Giving Thanks

I just returned from a community Thanksgiving Service at Eva Drive Baptist Church and wanted to express my thanks to God for such an awesome worship service.  We had at least 4 churches gathered together to lift up praise to our heavenly father for all that He has done for us in Jesus Christ.  We sang songs of praise that were a mixture of Gospel songs, hymns and contemporary.  We prayed, testified and heard one of  the most powerful messages about thanksgiving that I have ever heard.

What was even more special was that the message was given by my dad, Don Davis.  Dad is just a little over a month short of being 79 years old but had the energy of a 20 year old as he preached in the power of the Holy Spirit. His message was from Psalm 100 and it reminded us that Thanksgiving is an action.

So I just wanted to share a few things for which I am thankful:

I am thankful that Jesus said "It is Finished".  I am thankful that my salvation is not dependent upon my faithfulness, but upon His. I am thankful that my salvation was completed at the cross and sealed at the resurrection.  I am thankful to be able to say that I am saved, I am being saved and one day I will be saved.  I am thankful that the hope that I have in Christ is secured.

I am thankful for a wife that loves me and stands by my side.  I am thankful for her love for Jesus that is seen in how she loves me.  I am thankful that she is my prayer warrior.  I am thankful for our three children who each love the Lord and serve him in their own way.  I am thankful to be their dad.

I am thankful for parents who love Jesus and who instilled that love into their children.  I am thankful that they are still teaching others that you never retire from serving the Lord.  I am thankful for a brother and a sister that I can still look up to.

I am thankful for generations past.  I am thankful for the foundation that was laid in my families life through both mine and my wife's grandparents.  I am thankful for my mother in law, Frances who has gone home to be with the Lord.  I am thankful for how much she taught me to enjoy life.

I am thankful for a church that demonstrates the love and grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  I am thankful that they know that it is more important to be the church than go to church.  I am thankful that they have been willing to be a little different and to think outside of the box.  I am thankful that we have learned that outreach happens in the community and not in a building.

I am thankful for so much and I could go on and on.  But now it is your turn.  Take some time to write down and share with someone all the things for which you are thankful.

Where to From Here

Now that our government through the actions of 5 men and women in black robes, has changed the definition of marriage, where do we go from here?  First, we need to recognize where we are.  We now find ourselves, where the majority of Christians have lived throughout history, our values are at odds with the dominant culture.  Our culture has shifted from a Judeo-Christian foundation to a neo-pagan mindset.  Rights are now more important than duty and responsibility.  Those rights are no longer seen as unalienable because they are endowed by our creator, but our now given by government. The church’s voice is now marginalized in our culture.  Our voice no longer carries the day.  Even in this moment, however, we do not despair.  God was not surprised by today’s decision neither is he intimidated by it.  Although this decision was made by the highest court in the land, they are not the ultimate court.  God’s judgment is still the final judgment.  His definition of marriage has not changed.  His view of marriage did not carry the day, but it will carry for eternity.

Second, we must pray.  Our enemy is not the judges of the Supreme Court, politicians, nor anyone whose desire it was to destroy marriage by changing its definition.  We do not fight against flesh and blood, Paul says but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)  Our enemy seeks to destroy individuals by giving them what they think they want.  Our weapon in this battle is prayer. We are to be praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication (Ephesians 6:18).

Third, we must invest in people’s lives so that we can share Christ.  The wages of sin is death.  Death is not just eternal death, but death and destruction here in now.  The good news is that Jesus has conquered death.  He can bring life and transform lives.  Romans 1 does speak of homosexual sin but it also reminds us of other sins such as covetousness, malice,  envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness, gossip, slanderers, insolent, pride, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.  All these sins lead to destruction and pain.  But we have a message of hope to hurting people and we must put ourselves in a position to share that good news.  As Tim Keller reminds us, “the more hostile the culture, the easier it is to communicate the difference of Christianity.”  We have an opportunity show forth the clear difference that Christ makes.

Fourth, we must renew our commitment to each other.  As Christian brothers and sisters, we need each other now more than ever.  Jesus said, they will know you are my disciples by your love one for another.   We must hold fast to all those who believe the fundamentals of the faith.  We may differ on secondary issues but we can love all those who have called upon the name of the Lord Jesus.  We need each other.

Finally, we must invest in our own marriages.  The reason that the definition of marriage could be changed so easily today is that we have already changed its definition.  God’s definition of marriage is to be between a man and a woman, but it is also a lifetime commitment.  No marriage is perfect, because no person is perfect but we must strive by God’s grace to make our marriages all that they can be.  Let us allow this decision today to help us take the log out of our own eye, to recommit ourselves love our spouse and our children the way God would have us to.

You may feel shaken today.  But remember, God is still on his throne.  The culture of the first century was diametrically opposed to the Gospel, but the Gospel transformed that culture and it can do so again.  May we pray to that end.

For Want of a Pastor

I was listening to some comments this week from the pastor of one of America's largest churches.  I am not going to name him, but if I did you would most likely know him.  My sense is however that what he said is emblematic of the attitude of too many young pastors in America today.  In speaking to pastor's, this pastor basically said, "I have trouble with the term shepherd.  I am not a shepherd.  That term does not speak to me.  I don't live a pastoral life.  I am a leader."

I do not refute that one of the jobs of as shepherd is to lead.  What I have a problem with is that the term shepherd signifies the kind of leadership that pastors are to have.  It should not matter if we pastor a church in a metropolitan city, we are still called to shepherd the flock of God (1 Peter 5:2).  To say that we should not identify ourselves as a shepherd is to say that the word of God is not timeless.  God chose the word specifically.  There are other words for leader in the Greek language that could have been employed.  But the Bible uses the word shepherd to describe the work of the pastor.   Just because I don't live in a pastoral setting does not negate the truth that I can learn what it means to be one.

