Connecting Points

Thursday, July 08, 2010

Today’s Topic:  Who’s Really In Control?

Today’s Text:  “Yet this is what the Sovereign LORD says:…If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.” (Isaiah 7:7a, 9b)

Fear came upon them and shook them like the trees of the forest being shaken by strong winds. Their country was ruled by a powerful warrior with a great heritage passed on from his father. Yet they were scared. Their rivals, from whom they had broken away years before, were now alliance with another country and they were on the warpath headed right for them. The enemies were trying to force them into an alliance of three to battle against a larger enemy that ruled the region. They wanted nothing to do with it, but felt like there was no other option. Either way would probably result in their destruction.

This was the situation Isaiah was asked by the Lord to address with King Ahaz of Judah, a descendant of King David. Ephraim, which was the Northern Kingdom also called Israel, had allied itself with Aram, which is Syria. They wanted Judah to join them in a massive war with Assyria. God sent Isaiah to Ahaz to convince him not to enter such an alliance. This scared Ahaz and the people of Judah because they thought for sure that Ephraim and Aram would wipe them out for their non-compliance.

I’ve been in many situations where I felt like I had no options and was being forced to see only one outcome. I’m sure you have also. It’s scary. But I’ve learned something very significant. It took many years of wondering why I was being shaken by the circumstances of life, but I think I have it figured out. After many attempts to stand in my own abilities and wisdom which always resulted in falling on my face, I think I discovered the answer. The fear we feel is generated from the same source as the fear the people of Judah felt – misplaced faith. We fall into fear when our faith is placed in man’s reason and abilities. Faith in God conquers ALL fear.

To come to that conclusion I had to first conquer the greatest fear of all – becoming completely humble before the Lord. I was in denial about how much confidence I had placed in my own wisdom and abilities. I think we all are in such a state of denial. It’s scary to think about letting go completely of every ounce of control of our lives and surrendering it to someone else, even if that someone is God Almighty. We believe very strongly in ourselves – more than we dare to admit. The fear we feel when something goes wrong proves it. Admit it. It’s true.

Once we reach the point of confession of our pride, we will be able to see and trust the incredible power of our Lord. That’s the message Isaiah was delivering to King Ahaz in chapter 7. While the people of Judah were looking at the invasion through human eyes of fear, God wanted them to see it through His eyes of Sovereignty. God is in control of ALL things. He is more powerful than anything He controls. He has more wisdom than any opponent. He is absolutely Sovereign!

King Ahaz and the people of Judah weren’t looking at life that way. They were looking at it from the human perspective. They believed in themselves more than they believed in their God. Belief in self always ends in fear, because we know who we are. We know our limitations and weaknesses. Fear will always be the result when life throws something at us we know we cannot handle. But belief in God knows no fear, because God has no limitations or weaknesses. There is nothing He cannot handle. Fear cannot exist where faith in God abounds.

So Isaiah tells King Ahaz how God sees the situation. The two humanly irresistible armies are nothing more than two smoldering stubs of firewood in the eyes of the Lord (verse 4). It is not possible for them to overthrow Judah (verse 7), and the reason is simple – both of these nations are being completely ruled by man, while Judah has the Lord Almighty as its King (verses 8-9). If the people of Judah will stand firm in their faith in God, they will not fall or fail.

So, please connect with this – if we are in control of our lives; if we are seeing life through our eyes of human wisdom and evaluating circumstances based on our strength and resources, we are shaking in fear because our faith is misplaced. But if we are seeing life through the eyes of our Sovereign King, and have surrendered ALL control to Him, we will stand in true faith and not be shaken by fear. It really is that black and white.

Pastor John

Connecting Points

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Today’s Topic:  Spiritual Negligence

Today’s Text:  “Go and tell this people: “‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” (Isaiah 6:9-10)

Imagine how you would feel if suddenly every connection you had with people using the internet was gone. You were completely off line. That’s how I have felt for the last 13 days as my schedule has not permitted me to sit in my office in the early morning and share with you what God is teaching me through the study of His Word. I have felt totally disconnected.

