Grace and Peace

Trust in the LORD and do good;
Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. 

(Psalm 37:3 New American Standard Bible)

What does it mean to "dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness"?  When King David wrote this song, he was the target of attacks from his own son (and others) who wanted to overthrow his kingdom. He didn't know whether the next day would bring victory or defeat, but he knew that in spite of his circumstances he had to do the right thing moment by moment. 

That is what it means to cultivate faithfulness.  Do the next right thing.  David knew enough about God that he could trust Him and take the next step in faith.  David couldn't control the actions of his enemies, but he could trust in the Lord and continue to serve Him by living obediantly.

It is never right to do wrong.  Even if our enemies persist and circumstances overwhelm us; it is never right to do wrong.  Sometimes our human nature wants to lash out at our enemies or "go with the flow" in compromising situations, but it is never right to do wrong.  We grow spiritually when we live faithfully and God is honored when we do the next right thing.

I ran across this article in today's edition of the Religion Today Summaries from CrossWalk.com:

According to The Church Report, the Rev. Drew Phoenix - formerly the Rev. Ann Gordon - has been reappointed to lead St. John's United Methodist Church in Baltimore. Phoenix spent much of the last year undergoing sex change procedures. As Gordon, she was ordained in 1989 and led St. John's for nearly five years. At the annual conference recently, the 48-year-old said "last fall, after a lifelong spiritual journey and year of prayer and discernment, I decided to change my name from Ann Gordon to Drew Phoenix in order to reflect my true gender identity and to honor my spiritual transformation and relationship with God." Phoenix hopes his example causes people to "commit themselves to becoming educated about the complexity of gender and gender identity and open ourselves to those in our congregations who identify as transgender." The decision was not without controversy. The UMC does prohibit sexually active gay clergy, but does not have specific policies regarding gender assignment.

Does Biblical truth just not matter anymore?

It is Memorial Day a time for remembering our fallen heroes.  As we do that today, I would ask that you bear in mind the words of President Lincoln as he spoke at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania:

I think of It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

And since I am quoting Presidents, here is George W. Bush's proclamation regarding Memorial Day 2007:

Prayer for Peace, Memorial Day, 2007
A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America

On Memorial Day, Americans pause with solemn gratitude and deep respect for all our fallen service men and women who have given their lives for our country and our freedom.

Through the generations, the courageous and selfless patriots of our Armed Forces have secured our liberty and borne its great and precious cost. When it has mattered most, patriots from every corner of our Nation have taken up arms to uphold the ideals that make our country a beacon of hope and freedom for the entire world. By answering the call of duty with valor and unrelenting determination, they have set a standard of courage and idealism that inspires us all.

All Americans honor the memory of the lives that have been lost in defense of our freedom. Our Nation mourns them, and their example of strength and perseverance gives us resolve. We are also thankful to those who have stood by our service men and women in times of war and times of peace.

Today, the members of our Armed Forces follow in a proud tradition handed down to them by the heroes that served before them. They are protecting our Nation, advancing the blessings of freedom, and laying the foundation for a more peaceful tomorrow through service that exemplifies the good and decent character of our Nation. America is grateful to all those who have worn the uniform of the Armed Forces of the United States, and we will never forget their sacrifices for our liberty.

On Memorial Day, we honor all those who have fallen by remembering their noble sacrifice for freedom. We also pray for our troops, their families, and for the peace we all seek.

In respect for their devotion to America, the Congress, by a joint resolution approved on May 11, 1950, as amended (64 Stat. 158), has requested the President to issue a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe each Memorial Day as a day of prayer for permanent peace and designating a period on that day when the people of the United States might unite in prayer. The Congress, by Public Law 106-579, has also designated the minute beginning at 3:00 p.m. local time on that day as a time for all Americans to observe the National Moment of Remembrance.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Memorial Day, May 28, 2007, as a day of prayer for permanent peace, and I designate the hour beginning in each locality at 11:00 a.m. of that day as a time to unite in prayer. I also ask all Americans to observe the National Moment of Remembrance beginning at 3:00 p.m., local time, on Memorial Day. I encourage the media to participate in these observances. I also request the Governors of the United States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the appropriate officials of all units of government, to direct that the flag be flown at half staff until noon on this Memorial Day on all buildings, grounds, and naval vessels throughout the United States, and in all areas under its jurisdiction and control. I also request the people of the United States to display the flag at half staff from their homes for the customary forenoon period.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-first.

