When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.

 Dietrich Bonhoeffer

 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

 Luke 9:24

 Not only is the cross the historical point of our atonement, it is also a demonstration of what God expects his children to do. It is not part of God’s plan to have his children stand and stare.

Even more important, the church as an institution or even as a movement has been born to die. Someday there will simply be no need for the church. The church is the vessel of the Holy Spirit in the world, the bodily presence of God in the world. When Scripture teaches that someday, at the end of history, the dwelling place of God will be with man, and He will dwell with them and they will be His people and God Himself will be with them as their God it is saying that the church will come to an end.

As long as there is a sinful, imperfect world there will be a place for the church. But, that day is coming when our imperfection will be washed away and replaced with perfection and we will become the dwelling place of God where all that is imperfect is no more.

Jesus also tell us that he does not need the church to change the world. God certainly does use us to be agents of change in the world, but he does not NEED us. God does not wait on the church or limit himself due to our lack of faith.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem the Pharisees told him to silence the mobs who proclaimed him king and Messiah. Christ made it quite clear that God’s praiseworthiness would be revealed. If the people did not do it, the rocks and stones themselves would cry out (Luke 19:40). We are dependent on Christ. He uses us simply because he loves us.

Because the church is born to die, the preservation of the institution of the church is unimportant. In fact, we should be longing for that day when the church will be no more! Therefore our power comes from emptying ourselves, the same way Christ did on the cross. As we empty ourselves, we are filled with the Holy Spirit. If we are filled with our own desire for self-preservation, we leave no room for the Spirit and the church does not do its work in the world. Death to self means alive to carry out the work of Christ.

 Pastor Craig

For I was. . .and you. . .

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. (Matthew 25:35-36)

Two Sundays ago I worshipped with an inner city congregation in Philadelphia pastored by my very dear friend, Rev. Paul Cofer. This small gathering of people created a stark contrast between other congregations, sometimes our own, and this outpost of believers.

The average worship attendance in Grace Evangelical Baptist Church is 20, Sunday school, about 10. All their activities take place in one room. Children and adult Sunday School classes share the same space. The church is an abandoned store front leased by the congregation.

Do not feel sorry for this band of believers. They have great dreams because they worship a great God. They continually witness to the down and outcast who, on some Sunday mornings, they can find sleeping on the steps of the church waiting for someone to show up, hoping that this is the place they can find a little hope and peace for themselves. Sometimes the people who wander in would remind you of the very same people that would cause most of us to lock our car doors and check for our wallets and purses. 

This congregation has a dream, truly, one quite like one of ours. They are trying to put a media center in their worship space, a smaller version of what we seek to do upstairs. However, they have an extra hurdle to overcome. They can’t begin their remodel until they put in a security system because the drug addicts, as much as they might come to and receive help from the congregation, would break in and steal the equipment in search of their next high.

A couple of things: First, recognize that the world you and I live in is one of tremendous privilege. We are blessed and protected. Our frustrations and anxieties are based on possibilities that will rarely become realities. Grace Evangelical lives in the realities and hopes for the possibilities. Two, remember that this congregation could probably move out of the inner city to someplace safer, better, nicer, but they choose to remain here because this is where people are who need to hear about Jesus, those very same people who would break in and steal anything of value in the church in an attempt to satisfy that which, for now at least, rules their life until they accept Jesus as Lord. Pray for them. Thank God for this congregation! Pray that we might be so committed to leading others to Christ as well. 

Pastor Craig

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