Wisdom of The Week

We took some friends hiking last Monday into the nearby Cabinet Mountain Wilderness. Our path began as an old road and then turned into a hiking trail, which doesn’t get much use so at places was not real well defined. We struggled a bit at times to stay on the right path but did manage to reach our destination at the bottom of a big avalanche slide in a little valley surrounded by majestic mountains of the Cabinets. We walked on the snow which appeared to be at least 20 feet deep yet, so definitely will not melt this season.

 I’m always so amazed–although I shouldn’t be–when people are so offended both by the preaching of the cross and even by the symbol of the cross.  We just passed the 10th anniversary of the fateful day of 9-11-2001, when our country suffered a terrorist attack that left thousands dead and landscape and businesses and families devastated. And, if it hadn’t been for the heroics of the passengers and crew of United Airlines flight 93 who sacrificed their lives, there would have undoubtedly been many hundreds more who would have been killed. In the aftermath, millions of Americans packed out churches seeking understanding, seeking guidance, seeking comfort, seeking God. People from all around the world cried with us and gathered to pray for us.

 Joe had prayed that God would stop his dad from beating on his mom when he came home drunk from the bar but nothing had happened to improve the situation. His dad was a Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde. When sober, he was a great guy, hard worker, honest, well-liked, but when drunk, he became violent and took it out on his poor wife. Joe and his younger brothers weren’t able to stop him. So, Joe decided the only answer, since “God hadn’t done anything,” was to kill him. It was a Friday night and he knew his dad would be home shortly after the bars closed at 2 a.m. and his mom, who worked in a bar wouldn’t be home till even later, since she had to stay to clean up. Joe hid in the kitchen with his 22 rifle, the chamber and magazine loaded.  He had a clear path to the front door and planned to open fire as soon as he heard footsteps on the porch, shooting through the door, trusting the bullets would do their job before his dad could get the door open and reach him. But, that night, for some reason, his mom arrived home first!  You’ll have to get a copy of Joe’s book, Bury Me In Montana, to find out what happened (or email me and I’ll let you know).

Well, in spite of the storms accompanying hurricane Irene that passed  through New York, the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament opened today on  schedule.  As a tennis fan, player, coach and instructor, I know how  important the serve is to an effective game. It seems that if you are serving  well, it gives you confidence and the rest of your game goes well too, but if  you are struggling with your serve, it often negatively affects how you are  playing. When you are playing a tennis match, it is important to be able to  “hold serve,” meaning to win the games that you serve.        I can’t help  but see the parallel in our every-day lives, and especially in our Christian  walk. If we are not “serving well,” it affects the other areas of our life as  well. The Apostle Paul identified himself as a “servant (literally, ‘bondslave’)  of Jesus Christ. He opened his letter to the Romans with, “Paul, a  bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of  God” (Ro. 1:1 cf Phil. 1:1; Gal. 1:10).  Paul had been, and all  believers have been, ransomed out of the slave market of sin by Christ’s blood,  and have been set free from the guilt, power, and penalty of that sin. Our  willing response should be to permanently place ourselves into enslavement to  our Redeemer, making us simultaneously both bondslaves and freedmen of the King  of kings.         As Christians,  we are told often in Scripture that we should be servants, yet we don’t always  know what true servanthood is. When one understands what servanthood involves,  it is a wonderful thing, especially as viewed in the Person of Jesus Christ, who  left us the example of servanthood during His earthly ministry. From the  passages of Scripture dealing with servanthood, we can make several  observations.

1)   Servants Aren’t Nobodies!

a) Phil. 2:5-8 states,  “Have this attitude in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:  who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality  with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking on the form  of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  And being found  in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,  even death on a cross.” And in John 10:30, Jesus said, “I and My Father are  one.”  That’s not a very modest statement, is it?   Some have the concept that a servant is someone who says, “I’m a nobody, I’m  nothing, I’m humble, I have no wishes, I have no goals, I  have nothing to contribute. Just tell me what to  do.” But we see Jesus, who took upon Himself the form of a servant. Yet He sure  wasn’t a nobody!” Servants aren’t nobodies.  Every person has value and is loved by God and is  equipped to serve in some capacity through natural talents or spiritual gifts  (if a believer).

b)  In contrast we often run into people who say, “I’m talented, I’m  educated, I’m competent, I’m rich, I have power. Therefore, I must be served.”   They think that because of who they are, or what  they do, everyone is to be their servant, as they “lord it over them.”

