I heard Joel Osteen and changed the channel

Sunday morning I came home from work, ate a little breakfast and laid down to sleep the day away – I did have to work that night. I turned on the TV and was flipping through the channels and came across Joel Osteen. He was preaching about the prodigal son and it was interesting. Running through his message was this story of his mother praying for a man who had grown up in church but became a country singer, a prodigal. By this time, I wanted to find out what became of the man. Good news - her prayers were answered, he came back to the Lord and was actually in the audience.

But then Osteen got to the interesting part of the message. He said God wasn’t angry anymore. You see, part of the country singers’ problem was the churches he attended talked about an angry and always disapproving God, but the singer learned from Osteen that that’s just not true. Not anymore.

This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this. We briefly attended a church last year, liked the worship, not crazy about the preaching. One Sunday I heard the pastor say the same thing – God is not angry anymore. He’s not angry with anyone. Maybe this pastor explained it that Sunday and it didn’t register, but Joel Osteen explained if fully. He said, It is true that in the Old Testament God did sometimes get angry at people and nations, but now, because of what Jesus did, He’s no longer angry and He doesn’t act like that anymore.

I changed the channel.

It sounds good and plays well. But, is it true? Has God’s character changed? Was he angry and always displeased and disapproving in the Old Testament, but now in the New Testament He’s loving and kind and merciful? NO. This is actually a very old heresy, and it’s most infamous promoter was a man named Marcion. He said the God of the Old Testamnet, this angry and petty deity was a different God from the one of the New Testament. The early fathers went to great lengths to demonstrate that the God of the Old Testament was exactly the same as the God of the New. They are not different gods and God has not changed.

Now I know that Joel Osteen was not saying all that. But what he said is based on the same reading of the Old Testament. So the question remains, Has God changed? Was He angry in the Old Testament and now, because of Jesus, He is no longer angry?

First, if someone reads the Old Testament and sees only an angry and vengeful God, that person is reading something into those 39 books! For it is chock full of grace and mercy and kindness. Consider:

And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,   Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin...

It is true that the Old Testament speaks of the wrath of God and of judgment to come and has several instances of God’s judgment on people and nations. But did this theme disappear in the New Testament?
John the Baptist, "when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:  And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire."

You might say, Well, John is still Old Testament. What about Jesus? He said, But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.”

Of course, it is also true that Jesus said: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” Amen!  But we often forget to read on in the same chapter: “he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

This theme of the wrath of God runs throughout the New Testament. “For therein [in the Gospel] is the righteousness of God revealed… For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men;” and, “Jesus, who delivered us from the wrath to come.” And here is Paul’s description of the glorious second coming of our Savior: “when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.”

God has not changed, as He declared in the Old Testament, “I am the LORD, I change not.” What He was, or better, who He was under the Old Covenant, He is under the New Covenant! Therefore, those who preach an always angry and disapproving God, lie. In the Old Testament itself we read, “Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live? Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.”
And, those who tell us that God once was angry but that he is no longer angry with sinners, that there is no wrath to come, from which we should flee, also lie.

The cry of God has always been, “Why will you die? Turn and live!” For God so loved – notice, He loved us before Jesus came and died on the cross, it was His love which sent Jesus to die for us – the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever beleiveth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Amen. Turn and live. The door is open. God is calling. Turn and live! Make no mistake, there will come a day when the door will close and the wrath of God will be revealed from heaven. But now, before that day come, run to Jesus who delivers us from the wrath of God!

I changed the channel because Joel Osteen was only half right. And the half that he has wrong is a lie. A dangerous and damning lie.

Our first kayaking trip of the year

Yesterday was a beautiful day and today held the same promise, so we planned to go kayaking. We set about gathering our stuff together and getting prepared around 1:30. Things did not begin well. I have two straps for securing the kayaks to the trailer. Well, someone had separated the strap from the ratchet on both. And I know it wasn’t me because I know I don’t know how to put them back together! I tried a few times then gave up and went for my ropes. Now, I am very particular about my ropes, always coiling them the same way so that the rope doesn’t tangle. One of my ropes was a tangled mess! I told Mary about this and she asked incredulously, “Who would do that?” Who indeed?!

I finally got the ropes untangled and secured the kayaks and we were off. My plan was to go to the dam because I knew Mary had not kayaked that stretch of the (Catawba) river. The water was cold but bearable, so we put in. We are right at the dam and I reminded Mary that they sound a horn as a warning if they are about to release water and she remembered. This will be important later.

There is a good sized island right there at the dam. The main channel of the river goes to the left of it and a smaller stream to the right. We thought we would go right, down to the end of the island and then back up to the put in. And off we went.

