History

Our local area is celebrating 150 years of local history this year.  Along with this comes a great deal of extra activities and fun things to do.  We have all heard the expressions about history like, "Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it."  (George Santayana)  Or Karl Marx statement that history repeats itself first as a tragedy and then as a farce.  We think about our own personal histories a lot and most of us are probably not big fans of studying the history of others.  I have observed that the more we move along in history it seems the less we care about it.  The youngest generations seem to have a growing disinterest in what has happened in the past unless it directly comes into contact with how it impacts their life.  We have a growing distrust in history as the belief that it has been written by the winners increases the belief that history is really only one side of a multi-faceted story.

This has impacted the church, and in particular Baptist churches.  We care very little for any history but our own and therefore have converged with society in our concern for history.  And yet the Scriptures are clear that we are to pay attention to history.  We are to learn from the mistakes of Israel as they have been recorded in part for us to avoid repeating them.  Titus tells older men and women to make sure to pass on their information to the younger generations.  We miss some of this in the context of the local church because we have so individualized our faith that we think we have nothing to learn.  I for one am grateful for those who have gone before and done what I am doing and had some success and some failure. I am exceedingly grateful to those who are willing to share their successes and failures with me that I might be a better husband and father and pastor.  I am a better follower of God because of these men and women.  I am more missions minded because of  man named Steve (not my father).  I am more focused on people because of a man named John.  I survived the teen years and lived to tell about it because of the prayer of my Grandmother.  I know more about hospitality from my mother and my mother-in-law.  I know of sacrifice because of the stories of my Grandfather who served in WW2.  And if I disregard these wonderful influences (and there are many more) than I do so to my own disservice.

So who do you have in your life that teaches you history?  Find a few people to add to that list today and you will be better off for it!

Learning from the testimony of others

Our church recently had a concert at the local band-shell and invited both a musical guest and a speaker to share his testimony.  I must confess, no one will ever hire me to share my testimony.  You cant fill much time and keep much attention with, "I was saved at the age of 5 because both of my parents loved me enough to share the gospel with me."  But as this man spoke of a life of drug addiction and spiraling downward while losing connection with his ex-wife and 4 kids, I realized something.  What was keeping my attention was not the details of the story, but the amazing grace of God. 

No matter who you are or where you are, God can reach you.  No matter what your story is, if you have been redeemed then God has changed your story.  And that is precisely the point.  The story of our salvation is not a story about us at all.  It is a story about God and for this reason, all of them are interesting.  When we stop thinking about ourselves and realize that the story of our salvation is a story about God perhaps we would be more willing to share.  As this man shared it was time and time again pointed out all that God was doing.  It is God who saves, and when God moves it is miraculous, no matter how God is moving.

This is the truly unique thing about being a Christian.  It is not about me.  It is not about you.  It is about a God who chooses to save those that have rejected him.  It is about a God whose love reaches into our sinfulness and changes us so that we can be with Him for eternity.  And for those of us who claim this part of our story, it is a glorious story that I could hear over and over and over again.  If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, please seek out someone you can speak to today.  If you have no one to talk to, contact our church (231.894.2686) - we would love to talk with you.

An open letter from your Bible

Dear friend,

I wanted to let you know that I am here.  You can usually find me sitting on your shelf or underneath your coffee table.  Perhaps I am on that ledge right when you get in the door.  I appreciate that you pick me up and take me to church with you but think I might be more useful to you if you would use me a little more frequently.  In fact, if you would open me up and read my pages I think that you might find a few things.  I define you. I explain the world around you.  I tell you how to have real joy, real peace, even the kind that passes understanding.  I will make you more like Jesus the more you choose to live as I describe and trust that God will make me alive to you.  I am living, active, sharper than a two-edged sword and I can tell you what is really going on inside - in the part that no one else can see and you think you are so good at hiding.  I am your offensive weapon when fighting against sin and Satan. 

The interesting thing is that I don't really do these things by osmosis.  It is not enough to simply have a few copies of me lying around, I need to be read to be useful.  I need to be studied for the fullest benefit to occur.  You can imagine my frustration when I see you sad and I can bring the keys to joy.  It is hard for me to see you flounder and not know what to do when I can tell you how to walk the straight and narrow.  It is difficult to see you struggle when my words give freedom from sin and death.  I am so much more than a guidebook, more than a help when needed, my pages are life.  I am a living Word of God.  Please allow me to do you a service when you pick me off of the shelf and read me.

Sincerely,

Your Bible

Freedom

"So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed in Him, 'If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.'"  (John 8:31-32, NASB)

We like to think of freedom on the 4th of July.  It is a natural thing to remember all of the freedoms that we have this time of year.  But when you get right down to it, we are not free.  We have liberties that have been bought for us with a price, but liberties are bound in the confines of the society that exercises them.  We do not understand real freedom.  We are always enslaved to something.  We are enslaved to time.  We are enslaved to the confines of our background and our families, which we cannot be free from.  We cannot be free from past choices.  And even those choices we will make in the future are not free in the truest sense of the word, but rather influenced by a large variety of factors. 

That is why when it comes to this national celebration I like to stop and think about the verse above.  We CAN have true freedom, but it does not come through the sacrifice of soldiers, but through a servant who died for you and for me.  Those of us who place our faith and trust in Him are truly free.  We are free because we are bound by nothing except our love for the one who paid the ultimate price of our freedom.  We are free because we know the truth.  And we are free because we willingly commit ourselves to the Word of God.  It seems counterintuitive that we would be free by committing to obedience but that is precisely what the Scriptures tell us.  When we commit our lives to Christ we find freedom - true freedom.  The kind of freedom God has in Himself.  This is true freedom, and it cannot be bought except with the precious blood of Jesus. 

So this week, remember the search for true freedom.  And remind someone of the freedom that you have found in Christ!