2010: Restless In The Second Row.

"...I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: and they cried with a loud voice, saying 'How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?' And white robes were given to every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season..." (from Revelation 6:9-11)

The heavenly word came from the Lord to the slain saints of old: "You wait. Relax. There are others who must meet their destiny of being killed for their faith, just as you were."

In our zeal to see God do something, we sometimes forget that we are not the only piece in the puzzle. God's plan and program involve the whole world. Saying yes to God may mean that we have to enter a period of waiting; a period in which we see bad people prospering, good people suffering, and it might even seem that our prayers are going unanswered.

What is the prophetic word that comes in the face of restlessness? Wait. Wait for the Lord, wait on the Lord, wait in His presence, experience His peace. Perhaps we are a bit contradictory, we Christians who have half of the Psalms memorized and who know how King David would sit before the ark of the Covenant. Perhaps we have one set of rules for what we say to encourage others, yet we don't use the same strategy to encourage ourselves.

Unless you're a rank novice, you know what to say: "Trust in the Lord, He will see you through"... in the face of your restlessness, saint of God, please say the same thing to yourself. Your 2010 will be less turbulent if you learn to rest in the love and peace of Jesus, our King.

Yes Jesus, I see You, sound asleep in the back of the boat while the storm rages and the disciples awaken you in agitation and fear. Yes, I see You as they accuse You of neglect: "Don't You care that we perish?" Please forgive us! How can we say such a thing to You, the One who breathed life into us and gave us a future and a hope? You, who even allow us to see glimpses of the future? Lord, we look forward to demonstrating Your peace, passion, and power in a restless and agitated world. Help us to do so faithfully, to Your honor and glory. We pray this in Your name. Amen.

2010: Attacking Panic.

"When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him." (Matthew 2:3)

None of us who are reading this were alive two thousand years ago. But we have historical record of the tyranny of Rome; we perhaps have seen documentaries or fictionalized accounts of the madness of political leaders of that era; and we understand that insecure leaders can do rash things that sometimes cost lives.

The account in Matthew 2 shows us that residents of Jerusalem were concerned upon learning of Herod's angst. An uncomfortable Herod had the power to make life uncomfortable for the entire community. Matthew 2:16 shows us the consequence of Herod's state: the intentional killing of all males who were up to two years old.

Can we say that Herod panicked?

At minimum, he seems to have felt threatened at the prospect of another king being present in his territory. Not just any king, but "the King of the Jews". A royal representative for the disenfranchised and oppressed. And this Herod, who history says had killed his own son in the quest to avoid losing the kingdom, had no problem killing the sons of strangers.

But this was so long ago. How do we reflect on this as we approach 2010?

-When political leaders are in a panic, our Christian faith should keep us in a state of peace. Even if our leaders make panic-driven decisions that result in the hurt and destruction of people or programs, we can still rest in the assurance that God promises are faithful and God's program will move forward unhindered. Just as the slaughter of infants and toddlers had no effect on the ultimate plan of God, we must know and believe that the death of our hearts' desires does not signal the death of God's agenda.

Lord, You have given us spiritual weapons of defense, and a weapon for offense: the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Thank You: when crisis comes You give us the strength to not only endure in a panicked world, but also to overcome. Thank You that we can attack fear and panic with Your word: "Fear not". You are with us, Emmanuel, and we will not be afraid. We stand firm in the faith in spite of the decisions of Herod. Thank You, Lord, for showing us Yourself as the true and only King. In Jesus's name. Amen.

2010: Expression In The Chaos.

"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." (Genesis 1:2)

Disorder, unpredictability, turbulence, utter confusion. Chaos.

We approach the new year in the same way we approach each new morning: we have no idea what the day will bring, but we trust God to bring us through each day.

The account of Creation in Genesis 1 is a powerful expression of the work of the Holy Spirit. He manifests His presence and His power even in the face of an earth "without form".

There's an old chorus that goes something like "Move Holy Spirit, move in my life, move Holy Spirit, make me like Christ". And it begs the question, do you really want Him to move in your life?

The earth was disorganized, and the Spirit of God was on standby, ready to act when the opportune time came. And when God said "Let there be light", light was. And light has never stopped being. A word spoken once; a word acted upon in the world; a world changed forever.

When the Lord speaks a word, and when the Spirit does a work, and when you respond in humble obedience, you are changed forever.

One warning: when we dare to say "I am the servant of the Lord; let it be unto me according to what you have said", it may mean that we will be thrust into hardship, misunderstanding, suffering, and perhaps even chaos. But the Spirit of the Lord is there: hovering, brooding, moving, fully prepared to do that thing which will change our lives forever.

Yes, Lord, it is worth the hardship, disgrace, and misunderstanding! It is worth experiencing turbulence and uncertainty! Your Word shows us that at the right time, You will step in and do amazing, profound things that will effect permanent change in us. Help us, Lord, to look at a chaotic world through the eyes of faith, knowing that Your Spirit is standing by. In Jesus's name we pray. Amen.

Watching and Waiting.

Friends,

As we did last year, we'll spend the final week of the year considering what the Lord Christ would have us to focus on as we enter 2010. You may recall that the prophetic word I blogged on to start 2009 was "The Year of the Open Show", a season in which hearts and motives would be revealed for all to see: some for good, and some for ill.

Please pray with me that whatever I share for 2010 will be honest, authentic, reflective of the heart of God and the Word of God, and that it will not be for shock value or chastising, but that we will simply hear the Lord and respond to Him appropriately.

Spirit of God,
Speak to our hearts,
Show us Your way,
Give us the mind to obey You.

Where There's Not A Place For Everyone.

"And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spoke of Him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem." (Luke 2:38)

This verse, the final sentence we have in Scripture in relation to the prophetess Anna, holds a sobering reminder of the story of Christ's arrival: in spite of the oppression of imperial Rome, in spite of regular attendance in the synagogue, in spite of accessing the privilege of worshipping at the temple in Jerusalem, not everyone was interested in being part of the redemption story.

Anna had a mandate as a prophetess: she "spoke of Him to all them that looked for redemption". Apparently, some folks were looking for redemption and some folks weren't. And Anna didn't bother wasting her time with those who weren't interested in being redeemed.

Let's bring this into our time, even as we face the end of 2009 and the advent of 2010. Let's even make it a personal question for you. Why are you at Bronx Bethany? Why do you come to worship?

-Some people only show up to sing. They sing beautifully, and then when it's over they are out of the door. If it's not their turn to sing, they're not in the building.

-Some people show up out of ceremony. They wander around for the entire service, they never give an offering. They complain about how long the service is, then they stand in the hallway for another forty minutes after service to talk with their friends. Their church attendance is just empty tradition, because their behavior clearly underlines their disinterest in actually hearing from God.

-Some people show up because they are hungry and thirsty for the word of God. They long for Christian community. They long to worship the Lord with other members of the body of Christ. They long to hear the word of the Lord preached by men and women who have given their lives for God's service. And guess what? Those people are the people who will receive the prophetic word. Those are the ones who will experience God's salvation, redemption, and deliverance.

In seven days we start a new year. Perhaps this is a good time to reflect on who we really are, who we really serve, what we really long for. For some of us, perhaps this is the time to do as Anna did, and serve the Lord through the spiritual disciplines of prayer and fasting. My prayer is that we each will be authentic before God, and that He will find in us hearts that long to see Him. Lord, may it be so!

Domine, Nunc! Dimittis!

"Lord, Now!"

Simeon and Anna were simply senior citizens who faithfully made their way to the temple everyday. They were worshippers of God, and they waited patiently for God's promised Messiah.

Joseph and Mary were simply another Jewish couple, coming to the temple to fulfill the requirements of the Law... but wait.

Joseph and Mary were not just any couple. Simeon and Anna were not just any senior citizens. God ordained the steps of these four people, and a "kairos" moment, an opportune time that had to be acted upon,occurred.

"Domine, nunc! Dimittis!" "Lord, now! Dismiss me!" Simeon knew what God had said: the advent of the Christ signalled the end of days for Simeon. "And it was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ" (Luke 2:26).

What a thing to consider: Simeon had seen the Lord Jesus, and upon encountering Him Simeon was ready to die. In other words, Simeon was not changing the deal. We are often guilty of trying to pull a "shell game" with God: "God, if you just let me see my child finish high school then that's enough for me"... "God, let me see them finish college"... "God, let me see them get married... establish independence... get their first house..." or, in other words, "God, I am not relinquishing my right to myself. You just keep doing nice things for me and my family, keep letting me live in prosperity, let me keep switching my story. God, I'm not really interested in giving my life to You."

Lord, what can we say? You call us to die to self, to lay our lives before You. Help us to say with Simeon, Yes! Take me out of the temple, take my life, take my agenda- You have promised I'd see this day, this day has come, and I have seen You up close and personal. That's enough for me! Do what You please! Thank You for allowing me to experience Your salvation, Your Light, Your Glory. Thank You for allowing me to share a prophetic word with the purpose of giving light and understanding to others who are serving You from a heart of obedience. We relinquish our lives to You. Keep us, send us, destroy us, promote us... Do what You see fit. Whatever it is You want, that is what we want. Search our hearts and reveal Your truth in us. In Jesus's name, Amen.

Where's My S.C.U.B.A. Gear?

One of the joys and hazards of hearing Pastor Sam preach is that he has this habit of saying something profound; something you've heard or read before, but somehow you never realized the implications- that is, until you've heard him say it from the pulpit. Somehow the Spirit of God enlightens our understanding and we are astounded.