When I look at the rest of the summer, there are going to be several more extended periods of disconnect, one starting next week. But what a blessing it will be to see family and friends on a trip back to the home state of my wife. My constant and fervent prayer is that your commitment to Jesus Christ will keep you in a consistent state of devotional study. I know you are not dependent upon me for your spiritual health – I don’t want that at all. You have the Holy Spirit to teach you. Keep studying the Bible on your own. Don’t let the summer schedule of vacations, recreation, and pleasure get pushed up into a higher priority position than your intimacy with Jesus.

When the pursuit of God is moved from the top spot on our priority list, we choose to start down a very slippery slope from which recovery is difficult. Many times things have to get pretty tough for us before we wake up to the reality of our situation. All along the slope God’s hand is being extended to slow our slide and pull us back up to the top. But the blindness to God created by the intense light of our pride to pursue our own goals keeps us from seeing His hand. When that happens, we are in danger of sliding all the way to the bottom.

A great lesson can be learned from the historical context of Isaiah’s call to prophetic ministry. The nation of Israel is in trouble. They have succumbed to materialism, hedonism, and humanism. The first five chapters explain their position on the slippery slope of self-indulgence that they chose for themselves by failing to pursue a consistent relationship with God.

Then God call Isaiah to be His messenger, and He gives him the message to speak. We would like to think that at this point God is going to intervene and rescue them from their slide. His messenger must have words of hope, right? Wrong! God says that the consequences of their choice to jump on this slide will have to be fully realized. The will take it all the way to the bottom.

Is God being cruel? No. God is acknowledging man’s free will. God did not force them to make their choice to reject Him. God did not lead them to set Him aside for a time so they could experience what the world has to offer. God did not give them permission to change their priorities. But God did allow them to make their own choices.

When we make choices that hurt us, we tend to believe that God is our first aid kit. We quickly run back into the prayer closet where the kit is stored and take out a few bandages and some anti-bacterial ointment. After a quick application, we put the kit back in the closet and get right back to our lives again, hoping nothing else will hurt us. That’s what the nation of Israel was doing, and that’s what many of us are doing. We run to church on the Sunday’s when we happen to be available and hope that what we hear will carry us through all of the worldly pursuits of summer until we can get back to a normal routine in the fall. All the things we want to do while the weather is nice have suddenly taken on a higher priority than our relationship with Jesus our Savior and Lord. And then we wonder why we are so busy, so stressed, and so unfulfilled by what we thought was going to be all the stuff of summer that would make life meaningful.

We are on the slippery slope of materialism, hedonism, and humanism. And just like God told the people of Israel through Isaiah, He tells us today that our slide will carry us farther than we wanted to go. Our ears will hear these words but we won’t really understand them because we really don’t want to change. Our eyes will see the trouble coming but we will ignore it because we think the benefits of the pleasure will be worth the price we pay. Our hearts will become more hardened to the truth because our pride says we can make this work and have both worlds. Only when we have reached rock bottom will we finally surrender.

That was the message to Israel. That is God’s message to us today. I don’t know where you are on the slope, but if you are on it at all you are in danger. Reach out today and grab the hand of God and let Him stop your slide. Get back to pursuing God no matter how many plans you still have for summer fun. The fun of summer is not worth the recovery period from spiritual negligence.

Pastor John

Connecting Points

Friday, June 25, 2010

Today’s Topic:  Directions, Decisions, and Details

Today’s Text:  Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”  (Isaiah 6:8)

Details. We want details. We make decisions based on details. The more details we have, the better our chances of avoiding error, or so we think. We rarely accept any direction without details. Direction, decisions, and details – how are they supposed to line up?

Have you ever heard the phrase, the devil is in the details? Well, for all you detail-oriented people, here’s a little history lesson. The Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings by Gregory Y. Titelman (Random House, New York, 1996) says The Devil is in the details is a variant of another proverb that is much older. It refers to a catch or problem hidden in the details that was not previously seen or anticipated, and that may have changed the original decision if it had been known in advance. In other words, the devil is responsible for withholding information to make us fail. In response, we want more details so we can be sure to make the right decision.

But to be historically accurate, the original proverb from which the devil reference evolved is this – God is in the details. In fact, the original proverb is more than 140 years older than its derivation. It was first attributed to a German architect named Gustave Flaubert (1821-80). History tells us that those who lived by this motto believed that whatever one does should be done thoroughly with close attention to the details because that’s how God is honored.

