Author: Jon Partlow

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Flag on the Play: Excessive Celebration, Taunting & UnChristian-Like Conduct

Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice, or the Lord will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from him.
(Proverbs 24:17-18)

They were spectators at the event; most had never been competitors. The fans were riled as they cheered, booed and screamed at the opposition. Objects were thrown. Insults were hurled like rocks at the opponents. The game was over and the only thing left to do was to humiliate the losers. And they did.

The moment wasn’t a sporting event, but the fall of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. Edom stood by and watched, applauded and gloated as bystanders to the punishment of God. But God was watching too and he wasn’t impressed.

Edom and Israel were “cousins.” Their histories were tied together because they were tied to twin brothers, Jacob and Esau, the sons of Isaac and grandsons to Abraham. God had blessed both nations and placed a protective hedge around each. In the conquest of Canaan, the land of Edom was exempt from Israel occupation. It wasn’t that Israel and Edom was close allies. They weren’t. Edom refused Israel’s request to pass through their lands (Num. 20:14-21). Under David’s reign, Edom was treated with cruelty (1 King. 11:15-16). They had a history of hostility.

So when Jerusalem fell to Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylon Empire,* Edom celebrated. And boy did they celebrate! They danced. They taunted. They threw garbage on the victims. It was a celebration of shame.

Nebuchadnezzar was God’s ordained instrument to punish and bring judgement on Israel. Babylon had every divine right to march on Jerusalem, destroy the city and exile its citizens. But even so, God always caps his punishment. Thus, Edom broke God’s rule for engagement: never celebrate the fall of your enemy. It was then that God threw a flag on their play.

So God sent Obadiah to Edom to proclaim a series of rebukes against them. In one short chapter, they were confronted for four sins. First, since they were prideful, God will humble them just like Israel was humbled (v. 2-3). Secondly, they were complicit in the crimes against Israel. While Edom passively sat by and watched, doing nothing to help their neighbor, Israel being pillaged, God will stand by and allow Edom to suffer the same fate (v. 6-7, 11-12). Apparently, Babylon overreached their divine mandate as an instrument of punishment from God so that Edom’s turning a blind eye on behalf of their cousin and neighbor equated to turning their backs on God  (see Luke 10:25-37). Thirdly, as Israel was escaping their enemy, Edom harassed and captured the stragglers and survivors, turning them over to the Babylonians officials. So much for being passive, they made sure Babylon succeeded. God will make sure Edom will have no survivors (v. 14,18). Finally, those who participated in the dispossession of the land will find themselves disposed of their land (v. 13,19). The penalty set Edom back and they never recovered.

We’re competitive people. We like to win. But the rules of engagement mean we play and win with grace. When our enemies fall, we refuse to kick and stomp on them. When our most hated sports rival loses, we celebrate our team without taunting the rival team. When the politician on the other side of the aisle loses, we still treat him/her with dignified respect. When our “frienemy” (i.e. friend + enemy) faces a tough time, we refuse to gloat. The reason is simple. Not only do we abide by the Golden Rule, we also abide by God’s rule of engagement: we never celebrate the fall of our enemy. We certainly don’t want God to throw a flag on the play.

“But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).

Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is glorified)

* We do not know the exact date for Obadiah, but the fall of Jerusalem makes a compelling case because of the similarities to Jeremiah’s message.

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A Witness to the World: Where the Heart of Jesus is Revealed in Each Other

The last words Jesus spoke before his ascension encouraged his disciples to bring the gospel to the nations. In Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus commands his followers to “make disciples” by their “going,” “baptizing” and “teaching to obey” what Jesus taught them. Jesus assumes his people will be sharing the gospel, an assumption seen in Luke’s record. In Acts 1:8 Jesus predicts their role in the coming days. They were going to be “witnesses” of Christ “in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (probably a call to evangelize the Gentiles).

Most people gravitate toward these two verses when talking about reaching the lost. And my guess is that Matthew 28 is the key source of motivation for any evangelistic ministry. That said, two more verses should hold a greater weight for understanding how the church can reach the lost, especially in a society less and less impressed with a direct approach to sharing the gospel. Both verses are found in John’s gospel.

