Love Rejoices in the Truth

Are the church's problems related to culture?

2012-03-04T19:36:00.003-08:00

Can we really say that we need to adjust our beliefs according to the culture we find ourselves in?

No - not really.

Here is a man who I am proud to call my friend.
http://lifeabroadathandong.blogspot.com/2012/02/people-of-yangon-i-perceive-that-in.html

I'm reminded again that love without truth creates a vacuum in the church.

"Sanctify them in the truth; Thy Word is truth." John 17:17

"But speaking the TRUTH in LOVE, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, Who is the head, even Christ." Ephesians 4:15

"And put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH, Each one of you, with his neighbor, for we are members of one another." Ephesians 4:24-25

Love appeals to our emotions, but the Apostle Paul appeals to our understanding, our knowledge, what we have been taught.

Whenever someone stresses that "all we need is love" in the church, red flags go up all over my mind.

Ephesians Chapter 4 really addresses this.
Take a moment to read it the chapter.

What we as men should value

2012-02-24T07:16:00.003-08:00

Here's a link to Ray Ortlund's blog.
His son Dane spoke at Cornerstone a few years back.
I remember being very impressed.
What's the saying - the apple doesn't fall far from the tree?
I mean that in the best sense.

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/rayortlund/2012/02/24/what-kind-of-men-does-god-use/

While teaching 2 Corinthians this quarter in Sunday School, I am painfully reminded how far our lives are from reflecting the labor and suffering of the early apostles. Hear the Apostle Paul in 2 Cor. 11:24-33.

"Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?
30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. 32 At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me, 33 but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands."

As I read so much material in the Christian internet world - of mission statements, vision, leadership roles, and church growth boasts - I am reminded from Paul's letters, that service to our Lord Jesus Christ most likely will result in suffering, both mentally and physically.

1 Thess.3:1 "Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, 2 and we sent Timothy, our brother and God's coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, 3 that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. 4 For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know. 5 For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain."

The early Apostles, the Reformers like Luther, the leaders of the Great Awakening, all of them did not look forward to the suffering. In fact, just like Paul in Damascus, they did everything they could, for the most part, to escape suffering. But suffering followed them.

We live in strange times. I will turn 58 tomorrow. Married 30 years this June. Saved by grace for almost 34 years. The Christian churches seem to have lost direction. Our country seems to have lost it's moral compass also. Our economy is the worst in my lifetime. The world and it's wars are endless and evil seems to have the upper hand.

I'm reminded of the old hymn - "...and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace."

Strangely dim indeed.

Maybe we should take Paul's words to the Thessalonians more to heart today. We WILL suffer affliction if we choose to serve Jesus. It might mean suffering in our wallet, our marriage, our relationships, our body, our psyche. But read again #2 from Ray Ortlund's blog:

2. They are bent on success: “As warriors, they set their hearts on victory and fought with the believing anticipation of triumph, under the guidance of such a Captain as their head.”

This blog post is a reminder to myself -

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

And I give permission to anyone reading this blog post to remind me of it again and again as necessary.

Can't buy me love

2012-02-16T08:33:00.000-08:00

I love the story of Martin Luther.

What I like best about him was his willingness to stand up for what he believed the bible teaches and to courageously face opponents - even to the point of being threatened with death.

Here's an excerpt from an article in Christianity Today:

In his seminal Luther: Man Between God and the Devil (English edition Yale, 1989), Reformation scholar Heiko Oberman renders Luther's speech like this:

"Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures or by evident reason-for I can believe neither pope nor councils alone, as it is clear that they have erred repeatedly and contradicted themselves-I consider myself convicted by the testimony of Holy Scripture, which is my basis; my conscience is captive to the Word of God. Thus I cannot and will not recant, because acting against one's conscience is neither safe nor sound. God help me. Amen."

Being threatened with death for our biblical beliefs is not something we face in America today. At worst, we risk being slammed on the internet for posting our beliefs on a blog. Or a courageous athlete risks being made fun of in the media for expressing publicly his or her's faith in the Lord Jesus.

But this link isn't about that aspect of Martin Luther, it's about how he lived his life as a leader of the church.

