Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. – 1 Corinthians 7:8

Today's Scripture Reading (March 31, 2024): 1 Corinthians 7

It has never been done that way before. During my lifetime, it often seems to be the cry of the Christian Church. We seem to believe that our beliefs and doctrines have survived intact since the time of Christ. And when someone comes along and suggests that maybe we got something wrong, we run away screaming from the heretic.

But the truth is that the Christian faith is constantly evolving as we continue our walk with Christ through this life. We build on the foundations set up by those who have gone before us, and sometimes, we correct their mistakes because our understanding has advanced. There is nothing wrong with that; it is a process that the church prayerfully works through, which is evident even within the Biblical record.

Paul's words here are an example of this process. It is something that we have puzzled over since Paul's time. What exactly did Paul mean when he said we should remain unmarried? After all, I have been married for over forty years. What might surprise some Christians is that it is very likely that Paul had been married, although he wasn't married when he wrote this letter to the Corinthians. We believe this for a couple of reasons. First, it was culturally inappropriate for a man not to be married. Marriage was the duty of every man. Marriage was so deeply ingrained in the culture that a single man passed the age of twenty was considered to be living in sin. The Jewish belief was that an unmarried man was excluded from heaven because he wasn't really a man; he was something less than human.

Second, It seems likely that Paul was a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling body in Israel. We understand this from Paul's own admission.

I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord's people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them (Acts 26:9-10)

The key phrase is when Paul says, "I cast my vote against them." The body that would have been voting against the Christian community was the Sanhedrin. Since Paul cast a vote, he must have been a member of that body, but single men were not allowed in the Sanhedrin; Paul must have been married.

What happened to Paul's wife? On that subject, the Bible remains silent. Probably, either his wife had passed away, or she left him when he became a Christian. It remains true that Paul's teaching that followers of Christ should remain unmarried was a radical departure from the cultural expectations of Jewish society, and it is important to Paul because he expected Jesus's return to take place during his lifetime. Since that didn't happen, then this is a teaching that we should handle with great caution.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 8 & 9

"I have the right to do anything," you say—but not everything is beneficial. "I have the right to do anything"—but I will not be mastered by anything. – 1 Corinthians 6:12

Today's Scripture Reading (March 30, 2024): 1 Corinthians 6

As an amateur political watcher, I must admit that the American primary season interests me. My wife, not so much. The other day, she asked me if I had ever got bored watching this stuff, and my honest reaction was no. I find it captivating. And in the United States, the fact that the various primaries in various states all seem to have different rules makes it even more thought-provoking. Even those who can vote in the primaries change from state to state. All of this I find fascinating.

As of 2024, California's primary is a "Jungle Primaries." All that means is that there is one ballot for Democratic, Republican, and independent candidates. Jump through the hoops, and your name can be on the ballot for the primary vote. And if you can place first or second in the vote, you will be on the electoral ballot come November. California is a blue state, which just means that it consistently votes for Democratic Party candidates in the nation's elections. So, maybe it isn't surprising that the Jungle Primary featured several Democratic Candidates and only one Republican, former Baseball Star Steve Garvey.

As a result, one Democratic candidate, Adam Schiff, campaigned in such a way that he made Garvey his primary opponent. His advertising featured Garvey as the perfect Republican. Schiff's campaign advertisements argued that if you have any Republican leanings, Garvey is your guy. Of course, Schiff argued that he disagreed with him in certain areas, but Steve Garvey is a great guy. Schiff's calculated risk was that if anyone were going to beat him in November, it would be another Democrat, not Steve Garvey. So Schiff wanted Republicans to turn out and vote for "their guy."

The strategy worked. Schiff finished first in the primary, but Garvey placed second. And some of Schiff's democratic competitors cried foul. They felt that Schiff's strategy was a low blow to their campaigns. There is absolutely nothing illegal about Adam Schiff's strategy, but, at least according to some, it wasn't the correct way to run a campaign.

Paul had likely stressed to the Corinthians that they had the liberty or the freedom to do anything. The Corinthian Church was probably much like the Church today, divided over issues like what is legal to eat and drink or even the day chosen for worship. I can almost hear Paul speaking to the Church. "You foolish Corinthians, you fight over food and whether or not you can eat bacon. (Okay, Paul didn't likely mention bacon, but I would have.) You argue over whether you can drink alcohol. You are even arguing whether Saturday or Sunday is the correct day for worship. Then you put down the other side as less spiritual because they disagree. Don't you know that Jesus died to give you liberty? You have been freed from these mundane regulations.

But the Corinthian Church had taken this freedom and expressed it in ways that Paul had not intended, especially in the area of sexual purity. The Corinthian culture thought nothing about joining with a prostitute, and now men within the Corinthian Church had picked up the practice, thinking that their "freedom" allowed it. Paul stresses that there are some restrictions because some behavior just isn't beneficial.

