How Should We Legislate Morality?

Any civilization needs God and belief in God, to survive. As someone sarcastically, but truthfully put it, "If chance be the father of all flesh, disaster is his rainbow in the sky, and when you hear 'state of emergency! Sniper kills ten! Troops on rampage! Bomb blasts school!' - It is but the sound of man worshiping his maker'." Morality is pretty hard to defend apart from God. Certain things can be legislated, but how to defend whose values and whose morality and whose justice should prevail is hard to consistently define and defend without the God of Holy Scripture. We are seeing this reality coming to the surface more and more in our country and all indications are that it will continue to do so. The moral law of God is reenacted in a nation in response to God and His law, and out of love for Him and fear of disregarding Him. If nothing else, simple self-interest should cause people to think about God, what He has to say to us, and what should our relationship to Him and His Word. This awareness in turn comes about as Christian people - those who have a personal relationship with Him, seek Him earnestly for an outpouring of His Spirit upon the Church, and upon our nation. Pray for revival among His people, and conviction and awareness among those who don't yet know Him.

What's Happening?

What in the world is going on? Catastrophic debt and unemployment in the U.S., riots in London, and other cities in the U.K., economic disaster in Greece and other countries. Terrorism remains a universal threat. No country is safe from it. Genocide is a way of life in countries in Africa, where some tribes and nations are determined to exterminate others. We can’t help but wonder what will happen next and where. Granted, we have more access to disturbances worldwide, and that could account seemingly for a more troubled world, but even granting that, who can deny the increased vulnerability and viciousness of debate and security in our country and others? There seems little doubt that a tumultuous and somewhat terrifying times portrayed in the Bible, in the book of Revelation and other parts of inspired scripture is upon us.  Will things ever go back (or ahead) to the relatively quiet, peaceful times, say the 1950's? Every decade   has its fears and problems, for we live in a fallen world. The striving for place and power push people to trample others in their own selfish pursuits. But the present time seems unique in the sense of the universality of the tragic in every area of life. But our hope is a sure one in Christ. When all else fails, or at the very least, peace does not seem prevalent, we find that Christ and His everlasting, true nature does not and will not fail us when we lean on Him.

The Life of the Christian

  A pallid, tepid, insipid life will not do for the Christian.  To do things with a resigned sigh, or because "Well, who will if I don't," is not acceptable to God.  In fact, Jesus says of such ho-hum desultory Christians in Revelation 3:16 "So - because you are lukewarm, neither hot (with passionate love for Me) nor cold (with refreshing, satisfying love), I am about to spit you out of my mouth!  Wow!  I hope he is not saying that about me - or you!  But how can we have that kind of love?  You can't love someone truly or wholly until you get to know him or her.  We can really know God and love him - since that is what he especially wants - when we get the things out of the way that hinder this knowing and love.  And when we passionately love God, we will love what he loves - which is other people.  What hinders you?  Do you spend so much time watching TV, for example, that God doesn't have time to speak at length to you, to foster within you a love for him?  Give God time and you will see what love can really be!

Faith or facts?

Faith does not mean ignoring facts. Indeed, faith and facts go hand in hand. Faith often defies fact, turns adverse facts into opportunity to show the power of faith. But it does not deny or ignore  fact. Before God's people Israel went into claim the land that God had promised them, they sent a fact-finding committee in to search out the land. Ten of those on that committee found the facts so formidable they fled before them. Two said, "Yes, those are the correct facts. But God is with us. We can take the land God has promised us. Let's go!" The rest is history. The land was taken, not without struggles, pain, and reversals. But it was taken. God is still with His people today. Our part is to find what God is blessing and be there! It is not, "Lord, bless what I am doing". But, "Lord, show me what and where you are blessing, and help me to be there."

Water Baptism

To be a community, a given number of people have certain things in common. It may be common experiences of life – grief over loss, celebration over gain or promotion, shared political ideas or goals, common religious beliefs and/or actions. One of the longest continuing communities is the one founded by Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago – His church. One becomes a member of that community by faith in its living Founder. We don’t just follow His teachings – we follow Him, our living Lord. The outward symbol of membership in that community is water baptism. By going beneath the waters we picture our death and burial to self and the world. By coming up out of the water we picture our resurrection to new life as a new creation in Christ, and part of the new creation.  

 Next Sunday(8/21/2011) from 1:30 P.M. to about 5 P.M. the church is invited to gather at Pastor Shaw and Nancy’s home at 444 Seventh Ave. in Atlantic Highlands for this celebration of baptism. Any who have received Jesus as Savior but have not been baptized, speak to pastor about being baptized. If you are not sure about it, you may want to discuss it with the Pastor. Bring picnic fare as well, for we enjoy a picnic dinner with our baptisms. Bring all your friends, neighbors, long lost uncles and meet us there next Sunday.