This past Sunday's sermon contained a few of those "aha" moments. One of those moments revolved around Leviticus 12:1-3. In his reflection on the process of birth and baby dedications in the culture of ancient Israel, Pastor Sam mentioned in passing a couple of numbers inherent in the birth of a male child: 7 days of being ceremonially unclean, and an additional 33 days for purification.

Let's see... yes, that would be forty days. And it was at this point in the sermon that I had to reach for my virtual oxygen tank, because our senior pastor had gone to the bottom of the ocean. I mean, deep.

Who knew? I mean, we all know about the 40 days and nights of rain in Noah's time... the 40 years of ancient Israel's wandering in the desert... the 40 days that Elijah fasted (apparently on two occasions, but we'll deal with that theory some other time)... and all along, right in front of us but somehow unseen, we have Jesus. Not the adult Jesus fasting for 40 days in the wilderness, but the infant Jesus in a 40-day waiting period, because his mother could not enter the temple courts until she had observed the 40 day waiting period required under Jewish law.

And as some of us know, interesting things happen when we have been waiting on something for 40 days. Mary and Joseph got a taste of the incredible when, after the forty days were finished, they went to the temple and met two senior citizens- one man and one woman who waxed prophetic and who said some amazing things about the son who was their Lord. We'll take a look at them tomorrow.

Obstacle Course!

On Sunday, Pastor Sam reminded us that the trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem was full of risks for Joseph and Mary.

It was a pathway full of obstacles:

The financial challenge of having to come up with the money to pay taxes to Rome. This was a newly instituted manadte, and I would imagine that most families in ancient Israel were not prepared to pay tribute to Caesar.

The physical challenge of having to travel. There was no airplane, no bus system. Does the Bible tell us whether this couple even had a donkey for Mary to ride on? (That's for you to research.)

The physiological challenge of giving birth to a child. Scripture does not inform us of whether there was a midwife, or any other assistant. But we do know that Mary and Joseph had lodging in a stable, apparently the only available space since "there was no room for them in the inn" (Luke 2:7). In the worst of sanitary conditions, there they were.

Was there a racial obstacle? Was there ethnic bias? We don't know, but I do wonder about that phrase "there was no room for them". Would there have been room if they had a lot of money, making a grand entrance with camels and horses and famous relatives?

Ah, but the good news is that in spite of these obstacles, God's work was still accomplished. As Pastor Sam shared, "Obstacles do not present a credible barrier to the purpose of God." And perhaps that is a good note to end on for today: when faced with the pressures of life, we can know without a doubt that God's work will nonetheless move forward. Amen!

Rights And Privileges Thereunto Appertaining.

What a wonderful Christmas Sunday! A foot of snow on the ground, the joy of seeing families brave the weather to come to corporate worship, and the unmistakable clue of Pastor Sam in "full regalia", donning his clergy robe and stole in keeping with the tradition of Christmas Sunday.

We heard the Christmas Story, but not in the usual sense. Pastor Sam took us on a trip that incorporated geography, imperial Rome, the requirements of worship in ancient Israel, and the question of our own role in knowing, hearing, and obeying God.

This week we will take time to revisit these themes, and I hope all of us will keep asking the hard questions that, when answered honestly, will help us to grow in our Christian faith.

For today, though, I'll ask that we all take time to read some of the passages that were mentioned during the sermon: Luke chapter 2, Leviticus chapter 12, and Exodus 13:2. (Of course there are others, but I'll just mention three for now- perhaps the others will be addressed in later blogs.)

Take care my friends!

Warrick And Peace.

As this week comes to a close, I find myself thinking of some of the things that occurred this past Sunday simply because "J.K." was visiting. People who are normally chronically late to church showed up early. Ushers for the first service roped off rows for "the children" who never showed up. (Perhaps someone should have told them that Children's Church only overlaps the second service...) Congregational singing was trimmed to a neat ten minutes in order to make room for a video, a testimony in Spanish (with simultaneous translation into English), and an additional testimony from one of the persons who was featured in the video.

But perhaps the most interesting thing was to see that some people were agitated and nervous because they wanted to present Bronx Bethany in a manner that would have a positive impression on J.K. Warrick. I suppose there's nothing wrong with that. We all want to pull out the stops when we're hosting special guests.

Oh, but what a difference between the welcome of J.K. this past Sunday and the arrival of the Christ into the world over two thousand years ago. Jesus had an earthly "welcoming" committee of a King who wanted to kill Him and a religious system that showed no urge to embrace Him (Matthew 2:1-6) and a city that had no room to hold Him (Luke 2:7). God graciously revealed the wondrous birth to foreigners (Matthew 2:1-2 and 2:9-12), and shepherds who worked the night shift (Luke 2:8-20), and senior citizens whose hearts were open to hearing from the Spirit of God (Luke 2:25-39).

Prince of Peace, how is it that we approach Your throne with our hearts in chaos? We hear Your rebuke as You rebuked Martha: "You are encumbered. Your sister has chosen the better part. She sits at My feet and hears My word." Lord, forgive us for our focus on the things that keep us from hearing You. Prince of Peace, grant us Your peace during this season of anticipation and wonder. Amen.

"Who Invited You To The Leadership Meeting?"

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6)

During this past Sunday's sermon Reverend J.K. Warrick said that Jesus sets us free so that we can advance His kingdom. It's an interesting statement to hear from a General Superintendent, because it's a statement devoid of denominationalism and self-preservation. Nazarene or no Nazarene, the point and the goal is to see Christians participating in the sorts of activities that will serve to advance the kingdom of God.

What can we do?

-Avoid giving in to fear;
-Aspire to obey God by doing what He asks;
-Allow the Holy Spirit full reign in us so that He can accomplish the extraordinary in our ordinary lives.

These points are made salient in Jesus's parable of the talents (see Luke 19:11-27). Today might be a good day to take some time and read (or re-read) that parable, particularly the often-passed-over sub-plot of the story which is found in verses 14 and 27.

LORD, forgive us for our refusal to do the simple things. Help us to be fearless. Help us to do what You say. Help us to make room for You to do great works through our feeble frames. We love You and long to look like You. Thank You for helping us by Your grace. Amen.

That Prophetess Tag.

"And there was one Anna, a prophetess..." (Luke 2:36)

Reverend J.K. Warrick spoke briefly about Simeon and Anna during his sermon this past Sunday. These two older adults gave prophetic words to Mary and Joseph while they were in the temple.

I wonder what sort of response Simeon and Anna would receive from us if the scene in Luke 2:25-39 were to occur in today's context. Would we hear them, or would we dismiss them as old people who are at best daydreaming, or at worst demented?

The Scripture tells us one response of Joseph and Mary: "And Joseph and Jesus's mother marvelled at those things which were spoken" (see Luke 2:33). The word "marvelled" could be interpreted to mean amazed, astonished, or full of wonder.

But "marvelled" carries no hint of unbelief or scoffing, and we would do well to take note of that point. When we receive a prophetic word from someone who is speaking through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, we can be confident that the word, even if it's astonishing or amazing, is in fact accurate.

LORD, thank You that we can count on Your word. Thank You for the men and women You have granted the spirit of prophecy. Give us grace to see what You see and say what You say, so that Your community can be built up and strengthened. In Jesus's name, Amen.

H.I., J.K.

Greetings Friends!

This past Sunday, Bronx Bethany received a visit from J.K. Warrick, one of the General Superintendents in the Church of the Nazarene. Reverend Warrick's scripture reading was Luke 2:1-20, the familiar passage which gives an account of the birth of Jesus.

One of the points made in the sermon was that the ordinary things of life can become extraordinary when they are touched and inhabited by God. As we reflect on this thought today, let's take a look at our own lives: can we say the same thing? Can our lives, our ordinary everyday routines, point others to the incomparable love of God?

Perhaps it's shown in the way we love our neighbors and pray for others.
Maybe it's demonstrated in our care for the hurting and the disenfranchised.

Or maybe you're thinking, and you can't say that there's something you do everyday that is driven by your love for God.

Do you love Him? Do you want to be like Him? "For God so loved the world that He gave..." (see John 3:16).

LORD, help us to show Your extraordinary love as we engage in our ordinary routines!

Needed: Knee Drill.

Back when I was in The Salvation Army, the old-timers would refer to prayer meetings as "knee drills". There was an understanding that success in the kingdom of God was not due to high attendance or big budgets, but the simple act of humbling ourselves in prayer.

As we look back on this past Sunday's sermon, and as we reflect on the things Pastor Benji shared, it seems that the knee drill is the key for being able to live out the exhortations given by the apostle Paul in Second Corinthians 5 and 6.

To end this week, here are a few paraphrases from Pastor Benji's sermon:

-From now on, we should not regard anyone from a worldly point of view;
-If we are to be God's people, we must see people through Jesus's eyes;
-There is a difference between "sketching the portrait of Jesus" and experiencing His power;
-God has made the first move in our road to reconciliation;
-There has to be a relationship in place for us to call God "Abba".

LORD, help us to diligently seek You in prayer, so that You might empower us to do the things that please You. Please give us Your love and compassion, so that people who see us will see You. Amen.

Peace Meal.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

God loved, God gave,
We believe, we live.

In this past Sunday's sermon Pastor Benji noted that Jesus became the peace offering for us, and part of the nature of an offering is that it must be consumed. To quote Pastor Benji, "God has made the first move in our road to reconciliation". It is He who made provision for us, long before we realized our need of it.

