Problems are for Solving

This morning, on my way home from the gym, I plan to stop and vote. Later tonight someone on the news will tell us one of three things, which most of you have probably heard by the time you read this. Either John McCain or Barack Obama will be elected to serve a first term beginning in January, or the election (for whatever reason) will not be over and we will have to wait to find out who will sit in the White House from January, 2009 through January 2013.

Every four years many Christians seem to forget that what matters most is not who is in the White House, but Who is on the throne. We will have a president, one way or another. More importantly, we have a King. His Name is Jesus.

Daniel 2:20-21, says:

“Daniel answered and said, ‘Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons, he removes kings and sets up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding;”

Most of us understand that Daniel was living in exile when he spoke these words. As we approach this year’s election many of us may hearken back to the 2000 presidential election. The election that didn’t seem to end.

As I write this I do not know who will be elected president. I don’t know whether he will prove to, in hindsight, be a good man or an evil man. But I do know, as Daniel did, that God alone removes kings and sets up kings.

When Daniel said this, he may have hearkened back himself to Isaiah’s words, when God calls the pagan king Nebuchadnezzar His servant. Daniel had no way of knowing when he said these words that Nebuchadnezzar would become a believer. But he did know what you and I can know-that God sets up kings.

We need not fear what lies ahead-because God knows and has promised that that gates of Hades will not prevail against His Church. We can bless the Name of God for ever and ever because He alone sets up kings. He alone gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. And He has promised to care for us.

Tomorrow morning many Christians may be fretting over the election of Barack Obama. The Republicans may lose even more ground in the Senate. No one expects them to even make up ground in the House of Representatives. But no matter who is ruling inside the DC beltway-Jesus rules from Heaven without fail.

Psalm 2 says that kings rage against the Messiah-but that the One in the Heavens laughs at them. He knows. He knows that they must stand on His lap to slap Him in the face. He knows that they are not mighty-and that they will fall at His command.

In 1997 I was diagnosed with adult onset asthma. Several times over the past years I have come close to death because I could not bring that next breath into my lungs. I have lived for years now with the ever present awareness that God holds every breath that we take-both for me and you.

Sparrows don’t fall to the ground without God’s knowledge. God knows when we sit down and rise up. He knows the words we speak before they are on our tongues. God’s thoughts for each of us outnumber the sand! Do we need to fear what man can do to us?

Psalm 118:6-9-”The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? The LORD is for me among those who help me; Therefore I will look with satisfaction on those who hate me. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.”

Is our trust in princes? May it never be! Our help comes from the Lord on high-and He has not ceased to sit upon His throne for one nano second since He ascended on high almost 2000 years ago.

Whether our President be John McCain or Barack Obama-Jesus is our King. Let us live today and every day trusting in Him alone. Let us worship Him with every breath that is in us and glory in His providence every moment.

“Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good. For His lovingkindness is everlasting.” (Ps. 118:29)

Saving the Baby Can Save the Mother :: Desiring God
When we help a young, unmarried mother in the midst of a pregnancy crisis save her baby, by God’s grace, the baby can save the mother.

I recommend this post from Piper’s blog. It’s short and to the point. A good reminder that we’re in the rescue business as the Church.

HT: Isaac.

Matthew 25 Network
mission statement
The Matthew 25 Network is a community of Christians – Catholic, Protestant, Pentecostal, and Evangelical – inspired by the Gospel mandate to put our faith into action to care for our neighbor, especially the most vulnerable.

The election of our public officials, and the politics they stand for, are a reflection of our core values. We believe that those elected to public office carry an important trust, as their decisions have a profound impact on our nation and our world.

We believe that people of faith should actively participate in the political process as an important avenue for social change. We are called by our faith to engage in the world as it is, while we seek after and hope for God’s Kingdom.

Therefore, while no elected official will be without flaw, we come together as individuals to support candidates for public office who share the values of the Matthew 25 Network: promoting life with dignity, caring for the least of these, strengthening and supporting families, stewardship of God’s Creation, working for peace and justice at home and abroad, and promoting the common good. (emphasis mine)

Sounds like something we can all get behind, right?

I want to call upon all Christians to actually vote in ways that will protect those who are most vulnerable: those children who our nation allows their own parents (with the help of licensed physicians, I might add) to murder while in the womb.

If you are a part of a church whose pastor is in the Matthew 25 Network, false shepherds who want to steal money from the rich in order to pay for, among other things, the murder of the unborn children of the poor, then you need to call on these leaders to repent.

May God have mercy on those who would lead so many astray.

Ok. So I got four comments on a post that I just threw together without really thinking about it. That’s more than I’ve gotten on a single post in quite some time. Which means people are reading and thinking (or at least a few of them) and so I’ll write about that.

If you didn’t read the other post or the comments under it the link is right there. What I’m about to say has its jumping off point in what the two posts (and underlying comments) by Josh Gibbs that Seth linked to. I used to read Gibbs but stopped because I was skipping more posts than I was reading, but these two were pretty good, or at least thought provoking.

