What Does it Mean to Live a Christian Life?

This is an article written by Clay Ford while he was an elder at the First Baptist Church of Chula Vista in August of 1974. Clay is presently serving as Pastor of La Jolla Christian Fellowship (old La Jolla First Baptist Church). He brings up an important issue; what does it really mean to separate ourselves from "this crooked generation?" How much should we be involved in our culture? Put another way, How different should church culture be from our surrounding culture?


Back in the '70s, I thought I knew the answer. For me (and Clay -- along with 150 or so people at First Baptist Chula Vista), the answer was to live in community. We lived in communal households with around 10-20 others. We shared everything in common. We ate together. We prayed together. We attended church together. We had no TV. We usually had around $5 per week to spend anyway that we wanted to. We were different; some said we were weird. But, we loved God and just wanted to live in a way that would bring glory to Him. Our intentions were pure.


Am I suggesting that we all move into communal households? No, that was a different time. I do think that we need to grapple with the questions raised earlier about how much of our culture can and should we participate in. Just because a thing is moral, legal and socially acceptable doesn't necessarily mean that it brings glory to God. I am not going to answer these questions for you. I am going to be rethinking them for myself, and, as we begin 2010, I urge each of you to rethink them for yourselves.

God, the birth of Jesus and Santa Claus

Mark Dery wrote an article on the Las Vegas Weekly titled "The Vast Santanic Conspiracy; is St. Nick the tool of a plot to monstrous to mention?" On face book, this article generated quite a lengthy thread of comment. Part of the issue was whether conservative Christians equated Santa with Satan (Santa being an anagram of Satan). I don't intend to rehash that issue. You can read the article itself at http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2009/dec/24/vast-santanic-conspiracy/.


His article and the thread generated on Facebook got me to thinking about the place of Santa in our Christmas celebrations. As Christians the real purpose of Christmas is to celebrate the arrival of Jesus. We celebrate this as not just the birth of a baby, but the fact that "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son . . ." Therefore the real purpose of Christmas is to worship God for what He has done and to celebrate the birth of Jesus. As a part of this celebration, we exchange gifts with one another. We tell our children that their gifts are from Santa Claus, the mythical person who flies around the world in a sleigh pulled by eight tiny reindeer (led by Rudolph the red nosed reindeer). I personally find the myth of Santa a pretty harmless. I enjoyed telling my children about him. We awaited the arrival of Santa with the presents that he would leave with the kids. We also told the children about Jesus. They knew that the purpose of the celebration was the birth of Jesus, not Santa. What is the problem with Santa. I don't think that the problem is Santa at all.


The problem for Christians is when we begin to confuse Santa and God. "You can't mean that! We would never confuse God with Santa," the good Christian cries. Well, of course, we aren't insane. But, many times we see God as a sort of cosmic Santa Clause. God doesn't make any ethical or moral demands on us; he just gives out good gifts to us if we have been "good little girls and boys." I think that even those of us who are believers sometimes even think of God almost myth like as we do Santa. We don't have to fear Santa; enjoy him. But, make sure that you begin to develop your understanding of who God is. Study the Scriptures. Study theological works. Pray and get to know Him. Merry Christmas! I hope that you enjoyed Santa this year. I also hope that your worship was of a loving God who sent His son into the World so that the world could be saved by Him.

He Has Brought Us Through

It seems like a good thing to look back over the previous year when we come to that last Sunday in the year. When the people of Israel were at a place of transition, the Jordan River, they also looked back over the wilderness experience. This Sunday I preached on Deuteronomy 8:1-10:

Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers. Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.

Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and revering him. For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.

When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.

The book of Deuteronomy is really a series of sermons that Moses gave to the Israelites as they were poised on the brink of entering the Promised Land. In this passage he tells them to remember the Lord and how he has brought them through the wilderness experience. He starts by telling them to follow the commands of the Lord. Why? He gives four basic reasons. First, so that they can live. Long life follows a life lived for the Lord in obedience to His commands. Second, so that they can increase. They were a fruitful people, but the population had remained static during the wilderness trek. When they entered the land they wanted to fill the land. Third, Moses tells them that they should follow God's commands so that they can enter the Promised Land. The land was promised to the people of Israel so that God's people would have a place to dwell. God wanted an obedient people. Fourth, obey God's commands so that you can possess the land. Earlier, in disobedience, the people had tried to possess the land and were defeated. Now they could enter in and possess the land if they would just obey the Lord.

Then Moses says that they should remember what God has done for them. The people were not just wandering around the Sinai peninsula aimlessly, God had been leading them. He led them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire at night. God also fed the people. The desert was unkind; there was little water and little food. God provided water from the rocks and manna from heaven. Since there were no Walmarts nearby, the people couldn't get clothes; they didn't need to for the clothes didn't wear out. Their feet didn't swell. When you are traveling for 40 years on foot, this is a real benefit. Finally, Moses reminded them that God had treated them as his children. He didn't treat them as a tyrant would. Even the punishments were aimed at disciplining His children.


Finally, Moses reminded the people that God was bringing them into a good land. It was a land with natural water. Whenever the people complained along the way, they would remember their days in Egypt. But Egypt didn't have natural water; it was a desert that had to be irrigated. The Promised Land would also have natural crops with no shortage of food. It also had natural resources; rocks of iron and easy to get copper. The only warning was that they need to remember these things after they entered the land. They must not get self-satisfied and think that they had all of these things through their own effort. As a church, we also looked back on what God has done for us. Personally, I know that even though I am far from perfect, I am also not the same person that I was 40 years ago. God has brought me a long way. As a church, God has added people. We have more on average than we had last year. We had a baptism -- of a young person. We have music in the service. God is doing something with us. Have we entered the Promised Land? Probably not, but we may be poised at the brink. Perhaps the Jordan River lays ahead. Now we must cross the River. Next week we will take a look at the Promised Land.

Christmas Sunday, the last Sunday in Advent

I really love Christmas. I love the sounds, the smells the lights and the general atmosphere. I know that there is a lot of sentimentality. Of course there is also crass commercialization. There is also a general lack of worship of Jesus, "the reason for the season." Yet to me Christ's love comes through. My spirits are lifted as we celebrate the coming of our Lord and Savior. It helps that I have a wonderful family to celebrate with.


I also have a wonderful church family. Sunday was wonderful! We celebrated with our Hispanic brothers and sisters. The Hispanic church rents our sanctuary for their services, but God has made them more than renters and us more than landlords. God is binding us together. We started our celebration with a potluck breakfast. Plenty of food! More importantly great fellowship; young and old, Hispanic and Anglo. We had a great time.


As we started the service, two of our members shared our theme of "grace" as they lighted the advent candle. Leisha has Muscular Dystrophy and can't walk without a lot of aid, yet she stood and shared about God's grace in her life. Wow, what a moment. We sang in both Spanish and English; songs of worship of Jesus Christ. We ended with pastor Rudy and I both giving a short homily. I am thankful for God's grace in my life. Merry Christmas to all!

