Round 2: Struggling with knowing God’s purpose

Late last week, we received the best news possible regarding my wife’s cancer and complete hysterectomy - we caught this early. She’s officially categorized as Stage 1a, the lowest possible stage. While the pathology report stated that additional cancerous cells were found in her uterus, they had not spread very far or gone very deep. No sign of cancer in her fallopian tubes, ovaries, or lymph nodes. As such, she does not need to have radiation or chemo. In short, the surgery got it all. She’ll see the doctor in another 5 weeks for a checkup. Until then, it’s just rest, heal, and thank God for this best possible outcome.

Struggling with knowing God’s purpose
originally posted on July 12, 2018

We often want to know EXACTLY what God is up to.  We look around at the state of the world, or even at a struggle in our own lives and think, “Man, if only God would tell me WHY this is happening, I think I could deal with it all.”

The truth is, we may be giving ourselves too much credit.  I’m not so sure that we could ‘handle it’ even if God was blunt and spoke plainly to us.  After all, take a look at the disciples’ reaction to Jesus’ revealed plan for Lazarus:

John 11:5-10
Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus.  So when He heard that [Lazarus] was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.  Then after that, He said to the disciples, “Let’s go to Judea again.”

“Rabbi,” the disciples told Him, “just now the Jews tried to stone you, and you’re going there again?”

“Aren’t there twelve hours in a day?” Jesus answered.  “If anyone walks during the day, he doesn’t stumble, because he sees the light of this world.  But if anyone walks during the night, he does stumble, because the light is not in him.”

The disciples are trying to get Jesus to make a “business decision”.

If you haven’t heard the term before, it’s a straight-forward concept.  A “business decision” usually comes when people want to ensure their own safety, even if it means they end up taking a short-term loss, or even potentially end up neglecting others.  One modern-day example is sometimes seen in college football: a sure-fire top-10 draft pick decides to sit out of his team’s bowl game, because a good performance won’t help his stock any, so playing one last game isn’t worth the risk of injury to his future career.  Similarly, a few years back in the Super Bowl, a team’s starting Quarterback opted to not reach out for the football that was fumbled near him.  Why?  Because there were six 300 lb men also nearby, and they were all diving for the ball at the same time.  He didn’t want to risk injury, even if it meant the other team would recover the ball.  In that split-second, the QB made a “business decision”.

With the disciples, we really can’t blame them for bringing up what happened the last time they were in Jerusalem – the Jewish leaders did try to kill Jesus.  And if they’re ready to kill Him, then they would have no issues killing a disciple, either.  So, I understand their “business decision” argument.  Their line of thinking could have easily gone like this:  Jesus said that Lazarus would get better, and we’ve seen Him heal from a distance before, so why risk death when we don’t have to?  Instead, Jesus rebuffs their argument, reminding them that they will be fine as long as they are walking with Him.  Then Jesus tries to gently break the news to them about Lazarus…but they don’t quite understand:

 John 11:11-16
He said this, and then He told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I’m on my way to wake him up.”

Then the disciples said to Him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will get well.”

Jesus, however, was speaking about his death, but they thought he was speaking about natural sleep.  So Jesus then told them plainly, “Lazarus has died.  I’m glad for you that I wasn’t there so that you may believe.  But let’s go to him.”

Then Thomas (called “Twin”) said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go too so that we may die with Him.”

Even after explicitly telling the disciples:
where He was going,
why He was going,
and what He was going to do when He got there…

Some of the disciples were still convinced Jesus’ actions were not going to end well.  Just like most of us probably would, Thomas uses sarcasm to cope with and even cover for his fear: “Well, since Jesus is on a death mission, we might as well march along with Him.  What else are we going to do?”

So here we have God telling them EXACTLY what He was up to…and they tried to talk Him out of it.  The important thing to note, however, was that after Jesus confirmed to them that this indeed was the direction He was going – the disciples still went with Him, even though they had reservations, because they trusted Him.  And because they followed, they witnessed the biggest miracle they had ever seen.

That’s our take home message here: Even when God’s chosen path doesn’t make sense, and we would have opted to take another route, we still follow Him because we trust Him. 

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Round 2: A 911 call to Jesus

Thankfully, I have good news.

My wife’s hysterectomy went well. She is resting and recovering at home. God has certainly been answering the prayers lifted up for a successful surgery and good pain management. Now we wait for the pathology report to find out if the cancer had spread beyond her uterus.

We hope and pray for - what we define as - a good outcome: that the cancer was contained and that the surgery removed it all. However, as I am reminded by the post below, our plan for healing isn’t always the same as what God has in-store for us. So, we continue to trust. We continue to wait. We know that He hears our prayers…but we will leave the answer to those prayers up to Him.

A 911 call to Jesus
originally posted on July 5, 2018.

We’ve all been there.  At some point in our lives, the situation is so bad that we feel like we have no where else to turn.  Maybe it is a diagnosis, a car accident, or even a prolonged illness…but we’ve tried everything we know to do to cope, and the only thing left is to hope that God does a miracle.

That’s where we find the people in this story from Jesus’ life.  Two sisters and their brother, all loved by Jesus.  They have an established relationship with each other.  By all indications, Jesus has even stayed at their house, possibly several times.  But something bad has happened to their brother, and the sisters can’t do anything else about it:

John 11:1-3
Now a man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.  Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped His feet with her hair, and it was her brother Lazarus who was sick.  So the sisters sent a message to Him: “Lord the one you love is sick.”