2)  Good Leaders Are Good Servants.

a)  I remember some of the words Jesus spoke to James and John when they  said they would like to apply for two position in the kingdom–one on Jesus’  right hand  and the other on His left (Mk. 10:35-45).  Jesus  told them it wasn’t within His power (at the time) to grant them their request,  and then called the disciples together and took the occasion to give them some instructions, saying, “You know  that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and  their great men  exercise authority over them. But, it is not so among you, but whoever wishes to  become great among you shall be your servant; and  whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even  the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a  ransom for many.”  Just think about the example when Jesus “rose from supper,  and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself about.   Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples feet…” (Jn.  13:4,5).

b)  The motto of the British Military Academy is “Serve to Lead.”   Guess where that principle came from?!  If you are the president of a  company and have 800 working for you, your are responsible for 800 people. It is  really you who are working for them. It is your job to serve them to make them  successful in what each does.

c)  One of our favorite TV programs last season was “Undercover Boss” where  the CEO of a large company went undercover and actually worked for his  employees. Through serving those under them, they gained a great respect for what their  employees did for the company. It was a humbling, growing experience for the CEO’s. I think all CEO’s should be required to do this  too.  Think again of the passage in Phil. 2:5-8 describing how the Creator  of the universe came down to this little blue dot called earth, and was conceived by the  Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, taking on the form of the very beings He had  created, in order to die for their sins. Wow!

3)   Servanthood Is An Act Of the Will.

a)  Jesus said, “I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent  Me” (Jn. 5:30).  As He prayed in the Garden before His arrest, He said:  “Father, If Thou art willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Thine  be done” (Lk. 22:42). Remember, Jesus had told His disciples before His death,  “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His  life for the sheep….No one has taken it from Me, because I lay it down on My  own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again” (Jn.  10:11-18).

b)  I can’t imagine any greater misery than a person doing something with  his hands that his head doesn’t want to do, especially when he is pretending  that his head and his hands are in tune.  True servanthood is an  act of the will–a matter of the heart, not just the hands. A servant willingly  and voluntarily and consciously submits himself/herself to something simply as an  act of the will and gives himself gladly to it. Servanthood implies that a  person, by an act of the will, yields himself. There isn’t any greater joy than to  give yourself as a servant–even unto death.

4)   Servants Serve Regardless.

a)  Think of Jesus, who “came unto His own, and  His own didn’t receive Him” (Jn. 1:11).  Yet He didn’t say, “God, I don’t  like it down here. This didn’t turn out the way I thought it would. I’m out ‘a here!”  Rather, He  continued His mission because He was a servant. “While we were yet sinners,  Christ died for us” (Ro. 5:8).

b)  Servanthood isn’t dependent upon being appreciated–at least not down  here on earth.  Jesus wasn’t guided by the response to His ministry. He was  serving His Father.

c)  To be a true servant is to be a servant unto the Lord, because one does his work  as unto the Lord.  “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of  the Lord Jesus…do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men; knowing  that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the  Lord Christ whom you serve” (Col.  3:17,23,24).

d)  Serving is: “giving when you feel like keeping, being faithful when  your flesh wants to run away, keeping your word even when it is not convenient,  maintaining integrity when ‘no one would ever know,’ living truth before  people even when you can’t see results, comforting the hurting when your own hurt can’t be spoken. Feeding others when your own soul is hungry, praying for  others when you desperately need others to pray for you, forgiving those who  will not forgive you and refusing to be bitter.” (from Eagle Summit Ministry  of Spokane, WA)        If you  are going to walk worthy of your calling as a member of the Royal Family of God,  you must “hold serve.”  If you are not satisfied with your “lot in life,”  build a service station on it!                                                                  A Fellow Servant,                                                                      Pastor Dave

Our son and family from Oregon were here last week. The many things we  packed into the week included, of course, a couple sessions on the tennis court,  for our annual mixed doubles competition. Now, however, our grandson is 7 and  has had some tennis lessons, so wants to participate. On Monday nights we hold a  free Tennis Clinic here on our new community courts so Grant helped me teach  while Luke got to take a lesson. Later in the week when we were playing our  doubles match we sent Luke and his little sister, Lacey (who will be 5 in  September) on an adjoining court to play. We looked over and here was Luke  giving Lacey a tennis lesson, including racquet grip, how to stand and how to  prepare to hit the ball. Oh for a video camera at the time. Lacey was finally  successful in getting her first ball over the net and she screamed in  excitement, much like a few days earlier when she caught her first fish (the  subject of the previous “Wisdom of the Week.”)