The background for both statements come from the Upper Room (Jn. 13-17). The intimate dining scene opens with Jesus washing his disciples’ feet and concludes with his lengthy prayer, before they head out to the Kidron Valley where he’ll get arrested.

When Jesus predicted Peter’s denial, he gave the command to “love one another” (13:34). While Jesus claimed the command was new, it was actually re-envisioned from Leviticus 19:17-18. The punch is that Jesus said the quality of discipleship is measured in love. If we learn to love the people around us, the world will take note. Most people are starving for relationships based on acceptance and tolerance. When we experience God’s love in our life and graciously offer it to others, such witnessing will act as a magnet to those seeking something deeper in their lives.

The second verse emerges from Jesus’ prayer. As he’s interceding for the church unity, he’s hoping that the church’s harmony will not only confirm Jesus’ role, but prove to the world that God loves them (17:23). The tighter the unity, the more the church’s presence points to Jesus. When the church finds the grace to stay unified, the world believes that God really does love them.

Throughout history, the church has struggled with its witness. While we’ve been good about bringing a doctrinal message to the world (i.e. going, baptizing and teaching) and we’ve been willing to share our faith (i.e. witnessing), we’ve struggled with a passion for unity. The list of “doctrines” that separate churches and groups seem to never end. It’s almost like we look for a way to divide instead of looking for a way to maintain unity. I can almost hear the pushback now, “But God commands ______.” Yes he does. But Jesus prayed for unity, and the world is looking for a group of followers who are willing to love, accept and forgive. They’re looking for Jesus in the hearts of those who claim to follow Jesus.

Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is glorified!)

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CHURCH: Something Special

Something special happens on Sundays, but defining what that “something special” is often leads to debate. Some refer to Sunday as “Going to church,” which is misleading because America’s use of the word, “church,” denotes a building instead of a group of people. Others talk less about “church” and instead speak about “Going to preachin’,” which highlights the importance placed on the bulk of our time together. In other words, the statement reflects that half the time we spend together is spent listening to the sermon. Something special happens on Sundays, but what exactly is it?

For most of us, the sermon has always been center stage to our Sunday time together. But it may not have always been that way. According to Dan Dozier, Come Let Us Adore Him (College Press, 1994), a perception-shift occurred during the rise of the Revival/Gospel Meeting (R/GM) era. While other factors came into play – the located preacher, use of electricity and the Sunday evening services – the R/GM may have had negative consequences to the weekly service.

Local congregations began wanting to duplicate the success of the R/GM in both conversions and quality of preaching. I don’t really blame them. Repentance and renewal was evident in the number of people responding to the invitation call to dedicate/rededicate their lives to God. The largest response was probably the number of baptisms that took place during the R/GM era. So the common thought was that if we could elevate the quality of preaching on Sundays and direct it at the non-believer, then we could experience the R/GM fifty-two Sundays a year. People will repent and baptisms will increase. Such thinking shaped our Sundays into the kind of “something special” we often hoped for, but leaving us empty.

Two problems came with this shift in thinking. First, we thought if we had the right model, we’d find the right results. What was missing was both the amount of prayer and hard work that went into the R/GM gatherings. The church prayed for the lost and went out into the community to plant the seed for the preacher during the R/GM. The response during the invitation was the church celebrating the harvest of those repenting from sins and renewing their covenant with God.

Secondly, it placed an unbalanced weight on preaching or conversion as the reason for the gathering. Instead of the assembly being driven by mutual edification for the saints (1 Cor. 14:26b), its drive is for the outsiders (even that focus is poorly executed). While the sermon may be geared toward the “sinner,” it’s shaped to appeal to the “saints.” Songs are sung that the church loves but usually unknown to outsiders. And what are non-believers and seekers supposed to do with the Lord’s Supper?

Maybe the “something special” was never about converting a person during a thirty minute sermon on Sunday morning. Certainly, the element of the worship is a witness to the non-believer (1 Cor. 14:23), but those who assemble are believers. They are the ones who experience the “something special.”

