Notes of Faith August 16, 2021

The sun cast crystal rays off the water on a late summer day in Birch Bay, just below the Canadian border and about one hundred miles north of Seattle, Washington. The water that day was calm and gently lapped at the sides of my kayak. A small baby couldn’t have been more comfortable at her mother’s breast than I was as I paddled in my kayak on that bay.

Steve, a college friend who was now a pastor, pulled his kayak close to mine. We stopped paddling and let ourselves be rocked by the small, graceful waves. Then we talked of how life had changed for us over the past dozen years.

We talked about what God was doing in our lives —how we felt challenged and how we felt encouraged. We talked about mutual friends, laughed, thanked God, and just appreciated each other’s company and the world that God had given us to enjoy.

As we paddled back toward the shore, I marveled at what I had missed growing up. My boyhood home was farther south of the bay, under the shadow of Mount rainier. The Pacific Northwest’s evergreen forests are one of the strongest memories of my childhood.

I was in the forests a lot, but most of the time I was running. My heart hadn’t grown to the point where I could enter a forest and think of it as God’s cathedral, a sacred place of prayer. In our modern age, where we’re born in the antiseptic environment of a hospital, taken home to a nursery that consists of Sheetrock coated with paint, and driven through the countryside in a metal contraption called a car, our ability to appreciate and meet God in creation is stunted, to say the least.

We need to be spiritually reawakened to fully appreciate the outdoors.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning understood this when she wrote these now famous words, “Earth’s crammed with Heaven, and every common bush afire with God; but only he who sees, takes off his shoes, the rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.”1

How can we be reawakened to this? I have some ideas since I’ve traveled from being a Cub Scout who used to romp through the woods with nary a prayer on his lips to a more mature Christian who has seen those bushes afire with God. I’ve learned that we must first create a space of time, quiet, and isolation before we can truly see God. Three elements are necessary for this. We need to first believe, then learn to perceive, and finally receive.

Believe

To avoid a sentimental or idolatrous view of nature we need to first be fully converted to life in Christ. Martin Luther tells us, “Now if I believe in God’s Son and bear in mind that He became man, all creatures will appear a hundred times more beautiful to me than before. Then I will properly appreciate the sun, the moon, the stars, trees, apples, pears, as I reflect that He is Lord over and the center of all things.”2 If we don’t appreciate the outdoors, then maybe we don’t appreciate the Creator.

Luther tells us that it is only with the “eye of faith” that we can see miracles all through nature, miracles that he believed were even greater than the miracles of the sacraments. If we truly understood the growth of a grain of wheat, he says, we would die of wonder.3

So the first way to become awakened is to seek the Creator behind the creation. Luther called creation the “mask of God.” a mask partially conceals, but it also tells us that something is behind the mask.

Perceive

The second step to becoming awakened to God is to resurrect deadened elements of perception. Saint Bonaventure, an early Franciscan friar, suggested a grid through which we may “school” ourselves to seek God outdoors.

First, consider the greatness of creation — mountains, sky, and oceans — which clearly portrays the immensity of the power, wisdom, and goodness of the triune God.

• Next, look at the multitude of creation — a forest has more plant and animal life than you could examine in a lifetime and shows us how God is capable of doing many things at once. Those who wonder how God can hear so many prayers uttered simultaneously have been out of the forest too long.

• Finally, examine the beauty of creation — see the beauty of rocks and their shapes, the beauty of colors and shades, the beauty of individual elements (such as trees), and the beauty of overall composition (such as forests). God’s beauty cannot be revealed through one form but is so vast and infinite it can fill an entire world with wonder.4

The outdoors also speaks of God’s abundance. We’ve talked much about the forest, but stand barefoot in a desert or on a beach and try to guess how many grains of sand are under your feet or within your sight or on all the beaches and deserts of the world. We serve a God of plenty, whose mercy and love are inexhaustible.

When our son, Graham, was two years old, we’d trek through the Manassas, Virginia, battlefield in silence. I’d occasionally point out a tree or a plant, and Graham would nod and move on. These were delightful walks for me since we were able to be together and still be reverent. When he became a preadolescent, it was virtually impossible for Graham and his friends to resist gathering pine cones and sticks to set up an “ambush” for the rest of the family as we walked by. He wasn’t in the woods to perceive; he was in there to play — and there’s a place for that.

For the true Christian naturalist, creation is nothing less than a sanctuary, a holy place that invites you to prayer. See how you can awaken your soul with creation. As you commute to work or the grocery store, consider driving a few extra blocks or even miles if it means you can pass through a country road. Take an extra moment to look around you and appreciate what God has made. Decide that traveling will be more important to you than reaching the next place. Make it an event.

Receive

Psychologists tell us that a child’s fear of animals is frequently the result of transferring his or her own aggressions onto the beast. When we enter the woods, we can do the same; we transfer our own anxieties onto the scenery. Walks that are truly helpful are walks in which I lay down my agenda at the first sign of grass and let God lead my mind wherever He chooses.

I was headed down a wooded trail once, trying to solve a job-related problem. My mind was preoccupied, but as I made my way farther down the trail, I sensed God correcting me. In a matter of yards, my mind was clear and my heart was listening to God, loving Him, being with Him.

The trail bent and began descending slightly. It was the beginning of spring, and a creek bed off Bull run, which I had run across all winter, was now blocked by a freely flowing stream. I was stunned. That same small path of earth I had easily crossed for several months was now under water. I had seen it like this before, but the suddenness of the change overwhelmed me, and God’s voice broke in to remind me that opportunities change. If I don’t cross when I can, I may not be able to cross at a later date.

Thoughts, analogies, and ideas then flooded through my mind as I hiked around the creek bed to the small wooden footbridge that crossed it. There God planted new directions in my heart, and I lingered at that bridge, enjoying a rich time of worship. I reveled in the sight of the water running underneath me, the tree limbs catching leaves and small sticks, the sound of the water trickling, the smell of the clean air. I didn’t want to leave. Yet I had almost missed this blessing because my mind was so full when I entered the woods. God in His mercy broke in, and I left the woods deeply in love with a God who shares His heart and purposes with me.

We cannot receive unless we set aside time for God to speak — and then let Him set the agenda for our discussion. I’ve found that my agenda is frequently different from God’s. He must be the initiator in my spiritual walk. He knows what I need to hear. When I’m consumed with my temporal problems, I miss the blessing of being outdoors.

When you come to the woods, come to receive. Leave your worries at home.

1..Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “aurora Leigh” (book seven), in Masterpieces of Religious Verse, ed. James Dalton Morrison (Grand rapids: Baker, 1977), 16.

2. Quoted in H. Paul Santmire, The Travail of Nature (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1985), 131.
3.. Ibid., 130.

4.See Santmire, Travail of Nature, 99.

Excerpted from Sacred Pathways by Gary Thomas, copyright Gary L. Thomas.

Are you a nature lover? Do you spend weekends and vacations climbing mountains, or enjoying lakes, the ocean, or woods? Is nature a place of worship for you? Let it be! Next time you venture out into the peace and quiet of the wilderness, listen, believe, perceive, and receive!

God speaks clearly through that which He has made . . . let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith August 15, 2021

Several years after my initial descent into deafness, my charts showed an inexplicable suspension in its progression. I couldn’t hear any better, but neither did my hearing get much worse.

My team of doctors couldn’t understand it. Mystified, they ordered test after test, trying to determine why my hearing loss seemed to be slowing down. They had no idea.

But I knew.

A short time after I’d yielded my demand that He heal me, I’d begun to wonder if I dared to ask Him for what any mother would want, what I longed for the most — more time to hear my children.