Whether or not Adam Schiff's campaign behavior is beneficial probably depends on which side of the issues you are on. The truth is that a Democratic-Republican election probably won't be much of contest. In fact, a center-left vs. a candidate that stands a little further to the political left might be a closer race. But as a direct result of Schiff's campaign, it is a fight we won't see.

Beneficial? I don't know. But I am just an observer.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 7

So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present. – 1 Corinthians 5:4

Today's Scripture Reading (March 29, 2024): 1 Corinthians 5

I read an Angus Reid Study a while back reporting that less than 20% said they attended Church regularly. The study defined regularly as at least once a month. The explanation for this lack of Church attendance was not that people have forgotten about God; they just don't feel compelled to worship in an established Church anymore. Even fewer believe that they should have an active role in the Church.

At the time, I listened to a pastor, Henry Schorr, try to explain the phenomenon. Schorr explained that we have stopped teaching about the importance of Biblical Community and Church Membership. Jesus never intended for any of us to live the Christian life alone. He meant us to be part of a connected body that would serve to encourage us and keep us strong. That body is called the Church. However, the Church has failed to do what it was designed to do, so it has been rejected. What that doesn't mean is that we no longer need Biblical Community. We need each other, and our churches should fulfill that need.

Before Jesus departed, he set up his Church under his authority and at his feet. The reason was that Jesus knew we can not be all He needs us to be alone. We need encouragement and accountability that can only be found in the company of Christian believers. Jesus became the head of the Church, calling the Church his body to an authentic biblical community.

Jesus uses the Church to strengthen his followers and to reach a dying world. The Church has made a difference in the world because people have submitted themselves to the authority of the Church, have gathered together to keep each other's faith alive and on fire, and have challenged each other in their walk with Jesus to go beyond the actions they could have accomplished on their own.

The scary fact revealed to us between the lines of the Angus Reid poll is that when Christians are not spending time in Christian Community, we are more likely to be influenced by our culture than we are to be influencers of our culture.

Paul makes this point clear: when we come together, the power of God is with us in a way that he cannot be when we are alone. And for that reason, we need to be in biblical community with each other.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 6

Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. – 1 Corinthians 4:2

Today's Scripture Reading (March 28, 2024): 1 Corinthians 4

I am saving for retirement. I believe that it is the responsible thing to do. Some people seem to think that I am good with money. The truth is that I have learned a few fundamental truths, and I both practice and teach certain financial concepts, but I am far from being any kind of economic expert. The concepts I practice aren't mysterious and aren't easy to practice, but they are worth learning and following.

One concept is that the path to getting rich begins not with making a lot of money but living within your means. The amount of money you bring in is not some abstract concept, and when you total it all up, your expenses need to be less than that amount of money you have raised over a specific period.

Another concept is that debt is terrible. Our society is built around the idea of borrowing money. But the truth that no one advertises is that by borrowing money, we make the lender rich and the borrower poor. I know too many people who are approaching their golden years, and their debt is strangling them. So, make every effort to pay down the debt. (An aside, our nations are way too far in debt. I shudder to think of all the good things our governments could do for their citizens if we did not have to service their out-of-control debt or if we could spend the money we use to pay the interest on our debt to support our society. But that is a different conversation.)

Running alongside the idea that debt is bad, you need a rainy day or an emergency fund if you want to stay out of debt. Most of us go into debt because an emergency arises, and we don't have the money we need to take care of the problem. The best way around that is to have an emergency fund equal to three to six months of expenses. Then, regardless of what might happen, you have the funds available to take care of the emergency.

All of this describes how I try to live, sometimes more successfully than at other times. But it also ends what I know about money. So, I trust a financial adviser to invest my money because they know more than I do about investing and other essential money practices. They are the ones who invest and suggest various economic strategies. As far as money goes, these people have earned my trust and have proven faithful.

Paul reminds the Corinthian Church, and by extension us, that they, and we, are not the owners of the Christian Church. We are the stewards of something that belongs to God. And we need to prove to be faithful with what God has entrusted to our care. We will never own the church, but our job is to manage it, enabling it to remain strong through the generations. So that one day, we will hand off a healthy church to those responsible for it after we are gone.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 5

If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple. – 1 Corinthians 3:17

Today's Scripture Reading (March 27, 2024): 1 Corinthians 3

I have jokingly referred to this passage as the anti-smoking passage. The reason is that, as a kid, it was often this verse that my church tied to the dangers of smoking. Growing up, the idea was that real Christians don’t smoke because they understand that smoking hurts your body and your body is the Temple of God. God will destroy anyone who undertakes actions to hurt God’s Temple. The moral? Don’t smoke! Because, evidently, smoking is enough to send you to hell.