Acts 20:7 may shed some light onto what the “something special” is. The verse reads, “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread.” While this verse is no stranger to us, we may have missed its own cue. Instead of debating when the church met to break bread, we should ask, “What drove the church to assemble in the first place?” According to this verse, instead of coming together to worship, out of which they partook of the Lord’s Supper; they came together for the Lord’s Supper, out of which they worshiped.

The focus of our time together is not on preaching or converting (though both are important), but about sharing this meal together (which may be a good reason to deeply explore the implications of the Lord’s Supper more often). When we recline at the Table with our Savior and Break Bread with one another, then and only then, will we experience something special.

Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is glorified!)

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With Liberty and Justice . . . for All?

As we stand before the flag with our hands over our hearts, we make two bold proclamations to this Republic we call The United States of America. First, we cherish liberty. Freedom is our rallying call as we live in a society without fear from oppressive restrictions placed on the people by authoritarian rule. Secondly, justice is guaranteed to everyone without limiting its scope to the privileged. We stand and recite this lofty declaration, but too often our actions fail to reach the height of our words.

Liberty and Justice are two words rooted in the Biblical narrative, but maybe not in the way you think. Liberty is connected to slavery (e.g. Ex. 21:2), but is neither associated with the Exodus of Israel from Egypt nor to the Exile into Babylon (see NIVDNTT 1:715-16). We often use “liberation” in a political sense, while the Bible does not. By the New Testament, “liberation” takes even less of a political meaning, as it talks about the freedoms of Christians. We’ve been liberated from sin and death, while given the independence to live freely in Christ (Jn. 10:10; Gal. 5:13).

Justice is a stronger word, both in the Old and New Testaments, and its connection to righteousness cannot be overlooked. The Psalmist declares that God’s righteousness and justice is foundational to his throne (i.e. kingdom [Ps. 89:14]), meaning that God will always treat his people fairly as he administers his justice. As the Psalmist continues, God’s righteous justice is driven by his faithfulness to the covenant he made to Israel, which is less to a set of rules and more to a relationship he established.

In the New Testament the words for righteousness and justice come from the same word (i.e. diatheke). One may assume that the road to God’s righteousness is paved by treating everyone fairly and equally without concern for power, position and political cover. Such a theme hits hard and often in Scripture as God utters strong words against the powerful abusing their position against the poor and the weak. For instance, Amos’ oracles against the nations include sins of brutal warfare, dehumanizing people by trading/treating them as if they were cattle, violating treaties, desecrating sacred burial places, breaking God’s covenant, trampling the poor and denying justice to the oppressed (Amos 1-2). The heart of God is the freedom we have to ensure that everyone is treated with his fairness. In other words, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18; Mt. 22:34-30; Mk. 12:28-34; Lk. 10: 25-37; Jas. 2:8).

If a nation, such as America, is going to claim its Christian roots or identity, then it must continue to struggle with “justice,” not for some but for all. Justice has not always been handled fairly or biblically in our land, because groups of people and individuals have been oppressed and/or marginalized in the process.

As an agent of God, the government’s role is to administer justice (Rom. 13:1-5). That said, the church must be the moral conscience to the government in assuring justice is reached, especially when people’s rights have been trampled (Prov. 31:8-9). It’s risky, and often an unpopular move, to stand and speak where people refuse to look. It’s easy to turn a blind eye when the unrighteous and injustice act doesn’t involve you. But where rights are violated and abuse is prevalent, then it falls to the church to hold the government and society accountable.

As we stand as both, Americans and Christians, to declare “liberty and justice for all,” let’s make sure that justice ends with an exclamation mark, not a question mark.

Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is glorified!)

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Black & White

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right-doing is a field.
I’ll meet you there.”
(ancient proverb)

On a warm September evening, a young man was eating ice cream on his couch in his apartment. He was watching TV when someone entered his apartment and killed him. The simplicity of an innocent man shot and murdered in his own home gives way to the complexity of the situation. The victim was black, and the suspect was white. The victim was a Christian man working with a local church’s youth, and the suspect was an off duty police officer. The victim’s story was simple, though sources tried to convolute it. The suspect’s story never really made sense. The officer worked a double shift and mistook the victim’s apartment for her own (how didn’t she notice the bright red “welcome” mat at the door?). Instead of calling for backup, she immediately pulled her weapon to kill what she thought was an intruder.