I knew better than to assume an attitude of entitlement all over again; to risk what I was gaining was out of the question.

Hearing God had become my passion, a reason to get up in the morning — the focus of my joy.

But every time I missed the stumbling sentences of my toddler or the whispers of my daughter or the boy-secrets too soon gone, my heart clenched in grief. A new baby now graced our family, the first to be born after my life-changing diagnosis. These precious lives were mine to know and mold and delight in — He had entrusted these gifts to me.

The importance of my role as a mother weighed heavily on my heart. How could I guide them deeper into relationship with Jesus if I couldn’t hear their hopes and fears, their questions and concerns? If talking to me was too hard, wouldn’t they give up and dismiss me as dispensable? How I longed to listen and hear them so I could know the nuances of who they were and who they would become. I was afraid that the rate at which my hearing was declining would preclude the possibility of shared confidences.

One evening as I walked along the shore of Seacliff beach, less than a mile from our home, with the sun hanging low to the west and my children romping and squealing and chasing waves, I asked.

Father, You know I’m Yours, all Yours. I really, honestly only want Your will, Your best, even if it’s my worst. You know that, don’t You? That I’m all in now, no conditions or expectations, no stipulations that You do for me what I’m asking…

But these children You’ve given me!

I look at John Mark and all his strength of will. I get this boy — how he’s not going to stop asking questions and probing for answers until he gets at the heart of the truth. I want to be the one to hear him. I want to be that person who knows what he means by the inflection of his voice, the mother who understands no matter what.

And Bekah, my joy-filled sparkle of hope. She needs me, Father, I really believe she does. She can’t decide if she’s a people-craving extrovert or a thought-filled introvert. How I want to ease her through all the confusion ahead, to guard her when people try to exploit her beauty and her open-hearted friendship. Please, Lord!

What about little Beth, my quiet and content middle daughter? How will she learn to express those things I see hidden behind her eyes? She’s my shadow, keeping herself close to me all day every day. How can I be her friend if I can’t understand what she has to say?

And now this new one, Matthew. He needs me to talk to him, to hear his little boy silliness, to listen to his cries. How will he ever learn to talk to me if I cannot hear? Father please!

Will You slow it down, this loss? Give me a chance to raise these little ones, let me hear until they’re old enough to walk with You. It’s going so fast — can’t You just hold off the inevitable for a little while?

On and on I walked, a strong sense of God at my elbow. I could almost feel Him thinking, as if He was considering my questions, weighing what He had in mind against what I was asking.

I heard nothing, but I felt His presence as we walked by the sea He had crafted with His own hands.

I could still smell the smoke from the fires of my own head-strong rebellion, and the stench left me wondering if the God I was getting to know would be merciful enough to grant the pleas of my mother’s heart.

And so I asked in careful tones, not really waiting for an answer, just hoping. Wishing that the loss would slow down.

Watching to see if this time He’d say yes.

Would God help me find a way to stay connected to Him, to each of my children — to hear their hearts if not their voices?

During the early years of my faith journey, I learned a new word. It was a word I’d never heard in my previous life, a word not exactly bandied about on the evening news.

Blessing.

People often use this word as a sort of endearment, their voices going soft and sweet and full of hope. The word appealed to my good-life-seeking sense of safety and dovetailed nicely with the wonderful life I’d signed up for.

A blessing, I believed, was all sugar and spice and everything nice — the day-by-day evidence that the formula worked: If I tried hard to live as a good girl should, then I would be blessed by God.

My parents had taught us to notice all the blessings in our lives. To make a gratitude list when life seemed hard and the road got bumpy.

Count your blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.1

And so I’d learned to count my blessings. To give God credit for the good, nice, loving goings-on in my life.

My definition of blessing looked like a perfect life where everyone is happy and healthy and has plenty of everything.

I thought it meant a reward for a life well lived — sort of a carrot-and-stick philosophy. The carrot included all the protective blessings I thought God promised. The stick was His discipline if I chose to go against Him, the consequences I knew came with disobedience.

My definitions fit very well with my neat and tidy life. The problem was, my definition did not fit so nicely with real life.

Or the Scriptures.

The word translated as blessing in the New Testament is derived from the Greek word, makarismos, which means “to be indwelt by God through the Holy Spirit and, therefore, because of His indwelling to be fully satisfied in spite of the afflictions of life.”2

To be blessed actually means to be fully satisfied.

To thrive on the inside even if life is falling apart on the outside.

To be so filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit within that we are able to endure and taste the sweetness of His love even in the midst of bitter reality. Even when it hurts, even when we do not understand.

1.     Oatman, Johnson Jr. “Count Your Blessings,” Songs for Young People (Chicago, IL: Edwin O. Excell, 1897).

2.     Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament.

Excerpted from He Speaks in the Silence by Diane Comer, copyright Diane Comer.

Are you in the middle of affliction? Struggling to understand? Wondering if Jesus will answer your prayers? He is right with you. Hearing you.  Trust in His eternal love for you!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith August 14, 2021

Article by Marshall Segal
Staff writer, desiringGod.org

The Bible is uncomfortably comfortable, even happy, with promoting a particular kind of fear.

For many of us, any experience of fear feels like an enemy to be fought and freed from. And God does free us from our fears: “I sought the Lord,” Psalm 34:4 says, “and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.” Well, all our fears but one. Just three verses later, King David writes, “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him. . . . Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints” (Psalm 34:7, 9). So, trusting God casts out a certain kind of fear and kindles another — even commands another: You who would be free from your fears, fear the Lord.

A significant part of maturity, then, is learning to not fear what we should not fear, and to increasingly, even gladly, fear the one whom we should.

Acquainted with Fear

When David penned these lines in Psalm 34 about fear, he had just escaped more fearful circumstances than the majority of us will ever face. The most powerful man in the land, enflamed with intense and violent jealousy, was hunting him like prey (1 Samuel 20:33). King Saul was so determined to kill David that he attempted to spear his own son to death for standing in the way.

Desperate to escape, David fled to the Philistines, that awful enemy he had warred against for years. When he entered their town, rumors spread quickly: “Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?” (1 Samuel 21:11). David realized he had crawled out of harm’s way only to find himself in equally dangerous hands. Terrified by what the Philistine king might do to him, David pretended to be insane to make himself seem pitiable and harmless (1 Samuel 21:13). Whatever fears might plague us, we have not yet needed to feign madness to survive.

“You who would be free from your fears, fear the Lord.”

And this was only one scary scene of hundreds that David faced — he fought off lions and bears by hand, he defied the giant when no one else would, he fled and hid in caves from his own king for years, he endured a betrayal and rebellion led by his own son. This man was well-acquainted with fear — with untamed, persistent, and desperate fears. And God used those fears to teach him, and us, the fear of God.

Teach Me to Fear

As David experienced freedom from his darker fears, he learned a deeper, sweeter fear. “Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord” (Psalm 34:11). The Christian life is filled with paradoxes, but is any more surprising than that we find freedom from fear by learning to fear?

The fear of God is a heart-level embrace of the intensity of his holy and sovereign authority over all. It is an admission that God is worthy of our admiration, devotion, reverence, and awe — but it is far more than an admission. It is a face-to-the-ground, trembling-in-the-soul, all-of-life submission to that God — a heart that senses how small, sinful, and undeserving we are next to him, and yet still dares, in Christ, to draw near to him. Those who fear God have received his grace and mercy without diminishing or marginalizing all that makes him terrifying to sinners.

