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

Connecting Points

Friday, June 04, 2010

Today’s Topic:  The Day of the Lord Is Coming

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

In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel. (Isaiah 4:2)

“Hurry up, please. I want it now. I’m tired of waiting. I’ve had enough. I’m ready to be done with this. Haven’t I struggled long enough? Haven’t I put up with enough junk in my life? Isn’t it time for me to enjoy some down time and relax a little?”

I’m pretty sure I’m quoting most of you with the last paragraph. I know for a fact it’s how I have felt at times. Yesterday we read a wonderful promise from God – Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds. The question is, When is the enjoyment going to begin?

As we read on into chapter four of Isaiah, we get the answer. In that day. In what day? In the day that the Branch of the Lord is revealed. There is a day coming when the fruit of our righteousness will be delivered to us by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. What a day, glorious day, that will be.

• It will be a day when pride is destroyed (Isaiah 2:12).
• It will be a day when materialism and trust in wealth will be abolished (Isaiah 2:20).
• In that day there will be a recognition of the incompetence of man to govern himself and the ineffectiveness of political power (Isaiah 3:7)
• It will be a day when external beauty and image will become irrelevant and the truth of one’s spiritual condition will be revealed (Isaiah 3:18-26)
• It will be a day when women long to find fulfillment as wives and mothers (Isaiah 4:1)

The Day of the Lord is coming. According to Scripture it will be a day when Jesus Christ returns to earth to establish His kingdom on earth. He will come with the armies of heaven to destroy all his earthly and heavenly enemies. He will bring the glory of God back to Jerusalem. He will bring His bride – the born-again members of His church that were previously raptured from the earth – and we will reign with Him on the earth and over its people. In that day, we will enjoy the fruit of our deeds as we reign with Jesus Christ the King.

I know, for some of you that sounds like a long way off and life is too tough right now to think that far ahead. But we must. We must fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. It was the joy of His reign that was set before Him and gave Him the strength to endure all the suffering of the cross (Hebrews 12:2).

Others that have gone before us have looked ahead to that Day and have endured to the end. They are now the witnesses that tell us we can also persevere if we will just throw off the weights of this world and the sins of the flesh and run toward that day (Hebrews 12:1)

When we consider what Jesus endured to get to the inconceivable joy of the finish line, and what others have endured by faith in the same God who will give us the same glory, we must not lose heart (Hebrews 12:3). We must continue to press on towards the prize of the high calling we have in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:12-14).

My friends, there is a day coming – maybe very soon the way the world is going today – when we will enjoy the fruit of faithful and righteous labor for the coming King. Be strong. Be courageous. The Lord your God is with you, and the work He has started in you will be carried out to completion on the day of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:6).

Pastor John

Connecting Points

Thursday, June 03, 2010

Today’s Topic:  All Is Well

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

There it was. It came exactly when I needed it. It’s happened before: many times. But it seems that the emotions of the current day always overshadow the previous experiences of blessing. Why is that? Why are we so quick to move from faith to frustration?

But God knows. God sees. And God says, Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds.

So there it was. Smack dab in the middle of a discouraging moment, it arrived. It started with a couple of posts by my wife on Facebook, and then came a response from a friend. They were all words of encouragement that healed my heart. They were words that motivated more ministry. God knew I needed them. I praise Him that people listened when He urged them to write.

Isaiah must have felt the same thing I did. Since he started writing what God was saying about the spiritual condition of His people, only 6 out of the previous 63 verses have had any positive flavor to them. That’s less than 10%. Sometimes life feels that way – 90% trouble and a splash of good.

But right here, in the middle of what I think is the most discouraging discourse on the condition of mankind, we have this message of hope from our Lord. Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds.

As Isaiah describes the natural harvest of a life of rebellion against God, he is reminded of the truth of the law of harvest for the righteous as well. Everything we do, everything we say, and everything we think produces a harvest of something. It will result in disaster or in delight. There will be a harvest of suffering or satisfaction. God is establishing our understanding of one of His irrefutable laws – Whatever we sow we reap: whatever we plant we harvest.

