Good news. That is what our word “gospel” means. And it is not only good news; it is the BEST news. It is good news of great joy!
The Gospel is a departure from the glow and doom newscasts of our day. Reports of violence, hatred, and corruption. But the newscast from the angels to the shepherds was the best news ever. And if ever there were people who needed some good news, it was those shepherds. That message reminds us that no matter our circumstances, we can find JOY in Jesus.
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I hate to wait as much, maybe more, than anybody. Red lights don’t turn green quickly enough. The line at the grocery store moves way to slow. And don’t get me started on the doctor’s office waiting room. A whole room devoted to just waiting. Then there are those seasons of our lives that are extended waiting periods.
But waiting often involves things way more serious than traffic lights, store lines, and doctors’ offices. Sometimes we find ourselves in a season of waiting on God to act. We know that He knows what is going on, but He seems to be taking His ever-loving time. I am in such a season of my life right now. But what we forget in our seasons of waiting is that “nothing is never happening.” God is always doing something even when we don’t see it or sense it. God is constantly in preparation mode. While we wait He prepares us and His solution for our need.
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The 1977 blockbuster Star Wars: A New Hope contains one of the most often quoted lines of any movie. Princess Leia Organa sends a desperate message to Obi Wan Kenobi in hopes that he will hear it and come to her rescue. “Help Me Obi Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope.”
The first week of Advent focuses our attention on the theme of HOPE. Many people are looking for someone or something in which they can place their trust. So many are looking for an Obi Wan to come and rescue us from this mess.
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Pronouns seem to be all the PC rage these days. But for Thanksgiving, I think prepositions are important. They are short words, but they focus our thoughts with precision. So let me encourage you this year to use 3 prepositions as you celebrate in this time of giving thanks.
Ah, November! Erratic weather, premature Christmas decorations, and college football. College football manages to elicit incredible passion from a lot of people. People like to wear their favorite “team gear” and display their team banner on their property. You can usually identify a household’s allegiance by the flag they fly somewhere on their home or in their yard.
Banners were important in the Bible, too. One example can be found in Exodus 17:8-16.
While wandering through the wilderness, the Israelites came to a place near Mt. Sinai called Rephidim. There they complained about having no water, and God miraculously supplied it from a rock. While camping at Rephidim, another nomadic group, the Amalekites, came and threatened them.
The father of the Amalekites, Amalek, was the grandson of Esau. The wandering Israelites were the descendants of Jacob. Centuries before, Jacob deceived his brother Esau and cheated him out of both the family birthright and their father’s blessing. So years of family turmoil and hostility were about to boil over.
A fierce battle ensued. Moses stood atop a nearby hill and raised his staff over the battle. As long as he held the staff high, the Israelites prevailed. But when his arms grew weak that he could not hold up the staff, the Amalekites prevailed. So Moses’ two assistants, Aaron and Our, sat him on a rock and held his arms up. After an all-day battle, the Israelites prevailed.
To commemorate God’s miraculous help, Moses set up an altar and named it in Hebrew Yahweh-Nissi. In English that name translates to Yahweh Is My Banner.
This banner concept was possibly something the Israelites learned from their years with the Egyptians. When we think of a banner, we think of flag or pice of cloth flapping in the breeze. But in the Old Testament times, a banner was a very tall poll that was vividly decorated at the top. During troop movements and especially during battle, the banner served several important purposes.
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We call it “cancel culture.” If you don’t like something, organize a protest against it. Call for a boycott. (I think I have decided to boycott boycotts.) It seems the only thing we aren’t boycotting these days is sin.
Today marks the 507th anniversary of one of the most important protests in history. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther – a German priest and professor – composed a list of 95 complaints against the Church. He nailed his list to the Wittenburg church door the day before the church celebrated All Saints Day, inviting a discussion on these issues. His timing guaranteed a wide reading.
Had that happened in a Baptist church, the deacons would’ve fired the pastor for ruining the door. Just kidding folks. Sort of.
[Tweet “We need a return to letting the Bible speak for God.”]
In the United States, we are in the middle of what best can be described as “silly season.” This is a presidential election year, and so politics is the overwhelming topic of public discourse right now. Everybody has an opinion. The opinions range from strong support of a side to “I wish we could just get this over with.”
I recently made a social media comment that garnered a fair amount of discussion. “I wish people were as passionate about Jesus as they were about politics and college football.”
Surprisingly, the politics portion of the comment raised more of a ruckus than the football part. If you are from the south, you know how passionate Southerners are about their football. Most of the comments agreed with my post. I think more and more people have grown weary of the hypocrisy that permeates politics. The good guys no longer where white hats. Seems they all wear hats with varying shades of gray these days.
So I want to expand my thoughts on what I believe to be a healthy Christian engagement of politics.
“Faith” is one of those words that we often use without thinking about what we mean when we use it. Some will say, “You’ve just got to have faith.” Others talk about choosing “faith” over “fear.” People are often describes as being a “person of faith.” And there are those in the public spotlight who speak of how their “faith” gets them through life’s difficulties. But what about Biblical faith?
Understanding the true meaning and nature of faith is critically important. Hebrews 11:6 reminds us that we cannot please God without faith. Not our behavior nor our word. Neither our religious practices, nor our principled stances. We can have all of those things and lack proper Biblical faith.
One of the most overlooked Scripture passages that teaches us about faith is found in Habakkuk. We find a powerful statement in the middle of an ongoing dialogue between the prophet and Yahweh. Yahweh contrasts the an arrogant man living for his own pleasure with the heart of a truly righteous person.
“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
but the righteous shall live by his faith.” – Habakkuk 2:4
So at its core, we see that faith is not living according to our own understandings, abilities, and desires. Faithful living operates from a different realm.
We see a further clue at the end of Habakkuk as the prophet pledges to live by faith. Habakkuk makes a list of some possible devastating circumstances. Trees and vines not producing fruit. Fields not producing grain. Livestock not producing milk not meat.
But in light of all of that, Habakkuk issues a faith statement.
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As I drove into work this morning, I passed several Northbound power company trucks from around the Southeast. They had been to South Georgia and Florida to help restore power in the aftermath of Hurricane Debby.
I thought about the selfless linemen, law enforcement officers, emergency responders, and disaster relief “angels” who respond in these situations. They do not care if you are black or white. Nor do they poll to see if you are blue or red. It matters not to them if you are Christian, Jew, Muslim, any other religion, or no religion at all.
These public servants leave family behind at home. They work exhaustingly long and difficult shifts. Their mission is to SERVE. Serve and help anyone in need.
They stand in contrast to so much of the partisan attacks and mob mentality that we see in our culture today. They are the antithesis of an archaic word, “civility”.
I wrote about civility several years ago, and I feel the need to refresh that article for today’s context. We probably cannot change
Yes, civility is on the decline. Dictionary.Com defines civility thusly:
Where have our manners gone?
It seems these days when things do not go someone’s way they default to name-calling, riots, protests, and mob scenes. Several factors have brought us to this point in society.