In fact, the very things that would frighten us apart from grace only heighten our experience of his grace. Yes, the fear of God does humble us (Psalm 34:2), reminding us how low and sinful we are before him, but it also inspires us to seek him more. Verse 4: “I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.” Verse 15: “The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry.” Verse 18: “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”

We can hardly conceive of a God who is both dreadful and yet compassionate, severe and yet gentle, just and yet forgiving, wrathful and yet approachable, exalted and yet available. The one who fears God refuses to forfeit what unsettles him about God, because he wants to know, enjoy, and serve the true God. He expects any God worthy of his devotion to unsettle him.

We Delight to Fear

This fear of God is not, as many wrongly assume, at odds with our joy in God, but is the weight and intensity of joy in its fullest, most beautiful bloom. Notice how closely Psalm 34 intertwines the fullness of happiness with the gravity of godly fear:

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
     Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,
     for those who fear him have no lack! (Psalm 34:8–9)

The man who fears the Lord does not find him unapproachable or unappealing. The Lord’s glory and power and wisdom and justice and mercy are all fearful to him — far above and beyond anyone or anything else in all creation — but they have also become sweet to him. All that makes God fearful now tastes and appears good, because the man trusts in him. He knows the fearful God fights for him. The fearful God protects him. The fearful God provides for him. The fearful God forgives him. The fearful God loves him. Faith has made the terrifying fearfulness of God lovely and safe.

“What if we haven’t experienced greater happiness in God because we’ve resisted anything that might make us fear him?”

This fear-filled joy and joy-filled fear is not isolated to just one psalm. Psalm 112:1 says, “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments!” Nehemiah prays, “O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name” (Nehemiah 1:11). And Isaiah prophesies of Jesus, “his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord” (Isaiah 11:3). And Jesus prayed that his delight would be in us, and that our delight would be full (John 15:11).

Most Intense Joy

We get to watch the apostle Peter learn this art of holy fear, after he caved more than once to the fear of man, even denying that he knew Jesus. Peter had himself “tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Peter 2:3) — rejoicing with a joy that is “inexpressible and filled with glory” (1 Peter 1:8). And yet he charges the church, “Fear God” (1 Peter 2:17). And “conduct yourselves with fear” throughout your time here on earth (1 Peter 1:17). He had discovered that our joy in God and our fear of God are not only reconcilable, but inseparable.

We cannot experience fullness of joy and abundance of life if our hearts do not tremble before his greatness. Michael Reeves writes,

This right fear of God, then, is not the minor-key, gloomy flip side to proper joy in God. There is no tension between this fear and joy. Rather, this trembling “fear of God” is a way of speaking about the sheer intensity of the saints’ happiness in God. In other words, the biblical theme of the fear of God helps us to see the sort of joy that is most fitting for believers. (Rejoice & Tremble, 61)

What if we haven’t experienced greater happiness in God because we’ve resisted anything that might make us fear him? What if we have forfeited greater intensities of intimacy because we’ve shielded ourselves from aspects of him that make us uncomfortable? What if love has been harder and sanctification slower because we have subtly made God smaller, nicer, and more accommodating instead of approaching him as the consuming fire that he is?

The pathway to deeper joy and intimacy with God may be a surprising one: learn to fear him. As the prophet Isaiah says, “Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will become a sanctuary” (Isaiah 8:13–14). Let him carry you as you wade deeper into the wild, overwhelming waves of what he has revealed to you.

We need not fear the people or viruses of this world…we need only fear the Lord and leave the little stuff in His hands.  God loves those who fear, revere and give Him all glory and honor.  Let us choose wisely whom we shall fear and trust with our ETERNAL lives!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith August 13, 2021

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. — Jeremiah 29:11

Jeremiah can discern the voice of God. Can you?

Wouldn’t it be easier to hear from Jesus if He was still walking among us? I thought so too, so I spent every Tuesday with Him for six months.

If you’re imagining me arm-in-arm with that white-robed, blue-sashed Sunday school Jesus, that’s not quite it. I was in college, and my conversations with Jesus sometimes felt abstract and distant. So, over a cup of coffee, my friend Jessica and I decided to do something crazy. We decided to make it easier to hear from Jesus, in a self-styled experiment we called Tuesdays with Jesus.1

Every Tuesday, we pretended Jesus was physically with us. We imagined Him walking beside us, sharing a meal with us, or riding in the passenger seat. He went to class with us and to work with us; He watched whatever we watched and heard everything we said. Jessica and I met each week on Tuesday for coffee, with Jesus, of course, and shared stories about our time with Him.

I can still remember my first Tuesday with Jesus. I woke up, bright and early, and there He was in my desk chair. “Well, hello!” I greeted Him, laughing to myself.

I felt surprised by my own confidence as I walked to my car and opened the passenger door. Because, Jesus. I took those few extra seconds to hold open His door to remind Him (and me) that I remembered. I buckled my seatbelt, grabbed my iPod (remember those?), and played a worship song, smiling in His direction, with a slow-motion point and a wink and a “This one’s for You.”

We drove to the coffee shop to meet Jessica. She had ordered one coffee for herself, one for me… and a third one.

I pointed. We laughed.

“You seriously paid for that?” I playfully asked. “Shhhhhhhhh… He can hear you,” she whispered.

At one point in our conversation she flipped around her MacBook and we took pictures with Him to document our first day.

I didn’t feel alone on Tuesdays. I put creative energy into my relationship with Jesus on Tuesdays. I talked about Jesus a lot on Tuesdays. I had to. My friends didn’t find it amusing, but I had to explain why they had to sit in the back seat: “Jesus called shotgun.”

I developed a new, literal meaning to the phrase “Introducing Jesus to people for the very first time.” I realized that leaving Him out of my interactions was like having a person — a real, living person — standing next to me, unacknowledged.

Once, Jessica made a bed for Jesus at 1 a.m. only to wake up two hours later feeling guilty for not giving Him her bed. She slept on the ground that night. Often, I’d hold open the door for Him, and someone just far enough away thought it was for them and began to walk quicker. Most of the time I’d hold the door open for that hustling someone, but not always. Don’t judge me. I’m not Jesus. I just hung out with Him… on Tuesdays.

I listened to different music on those Tuesdays. I spoke about Him boldly and even introduced people to Him for the very first time on Tuesdays. I asked for forgiveness and quite often reminded myself that He forgave me and then murmured to myself, “That’s so like Him.”

But here’s the reality: Jesus is kind of a strange party guest.

It was true in all of the Gospel narratives,2 and it’s true now too. Once, I pulled up a chair for Jesus when I was having a friend over for dinner. I told her who the chair was for, and she looked at me like I had a third eye. The shotgun joke got old quickly, and friends would just roll their eyes and sit down in the front seat of my car. I knew the experiment was pushing me, when, sometime in the middle of the fourth month, I thought to myself, Tuesday again? That means so much explaining.

And then one Tuesday, I accidentally left Jesus at home.

I was at the gas station, staring off into the distance while the tank filled. The thought flitted across my mind, “It’s Tuesday…” and I remembered that I hadn’t asked Jesus to come with me. The realization washed over me. Leaving Jesus in the armchair in my living room was more of a common occurrence in the rest of my week than I’d like to admit. I left Jesus at home and just about everywhere else.

Sometimes I left Him in the pews at church or at a Starbucks table, or in the prayer at dinner time. I acknowledged Him where I expected to see Him… and where other people expected me to see Him. Did He belong at a gas station on a Tuesday morning? He would have gone anywhere with me, even the places He didn’t seem to fit. I just didn’t invite Him.

Tuesdays reminded me that I needed to take Jesus with me everywhere.

Those Tuesdays with Jesus transformed me. Not only did I develop a habit of talking about Jesus, I became more confident talking with Him. What was most surprising was when I became more confident in my ability to listen to Him.