Let’s stop here and think about logistics for a moment.  How did they get in touch with Jesus?  According to the text at the end of chapter 10, Jesus wasn’t in Bethany.  Instead, he was a couple days’ journey away.  Martha and Mary couldn’t text or call to ask Him to come to Bethany or to even find out exactly where He was at the moment.  Someone had to physically make the long journey to go to the last place Jesus was known to be, and then go searching for Him from there. 

How time-consuming and risky!  They would have no guarantee of Jesus still being where He was before or that the messenger would end up asking the right person who knew where Jesus and His disciples had gone to next.  Going to this effort only underscores how sick Lazarus really was.  Mary and Martha must have believed that their brother would not live without some sort of divine intervention.

But also keep in mind that Jesus had performed long-distance healing miracles before.  Jesus healed the servant of a Roman centurion without even entering the house.  Jesus then publicly praised the centurion for his faith in Jesus’ authority.  You can read about it in Luke 7:1-10.  Surely, the sisters thought, if Jesus was willing to heal a complete stranger, who was the servant of a leader in a foreign army that was occupying Israel…then without a doubt Jesus would heal a fellow countryman that He knew and loved, right?

We don’t know how long it took, but the messenger did eventually find Jesus:

John 11:4-5
When Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness will not end in death but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus.

The messenger and the disciples likely thought Jesus’ statement meant that Lazarus wouldn’t die.  I’m sure they all took some measure of comfort from thinking this.  However, as the story continues, we will see that Lazarus did die from his illness.  Jesus was still right, though – Lazarus’ sickness did not end in death, but death was part of God’s plan this time.

We need to stop here and wrestle with a few observations, even if they are uncomfortable:

·       Sometimes, God allows really bad things to happen to people, even ones He loves.
·       Just because God healed someone else doesn’t mean healing is coming in the same way for us.
·       God performing healing miracles is more about the glory of God than it is about our preference for comfort.

We trust that God hears us when we pray.  We trust that He loves us.  However, just because those two things are true does not mean that He will swoop in and respond in the way that we think He should fix everything. 

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Round 2: When disease hits too close to home

Sometimes, God has us learn lessons a second time. Often it’s because of our own hard-headedness or stupidity, but other times we need to learn a new application of the truths God is purposely inserting into our lives. They can be hard lessons to re-learn when we thought we got what we needed when He taught us before. But apparently…it’s time for my family to revisit how God walks with us when we get “that call”. As you’ll see below, I struggled mightily when my brother was diagnosed with MS. However, this time it’s closer…and harder…because it’s my wife.

On November 12th, just two weeks ago, my wife had a polyp removed from her uterus. On Monday, November 23rd, we got the call that it is cancer. By Wednesday, we met with the oncologist and his recommendation is a complete hysterectomy. We won’t know the stage - how far the cancer has progressed - until she is in surgery. By God’s grace, there was an opening in the surgeon’s schedule for December 1st. The doctor said that 85-90% of endometrial cancer patients do not need radiation or chemo, which is great news…but we’ll take this one step at a time.

The day after we got the call, my thoughts drifted back to this previous series of posts. I went back and read them all, finding some comfort in being reminded of the lessons that God already taught me. So my plan - at this point - is to have you walk back through these lessons with me. I’ll provide updates on Amy as I can in each weekly post.

There are many people in many places praying for my wife, for me, and for our two adult sons. We would be grateful if you choose to join the others in petitioning our Great God on our behalf…but if you do…while we love the idea of praying for comfort and minimal pain, there are other things to pray about that God may consider to be of greater importance at this time: that we grow in dependence on Him, that we grow closer together, that we learn to accept offers of assistance, that we navigate our experience with cancer in a way that points non-Christians to the God who walks along side us, that we trust the very God who could have prevented this cancer from happening is going to use this season for an ultimately bigger and more eternal impact…and these “greater importance items” on God’s agenda may not include comfort or minimal pain.

I don’t know what the future holds, but I don’t have to. God is big enough to handle the future while helping us cope with the present. We have much to be thankful for. Thank you for walking with me.

When disease hits too close to home
originally posted on June 28, 2018

I’ve been dealing with some annoying health stuff for the last 9 months or so.  Nothing life-threatening, but I’m working with Doctors, changing my diet, taking meds and supplements, evaluating potential causes, blah, blah, blah…you know the drill.  Even though it’s not something that will kill me, it is frustrating that my body isn’t working as well as it used to.  I’m not that old, really.  But when you pile this recent development on top of my near-sightedness, my semi-frequent migraines, and a slightly unstable right shoulder…I get the feeling that it’s not going to get any easier as the years continue to pile up.

When I look around at my family, it seems I’m not the only one.  There’s high blood pressure, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, bi-polar struggles, and a long list of other maladies.  I’m sure you and your family could come up with a similar type of list. 

As we deal with these health issues now, it’s really easy to get frustrated.  I mean, God created everything…and could easily stop any of the health problems that we encounter.  So, why doesn’t He?