But let me share one more idea I have on the subject of details – my variation on the theme. God is in control of the details. Our tendency is to demand details before we make decisions when God is the one giving the directions. I believe the devil is in that. Isaiah heard the directions, made the decision, and then got the details. We would be wise to follow such an example of faith.

Recently I visited with a friend who has been struggling in his job for several years. He has been very discouraged. His age was one factor that kept him going because there was a certain measure of fear of what he would be able to do to be a provider for his wife if he quit. But things were not going well at work. He and his wife had a discussion about it and agreed that God was giving them the direction to quit and that he would provide for them. So, in the middle of the week, they made a decision with no details. The following Monday he would resign, giving his two week notice.

God is in control of the details. Two days later, on Friday, he was called into the supervisor’s office and told that his position with company was being eliminated. He was escorted back to his desk to gather his lunchbox and then escorted out of the building. There would be no need to resign on Monday. He had been let go. But in doing so, this 23-year veteran of this company was granted a severance package. He would be paid in full for the next two weeks, even though he would not be permitted back into the building to work. He would then receive a nice severance package of pay for an extended period of time. At the conclusion of that severance package, he will be eligible for unemployment compensation. None of these things would have been his if he would have resigned. All of these things allow him the time to receive the details from God of what’s next.

God is in control of the details. When God gives directions, we must make decisions, trusting that He is in control of the details. Directions…Decisions…Details. If that order ever gets messed up, so do we.

Pastor John

Connecting Points

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Today’s Topic:  Preparation for Service

Today’s Text:  “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” (Isaiah 6:5-7)

God is calling you. I’m not sure to what yet, and maybe you aren’t either. He hasn’t told you what it is. But the fact that He has brought you into His presence means that He is preparing you to respond to a call to serve Him. He has brought you into His presence to remove all obstacles in the path of acceptance. We may think there are several closed doors in front of us, but God wants to open them all so we can walk the path He has prepared.

The fact that we are in God’s presence opens the first door – the door of humility. Isaiah is overwhelmed with the perfection of God. He is cowering in fear of his own unworthiness to be there. If we are to hear the call of God clearly, pride must be destroyed. Self must be crucified. Our desires, goals, and dreams must melt under the spectacle of God’s sovereignty. We must be willing to set aside anything and everything that is important to our flesh for the sake of experiencing the fullness of the Spirit.

The second door that must be opened is the confession of sin. It starts with the recognition of its horror. Every sin – not just the big ones – but every little sin that stands opposed to the holy, non-contradictory nature of God must be seen for what it is: absolute corruption.

Once the horror of sin is recognized, we must confess that we are presently smothered by it and responsible for its presence in our lives. We stand in our very nature opposed to God. People can’t help us, for they are all in the same condition. Woe to us. We are ruined by our sin.

It is in this position – face down before the throne of God with nothing but His justified judgment of sin on our minds – that God meets us at our point of need. This is the third door that God opens for us. When we reach the point of realization that we are incapable of providing a way of escape from the deserved punishment of our sin that God reveals to us the way He has provided. He has atoned for our sin. He will remove our guilt. He will make us whole.

The word atonement is significant. It simply means satisfaction for a wrong. Our sin is wrong. It’s always wrong. It’s never even slightly right. There is nothing in us that qualifies us to satisfy the wrong of sin in the holiness of God. But God can, and He did. It is symbolized for us in the life of Isaiah with the burning coal from the altar of heaven. The fulfillment of the symbol is found in the death of Christ when He presented Himself on the altar of heaven during the darkness that followed His crucifixion. (Read Hebrews chapters 9 and 10 for a complete picture of this.) In Christ God atoned for the sin of man. The sacrifice Jesus made on the cross has been eternally recognized by God as the sufficient, once-for-all sacrifice for our sin.

Some of you readers may have never reached this point in your “religious” life. You have been trusting the wrong thing. You have been hoping that God will somehow choose to recognize your self-produced goodness. That cannot happen. I cannot emphasize that enough. It is not in your power to save yourself. Only God can provide the satisfaction for your wrong by offering His sinless Son as a substitute for your death. Put your faith in Him today.