Perhaps the most amazing thing is that He made provision for us, then gave us the option to accept or refuse the offer. In love He does not force us to accept Him, but He desires that we make the choice to come to Him.

If you have not made the decision to say "yes" to God's great offer, why not do it now?

LORD God, I thank You for loving me and for demonstrating Your love by offering me eternal life through Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I admit that I have sinned. I am sorry for the wrongs I have done, and I repent. With Your help I renounce all the evil I used to do, and now I cling to You. I believe that You are the only One who can save me. I thank You for coming to the world to save me, and I ask You to come into my heart now. Please live inside me. Please help me to do the things that please You. Please help me to show Your love to everyone I meet. I thank You Lord, and I pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Missing The Son.

In this past Sunday's sermon, Pastor Benji made a reference to the time when Jesus was not accepted by the men and women of His community. These were those who had watched Him grow up, who knew His earthly family, and who could not reconcile their image of Him with the reality of His true status as the Son of God, the Messiah, the Anointed One.

How often do we do the same thing? How many of us identify the members of the pastoral staff as "Pastor" except for Pastor Richard Griffiths, who grew up at Bronx Bethany and who most people refer to as "Richie" with virtually no mention of his title? Or worse, how many of us identify Jesus as merely a good teacher and miracle worker, without granting Him His proper title? Is He our King? Is He our Ruler? Or is He just our spiritual convenience store, at our service 24 hours a day in case we get the urge to access His storehouse?

"Coming to His hometown, Jesus began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. 'Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?' they asked. 'Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren't all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?' And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, 'Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor.' And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith." (Matthew 13:54-58)

It's an interesting thing to consider: when we miss the Son, we miss His benefits, even if we acknowledge His power. The question asked by Jesus's community was "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?": so they knew He was wise, and they knew He worked miracles, but they did not put their faith in Him- for them, seeing was not the same as believing, and they lost a wonderful opportunity to experience God in a profound and life-changing way.

LORD, help us to not just see Your works, but to believe!

Kissing The Son.

Hello Friends,

For the next few days we'll reflect on this past Sunday's sermon. Pastor Benji spoke on Second Corinthians 5:11 through 6:2. During the sermon he asked a question: How do we become intimate with Jesus?

Paul's letter to the Philippians gives us some clues as to how we can grow ever closer to the Lord Jesus: "I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death" (Philippians 3:10).

Are we interested in reading the word of God, praying, and worshipping Him?
Are we open to the dynamic work of the Holy Spirit in our lives?
Are we ready and willing to suffer just as Christ has suffered for us?

You know, this is sort of like a marathon. The first component, knowing Christ, seems painless enough. The second, experiencing the power of His resurrection, might cause some people to shy away from getting to know Him better. And the third component, sharing in His sufferings, is the thing that many people will refuse to do.

What about you?

Prostitute, Puppet, Preacher.

There is nothing in Scripture that condones the purchase or sale of spiritual gifts. In fact, we have evidence in both the Old and New Testaments that God despised the use of financial means for the securing of ministry gifts and graces: we have the example of Balaam in Numbers 22 through 25,and we have the example of Simon the sorcerer in Acts 8. By these examples we are warned not to peddle spiritual gifts for personal profit, nor to sell impartations of spiritual gifts.

But what above the reverse? How do we respond in situations where a church leader, or church board, asks a person to cease and desist from exercising their spiritual gifts? Well, we do see in Acts 11 that the apostle Peter had such a situation with the religious leaders concerning the conversion and baptism of Cornelius's household. In a nutshell, they were upset that Peter had preached to Gentiles. And what was the final decision? "When they heard this (Peter's testimony), they had no further objections" (Acts 11:18). The manifestation of the presence and power of the Spirit was enough to convince the leaders that God's stamp of approval was on Peter.

Let's bring this closer to home. What sort of a preacher are you looking for: a prostitute who will lick your earlobes and tell you everything you want to hear? Or a puppet who will let you turn his head from side to side, and who will tell the people everything you want to be said?

Well, that's not what you need. Let me tell you what you need:

-Men and women of God who are more interested in obeying Him than placating you.

It's really that simple. If you are not in a place where obedience is more important than your personal satisfaction, then I urge you to repent and turn wholeheartedly to the will and the way of our Lord Jesus. His will is to do the will of the Father. His way is the narrow road of suffering and self-sacrifice. He loves, He graces, He gives. Liberally. He forgives. He prays.

Make His way your way!

Your Favor, Your Power, Your Grace.

"Not everyone appreciates the grace of God." (Pastor Benji)

Pastor Benji shared the above statement during Sunday's sermon, and it is so true.

It seems that after a period of time, we forget the grace that God has extended to us and we live as if we have earned the right to be recipients of His gifts. And our forgetfulness is manifested in our response to those men and women who God also has extended grace to, but whom we feel do not deserve to receive His grace.

One of my favorite "grace" moments at Bronx Bethany occurred when I was invited to attend a leadership seminar being run by the church. At the time I wasn't even a member of the church, but someone invited me and I went. That seminar was the beginning of many God-ordained meetings and discussions that resulted in, among other things, this blog site being launched.

Was there opposition? Most certainly. And the opposition was from "Christians" who were also recipients of the grace of God. Well, all I can say is that God has shown me (to again reference Jim Collins) "the right seat on the right bus", and now that I know I will not relinquish what He has graced me to receive. And I hope that I will never forget that just as He extended grace to me, I must always extend His grace to others.

Oh, the deep deep love of Jesus! "He descended" (Ephesians 4:9-10) in order to save us. And "He gave" (Ephesians 4:11-13); the gift of salvation, the gift of His Spirit, and the gift of becoming participants in His vehicle for saving the world: the body of Christ, which is His church.

LORD, how we love You! You have bestowed Your favor, Your power, and Your grace on us. We could never deserve it, we could never earn it, but You gave. Thank You!!

New York State Senate Update.

Dear Friends,

You may recall that on May 20, June 11, and October 28, I published blogs that referred to Governor David Paterson's campaign to legalize homosexual marriage in New York State, and I asked that all of us fast and pray for the will and desire of God to be accomplished. Yesterday the bill was brought to the Senate floor for a vote, and the Senate voted NO.

As I shared back in October, our role and responsibility as believers is to demonstrate the love of Christ to everyone we meet. Yet in that demonstration of love towards everyone, we are not to deny our Lord and we are not to disobey Him. I thank God for the men and women in our State Senate who, when asked to vote on this bill, voted in alignment with the word of God.

Please continue to pray.

That Is Why Some Of You Are Sick.

"As a prisoner of the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received." (Ephesians 4:1).

AH, that raises a question: What is the calling you have received? Do you know?

One of the more virulent aspects of the Christian life is this hazard of having to interact with individuals who are unaware of the calling they have received. Whether from good or evil intentions, they have taken positions in the body of Christ that were not ordained for them by God. And the results of being (to re-phrase Jim Collins) "in the wrong seat, on the wrong bus" can be deadly.

As Pastor Benji said so succinctly during the first service, "God gives gifts as He sees fit" (see Ephesians 4:7). And we would do well to accept those gifts, and use them, to His glory.

So, my friend, is your life an expression of your calling? Have you embraced the gifts He has poured into you? Or are you despising your calling and coveting the gifts He has given to others?

I Embrace You, Lord, But Only For Thirty-Five Minutes.

Ah, love.

We use that word so loosely, and our behavior ultimately indicts us.

What are you doing, Bronx Bethany? Is that you singing about how much you love the Lord, then in the next breath spewing a litany of reasons why you cannot do anything for the sake of the kingdom? What are those echoes of the rejection of the invitation to the banquet (see Luke 14)?

-I have just bought a field...
-I have just bought five yoke of oxen and have to go test them...
-I have just gotten married...

-I have a meeting with my real estate partners, could you finish the service by 1:00?
-I have to finish cooking dinner, if I go to the altar for prayer it might throw off my schedule. How about next week?
-I really can't stand those praise and worship songs, so I'll come to church 45 minutes late. You don't really need my worship, do You?

Or, to put it another way, you have decided that God is worthy not of your love, but merely worthy of your leftovers.

Oh, how we have turned up our nose at the grace of God. As Pastor Benji noted in Sunday's sermon, our Lord Jesus put aside His Glory and descended to us in order to set us free from the penalty of sin (See Ephesians 4:8). What sort of gratitude should we express to the One who has released us from captivity?

It will be interesting to see what you do next Sunday.

Prep School.

Friends,

A blessed Advent Season to you!

This past Sunday Pastor Benji continued his Ephesians series. Part Two, which focused on being equipped for ministry, will be reflected upon in our blogs this week. You may want to read Ephesians 4 again as preparation for the next few blog postings.

As you read, please take time to reflect on the following questions:

-Who has God placed in your life to help with equipping you to serve Him?
-Are you willing to serve Him?
-How much of your personal desires are you willing to relinquish in order to ensure that His desires are accomplished?

"Engagement" Ring.

In Pastor Sam's sermon on November 22nd, he spoke on Psalm 116. The heart of the sermon was focused on the idea of engagement in generosity as an expression of thankfulness to God. However, this engagement must be preceded by a more important one: engagement in a "promise-keeping" relationship with God.

The repeated thought of Psalm 116 is a curious one: "I will call upon the name of the LORD" (see verses 2, 4, 13, 17). Not 'I will give money to the church', not 'I will feed widows and orphans', but 'I will call upon the name of the LORD'. It seems God is more interested in having our hearts than having our wallets.

