Being Thankful

“I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders.

I will be glad and exult in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.”

(rf. Ps. 9:1-2)

The falling of the leaves and the colorful palette created during this harvest time of year reminds us that the holiday of Thanksgiving is quickly approaching. Quite unlike the noted event of the previous month which has no redeeming qualities to speak of with its centrality on dark and evil themes, the celebration of Thanksgiving forces us to stop and take inventory of our own blessings. For but a moment, our eyes are moved away from ourselves and on to those around us as we prepare to join with family and friends in feasting and simply enjoying the company of those we love so dear. And if we do know the Lord personally, we are given this special opportunity to give Him thanks for the many ways He has uniquely touched us and shown us His grace throughout the previous year. Indeed, we even have this “open window” to disclose to others who may not have this special relationship with God that He is the One who is the giver of all “good gifts” (rf. Mt. 7:11; Jas. 1:17).

Speaking of gifts for which we are thankful, my family and I praise the Lord for our being joined with the ministry of St. John’s. We know the Lord had this connection in mind all along. Even when He laid it on our hearts to begin preparations to leave our former ministry back in the latter months of 2015, He knew, though we did not, that He would send us here to serve you. Though we believed that our directive to resign my previous pastorate would come as early as January of this year, it did not because the Lord had yet one more mission for me and my family to carry out for Him. On February 24^th, an EF-3 tornado struck the Evergreen community outside our front door, damaging or destroying almost 200 homes in a 17-mile swath of Appomattox County, with most of the destruction taking place within walking distance of our parsonage. Our church became “ground-zero” for the federal, state and local emergency governmental response teams as well as the many non-profit organizations that came to assist. We headed up the relief and recovery efforts for our area for the next three months. Only until those ministries came to a close did the Lord come to us with His clear directive that it was our time to depart.

After spending the next month packing up our belongings and saying our “goodbyes” to good friends and to a ministry cultivated over the last fifteen years, we left our stuff in storage and began a three-month pilgrimage to find the next place of service for us in God’s plan. We stayed in cottages provided by friends of ours in Virginia, giving us opportunity to seek the Lord continuously, to minister to family, and for me to supply the pulpit of other churches as needed. Not until we had physically departed from Evergreen were we initially contacted by the search committee at St. John’s. When we met with the committee for an interview, we felt the leadership of God’s Spirit bringing us together. There was no question in our hearts that this was where He was directing us to come. From then, it was just a matter of Him working out all of the details. And, thus, He has accomplished everything to bring us all to the present in making this new ministry His reality. For all of this, the Lord truly is deserving of all the praise and glory. We never could have engineered such an outcome.

As you approach your own celebration of Thanksgiving, take a few moments and look over the past year to find the things in your life for which you can give thanks and praise to God for His blessings. Admittedly, not all things for which we can be thankful are positive. Like Job, if we have the right perspective and God’s heart toward us in mind, we can join with him in saying, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord” (rf. Job 1:21). The point is that our God is worthy to be praised at all times, not just at Thanksgiving. But the celebration of Thanksgiving is an excellent opportunity to remind ourselves and others of our need to thank Him!

A Love for Misfits

“…you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.” (rf. Lv. 19:18)

“Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.” (rf. Lk. 6:31)

            I have always had a soft spot in my heart for misfits, the socially-awkward, outcasts, and those who who have never quite “measured-up” to the standards of the popular, the beautiful, or the “elite” among us. It may not be politically correct to use such terminology, but, since I deal in the truth rather than the feelings or fads of the moment, I will stick with what I have written. This is not to say that in the use of the term, “misfits”, I am in any way in agreement with that contingent of present society who would have the rest of us be forcibly made to accept sinful behavior as “normal” protocol. The Lord Himself has already set the standards of right and wrong, good and evil, normal and abnormal. It behooves us to get with His program and stop trying to rewrite and redefine His creation dictates.