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2012/02/16/hospitality-and-generosity-in-the-luther-home/

Martin and Katie Luther - you gotta love em!

Why is there a basket under my chair at church anyway?

2012-02-10T05:47:00.000-08:00

Here's an interesting article.

http://religiousaffections.org/articles/hymnody/thanks-but-ill-keep-my-printed-hymnal/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+ReligiousAffectionsMinistries+(Religious+Affections+Ministries)

I like how the author expresses both his love for truth, and a love for the history of music in the church.

Aaron G had a class with the youth on teaching the hymns. I'm sure it was helpful. An old guy like me questions the benefit of our youth never having held a hymnal in their hands.

I still remember the first hymn that affected me. God revealed Himself to me while I was working in Milwaukee in the mid 70's. The church I visited sang, Have Thine Own Way, Lord. Remains a favorite of mine to this day.

And here is a hymn that I have for years hoped would be sung at my funeral. This isn't morbid thinking - just a desire that such truth as found in the hymn would be heard by those who have never heard the gospel.

Be Still, My Soul
By: Catharina von Schlegel

Be still, my soul; the Lord is on your side;
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
Leave to your God to order and provide;
In every change he faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul; your best, your heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul; your God will undertake
To guide the future as he has the past.
Your hope, your confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul; the waves and wind still know
His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.

Be still, my soul; though dearest friends depart
And all is darkened in the vale of tears;
Then you will better know his love, his heart,
Who comes to soothe your sorrows and your fears.
Be still, my soul; your Jesus can repay
From his own fullness all he takes away.

Be still, my soul; the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul; when change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

C'mon people now, smile on your brother...

2012-01-31T08:54:00.000-08:00

I received a phone call this week from a very nice lady. She was interested in knowing if we had a woman minister in our church who would like to attend a monthly meeting with other women clergy to discuss race relations in our community. We only spoke for a short time, but what I remember most was that she indicated the meetings were not designed to discuss doctrine.

It got me to thinking about something that I experienced years ago.

Remember Promisekeepers? I was invited to a PK meeting many years ago at a large local church. The place was packed with people. One of the speakers was encouraging the men at the meeting to reconcile with our black brothers. I remember thinking, "No kidding.!?"

I mean, should this really be a novel idea for Christian men to be told to love our neighbors, black OR white? The Apostle John put it very straightforward in his first epistle. "If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother who he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him; whoever loves God must also love his brother." (1 John 4:20-21).

This doctrine of loving each other trumps any reason some careless brother could come up with for justifying bigotry of any sort.

As believers, receiving doctrine is our daily bread. If we place more emphasis on our experiences and community instead of biblical doctrine, we will become discouraged when our experience and community doesn't live up to our expectations. But when we place our trust in what God has said in His Word ("Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth." (John 17:17)), we can have confidence we are on the right path.

Hatred towards others is evidence that we are against God. It is also evidence that we aren't Christians if we persist in this hatred without repentance. This isn't what I say - it's what God says in the bible.

I'm sure the woman I spoke with means well, and I believe any dialogue is probably better than none. But shouldn't a Christian discussion of how we treat our neighbor begin with "Let's see what God has instructed us from His Word..." rather than, "What's your opinion?"

How willing are we to accept God's Word as truth instead of trying to figure out ways to justify our sin? Let's not claim to have the Scriptures as our authoritative guide and then choose to defy it, especially when it comes to loving our neighbor as ourselves.

Perhaps more to come soon on this topic later.

For all things are for your sakes

2012-01-23T18:07:00.000-08:00

The Apostle Paul went from being a persecutor of Christians to being a persecuted Christian. Even a cursory look at his life as we read the New Testament reveals that Paul lived a life of extraordinary hardship. In 2 Corinthians Chapter 4 Paul writes, "we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake" (v 11).

It would be easy to wallow in self pity under these circumstances, but Paul reminds himself that the same God who raised Jesus from the dead, "will raise us also with Jesus and will present us WITH YOU." (v 14).

This is a common theme to Paul's epistles.
"I do all things for the sake of the gospel that I may become a FELLOW PARTAKER of it." (1 Cor. 9:23).
"For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even YOU, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? For YOU are our glory and joy." (1 Thess. 2:19-20).

