Sunday, August 31, 2008

THE IMMORAL WOMAN

I wonder about the identity of the “immoral woman” that Solomon speaks of in Proverbs.

In the second chapter, the first eleven verses are a wonderful litany of the value of wisdom and the search for it. In verse twelve the passage takes a darker, more somber tone as it begins to address what wisdom will keep us free from. In verse sixteen the writer addresses the immoral, adulterous woman, the seductress with her flattering words.

“To deliver you from the immoral woman, from the seductress who flatters with her words” (v. 16).

So who is this immoral woman Solomon is warning about? Solomon was no slouch with the ladies. I don’t think it would be wrong to characterize him as a “ladies man.” So if he is warning about an adulterous woman, he would be the man who would know. Is she a part of the cast of the television program Desperate Housewives? Is she one of the current crop of “pop tarts” that the paparazzi are constantly chasing and documenting their “hook-up” lifestyles? Is it a lonely woman or man that you meet by accident and are attracted to? Is it a co-worker or friend that you can’t keep your eyes and thoughts off of?

The answer is—perhaps, but probably not!

The adulterous woman may not be a woman at all. Wait a minute, what am I saying here? What am I suggesting? The reality is that the writer of Proverbs is addressing anything that attempts to seduce us, to draw us away from our relationship with Christ and our journey of faith. It could be a member of the opposite sex or a member of the same sex (although for me it couldn’t), but it could also be money, power, peer acceptance, position, educational pursuit. It could be religion; it could be any number of issues or philosophies. Many things have the power to seduce; many things have the power to entice us to move away from our commitment to follow Jesus. These are the “immoral seductresses” Solomon warns us about.

Jesus addressed the same issue when He said, “You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24).

The most common definition of mammon is money or wealth and that definition is not wrong, it’s just incomplete. Mammon is a demonic spirit that was worshipped by the Philistines. Mammon wants to be worshipped, wants to control people’s lives, and wants people to put their trust in him. Mammon wants to be a god to people. Mammon is a lying spirit that says that money, influence, wealth, position, intellect all have power and because they do, they seductively encourage people to put a disproportionate value on them. Money is the most common vehicle that mammon uses to influence and seduce.

Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24)).

This demand for singleness of heart is perfectly consistent with the picture that is developed in the Old Testament of how God led and dealt with His people. In Deuteronomy 32:12 we read about the Jewish nation: “So the Lord alone led him, and there was no foreign god with him.” This is a picture of God’s jealousy over His people. This is not the angry, vengeful jealousy of a cheap romance novel (not that I know anything about them, so save your comments). This is the pure love of a God who is declaring that I AM everything you will ever need and to look elsewhere is insulting to Him.

So when Solomon warns us, and Jesus warns us, then we have been amply warned to stay away from the seducing spirit of the “immoral woman.”

Sunday, August 24, 2008

I WITNESSED A MIRACLE TODAY!

By Carol B. Patterson

Heeding the instruction of the pastor, the pretty, well-dressed twenty-six-year-old rose from her seat.

“What is your condition?”

“I have a brain tumor and I also had a stroke.”

She quietly explained that she had been given only six months to live and had been brought to church by a friend—and she knew God was going to heal her. I have two daughters and my heart instantly ached for this girl. I could only imagine the agony of those who cherished her.

“Come here, come out into the aisle.”

There was silence as an air of expectancy filled the room. The pastor was very gentle with her and told her not to be afraid if his voice got a bit loud. “I’m not shouting at you. I’m commanding this sickness to leave you!”

She smiled faintly. From where I sat I had a clear view of her expressions. What a sweet face, so trusting, so completely faith-filled, more questioning than emotional. Her stroke had left her right arm useless and it dangled at her side. Also, her right leg had been affected and she walked with a slight dragging motion. When she spoke, her speech was slow and labored, as well.

This was definitely a moment to be frozen in memory. The anointing was intense, a crystalline, brittle snap of purity and power, reminiscent of the cool, biting winds that cut into my face on the ski slopes years before—never with pain but with forceful awareness, quickening and vitalizing. But beneath the sense of anointing and authority was the warmth of great compassion. Jesus had walked in, wrapped in love and caring and restorative power.

