August 2017

Racism is wrong. The belief that one life has more value than another is wrong. Racism is more than just wrong, it is evil.

We’re on vacation, out of the normal flow of information, and my social media posts this week were previously scheduled. I logged into my sports news feed and saw news of white supremacy, violence, so much hatred. This news sent me on an emotional roller coaster of anger, pain, and lament. I cried. I prayed. At dinner, I talked it through with my family. My daughter is interested in World War 2 history. I mentioned that I saw a white guy pictured wearing a T-shirt with a quote from Hitler. We discussed how Christians allowed Hitler some of his political power, and the evil which came as a result. We discussed how each of us can feel like we are “better than” someone else, for any reason. We discussed how wrong that is, how to recognize it, repent of it, and make things right.

This week, as a family we are celebrating 7 years in Baltimore. We moved 7 years ago this week. In that time we have learned more about the African American experience and become aware of just how much more we have yet to learn. In that time white people have responded to my social media posts by saying that racism isn’t a problem in America anymore. White people have commented on how minorities should think, feel, or act. This is offensive to me.

I have, and I will, continue to confess my wrongs, seek forgiveness, and to make amends. I will also do the same for those who identify me with those who are responsible for their pain….white, male, husband, father, pastor.

I have, and I will, continue to call white male husband father pastors to repentance for the sin in their hearts.

White people, in particular, must ask, “What circumstances have caused white supremacists to feel safe to demonstrate in this way again?”

On a personal level, last week I posted the following thoughts which seem relevant today:

How might our world be different if we gave time and energy to loving people with acts of service and praying for them?

People are to be embraced not endured, loved not tolerated, given grace & mercy, not coexistence, a place at our table not crumbs from the table.

Jesus spoke of mercy and truth, spirit and word, not neglecting one for the other. Love compels us to think deeply about how we should pray and what action we should take for the benefit of our brothers and sisters who are now being treated as “less than”.

 

love in prayer and action

How might our world be different if we gave time and energy to loving people with acts of service and praying for them?

People are to be embraced not endured, loved not tolerated, given grace & mercy, not coexistence, a place at our table not crumbs from the table.

Jesus spoke of mercy and truth, spirit and word, not neglecting one for the other. Love compels us to think deeply about how we should pray and what action we should take for the benefit of our brothers and sisters who are now being treated as “less than”.

Questions for Good Friday

Here are questions that I suggest we consider. Each has a Scripture reference to read. This study has been a strength to me. I pray that you find it a help to you as well.

 

What does sin do to our relationship with God? Isaiah 59:1-2

 

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Describe our desperate condition and God’s response? Romans 3:9-20, 23-25

 

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What did Jesus’ sacrificial death do for us?

 

Romans 5:9________________________________________________________________________________

 

Ephesians 1:7_______________________________________________________________________________

 

Ephesians 2:13______________________________________________________________________________

 

1 John 1:7__________________________________________________________________________________

 

Revelation 1:5_______________________________________________________________________________

 

What did Jesus do for us on the cross? 1 Peter 2:24  ________________________________________________

 

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What makes Jesus unique that He can do this for us? Colossians 1:13-23  _______________________________

 

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What is the significance of Jesus’ resurrection? Romans 4:25  ________________________________________

 

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What does God do when He rescues us from our state of spiritual death? Ephesians 2:4-6

 

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What happens when we receive Jesus as Lord and Savior John 1:12-13  ________________________________

 

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Is it possible to be saved by the good things we do? How are we saved? Ephesians 2:8-9  __________________

 

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What does God’s grace teach the believer? Titus 2:11-12  ____________________________________________

 

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What did Jesus say to those who believed in Him? Matthew 16:24  _____________________________________

 

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What did you learn from this lesson? How will you apply it to your life?___________________________________

 

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Thank you to the Purple Book from Steve Murrell and Rice Broocks.

A Baltimore murder in NYC

This week there is news of a murder committed by a neighbor of ours, who went to NYC and carried out a vicious act of senseless violence. We did not know him. Honestly, I don’t recall ever seeing him. It seems that he has made statements of “hate for black people” as the motive for his crime.