Christianity; The Unprotected Majority

I am glad that I am an American. I believe that the principles espoused in The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States are great. I am glad that we have free speech. I am also glad that we put laws in effect whereby minorities are protected. I do believe however that much of these good principles are really circumvented by some of our well meaning attempts at political correctness; in our attempt to protect the minority, the majority becomes fair game for disrespect.

I like NCIS. For the uninitiated, this is a TV show about the Naval Investigative Service. Because I like this show, when the new show, NCIS Los Angeles started, I also watched it. I like it OK, but not as much as the original. This week's episode was all right but it did get me to thinking. As usual, someone was killing other people. The original suspect was a Muslim; profiling and prejudice. But, there was also a Christian in the suspect pool; he even read the Bible. Of course it turned out the Muslim was the good guy. The Christian was not only a murderer, but was a suicide bomber. Do Christians commit crimes -- even murder. Unfortunately, the answer is yes. Could a Christian become a suicide bomber? Here again, the answer is yes. Can Muslims be good guys? Of course! Are Muslims sometimes unjustly accused, suspected and persecuted? Once again, the answer is yes. Well, then what is my problem? My problem is that, since we don't want to offend the minority (a good thing) that it becomes quite all right to offend the majority. If the Muslim had been shown to be a suicide bomber -- there would have been many complaints. Religious Bigotry! But it's quite all right to disrespect Christianity and the Bible. This is not right.

Last Sunday we continued with the third Sunday in Advent. Our theme was love. George and Patti Saunders shared about God's love from John 3:16 and an excerpt from "The Problem of Pain" by C. S. Lewis. Then they lit the third candle.

I shared from John 1:14-18

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' " From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only,who is at the Father's side, has made him known.

How much did God love us? Think about it. In this passage John the Baptist is crying out about Jesus, his cousin, and stating that Jesus has surpassed him because he was before him. John knew that Jesus was six months younger than he was. What does he mean, "He was before me?" To answer this we must understand something of the trinity and the incarnation. Jesus was born in a manger in approximately 4 BC. He was a normal human baby who had to be nurtured and allowed to grow into adulthood. The difference is that the doctrine of the incarnation tells us that Jesus wasn't "just" human. Oh, he was 100% human, but he was also 100% God. How does God do this -- I don't know. But, this explains the "before me" word of John. Jesus (not the human born in a manger), but the second person of the trinity; the son of God, the Word, always was. John's gospel starts, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God." The Word of God always was.

If this is true, look at the love he has for us. The Son gave up his heavenly position with the Father. He allowed himself to be born -- in very humble circumstances. He lived a lowly life and was finally executed on the barbaric cross. He did it because he loved us. Yes, his death was for us. It is in this act that we become reconciled to God. We enter into eternal life. Oh yes, eternal life is not just what happens after death. Eternal life starts now. Once we have come to know Jesus, our life is qualitatively different. We have been born again.

This is something to celebrate. Come Lord Jesus. Merry Christmas!

Advent at Bay View Baptist Church

I have been wanting to write a new post here for some time but have been busy with uploading Our Life Together (a newsletter from the First Baptist Church of Chula Vista -- during the '70s) and writing on my blog of the same name. Finally, I think that I am ready to work here also.

Advent is a great time at the church. Of course we are not a liturgical church; we don't celebrate everything in the church year. But Advent is wonderful. We look forward to a celebration of the arrival of Jesus Christ, born in a manger. We also look forward to his return as Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Advent encompasses the four weeks prior to Christmas. This coming Sunday will be the third Sunday in Advent.

The first Sunday we has as our theme, Light; Jesus is the Light of the World. We lit our first candle and meditated on the first few verses of the Gospel of John which speaks of the light that was coming into a dark world. Our world was also brightened by celebrating a baptism. It has been a long time since we have had a baptism. This was a young woman named Katie. It was a special moment. Indeed, the light shined in our little church.

Last Sunday we reflected on the theme, Hope; Jesus is the Hope of the World. We lit the second candle and meditated on the next few verses in John. This passage has to do with the hope of becoming children of God; a great privilege. When we become children of God, we enter into an entirely new dimension of life.

The church is beautiful. We celebrated the Hanging of the Greens last Saturday. We have a tree, lots of greenery, poinsettias and nativity scenes. Sunday the 20th will be our Christmas Sunday. We will have a breakfast potluck. The Hispanic church will be joining us for breakfast and worship. It is great to have a time of worship with our brothers and sisters; singing and praying in both Spanish and English. Our celebration time will conclude with a Christmas Eve Service. We will be singing the old carols and sharing about the meaning of Christmas. This is a great time.

Apologies

I said in my last post that I was going to be posting my series of sermons on Sin and the Church. I haven't done so. It is not for want of trying. I don't know what happened, but every time that I would write an article, when I would try to publish it, there were html errors. Since I am somewhat computer illiterate, I threw up my hands and deleted it. I would try again and the same thing happened. I finally gave up. If this works. I am going to go on an entirely new tack and write some original articles here. Perhaps I will put my advent sermons here when the time comes.

Sin and the Church

Last year I completed a sermon series on the first three chapters of First Corinthians; The Eight Indicators that you might be in a Dysfunctional Church. A week ago I started a series to continue our study of First Corinthians; Sin and the Church. This isn't meant to be an expose of gross sin in the church. This is more a study of how the church deals with sin and sinful behavior. In fact, in most cases, the sin that Paul seems to be bringing out isn't the real problem for the church. The problem was how the church was handling this situation. The titles of the series are as follows:

• The Sin of Arrogance
• Tolerating Sin
• Is it Ever Wrong to be Right?
• Flee from Sexual Immorality!
• Sex and Marriage
• The Sin of Insensitivity
• The Holiness of Communion

I will be making a posting on each of these sermons as they occur.

What Now?

Last week we finished our Reading the Bible in 90 days program, so it seemed quite natural to ask the question, "What now?" I suppose it is obvious that reading through the Bible shouldn't be an end in itself. This thought led me to Psalm 1 -- The Blessed Man:

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984

This Psalm tells of the blessed man. How does one become a blessed man or woman. First this psalm tells us some things not to do:

• Don't walk in the counsel of the wicked. In other words, don't live like the wicked
• Don't stand in the way of sinners. Don't stand for what they stand for. Don't support ungodly positions
• Don't sit in the seat of mockers. Don't hang around with those who mock God

Then the Psalm goes on to tell us some things to do:

• Delight in God's word. Spend time in reading it. Make reading a priority.
• Meditate on it day and night. The word used for meditate has the same root as that of ruminate. Picture a cow placidly chewing it's cud. Bring God's word up again and again. Think on it often

Well, what does it mean to be blessed by God. First of all, it isn't a good feeling, although one who is blessed generally does feel good. A blessing is really God's good will and favor toward the one who is blessed. Picture a tree -- sturdy -- firm -- planted by water. This is a tree that will stand in good times and bad. It is a tree that yields fruit and it doesn't wither even in time of drought. This is a metaphor of someone who is blessed of the Lord. The psalm goes on to say that this person prospers in everything. In the Old Testament, prospering doesn't necessarily mean riches. It just means that things generally go well. Things happen as they should. This happens because the way of the righteous is watched over by the Lord.

