Election Reflection

     I was talking to my son about the election and we were both admittedly surprised by the results.  We were surprised that given the current economic climate that we would reelect a person who had been at the helm for the last four years.  It is amazing the difference we place on our nation and say our athletic teams.  If our favorite sports team resided over such a dismal record for the last four years we would be putting the coach out to pasture.  The same would probably be true of a business leader that lost as much money.  But when it comes to politics and politicians we seem to have a different perspective on things. 

     So how do we make sense of what happened?  My Republican friends are scratching their heads and wondering where went wrong.  They wonder how we got in such a situation.  To answer these questions I think we can look at a few smaller races to find the ultimate answer.  Two states: Washington and Colorado voted to legalize marijuana.  Of course they believe this is the answer to the fiscal problems as they can finally begin to reap the benefits from the taxes.  It kind of makes me wonder what they have been smoking.  But that is another discussion.  The second example can be seen in the fact that Wisconsin voted the very first openly homosexual senator into office.  Finally, voters in Maine and Maryland approved gay marriage throughout their states.

     These simple results are a microcosm of a greater problem in society today.  We are seeing an ongoing shift in American society.  America is continuing to shift way from traditional Judeo-Christian values to a more secular society.  Or in the words of some, we are turning to liberalism, which is nothing more than a way to satisfy our sinful desires.  If a person wants to be sexually active, we will give out free birth control and if that does not work we will provide abortion on demand.  If a person wants to engage in homosexual activity, that is okay as we will change the laws so that we can accommodate your behavior.  If a person does not really want to work, then we will create a system that encourages your laziness.  We will give you welfare, food stamps, housing, healthcare and even a cell phone.  Liberalism, or secularism, or humanism or whatever we want to call it has the same motive which is to satisfy our natural desires.

      And the problem is that if you attack such ideas, then you are considered mean spirited, legalistic and short on compassion.  But nevertheless, this is the type of society that we have created because we have simply turned away from the things that made us great.  Yet what such individuals do not understand is that instead of setting them free to live life as they please, they actually find themselves enslaved to a group that will keep them dependent upon them, just so they can stay in power.

     When a society starts appealing to the sinful desires of individuals it is almost impossible to bring them back to a different way of thinking.  I hate to say it, but things may have to get worse, before they will ever get better.  There may need to be a massive collapse of society before they will return to those principles and values that made us strong in the past. 

     But there is precedence for it happening and it is found in an ancient story told in the pages of the New Testament.  Jesus tells about a son who got tired of living under the demands and commands of his Father and asked that his father give him his inheritance so that he could live the way he wanted to live his life.  This young son left the protection and instruction of his father and squandered all of his new found wealth until he was basically living and eating in the pig slop.  Not a pretty picture I am sure.  It was at that time, when he realized that he had it so much better living in a relationship with his father that he decided to return to him.  And of course the story goes on to tell us that the Father welcomed him with open arms. 

     Is there hope for a brighter tomorrow?  Yes, but only if we will come to our senses and return to our father as individuals and as a nation.  It is my hope and prayer that we have not given up on God.  He is still the answer to all our questions and the solution to all our problems.  May God bring us to our knees so that we can see Him. 

Guidelines for voting

    I thought in today's post I would try to provide you some insights into how you should vote in the upcoming election.  I realize there is a presidential election that will determine the future of our country for the next 4 years and possibly the next 8.  However the decisions made next Tuesday will probably impact our country much longer than the service of our president.  There are also elections for representatives and senators and any number of local and state level positions as well.

     I will not pretend to know every candidate or even every issue and I definitely will not tell you for whom you should vote.  However, I do want to provide you some guidelines that I think will serve you well in the upcoming election.  In the gospel of Mark we are told an interesting event in the life of Jesus.  From this story I think we can gain some important insights that will help us make a well informed decision. 

     Mark 12:13 states, "Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words."  I think it is pretty instructive how Jesus was able to unite polar opposites.  They may not have united for the right reasons, but at least he got them to agree to something.  But that is not what I want to talk about.  Look at what the rest of the passage states: "they came to him and said 'teacher, we know you are a man of integrity.  You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth." 

     It is from this verse that we gain some practical guidelines that will help us when we vote.  First we are to be people of integrity.  The dictionary describes integrity as adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty."  Jesus had it and even his opponents recognized this truth.  So when you go to vote make sure that you are a person of integrity.

     The second truth is that you should not be swayed by men or by the party they represent.  You should not care if a person is a republican or a democrat.  In the words of Martin Luther King, "you should not judge a man by the color of his skin, but  by the character of his heart."  People will disappoint you and frustrate you, but you are to maintain a clear conscience and not allow public opinion or even political affliations to determine your vote.  

     The third truth really sums it up and places your vote squarely upon you as the voter.  You are to vote the way of God in accordance with the truth.  In other words you are not voting for a republican or a democrat, but you are voting for God.  Yes you read that right!  Your vote belongs to God.  You are not reponsible for the actions of the candidates, but you are responsible for your actions.  As you go to the polls you are to be sure that the values you promote are the values that come from God.  Jesus always taught the truth of God and he lived according to those same values.  We are to do no less than the same.  Jesus did not back down when people challenged him as they do here in this Mark passage, but he stayed true to the truth.

     How did the story turn out?  They tried to nail Jesus on the tax issue when they said "Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?  Should we pay or shouldn't we?"  Jesus ultimately told them "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's."  God owns your vote, so you are to vote for Him.  I know it goes against what society says and believes, but then we don't belong to them, we belong to Christ.  We were bought with a price therefore we are to honor him with our lives and that includes making sure that we vote how he would have us vote.

    So there you have it.  My two cents on this election cycle.  I know that no matter what happens, God is still King and He still sits on His throne.  What I find amazing is that He still wants to work through flawed individuals like you and me.  So don't blame God if the election does not turn out to your liking.  We are responsible for our vote and my vote is for God. 

     Who are you voting for this presidential election?  As for me and my house we will vote for God and with God everytime.  Now go get out the vote!

Where does the finger point?

     I think this picture pretty much sums up the debate last night, "He's the liar.  No!  He's the liar!  He can't be believed!  No, he can't be believed!  Liar, liar pants on fire!" 

However, I think it ultimately is indicative of a greater truth.  The truth is that none of us really want to accept blame for our actions.  We want to point fingers at everyone and everything.  It is someone else's fault for what has happened to me.  If my marriage goes bad, I can blame my spouse.  If I can't pay my bills it is because everyone else is taking advantage of me.  If I can't find a good job, it is because I received a bad education.  If I make a bad grade on an exam it is because the teacher did not present the material correctly.  If I am living in poverty, it is because everyone is against me getting ahead in life.  And the list goes on and on.  You know exactly what I am talking about.

