#P5: As seriously as God…

by | Jun 16, 2015 | Devotions

Pastor's Five, P5 logo“Thus Zimri destroyed all the household of Baasha, according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke against Baasha through Jehu the prophet, for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned and which they made Israel sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols.” 1 Kings 16:12-13, NASB.

These chapter in this book may be some of the bloodiest in all of Scripture. The detail widespread judgment and destruction in summary form giving both cause and effect for the judgment.

In Israel, the northern kingdom, the kings were particularly wicked (as juxtaposed against Asa king of Judah in the South). They not only embraced idolatry but promoted it among God’s people through implication and edict. They named the “Lord God of Israel” as their own but worshipped as the inhabitants of the land that God had given them.

In the verses above, God wiped out a king and all his family because of their sin. Their sin! I know it sounds incredible…since many of us embrace a picture of “hippie Jesus” who eats granola, preaches peace, and lets people choose their own course without consequence; however, the Scripture portrays God far more accurately.

God hates sin and judges sinners. Not just everyone elses sins…and not just the “big” sins…but our sins and every sin. He hates sin. He has no tolerance for it and the only way a righteous and holy God can deal with sin is to destroy it utterly.

A couple of quick reflections:

  • God is the author of this destruction of Baasha and his household because of his unrepentant idolatry and wickedness before the Lord. God is a righteous judge.
  • Baasha knew judgment was coming because He knew the instructions of God, the Law of God and the prophesy of God…yet he refused to repent.
  • God executed justice swiftly but not immediately. Time lapsed from the prophesy to the judgment, but once judgment started, it was overwhelming.
  • God is still the Lord God of Israel even though their king sinned and the people sinned and idolatry was rampant.

The parallels are incredible in my mind. God loves us, is patient with us, desires our repentance…but is also righteous and holy and a swift executor of judgment against our sin. We should and even MUST view ourselves, our culture, and our sin as “seriously as God.” Only then can we experience the redemptive mercy fo God. If not, we will experience only His judgment…for He is a righteous judge.

#P5: To escalate or de-escalate…

by | Jun 12, 2015 | culture, Devotions, Pastor's Reflections

Pastor's Five, P5 logo“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Proverbs 15:1, NASB.

Like most of you, I have been inundated with video and commentary about the recent event in McKinney, TX where a police officer (now former police officer) was recorded shouting profanity and yelling at a group of teens that were reported to him to be trespassing and engaged in a fight. There are tons of commentaries on the incident and no shortage of opinions on the justification of the officer’s actions. I have an opinion based on what I have seen, but also realize that I have not seen everything…only what those who are seeking to shape their narrative have offered. So, I will not lead the parade to the lynching of either the officer or the teens. What I will do is offer a reflection on how Scripture informs the conduct of our lives.

When a person is opposed (verbally or otherwise) there is an immediate and sometimes overwhelming urge to lash out and “let them have it!” Acting on that urge provides a release and momentary euphoria. “I showed them!” But…if we were truthful, our unbridled response likely only exasperated the situation and evoked a more strident response from our opposition.

The officer was in a chaotic situation. large crowd dynamics (particularly when they involve children and teens without the wisdom that comes with maturity–chronological, emotional, and experiential) are dicey. Emotions are high and feelings are on everyone’s sleeves. While a need may actually exist to take firm control of a situation, misplaced outbursts of emotion may serve to escalate the situation. For instance, the officer’s loud, profane, and harsh words along with his take charge demeanor pushed the emotional quotient much higher than it needed to be and actually made the situation more volatile. (Now forgive me, since I have the luxury of hindsight that was not afforded to the officer or the teens involved). The same is true for the “mouthy” kids who are poster-child examples of the need to bring back “washing your mouth out with soap.” (The interviews with the kids after the incident present a far more respectful and subdued tone).

The truth is…Scripture speaks truth. If you can master your emotions with the help of God’s grace and respond rather than react to a situation…you stand a better chance of resolving conflict.

Not that I would assign a “faith position” to anyone at the pool that day without a little more inside information, but this I know…everyone there was a broken/sinful creature. Everyone there had a propensity toward self-exaltation and self-preservation. Everyone there needed more Jesus! EVERYONE!

James, the half-brother of Jesus, reminds us well that the tongue is evil and untamable (in its perfect expression). It must be mastered. If it is not, man’s religion is of no real and transcendent value.

So, here it is: Learn to swallow hard when you want to lash out. Breathe. Count to 10 or 10,000. Respond rather than react. This is wisdom and speaks well of our Savior. Any other response misrepresents the heart of our Lord and King.