Well, what does it mean to not be blessed by the Lord. Wicked people (people who don't live for God) are like chaff. Picture the left overs as the wheat has been winnowed. The left over is chaff. It just blows away. The Psalmist further states that when judgement comes, the wicked wont make it through, at least with a not guilty verdict. They wont be counted along with the righteous. In fact, ultimately they will perish.

By this time, most of us -- at least of we believe the Bible to be true -- decide that it is better to be blessed than to perish. What is the difference. First there is the sin question which is dealt with in the death and resurrection of Jesus. But, in this Old Testament passage, the difference between blessing and no blessing is how we treat God's word -- The Bible. For our congregation which just finished reading through the Bible I presented some, "What nows":

• Continue to read the Bible daily
• This time don't just read, study. Obtain a study Bible or commentary. Read smaller portions.
• Meditate on these passages.
• Memorize verses or passages that inspire you
• "Sit under the authority of the Word." Always as the question, "So what?" If this is God's word, what is being said to me. Should I do something to follow through on what I read?

I can truthfully say that my life has changed over the years. A large part of the change is due to a continual reading of God's word. I recommend it.

A Vision for the Future

This post is a summary of my last sermon in the series covering Reading the Bible in 90 days. The scripture is Revelation 21:1-5:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."

This passage is about vision. It provides a glimpse of a heavenly future awaiting those for whom it has been prepared. It is God's vision for the future. The scripture states that there is to be a new Heaven and a new Earth. Of course for there to be a new heaven and earth, the old one must pass away. A vision is like that; for the future to come, we must leave the past behind. I don't fully know what it means that there will be a new heaven and earth. I don't know what it will look like, but this scripture passage does give us some insight of what will be there.

First, and this is important, there will be no sea. Now I am an old sailor; I like the sea. But, for the ancient Israelite, the sea is not a good place. The Israelites were not sailors. The sea was a place of chaos. There were evil entities and monsters there. It was not a friendly place. None of this evil, this chaos will be present in this new heaven and earth.

Second, this passage tells of a new Jerusalem coming down adorned like a bride. What is the significance of this? Of course, Jerusalem was the city of God. The temple was there which signified God's presence. The church is called the new Jerusalem. The church is also called the bride of Christ and it is called the temple of the Holy Spirit. This new heaven and new earth will be a place where God dwells. Of course, the passage goes on to say just that.

Third, God's presence makes everything good. There is not going to be any death, mourning, crying or pain. This is good. Heaven is a place of everlasting joy in the presence of God.

Fourth, the passage reiterates that everything is now new. Things will be entirely different.

The good news about this passage is that this is a future that we will participate in. As the church, this future is designed with us in mind. One of the things that I like about this future is actually found in the next chapter of Revelation and it concerns the tree of life. When God created the Garden of Eden, there were two trees found in the center of the Garden. The Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Man chose to eat of the forbidden fruit; of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. Man was put out of the Garden to keep him from eating from the Tree of Life (See Genesis 3). In Revelation 22, in our future, the Tree of Life is there with fruit for the picking. Our future is a place of eternal life.

Vision is important. The Bible says that without a vision, the people perish. Without a vision, we wander aimlessly. It is important to see the vision and work toward preparing to live out that vision. Certainly this is true for the vision described above. We must learn to live with and for God in this life as a preparation for dwelling with Him for eternity. I went on to discuss a vision for our church. A vision is of utmost importance, but if we don't work to make this vision a reality, it is after all only a pipe dream.

Liberalism, Socialism and the Church

There is a lot going on. We have fires, health care debate, war -- and in the middle of it all, the great liberal lion of the senate, Teddy Kennedy died. I was not a fan of Senator Kennedy's politics. Yet, I was impressed with the funeral. I also disagree with Jim Wallis a lot, but I like the following quote from his blog on God's Politics:

But it was the funeral on Saturday morning that most moved me. I don’t know what I was expecting -- likely more speeches -- but not a traditional Catholic funeral liturgy, complete with the Holy Eucharist. Of course, what else should I have expected from such a Boston Catholic family? Here was the divine irony. At the funeral of the nation’s most liberal political leader of the last half-century, a watching nation was treated to a full Catholic Mass. And even more, the readings are what most struck me. When was the last time the whole country got to hear the 25th chapter of Matthew, with Jesus imploring us, “I was hungry ... I was thirsty ... I was a stranger ... I was naked ... I was sick ... I was in prison ... and you came to me.” And then the song of Mary: "He will put down the mighty from their thrones, exalt those of low degree, fill the hungry with good things, and send the rich empty away.” Ted and Vicki Kennedy carefully chose those readings for this solemn and special occasion, and the whole nation listened to them.

Then I watched the greatest collection of national political leaders in decades from both political parties -- 60 senators, countless congressional members, and four presidents -- hug each other in the passing of the peace. Then they came forward to receive the body and blood of Christ, as cellist Yo-Yo Ma accompanied Placido Domingo in Cesar Franck’s "Panis Angelicus." I started changing the channels then, just to see who was watching. CNN, MSNBC, FOX!, NBC, CBS, ABC, and FOX again! were all tuned in to the Mass. Who could have brought about such a thing -- a man with serious personal flaws who had experienced great pain in his life, who had been the greatest political lightning rod of his time, and who had, nonetheless, been the most successful senator both in forging a list of accomplishments like no other, and in bringing people together from both sides of the political aisle.

I was impressed that God can even use politics and politicians to show forth his glory. Any man who is the best grandpa in the whole world can't be all bad (we all know that there are exceptions.)

Are You Ready to be a Disciple?

In July, I had the opportunity to hear J.P. Moreland speak at the Holy Spirit Conference held at Green Lake Wisconsin. He actually talked on the issue raised in his book, "The Lost Virtue of Happiness. He states, "We Americans are obsessed with being happy. But we are also terribly confused about what happiness is. As a result we seldom find a happiness that lasts. But because the pursuit of happiness' is promised to us as a right in the founding documents of our nation, the Declaration of Independence, we carry a sense of entitlement. We think we deserve happiness." Of course, he goes on to say that even though we pursue happiness, we rarely really find it. Have you ever noticed the tired, haggard faces of people dragging through Disneyland (the Happiest Place of Earth) trying to be happy. It makes me tired just to think of it.

Moreland says that the problem is the definition of happiness. The current definition which is related to feelings was not the definition understood by the Founding Fathers who signed the Declaration of Independence. On page 16, Moreland writes this:

A recent dictionary definition of happiness is "a sense of pleasurable satisfaction." Notice that happiness is identified with a feeling and, more specifically, a feeling very close to pleasure. Today the good life is a life of good feeling, and that is the goal of most people for themselves and their children. A major talk-radio host has interviewed hundreds of people over the past few years by asking the question "What did your parents want most for you -- success, wealth, to be a good person, or happiness?" Eighty-five percent said happiness.