The victim, Botham Jean, from Saint Lucia, an island in the eastern Caribbean, was part of my fold. He was rooted in Churches of Christ, baptized at the age of nine, and a graduate of my alma mater, Harding University. From all accounts, he was a leader and servant, always looking to help his community and the people he contacted. All of who he was and could have been was stripped from him by one moment in time.

As we watched this story unfold, and I suspect that Botham’s story continues to unfold, three items are worth underscoring. First, the “black and white” dynamic is too obvious to ignore: a black man is shot to death by a white cop. It’s uncomfortable for me to even write those words. The pieces of evidence that emerged to turn this from a mistaken or careless moment into racism escalated when the Dallas Police Department attempted a smear campaign to discredit Botham’s character (a lawsuit is underway). Then, during the sentencing hearing, the officer’s text messages revealed racially charged statements. Whether or not the murder was racially motivated is still debated. That the officer held on to racists’ thoughts and expressed them to friends makes this moment feel like a racially charged crime.

Secondly, our country is still struggling to find justice in our criminal cases. The now ex-cop was given a 10 year jail sentence with possible parole in five years. The prosecution was hoping for a 28 year sentence to reflect Botham’s age at the time of the incident. She could have been given up to 99 years, which seemed to be the hope of the protesters. The justice system is supposed to be blind, but too often does view the world in “black and white.” Data in the prison systems will confirm that more people of color go to jail, and are given harsher sentences than those who are white. So while the Constitution speaks of equality, the application of the Constitution gets distorted by our own bias, prejudice and preconceived opinions rooted in the color of people. We are a fallen and sinful people.

Finally, the path forward came on the day of sentencing. Botham’s brother, Brandt, took the stand. He looked at the defendant, Amber Guyer, and what could have been words filled with hate and anger, were words filled with compassion and mercy. “I love you,” he said, “just like anyone else and I’m not going to hope you rot and die. I personally want the best for you . . . because I know that’s what Botham would want for you . . ..” He then turned to the judge and asked if he could give Amber a hug. She granted the unorthodox request. Brandt took only a couple of steps toward Amber when she ran into his arms like they were long lost friends reunited, like the way the Prodigal Son should have been welcomed home by his brother.

On a warm October afternoon, a young man is sitting in the grace of his reward and he smiles. He smiles, not because of his reward, but because his Savior gave his brother the power to seek justice, mercy and faithfulness, which is always beyond the black and white.

Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is glorified!)

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24: A Chance for Equality

My childhood backyard basketball court provided an area for some great but challenging hoops moments. In the early 70’s my dad mounted the backboard to the roof of an extended part of the house directly underneath the patio roof (and as of this article, still stands there today). The goal was over eight feet tall which meant two realities. One, we could dunk the ball in high school. Two, we had no arch for our outside shots. Because of the position of the goal, the court was far from symmetrical, opening up the left wing while bunching up the right side (when the ball touched the house, it was out of bounds). The closed-in quarters was perfect for up to two-on-two games.

My brother, David, and I played many games on that court, and he probably won most of them. He was three years older than me and that court played to his advantage. When he pressured the ball, I might have been able to get a step around him for a layup. When he backed off the ball, it forced me to shoot an outside shot, and with very little arch to the shot, he’d block it. His offensive approach was to back me down where he could sky-hook the ball into the hoops.

It wasn’t that David was a better ball player than me, it was that he was a bigger boy than me.

One day he came to me with a proposition that was an “out of the box” kind of idea. While some might remedy the imbalance by simply spotting me x-points to start the game, David thought differently.

Inspired by the NBA’s twenty-four second shot clock rule, he proposed that we play like there are twenty-four seconds left in the game and we have a five second shot clock. We’d be forced to speed up our play. He couldn’t back me down quickly and use his size and strength over me. The game gave me a fighting chance for equality by balancing the power. If I remember right, his idea worked and it executed the equality needed for our games.

David stumbled onto something theologically rich, especially when looking at what happened at the cross. By eliminating the disadvantages and grip sin has on our lives and by giving us the Holy Spirit, God creates a chance for equality in the fight against sin. Instead of losing every battle with sin, we’re given the power to stand against it, as John says, “Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world” (1 Jn. 4:4). Where we once faced defeat, we now can face victory.