There are times in the middle of this mess we call life that it seems all the good we are doing and all the ministry we invest in is only adding to the mess. At the bare minimum it seems like we are just maintaining our current level but making no advances. It seems more and more discouraging every day as we look at the condition of the world and the spiritual darkness that surrounds us. I don’t think I have ever seen a time when the overall attitude of the media and the general public has moved more quickly from the hope of change to hopelessness.

Christians are not immune to such feelings. We quickly lose sight of the promises of God when we focus on the problems of life. We spend more time thinking about the falling stock market than we do praying for the rise of the Kingdom of God. We focus more on the ecological disaster of an oil spill than we do on the spiritual anointing oil of the Holy Spirit that brings joy (…anointing you with the oil of joy. Hebrews 1:9). We worry about food and clothing and shelter when Jesus said to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and He would provide all the other things we need.

But in every one of those moments of misery – those times of trouble – Jesus comes along side of us and says, “If you are living righteously, it will be well with you. You will enjoy the fruit of your deeds.”

If you will just slow down a minute or two today and listen, you will hear Him speaking to you. Keep your focus on Jesus. Keep living for Jesus. Keep serving Jesus. Even if nothing seems to change or no one seems to notice, Jesus does. Your labor is not in vain in the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:58). You will enjoy the fruit of your righteous deeds.

Pastor John

Connecting Points

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Today’s Topic:  Slippery Slopes

Today’s Text:  Jerusalem staggers, Judah is falling; their words and deeds are against the LORD, defying his glorious presence. (Isaiah 3:8)

In case you are just joining us on Connecting Points, we have begun a study of the book of Isaiah in the Bible. We are right in the middle of the first five chapters where God is revealing to Isaiah the tragedies of a society that has rejected Him and the coming judgment that will be poured out on them for their rebellion against Him.

Our last entry in this study spoke of the ways that we reject God and turn to people for our support and security. Now Isaiah is shown by God how people who trust in people end up.

There are six things in Isaiah chapter three that stand out to me as the social consequences of turning away from faith in God and obedience to His Word:

• Oppression – verse 5a – People will oppress each other—man against man, neighbor against neighbor. 
• Disrespect – verse 5b – The young will rise up against the old, the base against the honorable.
• Unqualified Leadership – verses 6-7 – A man will seize one of his brothers at his father’s home, and say, “You have a cloak, you be our leader; take charge of this heap of ruins!” But in that day he will cry out, “I have no remedy. I have no food or clothing in my house; do not make me the leader of the people.”
• Open and Shameless Sin – verse 9 – The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. 
• Ignorance and Apathy – verse 12 – O my people, your guides lead you astray; they turn you from the path.
• Hedonism  (The belief that the pursuit of pleasure is mankind’s highest goal) – verse 16 – The LORD says, “The women of Zion are haughty, walking along with outstretched necks, flirting with their eyes, tripping along with mincing steps, with ornaments jingling on their ankles.

We only need to look outside our own homes to the society that surrounds us to know that we are in the same predicament. HOWEVER, if we are caught looking outside our own homes rather than inside our own homes, we are a part of the problem and not the solution.

Oh my dear friends, how grave is our condition if we believe that we are not participants in the problem. You see, if there is any degree of any of these things in our own lives, then we too have in some way rejected the truth of God and have turned to pursuing humanistic objectives. We may not want to admit that, but it is true none the less. And the fact that we won’t admit it makes the problem more severe.

Go back and review the list again. This time, rather than evaluate it in the context of your society, evaluate it against the reality of your own life.

• Is there any degree of oppression in you that seeks to put others down so that you can feel better about yourself?
• Is there any measure of disrespect for the authority God has ordained over you?
• Have you surrendered your civic responsibility to vote or even lead to those who are simply willing so you can get on with your own life?
• Are you becoming less and less ashamed of some sin or sins in your life?
• Are you becoming less informed about culture and how God’s Word relates to it, so that those in leadership are given free rein to go unopposed wherever they choose?
• Are you becoming more entrenched in the pursuit of pleasure through the means of materialism, sex, alcohol, drugs, or addictions of any kind?

Piercing questions if asked humbly and answered honestly. I hope you will do both.

Pastor John

Connecting Points

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Today’s Topic:  On Whom Do You Depend?