On page 25 he goes on by writing:

Here we must examine the classical understanding of happiness proclaimed by Moses, Solomon, Jesus, Aristotle, Plato, the church fathers and medieval theologians, and many more -- the understand that has recently be replaced by "pleasurable satisfaction." According to the ancients, happiness is a life well lived, a life of virtue and character, a life that manifests wisdom, kindness, and goodness. For them, the life of happiness -- the life to dream and fantasize about, to hunger and seek after, to imitate and practice -- is a life of virtue and character. At its core, such a life includes a very deep sense of well-being. But this sense should not be confused with pleasurable satisfaction.

Jesus said this in Mark 8:33-38:

But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."

Moreland writes that the only way to be truly happy is to live for something more important than one's self. Moreland points to the passage above as how Jesus tells us to live. To be a disciple is to learn to follow the master. Jesus exemplified this passage and he tells us that to be a disciple, these are principles that we should follow.

What are the things that he tells us?

• Think like God -- See things from his perspective. We must learn his word (the Bible) and believe it. We should enter into relationship with Him. We must allow the Holy Spirit to renew our minds.
• Deny yourself -- No, we are not door mats, but rather than insisting just on our own rights, we seek to protect the rights of others. We work for the success of others, not only for our own success.
• Lose yourself -- We lose ourselves by immersing ourselves into something bigger than us; we live for Christ and the fulfillment of his purposes. Our ambitions should coincide with God's ambition for us.
• Don't lose your soul -- Don't just live for self. Don't compromise your values in order to get ahead. In fact, make character development more important than getting ahead.
• Don't be ashamed of Jesus -- Don't hide your Christianity. Avoid having a "secret life." Live life openly. (I am not saying we don't have private lives -- I am just saying that our private life and our public life are congruent.)

Do you want to be happy? Live for Jesus. Make his purpose your purpose. Become a disciple of Jesus.

What are you living for?

By the title I don't mean, "What are you doing still alive?" I mean what is your purpose? As you see it, why are you here on Earth at this time? Everyone has a purpose, yet probably most of us just drift through life, unaware of anything bigger than ourselves. People who give up their lives, martyrs are aware of a purpose larger than themselves. This is not only Christian martyrs, we see this in the soldier who jumps on a grenade to save his comrades; he is aware of something bigger than himself. Of course, on the negative side, we see this in the daily suicide (murder) bombings in Afghanistan or Iraq. The the person blowing themselves up, they are just serving Allah; and they will be rewarded for their efforts (Paradise, 70 virgins etc.) The Christian Martyr also believes that they are serving God; and they will be rewarded. Yet, Christian Martyrs give of themselves without taking others with them. They only sacrifice themselves for the sake of their God. Martyrdom has been a part of church history since Philip the Deacon in the book of Acts. Their were more Christian Martyrs around the world in the 20th century than in all the centuries before. These people knew what they were living for. I repeat my question, "What are you living for?"

Sunday, as a part of our Reading the Bible in 90 days, we considered the story of Daniel in the Lions Den. This is a familiar story, but it can illustrate something about finding our purpose in life. Daniel was a Jewish captive in Babylon. The served the king of Babylon and had been elevated to high position; he was to be the number two man in the kingdom. Only the king would be greater. Needless to say, this made many of the other leaders just a little jealous. Daniel had never compromised his beliefs as he moved up in leadership; in fact he was blessed and progressed because of his beliefs. The other leaders knew that they would never be able to catch Daniel in some kind of scandal; the only way to get him was through his adherence to God and his principles. They set a trap. They went to the king with the proposal that he make a law that people could only pray to him (the king). This sounded good to the king; he had a strong ego. The anti-Daniel faction then sprung the trap. The told the king to write it down as a law. The laws of the Medes and Persians could not be rescinded. The penalty for disobedience was to be cast into the den of lions.

Daniel heard about the law, so he went home and prayed openly to his God in front of the open windows. He could at least had hidden! But, Daniel was a man of principle who would not compromise. Of course his enemies saw him and reported him to the king. The king was upset. He didn't want to kill Daniel, but what could he do. He threw Daniel into the den of lions, with the words that he hoped the God of Israel would deliver him. After a sleepless night, the king went to the den of lions. "Are you still alive, Daniel." Daniel announced that an angel had shut the mouths of the lions and that he was delivered. Now the thing we must realize is that, even though Daniel was not martyred, he didn't know that he would live through this event.

Earlier in the Book of Daniel, his three friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were sentenced to burning in an oven for a similar offense. When given an opportunity to recant their worship of God, they responded with, " . . . the God we serve is able to save us . . . But even if he does not . . . we will not serve your gods . . . " Their belief in God was more important than life itself.

Why was Daniel willing to risk everything to pray publicly? We really need to start at the beginning of the book and see what really made Daniel tick. First, he resolved to obey God in every circumstance. In chapter one he along with other sharp young exiles were set apart by the king to be groomed for leadership positions in the government. They were to be given the finest food. Daniel knew that some of that food wasn't on the list of authorized foods for a Jew, so he pleaded to fed a vegetarian diet. Of course, God caused Daniel to flourish and in a little while all of the young men were eating the same diet. In chapter 2, we find that Daniel was accustomed to praying during a crisis. The king was going to put the "wise men" to death if they couldn't describe his dream and interpret it. Daniel prayed and received the answer from God. In that same chapter, we find that he also acted on what God said. In short, he developed a godly character. There were certain things that he did because he was a man of God.

It has been said that if there is nothing important enough to die for, there is really nothing important enough to live for. Daniel knew this. He was willing to die for his faith. Because of this, his faith was important enough for him to live it out.

What about us Christians? What does it mean to be a Christian? Is it having the right beliefs? Well, beliefs are important. We should have the right beliefs. But, James says that even Satan has the right beliefs -- and he is not a Christian. How about being a regular church attender? This is a good practice, but it doesn't make one a Christian. Baptism? There are different theologies on baptism, but certainly, for all practical purposes, baptism doesn't make one a practicing Christian. Bible reading and prayer? I know of many scholars that really know the Bible -- as literature -- and are not believers. A lot of people pray in a crisis, but don't live the life.

We are called to be disciples of Jesus, not members of a church. The normal invitation that Jesus gave to those who became his disciples was, "Follow me." When a person becomes a disciple of someone, the mentor becomes the model for the life of the disciple. Jesus is meant to be the model for our lives. How do we know him? How can we be disciples? Well, we must:

• Read his words, read the gospels, read theologies -- get to know about him and who he was/is through our reading
• Pray -- regularly -- engaging in a conversation with him
• In our prayers we listen -- and we learn to recognize his voice
• When we hear him, we must obey him -- in our practice we get to know him better
• In all of this, we begin to develop a Christ-like character

Galatians 5:22ff list the fruit of the Spirit. It seems to me that these are really characteristics of a Christ-like character. When we develop this character, we begin to live for God -- not ourselves. We find something worth living for; worth dying for.

