Tongues of Fire

Years ago I was pastoring a church in Alpena, Michigan, and a friend asked if I wanted to go to lunch at a Chinese place north of town. "Sure. I love Chinese food." 

We arrived and went straight to the glutton table (no, not gluten...well...okay, there was plenty of that as well). General Cho's Chicken, a little Mongolian Beef with carrots and broccoli (one must eat your veggies), Crab Rangoon, and some stuff that looked like chicken in light brown sauce. "What is this? It looks like curried chicken." I checked the label. Nope. Some other type of chicken. Not sure if I want to try this. It might be a bit spicy for my palate. 

Chided by my friend for not being adventurous, I took a spoon full. We prayed and asked God to bless our sinful indulgence and then dug in to what ended up being an unrecognizable pile of flavor. I'll start with the mystery meat first. 

Oh, my God in heaven! How do you say "milk" in Chinese or "extra water" or "paramedics"? I was instantly reminded of the accounts of a Middle Age torture - you know the one where they poured hot molten lead down the person's throat. I now know what lava tastes like. My words began to slur as my tongue swelled and my taste buds were scorched by the heat of the sun. Tears flowed. "O Death where is Thy sting?"  It's right here! In my mouth! Maranatha! Maranatha! 

The waitress came around. "Evry ting okay?" "Oh, yeth. Tank you. Evyting is wonerful," I said.  My friend waited until she left to burst into uncontrollable laughter. I said, "You try that stuff." He said, "Well, I love spicy food." A big spoonful entered his lying mouth. Tears flowed. My meal just became more enjoyable. "Oh, my God in heaven! Is this chicken with acid sauce?" Yes. Yes, it is. Tongues of fire, my brother, tongues of fire. We had just experienced Pentecost.

Pentecost. The Feast of Weeks. The Counting of the Omer. The end of the harvest and a time of thanksgiving. The giving of the Torah to the people of God. A turning from the old to what is new and true. The giving of the Holy Spirit - the indwelling of God to everyone who believes and receives Jesus as Lord and Savior. 

How can you not pause and celebrate this event which starts on Thursday evening, May 28th? The Christian Church (Western) will celebrate it formally on May 31st. It is 50 days after Pesach or Easter. 

Fifty. For me - I am choosing to receive a new beginning, a new change, a Jubilee of spirit where I am set free to be more like Jesus and to do more for his kingdom. Wouldn't it be awesome if He came for his Church then? 

I may have to get some food "to-go." Chinese, anyone?

Wet Paint

Darkness. Height. Depth. Foreign. Uncertainty. Certainty. Death. I'm looking for words that deter or change one's behavior using fear as a motive. I was going to put "Wet Paint" but we all know how that usually ends (wipes, please). 

A statement came to mind that I know was used a lot on me as a child - sometimes working, sometimes not. "If you [fill in the blank] you're going to [fill in the blank]." 

Let me give you some examples. "If you climb that tree, you're going fall and break your neck." Could have happened. Didn't. It just knocked the wind out of me. "If you eat that, you're going to get sick and die." Could have happened. Didn't. Worms are protein and are a third-world delicacy. "If you go down there, you're going to get eaten by rats or snakes or some wild animal." Could have happened. Didn't. It was a cellar in an old abandoned farm house. My mom should have worried that I would be buried alive when the house fell on top of me. Could have happened. Didn't. Thank God farm kids get tetanus shots. Kept the stuff I found down there in an old Dutch Masters cigar box for many years. "If you go too fast on your three-wheeler, you're going to fall off and get hurt." Could have happened. Didn't. Well...I was going fast when I went through the board fence and about decapitated myself, but I didn't fall off. Even as an adult - "If you go to Syria, you're going to get kidnapped or killed." Could have happened. Didn't. Best trip ever. Changed my life. 

My life was and is full of opportunities for fear to deter me from doing things. Fear is a good thing. I have yet to grab a downed power line or go 120 miles an hour down the freeway. But then there was that time when I was going across South Dakota. Okay scratch that last one. Fear can also be the beginning of life paralysis - a Howard Hughes existence. 

All of those things mentioned were foreseen potential dangers but life is by its very nature a series of foreseen and unforeseen dangers. Every moment is a potential something. I choose to be afraid or not to be afraid. The potential something did not change. My thinking about it did. 

I choose not to fear this virus. I'm still going to wash my hands and try not to get within spitting distance of someone. But I'm willing to hold my breath for a hug or to hold a dying saint's hand to comfort her. 

The following verses have put things in perspective for me. 