When we accept the "cup of salvation" (Psalm 116:13), an interesting thing happens. As Pastor Sam noted, when God has our hearts, then giving of our time, talents, and tithes is no problem: "I will fulfill my vows in the presence of all His people" (Psalm 116:14). It seems natural: First, God, I love You; Second, God, everything I have is at Your disposal.

So, Bronx Bethany, are you uptight or upset when we talk about giving to the LORD? Perhaps another stroll through Psalm 116 might help us regain perspective:

-The LORD heard my cry and turned His ear to me (v.1);
-When I was in great need, He saved me (v.6);
-The LORD has delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from stumbling (v.8);
-The LORD has freed me from my chains (v.16).

Oh LORD God our Father, we say with the psalmist, How can we repay You for all Your goodness to us? Give us grace to accept Your salvation. Give us grace to fulfill our vows to You, grace to give and to do what we have promised. We pray this for the sake of Your glorious kingdom. In Jesus' name. Amen.

A New Wardrobe!

"The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them" (Genesis 3:21).

In Pastor Joy's sermon "Generous God, Amazing Grace, Grateful Recipients", she began by noting that God has done everything for us to be in right relationship with Him.

It was God who created us; God who gave us life and purpose; God who provided for our needs; and God who covered our glaring inadequacies.

The story of God's response to the fall of Adam and Eve shows a clear example of what Pastor Joy defined as grace. And just as God responded to the need and the sin of Adam and Eve by providing them animal skins for clothing in place of their fig leaves, in the same manner Christ Jesus responded to our need and sin by giving Himself as a sacrifice in place of our inadequate, senseless effort to redeem ourselves.

God has shown us grace. Can we show grace to others?

-A grace that is lived out from the heart, not just the intellect?
-A grace that is demonstrated in radical, conspicuous, counter-cultural expression?
-A grace that pushes us out of our comfort zone and into a place where we obey the Holy Spirit without hesitation?

To quote Pastor Joy, "grace calls us to the place where we are stretched". Let's truly be willing to allow God to stretch us, mold us, and shape us into what He needs us to be for the sake of His kingdom.

LORD God, there are a few people in Bronx Bethany who want You to strip them of their fig leaves and clothe them in Your sacrificial love. Teach us how to extend ourselves for others, just as You have done for us. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Like A Cell Dividing, Grows The Church of God...

Pastor Benji began his sermon on November 8th with this statement: "God takes us through a process in order to establish us": and our pastor noted that creation itself is an example of this process.

It's something that we don't talk about much, but let's talk about it today. What happens in creation, and how does it relate to our spiritual journey?

-Growth involves death. That beautiful tree is there because one seed was buried in the ground. We are spiritually alive because Jesus died and was buried for us, then rose again in all power as our King and Intercessor. And by His grace He causes us to die to sin so that we might live for Him and pray for others to be added to His eternal kingdom.

-Growth involves division. When a child is conceived, there is a series of divisions of cells that must take place in order for the baby to be born "normal" (that is, with all parts functioning correctly). Are you getting the analogy? We are one body of Christ with many parts. Sometimes the Lord sovreignly moves people to different areas of the local church or the world, in order to maximize the functioning of the Church as a whole. We cannot have a church full of administrators with no prophets or teachers in the house. God will do whatever must be done in order to see His church functioning correctly, and sometimes that means division of labor or even dispersion of resources.

-Growth involves food and water. As we receive the word of God and are empowered by the Holy Spirit, we are equipped to appropriate the sacrificial love of Christ and the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit. As we operate the gifts of God in us, we participate in His mandate to preach, teach, baptize, heal, and work miracles (see Matthew 28:18-20 and Mark 16:15-18). And, as those things are done, the Lord will increase the church (Acts 2).

LORD God, help us to be real and recognize that Your way of doing things may involve pain, separation, or even death, for the sake of growing Your body the Church. Help us to accept and experience these things from Your perspective. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Gideon's 300.

On November 1st Pastor Sam began his sermon with a wonderful truth: sometimes, the majority is wrong.

In the context of church life, we risk becoming enamored with things that satisfy our senses: seeing the pews full of people, experiencing a working system of finance and administration, and assuming that the mission is successful because the pews are full and there's money in the bank.

Guess what? That's a big mistake.

The markers that matter are not outside of us, they are inside of us. Pastor Sam spoke on three points that Bronx Bethany Church of the Nazarene must embrace in order to move forward:

-Our attendance in church must be an expression of our love for God. We are not just showing up to warm the pews: we are avoiding idolatry of men and systems; we are loving honestly and without treachery; we are not insulting God by attempting to bind Him into a particular format or timetable.

-Our faith community demonstrates its love for God through loving our neighbors. Ah, remember the question that preceded the parable "The Good Samaritan": "And who is my neighbor?" The one least like you, the one you'd cross the street to avoid, the one in your path who is on the verge of death. To quote Pastor Sam, "growing together is a must in order for the vision to be realized"... and we cannot grow together until we are together.

-There is a difference between servanthood and servitude. This is particularly important: the majority of our church attendees come from a cultural context where slavery was a part of our ancestry, and it may be a challenge to view service to others as a type of spiritual grace that God can use to save souls. But that is exactly what we must do. We must, as Pastor Sam has said, "get into the basin and towel business". If Jesus could wash Judas's feet on the night of His betrayal, what can we do but follow His lead?

Remember Gideon (Judges chapter 7)? He started out with an army of 32,000 men. And what did God say? If I may paraphrase: "Gideon, there's too many men here. Get rid of the ones with the wrong attitude towards war." So the men who were scared, 22,000, were sent home. Another 9,700 were sent home for demonstrating unpreparedness for war: they got down on their knees to drink water, exposing their status as vulnerable and not ready to maintain the upper hand in a fight.

What am I saying? I am saying, Bronx Bethany, that Pastor Sam has tagged three things that God is interested in- and it's not your money, your music, or your mastery of church tradition. Our mandate is to love God, to grow together, and to serve the world. If you are not on board with that, then you're not on our team. Please understand I love you and I say that in love. We're in a war for souls, and we don't need wrong attitudes nor unprepared hearts on the battlefield.

God, Gideon showed up with 32,000 men, and You took less than one percent of the group. Some of us are hearing You: please count us among Your "300"!

The SRC Consortium!

Greetings Friends,

Happy Thanksgiving Week! It's good to be back online. You will have noticed that I was AWOL for awhile: I've been dealing with some physical challenges- and have also been experiencing the grace of God through physical healing. It's been a wonderful thing, even in the midst of excruciating pain, to know that God is present and He can use us even in our frailty.

I think this might be a good week to blog sermon notes from each of our pastors who hold the rank of elder: Pastor Sam, Pastor Benji, and Pastor Joy. We are so blessed to have them! (The "SRC" in the above title refers to their given names: Samuel, Ronald, and Carlene).

Tomorrow we'll reflect on Pastor Sam's sermon from November 1st, Thursday we'll revisit Pastor Benji's sermon from November 8th, Friday we'll consider Pastor Joy's sermon from November 15th, and Saturday we'll end with a recap of Pastor Sam's sermon from November 22nd.

For today, though, let's just take time out during the day to thank God for these three who have forsaken all to follow Him. Why not send them a card, an email, or even a gift to let them know you love them and appreciate their ministry to us and our families?

LORD God, how we thank You for sending us pastors who have a heart for You: Pastors Sam, Benji, Joy, Martha, and Richie. We are so grateful that You have equipped them for the ministry. We pray that You will bless them and provide for all their needs, and that You will show us the roles we can play in helping to meet those needs. Lord we love You, and we ask You to help us be an expression of Your love to them. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen!

Bless My House My Job My Kids My Health My Church Amen...

Let's close this week with a quote from Pastor Benji (made during the first service this past Sunday): "The things that are valuable to you, you pray about those things."

For some of us, this is a strong indictment. Why? Because our prayers are not generated from a heart of love and submission to the Spirit of the LORD. Instead, our prayers are generated from a heart of selfishness and a desire for self-preservation. We are faced with the example of Mary Magdalene, with her "retirement fund" of one jar of pure nard poured out on Jesus, and we cringe.

So, what is of value? Well, what do you pray about? Paul in prison writes a letter: not a plea for his release, but an expression of joy at the surpassing greatness of God; an expression of the wonder of His amazing love; an expression of hope and expectation to become more and more like Him. Paul's prayer? "Oh, my friends and loved ones, I long for you to be strengthened with the power of Christ!" "I wish you would really know what it means when you sing 'how great is our God'!" "How I long for you to experience the fullness of His Spirit!"

Friends, some of us are stuck in the rut indicated by the title of today's blog. Today is a good day to abandon the prayers of self-preservation, and embrace the prayers of Spirit-revelation.

See you next week!

All Noise, No Action?

In this past Sunday's sermon Pastor Benji made an analagous reference to fireworks and dynamite: the fireworks we are accustomed to viewing each fourth of July are beautiful to watch, but as the noise and lights dissipate there has been no change in our environment: they were merely explosives fired into the air. On the other hand, when dynamite is used to build a tunnel through a mountainside, we are able to see the end result of the explosive activity: something has changed in our environment.

Ephesians 3:16 (and following) expresses the concept of dunamis: the power of God, working on our behalf, to change situations and people. What are the changes people will see in us when dunamis, the power of God, is present?

-We will experience the love of Christ;
-We will understand the love of Christ;
-We will be filled with the love of Christ, and that love will flow out of us into the lives of others.

