When God’s people fear the world more than they do Him

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“Why did you fear? Where is your faith?” (Mark 4:40)

Not long ago, I arrived early at the church where I was to preach that morning and found that a Sunday School class was meeting in the auditorium.  I made my way to a chair and joined the dozen or so adults of various ages.

Whatever scripture they were studying that day, they had wandered far afield from it.  Class members were excitedly speaking against abortion, gay marriage, transgender acceptance, hate crime laws, political shenanigans, the coming world government, the antichrist, President Obama, and the possibility of an armed uprising in America so everyone had better have plenty of ammunition. Also, blood moons, Armageddon and Joel Osteen.

At one point, during a lull, I asked, “So, what is the scripture for today’s lesson?”  As far as I could tell, only the teacher caught the irony (and gentle rebuke) of that.  He named some place in one of the prophets.

As the members of the class fed on one another’s fears, something occurred to me from the Lord. “This is what happens when Christians quit praying and trusting Me.”

They fear.

These believers were frightened out of their wits.

It spoke volumes about their failure to trust the Lord.

Let’s admit the obvious here: God is never happy when His people live in fear. Fear shows a distrust.

“God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

How many times in Scripture does an angel begin a conversation with “Fear not”?  And how often does the Lord Jesus tell us not to be afraid?

“I will never leave thee nor forsake thee; so that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper and I will not be afraid” (Hebrews 13:5-6).

The faithful do not live in fear. Period.

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Looking for Mayberry, as well as the Garden of Eden

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(This was originally posted on my website in 2012.  I decided to repost it here and not tweak or update it.  Bear that in mind. I was living in New Orleans at the time, retired for three years.)

Pastors are always looking for sermon illustrations. See if any of this works for you.

TWO FUNERALS.

This week, C-Span televised the funeral of South Dakota statesman former Senator George McGovern, who had run for the Presidency in 1972 and lost in a landslide to Richard Nixon.

Whenever there is a funeral of a national leader on C-Span, I try to watch as much of it as I can. The fascinating part is hearing stories from colleagues, some of whom are often well-known in their own right, tales from earlier years, stories that never made it into newspapers.

This funeral was held, I believe, in the sanctuary of the First United Methodist Church of Sioux Falls. I did not watch the entire service, so my observation is not about this funeral specifically.

Pagan funerals–in our culture–look back; Christian funerals look ahead.

It’s that simple. The pagan service will celebrate all the good the subject did in his life while ignoring any unsavory parts; the Christian service may indeed bring in some of the accomplishments from his lifetime, but mainly looks forward. As the Apostle Paul said, “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award me on that day–and not to me only, but also to all who have loved His appearing” (II Timothy 4).

Something else about George McGovern intrigues me. In World War II, he flew bombers over Germany. He was a full-fledged American hero and thus entitled to all the trappings of macho-ism (machismo?). But the American public never saw any of that bravado from him as a senator, politician, and candidate for the highest office. In fact, he came across as rather nerdish.

And, by a strange coincidence, so did George H. W. Bush (our 41st president). In World War II, he was a fighter pilot who on one occasion had to parachute from his stricken plane. And yet, in one of his campaigns for the presidency, Newsweek magazine ran a cover with his picture and the words: “The Wimp Factor.” (Wimp? The man jumps out of planes to celebrate his 80th birthday? He is anything but a wimp!)

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Perhaps the most important “re-post” I’ve ever done

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Google J. B. Phillips.  This British pastor lived 1906 to 1982.  Wikipedia says, “During World War II, while vicar of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Lee, London, he found the young people did not understand the KJV Bible. During the hours in bomb shelters, while Germany bombed London, Mr. Phillips began translating the New Testament into modern English.  He started with the Epistle to the Colossians.  This was so well received by the young people, he kept at it.  After the war, he finished the entire New Testament and in 1958 published The New Testament in Modern English.  Time Magazine said of Mr. Phillips, “…he can make St. Paul sound as contemporary as the preacher down the street.”

His later books included classics like Ring of Truth and Your God is Too Small.