Proverbs 9:10, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." 
Proverbs 10:27, "The fear of the Lord adds length to life." 
Proverbs 14:27, "The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death." 
Proverbs 15:16, "Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil." 
Proverbs 19:23, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of life."
Proverbs 22:4, "Humility is the fear of the Lord; its wages are riches and honor and life." 

And one more to tie it up from Isaiah 33:6, "He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure." 

I choose to fear - the Lord. And trust him with trees and worms and dark cellars and three-wheelers and foreign countries and foreign viruses. But don't play with forks...or you'll poke your eye out. 

Resolved and Respectful

"But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine and asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself in this way." (Dan. 1:8)

I am getting barraged with questions about when the church will be opened up again and hearing both sides of the argument about government overreach. I have seen a number of Christians turn to Acts 4 and 5 where the mantra "obey God rather than men" is used in support of reopening or just getting back to life. 

Neither of those passages can be used to support the times that we are living in at present. Acts chapters 4 and 5 are speaking to a religious/civil authority telling the disciples that they cannot speak or teach in the Name of Jesus again - essentially trying to stomp out Christianity before it ran rampant. That is far from the case in our situation. I prefer to go to the example that Daniel gives to us: Resolved and Respectful. 

Daniel was asked to do something that violated his moral conscience (eating and drinking forbidden food and drink, or food and drink that he had made a vow to abstain from). He resolved, he decided before hand, that he would not compromise when it came to his spiritual purity before God. How did he proceed in this foreign culture with differing expectations? He respectfully negotiated. 

The official over Daniel was concerned for his own safety and well-being. He didn't want those in his care to look weak and sickly and suffer the consequences of that personally. Fear was driving the decision. Daniel respectfully offered a test. Give us vegetables and water for ten days. If we aren't meeting your standard, well...we'll do it your way. The outcome was in Daniel's favor as he was favored by God. 

There is so much information, disinformation, changing information, and down right deception coming from government officials and the science community, that a person doesn't know really what to do or believe. God has put governing authorities over us and we need to respect that authority but we can also respectfully disagree and offer other solutions that will keep people alive and their livelihood in tact at the same time. 

There seems to be a number of inconsistencies about why some businesses get to open and others must stay closed at the risk of penalty if opened. What is essential and what is not. Common sense does not seem to be so common, especially when, in reality, we are dealing with two percent of the population dying. More people die of the regular flue, cancer, complications of diabetes, car crashes, etc...but this fact seems to be sidestepped in favor of panic and fear. I get a sense that there is some backside covering in this whole thing but I'm just an ignorant former farm boy. 

So what do we do? Be resolved to do what we can, within reason, to be above reproach in our reputations and in our desire to be what God has called us out to be. Be respectful when we disagree. God has brought us to this place for a divine reason. We haven't been forbidden to worship or name the Name of Jesus. In fact, the pandemic has caused a spiritual awakening via the internet. We have far more people visiting our site than we ever had before and that is likely to continue even after we are released for the month of July only to probably be sequestered again from August to next June (kidding...maybe). 

So we have to worship differently for a few months...we'll get through. And if this continues we'll find ways of gathering together in the parking lot or in the church sanctuary with six services of twenty-five people and a service at night and on Wednesday. We will figure it out. It's what humans do. It's what followers of Jesus do. 

However...if the king says you can't pray to anyone except the king...fling the window open, look to Jerusalem, pray your heart out, and know that the critics and the lions are waiting in the wings. Resolved and Respectfully yours. 

129 days to home

It Simply Happened

Surprise. Not many things surprise me when it comes to Church history. I have been studying it for half my life. But every once in a while I will light upon a subject that has the tendency to bore most but enlivens me personally, especially when it gives me help in navigating this sequestration and the changes that will be coming our way as a church. The "virus" has given me an opportunity to read The Patient Ferment of the Early Church:  The Improbable Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire by Mennonite scholar and former missionary, Alan Kreider. 

"Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen." (Wikipedia, "Fermentation." Cited 5-5-20)

And for the rest of us..."its the living stuff that we can't see that makes bread rise and grape juice sour." (Dan Lute, Cited 5-5-20 9 ; - )

The early church grew. It is an undeniable fact. In the book of Acts we see that it grew through the preaching of Peter and the teaching of Paul. But these are rare examples and not the norm for the first three hundred years of the church's struggling existence.

The church grew and any non-Christian person should be surprised at its survival. Followers of Jesus can rest on the words of Matthew 16, "Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." But in either position we must ask, "How?"