We can usually come to some sort of peace about this troubling question by reminding ourselves that we live in a fallen world, that Jesus will make everything right when He returns, and that we have perfectly good resurrection bodies to look forward to.  However, there are some situations when these answers fall short or feel hollow.  The one that really gets to me is my brother.  He has MS.  Wait…before going further, let me re-frame that for you:

My younger brother, who is in his mid-30s, has three kids under the age of 10, faithfully loves his wife, leads in a church that he helped plant, is active in his community, one of the hardest workers I know, a student of the Bible, works in end-of-life hospice care taking care of people who need help, loves Jesus and knows that he is loved by Jesus…he has Multiple Sclerosis.

MS is a failure of the immune system to function properly.  Instead of protecting his body, his immune system attacks him.  He has made adjustments to his life, but the MS has already taken ground – and it doesn’t give ground back.  He could be fine today and be in a wheelchair tomorrow, or he may be fine for many years…but all MS patients end up in the same place.  His body, in the end, will destroy itself.

I can quickly move from frustration to anger over this.  Serious, indignant, vision-blurred-by-tears anger.  God could show up and fix this, RIGHT?  So…what is He waiting for?  Why delay healing my brother?  Why wait for the resurrection?


Did you know…when Jesus was on Earth, He was asked these same questions?

The questions weren’t part of a parable or found in one of His teachings.  Jesus was asked, straight-up.  Real life was happening.  They loved Jesus and He loved them – but they were looking right at Jesus for answers as they dealt with the most unfair moment of their lives.

I need to know how Jesus answered their questions, and there are a few more things I am wondering:

What did Jesus say?
Did He show any emotion?
Did He seem to even care?

We’ll look for answers to these questions as we launch into this next study.  For now, I am clinging to something Paul wrote many years later:

2 Corinthians 4:16
Therefore we do not give up.  Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day.

Our current bodies are falling apart, and it is hard to deal with.  The diseases we encounter in this fallen world are vicious, malicious, and ruthless.  It’s especially difficult to helplessly watch the people we love succumb to them.  But no matter how heavy these moments are, God helps us keep the proper perspective:

2 Corinthians 4:17
For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.

Today’s crushing avalanche will be nothing more than a light mist in comparison to the eternal glory to be revealed in us. 

Even if we cannot see it right now, because our eyes are blurred by tears.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Alex Trebek and thoughts on eternity

I’ve watched Jeopardy as long as I can remember.  While growing up, like many US families, our five-nights-a-week routine was to watch Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy.  For me, this familiar routine lasted through grade school and Junior High, but dwindled a bit when I was a busy High School student.  As you can imagine, I didn’t have much time for a nightly quiz show when in college or starting out in my career…but I was always aware that Alex Trebek was still running the show.  That thought was always steadying, in a comfortable sort of way.

The last several years, my wife and I have found ourselves watching more of Wheel and Jeopardy.  Maybe it’s because of our months of 2020 COVID lockdown, but we probably watched and enjoyed the gameshows more than any previous year.  However, it was still a “watch-it-if-you-feel-like-it” situation each evening.  No urgency to see that night’s show.  The news of Alex Trebek’s recent passing wasn’t all that surprising – I mean, after all, he was 80 years old and fighting one of the most difficult cancers known to man.  Like many Americans, the news left me feeling as if some part of my childhood had also died.

But in the short time since he passed, I have noticed a change in my nightly habits…I’m much more intentional about making time to watch Jeopardy.

Maybe watching Alex’s final episodes is a weird way to cope with the idea that a consistent voice from my childhood is now gone.  Perhaps I’m looking for signs that his time was almost up.  But what I think my intentions boil down to, is this – his last episode will be aired on Christmas day, and that’s not very far from now.  I recognize that time is running out.

Tight deadlines and impending endpoints force us to focus; however, we also find the opposite is true – when deadlines are far off in the distance and the endpoint isn’t near, we tend to slack off.  We allow ourselves to be distracted.  If I was told in 2010 that Alex Trebek would stop hosting Jeopardy by the end of 2020, would I have started watching it more?  Likely not…

I think I finally understand why God doesn’t tell us the exact dates of His plan for human history – because we would treat Jesus’ return like the time in college I stayed awake all night to read the Odyssey and write a 5 page paper the night before it was due.  Never mind that I was given weeks of notice to complete the assignment…I waited until the last moment possible to start.  I procrastinated until it was nearly too late, and I was not in good shape afterwards.

Another danger would be that if we knew Jesus would not return for another 250 years…would we continue to live for Him, or would we give in to simply living for ourselves?

But we still want to know when God’s plan will unfold, don’t we?  Well, so did the disciples.  Here’s what Jesus had to say when they asked about the timing of His triumphal return:

Matthew 24:36, 42-51
Now concerning that day and hour no one knows – neither the angels of heaven nor the Son – except the Father alone…Therefore be alert, since you don’t know what day your Lord is coming.  But know this: If the homeowner had known what time the thief was coming, he would have stayed alert and not let his house be broken into.  This is why you are also to be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give them food at the proper time?  Blessed is that servant whom the master finds doing his job when he comes.  Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.  But if that wicked servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delayed,’ and starts to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with drunkards, that servant’s master will come on a day he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know.  He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Jesus doesn’t want His disciples to focus on the day of His arrival, He wants them to focus on their faithfulness until His arrival.  Look at Jesus’ parable – their status as servants is not in danger; however, their fellowship with the master and their future opportunities are at stake.  A faithful servant will be rewarded, whereas an unfaithful servant will be embarrassed, demoted, and regretful.