How to Keep Going When You Feel Like Giving Up

What do you do when everything seems dark and hopeless? How do you keep going when you feel like giving up? I like the way the US Marines put it, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." The problem is that most of us aren't Marines and most of us don't see ourselves as tough. I tried to deal with this issue in last Sunday's sermon. Of course in a sermon you can only crack the surface. I used the prophet, Jeremiah as my example. We are a little over half way through the Read the Bible in 90 days program; we are currently reading Jeremiah. The Biblical text used was Jeremiah 1.

Jeremiah lived a life that seemed hopeless. He was called by God to be a prophet during the last days of Judah. He was told to give a message that was hopeless, and ignored by most people. He faced persecution, imprisonment and even death to present his message; being a prophet was not always the safest way to live. In this first chapter, God makes it plain that He had called Jeremiah as a prophet; in fact, he had appointed Jeremiah while he was still in his mother's womb (I wont go into a discourse on abortion at this juncture). Jerry told the Lord that he was afraid to speak, "I am only a child." Now we don't know how old J was when this discourse was taking place, but I think that most of us can identify when given such an overwhelming task
that we feel like a child.

God told Jeremiah that He would give him the words to speak and that He (God) would be with him always. He showed a vision to Jeremiah that signified that God would back up His words by action; this was a promise. Then God showed Jeremiah a vision that boded ill for Judah. The word that Jeremiah was to speak was one of destruction on the people if they didn't repent. Finally God told Jerry not to be afraid of the people. In fact, if you want to be afraid, be afraid of me, "The fear of the Lord is the begging of wisdom."

If we read the entire book of Jeremiah, we find that the prophet was faithful in word and deed. When the going got tough, Jeremiah got going. How?

1. He knew who he was in the Lord. He had encountered God in a real way.
   
2. He knew his purpose. God had made his task very plain.
3. He heard and believed God when He said, "I will be with you." He was not alone.
4. He knew God's message; God had told him.
5. He believed that God would do what God said He would do.
6. He believed that God would protect him from the people.

Can we find some principles for ourselves in this lesson from Jeremiah. I think so. When the going gets tough, we can keep going if we have the following:

1. Believe that God has a purpose for your life; know that purpose.
2. Let Jesus be Lord of your life (Lordship means that we obey).
3. Accept the fact that you have been forgiven and that you are a new creation; I am not bound by past failures.
4. Let the Holy Spirit empower you. As Paul said, "when I am weak, I am strong."
5. Listen to God. The problem is not that God doesn't speak, the problem is that we rarely listen.
6. Do what God commands.
7. Believe his promise, "Lo, I am with you always."
8. Believe that he always has your back.

I know that we can be paralyzed with fear. I know that we can suffer depression. I believe that things can keep us from going on. I also know that sometimes we need the Psychologist or Psychiatrist. We may also need help from others. But, these principles go a long way toward helping us to live victorious lives. Remember, courage is not lack of fear. Courage is doing the right thing even though we are afraid.

Is It Ethical for a Theologian to Believe in God?

I enjoy reading the Religion in American History Blog. I don't usually agree with most of the posts, but there is usually something of interest there. But on July 28, I read the following article. I am not arguing against Randall Stephens, but against K. L. Noll's "The Ethics of Being a Theologian."

Noll discusses the pure academic quality of Religious Studies. I don't really have any problem with that; I am sure that he is correct. My son was a Religious Studies major at UCSB -- and I think that he would agree. My problem stems with his statements about theologians:

It would be reasonable to begin every theological discussion with the disclaimer "the god described in this sacred text is fictional, and any resemblance to an actual god is purely coincidental." This is not an outsider's dismissive opinion, but the reality, and theologians have an ethical obligation to teach that truth even if they also want to believe and teach, as is their right, that a god exists.

Noll seems to believe that he has the only real understanding of knowledge and what we may know. It seems like he believes that a theologian, even if they believe in God, has an obligation to tell the students that the Bible (or Koran etc.) is pure fiction. First of all, isn't a theologian, by definition, someone who teaches the knowledge of God. Just because Noll doesn't believe in God doesn't mean that God doesn't exist (and believe in Noll)! People do have a right to believe as they desire. Noll has a right to believe, teach and write about things from his perspective, but I think he is over the top when he says that anyone who disagrees with him (believes in God) is obviously mistaken; they should warn students in advance that their views are wrong.

Of course, I believe in God. I know God. I trust God. He exists. He loves me. He loves the world. Anyone who doesn't believe and who doesn't agree may do so. It is their right and may be "their reality". There is more than one way of knowing. Everything is not academic or scientific. There is the spiritual. I have quoted most of the post below (including all of the quotes from Noll).

Randall Stephens

A provocative essay appeared in yesterday's Chronicle of Higher Education. K. L. Noll offers up prickly ideas about the nature of truth and knowledge all the while distinguishing religious studies scholars from subjectivist, loopy theologians. The essay reminds me of that great piece that appeared in Lingua Franca years ago titled "Is Nothing Sacred? Casting out the Gods from Religious Studies" (Nov 1996).

Highlights from K. L. Noll's "The Ethics of Being a Theologian"

Most people do not understand what religious study really is. Professors of religion are often confused with, or assumed to be allies of, professors of theology. The reason for the confusion is no secret. All too often, even at public universities, the religion department is peopled by theologians, and many of those theologians refuse to make the distinction that I am about to make....

Theologians who do not think of themselves as unethical nevertheless sell their pew-sitting laity a bill of goods. The failure of theologians to remind the members of their churches and synagogues that the Bible is an anthology of ancient literature composed by ancient people in an ancient culture has consequences. The laity are entitled to know that any god described in a biblical text is an ancient god, a byproduct of the ancient culture that produced the text. The god of the Bible is the sum total of the words in the text and has no independent existence. It would be reasonable to begin every theological discussion with the disclaimer "the god described in this sacred text is fictional, and any resemblance to an actual god is purely coincidental." This is not an outsider's dismissive opinion, but the reality, and theologians have an ethical obligation to teach that truth even if they also want to believe and teach, as is their right, that a god exists.

Am I trying to imply that theology is without value? Certainly not. I do not presume to tell theologians how to be theologians, and I will not attempt to define the value of theology. I simply request that theologians fulfill basic ethical obligations, such as the affirmation that theology is not knowledge and must position itself apart from those academic disciplines that try to advance knowledge, such as history, anthropology, religious study, and (perhaps especially) the natural sciences.

Some Miscellaneous Thoughts

I am very grateful to God for the swift recovery of Linda. The knee replacement surgery went very well. I was gearing up to a wrenching time of watching her suffer and telling her to get back on the "torture" machine. It wasn't like that at all. Of course she had quite a bit of pain, but she is amazing on her recovery. Why this quick recovery? Part of it is Linda herself. She is a strong person. She has a strong will and is willing to push herself. I suppose that a lot of credit should go to her doctor. He obviously did a great job on the surgery. But, as a believer, I think the fact that Linda and I had "bathed" the surgery and recovery in prayer -- together with a lot of people from all over praying is what really did the trick. Thank you God!