Today’s Text:  See now, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, is about to take from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: all supplies of food and all supplies of water, the hero and warrior, the judge and prophet, the soothsayer and elder, the captain of fifty and man of rank, the counselor, skilled craftsman and clever enchanter.

(Isaiah 3:1-3)

Isaiah’s admonition from yesterday at the end of chapter two was to stop trusting people when we should trusting God alone. As chapter three begins he carries over that thought and describes for us the types of people we tend to trust. But before I expound on this, let me state clearly that I believe God has made us relational people and that we need to be in relationships with other people. That is foundational to the concept of church. However, our faith, trust, and hope are not to be placed in people, but in God alone. People may bring us happiness, but God alone is the source of our joy.

Unfortunately, many of us turn to our horizontal relationships with others as our best option when we get in trouble, when we need help, or when we need our ego stroked and our sense of value enhanced. We turn to our friends for comfort, support, and fun, which is not wrong unless those friends are our first option instead of Christ. This may sound harsh, but it is true – our relationships with people are actually dysfunctional if they are used as a substitute for our relationship with Jesus. It is sad but true – we tend to depend on people more than our Lord.

According to Isaiah, Jesus Christ will fight to maintain the priority position of our lives. When anyone or anything moves into competition with Him, He will move to eliminate it. We are in denial most of the time about the purpose of troubles and trials we are experiencing. They are most likely the hand of God moving against people and things we have allowed to compete for time and trust. That’s what Isaiah is about to show us in today’s Scripture passage.

Here’s the list of people and things that compete with God for our trust and relationships:

• Provisions and Possessions – The Lord is about to take away all the supply from His people. Remember what Jesus said? Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all the things you need will be supplied for you. (Matt. 6:33)
• Military Power – The hero and the warrior – the security we find in our freedoms will be attacked, because we are to find our peace in our relationship with Jesus Christ. He is our one and only Hero.
• Judges – Some of us trust in our justice system. We love going to court to get retribution or restitution. Justice is to be found only in the coming King, and we are to wait patiently for it.
• Prophets – So many people are following feel-good preachers today. They smile and squint and say anything that makes you feel good about who you are, while avoiding the issue of sin and its consequences. They fill you with false hope and temporary emotional comfort, but when the real trials of life come up they choke you. You must depend on the truth of God’s Word alone.
• Soothsayer – These are fortune tellers and psychics. The practice of such things is condemned throughout the Bible. It is our attempt to see more than what God wants to reveal, because we don’t really trust Him. It is not just a harmless pastime – it is an attempt to gratify some self-centered need for knowledge, security, or affirmation. It is contrary to dependence on God.
• Elder – This is simply a person with wisdom gained from years of experience. Some of us trust in our parents or grandparents way to much. Some have found other older and wiser people to be their “go-to” person. There is Biblical support for such mentoring, but not to the extent that some people do. Don’t let the wisdom of your elders become the source of your wisdom. What they say still has to be in line with what God has already said.
• People of Position and Honor – The Captain of fifty and the man of rank – I used to think it was really cool to talk about important people I had met. I discovered I was simply trying to hitchhike on their reputations to improve my own status. I was guilty of letting other people qualify me. Only Jesus Christ can do that.
• Counselors – Nothing hurtful intended here towards those who are counselors, but people have become far too dependent upon them. Sometimes…not always…but sometimes, I think that the counseling becomes a bondage that perpetuates the problem. In Christ there is deliverance and freedom.
• Skilled Craftsman – Many people depend on the quality and quantity of possessions. They are nice people because they have nice things. But who are they after a fire or an accident? Possessions cannot bring contentment, but Christ can.
• Clever Enchanters – King James Version says “Eloquent Orator”. Actually, according to the Hebrew, the two need to be combined. These are the Eloquent Enchanters of our day. I believe our country is being led by one of them. Many have put their hope and trust in Him. Don’t let clever communication corrupt you and turn you from Christ.

Isaiah has laid it out clearly – “Don’t trust in man or man’s things.” Now it’s up to you to decide how much of this connects with you and keeps you from connecting completely with Christ.