I was  reminded of what Paul wrote in the second letter to his understudy,  Timothy:  “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in  Christ Jesus. And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of  many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others  also” (II Tim. 2:1,2).  He laid down the principle of passing on  what we learn to others who will do the same.  That was not a  principle unique to just the New Testament. In the book of Psalms we read  this: “For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law  in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should teach them to their  children. That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be  born, that they may arise and tell them to their children, that they should put  their confidence in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His  commandments” (Psa. 78:5-7). We are obviously especially to pass on our  faith and our learning from God’s Word to our own family. But it shouldn’t  stop there. As we take in and grow in the knowledge of Scripture we  should also be giving out. We should be a channel through which God’s Word  flows, not a reservoir in which it is stored. If we just sit and soak we sour.  To stay fresh in our Christian walk, we need to be giving out as well as taking  in. God blesses us that we might be a blessing.

When I got  started coaching tennis about 25 years ago, I didn’t really know a lot about the  game. I had played at tennis throughout high school and a bit in college, but  never really had any formal instruction, so as I taught tennis, I had to be  learning along with the students.  I continue to do so. I have found the  same is true in my Christian life.  When I started teaching Bible studies  some 40 years ago, I realized how little I really knew. Folks would ask  questions I couldn’t answer so it forced me to dig and come up with answers. It  was a great motivation to growth, and has continued to be all these years.   It seems we grow most when we start teaching others, and it is never too soon or  too late to get started.  Just work hard to keep growing right along with  those you teach. Most of the time you will learn lots more than they do.

Just think of  what would have happened to Christianity if, at some point, folks had stopped  sharing what they were learning. Where would we be? What will happen to future  generations (if the Lord tarries His return) if we are not faithful in passing  on our faith and knowledge of Christ and His Word? Well, take a look at the  spiritual condition of Europe today and you get a picture. That appears to  be where our nation is also headed if we who know Christ don’t get with it and  starting “passing on” our faith and our knowledge of God’s Word.  As  long as God leaves us here, we should continue to share the gospel and to help  others grow in their faith. There is a vast amount of work to do. The job will  never be done until eternity begins.  Do you have others with  whom you are sharing and to whom you are teaching God’s Word?  If not,  I would challenge you to do so. It will really help your spiritual growth and  you will be excited about your Christianity.

Forever His,

Pastor Dave

I had the privilege this last week of taking a couple of our  grandchildren, Luke age 7 and Lacey age 4, fishing while our son and family were  here.  A couple of years ago, Luke caught his first fish while we were  floating on the Kootenai River, and this time Lacey, age 4, caught her first  while out in a rubber boat with me on a lake near the church where I pastored.  She was so excited that I’m sure you could hear her for a couple miles!  It  was obviously quite a thrill, but not only for her, for me as well, and for her  grandma, her parents and her brother who were watching–and listening!

As I saw her  exuberance over catching a fish, I couldn’t help but be reminded of when I first  had the opportunity to introduce someone to Jesus Christ. What a thrill that  was. Jesus even used fishing as a metaphor for reaching souls through sharing  the gospel of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We read  in Matthew 4:18-20: “And walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two  brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into  the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will  make you fishers of men.’  And they immediately left the nets and followed  Him.”

Becoming a good “fisher of men” requires several character traits which  can be drawn from Jesus’ analogy.

1)  Knowing where to fish. If you are going to catch fish,  you obviously must go where the fish are. As the Daily Bread for August  8, 2011 said: “No use fishing where they ain’t!”  It was said of Jesus that He was “a  friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Lk. 7:34).  If you have only  Christian friends, you may be fishing for souls “where they ain’t.” Being  with nonbelievers is the first step in “fishing for men.”

2)  Patience.  The fish don’t always bite the first  time you throw out the bait. You need to be patient and keep trying (not  necessarily a strong quality in a four year old!)  Learn to wait until the fish  take the bait. It’s always fun when fishing with youngsters to use a bobber so  they can watch to see when the fish are taking the bait. It helps them stay  focused on the task. And helps them know when to set the hook and start reeling  in.  Fishing for men also take patience.  They may not “bite” right away when you share the Gospel.  You may even need to spend time just loving them and building a relationship before you earn the right to share the truths of Scripture concerning salvation.  Just be sensitive (in tune with the Holy Spirit) to know when and what to share (watch your “bobber”!)

3)   Courage.  Fishermen on the Sea of Galilee were often in  danger of storms. They needed courage to work at their occupation.  As we  fish for men, we will face the danger of rejection and persecution.  In some areas of the world you will even face the possibility of losing your  life. It takes courage to be a fisher of men. Jesus warned his disciples saying,  “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated  you. If you were of the world, the world would  love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the  world, therefore the world hates you” (Jn. 15:18,19).   “…In the world you have tribulation,  but take courage; I have overcome the world” (Jn. 16:33).