We needed some equipment for the recovery. We decided to rent a wheel chair to get her home from the hospital. I intended to buy a walker. While renting the wheel chair, one of my long time members from First Baptist Chula Vista came in. She said, "You aren't going to buy a walker are you?" "Yes, we need one." " I have two that I will loan to you. One is a regular walker and one is the deluxe model with a seat and wheels." Just like that, God saved us some money.

Let's Celebrate Marriage

I actually wrote this post last Thursday -- July 9th. My wife was undergoing surgery and I didn't have access to a computer -- I actually wrote it with pen and paper! I have been busy with hospital visits etc. until today. Here are some thoughts regarding an article from The Atlantic July/August issue of 2009. The article title was "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off", written by Sandra Tsing Loh.


Here is my post:


In this article, the author chronicles her infidelity and decision to divorce. She then discusses the marriage (and upcoming divorces) of her friends. She gives some good information re the divorce rate which is quite disturbing.

What disturbed me about the article was that she took her experience, adds in the stats of marriage/divorce and promotes a rationale against marriage. She touts her belief that human beings are not meant to be monogamous. I must admit that I also subscribed to some of these ideas when I was young and unmarried. My parents were divorced in the'50s and my grand parents divorced in the '20s. I also liked lots of girls. Marriage seemed like a lost cause.


Then I met Linda. I had actually known her for years , but she was just a kid. I "met" her when she was 18 and I was 23. We married when she was 22 and I had just turned 28. This month we celebrate our 44th anniversary. I loved her then and I love her more today!


God created us to be whole in marriage. God blesses and uses singles -- but for most of us we are not complete until we are married. A few thoughts that may be expanded upon in later posts:

• Love is a set of actions, not a set of feelings,
• Feelings are a result of love, they are not love itself,
• It is commitment to our vows that sustain our marriage,
• The author is correct in saying that our high divorce rate is exacerbated because of our tendency toward individuality and narcissism,
• The relationship of marriage is about giving, not receiving.

These are a few thoughts written while my love is undergoing a painful surgery to replace her right knee. I know God is going to use the surgery for her healing, but I hurt -- because my love, Linda hurts.Marriage is a gift from God. Thank you, Lord, for Linda.

On to Green Lake

Finally, I am finding time to write. Usually the problem is with me. I want to write, but find any excuse to keep me from writing. However, this time I have an excuse. I had minor surgery last week! I can assure you that "minor" doesn't have anything to do with the discomfort of the patient. So I spent most of last week, and the beginning of this week laying around and feeling sorry for myself. I kept telling myself that I should write, but I replied that I just didn't feel like it.

Now I feel like writing. I actually feel quite good. But, I am feeling pressure. Saturday morning I am leaving for Green Lake Wisconsin. I am part of Holy Spirit Renewal Ministries. We put on the Holy Spirit Conference at Green Lake Conference Center every year. It is a great conference. If you are near Wisconsin, you could still register. See the conference description at our HSRM website. General information on the conference center can be found on their website. I will try to give updates while I am gone -- and send some pictures. It is a beautiful place.

Reading the Bible in 90 Days

Bay View Baptist Church will be starting an unusual program next Monday. It is a program to read the Bible, cover to cover, in 90 days. Why is this so unusual? Certainly Bible reading is not an unusual activity in a Baptist Church. We say things like, "I believe every word it says -- from beginning to end." Part of the problem is that there are a lot of people who say this who have never read every word it says. The Bible says a lot of radical things. So this program is an attempt to get people to really read the whole Bible. This program is different for several reasons:

• The whole Bible is read -- not just selected verses
• The Bible is read from beginning to end -- like a novel (of course we know it isn't a novel -- and there are many different kinds of literature)
  
• The Bible is read in 90 days -- a relatively short time -- allowing the participant to "get the whole picture" before forgetting where they started
• It is not a study -- it is a reading
• It is not devotional in nature -- it is a reading

I am excited about this. Certainly this program wont end all of our problems and our people wont be Bible scholars -- or even Bible students. But they will have a basic understanding of what is in the Bible and how this information is presented. At least this is a start. If we are people of the book -- we need to read that book!

More info is found about this program at http://www.biblein90days.com/

Our World; Our Oikos

Jesus told us to be in the world, but not of it. How do we do that? Of course, we obviously live in the world. Just because we have become Christians, we don't disappear from normal life. We continue to work, socialize, live in a neighborhood -- carry on our normal lives. But, we realize that this is not all that there is. We have entered into a relationship with Jesus Christ that is more real than all that we see, hear and feel in the world around us. When we try to articulate this we sound more than a little crazy. But, it is true.

The real issue is how do we continue to really be a part of our normal world while still holding onto this new spiritual reality. We have all heard the phrase, "they are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good." If we live like this, we aren't really in this world. Well, most of us are really here -- but only a small part of the world really knows us for who we are. This is our Oikos.

I have been teaching on the principle of living fully in our Oikos for the last few weeks. What do I mean be living fully in our Oikos. First let me give a working definition of the word. Basically it is a Greek word meaning household. In the Bible, it is more that merely family -- it includes the extended family, servants, workers attached; all the people that a person relates to regularly and closely. Thus, for a working definition we say that our Oikos is that 8-15 people that we relate to regularly. These are the People that God has placed around us so that we can live out our lives as witnesses to Jesus Christ. They are really our world.

On the one hand, these are the people that we are called upon to reach, to evangelize. But, on the other hand, these are the people who really know us and can "keep us honest." The people in our church have now identified their oikos (this can change over time), they have committed to pray for their oikos daily, and to pray specifically for the salvation of those in the oikos who don't know Jesus, and finally to pray for an opportunity to share with those who don't know Jesus. I am doing the same with my Oikos.

The House of Abba

This is a small note from our third issue of Our Life Together that really surprised me. As I read through these old newsletters, I find that the way I remember it doesn't always match with reality. What was it that surprised me? Two things; 1) I don't remember the House of Abba meeting in the sanctuary and 2) I thought that the attendance at the coffee house was beginning to dwindle by 1973.

The House of Abba, which was our coffee house; no coffee, just music, teaching and Christian fellowship, started in 1970. The start of this ministry coincided with the beginnings of the Jesus People Movement. We were fortunate to have some very talented you people. They were talented in music, drama, art and in teaching. They began to reach people that our church had never reached before. Soon our church was filled with young "hippies". Many of these you people were really on the street and strung out on drugs. This is why we started our community households; how could you lead someone to the Lord and then send them out on the streets. This was a great time. During the 18 month period of Jan 1970 - June 1971, 750 people were baptized at our relatively small church -- we were certainly no mega-church.

When the coffee house started, they met in our old "Scout House". This was a small structure in our parking lot that had been used by the boy scouts. The room was pretty small. They used to keep the doors and windows open so that people in the parking lot could hear what was going on. Very soon they moved into the main building. Our "fellowship room" (which actually had been our first sanctuary) was converted for coffee house use. The walls were soon crowded with art. A patchwork carpet was placed in the building. People would sit on the floor. I do remember that even this room became so crowded that people were standing outside the room, and even out the front door of the church. An interesting side light was that we (early on) had to have a ministry that we called the floaters. There job was to circulate around the property -- particularly the dark places to see that no drugs were being used on the premises. These young "floaters" were also wonderful witnesses and would present the gospel to the person in the shadows.