I want you to know that what we see taking place in the world today is an exact replica of Genesis 3.  After Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, God gave them a chance to come clean.  Listen to the dialogue.  I will let God's Word do the talking.

Genesis 3:11 God speaks to Adam: "Who told you that you were naked?  Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"  (Seems to be pretty direct)  Verse 12 "The man said, 'The woman you put here with me - she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.'"  (He blamed the woman but ultimately he blamed God) 

Now look at verse 13: "The the LORD God said to the woman, 'What is this you have done?'"  (Again a pretty direct question. God did not ask "What caused this to happen, but what you have done?")   Verse 14 states "the woman said, 'the serpent deceived me, and I ate.'"

Both Adam and Eve pointed their fingers at the other and ultimately at God because he created both the woman and the serpent.  All God wanted them to do is confess "I did it!  I broke your one commandment!  No one is to blame but me."  But instead they started a chain reaction that continues to this day.  And unfortunately our society has bought into it hook line and sinker.

Yet God is still giving us a chance to receive forgiveness if we will just point the finger at ourselves and accept responsibility for our sins.  1 John 1:8 - 9 states "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 

Look at your situation and stop the finger pointing.  If you must point a finger, point it at yourself and then go to the only one who can provide the relief that you so desperately need.  I am not pointing my finger at anyone, but I am pointing you to the one who can truly forgive.  Think about it and let me know what you think.

Where are the men?

I was reading an article the other day that talked about a Christian book store that was closing.  Maybe we have become so used to things closing in this day and age that the closing of a Christian book store does not merit our attention.  But there was some remarkable data that came from this store that has greater implications for us.

The book store released some information about the demographics of their customers.  80% of the sales at the book store were to women.  Another 10% of the sales were to churches in general.  The other 10% were classified as other.  So what do these demographics reveal?  They reveal that at the most only 10% of the sales were allocated to men.

I personally was alarmed by this study.  It caused me to wonder where are the men that are buying Christian books?  I know there will be some that will say the men are buying their books online where they can save money.  But I doubt very seriously if men shop on line to say money on a book.  Perhaps the men are buying ebooks and downloading them to their Kendal or their Ipad?  You can choose to believe that if you want, but I know a lot of men and it is not happening.

What are men doing?  They are watching sports, playing sports or doing other manly things, so to speak.  They don't have time to involve themselves in other pursuits.  They work hard and play harder.  Any spare time they have cannot be wasted on such things as books, especially spiritual books.

However, perhaps the indication that men are not interested in spiritual things might reveal a greater problem in our world.  For too long we men have left spiritual things to our wives.  Church has become a place for women and children.  When someone looks for leaders in the church it automatically falls on the women, because the men are no where to be found.  Don't believe me?  Ask the following questions.

Take a look at the typical church on Sunday Morning. 

What do you see?  How many men are involved in teaching, especially teaching children? 

How many men are involved in leadership positions in the church?

Now look at Sunday evening if your church still has an evening worship.

How many men are present?

How many men are involved in children's ministry or youth ministry?

Now think of ministry in general.

How many men are stepping up to the plate to lead in ministry?

What are the men doing to provide a godly example to others?

My point is not to condemn men, but to bring things to a reality that so few of us men want to face.  We are to be the spiritual leaders of our families and that leadership does not stop at the church.  We are to be the leaders in the church. 

Where are the godly men?  I think it is a question we as men need to answer.

On a side note:  Praise be to God for the women who have stepped up to fill the void.  Your children will rise up and call you blessed and you will be greatly praised.  Without you where would the witness of the church be?  

Men will you wise up and rise up? 

More than A Meal

     I have been preaching the last several weeks on Moving Beyond the Walls.  The idea of this series of sermons is to help our church family be more than a church that gathers, but to be the church that scatters.  We are trying to make a significant difference in the communities where God has placed us and I am not talking about the geographical location of our facilities. 

    We are looking for ways to interact with our communities in big ways and small ways.  We want to interact with planned events and unplanned events.  But mainly we want to see the body of Christ impacting lives on a normal basis.  We want service to others to be a part of our DNA.  Recently one of our members and a new Christian was touched by the plight of someone in her community.  I thought I would let her share it in her words.  It is entitled "More than A meal." 

It was Friday evening, August 3rd.  I had just picked up the kids from helping my mom at her garage sale.  I hadn’t been to the grocery store for a while so I really didn’t have anything to make for dinner.  I decided to pick up some Popeye’s chicken.  Daniel & Jadyn rode with me and we were just a couple blocks away from the house when we noticed a man at the side of the road holding a sign.  Jadyn asked what the sign said but as I drove past all I could read was “homeless”.  We kept driving & that man was all I could think about.   I wondered what was on the rest of his sign.  Did he want work, or money, or food?  I knew I had no cash on me to give to him.  I kept thinking that I should get him a meal.  

We got to Popeye’s and ordered our food.  As we waited I told Daniel that I was thinking about buying the man some food.  He agreed.  I remember saying to him “What if he isn’t there?” and Daniel said “But what if he is!”  I knew he was right.   I was scared & I didn’t know what I was going to say to the man but I knew I should try.  And if he wasn’t there when we got there, then it just wasn’t meant to be.  So, I ordered the man a meal.  I figured that he could use it even if food wasn’t what he was asking for on his sign.  We got our food & headed to the car.  

The drive to the place where we saw the man wasn’t far.  He was still there with his bike, backpack and sign.  The sign that I could now see read “HOMELESS.  Need money.  Please help!” I pulled into a parking lot near where the man was standing.  I told the kids to stay in the car and wait for me.  Daniel asked me what I was going to say & I told him I had no idea.  I picked up the meal & headed in the man’s direction.  His back was to me & he hadn’t noticed that I was approaching.  I called out “Sir!” and continued walking toward him.  He turned around and put his sign down.  The first thing I noticed about him was his amazing blue eyes.  They were so peaceful and gentle and such a beautiful shade of blue.  He wore a teal t-shirt which made his eyes stand out even more.  I told him that I passed him as I was on my way to get dinner for my family and that I couldn’t read all of his sign but thought he could maybe use a meal.  He reached out for my hand.  I set his dinner down and gave him a hug.  He said “God bless you” and I said “God bless you too!”  My eyes swelled with tears as I turned and headed for the car. 

That opportunity couldn’t have happened at a better time.  I had a “bad” couple of weeks – lots of little things were getting me down.  I had just come off of one of the most stressful work weeks I’ve ever had which included our National Sales Meeting and several customer events.  I had forgotten to make an appointment for Jake’s school physical and I got the dates wrong for schedule pickup at the high school.  I had to rearrange my work schedule so that I could get both of those taken care of.  I was financially stressed - I just had to buy four tires for the car; I had to pay to have a tree removed before I got fined by the city; school fees needed to be paid; and on top of that, our microwave broke.  I was frustrated and stressed. 