The problem is that, while that is the message I heard being preached growing up, that isn’t the intention with which the passage is concerned. I have told my friends that I don’t want them to smoke. But it is not always a spiritual issue. I don’t want you to smoke because it is terrible for you, and I want you around for a while. But, to say that smoking will send you to hell is a gross overstatement. Your health will suffer if you smoke. I think you could do many more pleasurable things with your money, like going someplace warm during the winter months, and, in a more spiritual vein, you could give more money to the economically displaced people of the world. But, as I often hear in the movies, “smoke ‘em if you’ve got ‘em.”

What this passage is talking about is the Christian Church. The hint is in the phrase, “You together are that temple.” It is not me alone who Paul is arguing is the Temple. It is us together. When we get together to worship or gather to be the salt and light in the world, we are God’s Temple. And anything we do to destroy or weaken that Temple is sin. When we gossip about someone in the church, react to others inside the church with malice instead of love, and promote division within the church, we are caught in the clutches of sin. And if that behavior continues, we are in danger of arousing God's anger.

And all of this makes sense when we consider the purpose of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. The Corinthian Church was divided. Arguments were raging within the church. Paul describes the situation at the beginning of his letter. Some argued that they were the followers of Paul, others of Apollos, and still others were the followers of Peter. Some others were super-spiritual, and so they said that they were followers of Christ. However, the division between these groups meant that none were following Christ's teaching. This division meant that the church did not exist. The authentic church of Jesus Christ cannot survive this kind of division. If there is division among the faith community, the best we can aspire to be is a social club. But you are not the church!

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 4

I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. – 1 Corinthians 2:3

Today's Scripture Reading (March 26, 2024): 1 Corinthians 2

I think we all understand fear. We have all experienced big and small fears, and even some big ones that should have been small. We all know the kind of fear that keeps us awake at night. So, if there is one thing that should bring immense comfort to us, it is Paul saying that he came to Corinth in fear and trembling.

Why wouldn't he come in fear and trembling? Paul is about to speak of the crucified Jesus, whom he has resolved to know. To speak of the Crucified Jesus is a lot like talking about an elephant in the sky holding the speck of dust on which we live. It doesn't make sense. Many years ago, I remember speaking to a lady who said that she could never believe in a God who would sacrifice his own son. It was something that she would never do, which is really the point. Christ crucified doesn't make sense. 

Fear is always present when we go beyond what we understand. I remember my Grade six summer vacation very clearly. I had resolved to do nothing all summer. I mean nothing. I believed that time passes more slowly when you are bored out of your mind and I wanted time to pass as slowly as possible. I did not want to go into Grade seven. Grade seven meant a new school. My elementary school was just down the block from my house. The Junior High School was a half-hour walk away.

And there was no recess in Junior High School. I mean, how do you survive without recess? There was this overpowering feeling of fear, and all I wanted to do was sit there in my room and allow time to pass as slowly as possible. Maybe time would pass so slowly that Grade Seven would never come.

Paul comes to the Corinthians in weakness. Nothing he is about to teach will make sense to the Greeks or the Jews. But Paul was willing to face his fear to deliver the message to the Corinthians. There will always be reasons for us not to tell people about Jesus and too few reasons for us to speak up, and yet, the world can only change because of the church's confession that Jesus Christ is the son of God, our Savior and Messiah. Paul might have come to Corinth in fear and trembling, but he refused to let his fear stop him from declaring his convictions to the people of the Greek city.

Back in Junior High, the following September, I showed up at my new school on schedule, still filled with fear and trembling. The reality was that I loved my new school once I got there. My friends were there, along with some new ones. And I felt somehow older in my new school, more mature like I could take on anything the world might want to throw at me. New experiences awaited, all of which were very exciting for my younger self. Oh, and I was in grade seven for a couple of months before I realized there was no recess.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 3

Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom … - 1 Corinthians 1:20

Today's Scripture Reading (March 25, 2024): 1 Corinthians 1

I don’t like medical specialists. I have a number of chronic medical conditions which include extreme allergies, eczema, and lung problems. As a result, I have seen a lot of specialists over the years. But they never seem to work, or maybe more precisely, it sometimes seems like an improvement in one area results in a worsening in other areas. I don’t want you to think that I don’t value them because I really do. But there is a part of me that really believes in the wholistic concept that the body is a unit, including your mind. Suffering is not just contained somehow in the physical realm and it is not just what happens to your body. Everything inside of you is connected.  And there I fall out of favor with dualistic idea of Greek wisdom.