My friends, where do we stand? Are we just pretty noisemakers, or are we engaged in actions that demonstrate the love of Christ to a dying world?

"Ground" Rules.

In Sunday's sermon, Pastor Benji reflected on the idea of being grounded (Ephesians 3:17): that is, the Christian who has made Jesus their foundation will not be easily swayed by the storms and trials of life.

Being "established" is a proof of our faith in Christ: as the old hymn says, "on Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand" (Edward Mote). And, according to Ephesians, that grounding is in love.

Christ Himself is our example: He has loved us, and He continues to love us. In patience He woos us, longing for us to obey Him- an obedience given not out of obligation, but out of love. When we have the assurance of His love, we are able to stand without shifting.

Today, let's consider Pastor Benji's question: When circumstances turn for the worse, do you remain grounded in the love of Christ, or do you shift?

Step One, Step Two, Step Three.

On this past Sunday, Pastor Benji preached the first of a three-part series based in the book of Ephesians. The focus of this first sermon was on the need for believers to be established in their Christian faith.

I'll begin at the end: in the closing minutes of Pastor Benji's sermon, he shared that our mandate as Christians is not just to move quickly, but to perform productively. He used the example of "rims", ornamental hubcaps that spin like a pinwheel- and, like a pinwheel, the circular motion is only that. It does not propel forward; it is not harnessed for the energy it exerts; it just spins.

There's a lot that can be done in church. I've spoken before in this blog about the crisis of Bronx Bethany carrying its old nickname, "the singing church". At the end of the day, what has the singing done? Has it been a platform for the presence and power of the Holy Spirit? Or has it just been musical "rims"- pretty sounds that take us nowhere? And this inquiry is not limited to music: we can ask the same question of our teaching and preaching, our service to the community, our tithing and giving.

I trust that God sees in each of us a desire to be productive parties in the building of the kingdom of God: "some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, some a hundredfold" (see Matthew 13:18-23).

LORD, please help us to move from ornamental to instrumental!

The Trap of Treachery: Balaam.

"They have left the straight way to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness" (Second Peter 2:15).

The books of Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Nehemiah, Micah, Second Peter, Jude, and Revelation each have references to this prophet-for-hire. Balaam's infamy was bound in his willingness to accept money from the Moabites in return for speaking a curse upon the nation of Israel. (For those of you who want a refresher course, you can find much of Balaam's story in Numbers chapters 22 through 24.)

What an unusual prophet Balaam was. In one moment he would say, in effect, "I can only do what God allows me to", and in the next moment he would take the money from Israel's enemies and travel with them- even in the face of the LORD having warned him not to travel with the Moabites.

At the end of it all, the LORD did not permit Balaam to pronounce a curse on the Israelites. However, Balaam counseled the Moabites on another way to bring destruction to Israel: idolatry and sexual immorality (see Revelation 2:14).

Where do we fit in this picture? We must beware of using our spiritual giftings in the service of the enemy. We must be careful not to counsel people in a way that leads to the destruction of the people of God. We must take care not to allow the offer of wealth to cloud our judgement or cause us to compromise what we believe.

Balaam did his thing and went home. And Israel lived with the consequences.

What did Balaam's treachery cost? 24,000 lives (see Numbers 25).

Lord, we understand You have called us into prophetic community. Please, give all of us grace to walk in full obedience to You, without compromise or confusion. Purge us of any love or desire for the gifts of the enemy.

The Trap of Treachery: Cain.

"This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous" (First John 3:11-12).

In reviewing the treachery of Cain, let's return to the account in Genesis 4. What does the passage say?

-Cain was the firstborn son.
-Cain was a farmer.
-Cain was angry because God did not accept his offering.

This is interesting. It seems that, although it is not explicit in the passage, God had indicated to both Cain and his brother Abel the order in which sacrifices must be made. The passage says, "Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock" (Genesis 4:4). In other words, it seems that God expected His people, long before the call of Abraham and the establishment of Israel, to bring the firstborn animals as a sacrifice- that is, the sin offering. We get a cue of this requirement in God's question: "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?" (Genesis 4:7). I don't think God would have asked the question unless Cain had already been made aware of the requirement.

Another interesting thing is that the passage says, "Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD" (Genesis 4:3). Not the first fruits, but some of the fruits. If I can say it this way, it seems that Cain made some mistakes:

-First, Cain did not bring the required animal sacrifice, which had to involve the shedding of blood- and not just any blood, but that of the firstborn in the flocks.

-Second, Cain did not even bring the firstfruits of his agricultural efforts. Cain kept those, and brought the LORD leftovers ("leftovers" may be too strong a term, but that is how I'm reading the passage. I am open to discussion on this thought).

-Third, Cain got very angry when God did not grant favor to him (Genesis 4:5). This seems a little strange, that Cain would expect to garner the favor of God even though he had not followed God's instructions... do you know any people like that?

Yes, you and I know plenty of people like that. And, sometimes, we are "the people like that".

LORD, forgive us for those times when we have not followed Your instructions, we have not done what You asked us to do, then have gotten upset when we recognized that Your favor was not resting upon us. Please help us to have hearts of obedience, to pay the price to offer the spiritual sacrifices You expect and demand, and help us to bring our offerings to You with great joy and gladness. Give us grace to obey you fully and completely, so that we do not go in the way of Cain.

Treachery, Revisited.

God is so amazing. Sometimes, in the middle of a sermon, His Spirit will turn the discourse in an unexpected direction. And it does us good to take notice and respond appropriately.

Pastor Sam spoke this past Sunday, and as a wrap-up to the church anniversary he preached on the mission and vision of our church in light of our mandate to love, grow, and serve (for more on this, read Thom S. Rainer's book "Simple Church").

But something happened during the sermon. Pastor Sam shared with the congregation an allegory that he used a few weeks ago when speaking at a workshop with the men and women involved in the music ministry at our church. The allegory was that of a man who, without fail, gives his wife flowers every week, but at the same time is involved in an affair. The point of the story was that the flowers were not a representation of love, but were instead a cover-up for treachery.

The great indictment is that we do the same thing to God. We sing, dance, shout, clap, memorize volumes of Scripture, preach, feed the poor, and do countless other things that give an external appearance of nobility, humility, and unadulterated love for our Lord. But something else is occurring behind the scenes: stealing the Lord's tithe; gossiping and slandering leaders; performing activities out of routine (or out of perceived obligation) instead of serving from a heart of love; and the list goes on. And we think that our exertions of these spiritual favors are sufficient to cover up our unthankful hearts.

Guess what? God is not interested in the favors, He's interested in our hearts- and as Pastor Sam has noted so poignantly, God is not obligated to accept every gift we offer (re-read Psalm 50 for a crash course in what God thinks about "lip service").

Friends, let's pay attention. When God keeps mentioning something, there's a reason. And, let's continue to pray that our brothers and sisters in the faith will walk in holiness. God does not want us to perish, so He woos us with His love and demonstrates great patience... but He will not wait forever (see Second Peter 3:9).

It really was not my intent to blog the anniversary service with a harsh word, but that is where we will be this week. It's a week of warnings, and I hope you'll be courageous with me as we seek to rescue our spiritual siblings from the trap of treachery.

Synchronized Praying.

Reverend Joel gave a wonderful example of someone who was praying for him during a television broadcast, but the person didn't realize that the event they were "praying for" had ended several hours before it aired... they were wasting time praying in an attempt to change a dialogue that had already occurred!

When we pray, are we led by what we see in front of us? Perhaps we should instead engage the idea of solely being led by the Holy Spirit. Here's an example. Some time ago the Lord prompted an individual to pray on a Sunday for a worship service that was scheduled to occur the following Tuesday. The person prayed on the Sunday, then stopped praying on the Monday. Why? Because the Holy Spirit had assured that the prayer was heard and responded to: in other words, any additional prayer for that event would have been redundant at best.

How hard this can be. We live in a world where much of our decision-making is based not on the leading of the Holy Spirit, but instead based on what we see, hear, or read. That's a hard thing to change... but not impossible. I pray that each of us will be courageous and submit our entire wills to the Spirit of Jesus- to see what He sees, hear what He hears, say what He says. When we "pray in sync" (Rev. Joel's phrase) with the Spirit, we can be sure that our prayer is in accordance with the will of God.

Have a wonderful weekend my friends, and remember to pray- according to the will of God.

Total Eclipse.

"But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth..." (John 16:13a).

During our revival services, Reverend Joel reminded us that the Holy Spirit is the one who reveal the truth of who Jesus is. As is stated later in John 16:13, the Holy Spirit "speaks what he hears": he testifies of Jesus (see John 15:26).

Are you at a point in your life where the truth of who Jesus is eclipses every other claim, every other thought, every other argument? Yes, there are opportunities to ponder a myriad of mysteries. But, as Reverend Joel implied, what's the use of imagining how many angels can sit on the head of a pin? Can such a fact save a soul from destruction? Can such a fact encourage us to stay faithful to the point of death?

The writer to the Hebrews said it well: "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2a).

Lord Jesus, as we gaze into your glorious Light, please cause everything else to dissipate, vanish, fade away. Yes, Lord, all we really want is You. Grace us with Your Presence. Amen.

Paterson, Raging Against The One Who Stills The Storm.

Friends, you may recall that earlier this year I issued a call to prayer and fasting concerning New York Governor David Paterson's attempt to legalize marriage between homosexuals. You may also recall that the New York State Senate experienced what amounted to a coup, and the Senate never voted on the proposal.