What did He say, you ask? Well, turns out, Jesus has no tolerance for those negative thought spirals. I’d start dogging on myself for something, like being late for a meeting or distracted with my family, and He’d say, “Megan, you have a choice. You can either continue feeling guilty or be grateful for awareness.” Truth is, He wasn’t very sentimental about it. Or in the aftermath of a mistake, I’d consider His character and imagine Him saying something like: “You’re not perfect, but you’re Mine!”

The conversations went a lot like this: He’d remind me that I belonged to Him. Again and again, He affirmed my identity as His. And then He’d point me toward someone else who needed to know it too. Pretending to see Him next to me changed the way I heard from Him.

In my new awareness of His presence, I could discern His nudges. I could sense His elbows jabbing my side, making me less aware of myself and more aware of the people who needed to meet Him for the first time or needed to be reminded that He was with us. There were plenty of times when I wanted to ignore Him, and, honestly, many times when I did. But I’d look over at Him after the moment of obedience had passed, and realize that He had more chances for me, continually offering opportunities to step into His plans. Slowly but surely, I became aware of the fact that Jesus not only wants to speak, He wants to speak into every area of our lives. He wants a say in how we act, share coffee conversations, sometimes even dictate what or whom we listen to as we drive.

Tuesdays with Jesus reminded me that He is present — always. And His presence prompted me to listen.

1. Rich Ferreria was the first person I ever heard share stories from spending time with an imaginary Jesus. Thanks for the life-changing idea, friend.

2. Jesus shows up at a Pharisee party and calls the host out on not inviting the poor (Luke 14:12–14). He also shows up at the parties of tax collectors and sinners (Mark 2:13–17). And who could forget that wedding at Cana where he turned water to wine (John 2:1–11)?

Excerpted from Meant for Good by Megan Fate Marshman, copyright Megan Fate Marshman.

Perhaps we could take Jesus with us when we leave church on Sunday.  That would be a good start.  Then maybe we could proceed to Tuesday.  And then, maybe we could really understand that He is with us all the time and we need to act like it . . . ALL the time.  Let us share the love and grace of God everywhere we go and in everything we do!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith August 12, 2021

John Piper

The law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:20–21)

Then as soon as he finishes saying, “Well, if grace abounds where sin increases, then our salvation certainly does not depend on fighting sin. In fact, let us sin so that grace may abound.” Here’s Paul’s response in Romans 6:1–2. He says, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means!”

“Sanctification does not save us by replacing our justification; it saves us by confirming our justification.”

Now, what will Paul give as a reason for why he says “by no means”? Will he just say, “Don’t continue in sin because you just shouldn’t. It’s bad. It’s against God’s will. No, it’s not a salvation issue, but just don’t do it”? Is that what he’s going to say? Well, no. Here’s what he says. He argues like this: “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:1–2).

That’s what he says. So, what’s the reason that he gives for saying, “Don’t go on sinning”? His reason is this: dead people don’t sin. “How can we who died to sin still live in it?” We can’t. We died to sin. You can’t go on practicing sin if you are a Christian and have died with Christ to sin.

Dead People Don’t Sin

Of course, when Christ died, he paid the full price for all my sins — all of them. There is no condemnation ever, forever, for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). But the question is, Do those who are in Christ Jesus go on living in sin? That’s the question.

Over and over, the New Testament’s answer is this: If you go on living in sin — that is, if sin is your pattern of life, and you do not make war on your sin, but instead you make peace with your sin — you have no warrant to believe that you are in Christ.

This doesn’t mean that you can lose your salvation; it means that your life can show you never had it, even though you looked like you had it for a time. That’s why John said in 1 John 2:19, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.” In other words, those who are truly in Christ persevere in faith and fight their sin and grow in holiness, and those who walk away into sin never were in Christ.

It also doesn’t mean that keeping ourselves saved depends finally on us. Paul said, “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). “[Christ] will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son” (1 Corinthians 1:8–9).

In other words, we don’t keep ourselves saved; God keeps us saved by the way he works in us by the Spirit according to his call.

Saved Through Sanctification

But the pervasive witness of the New Testament is that God keeps us saved through sanctification — that is, he keeps us by leading us to fight sin and grow in holiness. That’s how he keeps us saved.

Here’s the key verse: “God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:13). Sanctification — that is, progressive making war on sin, progressive growth in holiness, hating sin, pursuing righteousness — is not an add-on to salvation. It is the way God saves us, preserves us, brings us to glory.

“The only kind of faith that saves is the kind that leads us to fight sin and practice the obedience of faith.”

Here’s the way Paul describes this work in Romans 8:13–14. He’s talking to professing Christians: “If you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”

That’s how we know we are the sons of God: we are led by the Spirit. And where does he lead? In this text, he leads us into mortal combat with our own sin. That’s the meaning of lead in this verse. If you put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit — led by the Spirit into war — you will live. If you don’t, you won’t live. Which means that your dad is very wrong to say that we can live in sin and still be assured of our salvation.

Holiness is the mark of those who are in Christ. Here’s the way Hebrews 12:14 puts it: “Strive . . . for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” This is not our imputed righteous, which we have by union with Christ through faith. This is the kind of righteousness that you pursue, you strive for: “Strive . . . for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.”

This strived-for righteousness does not add to the ground of our acceptance — the righteousness of Christ is the ground. Rather, it confirms the ground of our acceptance as Jesus Christ and our participation in him by faith. That’s what 2 Peter 1:10 means when it says, “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.”

You will never fall because you’ll be confirming that you are in Christ, who is your righteousness. In other words, sanctification does not save us by replacing our justification; it saves us by confirming our justification.

Faith Without Works?

As far as I can tell, Jessica, your dad does not believe that our justification by faith needs to be confirmed with a life of holiness. He seems not to believe that. He seems to have ideas about salvation that both James and John wrote about in their letters.

For example, James said, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? . . . So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:14, 17). In other words, the only kind of faith that saves is the kind that leads us to fight sin and practice the obedience of faith.

Here’s the way John said it in his letter. In fact, I think 1 John was written for your dad, because there were a lot of folks around like that, and John knew them and he wrote his first letter for them. He says, “We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning” (1 John 5:18). He doesn’t make a practice of sinning, doesn’t make peace with sinning, doesn’t have a life of sinning.

No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. (1 John 3:6)

And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. (1 John 2:3)

We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. (1 John 3:14)

Pursue Holiness

We are justified by faith alone, but the faith that justifies is never alone. It causes us to hate sin and to fight it. Our holiness confirms that we are truly justified, truly in Christ. Sanctification does not replace justification; it confirms it.

And that confirmation is necessary, not optional. You might even plead this with your dad, as we all plead it to our own souls: Pursue “the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). Pursue that in the power of the Spirit, on the basis of God’s love through Christ.

We are to be as though dead to sin because we are in Christ, and pursue the holiness of Christ, having a true life desired by God for us.  Let your heart think on the things of Christ and not the things of this world that Satan uses to draw you away from intimacy with Christ.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith August 11, 2021

Cancer has greatly affected my life … both of my parents died of cancer, both of paternal grandparents as well and I have experienced cancer as well though God has spared my life.  Cancer brings about change in life not only for the one enduring it but the loving, caring, family and friends around them also.  This disease has not ended with another taking its place.  Let us remember all those who suffer from the ravages caused by the fall of man and fervently pray for God’s grace and healing. -  Pastor Dale

But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her. 
— 1 Corinthians 11:15 NKJV 

When I was seven years old, I got my fantasy doll for Christmas. With a twist of a button, I could make Velvet’s hair shorter or longer. I always wanted to grow long, luscious locks, but my mom insisted a pixie cut was right for me. Though short, my hair was thick, shiny, and beautiful — a treasured family trait.  

