Notes of Faith October 8, 2023

Notes of Faith October 8, 2023

Pray for peace in Israel! Thousands of rockets were fired and a land and sea assault started yesterday and as far as I know is continuing today. Israel, always on alert was caught by surprise with many killed, taken hostage, by Hamas terrorists. Pray for the Lord to respond and save His people, bring them to Himself through faith and end this ugly evil.

Who is going to be in Heaven?

There is one question that all children of God have wondered about at one time or another. It’s an important and personal question. For some of us, it’s the biggest question we have about life after this one. The question is simply this:

Who is going to be in Heaven?

This is a big question. After all, our lives are filled with people whom we love and cherish. We want to know if we will be able to spend eternity with our families and friends. We want to know who will be beside us in the glory and light of God.

The Lord God and All His Angels

The answer to who is going to be in Heaven is in the Bible. First of all, it tells us that God is in Heaven. Scripture mentions several times that God is in His throne or on His throne, and the Bible says that

the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him. — Revelation 22:3

So, you and I know that God the Father is going to be there, God the Son is going to be there, and God the Holy Spirit is going to be there.

We also know that the Bible speaks of angels all through the book of Revelation, and one thing for certain is that there will be many, many angels in Heaven. For example, the Bible says,

I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands. — Revelation 5:11

It talks about the angels around the throne singing a new song.

According to the Scriptures, when a person dies, God has His angels take that person into paradise.

Remember that God created angels as His messengers to carry out His work. When people ask, “Do you think we have angels looking after us on earth?” — well, that’s a matter of opinion. Some people feel that they do, and some people feel that they do not. But one thing is clear according to the Scriptures. The Bible says that when Jesus talked about the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man died and went to torment, and when Lazarus died, the angels carried him into Paradise, or Abraham’s bosom. So according to the Scriptures, when a person dies, God has His angels take that person into Paradise.

Just think about that miracle. Think about being brought up into eternal life by thousands of angels. That is a beautiful image.

According to the Scriptures, when a person dies, God has His angels take that person into paradise.

Friends and Loved Ones in Heaven

One of the other wonderful things about Heaven is that all our friends and all our loved ones who have passed on before — if they died having received the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior — are also going to be in Heaven. The scripture says that, when Jesus comes again, He is going to bring with Him those of our loved ones who have passed on before us (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14). So, we know friends and loved ones and parents are going to be there.

All of those who placed their faith in God are going to be there.

Angels are going to be there. People from all nations will be there.

Our Relationships in Heaven

Now, when it comes to who is in Heaven, the second thing to think about is what kind of relationships we are going to have there. How will we relate and connect to one another? Well, to answer that question, we have to go back to this idea of glorified bodies. You will recall the apostle Paul said that

our citizenship is in Heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. — Philippians 3:20-21

Therefore, our bodies are going to be transformed like the body of Christ — and remember that His glorified body was a visible, physical body. And glorified bodies are imperishable.

A significant passage to think about when it comes to the relationships we will have in Heaven with our glorified bodies is where Mary Magdalene and Jesus met in the garden after His death. This is a significant moment, because most of us wonder what we are going to be like in Heaven, and how other people will be able to recognize us when we are there. So, Mary was standing outside the tomb, weeping. Then the Scripture says,

When she had said this, she turned around, and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.

Now, she saw Him, but she did not know it was Him.

Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?’ Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, ‘Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, ‘Rabboni!’ — John 20:14-17

Notice that she looked at Him, and at first she didn’t recognize Him. He had a glorified body, so there was some difference, some change. Remember the last time she saw Him, He was stretched out on a cross and covered with all that bloody ugliness. What was it that made her recognize this was Jesus? It was what He said. It was His voice.

This is a familiar scene for us all in some ways. Oftentimes, I’m somewhere in a crowd, or sometimes I’ll be on a plane, and somebody will walk up to me and say, “You know, I didn’t recognize you until I heard you speak.” And then, “I’ve heard your voice so many times I knew this had to be you.” Well, this is exactly what happened to Mary. When she saw Jesus, she wasn’t expecting Him, and there was something about Him that was different enough that she didn’t quite recognize Him at first. But when He called her name, she knew that voice.

Now, when you and I have our glorified bodies, we are going to be recognizable, and we are going to have similar voices to the ones you and I have now. We are going to be recognized just as we are down here. The people who love us are going to know us, and we are going to know them.

The reason I say this much about the body is because of Jesus Christ. You will recall that Jesus went to the apostles and He walked in and showed them His hands with the nail marks in them. Yet, even while they were looking at His hands, they were having a hard time believing that it was Him. Then He said, “Do you have anything to eat?” And they gave Him a piece of broiled fish, and He ate it, and He digested that fish even though He had a glorified body (Luke 24:36-43). So you and I will never be able to explain humanly what that glorified body is going to be like, except that it is made to perfection for its new environment.

People always ask me specific questions about their bodies in Heaven, like, “If I die at seventy-five, what am I going to look like?” Well, I can’t answer that question. I can tell you this. You are going to be the best-looking seventy-five-year-old you’ve ever seen. Or I am asked, “Well, suppose a person dies as a baby. Will that person always remain a baby, or will they grow up?” Nobody knows the answer to that, so all those things are conjecture. We just know some things that are absolutely certain, given to us in the Scripture. Anything else is our imagination, and yours is as good as mine.

The one thing we know for certain is that the glorified body will be absolutely perfect.

It will be the best that almighty God can do, and we will be perfectly, totally, and completely fulfilled.

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Excerpted with permission from The Gift of Heaven by Charles Stanley, copyright Charles F. Stanley.

No one can imagine the glory that is prepared for us in heaven. But if we think about creation and the glory of the earth before sin, we might be close. What joy and blessing God has prepared for us! Can’t wait to see you there!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith October 7, 2023

Notes of Faith October 7, 2023

Bitter or Better?

In The Unfair Advantage, Pastor Aaron Burke takes a look at the unfair seasons Joseph endures in the book of Genesis and shows how his struggles are very much like we face today. Enjoy this excerpt.

How is your heart? This could be the most important question you answer today. The heart is actually referenced 633 times in the Old Testament and 170 times in the New Testament. God has a lot to say about its condition. The health of your heart determines the health of your life. So to get an accurate measurement of how healthy you are, take a deeper look at two areas. The first question to ask yourself is “How am I acting?” Proverbs 27:19 tells us,

As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.