Others of you have been to the cross, but your lives are a mess because you cannot hear the call of God to service because your heart is blocked up by sin and self. You too need to humbly come back into the throne room and let God restore you to a life of faith in Him.

The fourth door is opened when we stand and accept God’s spectacular gift of forgiveness and believe that because of Christ we are now worthy to serve the King, the LORD Almighty. It is at this point that we will hear His call to service, just as Isaiah did. But notice this very significant observation – God’s call was one to service with no details of what that service would be. God wants your willing heart before He gives you details of what you will be doing. If Isaiah had known up front the message that He would be speaking, he may have refused the call. But with His heart overwhelmed with the vision of God’s holiness and the grace of God’s forgiveness, he was ready to say yes to anything God asked.

And he did.

Will you?

You will if you go through all four doors.

Pastor John

Connecting Points

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Today’s Topic:  Clean Lips

Today’s Text:  I saw the Lord, seated on a throne, high and exalted… (Isaiah 6:1)

I am easily captivated by the splendor of nature. I am tempted at times to just pull the car over to the side of the road, get out, and walk through the woods. It actually happened last night. My wife and I were blessed to have two of our grandchildren sleep over at our house. After supper we decided to take them out for ice cream.

Mmmmmmmmm…ice cream…

Okay, I’m back, after a few moments of remembering the pleasure of hand-scooped Olson’s ice cream in Chippewa Falls.

Anyway, on the way to the ice cream parlor, we decided to drive through Irvine Park and show it to my dad, whom we had invited along on the excursion. At one point I was so enthralled with the view of the waterfall and the woods that I wanted to just run into them and get lost in their beauty for the rest of the day. I have paused for extended periods of time at scenic outlooks overlooking what appears to most to be nothing but hills and valleys of farmland. I have stood in silent awe at the edge of Lake of the Clouds in Upper Michigan. I have taken far longer than anyone else in my family to soak up the spectacle of a simple lighthouse on the shores of Lake Superior. I become absorbed quickly in a moment of magnificence in the mountains. I am easily captivated by the splendor of nature.

That’s why it may take several days to get through this passage of Scripture in Isaiah, but we must linger for a time at this spot of incredible beauty. Isaiah has been given a vision of God on His throne in Heaven. How can we pass by it quickly? So forget all of your plans for a few moments and get away to a quiet place where you can absorb the splendor of the King. I am not going verse by verse, but impression by impression, and I am impressed with one thing today as I contemplate what I see.

I am impressed with the contrast between what Isaiah hears from the angelic beings and what he knows to be true about his own communication habits. In the presence of God Almighty there is constant praise and worship. They declare His holiness – which means, if you remember my definition from previous writings, to be without contradiction. To be holy means to be perfectly complete and perfectly pure. There is nothing in God that contradicts itself. Every aspect of His character and His nature are in perfect agreement. How long would it take us to absorb all the splendor of that? And when these angelic beings spoke the words of praise and worship, the doorposts and thresholds of heaven shook. The power of praise is demonstrated.

It is at this point that Isaiah cries out in despair, “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”  

My first impression of this passage is this – Isaiah knew that his everyday communication with God and with people did not possess the power of praise. His speech had become tainted by a critical spirit rather than empowered by a vision of God’s holiness.

It is so very significant that the book of Isaiah does not begin with his vision of God on the throne, but rather with his perspective on society. Even though the words he spoke to the people of his day in those first five chapters were the words the Lord gave him to speak, he now recognizes that he had allowed his heart to become critical and judgmental of the people to whom he was presenting the word of the Lord. He saw himself as unclean. His lips needed to be touched with the holiness of God.

My friends, spend some time at this spectacular scenic overlook. Your words have power – power to hurt or power to help. Your words can destroy a person’s spirit or they can develop a person’s spiritual relationship. They have power to shake the doorposts of a person’s life bringing fear or faith. It all depends on whether or not you have been in the presence of the Holy One and have yourself determined to live your life without contradiction.

Pastor John

Connecting Points

Monday, June 21, 2010

Today’s Topic:  It’s a God Thing

Today’s Text:  I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. (Isaiah 6:1)

It happened again. I don’t know why it surprises me so much when it does. By now it should be the expectation by which I live. The fact that it isn’t proves how much of my life is directed by my choices rather than by the leading of the Holy Spirit. Let me set the stage for what happened.

