Thursday, March 28, 2024
Thinking about baptism
My wife just celebrated her spiritual birthday. It was almost 60 years ago that she was born again. This summer it will be just over 60 years since I was baptized. So we were talking about the who, what, when, and whys of our baptisms. Which led us to remember when our kids were baptized and the two grands that have made that decision.
We talk about baptism quite a bit. We get to witness a lot of new births. We talk to people who are coming back to Jesus about their baptism.
Here are just a few reflections about baptism.
I am thankful that my sins are washed away. I grew up in a faith community that emphasized this aspect of baptism more than any other. Rather than be critical for the things that were not emphasized, I am deeply thankful to understand this about my baptism. My sins are forgiven. Past, present, and future.
I need the Holy Spirit. What an amazing gift I received at baptism. God's Holy Spirit lives in me to help me be holy.
Being crucified with Christ calls for a level of understanding/faith that is simply not possible in infants and small children. Baptism is where I died.
Baptism is something you live our the rest of your life. I wish I had really understood this better. Baptism is not just a "one and done" action. It is a new birth into a new life that is lived differently. Live to your baptism.
Baptism is when I was born again into a new family, the family of God. I have a family that loves me and will take care of me physically, emotionally, and most of all... spiritually. Not a perfect family, but a great family.
So we are thankful all these years later for the people who taught us about Jesus -- our parents and our church family. We are thankful that by faith we decided to be born again.
Baptism day. The greatest day of our lives. For every one of us.
And if you have not yet been baptized... well, this next Sunday is Easter. It would be a great time to make that decision.
Tuesday, March 26, 2024
Why the Resurrection Matters so Much to me
Sunday is Easter. Most churches will celebrate the resurrection. Many churches celebrate the resurrection every Sunday. Many believers celebrate the resurrection every day.
Here are just a few reasons it matters so much to me.
If there is no resurrection then I cannot stand this life or this world. If there is nothing better than this world I am miserable. All the death, the pain, the evil, the tears and hurts. I survive it now because I believe a better world really is coming.
If there is no resurrection, what is the point of my life. I have basically given my life to trying to help people and most of that help is centered on Jesus. If there is nothing after this (no resurrection), why help anyone?
Without the resurrection, I am still lost in my sins. I believe Jesus is the son of God, but if he did not overcome death then he was not the son of God. So he could die for my sins. He would just be a man who lived and died.
The resurrection lets me grieve with hope when those I love die. I have buried many people that I deeply love. Most of them were believers. Because of the resurrection, I believe I will see them again. I use that idea to comfort a lot of people. What do you say to those grieving if you can offer no hope?
The resurrection lets me die with dignity, hope, and even joy. A better life is coming. Christians die well because we believe in the life to come.
All because of the resurrection.
Thursday, March 21, 2024
Why I -- not necessarily you -- won't vote
I want to start by saying this is personal. You do not have to agree with me. You can even disagree with me. But it is election season and once again, I have a lot of Christians that I love trying to tell me that I have to vote. And even tell me how to vote.
So here is why I won't.
I cannot vote for Donald Trump. Everything I know about him is contrary to the Jesus life. I just think having a man like him as a role model for our country is truly frightening. You may be able to separate the man from the politics. I can't.
I cannot vote for Joe Biden. I could never vote for someone that endorses an anti-Biblical (and therefore anti-God) view of marriage and of life. I just can't. You may think that those views are not un-Christian. If that is true, we really don't have much common ground.
On a deeper level, I am not convinced that as a Christian my mission is to save America. I accept that my mission is to save Americans. And by that, I mean share Jesus with as many people here as I can. I only have room in my heart for one allegiance and that is to the Kingdom of God. That does not include America. You may see it differently. But I don't.
You may believe that as a Christian you must vote Kingdom values. I might do that if I could find a candidate that believed or lived Kingdom values. And that is not Donald Biden. Or Joe Trump.
So I am not going to fight about politics. I have much bigger things to spend my time and energy on.
Does not mean I don't love America. Of course I do. And I love Texas. I love West Texas. I love the community where we live. And I really love our ranch.
But I love God the most.
