The Greatest Bailout in History

I have found myself with an increasing frustration about this great historical bailout. It frustrates me that our government is giving a "get out jail free" card to the executives who have basically cheated, mismanaged, lived selfishly ambitious, and indulgent lives with no regard for others. It frustrates me further because there seems to be no plan for payback! I probably don't know all the ramifications of us choosing not to do the bailout, but my gut tells me; "lets just bite the bullet and take the tough pill now for an economy run on debt, dishonesty, and selfishness.

But it occurs to me that this bailout by the U.S. government is not the biggest bailout in history of people who have cheated, mismanaged, lived selfishly ambitious, and indulgent lives. No this current bailout is nothing compared to the bailout provided for all of us by Jesus Christ. When Christ died he payed the debt for our sin! That is a wonderful unconditional bailout. And truth is that we have no opportunity for payback. Our only response is to live lives of gratitude and love to Him and for Him.

I find myself today grateful and humbled for my personal experience of being bailed out -- as undeserving as I was -- I am a recipient of God's grace, forgiveness, and restoration. And now, I seek to live in His economy and as a citizen of His Kingdom.

Your partner in the gospel,

Pastor Paul

Economic Downturn

I wrote myself a note on a piece of scratch paper last night as I watched the news reports of a crumbling stock market and the governmental efforts to protect several faltering companies. Here is, in part, the gist of what I wrote:“

I am so thankful that as I watch our economy being threatened by dishonesty, greed, and mismanagement that I am seeking to invest in a different Kingdom. It is so easy for me to want to gain riches here and to expand my grasp for possessions and properties. But I am thankful that my heart has been gripped and is being gripped by a call toward a heavenly kingdom. A kingdom not made with hands.”

I am reminded of Jesus’ words in the sermon on the mount (Matthew 6:19,20): "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. “ To be honest there are many times that grasping for the things of immediacy are more inviting than the “someday return” of my eternal investments. This is something I wrestle with. It is one of the reasons I am thankful for several of the early commitments that Bonnie and I made together regarding our finances. We have protected ourselves against the lure of the immediate and from, for the most part, my impulsiveness regarding purchases, and the temporal “this is a really good deal.” In the midst of these boundaries that we have, there really is an increasing sense of freedom and, in these days, protection! I don’t think in this life we will ever be totally protected from economic difficulties or even ruin, but the principles of God’s Word are sound. And if nothing else, we are invested and investing for eternity.

Now my big questions is: Do I jump on the downturn and purchase some low priced stock? Do I capitalize now! Honestly the greed monster is still alive in me... So I will pray and talk with Bonnie and see what would be wise and prudent.

Your partner in the gospel,

Pastor Paul

A Simple Blessing

I was burning a few pieces of an old cedar log in my chimenea. The stars were shining and the moon was reflecting light in a “pause and notice kind of way” behind the clouds. At one moment the clouds, with the moon behind them, had the legendary silver lining. Bonnie and my friend Tom were sitting with me. And other than the fact that the height of my fire was threatening the branches on my willow tree, it was a near perfect Grand Forks evening.

As we were talking, Tom told a wonderful little story about his encounter with Dr. Billy Graham. It made me think of the simple power of a blessing.

Tom had worked as server in a hotel/restaurant and had the opportunity to serve a few “famous” people. He served a famous rapper, complete with security and swooning waitresses. And he had the opportunity to bring room service to Dr.Graham. He had ordered a burger. When Tom arrived Dr. Graham was sitting casually waiting for his meal. There was no security. No pomp. Just a gentle man sitting alone in his room.

Tom told us a bit about his conversation with Billy. I would love to meet him. But all these years later there was something in the conversation that stood out to Tom.

As he was finishing setting up the room service and was preparing to leave Dr Graham spoke the words: “God bless you, son.” He said the words not in a habitual or perfunctory way. They were heartfelt. And they were a true blessing to Tom beyond just the words.

I wonder if we could get our heads around the power of a simple blessing to those we encounter. Our "bless you" invites the Creator of the universe to extend His favor and grace. This is a wonderful act of love. It is a gift. Be generous with your blessings!

