The Volcano Effect - Eruption

Sin has consequences.  Apart from Christ the primary consequence is death.  This death involves separation from God.  The problem is that often sin, like a volcano lies dormant.  It seems harmless and we continue to live in close proximity to it.  In fact, there is almost a sense of pride that develops because we can live in such proximity to such danger and not get burned. And then the mountain erupts.  Lava flows and destroys all in its path without concern for those harmed.  This is the true nature of sin.  No matter how much we live with it, no matter how much control we think we have, the eruption will eventually come, and when it does it brings with it total devastation. 

Are you living with a sense of proximity to sin that you have grown comfortable with?   Perhaps it is the sin of pride, or the sin of lust, or the sin of ________________ (fill in your own here).  Do you know the eminent danger of the sin or have you begun to trust it as harmless?  Beware of the coming eruption!

The Volcano Effect - Living in the Danger of Familiarity

Every time there is some kind of disaster it amazes me that there are people who had proper warning, people who knew harm was coming to them, and yet they choose to stay.  I have seen this most recently related to the volcano happening on Hawaii.  I have seen this during floods and typhoons and hurricanes.  I have seen this during wildfires.  It seems that though there is often plenty of warning, and plenty of knowledge of the devastating effects of an event, there are still people who want to "ride it out."

I think that this too is a reflection of our own hearts, particularly as it relates to sin.  Even as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ we tend to get comfortable and stop worrying about the dangers of the sin that we are so accustomed to.  We stop thinking about its effects.  We stop thinking about its harm and we think that we of all people will be ok.  After all, we are natives to this area.  We have weathered this storm before. But most of all, we are firmly convinced in our own minds that we cannot be affected by something because we have too much control.  There is too much time left, and if things get really bad we will still have time to get out.

Unfortunately, as with the storms, sin overtakes people faster than they will think it does.  It may lay dormant for a while, but eventually it will explode, and when it does, the harm you could previously outrun if you wanted to will overtake you.  Or you will find that because you are so familiar you may not even want to run.  You might stare into the fiery lava of sin and simply let it overtake you. 

There is another way - accepting the help that Jesus offers and doing the things that he recommends- don't trust yourself!  Certainly don't trust the sin.  Trust no one or nothing but Jesus and flee the sin and run to Him.  Perhaps you need to do this today for the first time, or perhaps as a believer you need to be reminded of the danger of familiarity with sin.

The Volcano Effect - the devastating nature of sin

I saw a video this week of lava from a recent volcano in Hawaii coming toward a car parked along the side of the road.  The video was mesmerizing.  It went like this. . .

This huge mass of molten ash moves toward the vehicle. It seems so harmless and almost beautiful.  After all, it is not a mass of flames, just a dark mass of what looks like ash with just a hint of red underneath.  It looks like you could almost walk up to it.  There is a general sense of sadness as you realize the car is about to get dirty, but you are almost confident that it will not do any real damage.

Sin lies to us.  It pretends that it is harmless and really does not do any damage.  It pretends it is just a dark mass of harmless material that we can get as close to as possible.  We almost want to because of how harmless it seems.  It looks beautiful and desirable and it draws us in.  And the effects of sin were evident in the video as well.

As the mass of lava moves toward the vehicle, before it even touches it, the car bursts into flame and the dormant lava suddenly springs to life and in a matter of seconds the car is a fireball that then almost as quickly is devoured by the seemingly harmless ash moving toward it.  The car is gone.  All that is left is the mass of ash now completely covering the car, or at least what is left of the car.  The car is totally destroyed.  Gone.  Dead.  Of no use to anyone.  This is the result of sin - death.  Even if you think you get away with it, you die. Apart from the work of Christ we are all dead in our sin, consumed by the fires of hell within us.  Christ changes us. 

So don't allow yourself to be swallowed by sin, fight it by fleeing from it and running to Jesus.

Don't Get Comfortable

I preached on Psalm 23 this past Sunday.  As I prepared for this a lot of my prayer was that God would not allow our familiarity with the psalm to create a condition where we felt as though we need not listen to the Word of God.  Sometimes our view of ourselves changes (if it was evercorrect to begin with) and we lose sight of who we truly are.  Some of this is caused by familiarity.  When we know something, we want to move on to something new.  But the most familiar psalm points out a basic truth, we are sheep that need constant attention and care. 

I can imagine a sheep walking along a familiar path and saying to the shepherd, "I'm good, I don't really need your help on this path."  "And while we are talking about it, you treat me to much like I am below you, I want to lead myself, so don't tell me where to go or what to do anymore.  I will care for myself thank you."