Then cancer came along.  

“It’s not too bad; the worst part is losing your hair,” my oncologist said. My hair? Hair loss meant I was losing the centerpiece of my appearance!  

I was encouraged to cut my hair very short to ease the loss. Three days before Christmas, I was taking a shower and noticed a small clump of hair on the drain cover. As I looked down, the word peace popped into my head. The next day, I found a larger clump of hair.  

Peace of God! cried the voice in my head.  

Each day, I experienced the “peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7 NKJV).  

God was in charge of the thing I dreaded most. He knew peace was what I needed to get through this tumultuous loss without Velvet’s button to make my hair grow back.  

God, You are the Prince of peace. You quiet the raging seas of my fears with the perfect peace of Your Holy Spirit. I praise You as the One who sits over all circumstances, even what feels like a flood. You are enthroned as King forever.

You give strength to Your people and bless Your people with peace. Thank You for Your faithfulness in the storms of life and for the gift of unexplainable peace in the midst of them.  

Lord, I lay my appearance before Your throne. I stand amazed that You know how many hairs are on my head and how many I will lose as I battle with cancer. I thank You for teaching me the meaning of true beauty through this. You desire the inner beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in Your sight. Thank You for Your love and patience toward me as You peel away layers of vanity and pride. I praise You for the gift of Your peace that passes all understanding!  
~ Laura Geist  

Today’s Tip: Tie a bandanna or scarf around your head before putting on a hat. It will make y

Prayer References: Psalm 29:10–11; Matthew 10:30; Philippians 4:7  

Excerpted from Praying Through Cancer by Susan Sorensen and Laura Geist, copyright Susan Sorensen and Laura Geist. 

Many people, particularly women, going through cancer and losing their hair have to face the grief of that loss. It’s just one more cruel blow from the wicked C-monster! Let’s pray today for our friends and family members battling cancer and stand with them in intercession!

Pastor Dale

An addition Note of Faith to add to your understanding of our times …

A number of prophetic voices have proclaimed truth to our culture, but one is unique. As both a woman and a Christian with a Jewish heritage, Jan Markell represents a modern-day watchman (or watchwoman).

Jan began following Yeshua when she was 11 years old. As a young woman, she traveled to Israel, studied Bible Prophecy, and served with Jews for Jesus. In 1982, Jan launched Olive Tree Ministries "to help people understand the times according to the Bible, contend for the faith in Jesus Christ, and help the Church stand against deception as watchmen on the wall in these last days." I can't think of a more significant or timely calling. Over the years she's written many books, including contributing to Lawless: End Times War Against the Spirit of Antichrist, along with Dr. David Reagan and Nathan Jones.

In this week's episode of Christ in Prophecy, you can hear from this giant in the Bible prophecy realm whom the Lord has disguised as a wonderfully petite woman. The following is an excerpt.

Jan's Alarm

Jan MarkellTim Moore: In one of your newsletters from the year 2020 you talked about Globalism's "perfect storm." What lessons did 2020 teach us as even today we are continuing to witness a rise in lawlessness?

Jan Markell: My headquarters and home are located in Minneapolis. I'm living at ground zero for the past year. The turmoil that was sparked in 2020 started 20 minutes from my home in Minneapolis when George Floyd was pinned down by a policeman. That sparked epic unrest across the country that I frankly question will ever settle down, and more likely will be ongoing. Racial strife was stirred up.

But, I don't want to go down that path. The path I want to go down concerns the agenda by the global cabal behind the globalist system. They needed a crisis, and so they used 2020 as their crisis, be it the pandemic or be it racial strife. They used the global crisis to further their own nefarious ambitions. Remember, it wasn't an American crisis, and it wasn't a North American crisis, rather it was a global crisis. They used that crisis to help get their global government launched a little farther along.

Obviously, a one-world government is not in play at this time, for the Antichrist has to be here and the Church has to be gone in the Rapture. This growing centralized government shows that, again, we are living in the last hours, and that's exciting.

Tim Moore: Those bent on globalism and taking over the world in a dictatorial manner will use every opportunity. I'm reminded of Kristallnacht, the Nazi Germany Night of Broken Glass. German Nazi thugs went around breaking the windows of Jewish shop owners and persecuting Jews. Adolf Hitler responded to the effect, "You see all of this unrest, so if you'd just put me in power, I will tamp down all of the lawlessness that has taken place." We found out that Hitler was spurring the persecution on behind the scenes to create the crisis. Today, many of those who are claiming to want power are promising to quell the unrest, but they've been the ones who have been fomenting it all along.

Jan Markell: That is true. I am concerned about Leftism stoking the flames, but moreso the need for the Church to come and put out these fires. Instead, I am seeing the Church sign onto the racial unrest and all in the name of social justice. They've been signing onto the agenda of Black Lives Matter. What a terrible mistake they are making, all in the name of social justice! They are signing onto a movement that is very unhealthy in aligning with the whole Black Lives Matter Movement.

Tim Moore: Black Lives Matter wrote in some of their manifestos that as an organization they are not only tremendously Anti-Semitic but that they are pushing a very radical LGBTQ+ agenda. They've totally renounced Judeo-Christian values, even the family as a basic foundational unit as God ordained. So, yes, this is very problematic.

Jan, what do you see are some of the other trends from recent years foreshadowing the way the Antichrist will rise to power? Do you see anything specific that we should be alarmed about?

Jan Markell: Yes, I think, firstly, we should be alarmed when we see such unmitigated lawlessness. I don't think we even know where that is going, but we've seen over the past year lawlessness taking over our country. As a matter of fact, it also took over parts of Australia and parts of Europe as well. Anything that is lawless is not of God, rather it's the rise of the Antichrist spirit.

What I saw most in the year behind us, the thing I saw make the strongest, most impactful in a negative way, is the spirit of the Antichrist raising its ugly head in the world and trying to influence the Church. I don't know if it was successful, but it tried.

So, believers, are your pushing back with the truth? That's all that we Christians can do — give the truth. Give the truth about what's happening in our world. Give the truth of the Gospel. Get people inside this rescue mission we have; get them into the lifeboat of salvation.

Yes, these are exciting times, but I'm not the least bit discouraged. I am living right at ground zero in Minneapolis. Huge segments were burned down last year and will never come back. In the natural, that can be very discouraging, but still, I'm not discouraged. I see it as a sign of the times. It's a reminder to the Church that Jesus said: "Look up! I am coming soon."

Jan's Warning

Tim Moore: Jan, what do you see is the greatest threat to the Church worldwide? And, what opportunities must we as believers seize right now living in such a time as this?

Jan Markell: The Church needs to be discerning in these end times. We need to understand how late we are in God's prophetic plan. Is the Church doing these things? I don't think so.

I think, secondly, a deeper problem concerns the growing apostasy in the Church, apostasy that was predicted in the Bible. There are more Bible references about the Last Day's apostasy than almost anything else, other than maybe the rebirth of Israel. Read Jesus, Peter and Paul, particularly all of those verses in 1 and 2 Timothy. They're all giving warning about the wolves that are going to come and devour the flock with false teaching, horrible theology, and the doctrines of demons. That's just what is happening in our churches today.

That's why God provides watchman trying to warn the Church to repent and return to the biblical Christ. And yet, in many cases, these watchmen are simply brushed off. Nobody is listening to them. They are trying to tell the church leadership that we are going down the wrong path, whether it is the New Apostolic Reformation or Replacement Theology or other false teachings that we could talk about if we had three hours, we would fill them so quickly.