4)  An eye  for the right moment.  A good fishermen knows the best times  during the year and the best times of the day to have the greatest chance of  catching fish in a particular lake or stream.   He knows when the fish are biting best.  As fishers of men, we need to be  discerning, through the guidance of the indwelling Holy Spirit, as to what is the best time  to share Christ with others.  We need to be sensitive to their needs and to  their “open nerves.” Of course a big part of this is through praying for them, and  for boldness to open your mouth at just the right time. Paul asked the Colossian  believers to pray for him: “…That God may open for us a door for the word, sot that we may speak forth the  mystery of Christ…in order that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak” (Col. 4:3,4).

5)  Keep out of sight. If you can see the fish, the fish  can see you, and your chances of catching them are slim. We need to make sure  that as we fish for men, that “we” stay out of sight; that is, we  need to focus unbelievers’ attention on the Lord, not on us. It’s okay to give  your own testimony as to how you came to know Christ and what a difference He is  making in your life, but be sure to use Scripture and to focus on the  person of Christ. I like what John the Baptist who introduced Jesus to the world said,  “He must increase, but I must decrease” (Jn. 3:30).

6)   Love.  A consistently successful fisherman must have a passion for  fishing. A successful fisher of men must have a love for souls.  People  probably won’t care much about how versed we are in Scripture  if we don’t demonstrate that we care for them. If they sense that they are just  part of a “project” then they may not be very interested in what we are  offering. We must have a compassion for the lost that shows through in our  attitude and actions. Such love must come from the One who loved us and gave Himself for  us, Christ Himself. We must be under control of the Holy Spirit and then the  fruit of the Spirit which is “love, joy, peace, patience,  kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control…”  (Gal. 5:22,23)  will show forth.

7)  Draw in the net.  Finally, if you are going  to catch fish, you have to draw in the net, or reel in the line. As we watched  the bobber to see if a fish was hitting the bait, I told Lacey, “You need to pull on  the pole now and start reeling.” Chances are if you just watch the bobber but  don’t reel in right away, the fish will take the bait and get away. It’s one thing to  tell people about Jesus; it is another thing to invite them to trust Him as  their Savior.  I don’t think Satan detests our telling others about Jesus nearly so much  as he hates our giving them an opportunity to pray to receive Christ into  their life. I guess that’s why so many of us have trouble taking this last step and  actually giving the person the chance to go from “death to life,” from “darkness  to light.”

I know from  personal experience that there is no greater joy for a believer than to  introduce a soul to our Savior. You get “hooked on fishing.”  And that is  the primary reason God leaves us here after we are saved. We are to be fishers  of men the rest of our days. So, follow Jesus and He will make you a fisher of  men. Jesus said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down you  nets for a catch…and when they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity  of fish and their nets began to break” (Lk. 5:4-6).

A fellow fisherman,

Pastor Dave

I’m sure most of you have heard the conversation that took place in one  home on a Sunday morning. It seems that Bob really didn’t feel like getting up  and going to church that day. After offering several “good” excuses to his wife  for why he shouldn’t have to get out of bed, he said, “Give me one really good  reason why I need to go,” to which his wife replied, “Because you are the  pastor!”

That may be an  amusing, ridiculous scene, but let me ask you: Why do you go to church? Why do  you read and study your Bible? Why do you tell others about how to have eternal  life in Christ? Why do you teach a Sunday School class?   Having  just retired after pastoring for nearly four decades, it is an interesting  feeling to just attend church with no specific responsibilities or obligations.  Why should we continue to attend church and  study our Bibles when we are  free now to do whatever we want to do?  Well, we do it for the same reason  the apostle Paul gave in II Cor. 5:14: “For the love of Christ  controls us, having concluded this that one died for all, therefore all  died; and He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for  themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.”    As a pastor, I was reimbursed financially, that is, I was “paid to be  good.” Now I have to “be good for nothing!”