Your partner in the gospel,
Pastor Paul

The Covenant Elects a New President

The denomination that I belong to, the Evangelical Covenant Church elected Rev. Gary Walters as our new president. Walters after being prayed over stepped to the pulpit and delivered his first message as our president. Walters reminded us that we have always been known as a Mission Society or The Mission Friends. A body of believers intent on reaching those who do not know Jesus yet. He reminded us that we are a People of the Book. In the early days we were called the Readers. He quoted James 1:22-25, which was the text for his message:

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and
immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the
perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he
has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

Walters then went on to highlight what he called 3 “urgency's” for the Evangelical Covenant Church. They are urgency's because they are woven throughout God's Word.

1. First is the call to evangelism – the sharing of the good news.
“Every Covenant president has said the same thing,” Walters declared. “It is no small matter to God that there are lost people – and it must become no small matter to us, or we deceive ourselves.”Recalling the words of former President Milton Engebretson, Walter reminded the audience that “if evangelism is not the first priority, it will become no priority.”

2. The second urgency in scripture is the call to be doers of the word in areas of compassion, mercy and justice.
“It is no small matter to God that there are hurting people in the world – and it will be no small matter to us. We deceive ourselves if we think otherwise and fail to act.”Our response requires more than just sincere sympathy for those who are hurting, Walter suggests. Quoting Debbie Blue’s oft-stated illustration, Walter said compassion pulls people out of the river; justice goes upstream to stop those who are pushing them in.” Jesus wants more than sympathy for hurting people – he wants us to help them, to do something about it.

3. The third urgency in scripture is the call to be the whole church – to experience unity in Christ.
“It is no small matter to God that the world is fractured, and that the church is too often as well . . . and so it will be no small matter to us. We deceive ourselves if we think otherwise and fail to act.”The world is fractured along three primary fault lines, Walter said in paraphrasing the apostle Paul. The three lines are race, class, and gender. “But, through the cross, Christ has ushered in a new community – Paul says that in Christ, there is neither Jew or Greek (race), slave or free (class), male or female (gender). The cross creates a new community where all of God’s children are valued and celebrated.”

The above highlights from Gary Walters message are taken from the Evangelical Covenant Website: http://www.covchurch.org/cov/news/item6391

In my family of origin, I don’t agree with everything they say or do, but I love being a part of the family! I feel the same way about my denomination. I don’t agree with everything we say and do, but I love being a part of it. I am very encouraged by the direction that our new president has declared. I am encouraged to be a part of a church family that seeks to make a difference for the Kingdom.
Your partner in the gospel,
Pastor Paul

Walking on the Path for a long time!

I find myself treating differently people who commit the same sins. For one group of sinners I have this sense of compassion and mercy. I genuinely feel bad for them. I have been there. For the other group, who most often commit the same initial sin, I feel frustrations, doubts, incredulity and a few other emotions. I also still feel compassion and mercy but this compassion and mercy is different.

The two groups of sinners, I have been in both at various time, are divided not by the particular sin but by their actions around the sin. I will use sexual sin as the context, but it is certainly not the only context, for my example. In the first group a couple comes to me and is saddened and concerned because they have crossed the lines into sexual sin. They generally have an element of concern, sorrow, and real desire to recapture a place of discipline and spiritual wellness. My heart is proud of these individuals, not because of their sin – obviously, but because of their sense of conviction and wanting to be restored to Christ. They have obviously responded to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. I have compassion and mercy for them.

The next type of sinner comes to me, usually in a different context, and through discussion I find out that they are living together or planning on living together (again this is an example). They come with an element of sorrow, sometimes, but mostly with a ready explanation: “We just felt stuck financially and so it made more sense to share an apartment.” There is a clear choice to enter into a relationship of sinfulness and to “go in the direction” of sin. I have compassion and mercy for them.

Let me describe this in a different way. The Bible speaks of the Word being a light to our path. So thinking in terms of walking along a path of right living (righteousness) I will describe what I am experiencing. The first individuals are walking along the path and for a variety of reasons have stumbled, stepped, transgressed off the path. They find themselves on the side in the ditch or swamp. They recognize their plight and work to get back on the path and moving in the right direction. Many times this includes getting counsel from other believers and for some includes entering into accountability type relationships.

