Monthly Archives: May 2010

Surrounded by the Judgment of God

Posted by Matthew on May 24, 2010 None comments |

I am sitting atop Johnston’s ridge which overlooks Mount Saint Helens. As I look around me I can’t help but be overwhelmed by the destruction that is still evident 30 years after that massive eruption. I am surrounded by 360 degrees of desolation (of course new vegetation is sprouting) in places) that spans for miles and miles in all directions. The valleys and mountain sides all around me have but a few shrubs here and there and some remnants of dead tree trunks clustered in patches much further away.

The deep valley floor about a thousand feet below me is flat and tinted with green. Dead tree stumps with splintered tops litter the landscape. In various places streams flow down mountain sides as though they were ashamedly naked as most stream beds are alive with lush plant life but these have little or none. What really gets you is when you realize that the entire scene would have been an idyllic and picturesque forest of tall old growth trees, full of birds flying about and all manner of wildlife flitting throughout the underbrush if you were here before May 18th, 1980. It all disappeared in a matter of minutes. Vaporized by pyroclastic flow that had no mercy and left nothing untouched. An estimated 1.5 million animals were killed along with the 57 humans in the area.

The greatness and magnitude is beyond compare, and to stand right in the middle of it, tends to make you feel the opposite as a small fragile creature. It reminds us that our day-to-day lives are lived in an illusion of safety. We feel safe because of the small minute measures that we take to make us feel that way. But ultimately, the Great Powers have their way regardless of what we think or do.

The reality is, we are surrounded by the very judgment of God himself who created this world for us (Gen. 3:17). We and the world were to get along perfectly (Gen. 1:31), but one act of rebellion turned the whole relationship upside down (Rom. 5:12; Rom. 8:19-22). Creation now shakes, drowns, burns, consumes, smashes, and tears us to pieces every single day. Haiti felt this in colossal proportions, as we all witnessed earlier this year. And this is where a holy fear rises in my being. I myself, one of the sons of Adam, have my own part in this Sin that ruined the world (Rom. 5:19). I could then, in a sense, be partly to blame for what has happened to creation. God promised death if Adam should sin (Gen. 2:17). Adam is now dead. And the mystery of it is, that God in his mercy and loving-kindness, did not make an utter end to us pathetic creatures. He let us continue on. The earth was now under a curse that would bring us plenty of grief, but we would be allowed to continue on. Of course it wasn’t without purpose. God promised to Abraham that one particular Brother of ours—one of Abraham’s own offspring—would be the one and only means of a renewal and restart (Gen. 3:15;  Gen. 28:14; Gal. 3:16). The one Way to all restoration and renewal of what we forfeited to the enemy that fateful day in Eden. Its a crazy sounding story, indeed, but to see such awesome, fantastically dreadful destruction is a reminder of what is simply owed to us.

And so as I look out at all the barrenness, it comes with a sadness, because deep down somewhere, being brought forth of the same dust of the earth, I know that what I see is not right. This is not supposed to be. This is not nature being “natural”, but rather being cursed. It bears witness against me as a son of Adam. And thus, what hope could I possibly have in such a place, if it were not for the opportunity to die and resurrect as the son of Another (Rom. 8:19) who provides a very real shelter (Ps. 91:1) from this stormy cursed world? How blessed I am.

The Infectious Diseases of the Pharisees and of Herod – Mark 8:15

Posted by Matthew on May 23, 2010 None comments |

I was just studying into this and noticed that Jesus talked about two kinds of leaven, the leaven of the Pharisees, and the leaven of Herod (Mark 8:15). Jesus frequently teaches in parables and illustrations and here, speaking of leaven, he refers to an infectious spiritual disease that anyone could catch if they were not careful.

Sometimes we find ourselves walking around sick and not aware of exactly what that sickness is. So it is with the sickness of the Pharisees and of Herod. If people have been unusually avoiding you perhaps you should get a check-up.

The Pharisee Sickness
Symptoms would include hypocrisy (Mark 12:13-15), legalism (Matt. 23:23-24), self-righteousness (Matt. 23:28), haughtiness (Mark 15:31), spiritual pride (Luke 18:11-12), and judgmentalism (Matt. 23:34). This illness is more internal and less outwardly manifest and as such, tends to cause you to hide behind a pretty face while living in a lie.

The Herod Sickness
Symptoms would include, immorality, lasciviousness, indifference, apathy, mockery, debauchery, drunkenness, filthy speech, and the like. This illness shows itself plainly, and patients usually exhibit a defensive attitude towards their debauched way of living. (Matt. 2:16; Mark 7:21-23; Eph. 5:18; Eph. 5:4; 1 Peter 4:3; Gal. 5:19-24)

It is best to avoid these kind of people (2 Timothy 3:1-5). Of course we mean those who call themselves brothers and are sick like this (1 Cor. 5:9-13). If you are around them too much you risk the chance of becoming infected (1 Cor. 15:33, Luke 21:34).

If you are infected with such a disease yourself, take heart, Jesus can heal you (Matt. 12:15; Rev. 3:17-20)!

