Final 52 Weeks Blog

This is the final blog of the 52 weeks Bible study sermon series.  It has been a year.  We have shared a walk through Scripture that I hope has been fruitful.  Remembering that we started with Genesis it is important to reflect upon the condition of the world in that first book.  God had spoken all that exists into being and His words were "It was very good!."  Very good that people walked in relationship with God.  Very good that sin had not yet come into the picture.  Very good that God's clear purpose for people was to glorify God and be a blessing to one another.  As we approach 2012 we will begin with the ending to our study.  Our first 6-7 weeks will be a look at Revelation ... the last book in the New Testament.  Some look at this book and (astonishingly) have some idea that God is taking people back into the time of the Torah and the Law.  This is not only a misreading of Scripture but is in total denial of the tenor of the New Testament.  If you read Revelation to the end you will not find the Torah, the temple and a need for the intersession of priests.  There is no temple, only God.  There is no need for the Law which Paul said held its power in death, for there is no death.  There is no sin ... no need for sun and moon (the light of Christ is plenty).  And God has restored people, the creation and has brought it all down to a new earth in which He is in charge.  I think God will look out on this new creation (which has redeemed all eternal things (Heb. 12)) and say, "It is very good."  Hope to see you there (in January and in the Kingdom) and hope to take a few weeks unfolding God's hope unveiled for the people who have chosen to believe in Him and bear the fruit He has commanded.  Come Sunday, for the table is made ready!  Pastor Randy

Pietism vs Cruciformity

Michael Frost takes on the topic of pietism in his book "The Road to Missional."  In the book he examines pietism and makes the following observations (paraphraised):
1. Pietism (one manifestation is the idea that I can achieve righteousness through methods such as withdrawal from the world, observing the law, judging others [who are obviously more broken that I], self-improvement, etc.) often seems to remove itself from a world it believes is below it's own standards.
2. It seeks to make itself aloft from those 'others' (the very ones Christ went toward) who are evil and victimize the pietists.
3. The above victimization and perceived persecution causes fear and, what Michael Frost believes, laziness.
Pietists seem to hang their hat on the cliches of the faith, using easy one liners, the 'rules' and a huge list of things not to do.  Why engage a person in meaningful discussion when you can hand them a religious tract.  Why engage the world with the light of Christ when you can cut off conversation with an "I just follow the Bible."  Frost says the problem is not that the pietist is too righteous, but is unrighteous.  He/she has missed the idea that Jesus calls us to exceed (not mimic) the righteousness of the Pharisees.  So ... how can this be done?
How about this.  Stay alert to the work of the Holy Spirit.  Discern how Jesus would deal with a situation, engaging incarnationally with our neighborhood, God's people, and our neighbors.  Remember, the cruciform love of Jesus is not always pretty and easy (like those Lifetime movies).  Instead, it is struggle, dirty, bloody and often done with the reward of real persecution.  To understand the universal reign of Jesus you must be willing to submit all things, even false piety, to the God who can redeem even this world.  Let Him use you, lead you and love through you.  You may begin to grasp the humility and the true reign of God in your act of submitting.  Try it ... it is what Jesus did!  Pastor Randy

The Poem of Your Life

Life is a song we must sing with our days ,A poem with meaning more than words can say
A painting with colors no rainbow can tell ,A lyric that rhymes either heaven or hell
We are living letters that doubt desecrates ,We're the notes of the song of the chorus of faith
God shapes every second of our little lives, And minds every minute as the universe waits by
The pain and the longing The joy and the moments of light
Are the rhythm and rhyme The free verse of the poem of life
So look in the mirror and pray for the grace, To tear off the mask, see the art of your face
Open your ear lids to hear the sweet song ,Of each moment that passes and pray to prolong
Your time in the ball of the dance of your days,Your canvas of colors of moments ablaze
With all that is holy,With the joy and the strife
With the rhythm and rhyme of the poem of your life
With the rhythm and rhyme of the poem of your life            Lyrics by Michael Card
Thought these lyrics were appropriate as we have an all music service Sunday.  The choir sings at first service and the children will sing at second service.  As we listen to the songs, ask yourself ... does the poem of your life rhyme heaven?  If not, see me and we will talk.  Pastor Randy