And then I saw the man at the side of the road.  I was very quickly reminded how blessed I am to have a home and a warm meal whenever I want it.   All of those things that I was stressing about didn’t matter. Giving that man a meal was such an amazing and humbling experience! It was more than a meal - it was just the reality check I needed!          

   Do you need a reality check today?  Why not serve someone and tell them that God loves them.  Have a great day as you reach out to someone with the love of Jesus.  Then I hope  you will share your story as well.     

Go with the Flow

Highway driving can be an adventure especially in Illinois where everything is under construction, but nothing is being constructed.  I recently took a rode trip with my 19 year old son Jameson and we traveled through several states on our way to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  I discovered that drivers are pretty much the same no matter where they are or what state they are from.

As we made our way down the various highways, we tried to pay close attention to the traffic laws.  I assume that traffic signs are put up on the road as a law and not as a suggestion.  But anyway we were constantly having to change speeds as the speed limits were always changing especially in the construction zones.

We would be traveling 70 and then all of a sudden a sign would tell us to prepare to slow to 55 as we were entering a construction zone.  I would start the gradual process of slowing from 70 to 55 only to have motorists zoom by me on their way to wherever they were going.  Some would drive on my tailgate and others would swerve by me and give me evil looks and some would give gestures and I am not talking about waving.

I thought to myself, "I thought we were supposed to slow down after all that is what the sign said."  But no one seemed to care what the sign said even if it was in a construction zone.  I guess everyone was in a hurry to get where they were going.  I found myself saying outloud to no one in particular "I hope you get a ticket."  Of course everyone knows that will never happen because the police officer is waiting on me to speed up so that he can give me the ticket.

So here I was trying to be obedient, while getting mocked, criticized and even threatened by all those around me.  What was I to do?  I did exactly what every one else did.  I sped up thinking that there was no way they could give me a ticket when everyone else was doing the same thing.

Do you think that driving imitates life?  How many times do you see someone doing something that you know is wrong, the Bible says it is wrong, your conscience says it is wrong, and even  your Momma says it is wrong, but yet you find yourself doing it anyway?  Why do we do it?  We don't want to be criticized. We do not want to be mocked or laughed at.  And we certainly do not want to be threatened.  So we go with the flow. 

Am I alone or are there others that go with the flow as well.  I mean after all if everyone else is doing it it can't be wrong can it?

Weeds in Your life

     As many of you know, Illinois is suffering through an intense drought.  We have had very little rain in the past two months.  The Fox River is at the lowest it has been for 30 years.  Farmers, who may not even believe in God are asking churches to pray for rain.  If rain does not come they may lose their entire crop.  This could be devastating during this current economic climate.

     You would think that if there was very little rain that weeds would not grow.  But that is far from the truth, in fact the only that seems to grow in this environment is the weeds.  I had to mow my yard today because of the weeds.  The little rain showers we had the past couple of days did little to the dry parched grass, but the weeds soaked it up.

     As I thought about the weeds and how they are able to survive and thrive when nothing else can reminded of sin in a person's life.  Stay with me on this for a second.  The grass is like our Christian life.  It needs to be constantly watered and cared for to grow.  We need to study God's Word, fellowship with other believers and be involved in ministry on a constant basis or we will dry up and the our Christian life will be hidden.  No wonder the Bible says that we need to be like a tree planted by the waters, because without the water we will dry up.

     Weeds on the other hand are like sin in our life.  They do not need any thing to help them grow.  All you have to do is cease growing as a Christian and the sin will become more and more prevalent in your life.  I know this is true in my own life.  Sometimes I get so busy in doing work for the Lord, I forget to spend time with the Lord.  I need to daily nourish my spirit so that I can grow and thrive in a weed infested life.  I have a lot of weeds and the less time I spend with God the more the weeds begin to show.

     I don't like weeds in my yard, but I might not get rid of them now because they at least they serve as a reminder to me of the weeds in my own life.  How about you?  Are the weeds shining through because of a drought in your life?  Why not feed your soul.  Study God's Word and worship Him and be revived.  Remember that Jesus said he is the vine, we are the branches and if we don't stay connected to him we cannot do anything.  Get connected and stay fresh!!

      Let me share with you what I believe God has in store for this body of believers.  I believe that God wants this church to grow bigger, better and broader.  Let me flesh this idea out in real terms.  First, he wants us to grow bigger, and yes by growing bigger I mean increasing in number. With our present location we can have an auditorium that seats 400 in a service.  We cannot have much more than that simply because of the parking space that is required.  So we have a lot of growing to do.  If you do not want to see this church grow bigger then perhaps you need to find another location in which to worship.  Because it is God’s will that His church grow bigger. 

     Not only does God want this church to grow bigger, but He wants it to grow better.  By better I mean that we become more spiritually mature in our attitude and in our actions.  It means we have to grow up as Christians.  We can no longer be content with the status quo, but we have to push ourselves to be all that we can be in Christ.  This will mean a deeper commitment to God and a deeper commitment to His church.  I have to be more intentional in teaching you and equipping you.  But the pastor cannot do it alone.  The Core team has to step up and provide Godly leadership.  Bible study teachers have to step up to the plate as well and provide instruction and guidance in God’s Word.  Each one of us has to take serious the call of God upon our lives and grow in our relationship with Him. 

     Finally, God wants this church to grow broader.  By broader I mean that God wants to expand our sphere of influence.  I believe God is positioning us to be a regional church.  What do I mean by that?  Just look at the makeup of this church.  This body of believers is comprised of individuals from Oswego, Yorkville, Plano, Sandwich, Montgomery, Newark, Aurora, and even Sugar Grove.  We already reach further than just this geographical location.  God wants to see this church begin to make a difference in the communities where he has placed us.  We will do this by serving others in Christ love.  But we will also do this by planting other churches.  The plan is that as we grow to 400 in attendance, that we will then ask 100 people to go and plant a church in a neighboring community.  This will accomplish two things: first it will put a self-sustaining church closer to the people and second, it will allow room for this body to grow as well.  And then once we reach 400 we will then again ask another 100 to go out and plant another church in another city.  By so doing we will be able to expand the sphere of influence of this body of believers, but more importantly the message of God’s love will spread faster.

      How will we determine if we are accomplishing the vision?  Instead of analyzing everything vertically, such as how many people are in attendance, we need to look at things horizontally.  In other words, how are we moving people through the process?  How do we move people from Worship to Bible Study and then to Ministry / Missions?  We will know we are accomplishing our vision when each category grows.