The second individuals are walking along the path and for a variety of reasons have stumbled, stepped, transgressed off the path. They find themselves on the side in the ditch or swamp. They recognize their plight, but here they make a conscious choice. They determine in their heart and mind that they have “reasons” for being off the path. And rather than work their way back onto the path they continue walking in the ditch or swimming in the swamp. Eventually they find themselves soiled spiritually in a different way than just through the initial sin. Their hearts become more and more cold and hardened and their spiritual lives less and less about love for the Lord and more about lesser things. As a pastor I find it difficult to not have a deeper concern for the spiritual future of these individuals. It saddens me for them.

Eugene Peterson once described discipleship as “a long obedience in the same direction.” Actually, that is a title of one of his books. It is a brilliant description of this walk we are on called discipleship. It is interesting how a stumble in long obedience is less consequential than a direction change. I am not saying the stumble or short transgression doesn’t matter, but it does seem to have a less damaging consequence than going off the path completely and heading in a new direction – can I say, “duh?”

I remember when I was younger someone quoted a verse to me that has stuck with me. It was out of the New American Standard version of the Bible; make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. The passage is from Romans 13. I will put it into context:

For this, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET," (and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying,) "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh
in regard to its lusts.

The man who quoted this verse to me explained to me about not making plans and provisions for my sin: “If you know you are going to drink at the party don’t go.” “If you are going to be tempted being alone with your girlfriend plan on not being alone with her.” These teachings made sense to me. Through the years this has helped me. To be honest it hasn’t always stopped me, but more often than not it does. When I find myself making plans for sin it is easier to stop at that stage than later. When I find myself arranging opportunities for my continued sinfulness, making provision, I know I am in trouble in a different way. Where have you made provision for sin, or continued sin?

I encourage all of us to be more ruthless with our desire to stay on the path or return to the path. Let’s plan on making no plans for our own sinfulness. Here is a prayer:

Father, help us all to lay aside the deeds of darkness and to put on the armor of lights. Help us to live the way you would want us to live. Wearing your Son and our Lord Jesus Christ like a garment, help us to cut off and destroy our plans and provisions for our sin. We want to live with our lives in full view of everyone – with nothing to hide! Thank you Father for your Spirit who strengthens us and equips us to live for you! Amen”

Your partner in the gospel,

Pastor Paul

Mother's Day and a Funeral

This Sunday evening we will be holding a prayer service for the son (21 years old) of a woman in our church. Monday will be the funeral service. Sunday is also Mother's Day. This is a horrible juxtaposition. It grieves me. The difficulty is magnified by how the young man was living. His lifestyle was outside of safety and wisdom. His way of living was certainly not of a fashion that would make his untimely death in a car accident a shock. And clearly he was a nice young man who knew inside the truth about Christ and about life with Christ, but it would be a long shot to say that the reality of Jesus was affecting his life.

As I write I am thinking of all the kids I know who assume they will have time to "turn around" and who believe in their heart that the direction they are currently headed is temporary. They believe they are just "livin on the edge," for a while. And they seem to have full intention to settle down someday. I hope they do.

I am also wondering why we expect kids to do this? I know it seems to be a truth, kids need to "sow their wild oats." but I don't like it. The idea that kids have to wander and to "experiment" does not ring true in my heart. And to be honest it bothers me that so many expect this.

I am not sure what the answer is to all of this. But it makes me wonder what would happen if our faith was more real, more adventurous, more Biblical, more edgy, and less safe and staid if more young people would live passionately toward Christ. I don't know. But I do know that I am bothered by the expectation that young people need a prodigal time.

The Gospel of John -- The Wedding Miracle John 2:1-11

Jesus attends a wedding feast in Cana. And it is in recounting this story that John gives us the first “sign.” It is the miracle of turning water into wine. Now this has been the subject of a lot of discussion with people in my past. It seems to me that this is one of the miracles that many wish he wouldn’t have done…the whole “making wine” thing has really messed with some people's assumptions. But that clearly is not the main point of the passage, is it?

So here are a few questions for us as we study the gospel:
1. How do you think this sign or miracle helps John achieve his purpose as mentioned in John 20:30, 31?
2. What do you think Mary was expecting when she told Jesus that the wedding party was out of wine?
3. What do you think Jesus meant when he said to Mary: “My time has not yet come?”
4. Chris Z mentioned it on Wednesday night, the question for a free cup of coffee at the Grounds for Missions coffee shop, is approximately how many bottles of wine (average sized bottles) would Jesus have made? (I will go by Chris’ estimate – first correct answer within 20 wins).