The Tragic End Of Appealing To Man's Righteousness

Abraham didn’t understand God very well (at least not early on). I don’t say that as a dig against the Patriarch. I don’t think any of us understand God very well either.

When Abraham discerns that God is going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah he is bold enough to attempt to talk God out of it. To his credit, he seems to have genuine concern and compassion for the people who lived there. He does not want to see them destroyed. Of course, his nephew lives there, so that is an added motivation. But I don’t think we should assume that is the only source of Abraham’s concern.

I’m not so sure modern Evangelicals would plead with God for mercy toward a notoriously wicked group of people. Sadly, we’re more likely to start gathering the firewood for the roast. And we tend to be more like Jonah pulling up a lawn chair with a bowl of popcorn to watch those sinners get what they deserve.....................

Death To Self: Can You See It? GERHARD FORDE

As we have heard, he who would save his life shall lose it, and he who loses his life for Jesus’ sake shall find it. But what does that really mean to die to self? Does it mean, perhaps, selling my car and going on foot or by bus? It might. We can’t rule out the possibility. Does it mean, perhaps, selling my good clothes and furniture so that my wife and I should sit around in rags on orange crates? It might. Certainly we can’t dismiss that possibility either. For the problem is that words like “dying to self” are translated into some kind of action, or something that actually happens -that is, some real change -they don’t have any real meaning. So we certainly must try, eventually, to translate them into the language of action.

But before we get too hasty and impatient there are some things at which we should take a hard look. The first is that we have a rather incurable tendency always to refuse to really listen to the words of God and instead to translate them immediately into something we are going to do, indeed, can do. This is what we always do with the law. We take it and translate it into a do-it-yourself kit for salvation. It is as though we think we are going to do God a big favor by living up to what is demanded of us and even, possibly, put him out of the salvation business by accomplishing all or at least some of it ourselves-even if that turns out to be just a teeny-weeny little bit. But when we do that we really come a-cropper when we come to this word about dying to self. For what can that possibly mean in a do-it-yourself religion? Here God has set a snare for us in our easy confidence that we are big enough to handle the job. ......

Our Tainted Acts Of Grace

People have often tended, quite wrongly, to view me as saintly.  I attribute that undeserved reputation to the fact I have always had a very strong sense of the kind of person I should be.  I would describe my ideal persona as one who was conscientiously obedient and loving.  I strove to be a person of strong moral character whose actions were always wrapped in love.

When my church-pillar parents’ marriage blew apart during my pre-teen years, and my father came out as gay and began a life with the young man, half his age, with whom he had been having an affair, I strove to let him know that I accepted them both and my love for him had not changed. 

When my mother married the abusive man with whom she had begun an affair in response to my father’s affair, I was determined to maintain a loving relationship with her, despite his abuse toward both of us, even after she left me with friends and followed him thousands of miles away........

Are you willing to be sent where few can see you?

She was elderly and wore a lavender cardigan. She gripped my arm more firmly than I thought she could. She said she had something she wanted to tell me.

I had just preached a Pentecost Sunday sermon about how the Holy Spirit commissions us all as missionaries, or sent ones, to alert others to the universal reign of God wherever we might find ourselves.

I had preached that all vocations offer us the opportunity to mirror the work of God in the world, whether it’s to bring healing or justice, reconciliation or wholeness, whether to design and build, or to serve and love. And I threw in references to a few random vocations like stay-at-home parents and lawyers and nurses and union officials and artists and builders and teachers.

Adventure Is Good. But Planting Roots Is Essential

“To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul. It is one of the hardest to define. A human being has roots by virtue of his real, active and natural participation in the life of a community which preserves in living shape certain particular treasures of the past and certain particular expectations for the future.” – Simone Weil

Simone Weil, 20th century philosopher and writer, penned these words in the midst of a global war, yet poignant and true they remain today. In our globalizing, urbanizing world, roots to a place can be seen as unwanted tethers. Still, without ties to a community that preserves the “treasures of the past and certain particular expectations for the future,” in what are we rooted?

Strengthened Faith, Fervent Love

Rev. Bart Day Letter: Strengthened Faith, Fervent Love …

Strengthened Faith, Fervent Love …

“Christians live outside themselves: they live in Christ by faith and in their neighbor by love.”

That was one of Martin Luther’s most brilliant “ahas”! It runs right along with his observation that the nature of sin is “to be curved in on yourself.”

Consequently, the effect of Christ’s Gospel in His appointed Means of Grace seizing hold of you is that it begins unbending you. It begins lifting up your eyes to behold with joy the certain promises of God in Christ. To know them as true for you. To begin to be filled with the hope that flows from them. And at the same time, it opens your eyes to see and meet the needs of your neighbor with a fiery love, a divine compassion.

How Pentecost Sunday Changed Everything

Every generation has its watershed moments, events that divide time and make the “after” somehow different than the “before.”