Portland the “City of Churches”

Posted by Matthew on May 22, 2010 None comments |
Sunday Oregonian 1899

The Sunday Oregonian 1899, front page

It might be hard to believe but Portland was once known as a “city of churches.” Today everyone seems to know it as the most unchurched city in America. Well, a 100 years ago people would emerge from their dwellings every Sunday morning to the sound of church bells everywhere and head to church in droves. There would be “fashion parades” down the streets as families, richly dressed, would make their weekly procession into the diverse selection of denominational churches. Beggars were kept away or at a distance so that the church-goers could march on to church in “peace.”

These were top notch churches for ministers to work for too. Pay was typically better for ministers than it was “back east.”

What an interesting church history for Portland. The city was founded in 1850 and churches sprout up all over the place into the early 20th century, and most people went to church. The eccentric church buildings were some of the most expensive building projects in town. Then that generation passed away and a new one came and decided they didn’t like church. Now, 3 generations later, Portland is called the most unchurched city in the US.

But perhaps it was not all it was cracked up to be…for those who know the history of Portland well, this might seem like a vast veneer of prettiness beneath which there was all manner of corruption including a payoff system that went all the way up to the Mayor of Portland.

According to Portland Confidential,

“It may come as a bit of a shock, especially to anyone who has come to regard Portland as a haven for enlightened progressive thought, light rail, and lattes for all, that not too long ago—in fact, at least as recently as the 1950s—Portland was known throughout the country as a Mecca of vice and sin.” (Stanford, 2004)

God’s Love is not Unconditional

Posted by Matthew on May 19, 2010 None comments |

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! 1

God’s love is far greater, nobler, deeper, beautiful, and stronger than we could ever hope to conceive, but it is not unconditional.

To understand this you must go back a little bit in time and put yourself into God’s viewpoint, as much as that is possible. A higher power though he be, he is just as full of heart and soul as any of us (Isa. 63:15; Acts 13:22; 1 Sam. 13:13-14), and even more so being the infinite and perfect God he is.

Once, he created a most glorious being, more glorious than any he ever did create. But that one lifted his heart up and tried to rob God, if such a thing were possible, and he fell terribly so that God no longer loved him. Along with him many other glorious beings denied God’s love. So they were cast out of his presence and love forever (2 Pet 2:4; Jud. 1:6). Worthless creatures. Denied God’s love forever. (Isaiah 14:12; Luke 10:18)

Another time, a race of humans became so wicked and rebellious against God that they too were simply unworthy of even existing anymore. So vile and useless they had become, that God withdrew his great, inexhaustible, and indubitable love from them too. He sent those great waters that the earth had never known nor will ever know again to wipe them clean off the face of the earth (Gen. 6:13; Heb. 11:7; 1 Pet. 3:20; 2 Pet. 2:5). Only one man and his family survived out of the race. Perhaps he was worthy of God’s love and that is why he was spared. But such thinking is folly, for no one is worthy of God’s love. Yet that man, in his fallenness, had potential to be redeemed. And this was only—only— because he had faith in that potential, nothing more. And so it was time and time again in much smaller degrees, with such people as Korah and his men (Num. 26:9-10), the Assyrians (2 Chr. 32:21), the Midianites (Judg. 7:2), Ammonites (Eze 25:1-4), Jezebel (2 Kings 9:10), Sennacharib (2 Chron. 32:10-22), Judas (Acts 1:18), Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-10), and so many more.

He created a whole array of beings including a race of human beings who looked, acted, spoke and felt just like Himself. As a God of love, He is always loving someone somewhere.
But not always everything. There comes a point when you cannot love someone anymore.
God from the beginning gave, gave, and gave some more. He sent crops, and food, and wine, the rain, the sun, the cool breeze, and the prosperity of the earth. He sent his words and will time and time again. He invested energy, love, time, and work into his creation that he loved (Luke 12:23-28). He gave them prophets and teachers to speak his mind and will. Promises for protection, refuge, and providence (Lev. 18:5; 1 Kin. 6:12). But ignorance was much too deep in the mind of men and self much too lofty in their hearts to accept such love from Heaven, and though God loved so well, he was refused and forsaken still (Judg. 10:10; Luk 20:9-16). Being the patient and long suffering God he is (Num. 14:18; Ps. 103:8-9), he did not readily annihilate them in his wrath and cast them out as refuse. Would not you or I have? But God had in mind to yet do something far beyond what they could ever conceive: he would send his one and only son to die for them. Sure, he had done more than enough to earn their full love and worship, yet they still didn’t quite understand how He felt for them. Through his son however, who offered himself up as the ultimate loving sacrifice (there is no further one can go for love’s sake – John 15:13), they would surely get the point and love and adore him forever. If not, they have made the ultimate denial and greatest rejection (John 5:23) of God’s love which has been showered in abundance upon them, for he so loved the entire world (John 3:16). It is a sad estate to be in to deny God’s love in Christ, for God’s love is thus denied that person, and he stores up wrath for himself. (Rom. 1:18; Rom. 2:5-8)

His love is wholly contingent on the belief in the death of his son Jesus Christ.

If you think that God’s love is unconditional, it is—on one condition—Christ.