That is why the ending of chapter 4 in 2 Corinthians is so astounding. Paul writes, after acknowledging the suffering and affliction the preachers of the gospel are experiencing, "For all things are for YOUR sakes, that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God." (v 15).

So many Christians are waiting for others to minister to them, rather than looking for opportunities to minister to others. It's not always easy to do. For Paul it was more death than life.

This morning was the first Men's Monday Morning Meeting (mmmm...). Breakfast was good and we had a perfect turnout. I'm looking forward to getting to know my brothers better over a cup of coffee and conversation. I'd like to think the Apostle Paul would feel comfortable meeting with us. I wonder how he would interact with us over breakfast and coffee. How would our lives change as a result?

Some Slightly Unorganized Thoughts on Truth and Love...

2012-01-18T12:10:00.000-08:00

I am responding here to Rich's earlier appeal to comment on the blog's title, "Love Rejoices in the Truth." After some rumination, I wanted to say a few things, loosely arranged under two headings

Truth as Love

As God's people, one of our callings is to defend the truth of the Gospel message as presented as Scripture. This first means that we have to know God's word, and know it well. Part of this knowing involves serious study, understanding words and phrases, genre and contexts. But it also means the willingness to allow Scripture to transform our minds and our hearts, even as the Holy Spirit has promised to do when we read.

Secondly, though, defending the truth of the Bible also means, at times correcting others who have wrongly interpreted its message. This is actually a form of discipline, which is something that contemporary Christians seems to chafe against as "un-loving." But, quite the contrary, I would actually posit that sharpening someone's understanding of truth is more loving than letting him go on with a wrong reading.

Think of it this way. All of Scripture has been given to us for our good, that we might live our lives to the full, in the love of Christ. Therefore, any wrong interpretation impedes us from a greater realization of the Christian life. Neglecting to correct someone's understanding of truth, then, is actually a very wicked thing to do.

Shirah (my daughter) has a fascination with our electrical outlets. We have the best child safety plugs, but I bet given enough time, she could figure out how to get them out. So whenever she heads towards the outlets, I give her a stern "NO!" and even a rap on the knuckles if she doesn't respond initially. Now I don't think anyone would view this is an un-loving thing to do on my part. I understand that if she were to get her fingers into the electrical sockets, it could cause her tremendous harm. So I discipline her for her own good. Out of love. I think this is somewhat analogous to what we do as Christians when we help others better understand the truth of God's word.

Truth with Love

Now this is where the second part of my musings comes into play. For whenever we seek to correct another, it must be done with gentle love. We are often so eager to correct another, that we neglect to consider that the spirit with which we correct can actually do damage to another--destroying their confidence or turning them off to the beauty of the Word. We often use truth as a weapon, when perhaps it should be a healing balm. Truth is love, but it must also be administered with love.

Men's Monday Morning Meeting (otherwise known as mmmm...)

2012-01-18T10:59:00.000-08:00

Beginning this coming Monday (1-23-12), we will have a men's breakfast in the Church kitchen beginning at 8 am. We will attempt to continue this meeting every following Monday for as long as there is an "appetite" or interest.
Hope you can join us.
Contact Rich C if you have any questions.

For this is why I wrote...

2012-01-10T04:43:00.000-08:00

In our 2 Corinthians Sunday School class, we have noticed that Paul refers to his writing of the letter often. In Chapter 2 he writes, "And I wrote as I did..." (2:3); "For I wrote to you..." (2:4); "For this is why I wrote..." (2:9).

The church at Corinth had a few problems. Interestingly, Paul says he desired to come to them but decided that a letter might hopefully accomplish the same result.

So Paul writes this letter, sends it to the church, and indeed, the church reads the letter, the Spirit of God applies the truth Paul writes to their hearts, and we read later on (in Chapter 7) that it had a profound affect in the way they treated each other. Paul's letter produced repentance, "For see what earnestness this Godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves..." (2 Cor.7:11).

God's Word is meant to produce good fruit in our lives. It is especially provided to us for this purpose. But we have to read it!

