@ the crossroads

Did you know that there are over 3,000 promises in the Bible?  God has given us his word that He will do certain things–without fail.  Yet one of the greatest strategies of Satan and his cohort of demons is to tempt us to doubt the trustworthy words of God.  In fact, the first words out of the serpent’s mouth in Genesis 3 were, “Did God really say…?” 

The temptation to sin and turn our backs on God’s righteous plan begins with doubting God’s Word.  We doubt that God’s plan really is the best one for our lives and, therefore, is not worth following.  Instead, we are tempted to live for ourselves and go through life desperately trying to construct our own realities apart from God’s ways.  We often think that we can create, through our actions and ideas, a better world than the one God has created.  We become enamored by the temptation to do life on our own terms and experience some type of self-centered, self-gratifying utopia.  

The French writer, Denis de Rougemont, in is insightful book entitled, The Devil’s Share: An Essay on the Diabolic in Modern Society, writes these words about the nature of temptation:

Thus temptation is always utopia–if utopia be the imagination, followed by the desire of a good which reality condemns and which the divine plan does not anticipate.  Satan, when he tempts Christ, proposes to him three utopias, three ways of gaining the world by a shorter road than the path to Golgotha.

When Jesus was confronted with the temptations to pursue an easier and less sacrificial route, he retaliated with the Word of God: man does not live on bread alone, worship the Lord your God and serve him only, and do not put the Lord your God to the test.  Christ refused to doubt God’s word; he relied on divine promises.

If you find yourself doubting one or all of God’s 3000 promises for your life, understand where those seeds of doubt originate.  The serpent is clever, shrewd, and subtle in his movements.  Fight back with the very words of God you are tempted to doubt–and watch Christ fulfill his amazing promises in your life. 

Last night at the Crossroads worship team meeting, John Dingle read some verses from Dueteronomy 12 and facilitated a discussion with the team members on the topic of worship and the contemporary application of God’s exhortations to the people of Israel as recorded in the Old Testament.  Here are the verses the team meditated upon:

These are the decrees and laws you must be careful to follow in the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess–as long as you live in the land.  Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains and on the hills and under every spreading tree where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods.  Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places.  You must not worship the Lord your God in their way… (Deut. 12:1-4)

The focus of the discussion last night centered in on the final verse: You must not worship the Lord your God in their way.  Since the discussion last evening was quite thought-provoking, I thought I would continue the theme in this email and formulate a few thoughts on the important topic of worship. 

*Christians profess to be monotheists (worshipers of one God), yet there is a constant threat that our worship will be hindered by contemporary idols.  To worship means to offer an active, obedient response to God, thus declaring His supremacy over all aspects of life.  Examples of cultural idols that can divide our allegiance to God and cheapen our worship are: placing supreme worth on a secure career and becoming consumed with amassing financial resources–the god of self-preservation; developing a fixation on one’s personal physical appearance–the god of vanity; living from one adrenaline rush to another in an attempt to top a previous thrill–the god of excessive entertainment.  God does not allow for a co-mingling of true worship of the living God and worship of idols; the idols must be destroyed.  What idols are most tempting to you?  How are they hindering you from worshiping in spirit and in truth?

*The verses from Deuteronomy address the children of Israel who were living among the Canaanites, a population that practiced polytheism (the worship of multiple gods).  When cultures worship many gods, there are often designated gods for the various aspects of life, such as work, weather, agriculture, war, fertility, and family.  In other words, if a soldier seeks a favorable outcome in a battle situation, he might consult Anat, the goddess of war and strife.  In this worship situation, speaking to a god becomes primarily an issue of getting what one desires for a particular outcome.  The god serves as a type of heavenly vending machine. 

Theologian Miroslav Volf, in his book, Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace, writes about how we often recreate God in our own image.  Volf likens the vending machine God to our notion of Santa:

Santa gives.  He doesn’t lay down any conditions prior to giving the gifts, even if parents lamely try to warn little imps that Santa gives only to good boys and girls.  After dispensing his gifts, Santa makes no demands.  With a bottomless bag of goodies, he comes out of nowhere–well, almost nowhere.  And after granting everybody’s wishes, he returns to nowhere. 