Last week I was with a friend. We spent several days together just relaxing, playing golf, and talking. We joked quite a bit about some of the pet phrases we have adopted into our spiritual vocabulary. The one that we laughed about the most is this – “That was a God thing.” At the very root of our laughter was the realization that because God is sovereign, everything is a God thing. Yet we tend to give credit to God only when the thing that happens has an immediate benefit for us.

Which one of you would shout out at the top of your lungs from the emergency room of the hospital where you lie writhing in agony from an accident, “This is a God thing?” But it is. We must understand this – God is in sovereign control of every circumstance of life, and is using even the consequences of our sin as an instrument of shaping our spiritual life into the image of His Son Jesus.

But that is not the deep water I want to dive into today. The fact that we say “That was a God thing” only at times of personal benefit proves that we are attempting to be in control of our own lives most of the time. And because of that, we miss out on so many opportunities to see God do incredible things in and through us. We miss hearing so many whispers of the Holy Spirit because our pride is shouting so loudly.

Back to the story of last week. My friend Paul and I were on our way to the golf course early in the morning. We decided to stop at McDonald’s on the way and pick up coffee and a breakfast sandwich. Between my house and the golf course there were two McDonald’s at which I could have stopped. As I pulled out of the garage my spirit clearly heard the Holy Spirit speak. It was one of those times when I am made aware of the incredible processing power of the human mind created by the very same God who was now taking control of it. In a flash I was directed to turn right and head for the McDonald’s by the mall, taking the back roads from my house. I quickly processed travel time, tee time, directions, and ease of access both to the drive-through and back onto the highway to the golf course. I compared it to the other option. All of this was taking place in a split second of time as the car approached the end of the driveway.

Then, in my mind, I heard it again. Go right. I obeyed.  

When we pulled up to the window of the drive-through to pick up our food, I looked inside the restaurant and saw an old friend. It was a man who used to attend our church. I hadn’t seen him in over a year. I waved to him to come to the door at the end of the drive-through so I could say hi. He did. We pulled up to the door and talked for a moment. I had heard several weeks ago that he had gotten a new motorcycle, and there it was in the parking lot. He told me how much he liked it, and then invited me to call him and bring my motorcycle over and go riding with him some day.

As we drove away from the McDonald’s, I looked at Paul, and almost simultaneously we said, “That was a God thing.” We laughed, and all the way to the golf course talked about how many times the Holy Spirit tries to direct our steps that way every day and we miss it because we are so focused on what we want to do. The shouts of our pride drown out the whispers of the Holy Spirit so that the recognition of God’s activity in our lives is so infrequent it surprises us when it happens.

My goal is to stop shouting and start listening, so I can see the Lord seated on the throne of my life, high and exalted, and the train of His robe filling the temple of my life with His presence and glory. When that happens, everything becomes a God thing.

Pastor John

Connecting Points

Friday, June 18, 2010 

Today’s Topic:  I See The Lord

Today’s Text:  I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. (Isaiah 6:1)

In case you were wondering, yes, I’m still alive and well. Very well, except for this nasty cough that has returned. The only time I haven’t had this cough since January is when I was in Swaziland with our friends Dudley and Inge Donaldson who are missionaries there. But no, I am not seeing that as a sign that I am supposed to return. I would need a clear vision from God for that to happen.

What is your reaction to the word “vision”? Mine used to be one of apprehension and doubt. Not anymore. I now understand that my previous doubt and maybe even fear of some spiritual things was caused by a lack of faith and not by good doctrine. Here’s what I mean. Whenever by belief in anything spiritual is conditioned by my need for understanding I am walking by sight and not by faith. When I need to be able to explain in human terms and with human logic the ways of God, I am not walking by faith. When the things I believe to be from God must fit into a neatly organized box of human experience, then I am guilty of weak faith.

When I say that I would need to see a clear vision from God to make a move anywhere, I am stating the truth that I believe it is possible to see a clear vision from God. I could hear His voice speak to me. I could be led by the Holy Spirit through a dream. I might even hear the Holy Spirit speak to me directly through you.