Well, Governor Paterson recently announced at a Gay Pride dinner (held in New York City last week) that he again intends to call a special session for the Senate to vote, and his belief is that he and the gay lobby have sufficient votes to pass the bill into law. Some commentators have stated that the Governor is in a hurry to pass the law before 2010, so that marriage between homosexuals will not be a debatable issue in the 2010 state elections.

I don't know much about politics. But I do know that I have friends who are homosexual, whom I love dearly, and I know that I have an ultimate Friend, Jesus, who I would die for.

Reverend Joel spoke on this dynamic during the Leadership Symposium:

-Everyone has the right to express their opinions.
-It is not realistic to expect non-Christians to live according to the word of God.
-Whatever the law is, we all must obey as good citizens.
-The voice of Christianity should be defined not by protest alone, but by love and service to the community.

So, in light of these things, I continue to love and not judge.
So, in light of these things, I continue to exercise the basics of Matthew 6: fasting, praying, and giving.

So, in light of these things, I urge you to do the same.

In Dialog With The Prophet Joel.

Friends, I've been wondering how to blog on the revival services and leadership symposium. Part of my challenge is that our guest preacher, Rev. Dr. Joel Edwards, shared some material that is in his book (that is, it's copyrighted). So I cannot go into detail about each of the sermons and discussions, but will instead try to give a broad overview that pulls together some of the major concepts we reflected on over the past week.

Today, let's just reflect on one thing from last week, which I'll address in the form of questions regarding Bronx Bethany's English-speaking ministry:

-In light of Bronx Bethany being called by God to reach the nations, how does a majority Jamaican church successfully cross cultural and national boundaries?

-In the book of Acts, we see 12 Galileans that successfully preached the Gospel for the saving of souls from many nations. Then, as the first-century church increased, God built a multicultural, multinational staff to move His work forward. Can our all-Jamaican pastoral and administrative staff do the same thing in the 21st century- preach the Gospel, win souls, and embrace the diversity in leadership that God intends to build?

-What about you? Are you ready and willing to be used by God in His strategy of reaching the nations, or would you prefer to sit back and just let the pastors do all the work? Remember, we are each called to a form of service in God's vineyard.

This last point was echoed by Pastor Cole in Sunday's service: FIND YOUR PLACE. On Sunday, less than five minutes before the first service was supposed to start, an usher asked me to pin a corsage on Pastor Sam's lapel. Which I attempted... somewhat nervously, reluctantly, and fully aware that the persons best suited to the task were nowhere to be found. (I hope I didn't ruin his suit with pinholes.) I was out of place. Trying to help but not being much help.

Prior to the corsage crisis, I was outside sweeping leaves off of the front walkway of the church. No one asked me to sweep. I just saw that many leaves were on the walk, some of them were still wet from Saturday's rain, and I knew someone might slip on the wet leaves. And I knew where the broom was. Ah, then I was in my place. Successfully sweeping, with the joy of the Lord: no audience but Him, no accolades from man. What a wonderful experience that was.

Have you taken time to consider what you can do for the Lord? Maybe you can skip church one Sunday and go share the love of Christ by taking your non-Christian friend to breakfast or lunch. Since they don't come to church, you bring the church to them. Be present and influential in their space. Or maybe there is some other thing that, when you do it, you experience the joy of the Lord. You would do it for free. You would do it with no one watching. You wouldn't mind it no one notices. Do you know what that thing is for you?

Lord, show us what things You have made us to do for You and for the establishment of Your kingdom here on earth. And give us courage and grace to do those things.

Vivified!

Last Wednesday during prayer meeting Pastor Sam requested that we fast and pray for BBCN's Revival Services & Anniversary Sunday which run from October 18 through October 25, and also the November 1st music event being held at Evander Childs High School.

So, for those of you who weren't at church to hear Pastor Sam's impassioned announcement, let me reiterate it here. I strongly encourage as many of us as possible to fast and pray. If you aren't familiar with fasting as a spiritual discipline, I'd recommend that you read "God's Chosen Fast" by Arthur Wallis. It's a short book packed with Biblical support for the engagement of this discipline, along with important practical information so that people new to fasting will learn to do so safely.

It is important to add fasting to our prayers because of the seriousness of the battle we are in. We are not interested in people flooding the altar with tears or dancing their socks off at a gospel concert. What we long for is to see lives that have been transformed by the power of God. What we need is to see people respond to the wooing of the Holy Spirit: not just for a week, but for a lifetime.

We have had too many years of people engaging in external rituals with no corresponding internal change of heart and mind and spirit. Bronx Bethany, let's get real. Fast and pray, and watch God as He reveals who has been made alive and who has not.

The Gospel Truth.

In this past Sunday's sermon, Pastor Benji reminded us of two important principles concerning the content of the gospel:

What Christ offers: Jesus pours out His grace to us, and gives us the privilege of apostleship. We are a forgiven, prophetic community.

What Christ requires: Jesus mandates that His people walk in obedience to Him, which is obedience to the will of the Father.

The outpouring of the grace of God is not license for disobedience.
The outpouring of the grace of God is not excuse for rebellion.

Do you really love Jesus? Do you really believe His claims concerning His divinity, His lineage, His conquest of death and the grave? Then, to quote Pastor Benji, "desist from your evil ways". As we live lives of obedience, others will see and know the grace of God.

Are you ready to be a living letter, a walking Gospel?

The Love of God.

How is it that God loves us so much?

In Romans 1, we are confronted with the awesome, unavoidable, incomprehensible love of God. We see the love of God expressed in the humanity and the divinity of Christ, and we experience His grace as He pours out His Spirit into our very selves: yes, the Spirit of the LORD, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD (see Isaiah 11:2).

As Pastor Benji said on Sunday, this reflection upon the humanity and divinity of Christ is not merely an intellectual exercise. In fact, we cannot fully comprehend this way in which God has demonstrated His love for us. We accept the mystery of this amazing love, and we believe that Jesus is fully God and fully man.

Back in my Salvation Army days, we would say it this way: "We believe that in the person of Jesus Christ the Divine and human natures are united, so that He is truly and properly God and truly and properly man."

So, in the face of this cool weather, we consider the thought that warms our hearts: Yes, God loves us!

A Marathon Weekend.

Friends, welcome back! It's been a "Marathon" weekend. On October 10 Pastor Brian ran on behalf of BBCN's Afterschool Program, finishing the Hartford Marathon in a little over 5 hours. He looked great, ran with a purpose, and has inspired us in numerous ways: some of us will give more to BBCN; some of us will renew our commitment to exercise and care for our bodies in a way that honors God; and some of us will reflect on Brian's testimony and take up the challenge to say yes to God, even in the face of discouragement, fatigue, and outright opposition.

On October 11, we had two "marathon" services at BBCN. We had a "perfect storm" of factors that pushed each of our services to the 3-hour mark: a guest singer performing a couple of selections from her demo CD, Pastor Richie sharing a very important devotional thought preceding the choral selection by Chosen, and some very serious preaching from Pastor Benji. And, of course we couldn't go home without congratulating Pastor Brian and seeing some pictures from the marathon!

So, this week it's quite appropriate that we'll be looking at Romans, the letter written to Christians in the city that put marathons on the map. Stay tuned!

-G.

Brake. Break.

Friends and Loved Ones, my dissertation proposal is very close to being finished. I appreciate you continued prayers as my goal is to hand in the proposal to my sponsor this week.

To that end, I will not be sermon-blogging for a while. But I continue to take notes during the services, and I promise you that there will be blogs on the message Pastor Sam shared on Sunday... in fact, that message might well become a book... it just won't be happening this week.

Speaking of Pastor Sam, please keep him in prayer as he preaches the final sermon tonight at the Holiness Summit in Olathe, Kansas.

Take Care!

-Genise

I Saw You.

Nathanael saith unto Him, "Whence knowest Thou me?" Jesus answered and said unto him, "Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee." (John 1:48)

Oh, how is it that we live our lives without sensing the watchful eye of God? He sees us, "under the fig tree", in those moments where we are completely unaware of His presence and His knowledge of who we really are.

You true Israelite, in whom there is no guile. (John 1:47)
You true prophet, who I can count on to speak My word in season. (Jeremiah 1:5)
You mighty man of valor, whom I have chosen to destroy the Midianites. (Judges 6:12-16)

What is He saying about you?

Veni. Vidi.

Jesus saith unto them, "Come and see." They came and saw where He dwelt, and abode with Him that day: for it was about the tenth hour. (John 1:39)

In this past Sunday's sermon, Pastor Benji reminded us of two important points regarding the recognition of Christ:

We have to be willing to spend time with Him. This was a point reiterated on Wednesday night, as Reverend Gabbidon said essentially the same thing during the School of Prayer course. The Psalms speak of the need for communion with God (see Psalm 1), Jesus Himself lived a life of communion with the Father (see Matthew 14:23), and the lives of men like Daniel Nash, Charles Finney, and others showed the spiritual power that came as a result of the investment of hours alone in the presence of God.

We have to embrace Him as a person, not a concept. Yes, my friends, this raises the bar. How do we relate to the personhood of God? It's through Jesus. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (see John 1:14). There is a relationship in place! Not some abstract notion of God-ness in the earth, but the real presence of the Spirit of Jesus, teaching us to love as He loved and to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions (see Romans 8 and Titus 2).

LORD God, You are my Lord. Do whatever it takes to cause me to come to where You are, and to work in the same way that You are working. I want to live like You.