The second question to ask yourself is “How am I speaking?” Jesus teaches in Matthew 12:34,

Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. — NKJV

Do you find your words laced with complaining, negativity, or criticism? This may indicate a problem with your heart.

Undergoing rejection will have a significant impact on your heart’s condition. You have a choice in the matter though. Use the rejection to get bitter or use it to get better. Rejection can be the poison that sinks us to bitterness, or it can be the fuel that drives us to greatness.

We all know people who have used their rejection experience poorly. Left in the frozen state of perpetual hurt, bitterness oozes out of them, creating discomfort and hurt for the people around them. Choose wisely how you want rejection to affect you.

Rejection happens to the best of us, but it doesn’t need to get the best of us. So how do we fight that innate bitterness that tries its hardest to creep in? Scripture tells us:

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

— Proverbs 4:23

What you allow into your heart when you are rejected will determine its condition.

Unforgiveness is a toxin to the heart. Refusing to forgive is choosing to stay trapped in a jail cell of bitterness, serving time for someone else’s crime. I am not sure who originally said that, but it is very true. (And I’m not worried about stealing that quote because that person has to forgive me!)

In the midst of extreme suffering, while He was still at the peak of His torment on the cross, Jesus made the crucial decision to forgive. He didn’t wait until their murderous act was over but faced His betrayers and critics and, while they were inflicting pain, imparted forgiveness. He forgave before the offense had a chance to infect his heart. Despite His agony, He mustered His last bit of energy and cried out,

Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. — Luke 23:34

Jesus has given us the perfect example to follow. Ephesians 4:32 instructs us to

be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

We don’t deserve it, but Jesus forgave us. Now we have no choice but to forgive others in return.

Offense can be a festering wound to our hearts. No matter how we try to escape it, our world can be very offensive. People say things that hurt. People do things that hurt. People overpromise and underdeliver. People cut you off in traffic, renege on money they owe you, and disappoint your expectations. Hurtful things happen on a daily basis. However, it is possible that offensive things can happen to you without the offense living in you.

An offense is an event. Becoming offended is a choice.

Joseph had a decision to make in the back of [the] caravan. In the famous words of Elsa from Frozen, Joseph had to “let it go.” Holding on to hurt is exhausting and detrimental to your heart. If you have noticed unhealthy patterns occurring as a result of rejection, let me encourage you to take the steps necessary to release the offense so you can move on.

The number one killer in America for the past decade has been heart disease. I believe the number one killer of your potential is spiritual heart disease. Don’t become a casualty.

Be intentional to guard your heart as well as purify your heart from the hurt caused by life. You can go through bitter situations without becoming a bitter person. In a moment of rejection, rather than taking it personally, choose to see people as Jesus did, who forgave the highest offense with the words “they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:24).

Jesus owns our brokenness and gives it intrinsic value.

LET GOD HEAL YOUR BROKENNESS

There is an old Japanese legend dating back five hundred years of a man who was a leader in the Japanese military, otherwise known as a shogun. Legend says that one day he broke his favorite teacup. Unwilling to accept it as lost, he determined to repair it to even better than before. He picked up every shard of the broken cup and painstakingly pieced it back together. For the final touch, he sealed the cracks with gold, making the cup more precious than it had been before. In other words, instead of getting bitter, he got better.

Whether or not the story is true, the art form is alive today in the Japanese practice of kintsugi. Take a moment to google some images. Just like in the legend, the kintsugi artist breaks an intact pottery object, allowing it to shatter into dozens of pieces. The artist then begins the work of placing all of the broken pieces back together. When the pieces are replaced, instead of glue or tape, they are sealed with gold. In doing this, the kintsugi artist gives broken pottery way more value than it had when it was still undamaged.

Here we see a powerful lesson of redemption. In the hands of the artist, the artifact goes from broken to beautiful. In short, “the Japanese art of kintsugi teaches that broken objects are not something to hide but to display with pride.”1 This is the gospel.

Jesus owns our brokenness and gives it intrinsic value.

Is your heart broken? Rejection can often do that. The only lasting solution is to give your pieces to the Master Artist. The prophet declared,

We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. — Isaiah 64:8

When we place our brokenness in His hand, He lovingly turns it into something beautiful. Our brokenness moves us from a mess to a message. Our hurt transforms into healing for other people. Our frustration changes into fuel for the future. None of this is possible in our own hands.

God is the only one who can change our hearts.

He promises,

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. — Ezekiel 36:26

Allow Him to do some heart surgery and heal some of those broken places, so, like Joseph, you can move into “Egypt” better instead of bitter.

The experiences of life, the hard things, the bitter things, tend to cause us to become bitter. We speak bitter things to those around us. We even look bitter. Life is good. We have circumstances of bitterness but they should not make us bitter. God’s perfect healing and giving us glory is more than enough to make us sweet and loving and humble like He is. Let us worship, praise, and give thanks for the God who takes bitter and makes better!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith October 5, 2023

Notes of Faith October 5, 2023

The Living Water

Country Music artist and podcaster Granger Smith lays a path through grief in his book Like a River. Granger and his wife, Amber lost their son, River, to drowning in 2019 and in his book he shares the bereavement and faith journey he went through with Jesus. Enjoy this excerpt:

Living with struggles today gives us another reason to worship God.

Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ — John 7:38

Red, purple, blue, orange, and gold streaked across a canvas sky like a marvelous painting as the creaky chains of the porch swing gently rocked back and forth. London and Lincoln giggled and danced barefoot on the green lawn as Amber sat cross-legged on the steps. As I kept up the rhythm of the sway with my foot, baby Mav slept nuzzled in the bend of my elbow.

Soak in this moment because it won’t last forever.

I’ve thought that several times in my life, and it was always right, but I had never fully understood what it meant until now. Nothing lasts forever, but that’s exactly what makes life so beautiful, so meaningful. In fact, nothing matters at all until we finally realize that all things are temporary on this earth. When we understand that, we see these things for exactly what they are — small glimpses of the greatest gift: an eternal dwelling in the presence of the river’s Source. If His gifts are so good, and it hurts so much to miss them, what would it be like to meet the Giver of these gifts? I can’t even imagine.