Why We Fail

It has been a strange and busy week filled with family visits and lots of issues related to my family and to the families at Good News.  As I have reflected on some of the ongoing issues inside these families I have seen example after example of adults failing to be parents.  They simply refuse to become responsible adults, leaving their children with nothing of substance except the 'image' they desire to paint of themselves.  The irony of it all is that the only person that is fooled by that image is them.  Why do these parents systemically fail?  Two reasons.
First they forget to accept the deity of Jesus (my topic for Sunday).  This sounds like a simple and foundational truth.  Jesus is fully God.  However these people have placed their image in the pace of Jesus as their God.  When stressed they choose their own path, even when they know God's path.  When challenged to be humble they become proud and all-powerful, becoming control freaks.  When life challenges them to submit to God's plan they choose what is easiest, most expedient and (short term) most beneficial to them.
Second, they refuse to be adults.  One story involves the resolve to simply love his family enough to warn them and lead them away from evils that are destroying the lives of a spouse and children.  The evils are evident and known by many inside and outside the family.  Yet, enabling them is simpler, easier and involves less effort.  I am deeply troubled that someone who has chosen to bring children into the world and has promised to love "in sickness and health" would do this.
Jesus gave a warning to those adults that continue to do these irresponsible and cowardly things.  He says "If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea."
This passage tells the whole story.  God is God whether we accept it or not, and those responsible for the 'little ones' will be held accountable.  God is watching.  As Jerry preached about John the Baptist, we are all called to repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.  Believe.  Become the adult God made you to be.  Be real, not some self-created image.  And place God in the rightful position in your family.  AMEN. Pastor Randy

Thanks

I am thankful today for the people of Good News who show their love for God and one another by sharing the burdens of friends.  I have seen it often.  Prayers, time spent in hospital rooms, love shared in homes of the sick, food deliveries and patience in the midst of pain.  They all show a church of people who love their God by reflecting Christ in the best and worst of times.  Thanks to all of you for being there for one another.  May we enjoy serving through many joys and victories.  May we share the defeats and get up off the ground to fight the good fight with a passion that can only come from God.  And may we give thanks to God who gives us strength to endure, live and love.   God bless each of you this Thanksgiving!
Pastor Randy

Displacing God

John's 3 Epistles speak much about the issue of love and God's calling for His people to be lovers of God, lovers of light, lovers of each other and lovers of living to please God.  But I think a major point John is driving home is the call to live as people who are led by their God.  He sums up this life at the end of 1st John by reminding his beloved people to make sure they do not allow things into their lives that displace God.  What a challenge for us.  Every week we have people in our church that 'decide' whether they will go to God's house that week.  This is a decision that should have been made when they became a Christian.  Maybe comfort, tiredness, lives filled with the 'urgent' (but not eternal), football, recreation or something else have caused them to forget ... ignore ... displace God's clear call to his community, the Church.  Every week some of us have chances to make God-centered decisions, do God-centered activities, read God's Word or seek God's path ... but choose something else.  They displace God with things that they have deemed more important.  They come to God's house filled with the stuff of this present darkness and expecting what they want.  God is shouting, "empty yourself so I can fill you with my good things."  Let it be so!  AMEN

Week Off

We have faithfully followed the 52 major stories of Scripture during all of 2011.  Many of these weeks have been spent in unfamiliar, but not unimportant, places.  This week we are stopping alongside the road and looking around at the blessings God has provided.  It is ironic that this week is usually the week when we do our "Stewardship" Campaign, and we will be providing everyone with information that tells all who are interested where we are financially.  But where we will break away from the norm.  We want this to be a week of gratitude and thanksgiving for the blessings God has sent.  For capable and dedicated staff and volunteers.  For the mission work that has been accomplished at a time of scarceness.  For ministry families that sacrifice time and convenience so that ministry can happen at inconvenient times, late hours and when many are resting from their weeks.  For answered prayers and for the prayers God is currently answering.  For beautiful music from our choir and praise team.  For spacious skies and amber waves of grain.  For our veterans.  For all of the blessings God has given us so we can have the blessing of sharing them.
You get the point!  Thank you Lord for all of these and the most beautiful gift of your Son, Jesus.  Amen!