I believe we have constrained and quenched the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives by our lack of faith and our humanistic need for sight. I believe this applies to both the ultra-conservative people who reject any miraculous manifestation of the Holy Spirit and the Pentecostal churches who seem to experience miracles but have made the miraculous signs the proof of their faith rather than simple trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The excessive extremism of some spiritual movements has caused a pendulum swing of constrained extremism that is equally wrong. Those who have focused far too much on the miraculous manifestations of the Holy Spirit have built huge walls of defense against the attacks of those who have quenched all but a thimble-full of the work of the Holy Spirit. The attacks are being launched in both directions. The spiritual warfare of our day is not being directed by the Holy Spirit against the enemy, but rather is being done by prideful people who use their doctrine of the Holy Spirit to fight what they call false doctrine. In essence, the church has decided to use the Holy Spirit as a weapon against Himself.

I can only speak to you from one side of the wall that has been constructed to divide the church. I have been to the top of the wall and looked down at the other side. I have been to the gate in the wall and opened the door to fellowship with those on the other side. I have cowered under my self-built shield of faith as the arrows of similarly prideful people have been launched at me from the other side of the wall. I have responded in kind. I am ashamed of my actions and attitudes, but most of all I am ashamed of the wall that has been built. It was not built with bricks baked in the ovens of heaven and delivered to us by the Holy Spirit. It is a wall of man’s pride, and it must come down.

Somewhere, right about where the wall stands now, is a place of agreement – a place of truth. Truth that will only be discovered as people on each side of the wall humble themselves before the throne of God. You see, the wall has been built right on the spot where Isaiah saw his vision of God on His throne. The wall now blocks us from seeing God in all of His glory. Because of the wall all we can see is the territory on our side of the wall, and we believe that everything on the other side must be wrong and kept out. The wall must come down.

What a grand and glorious day it will be for the church when brothers and sisters in Christ from both sides of the wall stand united before the throne of God and see Him high and exalted and filling the whole earth with His glory. That will happen perfectly in heaven someday, but is it not possible for it to happen today to the degree that sinful humans are capable of being humble before Him? I not only believe it is possible, but that we hinder the glory of God from filling the whole earth by not pursuing it.

Will it be hard? Yes! So-called conservative Christians will have to open their hearts and minds to the filling of the Holy Spirit and His miraculous ministry. Pentecostals and Charismatics will have to accept every member of the Body of Christ as equals whether they speak in tongues or not. Right where the wall stands there is a place of unity before the throne of God. On that spot we will see the Body of Christ from the Lord’s perspective and not ours. Right there we will fall on our faces and declare that all we have done from a human perspective to know and teach truth has been unclean and we are ruined. And while we are on our faces before the throne, we will be cleansed and commissioned to be the church of Jesus Christ.

Pastor John

Connecting Points

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Today’s Topic:  Danger! Danger!

Today’s Text:  Woe to you…Woe to you…Woe to you…Woe to you…Woe to you…Woe to you…

(Isaiah 5:8, 11, 18, 21, 21, 22)

With arms flailing in the air and lights flashing brilliantly from his head and chest, he would roll into view from off the screen with his volume at maximum shouting, “Danger! Danger!”  He was capable of shooting lightning bolts from his mechanical hands. He had a huge database of information. He was programmed to protect and serve the Robinson family, and had a special connection to one family member named Will.

For those of you over the age of 45, you probably recognize the character simply called “Robot” from the hit television series Lost in Space. From 1965 to 1968 I’m sure I watched every one of the 83 episodes produced. I wanted to see what kind of trouble Dr. Smith would get into when he ignored the warnings of the robot that there was danger ahead. Sometimes I wish I would have learned more about avoiding danger from the misdirected and devious Dr. Smith.

Yesterday in our study of Isaiah we saw that the Lord Almighty planted a vineyard – the nation of Israel – and gave it every opportunity to produce a good harvest for His glory. They failed to do so because they didn’t recognize or heed the warnings of danger ahead. As you read through the fifth chapter of Isaiah today you will notice six warnings of danger ahead that very aptly apply to our modern world. We would be wise to heed them before we too fall into a pit from which there may be no apparent escape.