            No, by “misfits” I am referring to those who believe themselves to be somehow defective when compared to the accepted “norms” that culture and society has set up as for beauty, athletic prowess, strength (inner and external), intelligence, social grace and wealth. This deference of mine for those who fall into this category is partly due to my understanding of Scripture (which I will explain momentarily) and partly out of my own experience. You see, I can personally identify with those who believe themselves to be misfits, because, while growing up, I considered myself to be one. Though I possessed some athletic abilities, I was taller than my peers and far skinnier than they (I couldn’t pay to add weight, though now I don’t have that problem). I played some sports (i.e. football, baseball) in younger years, yet these same sports became out of reach for me when I hit high school. So, I turned all of my attention to the arenas of academics and drama, finding blessing in great achievements, though these were areas where misfits like me tended to congregate. We had a great deal of camaraderie because we had this tag in common.

            I share this information without regret, because I learned a great deal in the experience. Not being a part of the “in group” provided a wealth of perspective, especially after I began to understand more of the ministry of Jesus. The vast majority of the Master’s ministry was spent reaching out to just such a group of people as these, ranging from “a prostitute” (rf. Lk. 7:36-50) to the untouchables of His time, the lepers who were the classic example of outcasts (rf. Mt. 8:2-4). Jesus taught His disciples that His love extended to all kinds of folk. They were not to spend their time with the people just like them nor to concentrate their efforts on the powerful or rich who might end up doing them harm (rf. Jas. 2:1-13). In this way, if we follow the Lord’s example, we provide a true object lesson of God’s grace, disclosing that we are all, in fact, misfits in the light of His holiness, having been received into the Lord’s presence despite not being worthy to do so because of our own sinfulness.

            Therefore, as we seek to be missional in our individual and corporate Christian lives, let us keep our eyes open purposefully for those misfits in our community to whom we can reach in the love of Christ. We can never underestimate the positive effect such efforts can make in their lives nor the pleasure our Lord finds when we do so.

A Return to Holiness

“Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts” (rf. Is. 6:3)

“…Holy is His name” (rf. Lk. 1:49)

            To be holy is to be set apart, separate, sanctified. God Himself is the perfect essence of separation in that He is sinless, having no blemish whatsoever in His righteous character. Yet out of His purity, He exhibits a love of such immense proportions as to extend to sinners, such as ourselves who deserve His wrath in the light of His holiness, the promise and gift of salvation solely upon our receiving of it. This is grace, indeed…but I digress from the point of this article.

            As followers of the Lord, the Scriptures state that we are to be reflectors of His holiness (rf. Dt. 7:6; Eph. 1:4). In our personal and public lives, we are called to be separate from the world in how we live, the things we say and do, because of our obedience to His Word and His Spirit (rf. II Cor. 6:14-18). 

            Yet, unfortunately, it is apparent how few things that professed believers in Christ actually believe to be holy or sacred (an alternative word for “holy”) today, including themselves. Most do not fear God, but treat Him as a grandfather figure or a good friend who can be counted upon in bad times, but is not necessarily required during the times of favor. Neither human life nor marriage are viewed as sacred with both subjects seen as disposable in relation to our personal wants, whims or conveniences. Even the house of God is no longer understood to be a holy place or “sanctuary” where, in times past, one tread the floors with awe, silence, and respect (and taught their children to do the same) because you were in the special place set aside for the worship of Almighty God. Now, the house of God has become just another open space, not unlike a regular theatre, auditorium or warehouse with no real significance, because the awe, respect, and concept of holiness has been thoroughly removed.

            The world needs to know this truth of holiness even if it will never appreciate it, simply because it is a reflection of God’s holiness. We as His people are responsible for displaying it to them. In order for that to happen, we must recommit ourselves to this concept and truth first. We must possess the fear, awe and respect for God in how we worship Him. We must show ourselves to be a “holy people” by a clear and defined separateness from the culture and world around us, teaching our children by word and example to do the same. We must uphold the things that God’s Word deems to be sacred or holy (i.e. the Lord’s Day, human life, marriage, our bodies, the ministerial calling, etc.), promoting them as such to others so that they will begin to understand and possess this important concept as well.

            If we make such a commitment to a return to holiness, we may yet see a renewal in the Church as God’s people begin to distinguish themselves once again as His “peculiar people” that He intends them to be. May this long-needed separation start today with each of us.