So many new false teachings have come along in the last hundred years, and even moreso really in the last ten years. Christian Palestinianism — whoever would have thought of that? Jesus was a Palestinian?!? That totally unhistorical claim came about in just the last ten years or so.

Tim Moore: Errant ideologies have sprung forth in the last couple of years which are meant to distract us from the truth as revealed in Scripture.

Jan Markell: And, it's worked. They have distracted the Church from a great calling, and that is to get their folks focused on winning Jews and Gentiles to Jesus and proclaiming our message about the end times concerning the coming of the King of Kings. Israel is the key to understanding the times we are living in.

Tim Moore: When it comes to being a watchman, or watchwomen in your case, I'm reminded of what the Lord said to Ezekiel. He said that the people would not listen to him, but He still would hold watchmen responsible to declare the truth even though the people wouldn't listen. Jan, you have obviously been a watchman who has been faithful to fulfill your duty to the Lord regardless of the great numbers of folks who are groping in darkness. Whether or not they come to the light that you have been faithfully proclaiming is not your responsibility.

Jan's Confidence

Tim Moore: In spite of all of the gloom that we are seeing descending upon the world today, ours is a message of joyful hope. So, tell us, Jan, about your unfailing confidence in our Blessed Hope.

Jan Markell: I want to encourage Christians. We are not truly living in dark times. I know the headlines appear that way. But, understand that we are a privileged generation getting to see all of these events coming to pass. Whoever thought we would be part of the generation to see Israel become a nation again? We are seeing so many events that have been transpiring before our very eyes on a daily basis, and that includes the lawlessness, unfortunately. But, you've got to see the good along with the bad, and then translate the bad into the good news that the King is coming soon. These signs are heralding His coming.

And so, I'm excited! I'm thrilled to be a part of this generation. It's been a tremendous experience, and I've been privileged to partner in this kind of a ministry, which is very much needed, because shots are coming at us every day.

Tim Moore: As Adrian Rogers would say, "The world is getting gloriously dark." The King is indeed coming!

Notes of Faith August 10, 2021

A friend and I were texting today about how our mornings had not started well. She had lost her keys and subsequently missed both a dentist appointment and a work meeting. I had placed an important form in a "safe place" and then could not remember where I put it. The longer my friend and I kept looking for these items, the more flustered and upset we became. 

As time dragged on, my friend's worries grew. What if she did not find her keys? Had she thrown them away by accident? Getting a replacement key fob is not easy nor cheap. My concerns mounted as well. While requesting a new form would not set me back in money, it sure would set me back in time. I just knew I would have to call customer service and be passed from person to person to request what was needed. I dreaded the hassle it would be. Instead of stopping a moment to collect the proper perspective—and most importantly, pray about it—we both swirled through our homes like raging storms. 

Thankfully, I am happy to report that we both found our missing items. My friend's keys were in a closet on the top shelf. She had looked in that closet but in a raincoat pocket.

She never thought to look up at the shelf. I had misfiled my form, and in my agitation and haste, must have flipped right on past it while looking. I was relieved but not proud at how easily I lost my cool. And if I am honest, this is not an isolated case. How many times have I let minor inconveniences and agitations rob me of my peace? Yes, today we misplaced important items. Tomorrow it may be traffic. We may spill something the next day and make a huge sticky mess. Sometimes, our peace is jeopardized not by something that happens but by worries and negative thoughts. 

There are many verses in Scripture where peace is mentioned, but one of the most studied and quoted is John 14:27. In this verse, Jesus is preparing His disciples for the fact He will be leaving them soon. He says,  

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. 

There are three sentences in this verse. Each one is packed with importance.  

"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you."  

Various Bible scholars point out that “peace” was often used as both a greeting and a parting sentiment. We find examples throughout Scripture of its use, specifically after the resurrection of Jesus (John 20:19-26). However, the way Jesus emphasizes peace in this verse by using the word "My" makes peace seem more than just a mood or feeling but an actual gift or possession. Peace is valuable, and Jesus wants nothing more than to give it to His disciples. This type of peace – a peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7) — is only possible in the giving of Himself. He knows they will need this level of peace for what lies ahead, both His crucifixion and the start of the Church where most of them will be martyred. 

"I do not give to you as the world gives."  

Thinking back to my harried morning, one could argue that a better organizational system could have prevented my situation. Yes, organization is a great thing, but all the planners and filing systems in the world will not deter humans from misplacing things from time to time. Human error is a reality and trusting our peace to things of the world (even though I do love my day planner) is simply an illusion. Life happens. What matters is how we react. That is why our peace should not be dependent on everything going right. It will not happen. 

"Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."  

When I read this sentence, I tend to focus a lot on the last part where He says, "do not be afraid." Fear is crippling, so it is comforting to know His peace is available for those moments in life that bring us to our knees – the loss of a loved one, serious illness, and more.  

While we know from Scripture that Jesus cared very much about the hurting people He met in His earthly ministry, His peace is more encompassing than just for serious seasons of life. He wants His followers to claim His peace every day.

Notice in the first part of the sentence He says, "do not let your hearts be troubled."  That does not mean we will not have frustrations – they are just a part of life. But accepting Jesus' gift of peace means we will look to Him in both the big and small situations. After all, He cares for our every need (1 Peter 5.6-7). 

Written for Devotionals Daily by Mandy Wilson. 

Are you feeling unsettled today? Could you benefit from a fresh infusion of God's peace in both big and small concerns? Take a few minutes to talk to God about both the troubles and the fears you are facing.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith August 9, 2021

Breckin declares his jealousy over our dog’s life on a biweekly basis. Usually it’s in the morning before school, when he’ll glance up from his breakfast to spot her snoozing in her bed, and say, “Gidgit is so lucky. I wish I was a dog.

She just gets to sleep in and do whatever she wants.”

I’ve tried pointing out that while she does, in fact, get to sleep as much as she likes, she’s not exactly getting to do much of excitement or interest throughout the day. For starters, she’s very old and tired. Additionally, without opposable thumbs the world really isn’t her oyster. I’m not sure she’s living a life worth envying.

Ironically, as he’s sitting at the table envying the ease of the dog’s life, I’m often sitting across from him and Ellington envying the ease of theirs. Sure, they’re about to go to school for the day. But compared to my adult life, it seems they can sleep in and do whatever they want.

They don’t have to think, “What are we having for dinner tonight?” They simply have to show up at the table. They don’t have to worry about getting laundry done or house repairs or budget conversations. Their weekends are theirs to simply roll into at their own leisure.

Simplicity is what I miss most about being a kid.

I know some of us experienced hardship or trauma as a child — but generally speaking, those younger years feel safer, more secure. Relatively easy and carefree. We weren’t yet worried about appearances, we didn’t have to hustle to keep up, we weren’t buried under a growing list of to-dos and responsibilities.

And for those of us who grew up in the Church, even our faith felt simpler. When I was younger I knew God loved me, I knew Jesus provided forgiveness of my sins, and I knew that the Spirit lived inside me. This was it. This was enough.

My parents would pray with us every night. Bless their hearts for not squelching our long and, I’m sure, repetitive prayers. We never felt that our prayers needed to impress.

We just knew we could open our hearts to God. We never questioned if God hears our prayers, if our prayers matter, or the theology of God’s providence. We just knew He wanted to hear from us, He cared. Simple.

Similarly, we didn’t question God’s forgiveness. I never wondered if God really loved me — of course He did, He said He did. I never wondered if He would forgive me — of course He did, He said He would. I knew I wasn’t perfect, but I knew I was perfectly loved. Perfectly forgiven and made clean. Simple.