LORD God, You are my Lover. Do whatever it takes to cause me to see You, and help me to reflect the image of Your goodness and glory in my relationships with others. I want to love like You.

R.A.B.-ble Rouser.

I am really praying that Pastor Benji does not get into trouble for speaking the truth with passion.

What did he say? In essence, he said:

If circumstances should be such that one has to make a choice between following the directives of Jesus Christ or remaining loyal to a particular denomination, then by all means follow Christ.

There is no sense in keeping tradition at the expense of revelation. How can I say that? We have precedence in Scripture. Andrew, a disciple of John the Baptist, was given a revelatory word: "Look, the Lamb of God!" (John 1:36). And, upon hearing that word, he skipped out of John's ministry and went, without hesitation, to follow Jesus the Christ.

Some of you may need to re-evaluate why you're doing what you're doing...

Brotherly Love.

This past Sunday, Pastor Benji spoke on John 1. We'll spend this week reflecting on some of the points he made concerning Andrew's role in introducing Peter to Christ, and the lessons we can incorporate into our own roles as witnesses of Christ to the men and women who are closest to us.

Prior to following Jesus, Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist. That is, Andrew was on the leading edge of the new wave of ministry.

God was moving in the desert through a man named John the Baptizer, and Andrew caught the vision. He followed John.

John made a public announcement of the nature and status of Jesus Christ, and Andrew caught the vision. He followed Jesus.

And, in catching the vision concerning Jesus, Andrew "went and found his brother" (See John 1:41) in order to share the good news.

Have you caught the vision of what God is doing?
Have you shared that vision with your brother?

I Love You!

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." (First John 3:16)

"No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us. We know that we live in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit." (First John 4:12-13)

"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgement, because in this world we are like Him." (First John 4:16-17)

"This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out His commands. This is love for God: to obey His commands." (First John 5:2-3)

"And this is love: that we walk in obedience to His commands. As you have heard from the beginning, His command is that you walk in love." (Second John, verse 6)

Bronx Bethany, show some love.

Just Your Garden-Variety Jealousy, Part Two.

"Every day He was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill Him. Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on His words." (Luke 19:48)

"Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy." (Acts 5:17)

In this Christian life, part of the package is that not everyone will appreciate your decision to submit to Christ and to be engulfed in a relationship with the Father. They will be jealous of your being used to demonstrate the awesome power of the Holy Spirit. In fact, they might seek out ways to undermine and destroy your effectiveness in ministry. They might even try to end your physical life.

So, what are we to do in the face of opposition?

The example we have in Scripture is that the work of God continues in the face of opposition. "Every day Jesus was teaching at the temple". We see in Acts that the apostles, on two occasions, gave a direct reply to the religious leaders who opposed the work of God: "We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:20); "We must obey God rather than men!" (Acts 5:29).

Keep preaching.
Keep praying.

Remain in line with the apostolic mandate: "(we will) give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word" (see Acts 6:4).

LORD God, give us grace to continue in Your work even if some people don't like it.

Real Live Mystics.

Pastor Martha touched upon one of the great mysteries of our Christian faith during her sermon this past Sunday:

-Why does love last forever?
-Because love is Jesus, Jesus is love, and He Himself is eternal.

We find, in Jesus, the true definition of love: love suffers long, love is kind, love is patient. Love emphasizes the character of God (see First Corinthians 13).

Love will cause you to live a life of obedience and submission to the Father.

And love will cause you to embrace the cross, "the instrument of your death" (a quote from Pastor Sam); your personal agenda will dissolve in the inexpressible Light of God's glory.

My friends, do you love God enough to fully renounce your sins and relinquish the pleasures of this world?

Account Balance.

During this past Sunday's sermon, Pastor Martha make a critically important point in the first service (and extended the point in the second service) concerning the "how" and "what" of our prayer lives.

Pastor Martha offered the analogy of a banking relationship: that is, we put money into a bank so that we can access the money when we need to make a withdrawal. The crisis of Christianity is that many Christians are seeking to make withdrawals from the account of God without having ever made any deposits:

They don't tithe.
They don't give offerings.
They don't fast.
They don't pray.
They don't intercede.

Yet, when crisis comes, what happens? They run to God, and/or they run to the church which is God's agent upon the earth... to keep the analogy, let's call the church the bank manager. And they attempt to use God as their Automated Teller Machine.

"Please pray for me church, I need ten thousand dollars!" (that's a quote from Pastor Martha).
"God, I'm having an emergency and you really need to give me what I want, immediately!"

Ah, the petitions of carnal Christians in crisis. But how can one withdraw from a bank in which one has never deposited?

Pastor Martha recalled the indictment against such behavior. It's expressed most poignantly in the parable of the sheep and the goats, found in Matthew 25:31-46. Jesus has commanded us to do some things. Are you doing them?

Feed the hungry. Clothe the naked.
Visit those who are sick and visit those who are in prison.

There is much more that could be said, but I will not belabor the point. I think you get it.

So, Bronx Bethany, how are you giving? And how are you living?

One Step Closer.

On this past Sunday, Bronx Bethany took a giant step forward in validating its mission and vision statements. We had a combined service with our Latino ministry, and our own Pastor Martha preached in Spanish (with simultaneous translation into English).

Though it's been almost eight months since Pastor Publio died, I still cannot mention Martha without mentioning him. They served together as a team, and Publio's spirit was very much present- in the joy of the music selected for praise and worship, and in the urgency of the sermon preached by Pastor Martha.

At the beginning of Pastor Martha's sermon, she said, "Sometimes love is affliction"... how true that is. Because I love Pastors Publio and Martha deeply, and because I became so accustomed to always seeing him and Pastor Martha together, it is a bit challenging for me to write: it's a forced recognition that yes, he is gone, and yes, she has chosen to remain in the United States to carry on the work to the glory of God.

But we are all one step closer to meeting Jesus face-to-face, one step closer to giving an account for the life we've lived on this earth. This week we'll consider the duality evident in Pastor Martha's sermon: the love of God expressed in the merciful sacrifice of the Christ, and the justice of God which requires judgement.

And we also must have a conversation about jealousy.

I hope you'll read this week's blogs in a spirit of prayer and willingness to examine yourself.

One And The Same.

There was a principle that Reverend Anthony did not touch upon in this past Sunday's sermon, but I think it bears noting for our final reflection this week.

When the neighboring kings banded together against King Jehoshaphat, his response was to call for prayer and fasting by the entire community. And God's response to that petition was to send a prophetic word: This is not your fight, it's My fight.

There are instances in Scripture where we find this amazing action of God stepping in and defending the men He has chosen as leaders of His people. And, in some instances, there seems to be an equating of the king with the LORD: that is, there is a synergy between the LORD and those that the LORD has placed in charge of the community.

"A divine sentence is in the lips of the king" (Proverbs 16:10)

"My son, fear thou the LORD and the king" (Proverbs 24:21)

"The fear of the king is as the roaring of a lion: whoso provoketh him to anger sins against his own soul" (Proverbs 20:2)

"The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will" (Proverbs 21:1)

"Ye man of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men...refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply you be found even to fight against God" (Acts 5:35-39)

"If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth" (First Peter 4:11)

"Unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord..." (First Corinthians 10)

"Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe His prophets, so shall ye prosper" (Second Chronicles 20:20)

So, Bronx Bethany, be careful what you do to your pastors. You might find yourself in a fight with the LORD... and God doesn't lose any battles.

Just Your Garden-Variety Jealousy.

"It happened after this..." (Second Chronicles 20:1)

AFTER King Jehoshaphat instituted his reforms, opposition arose against him from the kings of neighboring cities. Three kings banded together to fight against Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah.

Why?

Maybe it was Jehoshaphat's religious reforms that brought the light and wisdom of God to the kingdom of Judah. Maybe the opposing kings didn't like the idea of an educated community that obeyed God. Or maybe they just didn't like Jehoshaphat.

Well, I would argue that it's the same problem in our day. Even in Bronx Bethany, there seems to be a thinly veiled opposition to those who make great effort to learn the word of God, hold it dearly in their hearts, express what they know by humble obedience to the Lord they love, and therefore receive public commendation from God.

Oh, what to do when evil kings are after you?

Let's do what King Jehoshaphat did:

Call a fast.
Pray.
Seek the face of God.
Make no distinction between young and old, male or female: everyone is needed in a critically important intercessory event.

To paraphrase Reverend Anthony, "the answer is not within us nor around us: the answer can only be found in God."

Picture-Perfect.

Reverend Anthony gave us a profound insight this past Sunday. Usually when people preach on Second Chronicles 20, they focus on that chapter as a single unit. However, Reverend Anthony observed that the previous chapters (17 through 19) demonstrate a marvelous picture of obedience to God, evidenced by King Jehoshaphat's mandates.

"Now the LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the former ways of his father David; he did not seek the Baals, but sought the LORD God of his father, and walked in His commandments and not according to the acts of Israel. Therefore the LORD established the kingdom in his hand..." (17:3-5a).

"...he removed the high places and wooden images from Judah. Also in the third year of his reign he sent his leaders, Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Michaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah" (17:6b-7).

"...he built fortresses and storage cities in Judah" (17:12b).

"Then he set judges in the land throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, and said to the judges, 'Take heed to what you are doing, for you do not judge for man but for the LORD, who is with you in the judgement'." (19:5-6)

Jehoshaphat inaugurated his kingly reign with clear evidence of submission and obedience to God. I pray that, at whatever place we are working, we can achieve the same testimony: clear evidence of submission and obedience to the Lord God.