"Nobody had to join the churches. People were not compelled to become members by invading armies or the imposition of laws; social convention did not induce them to do so. Indeed, Christianity grew despite the opposition of laws and social convention. These were formidable disincentives." (p. 8) "According to the evidence at our disposal, the expansion of the church was not organized, the product of a mission program; it simply happened." (p. 9)

It appears that very little of what we attribute to church growth was included in the early church. There was no evangelism strategy to reach our neighbors. They did not use their worship services to attract people. In fact, very quickly, because of persecution, unbelievers were not allowed to attend church services. They certainly weren't allowed to participate in the Lord's Supper or prayer meetings. These actions that characterized the early church were protected and preserved because they encased the divine power of God, of heaven on earth. Pagans, therefore, looked upon Christianity as a secret society; a "Jewish sect" worthy of speculation and gossip.

It appears that the greatest distinction of Christianity in the first three hundred years was it's quiet patience - this indescribable spiritual fermentation that developed into the global loaf (Body) that it is today. And it was observed by others. Patience was observed as they prayed for their neighbors. Patience was observed as they prayed for the governing authorities that were persecuting them. Patience was observed during the reign of Nero, Claudius, Diocletian, Domitian and other self-proclaimed demi-gods. Patience was observed during plagues that ravaged whole communities (e.g. Carthage in the 200's). Patience was observed when they were kicked out of their families, when they were ostracized and forbidden to be a part of the larger business community. 

This patience was attractive to those dissatisfied with their debauched culture. The Christian patience was attractive to those on the margins, to those excluded, to those isolated and experiencing social distancing. The Christian patience was a unique draw to those desiring a stronger sense of community around a faith system that was not connected to some sort of legalistic religious mechanism but to genuine love that crossed over social boundaries. They were attracted to a patience that led to a new birth, a new life, a new hope, a new Way. 

It was a patience that endured because there was a coming expectation that was well worth the wait. It was a patient endurance that clearly communicated that their is a God, the true God, who is in control and moving things toward a hope-filled eternity. Jesus was coming...again. They patiently waited. 

And here I am...complaining every single day about the ridiculous, voluntary, separation that I am made to endure. In my hubris thoughts I presume to tell God what he is doing wrong. "Hurry it up already! I need to get back to ministry, to reaching people for Jesus." My words betray me. My thoughts minimizing the God I know. 

Father...help me to be patient. My unsaved friends and neighbors need me to be. 

Day 138  until home. Maranatha!

Under Pressure

"We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers." (2 Cor. 1:8b-11a) 

I work well under pressure. During my doctoral work days I had to have several thirty page papers due as well as two thousand pages of reading finished - before the actual class took place. I like deadlines because they force me to stay focused. The death of me is being bored. I say this because we all have different pressure points mentally and different ways of dealing with them. 

During this time of pandemic, I scratch my head in bewilderment but also grieve at stories like the medical doctor on the frontlines who contracted the virus, recovered, but then took her own life. It was a pressure "far beyond [her] ability to endure, so that she despaired even of life." 

At this time I have to be careful to not fall into a spiritual depression myself. The feeling of hopelessness when there is hope all around. It tends to be an inward focus that is provoked by my inability to focus on others as I would and should. 

I am reminded of the solution that the Apostle Paul gives to us today in his own words. 

First, recognize that God has allowed this pandemic into our lives. He is not the cause of it. Humans are. Our parents, Adam and Eve, set in motion a broken world full of violence, sickness, selfishness, and rebellion through their willful disobedience to God. And yet, in God's mercy, we can still find traces of love and grace and goodness.  

Second, recognize that their is a divine purpose for allowing it. It was meant to bring us back to a place where we rely on God and not on ourselves. This is a key point for me. When I start realizing that there is a purpose in this, to draw me closer to Him, my eyes begin to lift and my heart begins to be lighter. 

Third, realize that God has the power to raise the dead. Lifting one out of a depression or a sense of hopelessness is nothing for the Creator of all things. 

Fourth, God has promised to deliver us. It is a fact. How He chooses to do so is up to him. But this gives me hope that things will change. Tomorrow always holds out hope. 

Lastly, God uses others in the process. People are praying for me. I am praying for them. It is the divine mystery of how God has chosen to lift us up. He could certainly do it Himself but He chose to use you and me - to partner with us in bringing hope to others. 

More than ever, the words, "I am praying for you," bring the much needed spiritual medicine to my soul. My hope is that I am dispensing the cure to others as well. 

Little know fact: RX is an abbreviation for the Latin word, Radix. It means "root," or "recipe," as in "to take a root prescribed for medicinal purposes."

Just as it was...

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." Wait a minute, Pastor Dan, you started out with this last week. Yes, I know, but I want to look at this in our present context and with a word that Jesus gave to his disciples in speaking about his second coming. 