But here is the portion I wanted to share with you today.  Taken from his book Ring of Truth, which I strongly recommend.

The basic text for what follows is John 8:51.  “Whoever keeps my word shall never see death.”  Phillips writes:

Christ taught an astonishing thing about death–not merely that it is an experience robbed of its terror but that as an experience it does not exist at all.

For some reason or other Christ’s words (which Heaven knows are taken literally enough when men are trying to prove a point about pacifism or divorce, for example) are taken more with a pinch of salt when He talks about the common experience of death as it affects the man whose basic trust is in himself. If a man keeps my saying, he shall never see death (John 8:51); Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die (John 11:26).  It is impossible to avoid the conclusion that the meaning that Christ intended to convey was that death was a completely negligible experience to the man who had already begun to live life of the eternal quality.

Jesus Christ abolished death, wrote Paul many years ago, but there have been very few since His day who appear to have believed it.  The power of the dark old god, rooted no doubt in instinctive fear, is hard to shake, and a great many Christian writers, though possessing the brightest hopes of ‘life hereafter’ cannot, it seems, accept the abolition of death. ‘The valley of the shadow,’ “death’s gloomy portal,’ ‘the bitter pains of death,’ and a thousand other expressions all bear witness to the fact that a vast number of Christians do not really believe what Christ said.

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Here’s what those blinded by Satan are not seeing

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But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. II Corinthians 4:3-4

It’s not just that outsiders to the faith have not been shown the way to eternal life, as though they were sitting by the roadside waiting.

It’s not simply that the unsaved need to be instructed and helped, as though they were gathered in a celestial waiting room somewhere, eager for us to appear.

Neither are they simply blank slates on which we may write Heaven’s love-letters to their souls, as though nothing had corrupted their minds or skewed their values.

Those living without Christ are in serious trouble.

A great many have been blinded by the enemy. Not all, thankfully, but far too many.

Satan has done a number on those abandoned to his oversight.

Millions without Christ look at good and see evil, hear Truth and call it lies, see a bit of Heaven and call it hell.

If they see Jesus at all, it’s only as the enemy. If they see the gospel, they call it propaganda. If they receive a kind act from the Lord’s disciples, they grow suspicious and search for ulterior motives.

The enemy has been messing with millions without Christ, and this has left them far removed from the childlike way they entered this world. They have been mistaught by those they trusted most, misguided by those sent to instruct them, and miscast as possessors and protectors of truth while they attack the very ones sent to bring them truth.

In the Greek city of Corinth, the Apostle Paul encountered such enemies of the faith. Perhaps they were not normally mean-spirited people, certainly not murderers or thieves or abusers. Their hostility against the people of God and against the Gospel of Jesus could be explained by one thing: Satan had blinded the eyes of their understanding. They were blind to the greatest reality of all, God.

As a result, Paul said in our text, they do not see: a) the Gospel, b) Christ who is the image of God, c) the glory of Christ, d) the gospel of the glory of Christ, and e) the light of that gospel.

None of this is clear to them.

Once again, the text is Second Corinthians 4:1-6 and it’s well worth a few minutes of your time today.  Thank you.

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Why the world is not breaking down our church doors

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If, as we say, the “Gospel of Jesus Christ” is heaven’s Good News, and if this good news is the answer to mankind’s deepest, biggest, worst problems, and if it’s free and eternal and for everyone, one would think people would be crashing through the church doors to get in on it.

They’re not.

Why not?

Not only are they not breaking down our doors to partake of God’s free offer in Christ, most of our neighbors act as if the church is completely irrelevant to anything that concerns them. And, if and when we do have the opportunity to enlighten them on Christ’s wonderful blessings of grace, some laugh in our faces or even scoff and dismiss us as nuts.

What’s going on here? Why are people not clamoring to get in on this wonderful thing God has made available for all mankind in Jesus Christ?


1. Many do not know.

My neighboring pastor Mike introduced me to a young man named Bill. “Bill was baptized last Sunday night.” When I said that was such good news, Bill said, “I had a real hunger in my heart.”

