Woefully Inadequate!

Have you ever felt inadequate? How about “woefully inadequate?” I felt this way just this last Thursday. I received a copy of my dissertation back with comments from my Technical Reader. Now before you are too hard on either of us, our whole cohort was given an early warning that Mr. John Anderson was one of the most demanding Technical Readers available. It is his job to be picky. It is his job to get your dissertation ready for public viewing. It is his job to make sure you final product does not embarrass the seminary, the specific program you are in, or yourself as the researcher, so I am not really complaining, just feeling “woefully inadequate!”

His exact words, “Your Chapter Two is woefully inadequate and incomplete.” One of my colleagues said, “I wanted to call him and make sure he was OK after I got mine back because I thought he might have been the victim of a brutal slaying with all the red on my paper!” I consider myself to be in excellent company.

I knew it was woefully in adequate when I sent it in. I was expecting a massive number of corrections and revisions, and that is exactly what I got. I imagine the feeling might be similar to something we might feel in the moments immediately before we appear before God’s throne in heaven. It is time for a reckoning. God is about to evaluate your life.

Actually, Mr. Anderson would be more like Jesus, the Messiah, than God as Judge. The technical reader looks at everything concerning your paper. He actually gets out a ruler and measures the margins and the indentations. He checks your formatting for headings and punctuation. He is the best thing that could happen to you. He is preparing you to appear before the group of scholars who will examine your work and ask you to discuss it and answer questions. You want to make a good impression on them, and you don’t do that with a bunch of typos and errors. He is making sure you have nothing to be ashamed of when you stand before those who will render a judgment on your scholarly attempt.

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”[1] So, when our name is called and we know it is our turn to answer to the King, we will see the doors open wide and recognize our sweet Savior standing by His side and waiting to stand by ours, and we will be comforted with a great comfort!

Pastor Craig

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[1] II Timothy 2:15

A Jug of Milk, A Hammer, and A Tent Peg

The Old Testament book of Judges contains many of the lesser known heroes of the Bible. Three of these can be found in a single extended story contained in the fourth and fifth chapters of the book of Judges. It is one of the Biblical stories where women save the day while the men lag behind in doubt.

The story opens with Deborah. She is identified as a prophetess (4:4) and judge, in that she held court under a palm tree (4:5), for the people of Israel. Being judge meant that she would settle disputes between people. She, probably much like Moses did, heard only the most complex cases, leaving the simpler ones to be decided by judges over certain sections of the people.

In her role as leader she sent for Barak and instructed him, “The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you 10,000 men. . . I will lure Sisera. . . and give him into your hands.’”

Sisera was the commander of the armies of Jabin, a king of Canaan. The army was well equipped and formidable with over 900 iron chariots. The Israelites, a non-professional fighting force, had zero! This makes it fairly easy to understand when Barak spoke to Deborah and said, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.” In other words, “Forget the command of God. I only trust people who are willing to stick there neck out, who are willing to back up the words with actions!” Deborah went. 

The Bible tells us “The Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot.” Enter the next heroine of the story, Jael.

Sisera was scared for his life. He came to Jael’s tent and asked he to hide him. She became the instrument of God to defeat the enemies of Israel. She said, “Come right in. Don’t be afraid.” (4:18). Sisera, be afraid, be very afraid! It says she gave him a drink and covered him up so no one would see him. It was while Sisera was feeling all safe and secure in his secret hiding place that Jael “picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground and he died.” One version says, “she struck once and did not need to strike again!” Yes, Sisera, be afraid. Be very afraid! God works, sometimes through the commander of the armies and sometimes through a woman with a jug of milk, a hammer, and a tent peg!

Pastor Craig

Veterans' Day

This is a very awkward article to write. How does a pastor write about Veteran’s Day and the birthday of the United State Marine Corps? For those of you who may not know, every Marine’s birthday is November 10^th because 236 years ago the Marine Corps was founded at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, PA on this date, and for those of you who missed it, Veteran’s Day was Friday, November 11^th. Most of you probably didn’t think about it until you opened your mail box on Friday and found it empty.

What is the appropriate way for one who is a follower of the Prince of Peace to, at the same time, show proper appreciation for those who have helped keep war outside our own borders for the vast majority of our history? A simple thank you hardly seems sufficient. However, even that is more than some vets get.

Throughout these most recent conflicts I struggled as to how to pray for our troops. Many of you know that two of them were my own sons. Oh, I have no problem praying for their success and safety, but, as I do that, am I in fact praying for the death of someone else in a foreign land who may have a spouse and family as well? In a firefight between our people in uniform and those who would engage them on the battlefield I will always ask God for the life, safety, and success of our men and women.