Somewhere along the line though things change. We bump into some harsh realities about other people’s expectations, we come face-to-face with variant and conflicting opinions, we find ourselves under all sorts of pressure to perform and perfect someone else’s version of a Christian life. Suddenly it’s not so simple anymore, and we launch into adulthood with a tangle of spiritual baggage, bogged down from the weight of it all.

Resting in God’s love and forgiveness doesn’t cut it anymore. A good Christian needs to begin every morning with extended Bible study and prayer. A good Christian needs to be in church several days a week, serving on multiple volunteer teams, and attending any offering that promises to be deep. A good Christian ensures her children know and use Christian jargon, memorize copious amounts of Scripture, and feel comfortable praying out loud in front of church groups. A good Christian always smiles, never yells, always gives, and never gets tired of it.

We make faith too complicated.

We may even deceive ourselves into thinking that our spiritual life is deeper, more holy, if we attend all of the events, learn all of the theology, and master the art of thoughtful pre-meal prayers. But we couldn’t be more wrong. When the disciples were arguing over who would rank highest in God’s kingdom, Jesus says this:

I’m telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you’re not even going to get a look at the Kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God’s Kingdom. 
— Matthew 18:3-4 MSG

Remember when we weren’t obsessed with proving ourselves? Remember when we didn’t worry about if we were doing enough to keep God happy? Remember when we could rest in God’s love without a mental tick list of religious to-dos? We can return to those simpler times, simpler ways. We can return to square one.

This doesn’t mean that we should halt any “religious” related activities. Volunteering in our churches, serving meals to the hungry, studying our Bibles — these are all good things. These are enriching and natural practices in the Christian life. But when we try to place our security, value, and our identity as God’s children in our ability to keep up a routine, rather than in Christ alone, we’re carrying a burden too great, never intended for us. And all of this heavy lifting doesn’t amount to anything in the end.

In fact, 1 Corinthians 13 reminds us that we can keep up our religious routine, impress our peers, teach Scripture, feed the poor, and yet if our actions are rooted in just that, actions, it’s all worthless. We will never find rest in the routine. We will never find peace in these practices. These things can only be found in and through God. Paul points us to the source at the end of the chapter,

Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.
— 1 Corinthians 13:13 MSG

Faith, hope, and love. It’s simple. It’s square one. Let’s return to our roots. Let’s start there.

Excerpted from The Bright Life by Jen Wise, copyright Jen Wise.

Have the years and the work and adult disappointments complicated your faith? What is holding you back from childlike faith and trusting in God alone?

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith August 8, 2021

My oldest went to college this year and, like all slightly crazed mothers, I tried to cram every last lesson into his precious mind in the final weeks before he moved out, as if this was the last legal time to preach to the poor kid.

Here was the last speech, the final words, my “sermon on the mount” (in the car)…

“Son, you are light. I know this because I have seen God in you. I have seen you go from a selfish punk kid to a young man who responds to conviction. A young man who hears from God. You love people and you even put others ahead of your own interests. All of this is evidence that God is in you.

“So you are light. It’s a fact. It’s your God-given identity as one of His kids. And you are headed into the pitch-black darkness.

“There will be times you act like the darkness, but you will never be the darkness, and you will never be at home in the darkness again.”

And team, same goes for us, if you know Jesus Christ as Savior. We have been given new life, new identities, and a new motivation. The light of Jesus resides in us and through us. No matter what spirals we face on a day-to-day basis.

Yet, our flesh, the world, and the adversary are doing everything in their power to stymie us with our past.

We moved from being slaves to sin to being children of God.

We will probably be trying to wrap our minds around this astonishing truth until we get to Heaven.

But we must try because it shifts everything about us. As God’s children, filled with the Holy Spirit, we have the mind of Christ, Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 2:16; the issue is whether we’re using it to think the thoughts that Jesus might think.

Are we taking every thought captive and training our minds daily in the right paths? Are we moving forward instead of looking backward?

We’re going to talk about how to go the distance. How to persevere and keep growing in strength and maturity. In chapter 3 of Philippians, Paul is telling us how to mature in our thoughts. Paul is exhorting this young church to follow his lead; to follow his example of maturity as he fixes his mind on Christ.

Why do we need to mature? Because we want Christ.

Maturity as a Christian is the process of becoming more like Christ.

And none of us are there yet.

And perhaps surprisingly, one of Paul’s indicators of maturity is the discipline of forgetting what’s behind so we can move on to what’s ahead. So we can grab on to what’s ours in Christ. Later in this lesson, we will process the why and how of forgetting.

But for now, let’s go — Philippians 3.

READ PHILIPPIANS 3

Paul begins chapter 3 with a warning. What exactly is he asking the church to watch out for? (Philippians 3:2-4)

• List the things Paul says he could put his confidence in. (Philippians 3:4-6)

• What does Paul do with all of his most precious earthly gains? (Philippians 3:7-9)

• Why would he do this? (Philippians 3:10-11)

• Paul is going to challenge the mature followers of Christ (Philippians 3:15) to think a certain way in this passage.

• Read Philippians 3:12-16 and list the train of thought and action that Paul models here.

• Philippians 3:17 says why we should think and act like Paul. What is the reason for Paul’s hope?

• Read Philippians 3:18-19 and describe the enemies of the cross of Christ.

• In Philippians 3:20-21 Paul builds out our ultimate motivation for godliness. Describe it here in your own words.

• Summarize Philippians chapter 3 in your own words. Those of us who are mature think this way” (Philippians 3:15 ESV).

In my research on biblical maturity it became clear, very quickly, that maturity was a subject Paul cared a lot about. No one in the Bible talks more about maturity than Paul. I know why. Because he was writing letters to a fragile young church, and his deepest desire was that this small flame of faith would catch ablaze and spread to the ends of earth. These first-generation believers had grown up in a culture and belief system different from the identity they now possessed, and Paul’s letter to the Philippian church is discipleship from a distance.

Let’s look at some of his key phrases connected to mature thinking. He draws from the imagery of a running race — having a vision of focused endurance to the finish line. No longer is Paul’s finish line achievement or status.

Press on.

The phrase I want to come back to is forgetting what lies behind.

Straining toward what lies ahead.

Toward the goal, the prize, which is the call of God in Christ Jesus.

The phrase I want to come back to is “forgetting what lies behind.” As we look to reign in our thoughts and mind, this is no small command. We are terrible forgetters when it comes to our past, aren’t we? No matter if it was an achievement or a shameful decision, we too often allow our past to dictate our thoughts and lives. But Paul was addressing something deeper than his past actions and accolades; he was talking about his motivations. Forgetting what lies behind sounds impossible, doesn’t it? Our brains never stop working, even when we sleep. So yes, it is impossible to only forget and be left with nothing in our minds.

How do we become great at forgetting?

WE BECOME EXPERTS IN REMEMBERING

Paul’s single-minded goal was what motivated him to forget, to leave behind his past. Paul’s new motivation was so consuming that he gave no value to his past — thus leaving no room for his past to define him. As long as we leave room in our minds for the past, we will allow it to define us.

When I sit down with a woman who genuinely loves Jesus and says she is not in bondage, yet I hear bitterness and unforgiveness… we have a problem. Because even though this is invisible bondage, it is bondage and a hindrance to focused endurance to the finish line. And roots of bitterness and unforgiveness will not just fade away. Every thought bears fruit.

So whatever does not produce the fruit of righteousness must be held up to the light of the gospel, to allow God to deal and heal.

And guess what happens when you get free from the past?

You get free to run your race. Now for many of you, before you can move forward you need to process & forgive & work through difficult circumstances. Do the work, but then it is time to no longer be defined by it.