Later, Pastor Mike explained that Bill, a carpenter, had mentioned to some of his co-workers about that inward spiritual hunger. One of the men, a believer, invited him to church. He was not prepared for Bill’s response.

“How do I do that?”

The friend said, “How do you go to church? Well, you get in your car and drive down there, you park, and you walk inside.”

Bill said, “You mean just anyone can walk inside a church?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Anyone.”

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15 lies Satan tells about Scripture

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“(The devil) was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar, and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

If I were the devil, I would do everything in my power to keep you from the Word of God.  I would say anything I could think of, anything I thought you would believe, anything that works, to get you to read other things.

As Paul said, “We are not ignorant of his devices” (2 Corinthians 2:11).  We know how he works.  And here are some of the lies we have noticed pouring out of his factory, all geared toward destroying confidence in God’s Word.

One. “You already know it, so don’t read it.”

He’s lying to you. You do not know it. I’ve studied the Bible all my life and in no way could I say I “know” it. I know a great deal about it, but there is so much more.  For the typical church member to shun the Bible because “I’ve been there and done that” is laughable.

Two: “No one can understand it, so don’t read it.”

He’s lying.  Even a child can understand a great deal of Scripture.  Meanwhile, the Ph.D. will find plenty to challenge his thinking.  Only a book from the Almighty could touch so much at every level of their existence.

Three: “It’s boring. So don’t read it.”

He’s lying.  The Bible is a lot of things, but boring is not one of them.  We’re boring, and that’s the problem.

Four: “It’s better left to the professionals. So, don’t read it.”

He’s lying, using a lie he once sold to the Catholic church during the Middle Ages.  By keeping the Holy Scriptures in the Latin (and not in the language of the people) the church could give it whatever slant they chose.  Some hardy individuals paid for the right for us to own Scriptures in our own tongue with their very lives.  We must not take lightly the privilege we have to own a copy of the very Word of God in our own language.

Five:  “You need Greek and Hebrews to know what it really means. So, don’t bother reading it.

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That indomitable spirit: I must get to Jesus!!

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“Sirs, we would see Jesus” (John 12:21).

I am impressed in reading the gospels at the people who did whatever was necessary to get to Jesus.  Here is a partial list. You will think of others….

–1) In Mark 2, four men brought their paralyzed buddy to Jesus. Unable to get into the house, they carried him onto the flat rooftop and tore open the tiles and lowered him into the room. I am impressed by their perseverance.

–2) In Mark 5, the woman with a 12-year hemorrhage worked her way through the crowd to get to Jesus. “If I can touch but the hem of His garment, I will get well.” People with her affliction avoid crowds, but look at her.  I am impressed by her determination and pushiness, even.

–3) In Luke 18, the blind beggar of Jericho (called Bartimaeus in Mark 10) is constantly hushed when he calls for Jesus. But the more they tried to shush him, the louder he called. I do love this brother and am impressed by his stubborn refusal to be discouraged.  He would not be denied.

–4) In Luke 19, the chief tax collector of Jericho, Zaccheus, wanted to see Jesus but the crowds lining the streets and roads were blocking his way. So he climbed a sycamore tree.  What a sight he must have made, this Roman official up a tree. Jesus recognizes faith when He sees it and invites Himself to Zac’s home and into his life.  I am impressed by Zac’s determination to do whatever it took to see Jesus.

–5) Several times in scripture (Matthew 19:13-15; Mark 10:13-16, and maybe other places), the disciples discouraged mothers from bringing their little ones to Jesus. But they persisted and the Lord blessed them.  I am impressed by their love and their unwillingness to be easily dissuaded.

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Things I wonder about Heaven

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“Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him” (I Corinthians 2:9).

I think about Heaven a lot.  So many people whom I love are there and I miss them every day.

I wonder what they are doing and if they think about us.  I wonder if my brothers are really playing rummy with our dad, the way we sometimes think.  Are they going fishing and is our mom visiting with her wonderful parents whom she had not seen in half a century? Prior to Mom’s passing in 2012, she used to reminisce about Dad and say, “I miss Pop.”  Now they are together.  What is that like, I wonder.