For millennials, 9/11 stands out as the prime example. For Gen Xers, perhaps it is the fall of the Berlin Wall or the O.J. Simpson trial, and for baby boomers, maybe the assassination of JFK. But did you know that many churches this weekend will recognize a more impactful era-defining watershed moment than all of the aforementioned events combined?

REDISCOVERING PENTECOST

According to the Church’s storied liturgical calendar (or Christian year), this Sunday is Pentecost Sunday, a day where Christians for nearly two millennia have celebrated the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on God’s people. However, when people hear the word “Pentecost” these days, they may be more likely to think about a particular denomination, sprightly choir robes, tambourines and ecstatic glossolalia (i.e., speaking in tongues).

Sin Spanx

Have you ever heard of Spanx? Although they’ve only been around since 2010, their predecessors have been around for centuries. Basically, Spanx are a 21st century girdle. Like other girdles, Spanx streamlines your love-handles and lumps making you appear much thinner and fitter than you really are.

In Luke chapter 18, Jesus tells a story of a spiritual girdle that we Christians wear far more often than we’d like to admit. This spiritual girdle, just like with Spanx, is one that we’d rather no one knew about.

Here’s Jesus’ story from Luke 18:9-14

"He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

The Wicked Way We Become More Like Jesus

I'm always surprised to hear people say, “If I could do it all again, I wouldn’t change a thing.” But we’re all sinners and we all sin every day. Some of us screwed up a lifetime ago and others fell short just last night. But everyone has THAT thing they would give anything to change. Pay any price to take back. And if you don’t have that… just wait. You may not have lived long enough yet.

I remember believing my own lies. Tell yourself a grenade is a flower enough times and you may just believe it enough to pull the pin. I have. And I blew myself to pieces.

But it’s never just about you. The shrapnel from your own explosion penetrates the souls of everyone around you. As hard reality starts to set in, you can’t bear it. You’re bleeding out as you spit venom, sin, and excuses. Even more shrapnel from your tongue lodges itself in those closest to you. Sin upon sin. It’s like struggling in quicksand. But sadly you didn’t just fall in. You dove in head first thinking it was a hot spring. You mistook the roaming lion of the Devil outside your door for a house cat. Then he ripped you wide open like a Christmas present.

It’s Time to Stop Confusing Blessings With Stuff

Let’s talk about Asaph and Psalm 73. I feel like if I were to meet Asaph over coffee at Starbucks, we would have so much to rant about together. Here’s the thing: While Asaph is busy keeping his hands clean and his heart pure (without much to show for it), the wicked are prospering and scoffing at guys like him. Their cups are full, his is empty. Naturally the guy is angry.

When I look around, I see a whole lot of Christians (including leaders) who are cheapening and perverting the Gospel and getting away with it. They’re building their names, gaining a faithful following and making a whole lot of money. Why doesn’t God shut them down? He’s certainly powerful enough to do it. Instead, He lets them prosper while His true disciples are in the trenches, often living from paycheck to paycheck, suffering for the Gospel. I scratch my head and sigh.

What Jesus Actually Means When He Says to 'Remove the Log in Your Own Eye'

Words are pretty interesting. They can be used as weapons. They can be used as healing balms. They can also be used wrongly. I always tend to wonder whether this is the case when we throw around the word “self-righteous.” I do not think it means what we think it means, to borrow the words from Inigo Montoya.

Maybe you have heard someone say, “They are just so self-righteous.” Maybe you have said that of someone else. Perhaps it has been said of you. Often, when the term self-righteous is thrown around it is implied to mean someone who acts, thinks or believes they are better than you. Or that they are “holier-than-thou.”

How One-Celled Bacteria Made Me Question Everything

As a young man I was gifted in science and math, so naturally I gravitated towards those subjects in college. When I first started my undergraduate education, I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to be. I went from teaching, to chemistry, to pharmacy, and I’m sure I’ve missed a couple. But even if I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to be, I was sure it would deal with science. And as I grew in my knowledge of the sciences, I found it conflicting with the creation narrative I’d brought to college with me.

I’ve grown up in the Christian church. With the exception of a few years in my early twenties, I have been a lifelong church-goer. And there were times when Christian leaders would say something that I went along with, but didn’t really agree with. The Biblical narrative of creation was one of those things. I found many ways to justify my thinking: What is a day to God? How long did Adam and Eve live in the garden? But the facts were before me, and those facts were defined by scientific reasons for existence.

The Hartebeest and the Lion

“There is the dumbest animal alive,” our guide said, “It is the Jackson’s Hartebeest. Our nickname for him is ‘Stupid’.” Our Uganda mission team was blessed to be taken on a sight-seeing Safari in Murchison Falls National Park. “They are so dumb,” he continued “that they will forget that they are running from a lion and stop to eat something. Then they get eaten.” Instantly my brain went to Bugs Bunny cartoon mode. Our van filled with laughter as we imagined scenarios where the idiotic creature would be running from a lion and forgetfully wonder to himself, “Why am I running? This sucks… I need a snack... Oh look! Food.” Roar! Crunch. Suddenly the dumb cartoon animal, who gets a piano dropped on his head, was standing in front of me in the flesh. What an idiot. He even looks animated. There he is, the Jackson’s Hartebeest, a true life cartoon.....