The Light of the World

Jesus is the light of the world. To follow Him is to walk in the light. The coming of light to one who has known only darkness can be terrifyingly painful. The light shines upon us and begins to reveal places of darkness that we don't want to look at and certainly don't want others to see! But true light does not discriminate. It shines into a place and whatever is there, is exposed. The light can be welcomed and received by faith - or it can be rejected, and the darkness becomes deeper still. Blaise Pascal received that light in a terrifying and transforming but beautiful experience that left him feeling that all he had done up to that time was but straw compared to his new beginning. Pascal wrote a description of his experience and sewed the paper he had written it into his coat lining. It was discovered a few days after his death. He begins his description with the word "Fire!" The fire of God's light burns all that within us is not of Him, not usable for His kingdom. And though it is painful, without it we are left with the straw of an unredeemed life. And straw makes a poor foundation for eternity!

The Third Person

Jesus sent the third Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Holy Spirit, to indwell the hearts of His followers, and to empower them for service. How much, how broadly, how deeply, do you allow the Holy Spirit to work in your life? What if he should suddenly leave? Honestly, would you notice the difference? Would you really know He was gone, or would things be any different anyway? And if He left our church, would we notice? This, of course, is not to suggest he would leave either the individual believer or the corporate believers, the church. But if He were withdrawn, would we be acutely aware of it? Or do we do things so much on our own that there would not be difference enough to notice? God intends that the Holy Spirit make a noticeable, tremendous difference, both in the life of the individual and of the church. He does so as we surrender our all to Him.

Three Beautiful Words

The three words, "I forgive you, " are the sweetest, most beautiful in any language. With these words - meant from the heart - broken relationships can start over.  Wives and husbands can start their marriage again. Children can come home. Brothers and sisters are reunited after years of avoiding each other. The employee can work for the "boss" again. But this is only a faint analogy of forgiveness by a holy God. God not only forgives, He forgets. He satisfies the guilty conscience by having paid for our sins. Though we will always regret that we ever offended this holy God whom we now love and serve, yet our conscience is clear and quiet. It is so, because He has made it so by His death on the cross. Thank God for what the cross means for our relationship to God - to each other - and even within ourselves.

The Power of the Cross

The cross where 2, 000 years ago, Jesus died, is still making history. People’s lives are being radically transformed for the good when they are confronted by that cross, and respond in faith and commitment. Think, for example, of babies in the Kara tribe in Ethiopia, who are considered by the tribes’ people as “mingi” – cursed- if their top teeth come in before their bottom teeth! According to the Elder’s law, the child must die or the whole tribe will be cursed. Several other events can also cause the baby to be “mingi”. So the baby is thrown into the bush or the river to die. But the cross of Jesus Christ is changing that. There are some Christians in the tribe and they have built an orphanage, to rescue and raise many of these children. This is not a rare occurrence; it is one of the more radical examples of the power of the cross. But to those who rejected its saving and transforming power, the cross has an equal negative effect. For example, atheist organizations are trying to get the cross that was formed by two steel beams in the destruction of the World Trade Center, removed from ground zero memorial. The complaints? They experience anxiety, depression, indigestion and other problems when they see that cross at the Ground Zero Memorial! What a negative testimony to the power of the cross! Being reminded of an event that occurred two thousand years ago can cause such deep distress today! If only the complainers would consider what could cause such violent reactions!

How Should We Pray?

"And when you pray..." These are our Lord's words as He sets out to teach His disciples (present and future) how to pray. Note the words carefully - Jesus does not say "If" you pray but "When" you pray. Prayer is a universal experience echoing a universal need echoing a universal creation. Because we are made in God's image we sense a need for union with or help from that God in whose image we are. So we pray. I remember as a little boy asking my mother, who was not a believer at that time, to teach me to pray. She taught me the little children's prayer, "Now I lay me down to sleep", etc.  which I prayed faithfully until I came to know the Lord in a personal way. I have been preaching on The Lord's Prayer and found after three sermons, we have not begun to exhaust the great truths of that concise power-packed prayer. Each phrase is pregnant with meaning. If the elements of that prayer were truly realized and prayed with faith and preserving intensity, what a different place this world would be! Let's all give ourselves to more regular, believing, relentless insistent prayer. As we do, we will see differences for the good in our individual lives, our families, our churches, our communities. But don't give up if it doesn't happen in two days! We also have an enemy who will do all he can to stop you with his "weapons of mass distractions." Don't let this dampen your spirit. Pray on!