Rather than becoming shepherds, too many pastors are becoming leaders.  Instead of learning from the good shepherd how to lead the flock of God, we learning from the business world how to lead "The Church Inc."  Instead of feeding the sheep, we want to lead the sheep to fulfill our vision.  Instead of protecting the sheep, we want to build a big church.  Instead of healing the sheep, we want to discard any sheep who do not get behind our vision.  Instead of serving, we want to our vision to be served.  Jesus reminded us long ago, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,  and whoever would be first among you must be your slave,  even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Matthew 20:25-28

The best book on leadership for pastor's does not come from Peter Drucker or the Harvard School of Business.  It comes from the Bible.  We would see healthier churches and healthier pastors, if we spent more time learning from the Great Shepherd than from any other source.

Idols, Idols everywhere

John Calvin famously said, "from this we gather that man's nature, so to speak, is a perpetual factory of idols."  We in the west would scoff at this quote for most of us don't have little wooden or gold statues hanging around our house.  We Christians would scoff and say that we don't have idols, we worship the true and living God. When we think this, we forget what an idol is.  An idol is anything that we place ahead of God in our hearts.  Our idol can be good things in our lives when we place them in the category of ultimate importance.

What are some of the idols that we in the church have today:

Acceptance and Approval -- when we long for the acceptance and approval of others rather than living in the acceptance and approval that God has given us we are worshipping an idol

Our Families -- when our family takes first place in our lives and put them ahead of God, our family is an idol.  "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes even his own life, he cannot be my disciple."

Our Church or Pastor, or Favorite Preacher on Television -- when we choose to believe what others tell us the Bible says rather than reading it for ourselves, we set them up as idols in our lives.  We turn to others rather than turning to God.

These are just a few but the list can go on and on.  The good news is that we are not saved by the quality of our worship for if it were, we would fail.  Our acceptance by God is based on the fact that Jesus never had an idol.  He worshipped the Lord perfectly and died in our place.  Take time to check your heart, ask God to reveal your idols.  Then turn from those idols and worship the one true God.

Why we cry at funerals

Over the last several weeks, I have seen friends and family face serious health issues, terminal diseases and the death of loved ones.  I have shed tears and tried to comfort many who are grieving the loss of health and life.  Some would ask, why do you cry?  As Christians we believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in Him, though he die, yet shall he live.  (John 11:25, ESV)  We believe to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8, KJV). So why would we cry?

The answer to this question is found in 1 Corinthians 15.  Paul remind us that the immortal and imperishable kingdom of God cannot be inherited by perishable mortal beings.  Therefore, when Christ returns, those who are alive will be changed. That is God will transform our mortal bodies into immortal ones, our perishable bodies into imperishable bodies.  At the same time, the bodies of those who have died will be raised and made immortal and imperishable and their spirits that have been with Him, will be reunited with their bodies. Paul says when this happens, "then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

'Death is swallowed up in victory.'
'O death, where is your victory?
 O death, where is your sting?'"

We cry because even though death has lost its fatal sting it still has a sting.  Even though it has lost its final victory it still has some temporary victories.  We cry because death still has a physical sting.  Death can cause so much physical pain that we weep over the hurt that our loved ones face and that we will face one day.  We cry because death has a relational sting.  Death separates us from the ones we love.  The pain of that separation causes us to weep.  Death cannot separate us from God but it does separate us from people we care about deeply.

Jesus understood the pain that death causes.  Even though He knew that he came to defeat death ultimately for all and temporarily for Lazarus, He wept at the tomb of His friend.  He experienced the pain we too often feel, and he cried.

The good news is that as we cry, we cry with hope.  For one day, death will lose all of its sting and will have no victory.  The sting of physical pain will be gone, for our new bodies will be free from sin, perfect and Jesus will wipe away every tear.  When he raises us up, we will have a great reunion with all of our loved ones, never to be separated again.

It is right and normal to cry now at funerals.  Don't be ashamed and certainly never think your tears are a sign of doubt.  Tears are not a lack of faith but a real faith that weep with hope.

A Ragamuffin Father

Tonight, I watched the movie Ragamuffin on Netflix (c).  The movie tells the story of singer songwriter, Chris Mullins.  Chris was different, his talent made it difficult for his father to communicate with him.  Chris' father died without ever really telling his son that he loved him.  This caused so much pain in Chris' life as he longed for his father's love and approval.

What made watching this movie so powerful to me, was reading an article today by Tim Challies entitled, "God, Protect My Girls."  In the article, he says one of the things that he prays for is that God would protect his daughters from himself.  No that does not mean he is abusive, but that we fathers are sinful people who do sinful things.  Our selfishness and pride can harm the people who are closest to us.

But I believe it goes deeper than this. God has chosen to reveal himself to us as our Father.  I recognize that we should never judge our heavenly father by the actions of our earthly father, however, it is very easy to do so.  I have met so many people who find it very difficult to call God their father, because of how their earthly father treated them.

Knowing this I try my best to be a good dad, but I know I am at heart a "ragamuffin."  I am a sinner, I make more mistakes than I could ever count.  And so I pray God protect my daughters from me.  Help them to know that even if I fail them, you never will.  Even if I let them down, help them to know You never will.  And so I not only pray, I have to make sure I tell them that their father loves them, but he has and will continue to fail.  I am a sinful man, but I have a heavenly father who loves me and He loves them too.  I have to ask them to forgive me and then point them to the one who loves them perfectly.