GEORGE W. BUSH

OK, I know I haven't written anything this week.  I have been trying to finish a chapter for my doctoral project.  But I didn't want of leave you comfortless, so I thought I would share this excerpt from my favorite Broadway musical to prepare us for a great weekend.  Enjoy your Memorial Day holiday everyone!

I am still up long after I should have been in bed.  Part of the reason is that I have an achy knee and the other matter is that I have much on my mind.  I will talk with you about some things, where I am not bound by concerns for confidentiality, at a later time.  Let me just make one statement for tonight and then I am off to try to settle in.

Determine with God's help to live your life for His glory making the most of every moment.

I am becoming more acutely aware of the truth that I have read in Scripture for more than 35 years and for the most part have failed to fully appreciate.  That truth is simply this: life is brief (Psalm 39:5; Psalm 90:10; James4:14).  The sudden death of Ben Marsh and Jerry Falwell serve as very real reminders of the fact, but in truth it is not something that I have just started thinking about in the last 10 days in which I have learned of their deaths.

My own physical life is bearing witness to the fact.  I battle high blood pressure, diabetes, and joints that are wearing out.  Doctors have recently cautioned me of needed "course corrections" in my life if I am to have the health I need to continue involvement in meaningful ministry and not see these health concerns spiral out of control.  I don't share this to alarm you or get you to feel sorry for me.  Much of the physical maladies that I endure are a product of heredity and my own poor health choices.  Heredity I can't do anything about, but I can make better choices related to the stewardship of the body God gave me and by His grace I will.

But aside from all of that, all of us are a heart beat from eternity.  A stray bullet, a drunken driver, a "silly and senseless accident," or a physical malady can take us away suddenly.  Right now is the time we have to make a difference.  By yielding ourselves to God and realizing the "lateness of the hour," we can use the time we have wisely and have an impact that will live beyond these physical bodies of ours.

Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.  (Romans 13:11-12 ESV)

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. (Ephesians 5:15-17 ESV)

Since Mother's Day has just past, let me take time to introduce you to my Mom.  Anna Lee Kelley was born on October 3, 1930 to Talton and Annie Bischer.  She was a mischievous and active young child who was stricken with polio in October of 1934 just after her fourth birthday.  Her parents were told that she would not live to see Christmas.

But, live she did!  After six months in a polio ward at hospital in Gastonia, she returned to the family home in Randleman, North Carolina.  Although the Bischers were a poor farm family struggling through the Great Depression, they found a way to take young Anna Lee to Greensboro, NC (20+ miles away) every other week to see the doctor.  Due to the sacrifice of her family, she continued to make progress and was soon walking with the aid of braces and crutches.

Mom soon was back to a pretty normal childhood (in spite of the braces and crutches).  She was a cut-up and often the instigator of mischief with her friend Charlene.  Ask me sometime and I will tell you about some of their pranks. The four year old who would never see Christmas entered school at age eight and graduated from Randleman High School in 1950 at the age of nineteen.

After high school, she attended business school in Greensboro.  While eating lunch at Woolworth's there, she met a young airman, John Kelley.  They soon married and settled on the farm with my grandma and grandpa.  Life was good and the business school days were gladly left behind.  Mom's real passion and desire all along was to be a wife and mother, but Mom's doctors had warned her against trying to have children.  They sternly advised that a pregnancy would certainly end in miscarriage and put her own life in jeopardy as well.

Needless to say, she didn't heed that advice.  Did I say that Mom was determined and stubborn?  To her great joy, she found that she was pregnant in March of 1955.  On November 2nd of that year, a baby boy was delivered by caesarean section and her ambitions were fulfilled.  After the birth, mom spent six weeks in the hospital in a body cast to strengthen her spine which had been taxed by the strain of carrying me to term.  What amazing love and sacrifice!

Many people have impacted my life and I owe each one a debt of gratitude.  Yet, I owe my Mom a debt that can never be repaid.  Anna Lee Kelley not only gave me life, but she gave me an example to follow.  I have had the privilege of knowing many great individuals, but none of them compare to Mom.  She is a true hero.

Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: "Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all." Proverbs 31:28-29 (English Standard Version)

While most of us were sleeping peacefully this morning, a debate aired on ABC News Now.  It was a debate between Christians and atheists over the existence of God.  Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron laid down a challenge to the atheistic Rational Response Team that they could prove the existence of God.  What followed in the debate hosted at Calvary Baptist Church in Manhattan and aired on ABC was not pretty.  Comfort and Cameron did not hold up well in the encounter and seemed stymied at times.  To be fair, the atheists: Brian Sapient and Kelly (no last name given), came off as angry, strident, and bitter in their diatribe.  The moderator of the debate, Martin Bashir, was not the most even handed arbiter either, but why should that surprise us?