I am asked repeatedly, "Pastor Dan, will things ever get back to normal?" My answer is "Yes," and "No." I don't think we will ever go back to life as we knew it. This virus has changed how we do life and how we will be gathering (or not), how we get groceries (or not). 

Let me give you two examples of encouragement from Jesus. 

"Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man (his second coming). People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark." (Luke 17:26-27a)

"It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying, and selling, planting and building." (Luke 17:28)

Life will get back to normal. It must. Because it is the precursor to Jesus' coming. The rhythms of life will find there way again. But I struggle in my heart to know if I should rejoice or be grieved. I'm certainly more motivated to follow Jesus and to make him known to others. I want out of this evil, wicked world, but my heart pleads for more time for those I know that are lost. 

When the virus hit, people were open to talking about the Lord, about end time issues, about how to change their lives to please God. The crisis provided opportunities. Our little church website that had maybe twenty hits on it has been getting two to three...thousand. 

Is this the Fourth Great Awakening (or Fifth; depending on if you count the 1960's Calvary Chapel movement)? Time and history will tell. But given the huge turn that people have had toward the things of God, I happen to think, "yes." However, I firmly believe, evidenced by recent conversations, and my spirit confirming it, that this will be short lived. I believe that this time will produce a multitude of new believers in Jesus but it will be the last before the coming of Jesus for his Church. As quick as people's hearts were open toward the Lord, I am now finding that the door of the heart is quickly closing. 

In honesty, I must admit that both of the above scripture passages were incomplete (per my own purpose). May I finish?

"Then the flood came and destroyed them all." (Luke 17:27b)

"But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all." (Luke 17:29). 

"It must be just like this [this return to normal] on the day the Son of Man is revealed." (Luke 17:30). 

Praying for a return to normal? Be careful and understand what you're praying for.

Maranatha! (1 Corinthians 13:22b)  And, Father, bring in those of our family and friends who still need to know your Son, Jesus, as Savior. 

A Dickens of a Time

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was a season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only." 

Describes the time we live in perfectly, doesn't it? I guess that's what makes good literature - transcendence. Very seldom is the full paragraph quoted. Many are satisfied with the first two phrases. But how powerful those two phrases are in describing the times that people often lived in - our own as well. How much more the remaining paragraph. It truly is a degree of comparisons. 

This, of course, is the beginning of A Tale of Two Cities written by Charles Dickens in 1859. Written as if one were in the year 1777  prior to the French Revolution (1789) and the potential English uprising, the cities were London and Paris. How different the outcomes would be. But why? 

British historian, Thomas Carlyle, described this time in England as "Stomach well alive; soul extinct." Sir William Blackstone visited numerous Christian churches in the area at that time and said that it was hard to tell if the preacher was a follower of  Confucius, Mohammed, or Jesus. Drunkenness was rampant. Gambling was so bad, so prolific, one historian wrote that England was "one giant casino." Unwanted babies were left in the streets to die. A 97% child mortality rate was found among the working poor. The common man found himself in a hopeless situation watching the social rumblings and turmoil of neighboring France and wondering if that would be the solution/course for themselves. 

Then why did France fall into a bloody revolution for 10 years and England not?  Three names:  George Whitefield and John and Charles Wesley. 

People prayed and the Lord brought three men to begin a great revival. They preached in the open fields to those hungering and thirsting for righteousness. They preached Christ, repentance from sin, faith, holiness, and good works that flowed out from a personal relationship with Jesus. And the masses responded. They needed hope. They needed change. They had two choices: Do it themselves (France) or seek the Lord's intervention (England). 

As a result antislavery organizations took hold, prison reform happened, relief agencies for the poor opened, orphanages were created (spurring on future men like George Muëller), literacy programs began. God heard the cries of the English people and he gave them Jesus in the form of men and women who were willing to turn people's heart's away from fear and hatred, toward a living, loving God. Cited:  4-15-20; https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1701-1800/evangelical-revival-in-england-11630228.html

O Church, it is the best of times, it is the worst of times... It truly is a degree of comparisons. Let us choose rightly which path our nation should take, our churches should take, our personal lives should take. Let us be people of prayer who repent, who desire holiness, who humbly seek our Savior's face and his return. 

From Charles Wesley, Lamb of God Whose Bleeding Love, verse 3. 

"Let thy blood by faith applied
The sinners pardon seal; 
Speak us freely justified,
And all our sickness heal;
By they passion on the tree,
Let our griefs and sorrows cease,
O remember Calvary, 
And bid us go in peace."