The Christian Church has battled wisdom for much of its existence. A lot of what we believe about spirituality is actually Greek wisdom dressed in Christian clothes. And at several points of our history, well-meaning eccentrics have stood up and said so. Most of them were written off, but a few were heard. For Christians, the argument often comes with regard to our body and our soul. The question is, are the body and soul one, or are they separate parts that combine to make us, us. For the Greeks, that was part of wisdom. And well-meaning Christians down through the ages have argued that we have fallen into Platonic (meaning from Plato) dualism; we have come to believe that the body and soul are separate and different. It was one of the early church’s heresies. Gnostic Christian believers believed that only knowledge (which was in the possession of the soul) could be permanent and in connection with God. It was your soul that could be saved. Your body belonged to the other realm; it was evil and could not be redeemed.  It also meant that uniting yourself with a prostitute was okay because it only involved the body. The belief was eventually rejected by the early church but many have argued for the separation of body and soul ever since while others have despaired at the influence of Greek wisdom on Christianity.

Greek Wisdom is the “Don’t Leave Your Brain at the Door” theology. It is the idea that God can be reached through reason alone. In the beginning of this age of reason, Blaise Pascal came up with his challenge. He said that there are two types of people in this world, those who believe and those that don’t believe. He also argued that there were only two ultimate eternal realities in the world, either God exists or he doesn’t. If you don’t believe and God exists, then the result is hell. If you don’t believe and God doesn’t exist, then the result is nothing. On the other hand, if you believe in God and God exists, you get heaven. And if you believe in God and God doesn’t exist, then you spent your life living in a positive moral condition and probably made the world a little better, but there is no eternal impact. Therefore, it makes more sense to believe in God than not to believe.

But here is the problem. Paul says that God has made man’s wisdom foolishness. The reality of experience is that God can’t be reached by reason alone. We have tried in the West and belief has declined. There has to be something more.

As Paul wrote these words, he was just a few years away from an unfortunate event at the Jordan River. it was about fifteen years after Jesus’s death and resurrection that a man named Theudas had claimed that he was the Messiah. Theudas taught that God was on his way to deliver his people. There was nothing the people had to do to receive God’s salvation but to walk out to the River Jordan and watch a miracle of God.  We don’t have a clear idea of how many people Theudas led to the Jordan, but if it is the same Theudas who is mentioned in the Book of Acts, there was 400 men plus women and children who followed Theudas into the River Jordan to meet with God in a miraculous event. But apparently, God didn’t show up. The Roman Army did, and they marched out, met them, and killed them.

So, Paul says the Greeks look for wisdom and the Jews for miraculous signs, but you need to know that the truth lies elsewhere. Reason alone won’t get us there, and miraculous signs takes away the need for faith. Neither wisdom nor signs will save us. As Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 2

Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, "In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." – Acts 19:13

Today's Scripture Reading (March 24, 2024): Acts 19

In the days of the early church, every kind of mental illness or instability was blamed on demons. And there were charlatans who went around healing these people by casting out these demons. And sometimes, it worked. We know now that the mind is powerful, and sometimes, if you can convince it that healing is possible, the mind can heal itself. Psychologists and psychiatrists have made their livings on that fact. But sometimes, they run into the real thing. That is what happened in Ephesus; they ran into the real thing, and knowing the name of Jesus as part of the act was not enough.

The correct answers to the questions are not what life is all about. Neil Anderson says he thinks his theology is probably about 90% right. He argues that he has always told his churches that, and it shocked them. But he's right. It would be wrong to think otherwise. But guess what? It doesn't matter. There is no test you have to write to get into heaven. The only thing that matters on Judgement Day is your relationship with Jesus Christ. In Christianese, we call that our salvation moment.

Going to church won't save you. It is not that going to church isn't necessary. It is! In worshipping together, we get to encourage each other, but going to church will not get you into heaven. Taking communion won't save you either. It is likely surprising to some that Baptism won't do it either, nor does going to a mid-week prayer meeting. Not that any of these things aren't important, because they are, but if you depend on them to save you, then you are doing no better than the Sons of Sceva, invoking Jesus as a talisman or a magic wand to be used to get you out of a tight spot. 