I have yet to meet a little child with hate in their heart for people with a different skin color. God did not create us that way. Anger is dangerous. Evil is real.

It is my belief that we are of one human race. God created ethnic traits as a beautiful expression of his creativity that are to be celebrated. We can create culture out of our identity, each of us created in the image of God.

Yes it’s true, God notices murder. He notices each one. He saw the first murder and he said that the “blood cried out to him from the ground”. Our Father God made it clear from the beginning that this should not be.

We see in Psalm 34:18 that God is close to the brokenhearted. We believe that God is alive, aware, able, and active. We believe that God can bring a miracle of grace and peace even in the face senseless violence.

As a white man, I have confessed, repented of, and sought forgiveness of my own sins and many times done the same for the sins of other white men.

Let each of us do the same. Let us then pray the prayer of Jesus toward others, “Father forgive them.”

It is time for us to pray for each person affected by each murder.

Sadly in Baltimore this is something that we pray about every week.

Please join me in prayer:

May each person who commits a murder repent of their sins turn to Jesus and find forgiveness and New Life.

May each family member, neighbor, friend impacted by murder receive the miracle peace that’s available through Jesus may we draw closer to each other.

May we get to know each other better.

May we love God with all our heart and we love our neighbor in the same way that he first loved us.

May we see an end to murder, here, now.

walk and talk this weekend

Baltimore friends, has there ever been a better weekend for us to walk our streets, meet our neighbors, talk and listen to each other? It’s beautiful outside and someone needs to see your smile! After last night, we now have 50 murders (last year at this time there were just 34). Time for us to pray more than before. Let’s ask God for mercy and a stop to the violence. Let’s ask Father God what He would have us do, here and now with specifics. Today I enjoyed time with non-profit, business, and church leaders…hearing from them how they are responding. We are not alone. Good things are happening this week!

What is God’s love like?

What is God like? Does God really love me? If I approach God what will I find? How can I find peace? What is God’s love like?

These are questions worth spending time on. Let’s get real. Let us come to God with honesty, even honesty about our doubts. Let us come to God with questions.

Answering these questions can be a journey. Taking another step each day is helpful. Let’s read a little to grow in our understanding.

John wrote, “God is love.” 1 John 4:8

Here’s what I believe: When I learn more about God’s love, I can better receive it, be changed by it, and bring it to others.

John knew Jesus. John walked with Jesus, talked with Jesus. Let’s read what John had to say about this love:

“Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.” 1 John 4:7-12

Who is writing this, why?

Personal relationship includes spending time with someone and learning more about them. If we are to learn more about Jesus, let us learn from people who walked with Him and talked with Him, people like John.

This is John, the friend and follower of Jesus, writing to people like us, people who lived in various places and found themselves in different places in their relationship with Jesus. John writes to show that true knowledge of God involves a personal relationship with Him. He writes this, around 50 years after Jesus walked the earth, to refute people who were falsely teaching that though Jesus was truly the Son of God, He was not also human. These false teachers also taught that only they had true knowledge. They despised John and the others who actually walked with Jesus, followed Jesus, and were teaching the truth. And so John writes to assure believers that they are “knowing ones”, having true knowledge of Jesus, and walking in relationship with Him. It is important for us to recognize that this true knowledge of God’s love comes out of a personal relationship with Jesus. And that true knowledge of God cannot be complete without understanding and experiencing the love of God, followed by sharing it with others.

What is this “Agape” Love John wrote about? Agape: a God kind of love that gives – to have love for someone or something, based on sincere appreciation and high regard, to regard with affection and loving concern. Agape is used to express the essential nature of God. Agape describes the attitude of God to His Son and the human race. Agape is used to convey His will to His children concerning their attitude one to another. Love can be known only from the actions it prompts. God’s love is seen in the gift of His Son. God’s love is seen in his decision to love us, because of His nature, regardless of our perceived value or attractiveness. His love is faithful, patient, kind, and selfless.

Reread 1 John 4:7-12 and then return to the definition of the “agape” love word. This “agape” word for love is the same word Jesus uses in John 3:16 and that is used here and in 1 John 3:16.