What should be  our motive for serving Christ? Is it because we are under the Law and have to  work hard to obtain and stay in the favor of God?  Well, if that’s our  thinking, then we don’t understand what grace is all about. Paul wrote a letter  to the churches in Galatia (Asia minor) that he had established on a missionary  journey. After he had left, there were false teachers called “Judaizers” who had  entered the churches and were teaching that works were necessary for salvation  as well as sanctification.  They tried to convince the congregations that  Paul’s gospel was not correct and that he was not a genuine apostle. Paul’s  answer was to proclaim the doctrine of justification by faith plus nothing and  of sanctification by the Holy Spirit, not the Mosaic law.  All theologies  that teach salvation by faith plus human effort are forcefully negated by Paul’s  letter which is in our Bibles as the book of Galatians.  Paul wrote:  “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing  firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1).   In his letter to the Ephesians and to the Romans, Paul made it very  clear that we are saved solely by grace (Eph. 2:8,9), justified by faith alone  (Ro. 5:1), and in his letter to the Galatians and  Colossians he emphasizes that we are to walk in the same manner, that  is by faith, in grace, not by works. To the Colossians he wrote: “As you  therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him” (Col. 2:6).   He asked the Galatian believers this question: “You foolish  Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly  portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did  you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are  you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the  flesh?” (Gal. 3:1-3).

But, while we  have been set free from the law through faith in Jesus Christ, it does not mean  that we are now free to do just as we please, for we “have been bought  with a price” and are therefore to “glorify God” with  our whole being (I Cor. 6:20). We are not free to live for ourselves,  “but for Him who died and rose again on our behalf” (II Cor.  5:14).     In his letter to the Galatians, Paul  said, “For you were called to freedom, brethren, only do not turn your  freedom into an opportunity for the flesh” (Gal. 5:13).  Even  though, as believers, we are “new creations” in Christ (II Cor.  5:17), we still have our old sinful flesh which continues to be in rebellion  against God. So, as those set free from the bondage of sin by faith in the  death, burial and resurrection of Christ, we are no longer under penalty of sin  and through the indwelling Holy Spirit we can also be free from the power of sin  in our lives. The secret, Paul said is to “Walk by the Spirit, and you  will not carry out the desire of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16).  Peter  wrote: “Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for  evil, but use it as bondslaves of God” (I Pet. 2:16).

As a “retired”  pastor, why do I still go to church, read my Bible, witness to friends, teach a  Bible study? Is it to stay in God’s favor? Is it to assure myself of a place in  heaven? No, it is because the love of Christ controls me. It is not because of a  “yoke of bondage” to the law of works. We were saved solely by the  grace of God and that is how we live the rest of our days here. It is not  because we’re working to keep God happy with us. It is because “the  love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who  was given to us” (Ro. 5:5).  We can be “good for nothing.” It is  “no yoke” that makes us be good. “The fruit of the Spirit (within us) is  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,  self-control; AGAINST SUCH THINGS THERE IS NO LAW” (Gal. 5:22,23). A  Spirit-controlled person needs no law to cause Him to live a righteous life,  because the motivation comes from within, not without.

Forever  His,

Pastor Dave

We have quite a large vegetable garden. Keeping the local herd of  whitetail deer out is no small challenge, especially late in the summer when  they seem to have insatiable appetites as they start fattening up for the fall  and winter months. It is also quite a task to keep the weeds from taking over.  We were gone earlier this summer to Oregon for  little over a week and are  just now getting caught back up on weeding. The weeds had matured quite nicely  so that you could get a five gallon bucket full in about a 10 square-foot  area!  At least I had a sense of accomplishment when I dug or  pulled them, as some were very large.

I went on some  websites to see if I could identify some of the typical weeds we have in our  garden, but all they wanted to do was sell me books, so didn’t get many  identified. I just know that what we pull are things we are not raising in our  garden. After you have grown a garden of corn, peas, beans, tomatoes, potatoes,  squash, pumpkins, lettuce, spinach, cauliflower, peppers, carrots, beets, etc.  for all the years we have, you don’t have any trouble spotting what doesn’t  belong. You become familiar enough with the real things that you can spot the  intruders, even though some are rather close counterfeit look-alikes. One  in particular that seems to especially grow in the potato patch appears very  much like the foliage on the potatoes and even has some little white flowers  that are similar to those on the potato vines.  You can go through and  carefully pull them out and yet find more in just a few days. It seems it is  hard to spot them all. Many are not rooted out until the potatoes are harvested.  And every year it is the same thing. They are back again!

I couldn’t help  but think of the parable Jesus taught about the wheat and the tares in Matthew  13.  Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man  who sowed good seed in his field. But while men were sleeping, his enemy came  and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away. But when the wheat sprang  up and bore grain, then the tares became evident as well” (Mt. 13:24b-26).   The tares were weeds–probably darnel–which resembled wheat but which  could be distinguished from wheat when fully ripe.  Earlier, Jesus had  warned about “false prophets who would come to you in sheep’s clothing,  but inwardly are ravenous wolves” (Mt. 7:15).  He went on to add,  “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn  bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they?” (v. 16).  Satan is  always sowing tares among the wheat–placing professing believers (who are  really false teachers) in churches to lead believers away from the truth and to  cause division and strife.