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Sometimes you need to let go
It is hard to know when to let go of a relationship. Everyone knows stories of marriages where one mate keeps trying and trying to make the relationship work and the other has no interest. It is going to end and it is going to be painful. And if one of the mates is a believer, it is even harder. Because their spouse is endangering their soul.
Which leads to the point I really want to think about: when to let go of a spiritual relationship.
You cannot help someone who does not want to be helped. You cannot make someone believe. You cannot make someone live the way Jesus calls them to live.
It happens with new Christians. They are born again, but never put down solid roots and thus never mature spiritually. Often they just quit trying and fade back into their old life. So you visit, pray, beg, reason with, threaten, bribe. Well, you know how it goes.
But sometimes you have to let them go. I am not talking about those who are trying but find it hard. I will stay with them until the end. But the ones who I know are done. Maybe someone else will reach them. God will still seek them. But there is a time when the prodigal will not come home. When the lost sheep does not want to be found.
So I let them go. I will sometimes meet and tell them it certainly appears they have no interest in living the Jesus life. I will pray with them, tell them I will always help if the want to come back, and then let it go.
The same way I treat Christians who persist in doing things against the will of God. If they repent, and want to try, then I will do anything to help them. For as long as it takes. But I have found myself in situations where I came to realize there was no repentance, no desire to do better, and no intention of stopping what they are doing.
I try to meet and tell them what it looks like and ask if I am wrong. And then let it go.
I will do all I can to beg, persuade, convince people to follow Jesus. But sometimes the interest is just not there. Or the rejection becomes obvious. Let it go.
You cannot choose for them. You cannot make someone follow Jesus.
Do all you can for those seeking and trying.
But sometimes... you have to let them go.
Thursday, March 14, 2024
We have a "coming home" ministry
We didn't set out to start one, but it is now a significant part of our outreach ministry. Coming Home. People who used to follow Jesus. People who were baptized but somehow got off track. People who have been living in a far country. People who want to come home and get back on their Jesus journey.
Our members at Hillcrest invite a lot of people to worship, or to the Journey class on Wednesdays or the Seekers class on Sunday. Some get interested in learning more about what it means to follow Jesus. And some tell us that they used to be a follower, used to go to church, used to be recognized as a Christian.
Some don't even know why or how they left their faith behind. They just drifted away until one day they were not even going. Not even thinking much about Jesus.
Some got overwhelmed with life and just dropped out of faith.
Others got caught up in sin to the point where they lost their way.
And a few got mad at God when something went wrong in their life. The death of a child, or even a parent for example.
Or a few that got mad a church. God feelings hurt, or felt they were mistreated. Felt betrayed by a member.
So we spend a lot of time talking about Jesus. Helping them remember why they decided to follow him in the first place. We talk about grace and forgiveness. The Prodigal Son. About it never being to late to come home.
When they decide to come back, we often announce them to the congregation, like we so anyone who wants to be part of our faith community. But we will often say they have been away from God or lost their way, or got off track with life. Some even have us talk about their sin (alcohol or greed or whatever). So we pray them and welcome them home.
Our elders meet with them, just like they do with all our new Christians. Pray over them. One of us tells a little of their story. Many of them tell their own stories. They are raw and painful. And sweet and holy.
The one thing we don't do is try and defend /excuse the church, ministry, God. Whoever or whatever hurt them. We will say that we are sorry they were -- or felt -- hurt. Grace goes both ways. Most people that are coming home have realized holding on to the past is not going to help.
We did not intend to start a "get back on your journey" movement, yet here we are. It is growing so much we are going to spend the summer in our Journey class talking about Starting or ReStarting with Jesus, using a book by Tim Archer of that name.
And a soul saved is a soul saved. Starting their journey, or getting back on their journey.
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
My church never talked about...
I hear different versions of this statement often. Sometimes negative. Here is what was wrong with my old church. They would never talk about the hard things. Never addressed the difficult issues. Never talked about the things that matter in our culture.
Or they talk about the new church they are going to and are thrilled because they heard a sermon. A sermon on a topic that was never addressed in their old church.
Always interesting when you know that subject was talked about, or you preached a sermon on that very topic. So why do they not remember. Or why do they even know the things talked about.