God’s love for us is a decision that He has made because it is who He is, it is an essential part of His nature. His love for us is undeserved by us. It is without fail. God’s love is overflowing to us. God’s love is active, selfless (pressing out our selfishness). God’s love takes away fear. God enjoys loving us. He literally takes pleasure in loving us. Through Jesus, God’s love for us has removed the obstacles to our relationship with Him.

We must be careful to not relate to God as though He loves us with a human kind of love. All too easily we define God’s love by our overall human experience, treating God with prejudice (with a preconceived notion based on wrong ideas or our experience with other people). God is not exactly like anyone you have met.

“Love, love, the word is always ringing in our ears, but when is it not mixed up with something else? Love and the desire to possess, love and the need to control, love and the need to be needed, love and the lust to absorb, love and condescension, love and narcissism (selfishness). In the Christian mystery love itself must be crucified, must die to be reborn as the grace of communion, as love set free.” – Meditations on the Passion of St John by Martin L Smith

Let us be careful to not associate God’s love with human “love” mixed up with the need to acquire, possess, or control.

Here’s a few questions that can help us unpack what we are learning about God’s love for us and apply it to today:

What is God’s love? What does God’s love look like? What does this say about God, about me? What does this mean? How does that affect today?

Here’s an example (from Tozer) of how we can consider what God’s love for us means, while looking at a verse of Scripture:

“Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. We love each other because He loved us first.” 1 John 4:18-19

“We do not know, and we may never know, what love is, but we can know how it manifests itself, and that is enough for us here. First we see it showing itself as good will. Love wills the good of all and never wills harm or evil to any. This explains the words of the apostle John: ‘There is no fear in love; but perfect love cast out fear.’ Fear is the painful emotion that arises at the thought that we may be harmed or made to suffer. This fear persists while we are subject to the will of someone who does not desire our well-being. The moment we come under the protection of one of good will, fear is cast out. A child lost in a crowded store is full of fear because it sees the strangers around it as enemies. In its mother’s arms a moment later all the terror subsides. The known good will of the mother casts out fear. The world is full of enemies, and as long as we are subject to the possibility of harm from these enemies, fear is inevitable. The effort to conquer fear without removing causes is altogether futile. The heart is wiser than the apostles of tranquility. As long as we are in the hands of chance, as long as we look for hope to the law of averages, as long as we must trust for survival to our ability to out-think or outmaneuver the enemy, we have every good reason to be afraid. And fear hath torment. To know that love is of God and to enter into the secret place leaning upon the arm of the Beloved – this and only this can cast out fear. Let a man become convinced that nothing can harm him and instantly for him all fear goes out of the universe. The nervous reflex, the natural revulsion to physical pain may be felt sometimes, but the deep torment of fear is gone forever. God is love and God is sovereign. His love disposes Him to desire our everlasting welfare and His sovereignty enables Him to secure it.”

– The Knowledge of the Holy by A. W. Tozer

Here’s a suggested prayer for this journey:

“God, you are more important to me than anything else in this world. Thank you for taking away the guilt of my sin through Jesus. Please help me to receive your love as you intended it. Please help me be changed by your love. Please help me share your love with others.”

With you

David wrote, “I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for He is right beside me.”

“You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.” Psalm 16:8, 11

David understood what it was like to be aware of God being right there with him.

(with you: “I’m with you.” Caught up, understanding, standing beside, in agreement, “I’m with stupid” I’m with her)

Where did he get that idea? It was Moses who finally put pen to paper to write that God had walked with Adam and Eve.

In Exodus, we see that God has done miracles to free His people from slavery in Egypt and made it possible for Moses to lead them on a journey to their Promised Land of rest. They have journeyed to a place where God is speaking to Moses about how they should live, love, and worship. The people get impatient with how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain. They ask Aaron to make new gods to lead them. Aaron makes an idol, a calf, from gold and a place for them to worship it.  They begin to throw a party for the purpose of seeking a god that they created. God knows what is going on and tells Moses that He wants to destroy them. Moses pleads God to show mercy. God chooses to not punish them in the way that they deserve. In his anger, Moses breaks the stone tablets that carried the written agreement with God. Moses calls the people to repentance and asks that any who want to serve God stand by him. Then God tells Moses to take the people to the Promised Land but that He will not travel with them. Moses comes back to God asking for His presence.