Throughout the early church, as described in the New Testament, we see  evidence of this problem. It seems that wherever the Apostle Paul went, false  teachers called “legalistic Judaizers” followed trying to convince the new  converts that they still had to keep the law in order to really be saved. They  attempted to put them back under the yoke of bondage of the Old Covenant.   The whole book of Galatians addressed that problem specifically.  Paul, in  his letters, indicated that as we approach the return of Christ, there would be  a proliferation of false teachers, and unfortunately, many who would listen to  them, those who “will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have  their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance  to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will  turn aside to myths” (II Tim. 4:3,4).  In his first letter to  Timothy, Paul wrote: “The Spirit explicitly says that in later times  some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and  doctrines of demons” (I Tim. 4:1). The Apostle John warned that in the  last times, many antichrists will arise right within the churches. He spoke of  some who “went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they  had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, in order  that it might be shown that they are not of us” (I Jn. 2:18,19).   John said, “For many deceivers have gone out into the world,  those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the  deceiver and the antichrist” (II Jn. 7). Jude, the half brother of  Jesus, wrote: “But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were  spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were  saying to you, ‘In the last time there shall be mockers, following after their  own ungodly lusts.’ These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded,  devoid of the spirit” (Jude 17-19).  Jude warned his readers not  to be surprised by the existence of “tares among the wheat”–ungodly men, false  teachers, within the ranks of the church.

So, how  do you spot these “tares” and their false teachings?  How can you detect  counterfeits?  The same way we can pick out the weeds in our garden, by  being very familiar with the genuine vegetables and what they look like. When  you know the real thing, the counterfeit is much easier to spot.  So, we  need to be continually grounded in the Word of God, learning and loving and  living sound doctrine so we can spot that which is false. We need to be regular  attenders of a solid Bible-teaching church in order “to attain to the  unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to  the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ. As a result,  we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried  about by the trickery of men, by craftiness and deceitful scheming” (Eph.  4:13,14).  We need to be students of the Word, doing our own  personal Bible study. We should, as Paul exhorted Timothy, “Be diligent  to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be  ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth” (II Tim. 2:15).   We need to pray as we study Scripture, asking the indwelling Holy  Spirit to open our eyes to the truth so that we can come to a proper  understanding of Scripture, as we apply good tools of interpretation such as  context, comparing Scripture with Scripture, word studies, background,  etc.  It is also helpful to have some good, trustworthy Bible Commentaries  to help us when needed. And always, be like the Bereans who even checked out  what Paul taught to make sure it squared with the rest of Scripture (Acts  17:10,11).

And  remember, just as you are never done weeding the garden, you will never  be done watching for false teachers and their “doctrines of demons.” Always be  alert. Always be in the Word and in communication with God.

Forever  His,

Pastor  Dave

I am reading a very moving autobiography by Joe White entitled Bury  Me In Montana. It’s especially intriguing because many of the events took  place in Northwest Montana and some of the names are familiar ones to us, though  we have never met Joe. His family moved many, many times during the first 10-12  years of Joe’s life, as his dad, who was an abusive alcoholic, bounced from job  to job. Joe’s dad was an avowed atheist but his mom saw to it that the children  attended Sunday school at the church nearest our home, wherever they lived and  whatever the denomination–so long as it was Protestant.

At a  summer Bible school in Whitefish, at age 10, Joe knelt at the altar and gave his  heart to Jesus.  But, whether the church he was attending at the time  had some non-biblical beliefs or whether Joe misinterpreted what they taught, he  vowed at the time of his salvation to “become so pure of heart and such a  perfect Christian that God could not help but answer my prayers.” But, because  his dad continued to drink and to be abusive towards his family, Joe assumed  that God had not answered his prayers because of sin in his own life, so, for  the next eight years, he strove harder and harder for perfection, trusting  that then God would surely answer his prayers.

His prayers for  God to change his father continued through their years in Whitefish (1948-1952),  their move to Sunburst and on to Sweet Grass in 1953.  Joe’s  misunderstanding of the grace of God and the fact that it isn’t our performance  that solicits that grace, led to some obsessive compulsive behavior. First, he  decided that God wanted him to clean up the town of Sweet Grass so for more than  two years he picked up every piece of litter he could find and put it in a trash  can. Secondly, because his hands would get dirty from the filthy trash, he began  to wash his hands every few minutes at home and as often as he could manage at  school. Then he was also afraid that he might accidentally tell a terrible lie,  so he began saying a silent “maybe” at the end of everything he said.