I just don't remember the next step of moving into the sanctuary. I also thought the movement was losing steam in late 73 -- but it seems that they were still expanding. This was a great time. Ah yes, I remember it well.

An Easter Surprise

I mentioned in my last post that I had a great Easter. But wait! There's more! I had a real Easter Surprise! My best friend in high school (Bellflower HS class of '55) was Don. We were together virtually all the time (except when we were with our girl friends -- this happened in our Junior year). Don had a troubled home life so he spent a lot of time living at my house. We were both good students. I remember as the Summer was ending before our Freshman year that we made a pact to be good students. We felt that High School would determine our college and that would determine our lives. I ended up number 2 in my class and Don was number 4. We were both on the tennis team (Don told me that he still plays). Here Don was number 1 and I was number one on JV or number 10 on the Varsity. He was a lot better than I was.

At graduation we went our separate ways. Don went to UC Berkeley and I went to UCLA. We kept in touch and saw each other on football weekends and such things. Then, during our senior year, Don decided to get married. I really didn't get that, but since he was my friend I accepted it. I even journeyed to Berkeley to be his best man.

Finally school ended. I went to Graduate school -- and then the military called. I entered the Navy's Officer program and received my commission. I saw Don once after my commissioning. It wasn't that great a time; we were moving in different directions. This was in 1961. I never saw, nor heard from Don again. I thought about him a lot. I never took the effort to look for him. Then, Sunday afternoon, Don called. It was good! Inside I felt like a kid again. We talked and laughed about the old times. Then we talked about what had been happening during the last 50 years. I had a Naval career and a ministerial career, a 44year marriage, two children and three grandchildren (this is the brief summary). Don had a career in social work and had spent time all over the US and abroad, he was on his third wife. None of that mattered! We were just young guys reliving our youth. Don was my friend.

He was a great Easter Surprise. (By the way, the picture really isn't Don and I -- just some Giraffe friends)

Easter

For the Christian, Easter is always a high point. What can trump the fact of the resurrection of Jesus. The old hymn says, "I serve a risen savior. He's in the world today. He walks with me and talks with me along my way." We had a great celebration at our little church. We started with a time of fellowship around the breakfast table. Then we moved from there into the sanctuary and celebrated our living Savior.

Our scripture for the day was John 20. This is the story of Mary Magdalene. She went to the tomb and, much to her dismay, found the tomb open and empty. Of course she thought, as any rational person would, that the body had been stolen. She ran to get Peter and the disciple "that Jesus loved", John. They ran to the tomb. John seemed to be the better runner because he got there first. Peter finally arrived and didn't wait, but ran into the tomb. Yes, it was empty. Then John came in. Something about the placement of the bodily coverings convinced John. The Bible simply says that he believed. Yet, Peter and John just went home.

Mary stayed at the tomb. Finally, she got up the nerve to look inside.Yes, it was empty -- but, wait! There were two angels there. Before she could do anything, she heard a voice behind her. She turned around and saw what she believed was the gardener (Jesus seemed to be hard to recognize -- and of course, no one really expected to see him up and walking around). She asked him if he had been the one to take Jesus' body. Then he said one word -- Mary. Immediately she recognized him. She knew her Lord and He knew her. Don't believe the Da Vinci Codes. This was not a romance. But it was love. God is love. Jesus loved Mary deeply and Mary loved him deeply. But this was not all. He gave Mary a message to take to his brothers. No, it wasn't a message to James and Judas, his siblings, it was a message to his disciples -- the ones that had deserted him. He called them his brothers. He loved them and he forgave them.

Many don't believe in the resurrection. Others who believe, think it was kind of a spooky ethereal kind of thing. The scriptures say it was a bodily resurrection. The witness given is overwhelming. The Apostle Paul even says that he appeared to over 500 people. Paul wrote this when those people would have been around and able to refute this word. I think that in many ways the best evidence for the reality of the resurrection is the change that we see in the disciples. They were somewhat flaky before Jesus' crucifixion. But after the resurrection, they were all business and gave their lives as martyrs. Why would they do this if it was all a hoax?

I believe in the resurrection. I have been to both the Garden Tomb and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Jesus isn't there! I don't know whether either of these sites is the real tomb or not (the Church has real good evidence, and the Garden Tomb looks like it ought to be it). I just know that looking at the empty tomb gives me goose bumps. But that is nothing compared to the reality of meeting the real Jesus. I met him (not in the flesh) and nothing has ever been the same.

Happy Easter

An Early Invitation to a Concert

This is from the second issue of OLT. The church was really blessed with a lot of musicians. The group advertised, Hebron Israel was one of our bands. At this time in our church history, we weren't very organized. Everyone just went about serving the Lord as they saw fit. This is not a negative comment. It was an amazing time in our church history. Everything just flowed together.

This is not the first concert by any means, but it is the first concert advertised in OLT. The music was light Christian 70's rock. Notice the art work with the invitation. The star burst was a motife used much by our art ministry, Abba Graphics. I will discuss this ministry quite a bit in subsequent posts. I just thought that this invite was quaint.

This was the first issue of Our Life Together. We had a church newsletter before this, but it was only for members of First Baptist Church Chula Vista. The first thing to catch my eye was that I had just returned from a tour of duty in the Western Pacific (a WestPac Cruise). Later in the issue it states that I have returned from North Viet Nam. If you know your history, this is a little strange. All of the fighting during the Viet Nam War was in South Viet Nam. We were protecting the government and people of the Republic of Viet Nam (South Viet Nam) from an insurgency powered by North Viet Nam (if you aren't aware, North Viet Nam won). Well, what was I doing in North Viet Nam?

This was 1973 and the US was really trying to disengage from the war. There was a lot of division here in the states and there was a general feeling that we need to get out. One of the problems was that North Viet Nam was holding a number of Prisoners of War (including John McCain). We wanted them to come home. One of the things that North Viet Nam wanted was for their harbor of Haiphong to be cleared of the mines that we had sown over the last few years. I was the logistics officer for the admiral in charge of the surface warfare ships in this operation; Endsweep.

I wont tell a lot of war stories, but I will say that this was a very trying operation. We were clearing their harbor, but they continually shot at our helos. We were there at their behest (they even had observers aboard some of our ships), yet they would make unannounced torpedo runs on our ships -- trying to provoke us. The mission was successful and we saved a Presidential Candidate. At some time I'll tell more. For the purposes of this post, I just wanted to say that this first issue of OLT brought back a lot of memories to me.

Our Life Together

I joined the First Baptist Church of Chula Vista in April, 1967. At that time, I had no idea that I would become the Pastor of the church (in 1980) or that there was anything of "special" about the church. I was in the Navy at the time and actually figured that Linda and I would be moving on in a couple of years. How wrong I was -- on all counts.

