"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.