Paul said something similar to the believers in Thessalonica when speaking about the day of Christ’s return to rapture His church.  They were actually afraid that they had missed the event and had been left behind:

1 Thessalonians 5:1-6, 8
About the times and the seasons: Brothers and sisters, you do not need anything to be written to you.  For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.  When they say, “Peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the dark, for this day to surprise you like a thief.  For you are all children of light and children of the day.  We do not belong to the night or the darkness.  So then, let us not sleep, like the rest, but let us stay awake and be self-controlled…But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled and put on the armor of faith and love, and a helmet of the hope of salvation.

It’s best we don’t know the exact day of Jesus’ return…we would not handle that information very well.  There will not be an announced deadline for our work to be turned in.  We won’t know ahead of time when the last episode of human history will broadcast.  However, Jesus does not want us to worry about when He arrives, but for us to maintain our faithfulness until He arrives.  For those of us who take that challenge and do it, there are great rewards to be had!

For some encouragement, let’s look at something Paul wrote to the believers in Galatia:

Galatians 6:7-10
Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked.  For whatever a person sows he will also reap, because the one who sows to his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.  Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.  Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Yeah, it's that easy

We like things to be easy, but we’re very leery of an easy solution to what we see as a difficult problem.  We don’t go to a doctor unless we can’t get well taking care of ourselves at home.  We hire professionals to do repair work because we don’t have the skill to fix it ourselves.  We expect the experts to solve our hard issues with complex solutions…but when they come back with simplistic answers, we become skeptical, even angry.

Naaman was the commander of the army for the king of Aram.  He was an accomplished warrior and leader, but he was plagued by a skin disease.  He had tried everything to cure it, but nothing had worked.  When he heard there was a prophet in Israel who could cure him, Naaman immediately sought him out.  When he finally arrived at the prophet’s house, Elisha wouldn’t see him.  Instead he sent out his messenger:

2 Kings 5:10-13
Then Elisha sent him a messenger, who said, “Go wash seven times in the Jordan and your skin will be restored and you will be clean.”

But Naaman got angry and left, saying, “I was telling myself: He will surely come out, stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the skin disease.  Aren’t Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?  Couldn’t I wash in them and be clean?”  So he turned and left in a rage.

But his servants approached and said to him, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it?  How much more should you do it when he only tells you, ‘Wash and be clean’?”

Naaman expected a big show from Elisha or to have the prophet give him some difficult task to prove his worthiness for healing, but he was given neither of those.  Instead, he was only told to wash off in the Jordan River.  This was too simplistic for Naaman’s expectations.  After all his struggles and attempts to fix it himself, surely there something more fantastic than dunking in the muddy Jordan river to fix his problem.  However, after his servants’ prompting, Naaman relented.  He went to the Jordan, washed seven times…and he was healed, just as the prophet had said.

The people of Jesus’ day also had the same problem with an unexpectedly easy solution.  As the crowds were starting to grow and follow Him around, Jesus challenged their motives in seeking Him out.  While doing so, He also confronted their preconceived ideas on how to obtain eternal life:

John 6:26-28
Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, you are looking for Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled.  Don’t work for the food that perishes but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal of approval on Him.”

“What can we do to perform the works of God?” they asked.

Notice their question – they were looking for works, plural, expecting that Jesus was about to give them a long list of behaviors with do’s and don’ts, if they were to earn eternal life.  The Jews were used to performing ceremonies and rituals, as well as following the Mosaic Law and the teachings of the Pharisees…so they were ready to hear commands for them to perform multiple difficult works, each to be checked off and help them earn eternal life from God.

Instead, Jesus answers them in the singular:

John 6:29
Jesus replied, “This is the work of God – that you believe in the one He has sent.”

I can totally see Jesus putting “air quotes” around the word “work”.  His answer is pretty much tongue-in-cheek, because we cannot earn eternal life by working – instead, we simply believe in Jesus for eternal life, and we will have it.  Notice too, what Jesus said about eternal life – “the Son of Man will give [it to] you.” 

But if eternal life truly is a gift from Jesus…then what did Jesus mean by telling them to “work” for it?

Jesus was warning them not to put in the effort to seek Him out for merely their next physical meal, but they should instead seek Him out for what He freely offers – eternal life to all who believe in Him.  Of course, they had trouble with how “easy” of an answer Jesus gave them, so He continued to teach them, still using the bread analogy:

John 6:35, 40
“I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them.  “No one who comes to Me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in Me will ever be thirsty again…For this is the will of My Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Although the crowd struggled with His teaching, Jesus did not add any other pre-conditions (like confession, repentance, or vows of good behavior) or post-conditions (like continuance in good works, baptism, or church attendance) to His offer of eternal life.

Over and over, when Jesus is witnessing to others, the only condition for them to receive eternal life is to simply believe in Him.  This might sound strange to you, too.  You may have heard something different in church.  You may think that it’s too good to be true.  But don’t just take my word for it – read through the book of John, the only book in the New Testament written explicitly to unbelievers, and you’ll see a no-strings-attached offer repeated: Jesus gives eternal life to those who believe in Him.