Pastor John

Connecting Points

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Today’s Topic:  That’s What Faith Can Do

Today’s Text:  Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?   (Isaiah 2:22)

Just when we get all excited about a new possibility inevitably something happens that has the potential to throw us into a fit of frustration. These are the tests designed by God to answer this question: In whom do you really trust?

I have permission to share this story. One of our church members and his wife are in the process of adopting a baby boy from Ethiopia. On Friday of last week they had their home visit from the adoption agency, and everything was in perfect order. All they had to do was come up with the next payment of $1200 to keep the process moving. They were so very excited.

On Saturday, as they visited a friend, something went wrong with their handicapped accessible van that they need for the transportation of their son. After extensive investigation into all the “symptoms” Jordan was convinced he had blown a head gasket…on the vehicle. He didn’t blow his. The cost to repair? You guessed it. $1200. Jordan admitted to me on Sunday morning that this was a test. He had already decided to trust God, but it was hard because now he would have to rearrange all his finances to make both the car repair and the adoption happen. But he was resisting taking this into his own hands and moving ahead in his own wisdom. He really wanted to see how God would handle this.

This morning I received this email from Jordan. Get the Kleenex ready.

Well, apparently we must have passed the test! I received a phone call from Scott Soden yesterday and he informed me that it seems to be only the water pump and NOT the head gasket. PRAISE THE LORD!!!

I truly believe, following along with your sermon, that we all have to go through tests day to day in order to strengthen our faith. Last Saturday, when I thought the head gasket had blown; all the elements would have indicated this to be true. Coolant on the ground (check), low coolant level (check), too hot of an engine (check) and the oil was even too full (almost three times too full) with an “orange-ish” tint to it, indicating coolant in the oil (CHECK)… I checked and re-checked the oil to make sure I wasn’t missing something. The van had been sitting close to an hour, so there is no way the oil could still be 2-3 times too high on the dipstick, right? Another man there even took a look and confirmed that it seemed like there was coolant in the oil.

Like I said, I believe this was a test. I don’t think I aced the test, but I do believe I passed it. There are certainly areas of the day that I have been reflecting on that I could have acted out differently. All in all, though, I was surprised at how much peace I had come over me through the whole ordeal. Initially it was going to cost every penny we had in our adoption fund, but God had a plan. “Conveniently” I wasn’t thinking about the fact that I run fully synthetic oil in the van and that when the synthetic oil is extremely hot, it looks differently than regular oil and carries an “orange-ish” color. This led me to believe there was coolant in the oil, which would indicate issues with the head. “Conveniently” it was really hot out, which prevented the engine from cooling down quickly and what kept the oil too full.

In the past this would have been devastating news, but God was there with me. Instantly the thought “everything will be fine, God will provide.” kept going through my head; and I BELIEVED IT. I knew God has a plan and that all would be just fine. I just didn’t realize His plan would be so great, I should have, but I am only human. It will not be costing us every penny of the adoption fund. In fact, we won’t even have to touch this money! It will only cost 1/6th of what I initially thought!

SO, I guess I just wanted to pass along this wonderful PRAISE offering to our Lord. The power of faith and prayer is truly amazing. I just want to thank the Lord for providing our every need, even before we know what it is.

Humbly HIS,

 – Jordan 

Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he? (Isaiah 2:22)

Pastor John

Thanks to Rebecca Carey for the follow up to yesterday’s sermon I preached on Abraham. You will be blessed by what she writes even if you weren’t there to hear it.

Emptied and Yet Fulfilled

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death. —Hebrews 11:17-19 (NIV)

            We never in our deepest contemplations would have thought to seek God on our own.  Our own is selfish and corrupted and entirely devoid of any desire that could be considered good.  We will attach ourselves to things and cling to them to the ruination of our person.  And when God asks us to let go and unseat the throne of our heart solely for Him, we may….but with strings attached.  We haven’t really let go at all.  Things are our sustenance; the way we survive.  If we let go, we would be left with nothing and completely empty!  Hold onto that thought and meditate upon it, because that is exactly where our Lord wants us to be.