It is so peaceful on the river. I’ve been on this river several times, but today, for the first time, I saw turtles. Maybe a hundred. We saw turtles everywhere, sunning themselves on logs and rocks. Some logs had 3, 4, 5 or more turtles all lined up. As we got closer they would throw themselves into the water with a loud splash. Sometimes the splash would cause turtles down river to throw themselves off as well. Plop! Splash! Splash! Every once in a while we would see a turtle who would hold to his spot on the log as we drew near and passed by. At one point, I drew near a log that had several turtles. All but one leaped off. As I drew closer I kept reassuring him that I was passing by and he could stay there. He must have believed me.

This little stream was beautiful. And peaceful. And it looked so wild, there were fallen trees everywhere. Did I mention we forgot to get a camera? And Mary looks so cute from behind, in her little red kayak and her straw hat!

We reached the end of the island and headed back up river. After a few minutes we saw a hill. A hill? It was a mountain and I dubbed it Mount Tega Cay (pronounced as one word, with the emphasis on the first syllable). So we pulled over and went exploring. After the first scramble up we were rather elevated and could see the river. It was a beautiful spot. We walked around for a while and the mountain was calling to me, “Climb to the top.” I finally found a way to get to the top. Spectacular!

After a brief stay we went back to the kayaks and on the river. We were going along merrily and I heard something. I wasn’t sure so I didn’t say anything. Then I heard it again. The siren. I looked back at Mary and she had heard it too. You have ten minutes from when you hear the siren to the releasing of water. And when they release the water, it rises fast and the current gets strong. And I knew we were not going to get back to the take out in ten minutes. Man, every time I put in at the dam for a short trip I hear that siren!

We paddled toward the shore and I thought I saw a path. I suggested Mary head that way. I planned to take on the challenge and paddle against the rising current to the take out and then walk back to meet Mary and grab her kayak. I was making progress. But, it was farther away than I thought. And when I looked back Mary was coming too! We paddled to a point and got out to assess our situation. The river was rapidly rising and the current was strong. Right across a little stretch of water was our destination. That stretch looked calmer so I carried the kayaks to the other side of the point and we set off. Mary went first. I headed back to get my kayak and when I got in she yelled back, “It’s easy.” It was. We made it!

As I was loading the kayaks on the trailer I got to wondering: Sonic has “happy hour” every afternoon from two to four; all drinks ½ price; and we pass a Sonic on the way home. I got my phone out and checked the time. 4:25. I mentioned it to Mary and she had been thinking the same thing! Oh well, there are other afternoons. When we got home, Mary made a Pepsi float for her and a root beer float for me. We sat on the patio and had our own happy hour.

I love the river and we had a great time!

St Patrick’s Day and Erin go bragh

St Patrick’s Day. Oh yeah! I’ve always made a big deal out of it. And there are two parts to this day.

St. Patrick
I still remember when I first learned the true story of Patrick. And I have promoted it since. He is known as the Apostle to Ireland. He brought the Gospel to Ireland and planted a strong church here. This church became a missionary church, preaching the Gospel all over Europe. It also preserved learning and tradition while the rest of Europe languished for a while.

So, first of all, St. Patrick’s Day is about the Gospel. It is a celebration of the Gospel coming to and transforming the Irish. It is also the remembrance of Patrick himself, a man of great faith and courage and spirituality. A man mightily used of God.

You can read his story in his own words in The Confession of Patrick. It is not very long, you can read it online or download it and read it later. It is awesome.

You can read it here or here.

We also have a prayer/song that he wrote: The Lorica of St. Patrick

Ireland
There is no escaping that St. Patrick’s Day is also a celebration of Ireland and all things Irish. And I love that as well. Oh I know that the world celebrates this as a day to get as drunk as possible and turn rivers green etc. I don’t mean that. We would eat corned beef and cabbage and I would occasionally make Irish soda bread; and this year I bought some Smithwick’s, the oldest Irish Ale on the market. But I mean the joy of being Irish.

Two of my daughters have caught this and celebrate this. But two of my daughters have not. And that saddens me. They fall back on the lamentable fact that I was not born “O’Rourke”. I admit this, with tears streaming down my cheeks. BUT, I do have Celtic blood. And, Mary was born McDougald. Celtic. So we celebrate our Celtic heritage, focused on Ireland. Unashamed and unabashed.

My family can trace our family line back to some who came to America from Italy and France, pursuing the American Dream. But then, what is the American dream? You can be whatever you want to be. And what did my ancestors want to be? Irish! So they came to America to chase their dream. And it has blossomed in my heart!