Certainly, the best thing, the greatest gift we could pray for and wish for our military personnel would be that the need for their service would one day pass away from the face of the earth. However, that seems unlikely, and as long as the need remains, I am thankful we have some our best and brightest who are willing to take up the call and respond, putting themselves at risk that you and I can sleep securely at night.

The call of Christ to “Love one another” seems like the impossible dream much of the time. There is no glory in the killing of another human being. There is glory when good triumphs over evil. Sometimes it is difficult to decide if the cause is completely just. So, we do not pray for war. We pray for the men and women who are sent on our behalf to fight the war. We pray for success and safety, and, on days like we had this past week, we thank them for what they have done for us. We pay for the peace that passes all understanding to calm those whose hearts, souls, minds, and spirits are troubled by what they have seen and done. We pray for those who have suffered such great personal loss of a loved one because we are all sinful creatures and are not any closer to a peaceful world than when the angels first proclaimed it for the shepherds one night in a field 2,000 years ago.

So, we continue to preach the Gospel message of love, peace, hope, compassion, forgiveness, and mercy in the midst of a broken and sinful world. We pray for our enemies. We do our best to forgive those who have offended us. We pray for and ask for forgiveness for the ways and times we have offended others, and we long for a world that might be at peace and soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines that can stand-down from their watchfulness.

OCCUPIED!

 

It seems the news is dominated by the Occupy movement these days. In case you haven’t been watching the news for the past several weeks, the Occupy movement contains many different emphases but seems to center around a call for a more “equitable distribution of financial power.” This article takes no stance on the rightness or wrongness of the movement. All of us can recognize the importance of a just, equitable, and fair system with regards to financial power.

The issue I want to take with the movement is the use of the term occupy. Webster’s Dictionary defines occupy as: to take possession and control of (a place), as by military invasion. The very idea of occupying or possessing any material and therefore temporal resource seems somewhat ludicrous. The things of this world are on loan to us only for our brief time on this earth. We best not think of them or speak of them using eternal language.

The Gospel of Matthew tells us, after praising how God cares for such things as the flowers of the field and the birds of the air, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

We are not supposed to occupy anything on this planet. We are only stewards for a brief period of time before it all goes back to the original owner. No, instead of occupying, we are to be occupied by the Holy Spirit. We are to be sold out to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Yes, we will still need the food and shelter our body requires in order to be safe and healthy in this world, but we are not to be preoccupied with the possessions this world has to offer.

Where injustice occurs, we are called to bring justice, but it is always for others and not for ourselves. When we cry out, we do not cry out to demand our “fair share.” We cry out for salvation and we cry out to proclaim salvation in Jesus Christ.

We should seek to make our financial system fair and just. Where there is injustice we should seek to correct it, but as we correct it we remind everyone that peace cannot come from an abundance of this world’s goods but only from the One who created us all.

Pastor Craig

There Is a Place

Exodus 32 is one of the most shameful moments in the history of the people of Israel. After Yahweh God had brought them out of the land of Egypt, after he had appeared to them on Mt. Sinai and given them his commandments for holy living, and after he had parted the waters for the people to pass safely through they turned away from him while Moses was on the mountain, and they formed a god of the Egyptian gold they had taken with them. A god more like the ones Yahweh had shown to be inferior than reflecting anything of the glory, mercy, patience, and omnipotence Yahweh possessed.

In the very next chapter Moses makes a bold request. SHOW ME YOUR GLORY. This is what he asks of God. Maybe he thought he had earned it for all he had put up with in leading the people. Maybe he had his own doubts and wanted some sense of conformation. Maybe he just wanted to be closer to the God who had performed all these miracles in the presence of the people of Israel. The Scripture does not give us a reason for Moses making this request. It simply records the request.

It records God’s answer as well. NO ONE CAN SEE ME AND LIVE. The glory of the Lord is simply too awesome for finite humanity to endure. We simply fall, and maybe quite literally, fall apart in its presence.

What God says next is tremendous. THERE IS A PLACE NEAR ME WHERE YOU MAY STAND ON A ROCK. I am still exploring all that sentence may mean. Sure, it could be something as simple as identifying a specific spot of ground. But, somehow, I don’t think so. You see Moses’ request was prefaced by a concern about whether to move on from Mt. Sinai or not. His comments included telling God that it would be pointless for the people to leave this place and journey on towards the Promised Land if Yahweh would not journey with them. God assures Moses that his presence will indeed go with him and with the people of Israel. Then he does the most amazing thing ever. He grants Moses’ request.

God puts Moses on that symbol of stability and foundation and passes ALL  his glory in front of Moses only allowing Moses to actually see the most remote part, something like the sunset at the end of the bright and glorious day.

