What's New About A New Year?

Today is January 2nd, 2012. Monday has been my day off for several years. I'm changing this. Today is my last Monday off for a while. All this makes today oddly interesting. I woke up determined not to look at anything but my new Bible, with the exception of the "on" switch to my coffee maker. My new Bible is so pretty. It is a New Classic Reference Edition of the ESV. Published in 2011, it contains the 2011 text of the ESV. The art of Makoto Fujimura graces the cover and more. The font is perfect. It is large enough to read, but it is not officially large print. (I don't need to add to God's daily and systematic dismantling of my pride. As promised in Scripture, he generously provides for my lifetime exploration of humility. I survey my new Bible and whisper to the side, "I am not old!") Added to the pleasure of this new Bible is the choice of RBC ministries this year to have the Daily Bread's "The Bible in One Year" be linear; no skipping from the Old to the New Testament every day. Now I can read straight through, always my preference. Every year at this time too I privately enjoy the glow of having just completed a year through the Bible. As of Saturday I have read the Bible through 17 times in my life over the past 18 years. Nothing compares to this.

But wait! There's more. I live in a house occupied by wonderful, beautiful, messy, louder than life females. Even the cats and the fish are female. I have a man-cave that really is a man-shelter. Here there is order and peace. I'm surrounded by hundreds of books that interest no one else in the house. Within easy reach are swords and other weapons from a few different countries. Though it looks cluttered, every item is in its place and there by my decree. Every shoe, pencil, ball cap, and wire complies. Just outside the door of this sanctuary chaos and disorder reign.

Near my new Bible are five books I've purchased on self-publishing and Amazon. I realize that as a pastor of a church like Goodwill, I can and should write what I'm led to write and make it available to our congregation. I'm not like a writer desperate to reach an audience. Through the radio, the military, and the church I have a large audience, many of whom have asked for materials from me to augment the pulpit. I don't want or need the identity of "author." I am a pastor. That is enough. When it isn't, then I am no longer a pastor. Besides this, I sense that the Lord may want Goodwill to have its own small press, something quite doable these days.

I have another pile of new books about the gospel of Mark. Between a sermon series that will conclude on Easter Sunday in which I'll preach through the entire gospel of Mark and the new Christianity Explored evangelism outreach we'll be doing, which is brilliantly built on Mark: "Let the gospel tell the gospel," 2012 is the year of Mark. I'm really interested in reading through Sproul's commentary/collection of sermons on Mark, which I notice his people published themselves.

Look around your own life today, even if you don't have the day off. I bet you'll find what's really new about the new year to be those things, like a new Bible or a house full of screaming females, that rise above the cycle of new and old. Often we look to the new to get that which we can only get from the timeless. Happy New Year and God bless you!

Blogging Again

Hi All (if anyone's left),

I'm back and blogging again. I have three more installments on the 6 part series I start half a year ago. Blogospheric Hubris.

I'm going to leave it unfinished for now, though I still like the way it reads. I've been to Antarctica and back since then and, even though I'm home, I'm in a different place. I have a blog to share with all who didn't know about it. I created it for my daughter's kindergarten class. Please check it out. I worked hard on it and it was a hit with her class. I've got reams more material for it, so I might make a few more entries in it. It is for five year olds, so keep that in mind. Lots of fun stuff on Antarctica.

www.montgomerykindergarten.blogspot.com

Things We Ignore, Part 3

3) "Creation Care" or whatever you want to call it, no matter how much you object to it, has definite Biblical warrant. Pollution is not Christian. It never has been. God cares about His Creation. His first charge to us in Genesis was to assist Him in this.

It's taking me forever to post this series. Funny to read earlier how I was thinking of making this a daily blog. This is something I want to do, but I'm not there yet, am I? Here's the strange thing: the following is a testimony to God's timing on such things.