     I believe this vision is what God has for this body of believers.  Is it totally fleshed out?  No!  But I am excited about the vision God has for this body of believers.  I pray that you are excited and can embrace this concept.  I am convinced that when we are living under the influence of the Holy Spirit we will have a vision of great things.  God has Great Expectations for His church.

Ministry With Purpose

When our family was serving as missionaries in Guatemala we did a lot of ministry among the poor.  Many of these ministries might be what is called social ministry as we provided medical, dental, and eye clinics to the poor that we worked with. 

     In one of the first clinics that we shared with the people we met a young girl by the name of Aura.  Aura was 13 and she was being raised by her older sister because her parents were deceased.  Aura came to the clinic not feeling well and the doctor discovered that she was a diabetic.  In fact so bad was she that her blood sugar was around 660.  The doctor said that if we did not get her to a hospital where she could receive immediate treatment she would die that day.  My wife took charge of the situation.  She unloaded our truck, and Aura and her sister and Gabbie made their way to the local hospital. 

     As Gabbie tells the story the doctors refused to treat Aura because in their opinion she would just eventually die anyway because she would not be able to afford the medicine.  However, Gabbie was persistent and told them you treat her and we will get her the medicine.  The doctors kept her in the hospital because of the persistence of my wife.

     The doctors on our medical team were moved by Aura’s situation and left some medicine for us and eventually we were able to develop a partnership with one of the doctors to provide her medicine that we would give to her.  We loved Aura and wanted to help her with her diabetes.  We knew without our help her chance of survival was minimal.  We did everything we could to help her.

     As we shared this story with our missionary colleagues, a wise woman told us “that her sickness was not her problem.  The problem was that she did not know Jesus.”  She told us that eventually Aura would die, but we must prepare her for that day.  So our prayers and mission to Aura changed.  We began praying “Lord allow us to keep her alive long enough so that she can receive Jesus as Lord and Savior of her life.”  And the Lord answered our prayers as eventually I was able to baptize Aura as my sister in the faith.  We reached out to her and cared for her needs, but ultimately we met her greatest need which was to have Christ as her Savior.

     Ministry fails if it does not present the gospel.  I know this concept is hard to get our arms around, because we want to help people in need.  But we must remember that it does no good to feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, clothe the naked and care for the sick, if we do not share the good news of Jesus Christ to those we help.

     Many well meaning followers of Christ can be some involved in social ministry that they forget that the greatest need that people have is spiritual.  We have a responsibility to share with them the greatest gift we could ever give and that is life in Christ.  We use whatever means we can to share the gospel with those who need to hear.  Social ministry is one of the ways that God allows us to open doors to meet this most important need in a person's life.

     What do you think?  I would be interested to hear your comments.  Until then remember to love God, love people and serve others. 

Price of Gasoline

A recent article on the internet caught my attention. The article was entitled why we should love $5.00 gasoline. With prices here in my community topping out at $4.19 I was intrigued and read the article. I did not know if they were serious or if it was written tongue in cheek, but here are the reasons we should love $5.00 gasoline.


Fewer people will die on the road.  The less you drive, the more likely you will survive. Perhaps this might be good thing. Of course they might get angry because they are cooped up in the house as well, so who knows where their anger might take them.

Demand for high-mileage cars may grow.  The key word here is "may." The idea is that as gas prices continue to climb people will want to purchase a car that is not as dependent on gasoline. Of course this whole idea is based upon a person’s ability to purchase an overpriced hybrid to begin with.  The new Chevy Volt cost about $46,000!  Of course there is a corollary to this as well.  With so many of us driving hybrids, there will be less need for gas stations and we will see more people out of work as the oil companies start laying people off.

Shorter security lines.  Airlines fares are extremely fuel-price reactive. Soon, hardly anyone will be able to afford to fly anywhere they want and you will be able to walk through the airport check out without any delays.  This one actually made me laugh.

Less pollution.  Less driving means cleaner air. I think there might be a conspiracy going on here so that we can protect the earth from those of us who like to pollute by driving our gas guzzlers.

Less congestion.  The road you will travel will have fewer vehicles to contend with. I am not sure how this one helps if the people are not able to afford to drive to work anymore.

High prices lead to lower prices. Here is the idea behind this concept. As prices escalate, the government will be forced to open up other areas for oil exploration, which will lead the oil companies to invest in reaching the harder to reach oil reserves. Eventually we will have so much oil on the market that it will drive down the price. Of course by then we will all be driving hybrids or using our horse drawn carriages and we will not need the suddenly lowered price of gasoline.

More exercise.  The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates that by 2020, three out of four Americans will be categorized as overweight or obese.  Great something else I have to look forward to.  Maybe I should drive to the gym and work out.  But I digress. With higher gas prices we will finally be forced to walk off some of that excess weight we gained because we kept going through the drive thru at McDonalds for a Carmel Frappe or through Starbucks for that White Mocha Chocolate. We might have to walk or ride our bike through the drive thru instead

End of wars.  According to National Defense Magazine, the cost of supplying our troops with gasoline is extremely high. Because of the higher prices we will eventually have to call all our troops home and we will no longer have to fund the three wars in which we are engaged. Of course those same troops will come home and not have a job or they will drive their cars, which will increase the traffic on our highways. Not to mention we will turn these countries over to militants who want to kill us. Since they will be the only ones able to purchase gasoline it will insure that they will fly more planes into our buildings. Okay, maybe I went a little overboard here.

Local businesses may profit.  If we can't afford to drive out to the Wal-Mart or The Home Depot, we may buy instead at the local supermarket or neighborhood hardware store. In addition, instead of buying produce from foreign countries we will be buying local produce. Of course that is assuming that the local farmers will be able to have produce since they will probably not be able to afford the gasoline that is needed to bring the produce to market.

It's all about democracy. If we let up on the gas pedal, we will starve those oil-rich dictators out of existence. That will show them!

I did not take much of this very serious as you can tell by my remarks. But it does cause me to wonder how $5.00 gasoline might affect the local church. Would attendance decrease because people want to conserve their gasoline? Would finances decrease because people no longer have the money needed to make charitable contributions? Would the church have to decrease its activities so that people could stay home and conserve gasoline? If money decreases in the church, would we have funds to help those in need of gasoline money?

One good thing I see about higher gas prices is that I could become more like Jesus: He walked everywhere?

What do people see?

     The other day I had an interesting visitor to my office.  I was sitting in my office working on a sermon for Sunday morning when a representative from another church dropped by to chat.  I did not know this individual or the church of which she was a representative.  She was from a nondenominational church closer in to Chicago and thought that they could offer assistance to our fellowship.  This church had been able to help many smaller churches to maintain a vibrant witness in their community.  They had been instrumental in helping 7 - 8 smaller churches by offering the pastor's teaching / preaching via webcast.