#P5: The Achilles Heel of our lives

by | Jun 7, 2015 | Devotions

Pastor's Five, P5 logo“Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharoah: Moabite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the son of Israel, ‘You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.’ Solomon held fast to these in love. He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away.”  1 Kings 11:1-3, NASB.

Everyone has SOME weakness. It might be food, love of money, a need to control, or a Solomon type desire for women/men. Everyone has SOME weakness. We often refer to this as the “Achilles heel,” based on mythology. It is that “thing” that causes you to get off track and it seems to exercise some powerful control over you.

God knows this. This is why God gives us instructions…to train our heart toward Him and to guard our hearts from turning away from Him. So, God instructs us in the right way to honor Him and to honor His name.

But we are weak. By nature, we think we have some insight into ourselves that God doesn’t quite have. After all…He is not us! How can God possibly know more about the inside of our hearts that we do? Yet…He dies. He made our hearts after all. He created us and gave us a purpose even before we made our entrance into the world.

Solomon just liked women. He saw no danger and only benefit in having many wives. In fact, many of these marriages and “pseudo-marriage” relationships were political in nature resulting in land acquisition or treaties between neighboring kingdoms/cities. But still, God said otherwise and Solomon had a thing for women.

Now as king of Israel, he had his pick of the Israelite women but his desires ran toward foreign women. They were exciting…a little dangerous…and OFF-LIMITS! Yet they caught his eye. Perhaps it was because they were something prohibited. Perhaps it was because Solomon liked the attention they showed him. Perhaps, they were just benefits of his business dealings… Whatever the attraction…Solomon desired them enough to ignore the commands of God.

Solomon never expected to lose the kingdom. He did not set out to divide it and to leave his son with a fraction of his possessions and responsibility. We never expect the consequences of sin…but there are consequences. Solomon figured he was bulletproof from temptation and consequences. He was not and neither are we.

What is your “Achilles heel?” Do you know what God said about it? Don’t compromise. Do not associate with it and do not allow it to associate with you. It is dangerous and evil. It will kill you and the consequences will last longer than your life and cause damage for generations to come. Trust God. Walk in His way. Save yourself by allowing God to save you.

Shalom, CA

#P5: The Unintentional Messages Linger Long

by | Jun 1, 2015 | Devotions, Pastor's Reflections

Pastor's Five, P5 logo“But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.” Matthew 12:36, NASB.

Yesterday, Jodi and I had the opportunity to hang out with some friends in Destin, FL. It was a great time…both in the alone time commuting as well as seeing and talking with friends. One of the boys there is going into the 3d grade and was stuck like glue (if you will) to an older young man in college. What “college guy” did, the young boy did. What he said was repeated. The young boy studied and modeled everything he observed…good and bad.

That gave me reason to pause and reflect. There was nothing on the agenda for “college guy” to teach. He was not working through a Bible lesson or biblical doctrine or rules to live by. There was no classroom. No formal lecture material, study guides or tests; Yet, there was a lesson being taught and going deeper than any lecture I’ve ever given.

It is the unintentional messages that sink the deepest into our hearts. What we demonstrably value lasts. What we discount is discounted. What’s crazy is…there is no warning label on these unintentional messages. My dad taught me more about financial management (good and bad lessons) as a boy sitting at the dining room table than I ever learned in a financial class. Not more information but more controlling lessons. He taught me to pay the bills, pay them first, keep good records, and never be late. If you cannot afford anything after that, do something else. Get another job. Live on less. Ultimately, when you create a debt, you give your word so honor it. [POWERFUL MESSAGE]. He also did not “tithe” when I was young. He justified it verbally…so I carried his understanding into my adult years. He was wrong. He has since changed but his influence, though informal, was weighty at the time. My children tithe. They do so because that is what Jodi and I model for them. We live generously toward others even when we have minimal resources.

Parents that allow other things to take priority over church on Sunday teach similar lessons. They communicate that there are some things that are more important than church assembly. They allow children to choose to play sports that interfere with church. They choose “family days” at the beach over church. The intent is harmless but the results are long-lasting.

How do we NOT communicate wrong messages informally? Choose to do the right thing. What is it we would want our family to do? If it is a biblical truth, we should always do that. If our kids want to do something else, we should correct them. In my house, we don’t make school optional no matter how early in the day it starts or unfulfilling it seems. We don’t allow kids to break the law. We don’t allow our children to act immorally no matter how much they might want to. We don’t let them come to their own conclusions on matters of faith. One day they will. They will choose based on the values they’ve acquired and most of those through INFORMAL or UNINTENTIONAL messages. We choose then to intentionally communicate what we want them to learn through our “unintentional messages.” IOW…we are very intentional in this.