Is it really too hard to believe that difficult times can bring about joy?

Loss Is a Necessary Part of Life

Consider this. If we never lost any of the gifts of life, how could we really understand how precious they are? How could we possibly know about the brilliance of light if there were no darkness to contrast it?

This is a perspective that I’ve had to learn.

It’s also the contrast presented by the age-old question, How could a good God allow terrible things to happen?

Look, I get it.

Many things in this world seem unfair, or depressing, or demoralizing, or disturbing, or just plain tragic. By design, we live in a world that desperately needs someone to come rescue it. And someone did — Jesus!

When we dive into the Bible, we see a purposefully strong connection between joy and suffering. We’re going to have problems on this earth. In fact, we’re told it’s not just a possibility, it’s a given.

Take John 16:33, for instance, where Jesus said,

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation.

Jesus continued with a resolution for us:

But take heart; I have overcome the world.

Read that last part again. That’s an incredible promise!

When we are finally redeemed from this broken world and join the ranks in Heaven, we will spend the rest of forever, literal eternity, in awe of God for delivering us from all heartache and pain.

Living with struggles today gives us another reason to worship God

— the One who came to take away the sting of those struggles — because we know they are not the final word. And when we do look to Him, we experience joy. That’s how we’re designed.

The men and women we read about in the Bible actually rejoiced in their suffering. Consider Paul, who was beaten and thrown in jail multiple times, or how Mary, the mother of Jesus, responded when she realized she was pregnant — something that would disgrace her in her society. Neither one considered themselves worthy for the task but faced it, looking to God, finding that joy doesn’t come from one’s circumstances but from where one is focused.

So I ask, is it really too hard to believe that difficult times can bring about joy?

Think of your favorite movie.

Now remove the antagonist.

Is it still a good movie? No.

If there were no evil, how would we ever see what is good? It would just be — empty.

I can make an example with my favorite sport. Do you wonder why football players cry tears of joy when they hold up a Super Bowl trophy? It’s because they remember how difficult it was to win and know how temporary it is to possess. Those players endured a challenging season. Maybe there was a terrible loss in game two. Or someone had a season-ending injury in game five. Possibly a locker room dispute in game six. In game eight they might have fought from behind and barely won in overtime. And game ten was lost to a team that they were supposed to beat. I could come up with many examples, but the bottom line is that if a season or football career were perfect with zero adversity and loss, then the trophy ceremony wouldn’t be as sweet.

The tears of joy come through the pain of suffering.

Loss is not only a part of our lives, it’s also necessary for us to truly understand joy. Trusting that God has a plan for His people allows us to not be surprised when the fiery trial comes but instead to rest in the joy that coexists with the suffering. That’s my view from the porch today.

Excerpted from Like a River by Granger Smith, copyright Granger Smith.

It would be hard to say we should enjoy suffering. But we can see the glory of God through our suffering and that will bring us joy. God is good all the time and all the time God is good. It seems that we can choose joy or sadness in our experiences, even those of grief. God provides us with the glory behind the dark cloud of pain and suffering. We need to journey through difficult days, knowing the love of God and looking for His precious gifts of love, hope, and eternal blessing. Hard earthly times will end, but the eternal glory and blessing of God will not!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith October 4, 2023

Notes of Faith October 4, 2023

In the Waiting

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

— Isaiah 41:10 NLT

The messy middle is the hardest part. When the homework project is halfway done and the room is a mess. When the kitchen renovation is at peak craziness and you’re cooking out of the back bedroom. When a loved one is in treatment, but not quite yet cured. When you’re waiting for the results, and the anticipation feels as if it may drown you. When you’re aching for that significant other, that baby, that job. When you’re slowly adding one more day to your sobriety calendar and choosing yourself over the addiction minute after minute. When you’re waiting, putting one foot in front of the other, hoping to get to the next day.

I once heard someone say, when you can’t take one more step forward, move just an inch. And sometimes it doesn’t even have to be a whole inch — just make sure you’re not moving backward. Move forward any way you can. And, if you can’t move forward, try stepping to the side. Some seasons, the strongest thing we can do is move sideways. When the grief, the struggle, the fear, or the yearning feels like it may do you in, move forward or move sideways. Seek first the Kingdom of God and trust that He will be with you in the messy middle places.

How will you move forward or sideways today? Celebrate your progress, even if it is tiny. You are one step closer to who you are becoming.

Seek first the Kingdom of God and trust that He will be with you in the messy middle places.

Delight in Discipline

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. — Hebrews 12:11

Have you ever adopted a new habit — say, eating healthy — and given it up after exactly forty-eight hours because you didn’t notice an enormous change? It takes a lot of willpower and intention to make healthy choices for two whole days in a row. So why aren’t we back in our jeans from college after all that effort?!

I sometimes struggle with maintaining discipline for the long haul. I love immediate gratification, great transformation, and awe-inspiring befores-and-afters. But people who’ve achieved such things will tell you they only got there by making a series of small choices over and over again for a long period of time.

Let’s use vitamins as an example. If I take my vitamins daily for three days, I probably won’t see a fantastic impact. I probably won’t see a fantastic impact if I take them for a week. But months or even a year? That daily choice will add up to something really good for my body.

The tiny choices we make every day make up our lives. What will you commit to? Moving your body every day? Spending time with God? Wearing sunscreen? Delighting in discipline can be tough, but the long-term rewards are worth it.

What healthy daily habits would you like to implement? Make note of one or two Consider a physical reminder to help you remember this task Put a Post-it Note on your bathroom mirror or set up an automatic reminder notification on your smartphone.

Excerpted from Sure as the Sunrise by Emily Ley, copyright Emily Lew.

Spiritual disciplines are not any easier to commit to than any others that we may begin. Results and change do not happen immediately. That is why they are called a discipline…meant to be a habit that occurs frequently and regularly… Focusing on God, being in awe of who He is, and all of His attributes, praying at any and all times, regularly worshipping with other believers in Jesus, using your resources for the work God calls you to do… and much more. Life is short but still a marathon, not a sprint. Do all that you do for the long haul and especially for the glory of God!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith October 3, 2023

Notes of Faith October 3, 2023

Why Would He Come?

Christ Himself was like God in everything… But He gave up His place with God and made Himself nothing. He was born as a man and became like a servant. — Philippians 2:6-7 NCV

Why? Why did Jesus travel so far?