So, let me just pause here to say that if you're reading this, you're getting some advance information about me. The pastors and session of the church know the following, and have for a little while, and now you do. Just days from now, I'll be telling the church, so it's not that much of a scoop, still...

Anyway, I'm going to the South Pole. Yep. I'm going to be deployed by the Air Force to Antarctica for 50-55 days from late September to mid November of this year! I'm going in support of Operation Deep Freeze, a military mission of the Air National Guard and the Navy supporting the National Science Foundation in the nearly inhospitable climate of Antarctica. Now there's a lot I can write about concerning this, but let me here focus on what the scientists will be doing. For the most part they are researching the state of our planet and life itself. So, many weeks ago when I proposed this blog series, I had no idea that I would definitely have more to write about it in the coming months. My ministry will be to a community of scientists, contractors, and military support personnel that can grow up to a thousand people. I'll even have a chapel, the southernmost church building in the world. I'll be alone as chaplain and counselor except on weekends I'm told, when Catholic priests from New Zealand will join me to offer their services.

I thought I was just going to talk about Genesis 1-2 here, affirm Creationism, affirm the subsequent Creation Care Theology that necessarily flows from it, and leave it at that. How typical of God to bring His Word to life in a tailor-made way. I, of course, know that I will, for this comparably short deployment miss my home and church more than anyone at my home and church will miss me. God will use my absence to bless the church. I know that sounds funny, but I've been watching Him do that since I became pastor in 1998. I've always been both a chaplain and a pastor. Goodwill, especially her leaders, have always supported and sent me. It's helped our church. Now, maybe God is calling us to help others on a greater scale. A few of us have felt the tug to do a special work at Goodwill concerning hunger. Battling hunger involves working with Creation. The world's food supplies are one of the pressing issues of the 21st century. This is above political or ideological preferences. Our world is all tied together and Christians are called to be first in line to help.

Someone at our church said it best: "Creation Care means caring for people too..."

Pray for me as I learn more about Creation and caring for people this fall, in a place just about as far away from home as one can get and still be on the planet.

Things We Ignore, Part 2

2) God's radical, undeniable choice of the Jewish people tells us much about Him, as He has designed it to.

This last weekend I was honored to be part of a memorial get-together. It was a Jewish tradition with some adaptation due to time having passed. The idea of the event was to remember someone special who passed away. It was not a funeral. It was not heavy with grief. The time for this was behind us. This was a time for remembering. There were many people. There was great food. There was heart and spirit. I was surprised by the event, since I had never attended anything like it. It has a name in Hebrew that I can't remember.

Christians regularly find themselves feeling strangely sentimental and at home in Jewish contexts. This is no accident. Many theories exist concerning the fate of Jews from a Christian viewpoint, but it is hard to deny God in their presence or in their practices. The aroma of Messiah is inescapable. Being exposed to Jewish things and traditions almost always makes me feel ignorant about my own faith. "Oh, that's what that means," I find myself saying or thinking.

Back in the Bible we see God choosing a people for no reason in them. He chooses because He chooses. He chooses because He loves. His choice can't be erased, not even by the denial of the ones He's chosen.

As Christian believers, we are adopted into this family. I know about adoption. Its beauty and power grows with each examination. Adopted! To think of this is a good way to start the day. I'm adopted by God through faith in Christ. Hallelujah. Adopted children are chosen as well.

Things We Ignore, Part 1

Sorry for the delay! Here's part 1 of ... Things We Ignore in the Bible...

But before I get started, if you are somehow mired by Judgment Day date setting, stop right now and go to your Bible and read Matthew 24. This is what I did today. Read the whole thing slowly and thoughtfully. Notice these words of Jesus...

Matthew 24:36 (ESV)
“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only."

Matthew 24:42 (ESV)
"Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming."

Matthew 24:44 (ESV)
"Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."