How Easter Changed Everything

Whether you’ve been around Christianity for years or are new to faith, you probably know the Easter story. It goes something like this: Humans are sinners; Jesus died as a sacrifice, paying for our sins; and then three days later, Jesus came to life again—the result of which is that His followers can go to heaven when they die. But what if we’re getting it all wrong?

What if I’m wrong?

During the Soviet-Afghan war (1979-1989), a group of U.S. special forces—operating undercover—were captured by Soviet special forces. On searching the U.S. soldiers, the Soviets found large amounts of U.S. dollars—funds designated for their covert mission. It was a ton of cash.

The Soviets were baffled to realize the U.S. soldiers were carrying out their mission willingly. Why would you be fighting in such a harsh, unforgiving place, when you could take all that cash and get out of there?

It was a turning point among the war-hardened team of men from the Soviet special forces. Their passports were held by their government while they were fighting in Afghanistan. They fought because they were under orders. Yet here was a bunch of guys who fought not only because they were soldiers, but because they personally believed in the ideals of their country.

This is a true story. I know one of the Soviet soldiers who was there. It changed his life and the lives of his men..............

Ban the Backyard

There is a common myth in America that what a happy family needs most is a Big Backyard. (This is similar to the myth that happiness increases in direct proportion to square footage, but that’s a post for another time). Those who do not live in homes at all, or live in homes with little or no yard, envision the big American backyard as some idyllic paradise where romping and ball tossing and having friends over for the annual margaritafest will elevate ordinary familial relationships to a level of almost scripted delight.

This is not only not true, but is the opposite of true: Backyards do not breed happiness. They breed isolation.

Ask any kid where he wants to play and he’ll pick the front yard. Why? Cause other kids are there, or might be soon if he starts riding or skating or drawing on the sidewalk with chalk. And once the kids come out to play, the parents are likely to follow. Parents who would otherwise be sitting alone watching their only child on a jungle gym big enough for a class of preschoolers now find, in the front yard, companionship.......

Mercy Makes Mercy - Martin Luther

Now how is God our heavenly Father merciful? In that he gives us all things, natural and spiritual, temporal and eternal, gratuitously and out of pure goodness. For should he give to us out of and according to our merits, he would have to give us only hell-fire and eternal condemnation. Therefore what he gives us in our possessions and honor, is given out of pure mercy. He sees that we are captives of death; but he is merciful and gives us life. He sees that we are the children of hell; but he is merciful and gives us heaven. He sees that we are poor, naked and exposed, hungry and thirsty; but he is merciful, and clothes, feeds and gives us to drink, and satisfies us with all good things. Thus, whatever we have for the body or spirit, he gives us out of mercy, and pours his blessings over us and into us. Therefore Christ says here: Imitate your Father and be also merciful, as he is merciful.....

Honest Faith: Pride Addiction

I am confident that the entire world is pretty familiar with the story of Lucifer’s fall from grace. I think a lot of people are also familiar with the story of Adam and Eve, who also had a bit of a problem and fall from grace. As a child that was something I was taught multiple times, but there was a larger point to these stories. There was an underlying theme of pride; of beings trying to be like or better than the Divine. I linked a wiki page for Lucifer (primarily to the mythology section) above that tells of similar stories in other cultures.

I was inspired to write about mental health this week, but I was struck with the larger problem that makes it such an epidemic. This isn’t just in our country this is worldwide. Human beings have become addicted to our pride. We are a race of proud creatures who are terrified at the prospect of being humble or letting someone else get ahead of us.

After Great Pain, Where Is God?

These days I find I’m more alert to the grief and sorrow around me than I once was. In part it’s a product of my age, of youth giving way. I’m guessing my situation is not that different from many of yours.

Last month I checked in on a childhood friend whose 13-year-old son committed suicide last year after struggling with a brain injury. He told me, “I’ve stopped crying every day, which is a major transition.” He added, “I spent more than a year trying to get him well and keep him alive, and only in recent days have I finally, mostly, lost that mode of thinking. I don’t have to do anything now because I can’t.” Yet in his dreams, my friend said, his son is still alive and he’s checking on him to make sure he’s O.K.

Love Is The Law's Interpreter

BY MARTIN LUTHER

““One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” And they could not reply to these things.””

— Luke 14:1-6

Faith is here set forth in that this man, sick with the dropsy, looks to Christ and firmly believes he will help him. This faith he had as the result of his previous acquaintance with Jesus. He knows him as a kind, friendly and sympathetic man who always helps everyone and lets none go away uncomforted. Had he not heard such reports about the Lord he would not have followed him, even into the house. He must indeed have had some gospel knowledge and believed the wonderful things spoken about him...............