Does it matter? YES! They learn through our messages and God considers our influence a stewardship. This is why He holds us to account for every “careless word” or unintentional message we teach.

Shalom, CA

#P5: Because it is God’s House

by | May 31, 2015 | Devotions

Pastor's Five, P5 logo“The house, while it was being built, was built of stone prepared at the quarry, and there was neither hammer nor axe nor any iron tool heard in the house while it was being built.” 1 Kings 6:7, NASB.

In these chapters I am reading, there is great detail offered on the construction of Solomon’s Temple for the Lord. From the allocation of resources, to the people assigned to the build, to the decorations carved into the wood. It is (admittedly) an act of intentionality to not be lost in the details or to simply gloss over them. This verse I noted above struck me today.

All of the stone used for the structure of the of the House was prepared at the quarry and transported to the House. No modification was made to it upon arrival. It just fit. My dad taught me years ago that “framers” of houses have to do good work so a house will stand but ultimately their work is covered so if it isn’t pretty, no big deal. A trim carpenter puts final touches on stuff to make it look good, but ultimately he has a number of resources to cover mistakes. In the construction of this House…there were no mistakes. All of the stone was milled elsewhere and transported in to be laid/set and it fit perfectly. How do you do that?

It speaks of the craftsmanship and attention paid to the work before it was ever moved to the project. Every detail was considered and no imperfection was tolerated. If it wasn’t perfect, it never left the quarry. Why? Because it was God’s House and whatever went into the construction was more about the reflection of the value placed on God than on the usefulness or suitability of the construction.

Further magnifying this is the fact that all of the stone was intentionally covered by cedar. There were cedar walls within…from floor to ceiling. No stone was observed. WHAT KIND OF IMPRACTICAL PERSON PUTS SO MUCH ATTENTION INTO THE UNSEEN CONSTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE? Answer: The WORSHIPPING kind that recognizes that God was the One watching the work and God was the recipient of the work and God was the final inspector of the work.

What if we placed as much detail into every element of our lives? What if we would only worship from pure hearts? What if we would only give our employer our very best? What if we consecrated every detail of our lives before the Lord? What if “PERFECT” was the only acceptable way to respond to God?

Now…before you give yourself an “out” and declare that we aren’t and cannot be perfect and only Christ’s “imputed” perfection matters…that was true of the stonemasons who quarried the rock…yet they worked in such a way that no hammer or tool was needed or used when the HIDDEN STONES arrived at the Temple.

Go and do likewise.

Shalom, CA.

#P5: The Solomon Test Applied

by | May 28, 2015 | Devotions

Pastor's Five, P5 logo“The king said, ‘Get me a sword.’ So the brought a sword before the king. The king said, ‘Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.’  …[Following the reactions of the two women to the king’s edict] ‘Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him. She is his mother.’ When all Israel heard of the judgment which the king handed down, they feared the king, for they saw the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.” 1 Kings 3:24-25, 27-28, NASB.

The first act of judgment that is recorded for the wise king Solomon is what is still spoken of today as the “Solomon test.” In the story (which I encourage you to read in full), Solomon is approached by two women, both of whom claim to be the mother of a living child. Obviously one is lying but it is up to the king to decide whom. Solomon order that the child be cut in half (which is an equitable solution but certainly not a fair one) and presents the solution to the two women. One agrees and the other protests and is willing to give the living child to the other to prevent its death. Solomon discerns from this that only a mother would give her child away rather than watch his destruction. He awards the child to the woman who was willing to lose everything.

In many ways, God places us in a similar position. It is consistent with His character. He instructed Abraham to sacrifice Isaac in order to test Abraham’s allegiance to God or to the child God gave him. God relented and provided a substitute sacrifice once Abraham responded to the test. In fact, the test of faithfulness is consistent all throughout the Scriptures.

Here, Solomon threatened to take something of great value away to see how each person would respond…would they act selfishly or sacrificially for the benefit of the something greater.

When God instructs us to forgive others…it is not necessarily easy to comply. We comply because we love God more than we love nursing our grudge. When God instructs us to give a tithe (10%) of our income as an offering to Him through OUR local church family (place of worship), we do so because we love God more than we need to control our resources. When God gives, causes, or allows great loss in our lives, we remain faithful because we do not deserve his benevolence anyway…and we thank Him for our many days of blessing more than the temporary, though difficult, loss.

The next time you face difficulty, loss, or a tough opportunity to demonstrate obedience, remember that God is not mean, bad, or unfaithful. He is God…and what we face is not evidence of His lack of love…but is an opportunity to demonstrate our love in response to who He is.