The writing is on the wall

 We use the expression - the writing is on the wall every so often to mean that there is an end coming - something bad usually.  As we look at the origin of this expression we use this expression all wrong.  What I mean by that is that usually we think of this as something beyond our control - someone or something has made it so that we cannot complete or do what we wanted to do - the writing is on the wall.  In reality, the story (you can read it in Daniel chapter 5) is all about the fact that the king did not honor God properly.  There was something he could have and should have done that may have led to a different outcome.  He had all of the warning he needed - his father had made the same mistakes.  (the author points this out in verse 18 and following)  He had all of the wisdom that was required and he had all of the information he needed to evaluate and realize that God is truly in charge and that he should follow and surrender to God - the one true King.

Secondly we often use this in the context of a warning of potential doom.  The writing is on the wall.  In reality, the biblical narrative indicates that the writing is a matter of impending doom - unavoidable - the choice has already been made.  There is not chance for repentance, the matter is settled.  In other words, if you are not honoring God in the here and now, there may not be a chance for you to repent - the writing on the wall is a writing of judgment.  And we are going to be judged.  The only way out of judgment is through and the only way we avoid being judged for our own work is to accept the work of another - Jesus Christ - in our place.  

May I encourage you this day to see the work of Christ as standing in your place.  His hanging on the cross means that the writing that God does on your behalf does not have to be on the wall in judgment, but in the book of life in grace.  

The beginning in the end

 It is often interesting how ends of something are the beginning of something else.  We end a school year to begin summer.  We end the summer to begin a school year.  We end singleness when we begin being married.  There is usually a beginning in an end.  Which is why I find our practical views on death so intriguing.  We have a sense that the end (death) is not really the end, but the beginning of something else.  I wonder if this is part of our innate sense of God's existence.  

When we die, something happens - what happens depends on our response to the Lord Jesus Christ.  If we have responded by grace with faith, then we will live for eternity in the presence of God.  If we have rejected the free offer of God's grace in Jesus Christ, then we have nothing but separation from God to look forward to.  But in both cases death is not the end, but the beginning of something far more vast than this life.

I wonder if you will consider today the beginning in your end.  Consider the free offer of salvation by the grace of God in Jesus Christ.

Resurrection

 Friday.  A day that everyone looks forward to.  Our work schedule for many postulates that we get weekends off.  Saturday.  A glorious day of celebration and freedom.  Sunday.  As a pastor, I am not honestly sure what people do on Sunday if not at church.  I have always been at church.  And yet, Sunday is still just a day.  

Practically speaking, one day follows another and a weekend is a weekend.  What makes them special is what we do with them.  At least that is what we think.  And then we come to resurrection Sunday.  The problem with a day like resurrection Sunday is that it redefines time for us.  No longer is it about me and what I want to do with my time, it is suddenly about something else.  And so life itself, and its purpose and my purpose in it are redefined.  

Friday.  Good Friday.  The day that Christ gave His life so that we could live.  He died for us.  On a cruel cross He suffered, and bled, and died.  He was pierced.  And He gave His life for us.  

Saturday.  A silent Saturday where a tomb was full.  As the Sabbath, people were respectful and distant.  

Sunday.  Glorious Sunday.  The tomb was visited and found empty.  Mary was spoken to.  The disciples were greeted.  Jesus was alive!

And so our lives are forever changed by one weekend in history over 2000 years ago.  

Living for the Glory of God

 This past Sunday was our missions emphasis Sunday.  Mike Deen spoke to us on living for the glory of God and how essentially that boils down to proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ and encouraging and building up the body of Christ by meeting each other's needs.  

As I thought about this I was reminded of the fact that glory is not shared.  When you have a glorious moment in your life, all that matters in that moment is the focus of the glory.  Maybe your favorite sports team is winning and competing at the highest level.  I remember a few years back when the Chicago Cubs were actually competing for a World Series Title after a long, long wait.  In the moment that they won for many people the world stood still - the rest of the world did not matter - the Cubs had won.  Or perhaps you remember holding your newborn in your arms for the first time.  Or the time that you lifted the veil and saw the eyes of your spouse and said, "I do."  Or perhaps it is something else.  But whatever it is in that moment of glory there is nothing else. 