After the pastor prayed, the young lady stood speaking with him quietly—when suddenly her face took on a glow of quizzical awe. Disbelief, mingled with delight, danced across her face. The pastor had his hand on her right arm and she said slowly, “I can feel your hand on my arm.” Then she looked at her arm, again with a puzzled expression. “I can feel your hand on my arm,” she repeated.

“Couldn’t you feel my hand before?”

“No, I couldn’t feel anything.” Then she began to raise the arm, slowly, slowly, but steadily, and she fixed her eyes on it, as though viewing a disembodied appendage that had attached itself to her. Suddenly her expression changed again, reflecting total amazement, her eyes widening.

“Look at my hand!” She slowly moved her fingers, then she made a fist, and her face was dazzling! “Look at my hand. Look what I can do!”

Then she looked down at her foot. “My foot has straightened out! Look! It’s not like it was. I couldn’t walk right. My foot always turned.”

“Well, let’s take a little walk.”

So off they went across the front of the sanctuary, the pastor and his newly-healed friend. The friend who had brought the young woman to church was weeping and laughing at the same time and a good percentage of the congregation was joining in.

“My foot is straight, isn’t it? Look at my foot!”

After they made their way back across the auditorium she said, “My head doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“Did it hurt when you came in?”

“Oh, it’s been hurting for weeks. It hurt all the time; I just got used to it and went ahead and did my work. But it hurt all the time.”

“And it doesn’t hurt now?”

“No! It doesn’t hurt anymore. And look, I can raise my right arm and make a fist. I told my friend that when I could make a fist (I have been in therapy two hours a day for a long time), she was going to be the first one I hit. Come here!” And her friend, who was barely able to stand because of her joy and amazement, hugged her and got a friendly punch on the arm.

I saw all this, close-up and personal, and I felt the sweetness and purity and compassion and power, all wrapped up in one astonishing miracle.

I love miracles! And most of all, I love Jesus because, you see, that’s what happens when He shows up!

Saturday, August 16, 2008

INTO THE STORM

The signs of cultural change are all around us and the signs of change in the church are just as striking as those in the world. One of the tension points between moderns (that’s me) and postmoderns (that’s my children) is their taste in music (or as this dad lovingly points out to his children, their lack of taste in music).

This past weekend, Carol pointed out to me an article in our local weekly paper about a church that has started in our city just for people 50 and older. It advertises that it has been organized specifically for those who do not identify with contemporary Christian music. This church is not the future, it is a sad attempt to hold on to the past. In fact, in my opinion it is not a church, it is a self-supported Sunday school class.

When I started writing this weekly devotional/editorial several years ago, I wrote an article entitled “The Emerging Church.” The essence of the article was that the church must continue emerging. The church has been emerging for 2000 years and it can’t stop now. To stop going forward is failure; to retreat is failure; denial is failure.

The rate of change in the culture and the church is intensifying. I got my first cell phone in the early 90’s. I got my first laptop computer at the same time. Both of them are so simple in comparison to what is available today that it is laughable. Now we have cell phones with most of the features of a laptop. What’s next? The changes we experience don’t take decades any more. The future is now!

As the changes have dramatically accelerated in the church, many have felt frustrated and confused about what is happening. Gordon MacDonald tells the story of an encounter between a pastor and one of his elderly parishioners who was deeply troubled by all the changes. This led to her outburst, “Who stole my church?” which became the title of MacDonald’s book.

The dramatic changes in the culture are influencing the changes in the church. The confluence of these changes coupled with the rise of militant atheism and other forces are moving us headlong into a stormy period.

All of this begs the question: If we are headed into stormy weather, where is Jesus in all this? Hold on to your life preserver because we are about to find out.

One of my favorite Bible stories is found in Matthew 14:22-33. Let me briefly present this story and perhaps we can see it in a fresh new light.