First of all, we didn't move on. Because of the Navy and the Viet Nam war, I moved on (always to the Far East), but my family stayed in Chula Vista. When I was in town, I got more active in the church. I even became the choir director; there were three of us who were Naval Officers that traded off as choir directors, depending on who was not at sea.

Secondly, the church became very significant for two reasons. The first was the Charismatic Movement which started in the early 60's. Those of us who were a part of the Charismatic Movement believed that the miraculous events of the New Testament were still in operation today; this includes such gifts as healing, prophecy and speaking in tongues. The avenue toward appropriating these gifts was through the Baptism of the Spirit. Essentially this just means that we submitted ourselves to God in such a way that we were open to any manifestation that He wanted to exhibit through us. Ken Pagard, our pastor was one of the leaders of this movement among Baptists. He really was the force behind and the leader of the American Baptist Charismatic Fellowship. The second thing that made our ministry significant is that there was a large "revival" among young "hippies" called the Jesus People movement. Our church became a center for these young people who came to believe in Jesus. They came with a lot of energy as well as a lot of problems, such as drug addiction. To help combat this, our church members started taking young people in to live with them. Soon, we had a number of communal households.

Both of these issues made us very well known in certain circles. People from all over the world came to visit us. Of course people from all of the States came, but also people from England, Denmark, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand and Zaire. Why these countries? Rev Pagard spoke in all of these places.

The major unifying force for this ministry was our church newsletter, "Our Life Together". This was published from 1973-1982. The circulation was close to 5,000 copies at it's peak. Most of the years it was published weekly. Each issue was usually 8-12 pages. There aren't many complete sets still in existence, but, I have one of those sets on loan. The Editor has loaned his set to me. I am in the process of scanning it onto my computer. I intend to use them to give some of the history of the movements that it celebrates. I will try to upload some of the copies and provide commentary. It reports on an exciting time to be a part of this church.

Why Can't We Just Get Along?

I have actually ruminated about this in earlier posts. Actually given who we are as people, the very thought is pretty naive. I know that it is just not other people, I also have a hard time when I feel that others are wrong. Why am I writing this today? One of my brothers is really hurting. He is a neighboring pastor. He has given around 20 years to the church which he serves. Now the church is turning on him. At least that is how he feels ( I confess that I agree with him -- but there are other points of view). Why does this happen? The church is Christ's body. We all serve a function. And, as Rick Warren states in "The Purpose Driven Life", it isn't about us. It is about Jesus.



My friend is admittedly coming to the end of his career, but there are several years left. Certainly the church has not always been mean. They have paid him well and supported he and his family during some difficult times. The problem is that some of the leaders feel it is time for a change. Maybe they are right. What then is the problem? Too many people can't deal with problems without getting personal and somewhat vicious. I know that this happens in the church, not because people don't care, but because they care a lot.



What is the answer? Those of us who are church leaders must help our people to learn how to deal with conflict in loving and positive ways. We also must learn to deal with the people in the same way. There are going to be differences. Pastors do need to leave. Churches do need to change directions. But we must never leave battered and bruised people in our wake.



I just learned about some people that are still hurting, their faith is stunted, their church life is lacking because of something that happened in my previous church in 1965. How sad. At this stage it doesn't make much difference what the issues were. We just need to admit that things weren't handled right.



When the Holy Spirit is operative in the church, the signs are love, mutual respect, peace and the presence of God. When we operate in our own strength, we find anger, disrespect and discord. I pray for my brother. I hate to see him hurting. I also pray for "his" church. It is a good church filled with good people -- but they aren't operating in the Spirit. May God send his Spirit and renew His church.

Chaos in the Bar

The following story was received in an email from Annie Dieselberg, an American Baptist Missionary in Bangkok, Thailand. Her ministry, Nightlight, rescues young women sold into prostitution. She actually visits the bars and works with the women in that venue to bring about their rescue. I have had the pleasure of meeting Annie and her family. This is one of the places where the Holy Spirit is working. I invite you to pray for Annie in the days ahead. The world can be a frightening and violent place, but God is our protector and redeemer.

"What the *** do you think this country is here for!"

The large buff man was leaning over the seat in the bar yelling at my team mate. I had seen him come into the bar with his buddies. They had immediately begun to fondle the women and treat them like sex dolls. I tried to ignore them even when they threw some comments my way. One of them sat next to my team mate and made a rude remark. She told him his behavior was disgusting and got up to move back away from him. He immediately went into a rage and began to cuss and yell. "How else do you think the buffalos get paid for. . ." We were trying to avoid confrontation but he was demanding it. He then bought a basket of ping pong balls used to throw at the women on the bar and thew them back at us. Chaos had erupted and it felt like everything was out of control. All I could do was point and say, "In the name of Jesus. . ." repeatedly but I didn't know what more to say after that. It was a desperate plea for intervention.

Two large ladyboys in suits headed toward us - management! Oh no, I thought, we are going to be kicked out of the bar. I was ready to leave but not like that. The larger of the two in a bright yellow jacket approached me and stunned me by introducing himself as the head manager of the bar and apologizing. I was speechless for a second and then I told him how the man had insulted Thailand. I asked him to protect the women of his bar and not allow them to go with these men as they were demeaning and possibly dangerous. He thanked me and said, "These men who treat women like these . . . all of them at least have a mother and that should cause them to treat women better."

The man at this point, having made a huge scene in the bar and seeing that we were receiving the
sympathy, began to feel some guilt. He tried to throw a large sum of money at the team mate. She kept throwing it back and he would yell, "Its not dirty money!!" The manager said, "Don't take his money! Everything is not about money. There are more important things in life than money." Again, I was stunned. . .this was the head manager of this go-go bar.

I decided to take another risk and I reached into my bag and pulled out a Christian booklet and
handed it to him. He immediately began to read it while standing at my table. I asked him, "Do you like to read?" He answered me, "I really like these. Christians have handed these out to me and whenever I feel depressed or weary I read these and I feel better." He then asked me where I went to church and if he could come. "When I was a kid," he told me, "I went to a Christian school. I
don't like this job. I know its not good and I want to change." I asked him if I could pray with him.

Right there in a dark bar, with girls dancing on the stage, a foreign man trying to make penance for his bad behavior, and loud music blaring, I held the hands of this ladyboy, the top manager. I looked him in the eyes and I prayed for him and for the destiny that God has prepared for him. He was touched and he thanked me. I paid my bill and walked out hugging the women who were with the rude customers on my way out. When we got out the door I began to jump up and down. "Yeah God!!" Wow! What had started out as chaotic and evil, God had turned around to reveal himself to the manager and for his glory. Awesome! This is going to be an amazing year, I thought.

I believe that we need to support Annie, certainly with our prayers. She is on the “front lines” of our battle against the powers of this age. Some have criticized her because she goes into “those places”. I am reminded of Jesus when he was criticized in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 5, verses 29-32:

Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”
Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

All of us need to get out of our comfortable little nests and move into the “front lines”