If we deny him, he also will deny us. 2 Tim 2:12

FOOTNOTES
1. A saying repeated over 40 times in scripture, far more than any other saying.↑

Show Yourself A Man! 1 Kings 2:2

Posted by Matthew on May 17, 2010 1 comments |

I am ashamed of our generation of men. To all the women and children out there I want to speak grave apologies—we have sorely let you down.

I could throw on a sackcloth over my body and ashes on my forehead if the custom existed in our age. For what is it to us that we mere mortals who walk as fearfully and wonderfully made creatures (Ps. 139:14), should be cowards? What with all such characteristics as reflect the Father who is in heaven (Matt. 5:45), the Man who is in Heaven(1 Cor 15:49) and sits at the right hand of God to judge the living and the dead (2 Tim 4:1),  the Almighty Warrior (Ex. 15:3), the Redeemer (Job 19:25), the Rock (Deut. 32:4), the Fortress (2 Sam 22:2), and the One who sacrifices his life for us (Eph. 5:2)? We men, sons of Adam, bearing his image, were supposed to be like him. And, as is quite apparent from history, we men have made quite a spectacle of the masculinity of God. Worse yet, I fear I live among a generation of Christian men who are as aware of their masculine identities as puppies are of their own given names.

I have found over the years that though the Scriptures be universal truth for all, there remains yet, a few special commands and scriptures just for the man. God would not call upon the woman, whom he made a weaker vessel (1 Pet. 3:7), before he would call upon the man to take care of the dirty, sweaty, and sometimes bloody work of taking care of creation.

Consequently, God had much to say to the men of old (and no doubt would say the same to us men of today), “Be strong and courageous!” (Josh 1:6-9), “Brace yourself like a man!” (Job 38:3), “Brace yourself for work!” (Jer. 1:17), “Show yourself a man!” (1 Kings 2:2), “O men, how long?” (Psa. 4:2-3) “Act like men!” (1 Cor. 16:13). Not once does God or anyone else ever speak directly to a woman to “Be strong” or “be valiant.” (1 Chron. 28:20; 2 Chron. 25:8; Ezra 10:4;  Haggai 2:4; 2 Sam 2:7; 1 Cor 16:13)

God has a bent for justice, nobility, courage, boldness,  fearlessness, constancy, initiative, and responsibility and wants to see those in his sons. He likes to grant a spirit of valor to them (1 Sam. 10:26). The Hebrew word for valor חיל (chayil) and warrior גּבּור (gibbor) in the Old Testament are used in the contexts of wealth, army, strength, power, war, and….men. (Gen. 6:4; Exo. 18:21;, Jos. 8:3, Judg. 18:2, Judg. 21:10; 1 Sam. 10:26; 2 Sam. 10:7; 2 Sam 17:10; 2 Sam. 23:8; 1 Chr. 5:24; 2 Kings 25:23; Ezra 7:28,  Neh. 3:16,  Song 3:7, Hab 3:19, Lam 1:15, Ezekiel 39:20, Dan. 8:24, Obadiah 1:9, Zech 10:5) Out of about 228 occurrences of the word chayil in the Old Testament it is used three times to describe a virtuous woman (Ruth 3:11, Prov. 31:10,29). The word gibbor (warrior), occuring over 150 times, is for but for men alone.

This is what God means for the man. Valor, strength, responsibility, honor, initiative, courage. When we shy away from these we live in sin as cowards. And yet, is that not the grave state the men of our Church are in today? Men giving themselves to playing World of Warcraft for 8 hours a day, growing unhealthy and degenerate in front of the TV 15-20 hours a week, getting drunk and laughing about it, sexually exploiting their girlfriends, going to the bars at night instead of their wives and children, wasting time playing instead of getting a job, wasting their money on useless junk, racking up credit card debt, asking their mama’s for help, spewing all manner of vulgarities and filth out of their mouth, and exploiting the church for whatever it provides while giving nothing back? I am ashamed for my generation of brothers. I would to God that he might show us wayward dudes his kindness through some severe mercy and discipline for this is not a generation of mighty men but of cowardly men!

And it is hardly fitting to call a woman a coward, is it not? Any nation that ever would send its women to battle instead of its men would be derided by others as a nation of cowardly men with no honor or fidelity. Cowards are those men who do not live up to God’s purpose of manhood as protectors who are ready to lay their life down for others. It is never to the shame of women to allow their men to stand up, take initiative, lead, and fight for justice, peace, righteousness, and fidelity. However for those men who sit passively by and let their women do all the dirty, bloody work for them, it is to their shame.  I praise women who take initiative and stand up for great causes, to get things done when the men fail to do so themselves. For those women it is to their honor, but to those men…woe to them.

“But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8)

Court Challenge to National Day of Prayer?

Posted by Matthew on May 6, 2010 None comments |

US Evangelicals Defiant Over Court Challenge to National Day of Prayer.

Can’t go wrong with prayer, that’s for sure. Whether they remove prayer from the schools or the congressional meeting halls…they can’t keep people from gathering and praying. If an official  “sanctioning” of prayer be removed from public places or government institutions, so what. Remember what Daniel did:

“When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.” (Daniel 6:10)