What will Heaven be like? In addition to our loved ones, there are also uncounted millions of brothers and sisters of all races and tribes whom we have yet to meet. There are “myriads” of angels, and best of all, our wonderful Lord and Savior Himself.

Who would not want to go to Heaven?

My friend Barbara Hardy used to say in Heaven she planned to ask for a size 10 body.

A pastor friend used to say that in Heaven, he would be able to eat all the lemon ice-box pie he wanted without gaining an ounce.

Joni Aereckson Tada has said that in Heaven she plans to ask Jesus to dance. She’s been a quadriplegic all her adult life.

Other things I wonder about Heaven include…

I wonder who specifically will be there?  So many people are borderline, it seems to me, and I would find it impossible to decide whether they are true believers or not.  (I’m eternally grateful it’s not up to me to decide!)   I hope everyone is in Heaven, even though I know that’s not going to happen.  No one wants anyone to go to hell.

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How God works (hint: it’s different from what you might expect)

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“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” (Isaiah 55:8).

“When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:8)

Here in one paragraph is the boiled-down gist of what I have learned about the way God works….

When God decides to do something eternal, He loves to start small, use ordinary people, employ any method He chooses, and take His own good time about it. At the conclusion, only people of faith will be on hand, seeing what God has done, loving what He has revealed, and basking in the glory on full display.

Or, more concisely, “Our God is in the Heavens; He does whatever He pleases.”  That happens to be Psalm 115:3.

Our Lord, being God, can do this any way He pleases. But what I have noticed and what I preach is that His way most often seems to involve the following:

God loves to start small.  The Lord began a nation with elderly Abraham and Sarah.  He began to deliver Israel from Egypt with an 80-year-old has-been, Moses. And when the time came to redeem a lost world, He sent a Baby.

That process continues today on every level.  When God initiates a great ministry, He starts with the germ of an idea or a burden on someone’s heart, and goes from there.

The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed…the least of all the seeds, but when it is grown it…becomes a tree…. (Matthew 13:31-32)

As the prophet Zechariah preached, the temple of Solomon was being rebuilt but on a vastly smaller scale.  He asked, “For who has despised the day of small things?” (Zechariah 4:10)  Good question, isn’t it?  I have an opinion on that, one you might not care for:  Preachers seem to do that.  They disdain small offerings, small crowds, and little events.  You will even hear this from time to time, “Well, we’re a small church and we can’t do anything!”  I submit that is almost blasphemy.  It’s unbelief, that’s for sure.

I love the statement of Jonathan, champion son of King Saul.  As he and his armor-bearer decided to take on a group of Philistine soldiers, Jonathan said, “It doesn’t matter to the Lord whether He saves by the few or by the many!” (I Samuel 14:6).  Don’t you love that?

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This guy thinks he has found a contradiction in Scripture that disproves God

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“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds…” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

A friend wrote something  about the Bible’s authenticity on her Facebook page, causing someone else to leave a caustic reply..

After each statements the fellow left, all of them shallow and several insulting, my friend patiently responded with kindness and reason.

But nothing worked. Her “commenter” was determined to nail her to the wall.

He had found a contradiction in Scripture and knew this was the (ahem) unholy grail, the proof, the nail in the coffin of Jehovah God.

What was his “contradiction”?

“In one place the Bible says an eye for an eye and another place it says turn the other cheek.  What do you say about such a contradiction?”

I wondered if this guy was serious.  Any teenager in church could answer that.

Just so easily does this guy dismiss the living God, the Creator of the Universe.

Even if the Lord had such a fellow as that on His team, He wouldn’t have much.  HIs ignorance is shallow and doubtless his faith would be just as worthless.

Before commenting on the subject of contradictions in the Word, let me respond to that guy, just in case any reader needs to know how those two scriptures line up.

“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” was given to Israel as a principle for assessing punishment for crimes (Leviticus 24:20). This formula was light-years more lenient and merciful than the standard used in pagan countries–and to this day, in some backward nations–that dictated a life for an eye; a limb for a tooth.

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