Have you been in turmoil? Has life itself almost beaten you down flat? Jesus Christ says, THERE IS A PLACE NEAR ME WHERE YOU MAY STAND ON A ROCK. There is a place where solid footing may be found, a place where the currents of shifting opinions cannot reach and erode. Christ calls you to come near to him. He will allow his glory to pass in front of you. You may only see the most remote parts. You may not comprehend all that you see, but though the sunset at the end of the day may not be as bright as the sun directly overhead at noon, those sunsets are among some of the most glorious and beautiful sights you will ever see. Come unto the Rock that is higher.

Pastor Craig

Contentment

This past week I was studying Philippians 4:11-13. For those who (almost all of us) don’t have those verses branded into your memory:

. . . I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who give me strength.

Contentment seems to be a vanishing commodity in our society. People are always on the move looking for something higher, better, more this or less of that. The most compelling purchase tag for a product is “New & Improved!”

Now, I’m not advocating stagnation. There is certainly something to be said for “making something of yourself.” We should strive for excellence, but excellence is not what I’m talking about here. What this is about is the constant search for something new. It is simply motivated by boredom and not a striving for excellence.

It seems that Paul has learned something most of us have not, how to be satisfied in any and every situation. Paul’s life was not easy, not by a long shot. He was arrested and imprisoned for trying to tell people something as simple as God loved them. He was shipwrecked. He was beaten by those who did not want him to preach his message and left alongside the road for dead. He had been hungry and in need, and he had been well fed and cared for. He was well aware of both extremes.

It was not a situation where everything was comfortable for him. Contentment in the midst of extravagance and comfort doesn’t really count as contentment, does it? Many of us wish for even a few of life’s finer things. Paul says, “I have had them, and I’ve done without them. I can take ‘em or leave ‘em.” Most of us would choose to take them.

But what about this Paul? What is the secret to contentment in the midst of poverty, unemployment, loneliness, and upheaval? Unfortunately, he doesn’t give us a simple multi-step program to achieving contentment. He does give us a clue though. I HAVE LEARNED.

It wasn’t easy. It took lots of work. The road to contentment is not an interstate highway, complete with rest stops and lots of bathroom breaks. No, the road to contentment is an uphill struggle, recognizing what is of true importance. What Paul learned was there was something so much more important in life than things. Paul had a mission to carry the Gospel to a lost world. Once Paul had his life purpose revealed to him everything else fell into place.

God has a mission for you as well. It may not seem as grand or glorious as Paul’s calling to travel the world as a missionary, but it is just as important because it is yours. You may not find it easily, but when you do – you will find contentment as well.

Pastor Craig

KISS

I would think that all of us are familiar with the simple acronym KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid). There are so many things in life that would be a lot less frustrating if we would follow that one rule. We do often try to complicate things. One of the clearest and best examples is in our prayer life.

Think about it for a minute. Sometimes people are terrified of praying in public. Others are quite comfortable with it. Usually, those who find this difficult have some aspect of worry regarding sounding stupid, not knowing what to say, or just plain “doing it wrong.” How could we possibly pray wrong?!

Jean-Nicholas Grou says, Be simple in your piety. Do not rely upon your intellect or upon subtlety and depth of your reasonings. Real piety is not concerned with thoughts but with the affections. Let your heart tell you what you wish to say to God and say it simply without bothering too much about the words; it is ridiculous to be eloquent in His presence and take pride in prayers that are well composed. We are simply talking to our friend. We spend very little time planning our conversations with our loved ones; they just happen. They flow out of the concerns and feelings within our heart. This should be how we pray to our God as well.

When it comes to our encounter with the Almighty it is difficult to do better than the type of prayer Jesus taught – secret and solitary. It is in the entering into our private moments that all else is stripped away and we stand totally transparent before our God, the one who knows all the things we want to cover up and keep hidden, the one who knows our sins before we can confess them, the one who sees beyond the formality of our composed and rehearsed prayers and simply wants to commune with us as we are. Praying in private centers our mind and heart on the object of prayer alone. It strips away all pretenses. Our dramatic words are futile with God; we cannot make him think we are more pious than we really are. When we go into a room and shut the door to pray, we face our own naked souls in all of their sin and beauty, and gradually our focus shifts from ourselves to God.

This is how our Lord wants us to appear before him. Whether we are praying in public or private, He wants us to come to him in our true nature, recognizing that He is constantly forming and reforming that nature, that He is fully aware of all our flaws and failings. In each and every prayer, we come before God, not to impress Him but to communicate with Him. It is in that transparent time that we know and are known. It is in that time that we are allowed brief glimpses of ourselves as God sees us. In these brief glimpses are see the sin-filled soul, but we see it transformed into a child of the King, holy and set apart, commissioned to carry the Gospel to the oppressed and downtrodden, messengers of light traveling in a world of darkness.

Pastor Craig