Some scholars of popular religion describe Santa as a god of consumerist materialism whose sole purpose is to give.  And indeed, many people think of God in this way, as a Santa Claus conveniently enlarged to divine proportions.  God is an infinitely rich, always available, and unfailingly generous giver–or at least, that’s what we feel a god worthy of divinity ought to be.  God gives without conditions and without demands.  As the sun shines and a spring flows, so God gives–solves our problems, fulfills our desires, and makes us feel good.  A Santa Claus God demands nothing from us.

Undoubtedly, all Christians struggle from time to time to resist turning God into a divine Santa.  We are so used to getting what we want–when we want it.  Yet the essence of true worship is not to have God affirm our own self-promoting desires; rather, the crux of the matter is to give Him praise and honor for His utter worthiness and, in the process of sincere worship, our desires will melt and defer to His sovereign plan. 

As you prepare your heart for worship each day, ask these basic questions:

1) What are the idols in my heart that need to be destroyed?

2) What is my view of God?  Do I love and worship God simply because He is worthy?  Or, am I approaching Him only to further my agenda and to give me what I want?

Martin Luther, the great Reformer, said, “There is nothing more beautiful than the book of Genesis, nothing more useful.”  He regarded the opening verses as “certainly the foundation of the whole of Scripture.”  The theological themes introduced in the early chapters of Genesis and their later connections to the rest of Scripture seem endless, weaving throughout God’s Word like a multi-colored tapestry and bringing a miraculous cohesion to the whole.  The revelation of God begins by proclaiming the pre-existence of God (”In the beginning God created…”), a notion soaring beyond human comprehension, due in part to our fixed concept of linear time, not to mention the deeper reality that God’s ways are higher than ours and His thoughts are infinitely greater as well (Isaiah 55:8-9). How can it be that finite creatures could ever plummet the depths of God existing prior to ”the beginning?” 

Yet this is exactly what the Bible teaches–God has always existed.  He is not the coincidental product of cosmic chemical reactions; nor has God been fabricated in the minds of weak, anti-intellectuals; nor is He the result of flimsy, fanciful wishes and manufactured optimism.  God is, always has been, and always will be.  God knows no self-beginning; rather, He defines the beginning and the end for all creatures.  He is the Sovereign who not only creates life, but also holds all life together by his power.

John, the Gospel writer, picks up the theme of God’s pre-existence in the opening verses of his gospel:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. (John 1:1-3) 

The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the church in Colossae, also emphasizes the importance of Christ’s pre-existence:

For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.  He is before all things and in him all things hold together. (Col. 1:16-17)

So what can we say is the significance of this heavy theological truth of Christ’s pre-existence?  How does God’s eternal nature impact humans who are working hard on the job, raising families, and paying bills?  Here are some implications to the truth of Genesis 1:1 and the connecting New Testament passages:

1) Christ’s pre-existence infuses our lives with vast significance.  Because an eternal God outside of time has chosen to create life and use His freedom to establish relationship with creation, we are blessed to be predestined by God to walk with Him.  Our lives matter because they are meant to reflect the glory and image of God.  Those who struggle with their personal identities and are tempted to believe the lie that human life is simply not worth the effort are able to draw reservoirs of hope from the truth that God has created life out of passionate love for the creature.  Life in Christ is hopeful because Christ is life–eternal life.

2) The pre-existent Christ is superior over all, thus providing hope in the storms of life, healing in times of sickness, and help in seasons of travail.  There is no thing and no event outside the scope of God’s encompassing power and presence.  God’s goodness, along with His being, has always existed, thus serving to reassure Christ followers that no matter what disappointing life events may occur, God is still good and faithful and His purposes prevail.

One of the greatest ways that men and women can testify to the power of Jesus Christ and His loving, committed relationship with the church is through the development of healthy marriage relationships which will also exemplify radical love, devotion, and life-long commitment.  Unfortunately, in the current American cultural landscape, marriage is often viewed, not as a sacred relationship created to mirror Christ’s love for the church, but as simply a human relationship based on convenience, sexual desire, and economic advantage.  When marriages are built upon such worldly ideas, values, and desires, there is a large failure rate and countless lives experience tremendous wounding and pain in the aftermath of broken covenants.