This is not about superstition. The only thing that will save you is a relationship with Jesus Christ. I believe that all of those things we do in obedience to our relationship with Jesus but they cannot save us. Those who use Jesus and the traditions of the Christian Church as nothing more than a talisman always pay a price. Jesus is the real thing, not just a magic wand or word to get what we want. Only he has the power to shape our lives. And that is good because we already know that superstition is not enough.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 1

Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat. – 2 Thessalonians 3:12

Today's Scripture Reading (March 23, 2024): 2 Thessalonians 3

I recently had a conversation with a First Nations man from the Dene tribe (he is emphatic that you know he is not Cree). He lives in the north country, which is where his tribe originates, and his name is Stan. Stan and I have had conversations before. He is usually looking for gas money to get home. Usually, I tell him that we don't keep cash at the Church, and often, I do not carry any either. But, deep down, I kind of like Stan. Our ritual is frequently the same: he comes in and asks for the Pastor. I greet him and tell him that we have already met; he smiles and tells me when we last talked, happy, I think, that I remember him. He tells me about his battle with drugs and alcohol. It has been many years since he took his last drink. He remembers clearly the last drink he had on January 31, 1996, at about 10:45 in the evening. February 1 is his sobriety anniversary. He tells me what is going on in his life, starting with how his children are doing. His mother passed away last fall at the age of 86. She fell and broke her left hip, and then, as the hip was healing, she fell and broke her right one. She never recovered from the second broken hip.

Conversations with Stan are never short. And usually, that is all Stan gets, but this time I happened to be working on this verse for a teaching assignment, and I gave Stan all the money I had, twenty dollars, to help him get gas to go back up north to the reservation. I hope that is the purpose for which he spends the money.

But the reality is that I don't and can't do that for everyone. I have a hard time with these moments in my life because I hate turning people down, but I also know I don't have the resources to give money to whoever asks. I used to have a secret compartment in my wallet that contained "compassion money" for whoever needed it. The money was given to me for that purpose by people in the Church, but even then, I couldn't give it to everyone. On this day, Stan lucked out.

Stan stood up, I hugged him, and he said, "Musee Cho." He tells me that "Musee Cho" means "Thank You very much" in the Dene language. Musee means "Thank you," and adding Cho to anything means "very much." I smile and say it back to him, and he says, "See, I taught you something."

I don't know if Stan is Idle. I don't understand why he always arrives in the city without enough gas to get home. But he is not disruptive or demanding. If I can give him something, great. If I can't, we sit and talk for a while.

In 45-46 C.E., there was a famine in Jerusalem. The famine caused problems, and for much of Paul's ministry, he seems to be making a collection to help those living in the Holy City. It is an offering that he plans to give to the Church in Jerusalem.

But there is a problem with the story, a paradox. I have spoken about the difference between descriptive texts and prescriptive texts. Descriptive texts describe what happened. The people of Israel walked around the walls of Jericho and then blew their horns, and the walls fell down. And while I sometimes use that illustration as I like to walk around the Church before important events, it is just a descriptive text. There is no command to walk around things anywhere in the Bible, although it was commanded in Jericho. The passage that says Judas hung himself describes what happened; there is no argument that whenever you fall into sin, you should hang yourself in the Bible; it is not there. Prescriptive texts contain commands that we should do. The Ten Commandments are prescriptive, and so is "love your neighbor as yourself."

So, the discussion arises around the idea of the Jerusalem Church and the famines through which they suffered. Paul collecting an offering for the people of Jerusalem can seem to be a prescriptive text. I have admitted that I had people leave this Church just because I read the text saying that the early Church sold everything that they had and pooled their money so that they could take care of the poor. So, is it prescriptive or descriptive? Should we go and sell everything and give it to people experiencing poverty, or does this simply describe what happened at this point in time?

Some argue that there is a problem with the Jerusalem Church's way of handling things, and I wonder if it might be this problem that Paul was worried about as he wrote this letter to the Thessalonian Church. The idea is that the Jerusalem Church's experience is actually a cautionary tale. The Church became generous, sharing what it had with people in need.  But people took advantage of their generosity. These people were idle, disruptive, and drained the wealth of the Church so that when hard times came, they could not respond.

Paul writes to the Thessalonians. Work for your food; do not become a drain on the Church. At the same time, the Church should continue to be generous, don't neglect the Stans in your midst. Work Christ's love out with them.

It is a hard line for me sometimes to find. But Paul's intention, to me, is clear. Jesus is coming. But right now, you have to live life on earth. Do your best to allow the love message of Jesus to run wild in your midst and to care for those in need without letting those who only want to take advantage of you drain your resources. This is your task. This is the Church. This is why we exist. And as long as we can do these things, we won't have to worry about the Second coming of Christ. Tomorrow will arrive on schedule. But until then, life on Earth beckons.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Acts 19

God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you. – 2 Thessalonians 1:6

Today's Scripture Reading (March 22, 2024): 2 Thessalonians 1 & 2

Can I begin by asking a few questions? Do we believe that God is righteous and moral? Maybe more to the point, do you believe God expects the Christian Church to be righteous and moral? Or are other strategies or policies more important to him, like the economy and immigration? What is it that the Christian Church believes?