But the call for equality stretches beyond the individual and works its way throughout the church. The church was set up as an equalizer among the people. Because we all belong to Jesus, we no longer view people in terms of status or strength (Gal. 3:28-29). I’m not a better Christian because of family connections, wealth, race, education, age, place of origin and/or using any earthly position as an advantage stands against Jesus’ work at the cross.

No clearer picture of the church’s equalizer appears than when we gather around the Table as one. As Paul points out, the one loaf (or one cup) represents the unity, oneness and equality found at the cross (1 Cor. 10:17). We’re all in this together and no one has a size advantage, either against sin or in a relationship with God.

My brother and I played many games under the “24” format, but it never translated to another venue. Open spaces was its own equalizers. No other place offers a chance for equality than when the church sits around the Table in need of Jesus.

Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is glorified!)

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Redemption on Your Next Flight

“God help me.” Whip Whitaker, played by Denzel Washington in the movie Flight, uttered those words under his breath as he sat before the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) at a hearing to defend his actions. Sweat began to bead up on his forehead and his throat was suddenly parched. His hands began to shake as he reached for a glass of water. His defense had been rehearsed and prepared. He wasn’t going to jail for a manufacturing problem with the airline. The skill he mastered over years of experience saved nearly a hundred lives. But in this moment all he could muster from his dry, crackling voice was repeating his words, “God help me!”

Whitaker is a hero. Because of a damaged elevator assembly jackscrew, the flight from Orlando to Atlanta began losing altitude. Whitaker was at the helm of the commercial plane, and without his skill, the plane was sure to crash. He attempted an impossible role-over and soft-landed the aircraft in an open field, saving 96 passengers out of a manifest of 102 (he lost two crew members in the crash).

But something was amiss. While in the hospital, his blood showed he was intoxicated during the flight. Whitaker never denies being drunk, as much as he blamed the crash on a faulty aircraft. But he was not only drunk, he was high on cocaine as well. Whitaker never should have been on the flight, much less near a plane. But the crash wasn’t his fault, and he saved nearly 100 lives in the process.

Throughout the movie, Whitaker’s defensive posture is to blame the airplane and bury his drug addiction. He pressures and coerces a long time coworker and flight attendant to say he was sober on the flight, at the funeral for fellow stewardess, Trina, who died in the crash. But when he speaks to his copilot, Ken Evans, he wasn’t buying what Whitaker was selling. Ken was going to tell the truth about Whitaker’s drunken state.

By the time Whitaker met before the NTSB his toxicology report had been thrown out on technicality. He was free and clear to testify about his state of mind and decisions while on the flight. But a perfect storm was stirring within him and they all collided as he sat for his hearing.

First, his personal life was unraveling by the moment. His wife left him and he had no relationship with his son. The addict he was seeing had left him because she wanted to be sober. His coworkers were tired of covering for him. And the only constant was the alcohol calling to him. He was as far, if not farther, away from God as the prodigal was in the pig pen.

Secondly, prayer took root in his heart when Ken interceded for Whip. Before failing to convince Ken to lie or deflect the investigation away from him, Ken wanted to pray for Whip. Ken held fundamental beliefs and was convinced that everything happens for a specific reason. Portrayed as almost laughable in his convictions, he earnestly prayed for Whip’s redemption. While all appearance looked like the seed fell on hardened soil, apparently it penetrated his soul.

Finally, hard alcohol bottles were discovered in waste cans of the wreckage, disposed of by Whip while on the flight. But at the hearing, and with his toxicology report inadmissible, the blame went to Trina. She was the stewardess who died saving a boy during the severe turbulence, and Whip had been intimate with before the flight. Whip was offered a free pass. He could have walked away and allowed Trina to take the fall.

“God help me” was all Whitaker could muster as he drank his water to clear his throat. Yes, the plane’s mechanical problems predate the flight. Yes, he saved 96 people on board. But he had endangered every life on that plane plus the crew through his addiction. His estranged relationship with his wife and son were haunting him. He was alone with his conscience and the guilt was overwhelming. It was time to come clean. Having owned his negligence, that last scene in the movie is an imprisoned man free from hiding, openly confessing his sin to fellow AA inmates.