     The idea behind this ministry was to enable churches to keep their doors open even if they could not afford a pastor or their pastor was not a gifted communicator.  They offered their services free and they would even offer to let the church use their various materials for teaching children, youth and adults.  I appreciated the offer and especially thought the free idea was something missing in many larger churches today.  Too many of the larger churches charge for their services and I am not sure how Jesus would think about such things, but that is not the purpose of this post. 

     However, we did not need the services this church could offer and she left to look for another church that could be helped by their ministry.  However, the visit caused me to reflect upon the perception she had of Lynwood Baptist Church.  What caused her to believe that we needed help?  Lynwood is not what one would call a modern looking facility.  In many ways the facility is outdated when compared to modern facilities that people see every day.  What led this church to believe that Lynwood needed help? 

     I kick myself for not asking that question of my visitor, but perhaps she saw something that we might not see ourselves.  However, looks can be deceiving.  What one looks like from the outside might not reveal what is on the inside.  Lynwood is alive and well and God is moving in our midst.  People are coming to Christ and lives are being changed.  But those type of things cannot be determined by the outside appearances of a building.

     However, this visit made me look at things from another perspective.  What do people see when they look at my life?  Do they see someone alive and vibrant for the cause of Christ, or do they see someone that appears to be lifeless and void of any excitment?  You see I can read the Bible, I can memorize Scriptures, and I can even attend church services, but all of these things will not mean anything if I am not vividly living my Christian faith before a watching public.  People see what we do and what we say, not necessarily what we have in our heart.  What is inside should reveal itself by what we do, but you and I both know that is not always the case.

     Ask yourself the same question "what do people see when they look at me?"  Does your life reveal what is in your heart or does it reveal something else.  The Bible says that we will know who the true beleivers are by the fruit that they bear.  Fruit is seen on the outside, not the inside.  Think about  your life.  What do people see?

Which chair are you?

     What does the ideal church look like?  If we were to narrow the church down to its most basic features what would be the prominent features?  When discussing the dynamic of the church with other pastors we usually measure it by baptisms, budget and buildings.  Of course all three of these are measurable.  We can see if our membership is growing, if the budget is growing and if our buildings are increasing. 

     In this post I would like to consider another way to examine the church.  I want you to consider the church as a kitchen table that you sit around.  At that table are three chairs.  The chairs represent those individuals who attend services on a typical Sunday morning.  In this illustration, the term church will be used not as the gathered believers, but as those who are in attendance. 

     Anyway, in Biblical times the most intimate thing that a person could do was to share a meal with another person.  The most intimate thing that believers do is worship a Holy God.  So in the ideal church, on a typical Sunday morning when we are intimately worshipping God there should be three groups of people in attendance.  The first group or 1/3 of those in attendance is represented by the first chair.  These are dynamic followers of Jesus Christ.  They are excited about their Lord and they are excited about His church.  They give of themselves and their resources and they are constantly inviting everyone they meet to the kitchen table.  They want to share in intimate moment with others.

The second third is represented by the second chair.  These are new believers.  These are individuals that have heard the gospel message, have embraced it and are now beginning to walk with Christ.  They do not know a whole lot about their new faith, but they are growing in their new found relationship with Christ.  They are probably there because those in the first chair invited them to attend.

The last third are those who are not believers yet.  As a church we want those who are seeking the Lord in attendance.  These individuals have been invited, are interested in what they see in others and are intrigued by what they hear and see.  They don't believe but they are willing to listen.

     I believe this image represents the ideal church.  I personally have never served as a pastor of such a church, though I have attended one.  However, there is one more chair that I must mention in regard to the kitchen table.  This chair is represented by the high chair.  If you are a parent and have had children in the high chair you know how much time they can consume at a table.  These are the ones that sit and cry when they do not get things their way.  The cry for attention and say "Wahh, what about me?  Someone pay attention to me!  I want my way!  I want my food!  I want my way!" 

     These babies can occupy the majority of your time.  The problem with the babies is that when you focus your time and energy on them, you turn your back on the others.  It is difficult to characterize these in the high chair because they come in many shapes and sizes.  Some of them are always in a crisis and needing constant attention.  Others want everything to revolve around them and when they do not get their way they cry or throw a tantrum.  All of them are christians, but they have never grown in their walk with the Lord.  Most of them have been christians for years, but they have never moved from the high chair. 

     Of course I am talking about the ideal church.  I am sure that this church could never be a reality.  It would require too much work and too much sacrifice.  It would mean that people would have to be serious about their relationship to Christ and their commitment to the church.  That would mean Jesus would really have to be Lord of their life.  They would have to deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Christ.  That is asking too much!    It would mean getting out of the high chair.

     One question to consider: which chair represents your life? 

Are you Blue?

How do you spend your Sunday? According to a recent survey for many, this traditional day of rest and churchgoing has become a day to shop, but it may be taking a toll on their overall happiness. Researchers from DePaul University in Chicago and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel tracked church attendance and levels of happiness among Americans living in states that had repealed so-called Blue Laws, which once required most retailers to stay closed on Sundays.


The researchers found that allowing stores to open on Sundays was linked with a decline in church attendance among women, which led to a subsequent decline in happiness. It might be noted that for men, the repeal of Blue Laws didn’t seem to influence church attendance or levels of happiness. It could be because men do not spend much time shopping and I did not even conduct a survey. I have no data to support this statement, but perhaps the happiness of men would increase if the women were not spending more money shopping.

The study reveals that since the repeal of Blue Laws, women are about 17 percent less likely to report being “pretty happy,” and more likely to report being “not happy.” Christian leaders have said for years that participation in religious activities increases one’s happiness, but there has never been any conclusive evidence to support this belief. However this new study provides evidence to support the belief of Christian leaders.

The researchers studied data collected from the General Social Survey, an ongoing sociological survey used to collect demographic information from United States residents. They compared respondents in 10 states where Sunday shopping had been banned and then allowed, compared with six states where there had been no change in rules for retailers. The study specifically focused on the behavior of Catholics and Protestants because they were most likely to attend church on Sundays.

Why would shopping on Sunday make women less happy? There are several reasons revealed in the study. First, many women are required to work on Sundays. Before Blue Laws were repealed they were able to spend time in church and with their family. Another reason for the decline in women’s happiness can be linked to the behavior of their children who start hanging out at shopping malls on Sundays. (Of course the problem here is not with the children, but the parents who allow their children to hang out at the shopping malls.) Earlier research revealed that the repeal of Blue Laws is linked with more risk-taking behavior by teens.