There is a reason I ask these questions. Once upon a time, back in the olden days, which I remember because I am olden, there was a President named Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton did many good things during the eight years he was President. But I am willing to bet that you remember very few of those things. But I know what you do remember. If I asked you what speech you remember about John F. Kennedy, it is probably the Man on the Moon speech, "We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard" (John F. Kennedy). It was a great speech that we still remember decades later. I couldn't even read when Kennedy gave the speech, yet we still remember Kennedy's words. If I asked you what speech you remember from Martin Luther King, most likely your answer is, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character" (Martin Luther King). So, which Bill Clinton speech do you remember? I know which one I remember. "I did not have sex with that woman." I am not saying that Bill Clinton did no good when he was in the White House, but that is what I remember. As Christians, we, including me, came down hard against Clinton for what we saw as a moral lapse. It was important to us, and I think it should have been. One of the results of Clinton's behavior turned into a very public discussion about the definition of sex.

In 2018, a different President sat in the White House. I listened to Franklin Graham talking about the benefits of the economy and the help that the recent tax revision would give businesses. And yes, I heard him declare that the President, who was on his third marriage and has had numerous affairs, was a changed man. But at the same time, the President even called certain nations of Africa, as someone translated at the time, poo-poo houses. At the time, the occupant of the White House had a struggle with the truth that was far beyond the struggle that most politicians seem to have with what is true. And I began to wonder, does the church stand up for what is morally right all the time, or does that only work when a Democrat occupies the White House?

I remember another Franklin Graham interview, this one was with Don Lemon when Lemon was still with CNN, and after being bullied by Lemon, who was quoting more scripture that he remembered from his Baptist Sunday School days than the celebrated evangelist, Graham argued that the President was a changed man. Still, the problem is that we weren't seeing the change.

The day after the Franklin Graham Interview, I began compiling my notes for an upcoming speaking opportunity. I wrote about a church that had turned its back on economic growth and had suffered because it had decided to follow a morality that flowed out of the Character of Jesus Christ. It didn't matter that following Jesus meant even that following would cost them economically and politically. The content of the character was of prime importance. It is the story of the early church.

It is not that I do not believe in mercy. But God will not be mocked. We believe that the day is coming when God will separate the sheep and the goats, and goats in sheep's clothing will still be goats. There must be a fundamental shift in the content of our character in Christ. I am no longer who I once was. I am someone who knows he needs God's forgiveness and mercy. My righteousness is not enough. I get that this is an uncomfortable truth. But a day will come, as Jesus described in the "Sermon on the Mount."

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' (Matthew 7:21-23)

Sometimes, what we seem to lose in the translation is that Christianity is more than a prayer. It is more than simply asking to receive Jesus into our hearts. And I get that that is hard for some of you to hear, but if Christ is truly in your life, you will become a different person. He will change the content of your character.

As I read these words of Paul, I was reminded that he was once the one who had caused harm to the Christian Community, that he had been the author of the persecution like what was now being visited on the Thessalonian Church. And if things had remained unchanged, he would have been on the wrong side of God's wrath. But Paul knew God's mercy.

What I wish Franklin Graham had done a little more forcibly in his interview was to ignore the economic and political gains and maybe more forcibly declare the church to be a moral institution. We do not believe that having an affair is a positive moment in your life. We believe that promiscuity is dangerous. And when we are talking about immigration, we are not speaking about whether the immigrant comes from Norway or a poo-poo house nation. We stand with Martin Luther King and believe that the content of our character is more important than the color of our skin every time. And we serve a just God who is more concerned with our character than any political or economic stand that we  might want to take.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Thessalonians 3

Rejoice always. – 1 Thessalonians 5:16

Today's Scripture Reading (March 21, 2024): 1 Thessalonians 5

I apologize for my following words. I am not trying to get a song stuck in your head. Bobby McFerrin was wrong when he sang his hit song, Don't Worry, Be Happy." The central concept of McFerrin's song was adapted from Indian Mystic Meher Baba, who advocated in his teaching, "Do your best. Then, don't worry, be happy. " Scholars (people march smarter than I) have argued whether joy and happiness were the same for years. Could they be separated? Some have tried to take the emotion out of joy, but I think that is a misapplied effort. Joy is an emotion, but at the same time, it is also more than emotion. Happiness often seems to exist on the surface and is changeable at a moment's notice. You can walk into a restaurant happy as you enter the door, spill coffee on your lap, and cry out in sadness (and pain). Why do these things always happen to me? Lousy news affects our happiness. Happiness is fickle, but we seem to chase after it anyway.

Joy is more profound; it is still an emotion but more foundational. And joy, to a certain extent, is a choice; you can choose whether you will be joyful. So, Paul gets to say to us ""be joyful always.""

An example of this is found in a story originating from the Vietnam War. The Hanoi Hilton was a prison built by the French around 1886. It was called Maison Centrale, literally Center House. Maison Centrale became famous as a place of torture and death for American POW's during the Vietnam war. John McCain spent five and half years at the Center House, as did Admiral James Stockdale.