We read our Bible and wait for some revelation from God but we don't read in submission to God's Word, instead we read as though we are the master's of it.  And in the most familiar psalm we find the truth that we cannot read the most familiar psalm with this kind of familiarity.  We cannot ignore it.  We cannot skip the truth in it because we know it so well, we must to submit to the simple truth that we are sheep and need the constant care of our Shepherd.  This means we are not independent.  We are not self-sufficient.  We are not all knowing and cannot properly care for ourselves.  The sooner we place our trust completely in the Good Shepherd, the better off we will be.  I am going to try and avoid being a stubborn sheep!

"Baaaaaaa" (that is sheep for "Glory be to God."

So glad for our children's play

I want to use this opportunity to give a "shout-out" to all those who help make the children's plays each year so beneficial to our church.  I will not name people in this post, but you all know who you are and know that I am grateful for you.

To the author of the plays I want you to know you have a great gift to be able to communicate the truth of the gospel in a medium that involves many people and reaches many people.  This gift is from God and I am so grateful that you use it in the context of our local church.

To the people who help backstage I am grateful for your tireless dedication to be at practices and to learn the movements required to be able to change the scenery and the costumes so that things roll along seamlessly.  You will not likely get the credit that you deserve but you are a big part of the success.  This is also true for those who help make treats for the practices and work alongside the author/director to assist.

To the people who work to make the sound the best it can possibly be I admire how hard you work to do a job for which you get paid nothing (which is far less than what is deserved!)  I heard that this play was the easiest to hear out of all of the plays that have been done.  Well done!

To the kids who memorize their lines and take the instructions given - you did a really good job!  You clearly communicated the most important message people will ever hear in a way that has the potential to impact people for years to come. 

Our church is tremendously blessed to have such a gift twice a year and I am so thankful to be able to be involved and support this ministry in whatever ways God allows. 

"I establish my covenant with you"

I was reading the story of Noah this morning and noticed the number of times that God points out that it is He that is making this covenant with Noah.  We know that Noah was a righteous man, but God does not say that He makes this covenant because of Noah.  We notice that it is God who promises that He will not judge the earth via a flood again.  God initiates the action of redemption and salvation. 

This theme is consistent through the rest of Scripture.  Some of the covenants that are made will be conditional in that they will require action on the part of man, but many of these covenants made with humanity are not.  We as New Testament believers are under a covenant - the New Covenant. 

Luke 22:20 reminds us that "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood."  The work of Christ on the cross initiates a new covenant.  This is all accomplished by the work of Christ and not by any work of our own.  Ours is to simply act in faith to respond to the gift freely offered.  Notice that this covenant was sealed with the very blood of Christ.  We are purchased, bought, redeemed, cleansed, made holy, made righteous, forgiven, adopted, and much more by this precious blood.   God has made a faithful promise that all those who come under the blood of Christ are bonded to the Father by the sacrifice of the Son.  The Spirit of God reminds of this reality from the core of who we are. 

What a blessing to have the Triune God testifying to our salvation!  God has given us so much, how can we not, having truly been saved by the blood, respond in worship and obedience?

The Judgment of God

The title of today's blog is not a popular thought.  Most would want the 2nd word replaced with love.  After all, we argue, does not God love all of us?  The answer of course is Yes.  But that does not negate the judgment of God.  Easter is a reminder that God sent His Son to be judged on our behalf.  But if we choose to ignore this, we do so to our peril.

"How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified and has insulted the Spirit of grace."  Hebrews 10:29(NASB)

If we ignore the work that Christ has done for us, and specifically if we ignore it to the point that we know it and understand our need for it and then go on sinning willfully (See verse 26), we are stomping upon God's gracious gift.

Can you imagine the feelings of someone who loved you enough to give you a thoughtful gift?  Imagine their horror when you take that gift and without truly even opening it, you place it upon the ground and stomp it to bits.  Imagine if that gift is the salvation offered in Christ.  What is God to do when you openly reject His offer of salvation.  But we forget, or willfully ignore these passages of Scripture that remind us just how serious the offer of salvation is.  Life and death offers contain life and refusing to accept them leads to death.  The author of Hebrews reminds us of this truth that is contained in the pages of Scripture.  We want a God who is cuddly and soft and warm and cute.  And Hebrews reminds us that this is not the God whom we serve.

"It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God."  Hebrews 10:31 (NASB)

Perhaps those of us reading this who have not surrendered our lives to God would do well to remember the terror of God!  And those of us who are surrendered to Christ would do well to remember that we have a crucial gospel message that must be proclaimed to save sinners from the hands of an angry God. (my thanks to Jonathan Edwards for this line)