Another thing in the Bible ignored by some, apparently. How can we "not expect" Him if a billboard is broadcasting exactly when He's coming and the world's media is covering the announcement of this (even if it is as a novelty)? The key thing for Christians is to stay aware of and spiritually charged by Christ's soon return. Be absolutely sure of it. Be absolutely ready for it. Be absolutely desirous of it. If He tarries, then be on fire for it on May 22nd and every day afterwards we have left! Make no mistake, He is returning some day!

OK, back to our regular blog programming. I wrote,

"We ignore some things in the Bible. Here's an incomplete list...

1) God makes sure that many wicked people get what's coming to them (and I don't mean a second chance). The Bible, for many in it, is not a book of second chances, but a book of no more chances."

Start with Cain. Go to Pharaoh. Review the list of conquered kings in Joshua. See Judas. On and on it goes. But the most in danger of "getting what's coming to them" are people who worship idols or other gods. This is true throughout the Bible. If we don't worship the true God, then we worship an idol, to take the Bible at face value. Idols are dead, even those animated by evil spirits. What we become is based on what we worship. If we worship death, we get it. It turns out that the one thing religion isn't is personal. Your religion affects everyone in your life, everyone you touch. The Bible offers life to believers, and - consider this carefully - it offers death to unbelievers. It is good news and bad news. More accurately, it is good news or bad news. If for me it is not good news, then for me it is bad news. No third alternative is offered, although only believers feel both the good and the bad news. A real unbeliever doesn't care and loses no sleep over any of this. It is not a human being passing judgment here, at least not according to the Bible, it is God. This is a sobering thought. If you read the Scriptures entirely through, it is a thought you cannot escape. As a believer, you realize just how gracious God is. He doesn't have to be. He just is. Far from passing judgment on others, this sobering truth compels all who submit to it to the greatest depths of compassion and prayer.

Never accept the unbelief of another. If you do, you might accept your own some day. Quietly, forcefully, continually pray. Expect and prepare for an opportunity to speak the gospel.

We ignore the righteous wrath of God because our hearts are cold and our faith is small. Why was there a cross anyway? Does the cross permit us to ignore its cause? Hardly. Again, it's back to His Grace, back to His Word, back to The Cross, back to Jesus.

Things We Ignore in the Bible, Introduction

We ignore some things in the Bible. Here's an incomplete list...

1) God makes sure that many wicked people get what's coming to them (and I don't mean a second chance). The Bible, for many in it, is not a book of second chances, but a book of no more chances.
2) God's radical, undeniable choice of the Jewish people tells us much about Him, as He has designed it to.
3) "Creation Care" or whatever you want to call it, no matter how much you object to it, has definite Biblical warrant. Pollution is not Christian. It never has been. God cares about His Creation. His first charge to us in Genesis was to assist Him in this.
4) Redemption is not a key to success in this life. It is medicine for all who fail in this life. The second part of this is that all are promised to fail eventually in this life. Another way of putting this is that there are no success stories in the Bible, only faithfulness stories. True success is fully enjoyed in eternity.
5) God is passionately ordered and prepared. He respects time and process. He is the enemy of hurry. He is the God of harvest. Sowing and reaping are His ideas. He never "wings it" or improvises. His Word reveals Him to be found in predictable (from His perspective) structure far more than ecstatic experience.
6) God rarely tolerates people who present themselves as experts in Him in order to have power over others.

So, stay tuned for these installments. May they prod you to think about Scripture in fresh ways.

Reading Forward

Perhaps I'm writing only to myself today. If you have a problem in life, if you feel stuck, the best remedy of all may be reading. Therapy, rest, counseling, time off, coaching, and the like all come second sometimes to simply reading. We can change our lives by reading a book. Most people don't read. Few people ever finish a book. Just by reading a good book from cover to cover, you set yourself apart. Anyone can do this. There are still libraries too, where you can borrow great books at no cost. Through books you can be mentored, coached, counseled by the best and brightest minds in history. Books can bring you inside the minds of the most influential people in the world.