I was asking myself that question when I spotted the squirrels outside my window. A family of black-tailed squirrels had made its home amid the roots of the tree north of my office. They watch me peck the keyboard. I watch them store their nuts and climb the trunk. We’re mutually amused.

But I’ve never considered becoming one of them. The squirrel world holds no appeal to me. Give up the Rocky Mountains, bass fishing, weddings, and laughter for a hole in the ground and dirty nuts? Count me out.

But count Jesus in.

What a world He left. Our classiest mansion would be a tree trunk to Him. Earth’s finest cuisine would be walnuts on Heaven’s table. And the idea of becoming a squirrel with claws and a furry tail? It’s nothing compared to God becoming a one-celled embryo and entering the womb of Mary.

But He did. The God of the universe was born into the poverty of a peasant and spent His first night in the cow’s feed trough.

The God of the universe left the glory of Heaven and moved into our neighborhood. Who could have imagined He would do such a thing?

The places God went to reach us show how far He will go.

Why Would He Come?

Why? He loves to be with the ones He loves.

Dr. Maxwell Maltz tells a remarkable story of a love like this. A man had been burned and disfigured in a fire while attempting to save his parents from a burning house, but he couldn’t get to them. They perished. He mistakenly interpreted his pain as God’s punishment. The man would not let anyone see him — not even his wife.

She went to Dr. Maltz, a plastic surgeon, for help. He told her not to worry. “I can restore his face.”

The wife was unenthused. Her husband had repeatedly refused any help. She knew he would again.

Then why her visit? “I want you to disfigure my face so I can be like him! If I can share his pain, maybe he’ll let me back in his life.”

Dr. Maltz was shocked. He denied her request but was so moved by her love that he went to speak with her husband. Knocking on the man’s bedroom door, he called loudly. “I’m a plastic surgeon, and I can restore your face.” No response. “Please come out.” Again there was no answer.

Still speaking through the door, Dr. Maltz told the man of his wife’s proposal. “She wants me to disfigure her face, to make her face like yours in the hope that you let her back into your life. That’s how much she loves you.”

There was a brief moment of silence, and then, ever so slowly, the doorknob began to turn.

The way the woman felt for her husband is the way God feels about us. But He did more than make the offer. He took on our face, our disfigurement. He became like us. Just look at the places He was willing to go: feed troughs, carpentry shops, badlands, and cemeteries. The places He went to reach us show how far He will go to touch us.

He loves to be with the ones He loves.

~ Next Door Savior

Great God of the universe, I am amazed that You would leave the glory of Heaven and become like me. I come to You with my disfigurement and ask You to touch me with Your love. I want to be with You as well. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Excerpted from In the Manger by Max Lucado, copyright Thomas Nelson.

We won’t really understand the glory that Jesus left in heaven to come to earth until we are with Him and given the glory prepared for us. Pondering His love brings joy, happiness and all the good feelings of life. Be still, quiet, and think about His love for you. Your entire being will be blessed and filled with His love. Pursue that love. Give Him your love in return and you will begin to see the glory of God and the eternal blessings He has prepared for you!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith October 2, 2023

Notes of Faith October 2, 2023

The Hyphen We Call Home

Everyday Life in the Last Days

Article by Seth Porch

Guest Contributor – Desiring God

When you hear the word eschatology, do you feel its significance to your present life — I mean the people, responsibilities, and decisions before you today? Or do you (more likely) think of debates over when Jesus is coming back or whether we’ll be raptured? Do you even know what the word eschatology means?

Eschatology means “the study of the last things,” and this precious and relevant doctrine often gets relegated to the periphery of church life. I remember leading a Bible study through Revelation that routinely devolved into a debate between a couple of elderly saints over whether the rapture would be “pre-trib” or “mid-trib.” For some, eschatology conjures images of multiheaded beasts, the dissolution of stars and planets, or mountains swallowing people alive. Like the painting of a master hung on the wall, eschatology might invite animated discussion and yet seem to bear little consequence to work or marriage or rush-hour traffic.

The problem is that the portrait of the end times in the New Testament refuses to stay on the wall. Like the picture of the ship in C.S. Lewis’s The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, when you look closely, the waves begin to move, the briny wind whips your hair, and before you know it you find yourself treading water in a cold and wild sea.

We can’t approach eschatology like Eustace Scrubb (the whiny, narrow-minded cousin in Lewis’s story) looks at his dead beetles: specimens pinned to cards for the purpose of mere analysis. The end of the ages has come barreling upon us; we live in the end times.

‘End of the Ages’

The New Testament persistently speaks of Christians as living in the end times near to the return of Christ. The author of Hebrews, for instance, says that “in these last days [God] has spoken to us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:2). Likewise, the apostle Paul, recounting the punishments that fell on Israel for their sins, writes, “These things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come” (1 Corinthians 10:11). James writes, “You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand” (James 5:8).

First-century Christians understood they inhabited a new epoch of world history: the last of the ages. The end times burst upon the world when Christ rose from the dead and ascended to the Father. And the next event in redemption’s sequence, as the Apostles’ Creed reminds us, is Christ’s return to judge the living and the dead.

Centuries have passed, but our basic situation hasn’t changed. Christians today still live in the unique age of history that some theologians have described as the “already–not yet.” Christ has already come; he has not yet come again. The hyphen between those comings has become our home. Moreover, the hyphen is not some motionless, undefined line without purpose or end but a vector, containing both magnitude (a predetermined length) and direction (a predetermined end). Like all history, God has ordered that little hyphen to a particular purpose. And thus, everything contained within that hyphen, even the most mundane moments, echoes with eternal weight and meaning.

Life Within a Shrinking Frame

The apostle Peter captures the weight and relevance of the hyphen in his second letter. There he reminds believers that many scoffers will not recognize the significance of the already–not yet life. Failing to understand that because creation had a beginning, so too it must have an end, they mockingly say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation” (2 Peter 3:4). Rejecting what God has clearly revealed, they live as though the world will continue as it has from the beginning, locked in an immanent frame with which God (let alone Jesus Christ) has little or nothing to do.