This is the beauty of what God accomplished through the Apostle Paul. Paul knew he couldn't be everywhere to straighten out the problems of all the churches. What Paul wrote to the Corinthians way back then, is also God's Word to us today.

But the crux of the matter is whether we believe what is written in the Scripture is actually the Word of God - or the word of men.

It has been my observation that many men struggle with this point. Once they have convinced themselves (sometimes by other men), that the Scripture is suspect (too complicated, not written for our day and age, offers an opinion only, etc), then Satan takes advantage of this unbelief and our lives do not reflect the truth of God's Word.

If this is where you are at, or headed, Paul writes, "For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything." (2 Cor. 2:9).

The word "test" is better understood as "prove". Obeying the Word of God "proves" our salvation.

The Corinthians found great joy in being obedient to what was written to them. I hope that our church, and the individuals within it, can also live in that joy.

How do we receive wisdom?

2012-01-05T08:19:00.000-08:00

Here's a link from a website I find interesting.
http://www.thirstytheologian.com/2012/01/04/intelligent_discipline.php

What's the story behind the blog title?

2012-01-02T17:52:00.000-08:00

Truth is divisive.

Pilate states, "What is truth?" and then releases Barabbas to the Jews and Jesus to the cross (John 18). Jesus had just told Pilate that He was a witness to the truth and that everyone who is of the truth will hear His voice. Pilate wanted unity - at the expense of truth. Give the people what they want, my hands are clean (Matt. 27:24).

The Apostle Paul understood that truth is divisive. In Romans 16:17, he warns the brethren to, "keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching you have learned, and turn away from them." True unity was found in coming together (keep your eye on those who cause dissensions) for the purpose of withdrawing (and turn away from them).

Truth is a line in the sand.

As Christians, this seems contrary to the commandment to love one another. Rather than turn away from false teaching, we become indifferent towards it. As a man once stated in our Sunday School class a while ago - tolerance can soon lead to acceptance.

This brings to mind Paul's 1st letter to the Corinthians. In Chapter 5, Paul has heard that the church was negligent in pronouncing judgment on a member who was living with his father's wife. The Corinthians were actually boasting of their tolerance. But Paul insists that this man be removed from fellowship. Paul likens this evil to leaven, that will eventually permeate the whole church. Their boasting was misplaced. Paul writes, "Let us therefore celebrate the festival (i.e., of Christ's sacrifice), not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." (1 Cor. 5:8).

While this is one extreme example, it is a significant passage towards an understanding of
1 Corinthians 13:6 which states, "Love... does not rejoice in unrighteousness but rejoices with the truth."

Love and Truth are not at odds with each other. They are in perfect harmony with each other.
Unfortunately, our application of the two are sometimes inbalanced. Love without truth can lead to indulgence or leniency. Truth without love can lead to harshness or severity towards others. Keeping a proper balance of the two requires wisdom and discernment.

I love the truth of God's Word.
I love to see how the understanding of His Word allows us to properly love God and each other.
And that's my story behind the title of the blog.
Perhaps the title has a different meaning for you. Let me know.

Why have I become a blogger?

2012-01-02T15:52:00.000-08:00

A couple of months ago, Aaron and I were approached by an elder at the church to talk about men's ministries. He asked us, "Would we be willing to host the next men's breakfast?" Well, of course we would, but we also started thinking that it would be great to come up with a way for men to encourage each other more often than every few months.

Now, we both love meeting up with friends for coffee in the morning (not too early mind you). Fellowship around a meal or coffee is a great way for getting to know people. But you can't meet for coffee, with everyone you'd like to, every day. We began kicking around ideas of how we could express our heart for studying and discussing Scripture to the other men. Outside of reading Scripture, we both enjoy reading good Christian blogs. Since a blog can be read anytime, we thought this might be one way to keep in touch.

So after the "hard" work of creating the blog itself (thanks Aaron!), we hope to keep your interest by posting a variety of subject matter to get (and keep) us thinking of what it means to rejoice in the truth of God's Word.

We hope that you will have time to check in occasionally. We look forward to continuing the conversation in person as the Lord allows.

As this is a new endeavor for us, be patient as we try to pull it all together for God's glory.
Thanks,
Rich C