Oh, and the Word of God is a book. You can read it too. Anytime. All its power and truth can be put in your mind and heart. What can stop you? Reading is, perhaps, the key determinant for greatness and significance in life. You are what you read far more than you are what you eat! What a gift. Read forward.

New Bibles, No Drama

At our church, I've been attempting to provoke sharp (fun) controversy over what our new English translation of the Scriptures would be. The NIV 1984 edition will shortly be out of print. Its replacement, the NIV 2011, won't suit our needs as a church, so we have been plunged into the morass of competing translations of God's Word. You can hear the clashing of swords, the gasp of the shocked, the shriek of the terrified. Actually, nothing of the sort whatsoever. It's not even generated enough energy for a child's yawn. People just want to know and get on with things. "Just tell us Pastor John." A few hundred years ago people were literally burned at the stake for daring to translate the Bible into their own language. Now we're bored (and a little confused) in the section of the book store where we have dozens of competing Bible translation product lines to choose from. We're bored at the store rather than burned at the stake.

OK, I'm putting you to sleep just making you read about it. We picked the ESV (2007 text edition). It was a close contest between it and the NASB95. Both are essentially literal as opposed to dynamic equivalent translations. They are word-for-word instead of thought-for-thought translations. For the best Bible study support get both, keeping a King James handy for tradition's sake and maybe an old copy of the NIV 1984 for what probably was the best translation of its kind from the last century.

A Royal Witness?

To link to the article from "the Telegraph" referred to below go to...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/royal-wedding/8481434/Paul-Mealor-The-royal-wedding-composer.html

You can read what's below in the link made above.

Little-known 35 year old Welsh composer Paul Mealor was chosen to provide a sizeable portion of the royal wedding music at the behest of Prince William and Kate Middleton.
Why they chose him remains open to debate; it’s believed that Mealor’s most famous work, Ubi caritas, which premiered last Autumn at St Andrew’s University (where the young royal couple met) held some sway and, in a further twist, the composer also hails from Anglesey where the couple currently reside.
The entire wedding ceremony, including Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est (Where charity and love are, God is there), will be recorded and made available digitally the same day, with physical copies going on sale from 4 May.

I heard Mealor's Ubi caritas live very early this morning, while sipping my coffee, in awe of the overtly Christian teachings, prayers, hymns, music, and message peppering the Royal Wedding. I think a lot of us were caught off guard by this. For me, a composer of no note, to hear Paul Mealor's incredible piece along with two billion other people, was overwhelming. Beautiful things can still happen in this world. Listen to it. Listen to the little interview found at the link above.

Simply amazing...

Distinguishing People Pressure from God's Will

I'm involved in many things as a leader that put me in the crosshairs of people who have influence and an agenda. I make the mistake more often than I would like of misjudging both. I'm not the only one. Many of us both over-estimate the power of other people and over-accommodate their agendas. Undiscerning Christian spirituality mixes with this to leave many of us further confused. Is this powerful person's agenda really God's will? The answer is always "no!" Get that straight. Being pushed by a person -- and some people have an amazing, subtle ability to push -- is never the same as being drawn by God. You seek God's will by seeking God, not by seeking to please a person whose pleasure you believe will be to your advantage. If you're being pushed by a human being, it may be a sign that your walk with Christ has taken on a limp. Whenever I'm not praying, not in the Word, not "living with" other believers regularly, I'm vulnerable to lesser gods. Yes, that's where this points. If we're not with God, then someone lesser will take His place in our conscience. This is so dangerous. In the end, it's never the bully's fault. We can't be bullied without our cooperation.

God puts it clearly to begin His Ten Commandments:

"You shall have no other Gods before Me." Exodus 20:3

Amen.

PS - Thanks for the feedback on the blog. We'll see. I think I'll at least blog more; this may evolve into a daily or close to daily blog. It's worth doing if it makes a difference for someone, like anything else.