Thus, they give themselves to sinful desires, empty pursuits (2 Peter 3:3). Self-realization becomes all in all. Life consists of the possessions one owns. Happiness grows out of the fragile planters of career achievement or relational success. “Real living” shrinks to the size of weekends or vacations. And even for those who find satisfaction in their work, a certain meaninglessness dogs every step.

Not so for you Christians, says Peter. You recognize the space in which you live. You know the brevity that characterizes life and work on this earth. You know that “the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise” to return “as some count slowness” (2 Peter 3:9). You know that “the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar . . . and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed” (2 Peter 3:10). You know the limited nature of the hyphen and its end. Jesus will return. Judgment will come. So, “what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness?” (2 Peter 3:11).

A friend recently told me about a youth pastor who ends youth gatherings with a simple creed: “Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again.” The purpose of that recitation is to train the youth how to live in the present. He wants them to understand that the immanent frame, the boxed-in natural world in which God plays no part and to which he won’t return, the motionless painting on the wall, is a delusion. There will come a day when “the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed” (2 Peter 3:10). All the works of humankind will face judgment.

A Hyphen Changes Lives

This two-thousand-year hyphen changes how we spend our lives, awakening us to the preciousness and import of each moment. The regular routines of today, the tasks (big and small) that we’re required to complete for work, the multitude of interactions we will have with spouse, children, parents, siblings, friends, classmates, coworkers, and strangers — every moment is an opportunity God has provided (planned, in fact, from the beginning) to show that we live for the glory of the one who will return. When we remember our beloved Master is coming back, we aim for faithfulness in every activity.

Christ’s coming provides us with necessary perspective as we deal with these everyday moments. The frustrations of rush hour — getting cut off by an errant motorist, another detour due to seasonal construction, an accident that adds ten minutes to your commute — are opportunities to remind yourself and show others that your clock is set to a heavenly time zone. An extra few minutes on the way to work is given by the God who owns all times. Will we squander it in frustration or put it to use in prayer?

Likewise, the work you do each day bears great significance. Your vocation may seem unimportant in the grand scheme of world history, yet the one who planned the end from the beginning included your labors in the blueprints for this day. And in some small way, these labors can become part of hastening the return of Christ. Whether your work today means changing yet another diaper, crunching numbers in a spreadsheet, or serving the needs of an ailing stranger, remembering that it fits into God’s eternal purpose guards us from the despairing thought that none of it really matters in eternity. Rather, because Christ rose and will return, “in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Eschatology also matters for our relationships. Each interaction you have with spouse or children or others is an interaction with an immortal being whose existence is eschatologically shaped. The passing remarks and small jests, the serious conversations, the tender or harsh tones, the kind or disparaging looks — in every instance we are, as Lewis reminds us, helping others toward either the new heaven and earth, where righteousness will dwell, or the lake of fire, reserved for the devil, his angels, and all who reject the love and reign of Christ (The Weight of Glory, 45–46).

The day of God is coming, says Peter, so “be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish” (2 Peter 3:14). Strive in his strength to walk in holiness and godliness as you order your life toward his glory in these last days.

Magic Beneath This Life

The study of the end times bears heavily on the here and now, precisely because the end times are not some future age to come but the very real present. Every moment of daily life, every drawn breath, every word and act takes place within a realm, so to speak, of magic.

The Eustaces of the world cannot see this for they’ve become enthralled by the events, inventions, and busyness of a God-less world. To them, the picture on the wall of life between the advents of Christ is just that, a picture and nothing more. The challenge for Christians is to not succumb to such blinded ways of thinking but to remember that the picture, if you look closely, is more real and expansive than what we see.

The Bible says that we are living in the last days! What an exciting time. We are to live expectantly for the return of Christ. We can have our position of when we believe He is coming, but it is more important to live each day in His presence knowing that “He is coming”. Jesus says, I am coming quickly. I am ready to meet my Savior and Lord. How about you?

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith October 1, 2023

Notes of Faith October 1, 2023

Trusting God During Busy Seasons

This is a wonderful time of year, but it can also be an exhausting time for me. When my spirit grows faint within me, it is You who know my way. This is one of the benefits of weakness; it highlights the reality that I cannot find my way without Your guidance. Whenever I’m feeling weary or confused, I can choose to look away from these feelings and turn wholeheartedly toward You. As I pour out my heart to You, I find rest in the Presence of the One who knows my way perfectly — all the way to Heaven.

Help me to continue this practice of gazing at You even during the times when I’m feeling confident and strong. This is when I am most at risk of going in the wrong direction. Instead of assuming that I know the next step of my journey, I’m learning to make my plans in Your Presence — asking You to guide me.

Please remind me often that Your ways and thoughts are higher than mine, as the heavens are higher than the earth. Remembering this great truth draws me into worshiping You, the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity. I rejoice that even though You dwell in the high and holy place, You reach down to show me the way I should go.

In Your exalted Name, Jesus, amen

Trust Me with every fiber of your being! What I can accomplish in and through you is proportional to how much you depend on Me.

When my spirit grows faint within me, it is You who know my way.

— Psalm 142:3

As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. — Isaiah 55:9

Thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” — Isaiah 57:15 NKJV

My loving Lord,

In the midst of this busy season, You continually invite me to draw near. I love to hear You whispering in my heart: “Come to Me, beloved. I have loved you with an everlasting Love. I have drawn you with lovingkindness.” I respond to Your beautiful invitation by being still in Your Presence — relaxing and fixing my thoughts on You. And I meditate on the glorious truth that You are continually with me. This rock-solid reality provides a firm foundation for my life.

The world I inhabit is constantly in flux — I can find no solid ground here. So I desperately need to stay aware of You as I go about my day. I know I won’t be able to do this perfectly, but I can return to You time after time, praying: “Jesus, keep me aware of Your loving Presence.” I like to let this prayer continually echo in my heart and mind — drawing me back to You when my thoughts start to wander away.

I’ve found that the more of You I have in my life through living close to You, the more joyful I am. This blesses not only me but others — as Your Joy flows through me to them.

In Your blessed Name, Jesus, amen

A person who is open to My Presence is exceedingly precious to Me.

The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.”

— Jeremiah 31:3 NKJV

Holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. — Hebrews 3:1

I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand. — Psalm 73:23 NKJV

Excerpted from Jesus Listens for Advent & Christmas by Sarah Young, copyright Sarah Young.