1.    The Danger of Materialism – verse 8 – Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land. The pursuit of personal prosperity will eventually leave us desolate. Jesus said that money very quickly becomes our master, and when it does we cannot serve Him, for no one can serve two masters at the same time. Don’t live in denial about this…there is grave danger ahead for those who pursue wealth as their means of personal gratification.

2.    The Danger of Hedonism – verses 11 and 12 – Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine. They have harps and lyres at their banquets, tambourines and flutes and wine, but they have no regard for the deeds of the LORD, no respect for the work of his hands. The pursuit of pleasure will result in the loss of freedom, and according to verse 14, the appetite for pleasure is exceeded only by the appetite of the grave.

3.    The Danger of Deceit and Denial – verse 18 – Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes. I’m amazed at how easy it is for us to say we have surrendered everything to Jesus and then fill up our backpacks and wagons with the supplies of sin just in case the trip doesn’t go as we expected.

4.    The Danger of Relativity and Rationalization – verse 20 – Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. I’m also amazed at how easily we justify those backpacks and wagons filled with sin.

5.    The Danger of Humanism – verse 21 – Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight. Here’s the reason why we have backpacks and wagons filled with sin – because we really trust in ourselves more than we trust in God.

6.    The Danger of Injustice – verse 22 and 23 – Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent. We have made heroes of the wrong people – people without righteous character. We have neglected to treat the guilty with justice and the innocent with compassion. We care more about acceptance than we do integrity.

As I look around at society I see the arms of the robot flailing in the air. But the real issue is not society – the real issue is me. I have become more like Dr. Smith than I ever believed I would. It’s time to start recognizing the danger – not the danger that’s ahead, but the danger that is already upon us.

Pastor John

Connecting Points

Wednesday, June 09, 2010

Today’s Topic:  What Kind of Fruit Are You Producing

Today’s Text:  I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit.  (Isaiah 5:1-2)

In an old book of stories I have on my desk I found this strange reference to an apple tree growing in an orchard here in the Midwest. I searched for some time on the internet to verify it, but could not find anything about its exact location. But that does not necessarily mean the story is not true. The world wide web is not the final authority on all things.

This old apple tree was planted many years ago, with its limbs in the ground and its roots in the air, and which still lives to bear an occasional apple and sprout branches where roots should be. It is a curiosity to those who see it. The farmer who planted it is said to have read an old German legend in which such an inverted tree played a prominent part. Although the tree lives, and occasionally bears an apple, it is only a curiosity and bears no fruit of any respectable amount.

That tree is a picture of what happens when Christians decide to put their roots in the world rather than in Christ. It’s the same picture the prophet Isaiah is portraying with his image of the vineyard in chapter five.

God planted a vineyard. He cleared the rocks and trees, worked the soil, and planted the vines (the nation of Israel). He built a watchtower for protection, and He built the winepress for the abundant harvest He expected. God did everything to make it possible for the vineyard to bear fruit that would honor Him. But the people spread their roots and their branches into the world, and the fruit was unusable to the Lord Almighty.

We are no different than the people of Israel in Isaiah’s day. We say we are a part of the vine of Christ, yet we try to live Christian lives without being planted in the Christian church. We choose to let our roots run out into the responsibilities of the world rather than into the responsibilities of church life. We are very much like that inverted tree. We bear an occasional apple, but there is nothing of any significant or consistent value to the Lord.

So what happens to trees and vineyards like this? Well, like the inverted apple tree, there is only one way to justify its existence – its curiosity level that entertains people. So many people in the Christian church today are nothing more than entertainment to the people of the world. They make jokes about us, they mock us, and they use us to justify their own sinful lifestyles. Our hypocrisy authorizes such responses.

In the case of the vineyard in Scripture, the vines will be destroyed. God does not waste time on vines and branches that do not produce. This is a hard teaching from Scripture, but it is a trustworthy teaching. Jesus confirms what Isaiah says in chapter 5 when He says these words about the vine in John 15 –

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.  Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

My friends, where are your roots? Are you attempting to take nourishment for your life from the world? Are you seeking to grow branches according to the world’s standards so its people will accept you and approve of you? Or are you rooted in Christ alone, and bearing fruit only for His glory?