Yeah, it’s that easy.

Have you accepted His free gift?  Do you believe in Jesus for eternal life, no strings attached?

Keep Pressing,
Ken

How to see the good

There’s a lot of negative vying for our attention.  Election ads have been in our face for months.  Constant worries about the rapid swings in the stock market, the jobless claims reports, and individual company earnings.  Closer to home, we’ve all seen small businesses in our communities decide to close permanently – perhaps you’re one of them that had to make that painful choice.  And then there’s a pandemic to deal with.  2020 just seems to bring one hit after another.  No one has been left unaffected.  Families are struggling, churches are struggling, communities are struggling…leaders, governments, and nations – struggle, struggle, and struggle.

I’d say it feels a little overwhelming at times, but that wouldn’t be an honest statement.  Truthfully, it feels INCREDIBLY overwhelming A LOT of the time.  There’s so much negative and so much muck to wade through…where’s God while we’re in the midst of all this?

My church recently reopened for in-person services (with COVID protocols in place), and I was able to teach in the large group meeting for the elementary-age kids.  I’ve been doing it for years, and it was so good to be back with them again.  And it was in their lesson that I found the answer to our problem question of Where’s God in all this mess?

The verse their lesson focused on was one that most of us Christians would be familiar with.  Prepare yourself to not be shocked by which verse I’m about to quote.  It’s not taken from some obscure Old Testament passage.  There’s no deep-dive into the Greek words needed to figure out what Paul was saying.  God made this one easy for us…so easy, a child can apply it:

Philippians 4:8
Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is lovely, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable – if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy – dwell on these things.

Yep, that’s it.  Class dismissed.

Well, not quite.

I couldn’t just leave them with a simple thought of you know, you should just think about the good stuff even when bad stuff is happening…so after I talked about this verse, I gave them a very simple way to apply it:

I pointed out how every month, our elementary kids program focuses on a memory verse.  I explained to them that if they want to apply what Paul is saying in Philippians 4:8, then they need to learn their memory verse.  I told them how when I was their age, because of my mom, I memorized verses too.  And many of the verses I learned when I was their size are still burned into my brain.

If I need a verse that reminds me of how much God loves me, I have that (John 3:16-17).  If I need to be reminded that God’s path is best, then I know that, too (Proverbs 3:5-6).  When the Holy Spirit needs to kick me in the rear and remind me that I’m supposed to intentionally love others, He brings to mind 1 John 4:7-8.

However, memorizing Scripture isn’t just a kid’s activity.  I’ve continued it well into my adult life.  I’ve added verses like Genesis 1:1, Proverbs 22:29, and 2 Corinthians 5:10.  I’ve also learned to quote several verses together so I can grab hold of a complete God-thought on a subject – 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 and I’m currently working a chunk of verses found in Philippians 1:20-30.  Right now, I’ve made through verse 27 and will add 28 soon.  I’ve also memorized Titus.  Not just a verse or passage, but all of it. 

Before you put me on a pedestal of any level, hear me out.  Titus isn’t very long, just 46 verses.  At the time I was working on it, I was driving over an hour, one-way, to work each day.  My radio was lousy.  Satellite radio and streaming music wasn’t a thing back then.  So spending time during each drive memorizing Scripture broke up the monotony of driving the same roads for 3+ years.  It took many months to get the entire book down, but it was time well spent.  Over the years, God has honored that investment in more ways that I can recount in this post.

Again, I do not admit these things to build myself up or to look good in your eyes.  Instead, I want you to realize that Scripture memorization is both possible and beneficial…just like I was conveying to the elementary-age kids (for the record, I didn’t tell them about Titus, just the first 3 verses I listed above).

Having Scripture at the front of our brain and the tip of our tongue will help us keep perspective in a world that constantly feels like everything is upside-down and spinning sideways.  Having Scripture handy helps us dwell on the good things that God has all around us.  And lastly, having Scripture memorized fulfills what Paul wrote to another group of believers:

Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Memorizing Scripture will renew your mind and transform your thinking…only then, with clear thoughts, can we discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Yeah, it’s easier to memorize when you’re younger, but that’s no excuse not to start now.  Better yet, help a child memorize a verse and you’ll end up learning it, too.  Maybe you’ll be the one that inspires them to have God’s Word burned into their brain for the rest of their life.

Keep Pressing,
Ken  

Flashback Favorite - When we fall

Sometimes, we need a reminder that once you’re in God’s family, He’s not going to kick you out…

When we fall
originally posted on August 10, 2017

In 2004, I moved my family to a new state, 1500 miles away from what we knew as home.  The job I was going to was one that I had done before, so I was completely confident that I could hit the ground running.  I was excited to use my skillset in a new environment and among new people.  Of course, before they turned me loose, I had a training program to complete.  What I thought was going to be no big deal ended up having a few bumps in the road.

Maybe it was the time off between jobs, maybe it was nervousness…but I found myself making little mistakes that either made it more difficult to complete the task at hand or it meant that the testing was invalid and had to be repeated.  Internally, I was getting really frustrated with myself.  Externally, I would make weak attempts at joking as I would blame the mistakes on me trying to “knock the rust off”.  But the mistakes kept happening at a pace that made me uncomfortable, and I knew people were watching.