If Flight had a message it’s found in the theme of hopeful redemption. For if God can redeem a spiritually bankrupt person like Whip Whitaker, then he can redeem you.

Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is glorified!)

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Fallen: Not Just Deflated

God’s creation reaches beyond imagination or comprehension. He called the universe into existence. He spoke; it happened. Light. Earth. Sky. Water. Land. Vegetation. Creatures. Sun, moon, stars. Humanity.

He created a garden in Eden and gave it to the man and woman to work it as a holy and sacred ministry. Paradise was born as the beautiful harmony of this world sang its chorus to the Almighty; God and humanity danced in tandem. God never claimed his creation was perfect. But as a smile broke across his face like the rising sun, he said, “It’s very good.” Grace at its easiest.

But good gave way to bad. Sin began destroying all the “good” God had accomplished. Pride. Jealousy. Anger. Murder. Revenge. Social injustice. The world wasn’t simply deflating slowly over time. Sin, not only entered the world (Rom. 15:12), but had exploded and the fallout was a falling from the greatest height of grace.

Humanity’s history is filled with the evidence of a fallen world. On the world stage, we see it at its worst. World War I’s Battle of Somme lasting over five months, has become known as the bloodiest battle in history. A combination of strategic missteps coupled with a compact battle field using unprecedented modern weaponry led to a million soldiers’ deaths (the irony is that many believed the modern weapons would shorten war, not lengthen it). Or what about ruthless dictators refusing to serve the people they lead. Instead, to keep control they inflict harsh living conditions and any dissenting voice is eliminated. Syrian ruler Bashar Assad used chemical weapons against both civilian and rebel populations, killing some 1500 people. Or when we see slavery’s racism, forced relocations and carrying out genocide, we are seeing a world not just deflated, but completely and utterly fallen.

On the personal stage we experience anger, hostility, lying, boasting, abuse, unfaithfulness, dehumanization, apathy, jealousy, hatred, lust and the list is endless. The worst is that we’ve perfected the art of justifying our sinful behavior and believe we’re saintly in our own sin.

But just as death entered the world through one man, life was restored through one man (Rom. 5:12-19).

Jesus’ resurrection reaches beyond imagination or comprehension. White robes. Fresh water. Past sins erased. Freedom’s walk. Guiltless. Death is supposed to be the final word. On that (Easter) Sunday morning sin lost its grip and death had no hold. Death was silenced. In the distant voice you can hear, “I am making all things new” (Rev. 21:5). New. Like God was creating at the beginning. Now God is recreating. New. Like a garden place where God and humanity share in tandem. New. Like a choral sound that actually sounded like a familiar tune with a new twist.

So God comes to us and sees that we’ve broken his world. Instead of shame, guilt and punishment, he says, “I’m working on a new world, and it will never deflate, break or fall (Rev. 21:1).

Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is glorified!)

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Good News: In a World Filled with Bad News

In 1983 Anne Murray lamented the barrage of bad news in our society. She highlighted fighting in the Middle East, the bad economy, a local murder, a hostage situation and a robbery. She called for something more than bad news, she wanted reports of good news. She dreamed of reports of Ireland children playing in the streets, people working together, or how the environment was cleaned up. The song resonated with the public, not only going number one, but earning her a Grammy.

Thirty plus years later, her lament is still heard loud and clear. In some ways it’s worse than when the song was released. The 24 hour news cycle, filled with talking heads, have added to the despondency. Mass shootings have citizens walking in fear, or at least created a more fearful awareness of our surroundings. Washington Politics have further divided the American public, creating more suspicion and less trust. We’re desperate for some real good news.

When Jesus stepped onto the stage to begin his ministry, he called people to the good news of God’s kingdom (Mk. 1:14). Did you hear that? Jesus is about good news! The decisive moment God acts on behalf of mankind had come. Salvation was living among them. It was time to turn tone deaf on all the bad news.

Jesus brought good news when the demons met their match. At the time the land was a playground for the demonic world, and they played havoc with people’s lives. But Jesus was a force of good to be reckoned with, and they were unable to stand before him.

