quickly arose. Given the lofty status of keeper and tender of Creation, and knowing that Creations job was to respond to the governance of humanity over it, humanity still decided that this was not enough. The people of Creation did not want to be princes, junior creators if you will. No, they had been given tremendous authority and responsibility, but they wanted it all. They did not want to be with God in harmony. They wanted to be god themselves.


The consequence is the creation we have now, one that does not readily know its place and yield the harvest, one that rebels, even as we did, and does not send the rain to water the crops humanity has planted, one that is not fruitful in all places as it might have been.


Relationships were broken between man and woman, between humanity and creation, between humanity and the animals, and certainly between humanity and God. The blessed life we could have had is only restored to us through Jesus Christ. We cannot recapture it. We cannot subdue, replenish, or have dominion on our own, even though those were among the very things for which we grasped. We wait patiently for the new heaven and the new earth. In the interim, Jesus Christ has summoned us once again, this time as ambassadors of the gospel message. God has asked us to work with him once again. What will our response be this time?

 Pastor Craig

Refuge!

In the Lord I take refuge. How then can they say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain.” (Ps. 11:1)


There are times in the life of every Christian where we scream for relief. We want the storms to go away, the trials to cease, the testing to stop, and peace to reign. However, we have a Savior who offers more safety in the midst of turmoil than the most tranquil location on this planet.


The Psalmist is teased during his time of crisis, “Run away! Quickly, run away! Head for the hills!”


His reply? My refuge is the Lord God Almighty! What need do I have for flight? Why do I need to be afraid? It doesn’t matter if a thousand stand against me. The one I have on my side shall keep me safe and secure!


The world does not understand our contentment. Jesus tells us, “My peace I leave with you. Not as the world gives do I give unto you!” In other words, “I am leaving you something much better, much stronger, more reliable, more comprehensive, all encompassing, and never failing!” Why indeed would we run through the storm to any place else when we are already protected from the storm by the strong arms of our Savior?


Even the baby elephant above knows that the best protection is close to its mother. Even though we know the Lord is more protection than a hundred mama elephants, there are times we run to every source possible except the one actually able to protect us from the ravages of the storm.


Look at the picture on the picture at the beginning of this post. Look very closely. Did you see the figure standing in the doorway the first time you looked? Who would stand out there in the middle of such a horrendous storm? Who would venture out in those waves? The only person who would dare venture such a thing would be one who could rest comfortably knowing that between them and the pounding waves there was solid, impenetrable rock, something that would break the crashing waves and never be broken. There is no way a person could stand there on their own. They would be swept away, never to be found. To stand in the midst of such violence and conflict one needs to be protected by a mighty rock.


God has called you to do something. You are anxious about the task he has given to you. You don’t know where to begin and you cannot see the ending. Go stand in the storm, knowing that Christ the Rock stands between you and all ultimate harm!


Pastor Craig

World Champion!

World’s Best! World Champion! It has a nice ring to it doesn’t it. We are currently in the finals for the NBA Championship and the Stanley Cup. Millions of dollars will be decided by the outcomes. Players will get new contracts based on their performance in this series. Coaches may get extensions on their current agreements or may get fired for a less than perfect outcome during these playoffs. We cuss and discuss the teams, sometimes our own team, depending on how they are doing.


Well, last night I got to sit next to a World Champion. I can even brag that I know him well. Some of you may know that the Texas Longhorn World Show is going on over in Ft. Worth. The pinnacle of this show is the Trophy Steer competition where the best and biggest Texas Longhorn Trophy Steers in the world gather to decide which one really is the best. Yes, a handful of the ones from the Ft. Worth stockyards come over to see just how good they are.


The owners are a cross-section of the super-rich who like to have a hobby, families who love Texas Longhorns and want their children to experience some Texas heritage, and some kids with school and FFA projects.


Last night, one of those students with an FFA project pulled it off and won World Champion Young Steer. He is an amazing kid who works hard, does what he is supposed to do, obeys his Mother, and, fortunately, listens to his Ag teacher as well. He is the kind of kid you would have been rooting for if you had been there.


I’m not writing this only to brag on one kid, or to highlight a topic I dearly love. No, I am writing it to remind all of us that “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Bailey made sure he had his motives right from the beginning, and he knew the one for whom he was working. Sometimes, all that work goes to the glory of God alone. That is where it belongs. However, there are times when God sends a little back your way as well. It is at those moments, if we have been giving him the praise all along, that we realize what an awesome God we serve.


Pastor Craig

Stories

Christianity is basically a story religion. It is the story of God calling the Jewish people, making them his own, and sending them a Messiah. That story expands when the story of Jesus becomes the story for all people and not only a story for the Jewish people. This Jesus Story is the story of his life, death, and resurrection. The story of the church is, in part, a story beginning with the first disciples. Then it winds its way through 2,000+ years until the character that is us stands on the stage.


There are “Signature Stories” along the way – the life of Christ, the Reformation, The Great Awakening, the Azusa St. Revival, etc., things that are defining moments in the life of God’s people.


Each of us has a personal Signature Story, a piece of personal history that is a defining moment in making us the Christian man or woman we are.


My Signature Story could be one of several events, each one building on the one before. However, since these are connected it seems best to begin with the one that lays the foundation for everything else that happened, that event which is essential; the story that, if left out, probably destroys the whole plot.


God blessed me by placing me in a family with two believing parents who made it their priority to put me in a pew each and every Sunday, who did not just drop me off for Sunday School, but made sure the whole family was there, and who made sure I was able to take advantage of every opportunity for Christian growth that was available. Faith was a family event.


Now, I am not speaking poorly of anyone who was dropped off for Sunday school or those whose spiritual interest was not supported by believing parents. I know many people of tremendous faith who did not have their faith taught to them at home. I just know myself, and, fortunately, my Heavenly Father knew me as well and gave me what I needed for the Gospel faith to take root in my soul.


The other story we all have is a Horizon Story. The Horizon Story for Christianity extends forward until that event where Jesus rolls up all of history like a scroll and puts it on the shelf as a finished story.


My Horizon Story is to continue on the well-worn track on which God has placed me, a small church pastor. I have spoken to 5,000 people before, and, yes, it is kind of interesting. However, that is not the ministry to which God has called me. I grew up in a small church, I have attended small churches most of my life, and God has called us into relationships. A relationship is not easy when the person you are speaking to may be a couple hundred feet from the platform and in the middle of a sea of nameless faces.


Now, the purpose of this is not just to get you to know my stories. The purpose is to get you to think about and share your own. I would love to hear your Signature and Horizon Stories. Please stop by and share them with me. AMEN.

Pastor Craig