Comfort and Cameron should have known better.  While I respect their efforts as evangelists, they are not the best apologists that the Christian world has to offer.  That aside, I am not sure that Christians ever "win" in a debating situation.  Scripture reminds us of several important truths:

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14 English Standard Version)

Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.  (2 Timothy 2:23-26 English Standard Version)

When I said that I was unsure that Christians ever "win" in debating situations, I was not stating that I believe the Christian faith to be irrational and indefensible.  Faith in Christ is logical, rational, and defensible, but arguing the point with unbelievers is mostly counterproductive.  Scripture does instruct us to be ready to offer a defense of our faith:

But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. (1 Peter 3:14-16 English Standard Version)

Scripture also instructs us to contend for the faith:

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (Jude 1:3-4 English Standard Version)

But neither of those passages instruct us to initiate a media spectacle that plays into the hands of the ungodly.  Besides as my daddy used to say, "You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar!"

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35 English Standard Version)

I praise God for a great time of prayer with the church family last night.  Usually, midweek prayer services in the churches of America are more focused on singing and Bible teaching than they are prayer, but last night we divided into groups and prayed through our entire church membership.  The prayer time stretched on over 35 minutes.  Now that might not seem like a long time, but when surveys show that the average Christian prays less than 5 minutes a day, that is a significant event.  I am glad that the people of God at Enon Chapel are committed to prayer.  I pray that we will truly become a House of Prayer that honors God.

Roy Ormond and his wife, Marjorie, are in need of our prayers.  Roy is near the end of his battle with cancer and Marjorie is gradually losing her sight.  It was good today, though, to hear Roy speak of the time when he trusted Jesus as his Savior.  Roy was a young marine back then stationed at Parris Island, but the gift of God through Jesus is imperishable and eternal:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith--more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:3-9 ESV)

Embedded near the middle of the sixth chapter of the Gospel according to John is an interesting exchange between Jesus and the crowd.  The crowd had lately been miraculously feed by Jesus and sought to make Him their King.  This exchange merits our attention and our reflection:

Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." Then they said to him, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." So they said to him, "Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." (John 6:26-40 ESV)

The crowd asked Jesus, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?"  That is "How can we be right with God?"  Jesus answered them plainly, "This is the work of God that you believe in him who he has sent." Faith is our response to God's gift of salvation. Sometimes you and I get this all mixed up. We think our work is to earn our salvation and so we try our hardest to save ourselves by doing good things instead of trusting in God and being obedient to his will.  Jesus reveals in this passage that salvation is the gift of God that is the Bread of Life and we are to receive Jesus and trust Him.

Notice especially these words in verse 27, "which the Son of Man will give to you."  They are important as we consider this matter of salvation.  "Give", as the dictionary defines it, means " to make a present of; to grant or bestow by formal action; or to put into the possession of another for his or her use." Jesus is the Giver of salvation which He has bestowed by His death and resurrection and put into our account by grace through faith.  Notice Jesus doesn’t say anything about us working for this gift, or earning this gift, or achieving this gift for ourselves, but Jesus says he will give it to us, it is ours, a free gift. Our response, as Jesus says, is to believe in Him who God has sent . We respond in faith to Jesus Christ who gives us salvation.

Robert Webber died Friday, April 27th at 6:10 PM (Eastern time) in his wife, Joanne's arms, after his 8 month battle with pancreatic cancer.  Please keep his wife, Joanne, their four children and seven grandchildren, and the Northern Seminary faculty, staff, and students in your prayers.  Besides being a loving and faithful husband, dad, and grandfather, Dr. Webber enjoyed a 47 year ministry as a college and seminary professor.

Robert Webber was a brother in Christ through which God gave incredible gifts to the Church in so many ways.  His impact for the Kingdom will live on.  The major legacy of Dr. Webber's work and witness has been in bringing worship and ministry back to their historical Christian roots as established by the early church.  His scholarly, yet spiritually sensitive research has resulted in the publication of significant works like The Complete Library of Christian Worship and the Ancient-Future Series.  Probably even more important is the generation of pastors and worship leaders who have been encouraged, challenged and shaped by his teaching ministry.