Pastor John

Connecting Points

Tuesday, June 08, 2010 

Today’s Topic:  We Can Trust God

Today’s Text:  Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds. (Isaiah 3:10)

I have never heard my favorite pastor preach. Sounds strange in a day when preaching styles seem to be so important to so many people who are moving from church to church. But I have never heard my favorite pastor preach because whenever I am at his church I get to preach. He has never been to my church so I haven’t been able to honor him the way he honors me. But we have connected at the heart in an eternal way. I know who he is, and how he lives for the Lord, and how he serves his people, and he is my favorite pastor.

His name is Jerry Moser, and he’s the pastor of our adopted sister church on the bayou in Louisiana. Today he may become your favorite pastor too. I got an email from him this morning, and after reading it I called him. He gave me permission to share this with all of you.

His wife Cindy is very ill. Years ago she had a large tumor on her brain stem removed, and since then has suffered multiple physical ailments. Just last Friday she went into a coma at home where she almost died. I want you to read what he wrote as he struggled with God over the question of the purpose and glory of suffering. I was blessed as I read it as you will be. 

Again, I don’t know how to say “thank you” in a way that really expresses the depth of my gratitude. Thank you for your concern, prayers, your love for us. I brought Cindy home yesterday. Obviously, she is much improved, but the extreme fluctuation of her blood pressure is still a real problem. It has been very high all night. I am bringing her to New Orleans this morning to see her pain management doctor.

Regarding one question asked, “How does God get more glory from a woman almost dying every other week rather than from healing her?” …Well, Cindy and I have been at this point of inquiry many times in our lives. There are simplistic “answers” that don’t satisfy and others that just seem like brain wrangling. I guess I really do not know why God does not heal every time we ask Him to. I have heard all the sermons and know all the Scriptures pulled out of the context of a Bible that is full of accounts of human sufferings. God is a God of miracles, but He is God and we are His servants… we are not God and we cannot make Him our servant. He chooses to serve us as He will, but He never ever relinquishes His position of being the God of the universe, God of our lives. Thus, since He is infinitely more than we can comprehend, it is only reasonable that most of the reasoning of God, most of how and what He is, is beyond our comprehension at this point.

But He has revealed Himself to us in the life of His Son, Jesus, Whom He sent and destined from before the creation of the world to be sacrificed in a torturous death to pay for our sins. He could have saved Himself, but chose to die for us who are unworthy. Also, I know this is a fallen, corrupted world, unlike the world God intended it to be. Our bodies are a part of this world, corrupted by sin, and by the accumulated corruption of thousands of years of rebellion against the God Who created us. According to God’s Word, this world is corrupted and destined for destruction. Thus, I am compelled to trust in Him even though I do not understand all His ways or see His purposes… I cannot even fathom His greatness and wonder… a wonder that will someday make all of this make sense to me… one day, but not today. Today is the day of trust and of faith, for we see dimly here and now, but one day we will see Him as He is and there will be no questions unanswered.

Is it not the testimony of Scripture? Is God not able to heal in order to demonstrate His power and Glory? Of course. Likewise, is it not also the testimony of Scripture that God encourages us to consider Job’s statement of his faith in God, “Though He slay me, yet will I praise Him”? Yes, of course. All of this is beyond our full understanding and calls us to trust in God Who is in charge of our lives, regardless of what may come in this temporary place where we now live. There is a New Heaven and a New Earth coming, and as much as I love so much about this place, this is really not my home. We are aliens here, and by God’s free gift in Christ Jesus, we are citizens of a place called Heaven.

The corruption, the suffering in this place makes us yearn for a world without such turmoil. Suffering people and people who watch others suffer all around the world come to this point of yearning. They reach out to try to make sense of it all. In their searching they come up with all sorts of weird ideas. But God Himself has given us the Truth in Jesus Christ His Son; Jesus is Himself the way, the truth, and the life, the door to eternal life through which all may come through faith in Him alone…

“I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their god. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ He who sat on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’” (Revelation 21:3-5)

Trusting Him, and so grateful to Him for you in our lives,

Jerry & Cindy

To quote Isaiah one more time – “Tell the righteous it will be well with them.”

Pastor John