• Jesus made His disciples take this boat ride but He did not go with them (v. 22)
• A fierce storm struck the lake and threatened the disciples (v. 24)
• Jesus went to the disciples by walking on the water (v. 25)
• The disciples responded to seeing Jesus walking on the water by screaming in fear (v. 26)
• Jesus spoke reassuringly to the disciples and calmed their fears (v. 27)

The disciples never expected to see Jesus in the middle of the storm!

The boat is a type of the church, yesterday’s church, and the disciples are a type of today’s frightened and confused church attendees. Peter is a type of the believer the Lord is calling us to be. At first, when he saw Jesus out in the storm, Peter was frightened and confused. Weren’t he and the other disciples doing what the Lord had asked them to? So how could this storm be happening to them? And then Peter heard the voice of the Lord say to them, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid!” and a revelation struck Peter. He knew that the safest place in the storm was to be where Jesus was and so he called out to the Lord, “Lord, can I come out there where you are?” (v. 28).

The Lord’s response to Peter is His response to us today. He knows that so many in the church are bewildered by all the accelerating changes going on around us, troubled by the changes that strike close to home, in our churches and in our families. The questions rage within, “How can this be happening? Where is God in all of this?”

Our Savor’s word rings out loud and clear to us as it did to Peter’s question. His call is to “Come” (v. 29), come to Him. The safest place you can be in the midst of a storm is with Him. He is in the storm and He will keep us safe. The Lord is calling us to get out of the boat and come to Him.

Some nitpickers may leap on this article and condemn it, saying, “David, you are telling us to leave the boat, which is a type of the church.” And to you I would say, “That’s exactly right and exactly what I am saying!” You need to get out of the form of yesterday’s churchianity and heed the call of the Lord. When you let go of the form of the past, the real church goes with you! I am telling you to get out of the boat of yesterday’s ideas and follow Him. I am telling you to get out of that which is manmade and can easily be destroyed in a storm and cling to that which cannot sink or be destroyed, because He is eternal.

The church is not found in tradition or buildings or institutions, no matter how old and magnificent they may seem. The real church is where we are and when we are with Him.

Where is Jesus? In the middle of the storm, exactly where we thought He would never be.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

LIVING IN THE FAVOR OF THE LORD?

Joseph was in deep trouble. His pride and immaturity had unleashed a torrent of difficulty in his life. His brothers had become so upset with him that they conspired to kill him. At first they threw him into a pit to die but then relented and sold him to a passing group of traders. “Problem solved,” thought his brothers. “We make a little money off this mess and Joseph goes far away to Egypt.” They thought this was a place they would never travel to.

Being away from his brothers didn’t make things better for Joseph, however; in fact, things got worse. He had been sold into slavery and taken by force hundreds of miles from his home. When the traders arrived in Egypt, they made arrangements to sell Joseph to a wealthy and important Egyptian and Joseph began a career as a house slave. Genesis 39 indicates that Joseph was good in this role and became successful. Just when his life had begun to turn for the better, Joseph was falsely accused of attempted rape and thrown into prison. In essence, this was the end of the line, a death sentence. Joseph had been put into prison by one of the king’s closest confidants and the keys had been thrown away. In the natural, Joseph’s life was over and he had no future.

And then we read Genesis 39:21:
But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.”

Wait just a minute! This verse says that God gave Joseph favor! It doesn’t say he earned it and it doesn’t say he deserved it, although I am sure he was a nice guy once he dealt with his pride. But how can it be that in the middle of a downward spiral of trouble, God steps in and gives Joseph a gift of mercy and favor that causes his circumstances to be improved?

It is perfectly consistent with the character and nature of God to give His favor to one of His children. It is undeserved and unmerited, but God gives it anyway. In the New Testament this is called grace and it is clearly tied to our salvation and our new life in Christ. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9; see Romans 5:1 also).

In the OT we do not see it tied the same way to salvation but we do see it clearly as a part of God’s dealing with His children. Over and over we see God gracing or gifting His children with His favor (Daniel, Esther, Nehemiah, David, Joseph and on and on goes the list). This extending of favor was supernatural in that it caused painfully difficult circumstances to suddenly turn and favor God’s children. In Exodus 3:21 God said to Moses, “And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be that when you go, you shall not go empty-handed” (see also Exodus 11:3 and 12:36).