Another reason that women might be less happy is that the lure of shopping is more powerful than the desire to attend church, even though it brings less happiness. One researcher stated “Shopping is kind of addictive, and even though it doesn’t make people happy, they’re doing it and they don’t return to church as much because of that. There is instant gratification from shopping compared to the benefits of church, which may occur over a longer period of time.”

I read somewhere, even though I cannot remember exactly where, that regular church attendance increases one’s emotional and physical health. Studies reveal that those who attend church regularly and are involved in ministries within the church actually live longer than those who do not. Now with this latest study we know that religious activity increases our happiness.

I guess there is a reason they call them Blue Laws. If they make us so unhappy why did we ever repeal them?

Satisfied?

     I was reading this week about Paul's arrest in Jerusalem as told to us in Acts 21 - 23.  As Paul went before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish religious council he said "I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day." 

     This statement reveals that Paul was comfortable with whatever was in his future.  If the Sanhedrin decided to put him to death, he was okay with that decision.  If the council decided to put him in prison, he was okay with that decision.  If the council decided to let him go free, he was okay with that decision.  The reason he was comfortable with whatever decision that would be made is that he knew that he had been faithful to the task or the duty that God had given to him.

     I like the way he phrased it by stating "to this day."  In other words right up to that moment he was content with what he had done.  This idea of having fulfilled his duty made me question my own duty.  If God was to call me home today, would I be satisfied with my duty to God?  Could I in good conscience say that I have done all that I could do up to this very day?

      I hate to admit it but I know that I have not done everything I could do to fulfill my duty to God.  I am not talking about working to earn my salvation as that would be impossible, but I am talking about fulfilling my responsibility as a servant of God and more importantly as a child of God.  I am afraid that I have allowed past failures and disappointments to dictate many of my present actions.  Sometimes I feel as if I am frozen in slow motion.  Or maybe I am frozen in inactivity.  I realize that in many ways I have not fulfilled my duty.

     How about you?  Do you have a clear conscience that you have fulfilled your duty to this day?  So many times we get so involved in living life that we forget what life is to be lived for!  We allow so many things to impact our lives we often need to ask are we letting the right things impact our lives?   I made a statement the other night that is relevant for this post.  Perhaps the greatest pit that any of us could find ourselves in is to have everything to live with and nothing to live for.  Who do you live for?  Are you content with your commitment to God?  Only you can answer that question.

     There is an old hymn that we do not sing in church much anymore that speaks to this question.  Look at the words of the chorus:

I am satisfied, I am satisfied,

I am satisfied with Jesus,

But the question comes to me,

As I think of Calvary,

Is my Master satisfied with me?

     How do you answer this question?  Can you like Paul say "I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day?"  

What do we know?

      A survey released yesterday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life among Americans' revealed some startling information.  Among the Americans surveyed it was discovered that atheists, agnostics, Jews and Mormons outperformed Protestants and Roman Catholics in answering questions about major religions.  Many of the respondents could not correctly give the most basic tenets of their own faiths.


     45% of Roman Catholics who participated in the study did not know that, according to church teaching, the bread and wine used in Holy Communion is not just a symbol, but becomes the body and blood of Christ.   More than half of Protestants could not identify Martin Luther as the person who inspired the Protestant Reformation.

The survey was aimed to test a broad range of religious knowledge, including understanding of the Bible, core teachings of different faiths and major figures in religious history.  The United States is considered to be the most religious country in the developed world, especially when it is compared to secular Western Europe.  However, religious leaders have often been critical of the fact that Americans know very little about religion as a whole. 
    Those that responded to the survey were asked 32 questions with a range of difficulty, including whether they could name the Islamic holy book and the first book of the Bible.  Another question was what century the Mormon religion was founded.  On average, participants in the survey answered correctly overall for half of the survey questions.

     The surprising study is reveals that Atheists and agnostics scored highest, with an average of 21 correct answers, while Jews and Mormons followed with about 20 accurate responses.  Protestants overall averaged 16 correct answers, while Catholics followed with a score of about 15.  Those who said they attended worship at least once a week and considered religion important in their lives often performed better on the overall survey.  However even their responses revealed how little they knew about their own religion. 
     On questions about Christianity, Mormons scored the highest, with an average of about eight correct answers out of 12.  After Mormons, white evangelicals, averaged seven correct answers.  Jews, along with atheists and agnostics, knew the most about other faiths, such as Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism. Less than half of Americans know that the Dalai Lama is Buddhist, and less than four in 10 know that Vishnu and Shiva are part of Hinduism.

    Another surprising aspect of the study revealed that many Americans do not understand constitutional restrictions on religion in public schools.  While a majority know that public school teachers cannot lead classes in prayer, less than a quarter know that the U.S. Supreme Court has clearly stated that teachers can read from the Bible as an example of literature.  Did you know that?    The Pew researchers stated: "Many Americans think the constitutional restrictions on religion in public schools are tighter than they really are,"

3,412 people between May and June of this year responded to the survey.  I was not one of them, but I would hope that I would be able to make a good showing.  How would you do?  Do you know what you believe?  Do you know what others believe?  These are important questioins to consider because how can your give a ready defense of the gospel if you do not know even the basics. 

If you would like to read the entire report you can go to the following website:
http://pewforum.org/Other-Beliefs-and-Practices/U-S-Religious-Knowledge-Survey.aspx

Also at this website is a short 15 question quiz you can take to see how you compare to every one else.  I would be interested in knowing how you do?  Take the quiz and report back to me.  And no you want be disciplined if you do not get them all right.  What do you know?

How do we know?

     As many of you know the political campaigns are heating up.  I believe this has been one of the more interesting political seasons in quite some time.  Actually what is happening now is much more interesting than what happened two years ago in the presidential campaign.  I have always been kind of a political junky.  I find it very interesting and like to discuss the political situation.  Most of time it is just to offer my opinion, but hey at least I listen to myself  Most of the time I do not believe that my local representative really cares what I have to say.  I mean after all, I vote, and he is suppose to represent my views, but most of the time I can't figure out what my representative believes.  For the most part I want someone to have a spine and vote what is right, not what his political party might want him or her to vote.  However, I think those days are far gone as we have become more polarized than ever before.

     I do not hide from the fact that I am a conservative in my views.  I am not ashamed to say that and I believe that my decision is right.  I guess that is why they call me a part of the right wing.  My question is what's wrong with being RIGHT!  There is a reason it is called the right view.

     In regard to the political campaign heating up today, my wife got a call from a person working for a certain candidate.  This individual is running for US Representative in our district.  I will not mention his party because it really does not matter.  My wife stated that she would be voting for the other individual and then the dialogue began as to why.  As the conversation developed my wife mentioned that our country will never be on the right track until we decide to put God first again.  She stated that she was a Christian and that she wanted someone who was a Christian to represent her. 