Admiral Stockdale arrived at the Hanoi Hilton in 1965. He would be released in 1973. During that time, Stockdale would be tortured over twenty times. He lived out the war without any prisoner's rights, no set release date, and no certainty of whether he would ever see his family again.

One of Stockdale's achievements at the Hanoi Hilton was that he instituted rules for prisoners at the Center House. He knew that no one could endure torture forever, so he set up certain things that the prisoners could say when they had been tortured for a specific length of time. He gave men milestones that would help them survive. He also developed a communication system of taps. It was a five-by-five matrix. "Tap, tap" was A – "tap, pause, tap, tap" was B – and the prisoners would communicate with each other even during periods of prolonged silence. At one point, during an imposed silence, the prisoners mopped and swept the yard using the code, swish-swashing out the message "We love you, Stockdale."

Jim Collins arranged to interview Admiral Stockdale for his book "Good to Great." In preparation for the interview, he read the book that Stockdale had written with his wife, "In Love and War." The Stockdales had written the book, each writing alternating chapters. Collins says that as he moved through the book sitting in his comfortable office on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, he could feel himself getting depressed. He spoke to himself, "I'm getting depressed, and I know the end of the story. He comes home and is reunited with his family; he becomes a national hero and gets to spend his later life studying philosophy. What would it have been like to live through it and not know the ending?"

When Collins asked Stockdale the question, his response was a little surprising. Here is what he said "I never lost faith in the end of the story. I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade" (James Stockdale in Jim Collins "Good to Great).

Here is the beginning of joy. Joy says, despite what I am experiencing, I have faith in the end of the story. I may not be happy with where I am, but I know that this moment is one that I won't want to trade because it will strengthen and form me.

Joy isn't optimism. When Collins asked Stockdale if there was a type of person who didn't get out of the Hanoi Hilton, Stockdale responded that the optimists never left the Center House. It was the ones that said we will be home by Christmas or by Easter who didn't make it. They died broken because these deadlines kept on passing them by. You can almost hear Stockdale preaching, you will not be home by Christmas, but you will get home; deal with it.

I don't want you not to worry and be happy. I also don't want you to live with an emotionless existence. I want you to understand joy, a core emotion that says, "I have faith in the end of the story. I have decided that this is an experience I won't want to trade." I will be joyful, always.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Thessalonians 1 & 2

Therefore encourage one another with these words. - 1 Thessalonians 4:18

Today's Scripture Reading (March 20, 2024): 1 Thessalonians 3 & 4

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to be the spreaders of hope. We are the encouragers that this world needs. We are the ones who understand that even though it is night, the sun will rise. We are the ones who, even in the face of death, have a hope for tomorrow. I am not saying this is an easy job; I don't believe it is. But it is our job. We don't fear death; instead, we rejoice because we know that death does not mean the end of life. We are a people of hope.

And we can't afford to let anything tear us away from that hope. Hope is the reason why we get out of bed in the morning and the reason why we continue on this sacred journey of life. And the reason for that hope is that this is only a stage, and after this stage is over, we know there is still more to come.

In 2017, Chris Davenport, Benjamin Hastings, and Ben Tan wrote a song called "Seasons." And, to be honest, the song connected with me because I fell in love with the lyrics. Musically, I find the piece a little awkward. But lyrically, it is wonderful. I want to point out a couple of things about the song. First, one phrase I love in the song is "from seed to Sequoia." Sequoia Trees are giants, some extending more than three hundred feet in the air, and the oldest of these trees is believed to be 3500 years old. In other words, some of these trees were already 1500 years old when Jesus ministered in Judea. However, the strength of the Sequoia tree is that it is born into adversity. The seed of a sequoia tree needs the harshness of winter to allow it to grow into everything that it will one day become. So, the line in the song that says "from seed to sequoia" indicates that even though our journey might include some hard times, we can be assured that we will become stronger because of these difficult experiences. As we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, God is with us, giving us the strength we need for the journey and encouraging us to be willing to do the hard things because we know God is with us.

Another portion of the song says,

            I know

            Though the winter is long, even richer

            The harvest it brings

            Though my waiting prolongs even greater

            Your promise for me like a seed

            I believe that my season will come

Even though it is winter, we must be a people of hope. Even in the darkness, we are to be the light. This is who we are, our identity in Christ. Jesus promised that he would return, and this is our hope, which we hold tight to even in the darkness surrounding us. Our season will come, and because of that, we have hope. Now, take that hope and give it away.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5

So we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. – 1 Thessalonians 2:8

Today's Scripture Reading (March 19, 2024): 1 Thessalonians 1 & 2

Saladin laid siege to the city of Jerusalem on September 20, 1187. In the actual siege of Jerusalem, Saladin demanded a ransom for each person in Jerusalem whom he was willing to set free. The price was the equivalent today of about $50. Considering the price he could have demanded, the ransom was small, almost insignificant. But even this price was beyond the capability of some of the inhabitants of the Holy City. However, the ransom was paid, and the people left Jerusalem, turning it over to Saladin and his Muslim army.