People obviously  started noticing and commenting on his strange habits. Now he battled in his  mind over what to do. He had done these things in his striving for perfection,  which he concluded was impossible to achieve. He decided to stop his aberrant  behavior and found that habits were much harder to break than to form. He also  realized that his sin was not the cause of his father’s drinking problems and  domestic violence.

Joe’s thinking  that he had to perform in a certain way to “get on God’s good side” and see his  prayers answered, unfortunately isn’t all that unusual for Christians.  Far  too many times we think that if we will do or not do certain things we will  receive more of God’s grace, like He is obligated to respond to us when we act  in a certain way or perform certain rituals.  It is all over a  misunderstanding of what God’s grace is all about.  As Paul wrote to the  believers at Ephesus, he reminded them that it is “by grace you have  been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not  as a result of works, that no one should boast” (Eph. 2:8,9).   There is absolutely nothing we can do to merit our salvation. It is  totally–even our faith–by the grace of God.

But, what about  subsequent to our trusting Christ for eternal life?  Don’t we have to  perform then in a certain way to stay in God’s grace?  Well, take a look at  what the Apostle Paul wrote to the churches of Galatia who were struggling with  their liberty in Christ, thinking there were things they needed to do to assure  their salvation, like being circumcised.  Paul wrote: “You foolish  Galatians, who has bewitched you….did you receive the Spirit by the works of  the Law, or by hearing with faith?  Are you so foolish? Having begun by the  Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? (Gal. 3:1-3).  “It was  for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be  subject again to a yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1).  Paul wrote a  similar thing in Colossians, saying, “As you therefore have received  Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him…See to it that no one takes you captive  through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men,  according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to  Christ…For…in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all  rule and authority” (Col. 2:6-10).

Obviously we receive Christ by faith, so we are also to walk by  faith–not by works. Oh, we are saved to work, but that work is the ministry of  the Holy Spirit in and through our lives, not our striving in the flesh towards  being a perfect Christian. First, we cannot, in our own strength, perfect  ourselves, and secondly, it is not the means of entering into the grace of God.  We did that when we put our trust in Christ for salvation. We entered into God’s  family as an adult son, and became heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ (Ro.  8:17).  We are complete in Christ (Col. 2:10), have been “blessed  with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph.  1:3).  We are blessed because of what Christ has done, not because  of how well we do. Paul goes on to speak of God’s grace, “which He  freely bestowed on us in the Beloved” (v. 6).  Now, it is true  that when we obey God’s Word through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, we  experience in a very real way the grace that we have in Christ, but it is all  because of Him, not because we are worthy.   It’s easy for us to think  that because today we read our Bible, memorized a verse and witnessed to someone  that God will really listen to our prayers.  There were those in Jesus’ day  who thought that way too. They were called Pharisees, and Jesus had some not  very nice things to say about them, like calling them “white washed tombs full  of dead men’s bones,” and “hypocrites.”  We can pray because we have an  Advocate in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, the “Mediator between  God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all” (I Tim.  2:5,6).  The author of the Hebrews, wrote this great statement:  “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our  weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without  sin. LET US THEREFORE DRAW NEAR WITH CONFIDENCE TO THE THRONE OF GRACE, that we  may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16).

It was hard for us to accept that we had to be saved solely by grace,  totally apart from the works of the Law. And it is equally hard for us to accept  that we live in grace the same way. It is not by striving in the flesh for  perfection, but by a daily walk of trusting and obeying through the power  of the indwelling Christ. “I can do all things THROUGH CHRIST who  strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13).  You’ve been set free from the  bondage of sin, Satan and self. Don’t put yourself back under the yoke of the  Law by striving for perfection. Rather, “Walk by the Spirit, and you  will not carry out the desire of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16).

Forever His,

Pastor Dave

One of our neighbors, for a retirement gift, gave us a  beautiful wrought-iron hanging flower basket along with a plaque that reads:  “WHEN GOD CLOSES ONE DOOR–HE WILL OPEN ANOTHER.”  As we  leave the full-time pastorate of a little rural community Bible church where we  have been since its beginning some 37 years ago, we look forward to the doors of  ministry God will open for us in the days ahead.

We  recently got an email from Tom Lough, a college friend with whom I roomed for a  year in the basement of the home of a family from Grace Baptist Church where we  both attended. We sang in a quartet that ministered in some of the little  churches around Bozeman and also participated in intramural sports together. We  had become good friends and Tom supported in our work with Rocky Mountain Bible  Mission and then supported Three Lakes Bible Church where I pastored. It had  been more than 40 years since we’d seen one another. Tom invited us to  meet him in Kalispell (where he lived growing up) for lunch a couple weeks ago.  It was a great blessing to see him again and to reminisce about our time in  college and in our youth group (COLLYP–for College Youth Group), and to catch  up on what has been happening in our lives–our joys and our sorrows– and  what God is currently doing.  We were both wondering, of course, whether or  not we’d recognize each other. It seems something happens to our bodies over 40  years of time!