As if our calendars were not marked up with enough things to do…seasonal events come at us with expectations of magnanimous participation. Some will make Halloween to be much more than it should, especially from a spiritual view. Thanksgiving is just around the corner. And of course Christmas and a new year quickly follow. And I did not mention activity with work, the kids, friends, doctors, exercise…I could have left that last one off…if I do it, it is not on any written schedule. The point is, we are busy, always, constantly, and seem to fill the calendar each day so that there is no blank space to rest, to simply be still and know God. Let’s pray for God’s leading in life, to work hard, enjoy good days, and rest as He designed. Let’s draw near and stay close and intimate with God through the business of our daily lives and give Him glory in everything we do!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith September 30, 2023

Notes of Faith September 30, 2023

Put Your Hope to Work

Hope is easy to lose and hard to find, but there is never a season when hope is out of reach. Every Christian eventually has their hope broken, but that isn’t the end of the road. As we learn to keep hoping in Jesus and put that hope to work, our impact for the Kingdom truly takes off.

There are quite a few stories in the Bible that move me deeply. They usually center on characters who struggled to reclaim their identity and connection with God after disappointing themselves or others. Peter is one of those characters whose story resonates with my own. He was minding his business when Jesus approached him with a job opportunity. Low-key, Jesus’ initial pitch would’ve sounded like a multilevel marketing scheme if we heard it today — a little far-fetched but also undeniably intriguing.

Peter was a fisherman. This was a common and straightforward profession at the time. But when Jesus approached Peter and his brother Andrew while they were fishing, He didn’t lure them with promises of power, riches, or fame. Jesus simply told them,

Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. — Matthew 4:19

It turned out that Peter wasn’t just a good fisherman; he was an incredible follower of Jesus. Peter was a rock star disciple and immediately became a part of Jesus’ inner circle. Jesus had twelve disciples, but did you know that even among the Twelve there were three men He held especially near?

Peter was a part of that inner circle of three, and he bore witness to irrefutable evidence of Jesus as the Son of God.

I love that Jesus took what Peter already knew well and introduced a purpose that would build upon that. When God begins to reveal how you can serve what He’s doing in the earth, it won’t require you to be someone you’re not.

God will not call you to something that your history has not prepared you for in some way.

Peter was the first disciple to be affirmed in his ability to hear directly from God long before the Holy Spirit visited the upper room on the day of Pentecost. This moment occurred when Jesus asked His disciples who they said He was. Peter answered,

You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. — Matthew 16:16

God will not call you to something that your history has not prepared you for in some way.

His response prompted Jesus to affirm him in his identity and to grant him more access, trust, and authority than any other disciple. Jesus told Peter,

Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in Heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven. — Matthew 16:17–19

One would think that, with all that affirmation, Peter would’ve been the one disciple Jesus could count on no matter what. Well, one would be wrong because the moment the kitchen got hot, Peter got ghost. (Sorry about that; my roots started showing in the last sentence.) Essentially, when Jesus was arrested and facing persecution, Peter was not just nowhere to be found; he denied knowing Jesus altogether. Three times!

When Jesus was resurrected and needed to inform the disciples, He had an angel reveal the news to the two women at His tomb. The angel said,

Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples — and Peter — that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you. — Mark 16:6–7

Isn’t it powerful that when it was time for Jesus to gather the disciples, the angel specifically said Peter’s name? This isn’t special treatment. It’s because Peter was so disappointed with himself that he no longer considered himself a disciple. The fisher of men had gone back to just being a fisherman.

When Rome apprehended, tortured, and then crucified Jesus, it seemed that they had been successful at squelching His impact. Even the disciples were scared into stagnancy. The finality of His body being placed in the tomb seemed to signal that all hope had been lost. His resurrection should have been the moment when faith was restored and the mission continued.

Based on Peter’s love for Jesus, I’m sure the resurrection produced relief and shame: relief that his Friend was alive and the gospel would continue to spread, but also a deep shame from denying Jesus that prevented Peter from returning to the position he once held. Regardless of how unworthy he may have felt when Jesus was resurrected, Jesus still called for Peter to meet Him in Galilee.

Even when we back away, we serve a God who doesn’t mind calling us back.

Jesus’ exchange with Peter in John 21 wasn’t a conversation for closure or a mea culpa from Peter. Instead, it was Jesus challenging Peter to overcome his previous mistakes and failures and to channel the hope of the resurrection toward serving what matters the most to Jesus.

The hope we extract from our past changes our perspective, but it’s not until we put our hope to work that we partner with God to bring pieces of Heaven to earth. It’s not enough to hold hope within. You have to actively seek ways to spread hope in all that you do.

If you’re going to leave a lasting impression, how can you make sure that it’s not about making yourself look good but rather leaving the moment more hopeful than it was before you entered?

Excerpted from All Hope Is Found by Sarah Jakes Roberts, copyright Sarah Jakes Roberts.

God empowers the willing and prepares them for every opportunity for His name!

Read about the prophet Elijah and you will see task after task that is building faith and preparing Elijah for his next opportunity to serve God. God does that with us as well. Look deep into your walk with God and you will see how He has and is preparing you for His work through you!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith September 29, 2023

Notes of Faith September 29, 2023

In The Morning When I Rise

Beloved author Sarah Young passed away Thursday, August 31 in her Tennessee home. Sarah wrote one of the most widely read devotionals of all time, Jesus Calling. Her writings have sold more than 45 million copies in 35 languages. Sarah’s books offered words of encouragement, comfort, and reassurance of Jesus’ unending love. Her goal was to help readers “find peace in the presence of the Savior who understands you completely and loves you perfectly.”

As you get out of bed in the morning, be aware of My Presence with you. You may not be thinking clearly yet, but I am. Your early morning thoughts tend to be anxious ones until you get connected with Me. Invite Me into your thoughts by whispering My Name. Suddenly your day brightens and feels more user-friendly. You cannot dread a day that is vibrant with My Presence.

You gain confidence through knowing that I am with you — that you face nothing alone. Anxiety stems from asking the wrong question: “If such and such happens, can I handle it?” The true question is not whether you can cope with whatever happens, but whether you and I together can handle anything that occurs. It is this you-and-I-together factor that gives you confidence to face the day cheerfully.

In the morning, O Lord, You hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before You and wait in expectation. — Psalm 5:3

O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.