     The interviewer stated that he also was a christian, but he did not know if the candidate he was working for was a christian.  To me that statement is revealing.  I am not naive enough to think that every candidate and every politician is a christian.  However, if he or she is a christian it should not be a secret.  Why is is that we think that religion has no place in the public realm.  As a matter of fact I recently heard a politician say that "one's faith is a private matter and has no place in the public arena."  No wonder this individual represents the party that has a "donkey" as the mascot.   NOTE TO READERS:  Not an endorsement of one party over the other or even suggesting that one party is christian and the other party is not.  I doubt if either one really represents the cause of Christ.

     The point of this article is that we should know what we believe, why we believe it and then we should also know what the candidates believe.  As followers of Jesus Christ we should vote based upon God's values and not the values of a certain party or even an individual.  The candidates may not perfectly line up with everything you believe, but they should at least stand for something you believe.  Most of the time though when we pull that lever, we throw out any spiritual advice that God might have because after all our "faith has no place in the public arena."  I don't believe that is a biblical teaching.  I believe the Bible says "let your light shine before men."  It also says that we are the salt of the earth.  It states that we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works.  I could go on and on, but the point is that what we believe in our hearts we are to demonstrate to the world.  Our beliefs will affect our actions and that also means when we pull that lever and vote.

      So my simple advice is this "know what the candidate believes and make sure it lines up with God's Word."  The hard part is knowing what you believe?  Do you know?  More importantly do others know what you know?

Sunday worship

     Yesterday was a great day at Lynwood Baptist Church.  I began a new series of sermons entitled "What's so Great about Grace?"  I have been pretty pumped about this series as God put these words on my heart several months ago.  The worship team did a great job of putting together the music set and the videos that supported the message.  The banner / decorating team did a spectacular job creating the visuals to enhance the message and worship setting.  Though attendance was low, we did have several visitors in the congregation, which is always an encouragement.  

     The first message in this series was "Saving Grace."  It was the foundational sermon basically to remind us how good a deal we got when we received God's grace.  People were encouraged as God was able to minister to them through His word and through His servants.  If you missed the foundational sermon, you can still get a copy at Lynwood Baptist Church.  Hopefully before long you will be able to download it from our website.  Anyway, it was a great day at Lynwood Baptist Church.  You might want to mark your calendar for next week as the sermon series continues with "Amazing Grace."  This sermon will deal with how God gets rid of our guilt.  It really is amazing.

     The church body also voted to hire a youth pastor.  A search team was chosen and now we begin the process of looking for the right person for the task.  We have such a great group of teenagers at LBC and now is the time to take that step of faith and bring in someone to help disciple them and encourage them to be all they can be in Christ.  If you are reading this and know of someone who might be interested, let them know so that they can get in touch with us or we can get in touch with them.

     However, what I want to share with you in this post is that God is moving at Lynwood Baptist Church.  It would be hard for someone to know this truth unless they spend time around this wonderful group of believers.  They are beginning to see what God can do in our midst if we will just yield ourselves to Him.  Come and be a part of the "fellowship of excitement" and experience what God is doing in our midst. 

What now?

      On my last post I talked about God opening doors and we might not even understand why he opened them when he did.  You may be like me and walked through the doors that God has opened for you and now find yourself asking "what now Lord?"  Now that you are through the door you may wonder where the door actually leads.  That is the thing about doors, when you go through them there is only one small entry you have to worry about, but once you enter there might a larger space you need to navigate. 

     That is where you find yourself wondering what to do next.  I have to admit that when God brought me to Illinois, I had no idea what He wanted me to do.  Can I be honest and confess that I still wonder why He brought me here.  I don't doubt that He did, but I wonder why He did.  There is nothing wrong with that question.  It is only natural as we seek to be all that we can be for Him and His glory.  I sometimes wonder if I am gifted enough to do what needs to be done.  Do I have the skills?  Do I have the maturity?  Do I have the patience?  Do I have what it takes?  We all struggle with the same questions in our mind, but nevertheless we still try to be obedient today.  I have always said the best way to follow God is to walk in the light you have today and trust God for tomorrow.  But still easier to say than it is to live.

     Some of you might wonder "how do I know what I am suppose to do now that I am here?"  You went through the open door that God provided you, but you still struggle with the reason God opened that door.  Can I be honest with you and say that sometimes we may not know the reason.  Sometimes it is not ours to know the reason, it is only ours to obey.  Remember the discussion the Jesus had with Peter along the Sea of Galilee?  After Jesus reinstated Peter, Peter asked Jesus what would happen to John.  Jesus basically told Peter, it is none of your business what happens to him your business is to follow me.  That is our task as well.

     Consider the life of Moses in the book of Exodus.  I think Moses went through the door that God had opened for him when he investigated the bush that did not burn.  Moses voiced his objections and questioned the wisdom of God in sending him to set the Israelites free from captivity.  He basically asked God "Are you crazy God?"  In one exchange Moses asked God "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"  Have you ever asked that question?  Who am I God?  Who am I to be able to do this task you have given to me?  God why did you open this door for me?  

      I love God's response to Moses.  God said "I will be with you.  And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."  There is a lot to unpack in this exchange, but here is the core of the teaching.  The only way that Moses would know that he was doing what God wanted him to do would be after he had been obedient to do it.  Up to this point Moses did not know how he was going to do the task that God had called him to do.  God told him be obedient, trust me and when it is all over you will look back and know that I was with you the whole time.

     I don't know if this idea helps you or not, but it serves as an encouragement to me.  There are many times that I do not know exactly what to do to or how to do it or even why I am to do it, but I am encouraged that if God brought me to a place, He will accomplish what He wants if I will do what He wants.  I am to be faithful today, do what I can do, and trust God.

     The problem with most of us is that we want to know the end before we begin.  The truth is that if we knew the end, we might not take that first step of obedience.  Open doors are just the first step of our obedience to God.  What are you going to do once you get through the door is where the journey really begins.  After you have done what God has sent you to do you will be able to look back and know that God was with you the entire time.   My prayer is that God will open that door for you to begin the adventure of a lifetime.  I hope you open that door.  Talk to you later.

Why?

     I was reading the other day in Acts 16 about Paul's Macedonian vision.  Let me refresh the story to you or for those that do not know it let me share with you the basics of the story.  Paul's motivation was to always preach the gospel and minister to people that had never heard the good news of Jesus Christ.  He had already had one successful missionary journey and saw many people respond to the message of grace that he delivered.  As Paul was on his second missionary journey he desired to spread the gospel in the province of Asia, but was kept from entering into that region by the Holy Spirit. 