This idea of ransom is something that we make a lot of within the Christian community. We were bought at a price, a ransom. As I stand before God, there is nothing I can do, no sacrifice I can make, and no price I can pay. Not even my life is enough to pay the ransom price that is hanging over my head. But God was willing to pay the ransom that I couldn't pay, much like the rich of Jerusalem paid for those who could not pay Saladin's price.

The Church's response to Saladin's taking of Jerusalem was the Third Crusade. Part of what made the Crusades so wrong was that they argued that you could put a price on salvation. The religious structure promised that if the knights joined the battle for Jerusalem, all of their sins committed in the past, the present, and the future would be forgiven. The religious elite seemed to miss that forgiving sin wasn't within their power. Our sin is forgiven because Jesus died on a cross on the receiving end of the violence of the Roman guard, not because we were willing to be the instruments of violence that was bestowed on Jews and Muslims and anyone else who might stand up against the will of the Church, and even some who were part of the Christian Church. And today, the list of people we are taking a stand (sometimes violent) against is way too long.

The Bible says the grand result of sin is death, but the gift of God is life. But if the result of sin is death, then it is a debt so high that I cannot pay it. It is a cost much higher than the ransom Saldin demanded in Jerusalem and even higher than the gift that the Church promised the Crusaders; the cost is all of us. The price is the complete surrender of our lives to God.

Paul begins this section of the passage with these words, "Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much" (1 Thessalonians 2:7b-8a). And sometimes our response, if we are honest, is that we don't feel like loving that person. And my response should be, too bad, salvation and entrance into the Kingdom of God comes at a cost, which is Paul's point. We shared with you our lives because that is the cost of our faith. Jesus gave his life on a cross for me, so my only response is to lay down my life, my wants and desires, and love you with everything that I have. Sometimes, that is an arduous task, and I fall short of the goal. But the only reason any of this is possible is because God's love flows through me and us, flowing in and out of our lives from God to those who accompany us on this sacred journey we call life.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 3 & 4

Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sisters and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken. – Acts 18:18

Today's Scripture Reading (March 18, 2024): Acts 18

As I write this post, Lent is well underway. I think that Lent is a strange season; it is the only time when the Christian Church seems to gather and at least pretend to take some kind of a vow. Many people try to stay away from something during the Lenten period; I have many friends who have chosen to abstain from caffeine this Lent and a grandchild who has given up sugar. But it is also possible to vow to add a practice during Lent. Another friend has committed to reading through the entire New Testament during the 40 days (forty-six if you count Sundays, but that is a different story) of the Lenten fast. If you add a practice during Lent, the hope is that you will build a habit and be able to keep up the added practice even after the Lenten period has ended. I can't think of another time when we will do something like this.

In ancient times, there were many vows that a person might want to take at various times of the year. For Jews, one of those vows was the vow of the Nazirite. The full description of what a Nazirite was committed to is given in Numbers 6. Essentially, it was a vow that, for a specific period, a person undertook as an obligation before God. The vow involved, among other things, not cutting your hair, abstaining from alcohol of any kind, and not going near dead bodies. The vow was taken for a specific period, although there are a few who took the vow for life like Samson; his hair was long because he had taken a lifelong vow to live as a Nazirite, Samuel, and maybe even John the Baptist.

It seems likely that the vow Paul had taken was the Nazirite vow. The reason for the vow was two-fold. First, it was a connection with the Jewish community, recognizing that although Paul was considered "The Apostle to the Gentiles," he still celebrated his Jewish heritage. But it was also a vow of thanksgiving. God had promised an extended time for Paul to visit and teach in Corinth.

One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: "Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city." So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God (Acts 18:9-11).

It seems likely that Paul maintained his Nazirite vow throughout the year and a half that he was in Corinth. When he was ready to leave, he cut his hair.

The one significant difference in the vow that Paul celebrated was that tradition said the vow should be undertaken only in Israel, and the cut hair would be burned as a thanksgiving offering in Jerusalem when the vow ended. Paul finished his vow in Cenchrea, a seaport of Corinth, meaning that Paul essentially started and ended his Nazirite commitment in Corinth in Greece. We are not told what he did with the hair that was cut off after his vow had ended as he finished his time in Corinth. But in taking this vow, he identified as a Jew even as he spoke to the Gentiles of the Empire.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 1 & 2