— Psalm 63:1 NKJV

I can do everything through Him who gives me strength. — Philippians 4:13

Walk by faith, not by sight. As you take steps of faith, depending on Me, I will show you how much I can do for you. If you live your life too safely, you will never know the thrill of seeing Me work through you. When I gave you My Spirit, I empowered you to live beyond your natural ability and strength. That’s why it is so wrong to measure your energy level against the challenges ahead of you. The issue is not your strength but Mine, which is limitless. By walking close to Me, you can accomplish My purposes in My strength.

For we walk by faith, not by sight. — 2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV

Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. — Galatians 5:25

But I will sing of Your strength, in the morning I will sing of Your love; for You are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. O my Strength, I sing praise to You; you, O God, are my fortress, my loving God. — Psalm 59:16-17

As you look into the day that stretches out before you, you see many choice-points along the way. The myriad possibilities these choices present can confuse you. Draw your mind back to the threshold of this day, where I stand beside you, lovingly preparing you for what is ahead.

You must make your choices one at a time since each is contingent upon the decision that precedes it. Instead of trying to create a mental map of your path through this day, focus on My loving Presence with you. I will equip you as you go so that you can handle whatever comes your way. Trust Me to supply what you need when you need it.

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. — Lamentations 3:22–26

In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.

— Proverbs 16:9

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him! — Psalm 34:8 NKJV

Excerpted from Jesus Calling Note-Taking Edition by Sarah Young, copyright Sarah Young.

As I think about being in the presence of God, I am overwhelmed. There is great awe, joy, love, reverent fear of being in the presence of holiness while being unholy. The presence of God brings peace, comfort, and healing. When you read the Bible you will experience all of these things for God is speaking to you. God lives inside those who believe in Him and inhabits their praise and worship. He is always with you! Our thoughts and understanding of God are way too small. He is far beyond our finite mind. If you have not done so before, start mornings with God, being in His presence, giving Him glory for who He is and for who you are because of what He has done. Your day(s) will be strengthened in the presence of the Lord!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith September 28, 2023

Notes of Faith September 28, 2023

Being Unoffendable: The Ridiculous Idea

Okay. So this may sound like the dumbest thing you’ve ever read, but here goes:

You can choose to be “unoffendable.”

I actually heard a guy say this at a business meeting. That is striking to me for a few reasons: (1) I’d never, ever thought about that before; (2) I remember something from a business meeting; and (3) I was actually invited to a business meeting.

I remember the guy saying it’s a choice we can make, to just choose not to be offended.

Sure. Right, man. Choose to be unoffendable. Just — you know — choose, as if it’s really just up to us.

I found this offensive. (I laughed so hard here…Dale)

By the way, I just looked up the definition of offended, and all the dictionaries say something about anger and resentment. When I’m writing about the word here, then, that’s what I mean.

There’s another definition, about having your senses affronted, or offended, but that’s not the definition we’re dealing with here. We just made some homemade barbecue sauce the other day, and we unanimously and immediately agreed, right then and there, that it was highly offensive. That happens.

It’s the taking of offense, and the very presumption that I’m somehow entitled to be angry with someone, that I’m talking about. Surely there’s got to be a place for “righteous anger” against someone, right? Surely there are times we are justified in our anger…

But what that guy said at the business meeting did get me thinking, because he was so obviously wrong.

And besides, since I call myself a Christian person, wasn’t I supposed to be angry at people for certain things? Isn’t being offended part of being a Christian?

So I did what any rational, fair-minded, spiritually mature person would do: I scoured the Bible for verses I could pull out to destroy his argument, logically pummel him into submission, and — you know — win.

Problem: I now think he’s right. Not only can we choose to be unoffendable; we should choose that.

We should forfeit our right to be offended. That means forfeiting our right to hold on to anger. When we do this, we’ll be making a sacrifice that’s very pleasing to God. It strikes at our very pride. It forces us not only to think about humility, but to actually be humble.

I used to think it was incumbent upon a Christian to take offense. I now think we should be the most refreshingly unoffendable people on a planet that seems to spin on an axis of offense.

Forfeiting our right to anger makes us deny ourselves, and makes us others-centered. When we start living this way, it changes everything.

Actually, it’s not even “forfeiting” a right, because the right doesn’t exist. We’re told to forgive, and that means anger has to go, whether we’ve decided our own anger is “righteous” or not.

I sense a lot of people think this idea is stupid, and they don’t agree with me on this. And I sense this because lots of people say, “That idea is stupid, and I don’t agree with you on this.”

I’ve got antennae for subtlety like that. I pick up on things.

Plus, lots of the Christian literature out there says I’m wrong.

Typical: This entry from an online devotional, dealing with anger. The writer gives what I think is the reigning understanding: anger’s often just what we need!

There is also a positive, even essential, side to anger. I doubt that we ever accomplish anything fruitful when anger isn’t part of our motivation, on a certain level at least.1

We don’t ever accomplish anything fruitful without anger? Including, say, writing devotionals?

Seek justice, love mercy. You don’t have to be angry to do that.

Here’s another example of how we retrofit actual scripture with our current embrace of anger-culture:

Ephesians 4:26 NCV — When you are angry, do not sin, and be sure to stop being angry before the end of the day.

Ephesians 4:26 MSG — Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry — but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge…

Did you catch that? I love Eugene Peterson — the guy who wrote The Message — but sheesh! “You do well to be angry”? That’s not in the original, folks. That’s an updated version. Hope you like it better.

It’s remarkable that Peterson does this, considering that just a couple of sentences later, Paul wrote,

Do not be bitter or angry or mad. — Ephesians 4:31 NCV

And somehow, from this, we get “You do well to be angry”?

Honest question: Why do we decide to read the Bible that way when it comes to this issue?

And another question: Why, when I talk about anger on my radio show, do so many believers instantly go to the scripture about “In your anger, do not sin,” and then skip the rest of the paragraph? Why ignore the context? Do not be bitter or angry.

Paul was saying, clearly, that, yes, we will get angry; that happens; we’re human. But then we have to get rid of it. So deal with it. Now. We have no right to it.

Another fair question, and one you’re likely asking: But isn’t God allowed to hold on to His anger? Doesn’t Jesus get angry?