When I look back over my life, I consider that I grew up in Hawai’i. Now, I am clearly not Hawaiian, nevertheless I am Hawaiian in my heart. Hawaiian and Irish. Give me an island where the natives are oppressed. I'm also fascinated by the American Indian. I’m not Indian, that I know of, but Mary has Indian blood! Celtic, Hawaiian, Indian. I’m sure there is a connection.

I am Irish. I am Hawaiian. I’d be happy to be Indian. But for now, on this day, it is Ireland. Erin go bragh – Ireland forever!

Purpose

I have been realizing that one of the things I struggle with is purpose and my current lack of it. So I asked the Lord about it. That particular night, and I mean the very night I whispered a prayer to the Lord for purpose in my life, I turned to Luke to read the next chapter. It was chapter 11 and I read:

9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.  
10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

I was encouraged, I mean, he says every one that asks receives! And I began more earnestly to ask the Lord for some purpose in my life.

I am also reading, from time to time, a commentary on The Gospel of John by John Burgon (a very conservative Anglican from the 1800s). As you know, in John 4 Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman at the well. He asks her for a drink from the well and then offers her living water. Burgon writes:

“Next, we are struck with the form His Divine address to the woman takes. He wishes that she would ask of Him, in order that He might give. As a very ancient writer [Origen] profoundly remarks, - ‘No one can receive a Divine Gift who asks not for it.’ And he illustrates his observation by alleging the striking language of the second Psalm; where the Eternal Father, addressing His Son, says, “Ask of me and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance.’ So, in another place it is enjoined, ‘Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.  For every one that asketh receiveth.’

Of course, one of the things I thought about from this principle is the why of it. There must be a good reason for this. But more to the point, it was reinforced to me,

Ask God for what you need and don’t have. Ask and He will give it to you, you will find it, a door will be opened.

Well and good. I just need to ask and keep on asking in confidence and expectation; desiring and willing to receive what God has for me and reveals to me.

Since then I’ve come to another realization - there may be more to this. This not only applies to me for some future purpose for my life, this is part of my purpose. I’ve been reminded that there are those around me who need “divine gifts” and they will not receive them unless someone asks for them. That’s intercession – coming before God on behalf of someone else, and asking God to give them what they don’t know enough to ask for themselves.

Purpose. All I need now is to begin asking, seeking, knocking.

Measuring time with reference to Jesus

A friend of mine recently posted a link to a video clip by Doug Wilson, in which he talks about Lent. (I used to read a very interesting publication put out by Mr. Wilson called Credenda/Agenda. I still have several issues!) In this video he discusses whether evangelical Christians should observe the season of Lent. I don’t wish to review the video, or even discuss Lent, but in the video he did bring up an interesting point about the church year and church calendar. He said, “If you’re going to have a church calendar at all, I prefer the five basic evangelical feast days linked to events in the life of Christ:” his birth, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, giving of the Spirit. Then he dealt with the issue of counting down the days to Christmas (Advent) and to Easter (Lent).

But the main point was this:

“If you want to define your year in terms of Jesus, this is a good way to do it. You can measure your time with reference to Jesus. One of the reasons for having mile markers during the year is so that you can measure your time in reference to Jesus and not the 4th of July or Memorial Day.”

This is an excellent point. As my friend pointed out, “our calendar will revolve around something. For the Christian, our calendar ought to be centered around Christ.” I agree whole-heartedly. And the Church has a calendar that does just that! And I have long thought that this calendar can provide an excellent template for systematically teaching the Gospel.

The Church Year begins with Advent, leading into Christmas, followed by Epiphany.  Lent follows and then Easter (Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday and climaxes with Easter Day). Fifty days after Easter is Pentecost, which basically lasts until Advent.

This of course raises a few questions. The foremost of which is, “Is this biblical? Does the Gospel lay this down as a pattern for the church to follow?” One has to be honest and say, "No, the New Testament does not specifically command this." Well then, "Is it contrary to the Gospel?" Again, the answer is, "No." And we have an interesting Old Testament precedent.

Under the Old Testament God revealed His yearly calendar for the children of Israel. In Leviticus 23 He says,  these are my feasts, namely: the Sabbath, then the feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Tabernacles. This was the annual cycle that God instituted for them. The year was to begin with Passover and end with Tabernacles. (For some reason the Jews have altered this and instead of beginning their year in the Spring with Passover, they begin it in the fall.) But this calendar did more than mark their trek through each year, as wonderful as that is, it also serves as God’s prophetic calendar. As with everything else in the Law this pointed to Messiah. And on this Messianic calendar we have already reached Pentecost! That is a different post altogether, wonderful to consider and something we should preach on more frequently, but my point right now is simply this: God is not opposed to a calendar to guide us through the year.