I began to wonder if there was some “unofficial limit” as to how many mistakes I could make before they would just give up on me.  I was being brought in to not only perform testing and provide expertise, but I was also going to be leading my own team.  “How can a supposed leader make this many mistakes?” I worried.  We were new in town, without any family nearby.  What would happen to us if I continued to muck things up and my worst fear was realized?

After one particularly frustrating mistake, looked at my trainer and asked how many more of these was I allowed before they kicked me out.  She just laughed as she walked away and said, “Don’t worry, Ken.  We’re not going to throw you overboard.  We’ve invested too much money in you to do that.” 

Now to her, I’m sure it was just a minor comment.  Too me, it felt like the weight of the world had been lifted.  And then I realized…she was right.  This company had paid for our move and given us three months of short-term housing – they had invested a lot in me and expected to get a return.  They were willing to put up with a few do-overs, especially in training, as I learned the ropes and re-focused my skills.  Because of their patience, I was able to succeed in a variety of roles for the company, even ones that I couldn’t have foreseen at that initial time.

We have the same worries in our relationship with God, don’t we?  Even after we trust Jesus with our eternal destiny, we’re still going to struggle with sin.  That’s just part of life as a redeemed human being.  But we often wonder…What if I screw up too many times?  What if I really blow it in a big way, with one of those “big” sins?  Will God just toss me aside, because that’s what I would deserve.

I love that God is a realist.

We like to sugar-coat our flaws and exaggerate our strengths, but He sees us exactly as we are.  He’s not surprised when we sin.  He knows we’re not going to live out this new life with Him perfectly.  He loves us and trains us like a perfect parent – with patience, support, and guidance.

In the middle of Psalm 37, David recognizes this truth. 

Psalm 37:23-24
A man’s steps are established by the Lord,
and He takes pleasure in his way.
Though he falls, he will not be overwhelmed,
because the Lord holds his hand.

An accurate translation of the third line could also read, When he falls, he will not be cast aside.  God knows the path He wants us to walk with Him.  He truly delights in making the journey with us.  And when we fall, He is there to catch us.

Truthfully, He’s invested too much in us to just walk away.  Jesus, the most valuable person in the universe, paid for us to move into God’s family.  The Lord is holding our hand as we walk through this life, learning the ropes and developing our skills.  We are being prepared for life in Eternity Future.  God’s not going to give up on us here.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

We will get ours

Last time, we found that God has set a time and place to dispense justice among those who do not believe in Jesus for eternal life.  But what about us Christians?  Are we free to do whatever we want because we know we’re going to Heaven?  Are there any consequences for Christians who wrong others or do terrible things?

To find our answers, we’re actually going to step into the middle of a section in Scripture where the Apostle Paul is reprimanding the church in the city of Corinth.  These Corinthian believers were dividing themselves based upon which teacher they preferred to listen to – the lines were primarily drawn around the teachings of Paul, Peter, and Apollos.  As you can imagine, these divisions were causing significant stress among the congregation.  However, it is during Paul’s rebuke that we also find him talking about what happens to Christ-followers who waste their time or do harm to others.  As you read this, remember we’re dropping into the middle of Paul’s rebuke – but we’re looking for consequences that believers can experience:

1 Corinthians 3:5-11
What then is Apollos?  What is Paul?  They are servants through whom you believed, and each has the role the Lord has given.  I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.  So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.  Now he who plants and he who waters are united in purpose, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.  For we are God’s coworkers.  You are God’s field, God’s building.

According to God’s grace that was given to me, I have laid a foundation as a skilled master builder, and another builds on it.  But each one is to be careful how he builds on it.  For no one can lay any other foundation than what has been laid down.  That foundation is Jesus Christ.

Obviously, Paul is talking to the believers in Corinth.  Those who believe in Jesus for eternal life are the only group that has a foundation of Jesus Christ.  With this understanding, take a look at what Paul says next:

1 Corinthians 3:12-15
If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, each one’s work will become obvious.  For the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work. 

If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward.  If anyone’s work is burned up, he will experience loss, but he himself will be saved – but only as through fire.

Paul’s warning to the believers in Corinth is quite clear – now that your foundation is in Jesus Christ, be careful what you build and what you build with.  After we believe in Jesus for eternal life, we’re not done…it’s just the beginning.  While we will not come under judgment for our eternal destiny (like those at the Great White Throne judgment), everything we do in this life will be evaluated by Jesus.  Both the good – which receives a reward – and the bad – which will cause us to experience loss. 

In another letter to these same believers, Paul had this to say:

2 Corinthians 5:9-10
Therefore, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to Him.  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

Again, Paul stresses that both our good actions and our selfish, evil actions will be brought into account by the One who knows it all and can perfectly evaluate every situation.

There is a phrase that Paul uses that may seem odd to us, but ‘the judgment seat of Christ’ was a description the Corinthian believers would have understood immediately.  In his book, Final Destiny: The Future Reign of the Servant Kings, Joseph Dillow describes it this way:

Travelers to the archaeological excavations of the city of Corinth have seen the famous judgment seat in the town square…The judgment seat (Greek: bema) in Corinth was a large, richly decorated rostrum, centrally located in the marketplace.  It was the place where rewards were given out for victory at the Isthmian athletic games.  These rewards consisted of garlands, trophies, crowns, and special social benefits, such as exemption from income tax.  But punishments were also administered here as well.