Here are a few things that may contribute to this misunderstanding.
You weren't there for every class or sermon. And that is not a criticism. But it is awkward when you assume the only topics discussed were those that you heard.
Or they talked about it and you weren't paying attention. Sometimes you just aren't focused. Or you were in a bit of a wilderness and just didn't stay engaged.
Maybe it was done so poorly that you didn't get the point. I have heard poor communicators and it is hard to always know what they mean. Of course, that does not mean they did not address it.
And ... maybe they talked about it but not like you thought they should. They did not make the points you think they should have made. Or drew conclusions you did not agree with. That is not the same as not addressing it.
So be careful about making broad statements that may not be true. I know some churches avoid the hard topics. Much better to preach thru the text. It is hard to avoid topics that way.
So if you are in a church that really does avoid hard discussions, I would encourage you to be bold in standing on Scripture.
And if you are in a church that does talk about the hard things, kudos to you.
Thursday, March 07, 2024
Jesus, the Poor, and Government Assistance
It is political season. Many Christians not only exercise their American right to vote, but they try to tell me how Jesus wants me to vote (and it is always the way they vote). They wrap their politics in religious sounding terms. And I think many of them believe it.
Here is one example. Jesus cares about poor people. Christians should help poor people. Many politicians promise to help poor people. Some actually enact programs intended to help the poor. So if I am a Christian, so of course I must vote for "fill in the blank".
I actually agree with much of that thinking. Jesus cares about the poor (and the rich). As a Christian, I should care too. Feed the hungry. Care for the sick. And if government programs do that ...
But here are a few reasons why I do not think government programs -- or voting for candidates based on poverty programs -- are part of my Christian response to the poor in this world.
I would rather help the poor directly. The less the government takes, the more I have to give. I am not sure how effective government programs are, tho we certainly get whatever assistance we can for those in our community of faith. I think it is better when I give to those I know and can directly help. Of course, this assumes we will all give generously to those in need.
It is better to connect personally with people. There is an emotional connection that matters. Dignity matters. The ability to have a conversation matters. I may even have the opportunity to share Jesus with people. Again, this only happens if you actually interact with people. And if you actually share Jesus.
But here is the big one for me. I want Jesus and God to get the glory/credit/praise for any help given. I do not want the resources I have being used for the glory and praise of the government or any politician. I want to help in the name of Jesus.
I am always thankful when people are helped. If God wants to use the government to do that, well... that is certainly His business. But I just don't see working in earthly kingdoms as fullfilling my real Kingdom responsibility.
And this is what I think today.
Tuesday, March 05, 2024
A detached retina, Jesus, and me
One minute everything was fine. The next my left eye was black in the lower third. Knowing that could not be good, I called my eye Doctor . I thought I ought to check it out before I flew two days later to speak up in Idaho. He sent me to a retina specialist. Immediately. That doctor used terms like emergency surgery, not going to wait, you are not going to Idaho, and do you want to see out of that eye.
So I had emergency surgery for a detached retina. And here is what I learned.
Life changes in an instant. Your retina detaches. A car wreck. A heart attack. Job loss. Natural disaster. Sin is discovered. Relationships crumble. Life is hard and this world is tough.
Get help. I don't do well asking for help. But I had to. Doctors and nurses. Elders who showed up to pray. But I had lots of help I didn't even have to ask for. Family of course. Neighbors offering to feed cattle. Prayers. Food. You need family and friends during crisis. Family by birth and family by new birth.
Trust. The possibility of losing your sight in one eye is scary. But I trusted my Doctors. I trusted God more. Decided that whatever happened, God has been so good to me that I would always love and trust him no matter what.
God heals. It would have been His right not to restore my sight. And actually, as I write this I really don't know the result of the surgery. But I asked and He answered. Just like He has done countless times before.
Recover. The recovery process is harder than the surgery. Don't move. Keep your head down. But when you need to heal, you do the hard things and trust God is working even if you can't see it. Or can't yet see.
Well by now you know where I am going. You need Jesus. For the hard times. In the good times. You need your church family. God hears. God answers. God heals.
I wish this hadn't happened, but it has been a good reminder of what really matters.