Jesus brought good news when the curtain was torn from top to bottom. Everything that separated mankind from God was removed by Jesus. The sin, the guilt and the shame were all erased. When Jesus hung out with the “sinners,” he was not endorsing a lifestyle, he was endorsing life. When Jesus forgave sin, he was showing his salvation purpose: he came to save not to condemn.

Jesus brought good news when he created unity among a dis-unified world. The barriers we tend to erect like status, race, education level, school loyalty, ideology, national loyalty, etc. are irrelevant to Jesus. Instead of looking for a reason to divide, we’re given permission to seek a reason to unite.

Jesus brought good news to the marginalized, the abandoned and the lonely. The woman at the well. Zacchaeus. The woman caught in adultery.  Blind Bartimaeus. The children. The woman anointing Jesus. Levi. All were living on the fringes of society, but welcomed and loved by the Savior. They found a place to belong in Jesus.

Jesus brought good news, but we tend to gravitate to the bad news. We take gospel and turn it into anything but gospel. Jesus instill confidence while we pervert it into fear, fear of failure and fear of hell. Jesus offers a light yoke, but we’ve managed to make it into a heavy burden. We nick-pic the church, its ministries and its members without any self-reflection. At the end of the day we wonder why the church struggles to grow or even maintain a consistent attendance. Maybe what we need to do is return to focusing on the hope of good news.

By focusing on the good news in our churches, we might not write a Grammy award song, but the song we sing will be a song worth singing.  

Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is glorifi

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Land That I Love!

The United States of America holds some of the most beautiful, awe-inspiring sights people could behold. While my favorites have always included the Pacific Northwest, yours could be Glacier National Park, Niagara Falls, Garden of the Gods, Gulf of Mexico or the Kona Coast. Once you catch a glimpse of these places, you almost feel like God has opened a window into heaven where we witness his majesty, or you wonder if the Garden of Eden was anything like what we’ve seen.

But the beautiful, heavenly-like places are in danger as the damage caused by humanity’s careless and calloused footprint threatens its very existence. Trash by campers and hikers ignoring the “Leave No Trace” plea eventually deface the value of the beauty we’re drawn to. Careless and reckless actions, like setting off fireworks in wooded areas or failure to monitor a campfire, has burned forests to the ground. From oil spills to industrial runoff the waterways have been contaminated. The lack of respect shown to the land has continued to devalue the beauty before us.

During the summer of 1987, my brother and I spent the holiday weekend at Alabama Gulf Coast. One of the things I remember the most was the number of glass beer bottles floating in the ocean waters. Was it an accident? Probably not as numerous bottles were floating in the waters. Even thirty plus years later, I can’t get my head wrapped around such indifference to the environment. Why trash the Land that I Love?

I’m not sure I can answer that question, but maybe the physical picture of the “land that I love,” is a reflection of the spiritual element. The land is trashed because our own lives have been trashed. We don’t respect the land before us because we don’t respect ourselves and each other. So we speak with hateful, demeaning and dehumanizing words, while justifying it in the process.

Words matter. They can hurt people or help heal them. They can destroy someone’s confidence or build them up. They can be used either to backstab or to protect one’s backside. They can be like salt water or like fresh water. They can curse our fellow man or glorify God (see Jas. 3:9-12). Words are an expression of our spiritual vitality.

Jesus says that what we say emerges from our hearts (Mk. 7:20-23). Just listen long enough to the words people say to each other. If they are filled with kindness, compassion and generosity then their hearts are pure. If you’re like me, you’ve probably got your fill of the disrespect, vile and demonizing language being not only freely used but also even being rationalized. And the result is the “Land” is devolving into nothing more than a cesspool of our own verbal excrement.

If you find yourself sick of the trash, then it’s time to clean it up. I’m not addressing the “swearing” or “cussing” though we could discuss that too. I’m talking about the cruel way we speak of each other, and about people in general. Stop using such language. Stop believing others are “speaking their minds” when they’re revealing their hearts. Stop buying into the lie that words don’t matter. It’s trashing our society, our community, our churches and destroying the Land that I Love.

Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is glorified!)