One day, all Christians will have to give an account of their lives – how we spent our time, how we spent our talents, and how we spent our treasure.  Were we selfish or generous?  Did we commit crimes or acts of love?  Our actions, our faithfulness, our words, and our inmost thoughts will be on full display…and Jesus will justly evaluate us, His servants. 

Our eternal destiny is settled – Jesus has promised eternal life to those who believe in Him.  However, based upon our foundation in Jesus Christ, how we live now will directly impact our opportunities to serve and participate with Jesus in Eternity Future.

Knowing this, how will you approach today?

Keep Pressing,
Ken

They will get theirs

We have always craved justice.  However, in recent years, there has been an increasing emphasis on correcting injustices within society – for wrongs committed today as well as those committed in the recent past.  This desire to right the wrongs is noble; however, there have been many ignoble attempts to carry out retribution or exact payment for injustices.  And then we often end up fighting about the ignoble means of handing out noble justice.  Who is supposed to be responsible for administering this justice and how far the punishment is taken have both been hot topics recently.  Accusations of corruption within the judicial branch of government appears in our news feeds frequently.  Stories and rumors of bad behavior are immediately blown up and judged via social media.  Being an election year always seems to put these issues to the forefront of our attention.

But what is a Christian to do with all this?  How can we proclaim a perfect God to a world that is far less than perfect?  We feel the same tensions that non-Christians do – Why do evil people seem to get away with stuff?  I’m glad when the bad guys finally get caught, but what about all those who do the same things and the authorities aren’t even aware of them?  How do we handle inconsistencies for how justice is administered?  What do we do when it appears that justice has not been served and someone “gets away with it” or receives a much lighter punishment than we would have expected?

These are not new questions.  These are concerns that people have always had, as they realized that their governments full of sinful people are trying to corral the actions of sinful people…this is not a formula to bring about perfect justice.  But that seems to be the best we have.  Even Israel’s King David and God’s prophets recognized this tension, and they asked God why injustice happens:

Psalm 94:3-7
Lord, how long will the wicked – how long will the wicked celebrate?
They pour out arrogant words; all the evildoers boast.
Lord, they crush your people; they oppress your heritage.
They kill the widow and the resident alien and murder the fatherless.
They say, “The Lord doesn’t see it.  The God of Jacob doesn’t pay attention.”

Jeremiah 12:1
You will be righteous, Lord, even if I bring a case against you.  Yet, I wish to contend with you:
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all the treacherous live at ease?

Habakkuk 1:2-4
How long, Lord, must I call for help and You do not listen
or cry out to you about violence and you do not save?
Why do you force me to look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
Oppression and violence are right in front of me.
Strife is ongoing and conflict escalates.

This is why the law is ineffective and justice never emerges.
For the wicked restrict the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted.

Paul also dealt with our unfulfilled desire for justice in this manner:

Romans 12:19
Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, “Vengeance belongs to Me, I will repay”, says the Lord.

Paul’s quote goes back to Deuteronomy 32:35, reminding his readers that despite all they are struggling with, God promised long ago to make things right.

Although Paul goes on in his letter (Romans 13), to say that one of the ways God displays His wrath now through the appointed governments to do the work of justice and punishing those who do wrong…we’re still left with a judicial system that doesn’t always get it right.  Our judicial system does not always get all the evidence; it is not is able to understand all aspects of a situation.  Additionally, and sadly, our judicial system can be corrupted so that in some cases, those responsible are never held accountable. 

That is a lot of tension for us to stand in.  And while God’s statement “I will repay” is comforting, it can still feel a bit hollow.  Just like the Old Testament writers, we want to ask God…When?  When will wrongdoing be properly and fully repaid?

It’s likely not as swift as we would want it to be, but God has set a time and place for justice to be finally and fully served.  The apostle John records this moment as the last actions God takes before creating a new heaven and a new earth:

Revelation 20:11-15
Then I saw a great white throne and One seated on it.  Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them.  I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.  Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books.  Then the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them; each one was judged according to their works.  Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.  This is the second death, the lake of fire.  And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

Let’s make a significant observation here: there are two sets of books that non-believers will be evaluated by.  The first set is plural – the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books – and this the full and just evaluation of their deeds in this life.  The second is singular – anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.  As the text says, it is whether or not their name is in book of life which sends them to the lake of fire, not their bad deeds and neither do their good deeds rescue them from this outcome.

The purpose of being judged according to their works is to determine the level of torment and anguish each person will suffer in the lake of fire.  A garden-variety pagan, who rejected Jesus’ offer of eternal life, will have a very different experience from someone on the level of Hitler, Stalin, or Mao Zedong.  That is true, full, and final justice.  Everything that someone appears to “get away with” now will come to light, and God will properly handle it.