What does the Church Calendar do? It simply guides us through the year with events in the life of Christ as markers. Advent & Christmas – He has come; Epiphany – He is revealed to the nations; Palm Sunday – He enters Jerusalem as the King; Maundy Thursday – the institution of the Lord’s Supper, our King is a servant; Good Friday – He is crucified; Easter – He lives! Pentecost – He has sent the Spirit; Advent – He is coming again!

What’s wrong with that?

Ah, I can hear some immediately responding, “Yeah, but if we do that we will feel and look like a church, and we will lose our cool ‘we’re not a church’ ambience.” Well, are you a church or not? I wonder what the Lord thinks about all these people who are working so hard to disassociate themselves from what God has declared He loves – the Church. Besides, no one said anything about robes and chanting! The church is supposed to be a called out community, separate and distinct from the world, not the coolest club in town. “Yeah, well, if we aren’t the happen-est place in town, the hoppin’-est joint in town, people will quit coming.” That’s another problem altogether!

But what about the concern, “We know of churches that follow this church year and they are stuffy and boring.” I recognize that a liturgical church can easily become a very dry place. They seem to often fall into the trap – “If we just do it the right way at the right time, it makes no difference what’s in our hearts.” First of all, every single church has a ritual or liturgy – we all tend to do things the same way every week. After all, God is a God of order. So how do we avoid doldrums? And more importantly, what in the world are doldrums?? This was a word often used by sailors to refer to those areas in the ocean and/or those times on the ocean when there was no wind – and for a sailing vessel that is a bad thing. I think this explanation provides the answer! When we preach Jesus (in an ordered way, following the Christian feasts), promote the application of His precepts and experience of His grace, and earnestly pray for the moving of the Holy Spirit, how in the world can we get stagnate? Will He not send the rain to cure our dryness? Breathe upon us to cure our doldrums? And after all, isn’t this what it’s all about, Jesus? Not our super cool music, our energetic service, our cutting edge style?

Am I suggesting that if you have good music you are not spiritual? Or am I saying that if you don’t follow the Church Calendar you cannot be a good church? Nope. I’m simply saying that I thought Mr. Wilson had a good point, “If you want to define your year in terms of Jesus, this [the Church calendar] is a good way to do it. You can measure your time with reference to Jesus.” I think it is a great idea and one that helps us avoid the secular trap of marking our year by New Year’s Day, Spring Break, July 4th etc. Nothing wrong with these days, there just is no life in them. Jesus, on the other hand, has life because He is life. How can you go wrong when you mark your year by Him?

Would you like to make a donation today?

When I was a pastor, we had to deal with raising money for the general budget, missions, benevolence, special offerings etc. I have never liked having to raise money and I learned a secret from A.B. Simpson, the biblical key that set me free from my dislike of taking an offering.

This is found in 2 Corinthians 8-9. In these two chapters Paul lays out the principles of giving and it begins with, “Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia.” Giving is a grace bestowed, that is, it is a work of God. I don’t have to trick people into giving, or guilt them into it, or manipulate them, or know the latest method or technique. Oh, I have heard of plenty of “methods” for raising money, but God says it is a work of His grace. This makes it a spiritual matter. You give what you want to, based on what you have, as much as you can give joyously. No compulsion, no guilt. So, is there a need? Make it known to the saints and then go to God in prayer. The fund raising technique is the prayer closet.

Another important principle is that of participation. When I give to a work or a church, I become a participant in what they are doing. This is one of the reasons we don’t ask the world to support the work of God.

So, giving is a grace, it is spiritual, voluntary, and a participation in the work given to. To me, giving is a spiritual exercise, something that flows out of my love for and trust in the Lord. He works in me and I give what I give because I am glad to give it.

What a contrast this is to the charity drive at work! What a shock to my soul!

Our company has this charity they give to, or rather that they ask customers to give to, and they pressure us to solicit every customer: “Would you like to make a donation today?” Well, how is it so different? They want us to hound the customers - every one every time. Guilt them into giving. Manipulate them – my manager has suggested several methods “guaranteed” to get them to give and give more. There is an encouraged competition between stores, and managers – “Bring it on; we are better than you" etc, and associates. I was told this morning I needed to pick it up because I was “way behind everyone else.” I have a really hard time with this. And whenever I am successful in getting someone to make a donation, I don’t care if I get credit for it. But they do. So this will be a trying month for me.