“Then Moses said, ‘If you don’t personally go with us, don’t make us leave this place.’ How will anyone know that you look favorably on me – on me and on your people – if you don’t go with us? For your presence among us sets your people and me apart from all other people on the earth.’ The Lord replied to Moses, ‘I will indeed do what you have asked, for I look favorably on you, and I know you by name.’ Moses responded, ‘Then show me your glorious presence.’ The Lord replied, ‘I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out my name, Yahweh, before you.’” Genesis 33:15-19

“Then the Lord came down in a cloud and stood there with him; and He called out His own name, Yahweh. The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, ‘Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin.” Genesis 34:5-7

God continues to say that He will punish the guilty. It is important for us to remember that when we accept the forgiveness found in Jesus, we are no longer guilty. Through Jesus we can be in right standing with God.

The presence of God was considered essential. They came to value it above any other source of provision or security. They came to take joy from it. They viewed the presence of God as the sign that they were living the “blessed” life. It was not material possessions that made them feel supremely happy. Their awareness of the one true living God choosing to be with them, to be available to them, was a life changing thing.

An awareness of the presence of God is a “game changer” in our lives.

Let’s remember that Jesus was predicted to be our Savior, named “God with us”.

Jesus is preparing His friends for when He would be murdered, when He would come back to life, and when He would return to be with Father God and prepare a place for them. He describes just how God is always with them.

“If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it isn’t looking for Him and doesn’t recognize Him. But you know Him because He lives with you now and later will be in you.” John 14:15-17

If we can identify a worship disorder in our heart, we can then enjoy the life changing awareness of God’s presence. Everything will change. “When you walk into the room everything changes.”

Some health problems are called “disorders” because something in the body isn’t working right.

When we value anything more than God, we have come to a spiritual heart disorder.

Most often, we cannot recognize a spiritual heart disorder without the help of others and the Word of God.

“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But, I, the Lord search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.” Jeremiah 17:9-10

“I will watch over and care for them, and I will bring them back here again. I will build them up and not tear them down. I will plant them and not uproot them. I will give them hearts that recognize me as the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me wholeheartedly.” Jeremiah 24:6-7

Thankfully, now God is quick to forgive us our sin when we call on Jesus our Savior, honestly confess our faults, ask for forgiveness, and turn our lives to Him.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us,” 1 John 1:9

To enjoy God’s presence we must recognize that He is more valuable than anything else in our lives.

Peter understood this. That is how he could write that God is “not willing that any should perish,” about God’s heart that no one reject salvation and suffer the results. He also wrote, God “let nothing take the place of You in my heart.”

God’s people in Exodus were looking to the idol (something other than God) to lead them and giving it credit for bringing them out of Egypt.

Let us believe that God is who He said that He is, “The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin.”

Let us believe that God the Holy Spirit is our Advocate, who will never leave us. Let us recognize Him by looking for Him. Let us welcome Him into our lives. Let us ask God to give us hearts that recognize Him as the Lord.

Let us confess our wrong, ask forgiveness, and believe that Jesus is our salvation.

Let us receive His love.

Let us say as David did,

“I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for He is right beside me.”

“You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.” Psalm 16:8, 11

What happens with the President of the United States may be little remembered in 20 years. What you do with God’s presence may be remembered much longer. A friend of mine was a college basketball star and looking for love in all the wrong places. God was drawing him and he was trying to ignore it. One afternoon he and his friends walked by an older lady and he gave the usual greeting, “Sup?” Her reply was, “Jesus, son, and you better get with Him.” That reply rang in his ears for days and was a tipping point to bring him to faith in Jesus.

Someone may remember your kindness, your smile, your hug, your buying them a cup of coffee to listen to them.

Someone may remember you sharing your story of how the love of Jesus changed your life.