FORGETTING

Keep your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life. — Proverbs 4:23

The heart here can be defined as “the seat of our thoughts, will, and emotions.” Who we are, our very intangible essence that makes us uniquely us, lives somewhere in the recesses of our mind.

So we, as maturing Christ followers, guard our minds because flowing out of it… comes every aspect of life.

What we think will directly become who we are.

So why do you have to become great at forgetting?

Because you are a new creation, with a new identity, and a new motivation. And Jesus is just that good.

Some of you need to forget because your past is filled with how awesome you are, and you have built your identity on your ability and the applause of man, and you wonder why you don’t feel like you need God or why you don’t want to grow in maturity.

Some of you need to forget because you built your identity on your lack of awesomeness, and all you can do is think of yourself as well, but not in a good light. You can never imagine being confident enough to pour your life into another person.

Some of you have a past full of shame. Whether you were a victim or actively ran from God, your past still defines you and holds you in bondage, and your greatest fear is still being found out.

Forget what is behind… race toward what is ahead.

I know for some of you this sounds too simplistic. Seasons of difficulty in my life have required a lot of counseling till the gaping wounds have begun to heal. But the point is, we have to fight down the distractions and bondage that keep us from wholly advancing the gospel with every part of our lives. Let’s become free people — because free people free people.

Excerpted from Get Out of Your Head Study Guide by Jennie Allen.

By the grace of God, I pray that we all forget what lies behind. things that cause most of our anger, frustration, pain, suffering, and reach forward to what lies ahead… the glory of God given to us in Jesus Christ.  Words cannot express the things that wait for those who love God.  It is all coming for the believer and follower of Christ!  Be patient by expectant for His return to receive His bride the church and enjoy forever His presence and blessing!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith August 6, 2021

There are a lot of opinions out there about forgiveness. Experts will tell you that you do not have to forgive. The media is rife with articles about not forgiving those who have hurt us, or that it’s cruel to tell people to forgive because it invalidates the abuse they experienced and the trauma they may be slowly working through.

I get it.

I kind of want to fist-pump the air to that except in my heart I know it’s not what I need for my soul…

You see, I’m dealing with tremendous hurt and facing this study about forgiveness has been a little daunting. Thinking about what the Lord is calling me to address with Him as I approach this next Online Bible Study, Forgiving What You Can’t Forget with Lysa TerKeurst, feels like a ginormous no-but-thank-you-very-much right now. I literally just did all my laundry, emptied the dish washer, cleaned my bathroom, and organized my desk drawers to delay writing a little longer. Hashtag talktomelaterJesusimsuperbusy.

So, I needed to make myself sit down and ask why all my insides want to avoid this topic. What I came up with is… the questions.

There are so many questions, especially in the Christian community, and you might be experiencing them, too! Here are a few that Lysa tackles in her study:

• Are there special circumstances that are unforgivable?

• Is it okay to forgive people and yet protect yourself from them and their unchanging, hurtful behavior?

• What do I do with relatives/ family members who truly harmed me and are not repentant when it seems like Christians around me want me to just get over it?

• What about people I love but don’t like?

• Doesn’t forgiveness let people off the hook?

• Does forgiveness mean the same thing as reconciliation?

Lysa unpacks much of this in her “Journey through what the Bible actually says about forgiveness” final chapters (worth the price of the book alone!) and while we can’t cover all of it here today, let’s focus on what Jesus had to say about the topic.

This is what my Grams McClure taught me — go straight to Jesus. Jesus often spoke on forgiveness, either directly or through parables like the story of the loving father and his rebellious, prodigal son. His teachings on the topic of forgiveness were definitely unexpected and counter-cultural for His time, just as they still are today...

What Jesus Said About Forgiveness

If we go straight to the Red Letter words in the Bible to see what Jesus actually says about forgiveness, here’s some of what we’ll find:

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. — Matthew 5:7

John Mark shared that Jesus quoted The Shema (the keynote of Jewish morning and evening prayer) in Mark 12:29-31 when answering the question “What is the most important commandment",

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God will all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ (from Leviticus 19:18)

Jesus also said this about forgiveness:

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you… Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. — Luke 6:27-28, Luke 6:35b-36

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. — Matthew 5:11 (see also Luke 6:22)

Jesus even said that when we don’t forgive people (Matthew 7:1-2), we will also be judged in the same way. Yikes! It’s as if we’re judging them unworthy of the forgiveness we ourselves so freely received, which isn’t very smart for those on the receiving end of a truck-load of grace.

If we want grace, we have to dole it out. Freely. Wholeheartedly.

And possibly Jesus’ most famous words about forgiveness are from the Lord’s Prayer:

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. — Matthew 6:12 (also Luke 11:4)

So, forgiveness was a big deal to Jesus… enough to include it when He taught His disciples how He wanted them to pray. Jesus was not a fan of the “eye for an eye” policy (Matthew 5:38-42) that was the culture (sounds relevant today, too) and instead He taught them to turn the other cheek.

And not just turn the cheek but forgive over and over again.

Peter asked Jesus this about forgiveness:

“Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Since seven is the number of perfection, what Peter suggested was pretty epic.

However, the way Jesus responded blew them all away!

I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. — Matthew 18:21-22 (*or seventy times seven depending on your Bible version)

But, why? Why when it feels so terribly unfair? Why when it feels like the injurer gets off scot-free and the injured pays the long-term price? Why when they never apologize?

It causes me to back up and ask the more meta questions:

Is God really good? And is He good to me?

When I wrestle with those issues, — as I kick, fight, battle, and cry before the Lord — , the conclusion is clear: yes.

So then, if God is good and He is good to me, then what He wants me to do must be good. Right? Yes. It’s for my freedom and for His glory. I won’t always understand it, but faith compels me to trust Him when I don’t understand.

But what about the people who caused the pain? (I’m not done with them yet!) I’ve turned the other cheek. Do they just get to keep slapping my other cheek? No. I can move my cheek!

In some cases we have no choice but to separate or end a relationship for safety or sanity’s sake, but we’re still called to forgive.

(Lysa unpacks so much more of this in the book and study; see chapter 9: “Boundaries That Help us Stop Dancing with Dysfunction.”)

We see this in the life of Jesus, too. Jesus didn’t give everyone access to Himself. He walked away from people who were out to destroy Him before His time (Luke 4:28-30). He didn’t answer people who were clearly intending to mock or ridicule Him such as Herod (Luke 23:8-9). Jesus wasn’t a doormat. He listened to God the Father and obeyed Him and remained loving and set boundaries for Himself.

We, as Christ-followers, get to follow that example.

This study is going to go deep, though, friends. In processing forgiveness with the Lord, we may deal with

• Unfelt grief

• Unprocessed anger

• Untapped feelings of rejection

• Unfair abandonment

• Unimaginable abuse

What does Jesus say to that?

Come to Me, My beloved.

Without delay.

Jesus is the Savior who loves us more than we could possibly imagine. He doesn’t call us to forgive to hurt us. He commands us to forgive for our own sake, for our hearts, for our freedom. Quickly. Deeply. As often as it takes. And, holding His hand all the way!

Lysa, in her Forgiveness Journal, wrote this beautiful prayer…

God, I give this situation to You. I release

• my evidence of all the reasons they were so wrong

• my need to see this person punished

• my need for an apology

• my need for this to feel fair

• my need for You to declare me right and them wrong

Show me what I need to learn from all of this. And then give me Your peace in place of my pain.

There is nothing that God cannot forgive but unbelief in Jesus Christ.  We must attempt to follow His leading.  This sinful world has brought about all pain and suffering that will not exist in the one He has planned for us and even the forgiven ones who caused our pain and suffering.

Pastor Dale