My well-read, thoughtful, theologically nuanced response to this is, “Well, yeah, of course.”

God is “allowed” anger, yes. And other things, too, that we’re not, like, say — for starters — vengeance. That’s His, and it makes sense, too, that we’re not allowed vengeance. Here’s one reason why:

We stand as guilty as whoever is the target of our anger. But God? He doesn’t.

For that matter, God is allowed to judge too. You’re not. We can trust Him with judgment, because He is very different from us. He is perfect. We can trust Him with anger. His character allows this. Ours doesn’t.

God loves you and thinks you’re special, but no… you’re not God.

We won’t often admit this, but we like being angry. We don’t like what caused the anger, to be sure; we just like thinking we’ve “got” something on someone. So-and-so did something wrong, sometimes horribly wrong, and anger offers us a sense of moral superiority.

That’s why we call it “righteous anger,” after all. It’s moral and good, we want to think.

Problem is, “righteous anger” directed at someone is pretty tricky. It turns out that I tend to find Brant Hansen’s anger more righteous than others’ anger. This is because I’m so darn right.

I’m me. I tend to side with me. My arguments are amazingly convincing to me.

But inconveniently, there’s this proverb that says,

You may believe you are doing right, but the Lord will judge your reasons. — Proverbs 16:2 NCV

So it’s not just me. We all, apparently, find ourselves pretty darn convincing. Of course my anger is righteous. It’s righteous because, clearly, I’m right, and they’re wrong. My ways seem pure to me. Always.

In the moment, everyone’s anger always seems righteous. Anger is a feeling, after all, and it sweeps over us and tells us we’re being denied something we should have. It provides its own justification. But an emotion is just an emotion. It’s not critical thinking. Anger doesn’t pause. We have to stop, and we have to question it.

We humans are experts at casting ourselves as victims and rewriting narratives that put us in the center of injustices. (More on this in a bit.) And we can repaint our anger or hatred of someone — say, anyone who threatens us — into a righteous-looking work of art. And yet, remarkably, in Jesus’ teaching, there is no allowance for “Okay, well, if someone really is a jerk, then yeah — you need to be offended.” We’re flat-out told to forgive, even — especially! — the very stuff that’s understandably maddening and legitimately offensive.

That’s the whole point:

The thing that you think makes your anger “righteous” is the very thing you are called to forgive.

Grace isn’t for the deserving. Forgiving means surrendering your claim to resentment and letting go of anger.

Anger is extraordinarily easy. It’s our default setting. Love is very difficult. Love is a miracle. Today I read an article in Inc. magazine about anger and Martin Luther King Jr. The author quoted King’s autobiography, where he wrote, “You must not harbor anger.” But that’s not all. Even when attacked, wrote King, we should love our enemies.2

The author did the usual thing, and spun King’s statement into something of an endorsement of anger, saying we should just make sure we use anger constructively. Fair enough, but I disagree with the author. A couple of things are remarkable about this article, one being that the author purports to agree with Martin Luther King Jr., while saying something nearly the opposite! At a minimum, it’s much less radical, and far less poetic.

King says, “I must not harbor anger,” and the author says, “I agree; let’s use our anger constructively!”

I think we do this with Jesus all the time. We take something like “Love your enemies,” and “Pray for those who persecute you,” and tack on, “But, really, holding on to anger is justified.”

We do it with the apostle James, who, in the Bible, said point-blank that anger does not produce the kind of righteousness God wants in us:

The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. — James 1:20 ESV

We do it with Paul, when we read one of his many lists of sins, like Colossians 3:8:

But now also put these things out of your life: anger, bad temper, doing or saying things to hurt others, and using evil words when you talk. — NCV

We don’t like the “anger” part. We think that when he said to put anger “out of your life,” he really meant “except when it’s constructive.” I’ve yet to hear us apply that logic to the rest of his teaching in that verse: Get rid of your evil words — except when it makes sense,” or “Rid yourself of evil words — except when they really had it coming.”

Let’s admit it: we like anger — our own anger, that is — at some level. We’re just so… justified.

Upon hearing my ideas on anger, a radio listener told me, “I don’t get it. Shouldn’t we be angry at those guys in the news who beat up homeless people?”

Here’s what I think, given that we’re to “get rid of all anger”: Anger will happen; we’re human. But we can’t keep it. Like the Reverend King, we can recognize injustice, grieve it, and act against it — but without rage, without malice, and without anger. We have enough motivation, I hope, to defend the defenseless and protect the vulnerable, without needing anger.

Seek justice; love mercy. You don’t have to be angry to do that.

People say we have to get angry to fight injustice, but I’ve noticed that the best police officers don’t do their jobs in anger. The best soldiers don’t function out of anger.

Anger does not enhance judgment.

Yes, God is quite capable of being both just and angry, but if I’m on trial in front of a human judge, I’m sure hoping his reasoning is anger-free.

Some people think I’m nuts when I talk about this, when I say we’re not entitled to our anger. And maybe I am. At first, I hated this idea too. The thing is, now I’m hoping I’m right, because life has become so much better this way, and I think I can understand Jesus more.

Blaine Smith, “Is Anger a Sin?” Nehemiah Notes, November 15, 2012, http://www.nehemiahministries.com/isangerasin.htm.

Hitendra Wadhwa, “The Wrath of a Great Leader,” , January 21, 2013, http://www.inc.com/hitendra-wadhwa/great-leadership-how -martin-luther-king-jr-wrestled-with-anger.html.

Excerpted with permission from Unoffendable by Brant Hansen, copyright Brant Hansen.

As a pastor, I have still had issues with anger. Of course, it was righteous anger because I was in the right … No! My anger tends to come from my old nature that is selfish and always protects number one (that is me, if you did not catch that). We can be offended by someone who is definitely being offensive. We can be offended by something we misunderstand yet believe it was meant to demean or hurt us. Anger rises easily and not so easily controlled. Living in the Spirit of God brings peace and calm even in the midst of true evil intent. Is this easy? Not for me. But God is still working on that part of me, to make me more like Christ. He is working on you too, fellow follower of Christ. The Holy Spirit within us will continue to (sanctify) chip away, working on the masterpiece that you are, made in the image of God, perfecting you until completion, when you join your Savior and Lord for all eternity.

Let’s work harder on controlling anger and choose not to be offended!

Pastor Dale