The marriage relationship is sacred, designed to glorify God and reflect His greatness.  When we fail to see the spiritual significance of a man leaving his father and mother and being united to his wife in a “one flesh” relationship, we cheapen marriage, water down the truth, and give in to prevailing cultural messages about marriage that not only cause family strife, but also dishonor God.

This Sunday at Crossroads we will be looking in-depth at what the Bible teaches regarding marriage.  Perhaps you are in a struggling marriage today and are desperately needing a message of hope and an encouraging word to be intentional in developing your relationship with your spouse.  If so, you won’t want to miss worship this weekend.  Or, maybe you are single person and you find yourself currently battling with God’s plan as you either wait for the right person to marry or embrace His life-long plan of singleness.  There will be encouragement for you this weekend as well.

Strong marriages and God-honoring relationships among singles serve to develop healthy churches.  The body of Christ will be more effective in mission to the world when we faithfully model the biblical, counter-cultural message of marriage faithfulness. 

I look forward to seeing you this Sunday!      

The funeral for Martha Miller, my ninety-eight year-old grandmother, was last weekend in Illinois.  My grandmother was highly influential in my life and our relationship was quite close.  She modeled a life of faith in Christ exceptionally well and her unwavering trust in Jesus was truly an inspiration to those around her.  Since I was unable to attend the funeral, I wrote a brief tribute to my grandma in the bulletin.  Here is what I wrote:

During one of my last visits with my grandmother, I spent time reading from the Scriptures, an activity I knew my grandmother cherished.  She savored the Word of God, and the Word served her well in return.  She had truly tasted and seen that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8); her main diet was feasting on God’s abiding presence and drawing strength from His Spirit.  The love of Jesus penetrated deep into her soul, transforming her character and filling her with an unmistakable presence of peace, contentment, and joy that transcended the inevitable struggles of life.  Although I am unable to be present for the funeral service, I have the confidence of knowing that my grandmother and I will, in time, be reunited in the fullness of God’s presence, and this because of mutual faith in a Savior who has conquered death. 

When a saint dies, there is room for celebration, for the legacy left behind mixes a good dose of joy into the sorrow.  There is still sadness and grief, to be sure, but this mourning is cloaked in the knowledge and power of the resurrection of Christ.  Death does not have the final word; the last sentence belongs to Jesus: “I am the resurrection and the life.” 

The death of those we love forces us to evaluate the fleeting nature of life and ponder the power of legacy.  What are we doing with the time we have?  What imprint will we be leaving behind?

I’m thankful to God for a grandmother who modeled life in Christ well.  Her legacy is far-reaching.  May we all be inspired to live in such a way.

I have always been impressed by people who are artistically gifted with their hands; those such as sculptors and painters have the ability to create something incredibly alluring by utilizing relatively small amounts of resources in comparison to the striking beauty that radiates from their works.  However, even the greatest artist needs to start with something: Michelangelo required a slab of marble to chisel out La Pieta and he utilized the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel to paint a 12,000 square feet masterpiece; Claude Monet, the great French impressionist, needed canvas and paint to create his 250 piece Water Lilies collection.  The most gifted humans cannot create ex nihilo–out of nothing.

The only being who has the power to create something out of nothing is God himself.  Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created…”  The only thing God had to work with was void, formlessness, nothingness–a far cry from Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, or Florida beaches which are prime examples of God’s unique creative power.

During this Christmas season we are reminded once again about God’s ability to create something incredibly beautiful out of the void.  Christ the babe was born of a virgin.

But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.  You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.  The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

“How can this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”  The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.  So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:30-35) 

Whenever you are tempted to doubt the reality or power of God, just reflect upon:

*the beauty of nature around you–and realize it was created out of nothing

*the wonder of Christmas–that it is made possible because a virgin gave birth

*the experience of new life and forgiveness–made possible because the Christ child grew up, died on the cross, and then rose from the dead–triumphantly communicating to the world once and for all that something Beautiful can truly come from nothing.  Life emerged from the grave.

Be encouraged today in your life journey, for with Christ there is the wonderful potential built into each day to experience his ongoing creative work.  God moves in the mundane; the Spirit speaks in the silence; the Christ child cries out for our hearts to be connected to his.  If your life feels like a batch of nothingness, take heart, for Jesus is present to create a beautiful–and wonderful life.