Although this gives us some more comfort just knowing there is a “when”…I know this still leaves us with some unsettled questions.  Take them to God.  He is big enough to handle your questions.  Ask, just like Jeremiah did: You will be righteous, Lord, even if I bring a case against you.  Yet, I wish to contend with you…

This is how justice will be served for those who do not trust in Jesus for eternal life.  They will get theirs.  But, then, what happens to Christians who do terrible things?  Do they get away with it, just because they became a part of God’s family?  We’ll look at those questions next time.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

It's been tough lately

One of the great things about Scripture is that it doesn’t whitewash anyone or gloss over any less-than-perfect situations.  Embarrassing and non-flattering moments are included alongside of impressive miracles.  This is one of the evidences of the Bible being supernaturally inspired: given the number of people who contributed to the Scriptures over the 1500 years it took to write, you would really expect that some author – at some point – would try to minimize their mistakes and/or failings. 

But that’s not what we see.  Instead, we find the heroes of the Bible don’t always act like perfect heroes.  We find them lying, cheating, and betraying each other.  We find them doubting God and His goodness.  Sometimes, we even find them saying really stupid things or just wanting to get away from it all.  Here is just a short list of examples (which would be easy to make into a long list):

·       Adam and Eve had the literal perfect life, and lost it because they thought God was holding out on them (Genesis 3).
·       Jacob leveraged his family members’ weakened conditions against them so he could get what he wanted (Genesis 26-27).
·       Jonah flat-out told God “No.” and ran away (Jonah 1).
·       David wasn’t where he was supposed to be, which led him to an affair with someone he wasn’t supposed to be with (2 Samuel 11). 
·       John Mark deserted his fellow missionaries in the middle of the mission trip.  He just up and left them hanging (Acts 13).
·       After the biggest single-day success of his career as God’s prophet, Elijah fell into loneliness and deep depression (1 Kings 18-19).
·       Noah got drunk and passed out, and his kids had to take care of him (Genesis 9).
·       On his watch, Aaron went along with a rebellion against his brother Moses and against God.  He even formed the golden calf “god” himself (Exodus 32).
·       Samuel, a great prophet of Israel, failed completely as a father.  While his sons were in the ministry, they were all corrupt and took bribes.  They used their religious positions for personal gain. (1 Samuel 8).
·       One day, Peter came to the conclusion that he needed a break.  He decided to leave for a while and go fishing (John 21).

Since the Bible doesn’t hide the flaws and failings of the people of God, I don’t think that we should work so hard to project a “perfect Christian” image.  It’s an easy trap to fall into, though.  We tell ourselves I don’t have the time to tell them the full story…or…they have their own issues and shouldn’t have to deal with ours, too…or…I’m embarrassed because I’ve been a Christian too long to be struggling with this thing…or…others would look down on us for getting stuck on this sin…or…<insert your own excuse here>

 When was the last time someone asked you, “How are you doing?”, and you gave an answer other than “I’m good.”?  But we have the insider information on ourselves, don’t we?  We’re fully aware of which parts aren’t “good” and where we’re struggling. 

So, in the interest of openness…I’ll admit that it’s been hard for me lately.  Of all the things you could imagine that I struggle with, your least-likely guess is my frustration…I’m having difficulty putting in the effort to study the Scriptures.  Ironic, right?  The guy who teaches the Bible is having difficulty with wanting to put in the effort to understand the Bible.  This isn’t a “because of COVID” thing either, it’s been a on-again-off-again struggle for a very long while. 

I don’t write this looking for your sympathy.  I’m not asking for a prayer vigil.  I admit this to you because I want you think about how you look at your pastors and teachers.  Just because we write/teach/preach God’s big ideas and partner with God to bring His truths to your attention…this doesn’t mean that we have everything else in our lives perfectly together or that we don’t also struggle in our walk with God.

Sometimes this living sacrifice (Romans 12:1) wants to crawl off the altar, check out of my responsibilities, and just coast for a while.  I get tired of daily taking up my cross (Luke 9:23) where “self” is to be crucified, and honestly, on somedays…I just don’t pick it up.  When talking about this blog, I have readily told people that I do not write because I am some super-spiritual, strong-Christian type…instead, I believe that God has me write this blog because I am too weak to not have this teaching responsibility.  Part of what keeps me in the Word is knowing I’m accountable to you all on a weekly basis – whether I feel like reading God’s Word or not.  If I wasn’t doing this ministry work, I’m not sure how much (or how little) time I would spend in the Scriptures.  And without God’s voice being intentionally and regularly added to my life, I am unable to withstand the constant barrage of the world’s messaging, distractions, and lies.  This teaching work God has given me is as much for me as it is for you.  While my struggle with studying Scripture is not an “always every day” struggle, it’s definitely there…don’t let a well-written, regularly-delivered email suggest to you otherwise.

So, let’s not hide our struggles from each other.  Let’s not pretend to be the perfect Christian; after all, those don’t exist.  Talk to your spouse about where you are in your walk with God.  Speak with a good friend.  Find a Christian counselor, if need be.  When you think about your pastor or Bible teacher, don’t assume that their walk with God is easier than yours or that they don’t have struggles.  Instead, let’s all take to heart the encouragement given by the author of Hebrews:

Hebrews 12:1-2
…let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us.  Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith.  For the joy that lay before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Persevering in whatever ministry God has given us will keep us on track for God’s will in our lives now and eternal rewards in the life to come.  Even when we struggle.  Even when we don’t feel like it.  Even when we admit to not having it all together.

Keep Pressing,
Ken