Tom gave us a little autobiographical summary of his life which he had written  up. It was in terms of all the open and shut doors in his life to this point and  how God has directed his steps.  He began by quoting his favorite Bible  passage, Proverbs 3:5,6 where Solomon wrote: “Trust in  the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all  your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.” Tom said,  “Growing up in a Christian family, these two verses were very familiar to me;  however, the significance of them in my life was only realized many years later  when, in retrospect, I was able to observe the doors that God had opened and  closed for me along my pathway of life.”  Interestingly, I had chosen a  very similar passage for a power-point presentation at  the retirement celebration at our church. My verse is: “The mind of  man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps” (Pr. 16:9). As we  visited with Tom, it became very apparent that we could both look back from  this point in our lives and see how the hand of God has led us through closing  some doors and opening others, in His sovereign plan for our lives.  We  were both engineering students in college, he in Electrical and I in Industrial,  and both started out our careers in engineering. While working in engineering  for Hyster in Portland, Oregon, I did lay work for Campus Crusade for Christ and  ended up leaving Hyster to become a missionary with Rocky Mountain Bible Mission  in Montana, which led into pastoring Three Lakes Bible Church. Tom worked in  Butte, Montana for Montana Power Company and did lay work for 25 years for Young  Life.

Sometimes when God closes a door in our life it can be confusing, disconcerting,  and we could even choose to doubt God’s love at the moment, but as someone put so  well, “When you can’t see His hands, trust His heart.” God leads through closing  doors as well as opening others. I think of an experience which the Apostle Paul  had on his second missionary journey. He wanted to go and visit the churches  that he and Barnabas had helped establish on their first journey. After a  heated discussion with Barnabas over taking Mark with them again, Paul and  Barnabas split up. Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus (Acts 15:36-39) and  Paul chose Silas as his traveling partner (v. 40).  They traveled  “through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches” (v. 41).  Then we have a very interesting passage in the account of his journey.  We read in Acts 16:6-10: “And they passed through the Phrygian and  Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the  word in Asia; and when they had come to Mysia, they were trying to go  into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them; and passing  by Mysia, they came down to Troas (across the Aegean Sea from Greece).  And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a certain man of Macedonia  was standing and appealing to him, and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help  us.’  And when he had seen the vision, immediately we (Luke, the  writer of Acts probably joined the team here) sought to go into  Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.  “

Notice how God closed one  door and opened another for Paul and his missionary team. Because of the closed  door in parts of Asia, the Gospel spread to Macedonia and Greece in  Europe.  It’s interesting to note in the passage in Acts 16 that though it  was a man of Macedonia that appeared in Paul’s vision, asking him to come over  and help them, it was Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple  fabric, who was the first convert to Christ in Europe (vv. 13-15). Then we have  the story of how Paul prayed for a slave girl whose spirit of divination brought  profit to her masters by fortune telling. Because she was delivered from the  demon who enabled her to tell fortunes, her masters saw their money-making  scheme was gone and “they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into  the market place before the authorities, and when they had brought them to the  chief magistrates, they said, ‘These men are throwing our city into confusion,  being Jews and are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept  or to observe, being Romans'” (Acts 16:19-21).  As a result, Paul  and Silas were beaten with rods and thrown into prison and placed in stocks (vv.  22-24).  “But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and  singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; and  suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison  house were shaken; and immediately ALL THE DOORS WERE OPENED, and everyone’s  chains were unfastened” (VV. 25,26).  (Talk about God closing and  opening doors!!)  The jailer was aroused from his sleep and when he saw  that the prison doors were open, he was going to kill himself “but Paul  cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Do  yourself no harm, for we are all  here!’ And he called for lights and rushed in and, trembling with fear, he fell  down before Paul and Silas, and after he brought them out, he said, ‘Sirs, what  must I do to be saved?’ And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall  be saved, you and your household'” (vv. 28-31). And thus, because God  closed the door to further missionary work in Asia, we see the church now being  established in Europe. Praise the Lord for closed doors as well as opened  ones.   Remember, “WHEN GOD CLOSES ONE DOOR HE OPENS  ANOTHER!”  And, He will give you the grace and strength to handle  both as you trust Him with all your heart and don’t lean on your own  understanding (Pr. 3:5,6).

Forever  His,

Pastor Dave