I think to some degree that is what God wants us to understand about His glory.  In each moment we are to live for His glory and honor.  Nothing else really matters.  So when the Cubs win, or I hold a newborn baby, or I get married, all of those moments are to be lived for the glory of God.  When I wake up each morning and go to work, or school, or stay home, each moment is to be lived for the glory of God.  Fundamentally, there is nothing else more important than His glory!  And so each moment of our lives are we considering what it is that God would have us do through His Son?  Are we really living for His glory?

Death is not Death

 In Sunday School this week we talked about 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.  One of the phrases in this is the following, "But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep . . . "  It seems odd to say that someone who is dead is simply asleep.  This is what Jesus does in Mark 5:39.  Jesus says in John 11:26 that everyone who believes in Him will never die.  So what does this all mean.  

I think that it is important for us as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ to realize an important truth - we have been given eternal life.  Not we will receive eternal life when we die, but we have eternal life in Christ Jesus.  That means that life I presently live is eternal life.  So when my time is up on this mortal life, I will immediately find myself very much alive in the presence of Christ my Savior.  

This also means that our loved ones and friends who die in Christ also are still alive.  We may grieve their absence from us, but we know that because Jesus lives, they live, and because Jesus lives, we live and we can have the hope of knowing that we who believe will ALL be with Jesus together some day.  What a glorious hope we have in Christ.  Death in this world is not an end, nor is it (as it is often described) a beginning in the truest sense.  It is instead a continuation of that which we have in Christ.  How glorious that we can live without the confines and presence of sin. How glorious that we can continue in the presence of Christ now and for eternity.  How glorious that we can now live a life free from the sting of death because of the victory offered to us freely as a gift in Christ Jesus.  

One word of caution.  If you do not know Christ as Lord and Savior this freedom and eternal life is not yours.  In its place you have eternal death and separation from God to look forward to.  And given the choice, I would choose life and therefore choose Christ.  Would you consider your choice today?

A Love Like No Other

 We just got through February 14.  Everyone seems to think that this day has something to do with love.  And so our local stores are filled with flowers and chocolates that many use to make up for their lack of love shown during the course of the rest of the year.  Of course this is a little cynical.  But what is fascinating is what things we humans associate with love.  There is one thing that love has consistently in the Scriptures - self sacrifice.  Think of it - God loves us enough to sacrifice his own Son.  God calls us to give of ourselves for the good of others.  God calls us to love like he does.  Self sacrifice.  That is the best understanding of love, and it is something that our culture is desperately missing.  We are taught to build ourselves up instead of giving ourselves away.  We are taught to emphasize self instead of emphasizing others.  We are taught to seek our own identity rather than finding our identity in Christ and then sharing that identity with the lost and dying world.  So, as you think about love, think about what it really is - self sacrifice for the benefit of the one you love.  And love like you are loved in Christ.

The organizational part of church is glorious

 I wonder if you have ever considered how wonderful a business meeting can be.  There is rightly a lot of emphasis on the church as an organism- a living embodiment of the presence of Jesus Christ until He returns.  We are after all exactly that.  But as you read the Scripture you see that even in the early church there was a lot of organization.  Deacons formed in Acts 6 to care for an organized distribution.  Pastors instructed to teach those they were over.  There are collections taken up for other organized churches in different regions.  These were then delivered by people sent from one group to another.  We do not often take the time to think about the organization that this would take, but I was reminded of it when we had our business meeting.  God's people coming together to do business and vote and unite around our common desire to see God honored and glorified.  

This organizational aspect is rarely pretty or flashy or something that we would want to point others to.  We often focus on the programming (how do we think that this programming happens - by chance or organization?) we focus on the music (my wife plans the music each week for our church and I know how much organization goes into it) we focus on the youth group (organization is required) and many other aspects all of which require some level of organization.  We cannot have an outreach or a meeting or a ministry without formal organization.  This means that our planning and preparing is as much a part of the work that God does as is our actual participation in the event.  Sure it might not be glorious, but I am so thankful that God's people are willing to serve Him by simply showing up and participating in a business meeting.  To God be the glory!