This manifestation of grace as favor is as much ours today as is the grace gift of new life in Christ. I believe that as God’s children we are to live in and experience His grace in all aspects of our life as much as Joseph experienced it in the bowels of prison. When all hope seemed to disappear with his freedom, and the situation became increasingly desperate, God gave Joseph favor and his situation began to reverse itself. It is a gift that will manifest in your life when God determines the circumstances are appropriate according to His sight, not ours (Romans 8:28).

Here are a couple of verses to lay hold of for your life and circumstances:

For whoever finds me finds life,
And obtains favor from the LORD
“(Proverbs 8:35).

For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
The LORD will give grace (favor) and glory;
No good thing will He withhold
From those who walk uprightly”
(Psalm 84:11).

My declaration: “I am God’s child and I know His favor is a gift to me. I don’t always understand the circumstances of my life but I know God does and He is in charge of all things. When it is right in His eyes I will see His favor manifested in my life because He has given His word.”

Saturday, August 2, 2008

WITH SALT OR WITHOUT?

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men” (Matthew 5:13 NIV).

When I say, “Salt!” what images immediately spring to mind? Perhaps it’s a salt shaker, salty french fries, saltwater going up your nose when you are swimming, rock salt in winter, rings of salt on your clothes after you have been sweating. We all have different images that pop up.

What was Jesus saying when He said that we are salt?

In Bible times salt had two main purposes:

1. Preservative — Salt was used to preserve meat, for example. When things were rotting around it, meat was preserved by an ample application of salt. Salt has cleansing and preservative qualities. On long trips, travelers would carry meat packed in salt.

2. Seasoning — Salt was put on food of all kinds as an agent of taste enhancement. Most people think food tastes better with a just-so-subtle use of salt as a seasoning.

In both cases, in order to bring its qualities to bear, the salt must be brought into contact with the object; otherwise, the power of the salt is lost. Sitting on a shelf or resting in a shaker, salt is wasted power. It might as well be thrown out.
When we put these two purposes together, we get a clearer picture of what Jesus had in mind when He said, “You are the salt of the earth.” Jesus was saying, “The salt is there but what are you going to do about it? Are you going to rise to the occasion and be what you should be or will you lose your flavor by sitting on the shelf?” The idea presented is that we are salty and this is the destiny of a believer.

When we speak of salty Christians, we are talking about seasoned warriors who have been tried in the combat fields of real life and over the years have proven that they not only “talk the talk” but they “walk the walk.” These are warriors who have weathered storms, had desert experiences, gone through dry spells and been bewildered at times. They are believers who have experienced much and have grown and matured in their faith and in their walk with God through their trials. Their experiences have brought them to a level where their faith is not easily shaken by circumstances. They have been preserved in trials and times of wilderness wandering; they have struggled but they have emerged triumphant. They are truly seasoned believers; the salt has been rubbed in and they have embraced their saltiness.

I personally believe that the church is already in the early stages of a very stormy period. Some theologians and futurists that I read are talking about an approaching perfect storm. It will be the confluence of three or four major storms, including the cultural storm of postmodernity and the religious storm of postChristianity (in the West).

Storms tend to have a purifying effect on everything they touch. In Texas we are assaulted by thunderstorms, tornadoes and the occasional hurricane. Some of the familiar scenes shown on TV news are the aftermath of an area hit by a storm. Everything that is not tied down or is without a good foundation seems to get blown away. The buildings that are built with a solid foundation may have some cosmetic damage but they normally survive.

So it will be in the “stormy weather” that we are heading into. Those who lead and help others in this coming cataclysm will not be the “Sunday morning Christians” who just don’t have time to read and pray, to study and grow, and be active in their church. Most likely these foundationless friends will have difficulty surviving the winds and fury of the change that is coming. The survivors will be the seasoned (read “salty”) saints who have already endured their own personal storms. They have been tried and didn’t fade, but instead they grew in grace and love. The “salty” ones will be leading in the coming storms.