            A.W. Tozer associates Abraham’s inner struggle, in obedience to God in sacrificing his son on the altar, to something other than Christ being on the throne of his heart.  He says, “Self is the opaque veil that hides the face of God from us…we have but to look into our own hearts and we shall see it there, sewn and patched it may be, but there nevertheless, an enemy to our lives and an effective block to our spiritual progress.”

            The moment Abraham heard those words from the Lord, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love…and offer him…as a burnt offering.” his world must have come to a sudden stand-still.  It was a moment that could not be retracted nor escaped.  It was a direct command from his Lord, whom he served with all his heart – and yet, all his heart was not what the Lord possessed.  For Abraham had something else on the throne of his heart that hindered him from what the Lord was accomplishing in his life: God wanted full possession of Abraham’s heart yet Isaac stood on the very throne; the promised one, the apple of his eye.  The goal of God’s command appears to be the stripping down of the very veil that kept Abraham from a relationship so close-knit with his Lord that there would be  no knowing where God began and Abraham ended.  I have tried to imagine what Abraham’s anguish must have felt like and I could not fathom it.  Until things become too personal.

            God does not want our services, our gifts, or anything we have to offer Him.  In fact, all these things stand in the way of God’s free working and growth of our spiritual lives.  All of this that we deem appropriate to offer has a place on the throne of our hearts.  God cannot have complete possession of us until all is removed.  The things on the throne are veiled behind one tough word to swallow – Self.  Self poses as an innocent bystander when in actuality it is cold, fierce, unmoving and governs the throne of our hearts with an iron grip. We must cast away the telescope which shows us only the pretty shimmering clothe of that veil and employ the microscope as God sees things and we will see that self is robed in these ugly, glaring colors:

• Self-righteousness
• Self-pity
• Self-sufficiency
• Self-love
• Self-protection
• Self-honor
• Self-effort
• Self-faithfulness
• Self-nurture
• Self-knowledge

            When self is alive, it is impossible to please God because self suffocates faith – and faith is what pleases God.  (Hebrews 11:6)  We must return to the poor, aged man wrestling with the very thought of raising the knife to his child and then burning him in front of the God whom he had considered righteous and pure.  A thousand questions must have hurled themselves at God from the lips of Self within him. Foul curses and angry threats to the person of Abraham who was called at that moment to dethrone self and all it held onto – namely, his son Isaac.  It must have been painful for Abraham, perchance as painful as Christ’s last prayerful moments in the garden when he sweated blood upon the ground in dire agony of what was to come.

            And then came the moment when his world gasped a life-giving breath of air as all started moving on its course again; a forever changed course;  the moment when Abraham decided that God was able to raise Isaac from the dead to carry out His promises through him. (Hebrews 11:19)  At that moment, self was wrenched from the throne of Abraham’s heart and there God graced its seat with His presence – in finality!

            What is it in our lives that hides behind the veil of self?  What things hold onto the throne of our heart that must be wrenched away with a decision to trust God and His doings no matter what He chooses for our walk? For He as promised not to harm us, but to give us a hope and a future of spiritual prosperity  in Him (Jeremiah 29:11-12) with the absolute assurance that nothing can tear us from his hand.(John 10:28)  What then do we fear? Pain?  Yes, it will be painful to tear self apart from the new creation of you because it is woven so tightly.  Loss?  Yes, we will lose all – yet we gain all because Christ has won us, and Christ is our All in All.  Failure?  Yes, self will fail but Christ will prevail as He lifts us higher in Himself, for He reigns on the throne of our hearts. 

“Let us beware of tinkering with our inner life, hoping ourselves to rend the veil.  God must do everything for us.  Our part is to yield and to trust.”  A.W. Tozer (The Pursuit of God)

            When self is gone, we have nothing to offer Christ – and so He has everything we have to offer. Just ourselves stripped of all pretension and masquerade.  Only a pure clay pot, fired and stamped with His mark on our life, painted beautifully by the victory of the testings of a Loving Savior.  Don’t you ever wonder what level of faith and joy Abraham gained from losing everything for the sake of a command from his God?  I do.  And I would welcome the rain on my spiritual life if only for the growth it brings as He reigns upon my heart’s throne.

            In Him be emptied so that in Him we may be fulfilled.  Amen!