     We do not know how Paul was kept from this region or even why he was kept from this region, but whatever the reason, Paul knew it was God that was keeping him from spreading the gospel into Asia.  Having been hindered from entering the region of Asia, Paul and his companions tried to enter Bithynia, only to be hindered from this region as well.  I imagine by this time, Paul was becoming fairly frustrated.  He had a great message to share and his motivation was right, but God was not allowing him to go to the places that he wanted to go.  Surely questions must have been raised by Paul, even though we have no record of these questions or even if Paul became frustrated.  We can only assume and wonder what went through his mind.

     During the night Paul had a clear vision of a man from Macedonia standing and begging him to come to Macedonia and help them.  After having this clear vision, Paul and his companions left for Macedonia, where they began to preach the gospel in what is modern day Greece today.  The faithfulness of Paul to the vision he received from this unnamed man opened up Western civilization to the gospel instead of the nations of Asia.  How different things might look today if Paul had not been faithful to the vision he received.

     However, this post is not about Paul's faithfulness to the vision, but rather the way God opens doors for us.  When I began looking for a place to serve the Lord and preach the gospel, my desire was to stay in Texas.  I am after all a native Texan, I know the people, and my family all live in Texas with the exception of my daughter who lives in Los Angelos.  I at least wanted to stay nearby so that I could be closer to my aging parents and the rest of my family.  However, for over three years, God never opened a door for us in Texas or anywhere in the South.  It was as if the Holy Spirit was keeping me from that which I desired to do.  I could not understand and to say that I became slightly irritated would be a misstatement.  I questioned my call and wondered what God was doing in my life. 

     However, the Holy Spirit eventually placed it in the hearts of a group of people to contact me to come to where they are and help them.  These individuals were in Illinois.  It was not even on my list to consider.  Had God lost His mind when they called me?  What was God thinking?  They talk funny!  They might even think that I talk funny!  What if they don't like people from the South?  Will I have to wear a coat at Christmas time?  Do I even own a coat?  All of these things went through my mind as I considered the open door that the Lord had placed before me.

     Why had God closed all other avenues and opened this door for me?  I did not have an answer, but I decided to follow the path that God had provided for me.  I know that God led me to be pastor of Lynwood Baptist Church and that is a great encouragement to me.  Perhaps you are going through a similar experience in your life.  Things are happening to you and it seems as if the Holy Spirit is hindering you in what you want to do.  Do not lose heart, but keep being faithful to what you are doing and trust God to show you His plan in His timing.  He has a greater plan than you can even imagine.  Stay tuned to Him and He will direct your path.

     God did great things through Paul as he spread the gospel to Philippi, Thessalonica, Barea, Athens, Corinth and Ephesus.  The lives he touched and the churches he planted became the catalyst for a great movement of the Holy Spirit throughout the Roman empire.  We do not always understand why God closes one door and opens another, but we can always be sure that God's plans are perfect and fit in with His Story. 

     I still do not know why God brought me where I am, but I am confident of this much: he is going to do something great!  Perhaps you are in the place where God has led you, but you struggle with why you are there.  Stay with me in my next post and perhaps we can discover the answer together.  Thanks for being faithful where you are and I pray that God will use you in a mighty way. 

Liberation Theology Conclusion

     On this post I want to close out my discussion of Liberation Theology by looking at some of the weaknesses or the dangers of this school of thought.  One of the dangers in liberation hermeneutics is that in the desire to liberate the text from the interpretation of those who seek to oppress others, liberators have in turn forced an understanding of Scripture that may not be any better than the previous view.  In their efforts to liberate the Bible from their oppressors they may have enslaved the Bible to their own presuppositions.   Janet Radcliffe Richards, a proponent of feminist hermeutics states this truth when she writes "the oppressed use the enemy's tools and thereby revert back to a new kind of bondage and oppression, perhaps with different victims."  Instead of allowing the Bible to speak to the culture, they are making culture speak to the Bible.  This technique is not a legitimate method of Biblical interpretation.  There must be some control mechanism in the area of interpretation or we will be so liberated there will be no truth.  The text has to mean what it means or the result would be biblical chaos.  Without hermeneutical controls people would be free to interpret Scripture anyway they please to espouse their own personal agenda.

     However the main weakness that I see in liberation hermeneutics is that they have perverted the primary teaching of Scripture.  The Scripture is not about liberating people from classism, racism, or sexism, it is about liberating people from the power of sin and showing people how to have a right relationship with God through personal faith in a risen Savior.  All the other teachings are secondary.  As a matter of fact, what have we accomplished if we liberate someone from the supposed "oppressors" and do not liberate them from sin?  It is interesting to note that one of the proponents of feminist hermeneutics states that one of the potential dangers is that feminists have the tendency to "accuse and blame external systems (patriarchy, capitalism, class structure) rather than our common participation as men and women in corporate human falleness."  The truth is that "there is no difference, for all (black and white, male and female, rich and poor) have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

     Though the ambition of the liberators may be admirable, their method is faulty.  The fact is that we cannot change society from the outside, but it must be changed from the inside, one person at a time.  As individuals are made right with God, they will in turn be right with one another.  Jesus taught this truth when He said the two greatest commandments are to love God with all our heart and love our neighbor as ourselves.

     The desire of the biblical interpreter is to try to understand the original meaning of the Scripture then apply the timeless message to contemporary society.  We want to be relevant and we should be relevant, but in our desire for relevancy we cannot be abusive of the original meaning of Scripture.  We must allow Scripture to speak for itself and not try to put new words in the mouth of the original author.

    I believe the problem we are experiencing today has more to do with application than with interpretation.  For instance, if every Christian followed the principle of tithing as taught in the Scripture, the question of poverty could be solved in a relatively short amount of time.  The same is true in the area of racism and prejudice that seeks to oppress another race of people.  If every Christian took seriously the teachings that all are equal in the eyes of God that "there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus" then there would be no discrimination, oppression or abuse, at least in Christian circles.  So the primary problem is not the interpretation of Scripture, but the application of the interpretation. 

      Ultimately it is because of our sin.  We must keep in mind that the Bible says there is no one that is righteous, none whatsoever.  As a result of our sin, we fail to live up to the clear teachings of God's Word.  When I was serving in Central America, an individual said that in Latin America when it comes to a choice between what the Bible says and what culture says, culture will always be chosen.  This fact reveals one of the problems that we have in biblical interpretation.  Interpreters of Scripture must rise above culture and strive to communicate the timeless truth of God's Word in our culture.  Paul told his young protege Timothy, "for the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.  Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.  But you, keep your head in all situations. . ."  Perhaps we too need to keep our heads in such situations and trust God's Word to communicate His timeless truth.