When our story is told, what will people say?

In The Mouth Of Two Or Three It Is Established.

Our guest speaker, Reverend Anthony, spoke on the theme "Together for God's Purpose". It was a reiteration of several of the themes that the Lord has sent us in the sermons we've heard over the summer, as well as the topics we've had in several of our prayer meetings. God, in His mercy, is telling us the same thing over and over again.

I hope you're getting His point!

Reverend Anthony used Second Chronicles 20 as his sermon text, and this week we'll revisit some of his major sermon points. For today, though, let's recap a few verses of this wonderful Scripture.

"You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you." (20:17)

"The fear of God came upon all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard how the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel." (20:29)

"O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you." (20:12)

Lord, we need Your help. We don't know what to do, but we know You are with us. Help us to rest in the veracity of Your word. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Nicene Nazarene, Part Four: Apostolic.

In this final part of Pastor Sam's series we considered a question: How do we know we're in the apostolic church?

-We witness the apostolic attitude in action: the one who is greatest is the servant of all (Mark 10:42-45);

-We wield the apostolic authority as holders of "the keys to the kingdom" (Matthew 16:17-19);

-We work the apostolic announcement: the Kingdom of God is evidenced through our repentance, our forgiving spirit, and signs and wonders that are made possible by the power of the Holy Spirit.

One; holy; catholic; apostolic.

That's the church we belong to. That's the church we long to be.

Nicene Nazarene, Part Three: (c)atholic.

Yes, that's "catholic" with a lowercase "c".

And yes, some of us are okay with using the word in its original sense: it's an authentic descriptor of the universality of the church. There is a place in the church for everyone. Pastor Sam defined "everyone" as:

-those people who are like you; and
-those people who are unlike you.

Let's briefly recap the sermon:

-the mandate of the Great Commission is that we must go to all nations, baptizing and teaching them. The picture of diversity is evident in Jesus's selection of the disciples: varying ages, varying political affiliations, varying social status. We see catholicity in the example of the Twelve.

-the presence of all nations is a key factor in the outpouring of the Spirit (Acts 1) and the establishment of the church (Acts 13). Diversity of not only nationality, but also gender, is made apparent in the life of the early church. We see catholicity in the example of Pentecost and Antioch.

-the prophetic vision of John in Revelation 7 is echoed in the letters of Paul to Thessalonica and Corinth: the church is strong because it is different from the world, and the church is strong when it is a visible expression of different backgrounds, serving as a clue of what the invisible church looks like. We see catholicity in the example of the church militant, which foreshadows the catholicity of the church triumphant.

Lord, help Bronx Bethany to look more like the church You built.

Nicene Nazarene, Part Two: Holiness.

Well, this was one of those sermons where you really had to be in church to get the full effect. Pastor Sam truly spoke as an oracle of God. And I am doing a particular disservice to this sermon by distilling it into a blog you can read in two minutes. But, I said that I'd recap all four parts of the sermon this week, so I will keep my word.

-Holiness defines the church;
-Holiness distinguishes the church;
-Holiness directs the church.

As the people of God, our lifestyle of holiness is evidence of the special relationship we share as the family of God, and the sacrificial relationship we hold as individuals who are the possession of Christ.

We become a portrait of God: our holiness lifestyle is a reflection of the character of God, as well as a reflection of our status as the body of Christ. As Pastor Sam said, we reflect the divine nature of God along with His divine presence.

Lastly, we carry out the program of God. Through prayer, prophecy, and obedience, the community of God advocates the will of God and also advances the work of Christ.

To paraphrase Pastor Sam: This is who we are. This is how we are. This is what we do. And, it's not ever about us- it's all about God.

Nicene Nazarene, Part One: Unity.

The first part of Pastor Sam's series focused on the unity of the church:

-the principle of unity;
-the process of unity;
-the purpose for unity.

The principle is expressed in our shared commitment, conviction, confession, and community. Why are we sharing? Because there is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all (see Ephesians 4).

The process was initiated by the death of Jesus, instituted by the Holy Spirit, and instilled by the people that God gave to the church. We have the privilege of continuing a process that was begun by Christ in His own physical body, then extended to His spiritual body- we who are the body of Christ in the world today.

The purpose for our unity is so the world can recognize that Jesus is sent from the Father. The prayer of Jesus recorded in John 17 shows us His desire that we, as a community of believers, would be "drawn into the unity of the Father" (Pastor Sam's quote).

What is the great challenge? The temptation towards subversion. If the church around the world cannot demonstrate unity, then the world will have no evidence of the integrity of Christ Jesus' message.

Tomorrow we'll review Part Two: Holiness.

The Feat Of Gamaliel.

Welcome back!

During the month of August, while I was posting re-runs of the past year's blogs, Pastor Sam started a series of four sermons extracted from a section of the Nicene Creed. He finished that series this past Sunday.

It was a series that, frankly, was done an injustice by being compressed into four sermons. It really could be a sixteen-week course. Perhaps that will come in the future. But, for now, all we have is this little blog site. I can't do much between now and Saturday, but I think we could all benefit from a brief recap of the four sermons. So, that's what we'll do between Wednesday and Saturday. And if the Lord presses me to do more, then I'll let you know.

Some of you may not know the Nicene Creed, and others of you might not have memorized it, so here it is. The section that Pastor Sam preached on is indicated in italics.

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
Amen.

Courting Disaster With Unholy Laughter.

We have a few people at Bronx Bethany who hate the prospect of fully submitting to the Holy Spirit.

In the midst of an appeal from Christ through Sister Joann, what do we hear? Derisive laughter. Who is laughing? Older adults who are comfortable and set in their ways, who are minimally affected by the current economic storm, and who have bought into the lie that a mere acknowledgement of the Lordship of Christ is sufficient to buy them a ticket into heaven.

Well, people, read the Gospels. You'll find evil spirits bowing before Jesus and calling Him Lord. What makes us different from them? In a framework where we know, according to Isaiah 45:23, that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, what distinguishes the righteous from the wicked?

I'd encourage you to read the book of Matthew. See Jesus equipping His disciples and giving them an assignment: preach the good news of the kingdom, heal the sick, cast out demons. Some of you, I know, are not going to take up the challenge of reading 28 chapters in one weekend- so I'll give you a couple of things here. This is what JESUS said: "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give" (Matthew 10:8).

The righteous hear the command of the Lord and put it into practice.

And, see Jesus giving this warning to the crowd: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21).

The foolish, having heard the desire of the Lord, choose not to carry out His desire.

The word to the Pharisees, recorded in Matthew, is a reminder of the word to the prophet recorded in Hosea 6:6. God desires mercy, not sacrifice (also see Matthew 9:13, 12:7, 16:6-12). And that's a reminder to us. Don't just sit in the pew, worship the King. Don't just give your money, give Jesus total control over your life. Don't show up at events to placate the pastors, instead be sure that your actions are led by the Holy Spirit.

Bronx Bethany, stop laughing. Get uncomfortable.

Crashing Into The Hurdle.

For those of us who watch track and field events, we sometimes witness runners who, instead of jumping over the hurdle, hit the hurdle with their foot. Hitting the hurdle slows them down, causes them to lose their rhythm, and often results in their not being able to win the race.

Music and language, as we learned from Sister Joann this past Sunday, are potential hurdles that face us as we try to share the gospel of Jesus Christ across cultures. I had a conversation some years ago with a colleague of mine. As we discussed some Christian music that had been translated from English into Spanish by a non-Spanish speaker, he shared the following: "Nobody says their sentences like that. It's so obvious that whoever wrote this is not from our experience. Why didn't he just ask one of us to translate it?" My colleague was so turned off by the poor translation that he didn't hear the beauty of the message in the song.

I personally experienced this at a service I attended several weeks ago. As the musician played the first note of the introduction for the United States of America's National Anthem, I instantly knew that either she had not done her research, or she did not care. Sadly, after more than four decades of playing music in this country, she did not play this country's anthem in its official key (yes, B flat major is the official key signature). She unwittingly crashed into the nationalism hurdle by playing in such a way that the Americans in the audience, instead of seeking a dialogue with her, were completely turned off by her apparent disrespect. She never got a chance to communicate Christ- not because of her lifestyle choices or her appearance, but because of a critical lack of understanding in the realm of ethnomusicology.

Lord, help us to avoid hitting the hurdles of cross-cultural ministry, even if it means we leave the track for the sake of additional training. Help us so that we don't inadvertently act in a way that closes the door of opportunity for sharing the gospel.

Guess What? You Are Not The Judge.

On this past Sunday, Sister Joann bravely stepped on the toes of some of our "affluent" congregants who equate language acquisition with intelligence and status. Specifically, she addressed the issue of individuals who feel that, because they have learned standard English, everyone else should be dealt with from the perspective of standard English.

Well, what can we gather from Scripture? We see the apostle Paul, who sometimes dealt with people in Greek language and sometimes in Hebrew. We see Jesus who spoke to the crowds in cryptic parables, spoke to His disciples in Hebrew, and behind closed doors spoke a healing word in Aramaic that brought life into a dead girl.

What have we done? We have said with our actions, "We are not willing to exit our comfort zone and make effort to learn how best to reach you for the kingdom of God."

Lord, forgive us for our unwillingness to suspend judgement of others based upon where they live and how they communicate. Give us grace to be all things to all people, so that they might be touched by Your mighty power for healing and salvation.