Some of what I’m going to write on this topic is in the “thinking out loud” category. I realize that it’s dangerous to think out loud walking around a room of people who kind of know you—and that doing the same thing on a blog that can be accessed from anywhere in the world but Tibet is another level of insanity altogether. But then maybe I’ll start a controversy and become famous. Not likely—but I might attract more than the current seven loyal readers.

It is somewhat ironic that I write this on tax day. I filed my taxes quite some time ago, but today is the day that many are rushing off to the post office to mail tax forms and extension forms. It is in this realm of taxes that some of the controversy surrounding poverty happens. At the outset of this discussion of poverty I want to make it very clear that I completely oppose any helping of the poor through dollars taken from taxpayers at the point of a gun. All government run poverty “helps” do just that—and while I’m going to talk a lot in this series (oh no! It’s over now) about all the things that need to be done in ministering to the poor in Jesus’ Name it is Christians who are supposed to do this, and with our own resources, not those that the government has taken from others.

I have been looking at this issue from one perspective of economics for quite some time, and have not found a lot out there that I agree with. It seems like somebody decided that there are two ways to look at the poor, and we have to simplify it down to those. There are those who think we should take money from the rich to help them (I’ll call these the Christian Robin Hoods) and those who just assume that you’re poor because you’re lazy or a drunk. There are varying grades of these two views, but there are very few in between.

As you read what I’ll write, you’ll know that I am decidedly in between. Here are some guiding questions as I get started:

1. Who are the poor? Defining who is poor and who is rich is controversial and difficult at best. Who is objectively poor and who is objectively rich? I have some thoughts on that but it’ll be a post in itself.
2. What is our responsibility? And how do we carry that out? And by whom? Is it enough to give lots of money to the local rescue mission? Should the rescue mission even exist? Is it OK to give a drunk money? Methodologies abound. I will make a distinction between methods and methodologies (principles that guide the methods). Of the former there are many right ways, of the latter the principles ought to be the same.
3. What are the goals? Is the goal that the poor become rich? Or that they are less poor?
4. Why is this a big issue of disagreement? Why can’t we agree that helping the poor is important and figure out how best to do it and go out and do it?
5. What are charity and justice? What do they look like in our current society? What might they look like in a non-capitalist society?

There may be more, but these are questions that can guide any discussion that takes place here and on other blogs that might throw stones this way. I’ll have more later.

The Gospel Coalition | Vision
We cannot look at the poor and the oppressed and callously call them to pull themselves out of their own difficulty. Jesus did not treat us that way.

I read a blog each day (or most days) called Of First Importance which mostly has quotes that remind me of the centrality of Jesus and His Gospel to my life. These are short reminders each day, and on many days I need them. Today there was a quote from this Gospel Coalition vision statement, including the quote above.

I have added some emphasis to the quote and I haven’t at all digested its context, but this quote struck me this morning because it’s something I’ve been thinking about in another context.

How should Christians, being like Christ, respond to poverty? This quote makes me wonder if our response needs to have in its context symbolism of what and how Jesus has done for us.

Lord willing I’ll have more thoughts on this later–no time this morning to expound. I wanted to put this here though so others can remind me later, and so I’ll remember to go back and look at this whole vision statement.

…able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (Ephesians 6:11b)

When I was younger I used to watch a lot of cartoons. I like the road runner. Once, though, WB did some character swapping and the Coyote turned up in a Bugs Bunny cartoon. In this one he talked. He introduced himself as Wle E. Coyote, emphasis on the “E”.

He was supposed to be wily but not as sharp as Bugs. Just like in his attempts against the road runner, he was frustrated at every attempt. Because Bugs Bunny knows how to recognize and anticipate crafty methods.

Our enemy is artful and sly in his methods. Today I want to talk about one of them: conspiracy.

He plans against our welfare. He does not want us to grow.

Consider the following quotes from C.S. Lewis’
The Screwtape Letters (letters #6 and 7):

Do what you will, there is going to be some benevolence, as well as some malice, in your patient’s soul. The great thing is to direct the malice to his immediate neighbours whom he meets every day and to thrust his benevolence out to the remote circumference, to people he does not know. The malice thus becomes wholly real and the benevolence largely imaginary. There is no good at all in inflaming his hatred of Germans if, at the same time, a pernicious habit of charity is growing up between him and his mother, his employer, and the man he meets in the train.

I had not forgotten my promise to consider whether we should make the patient an extreme patriot or an extreme pacifist. All extremes, except extreme devotion to the Enemy, are to be encouraged. Not always, of course, but at this period. Some ages are lukewarm and complacent, and then it is our business to soothe them yet faster asleep. Other ages, of which the present is one, are unbalanced and prone to faction, and it is our business to inflame them.

Whichever he adopts, your main task will be the same. Let him begin by treating the Patriotism or the Pacifism as a part of his religion. Then let him, under the influence of partisan spirit, come to regard it as the most important part. Then quietly and gradually nurse him on to the stage at which the religion becomes merely part of the “cause”, in which Christianity is valued chiefly because of the excellent arguments it can produce in favour of the British war-effort or of Pacifism. The attitude which you want to guard against is that in which temporal affairs are treated primarily as material for obedience. Once you have made the World an end, and faith a means, you have almost won your man, and it makes very little difference what kind of worldly end he is pursuing. Provided that meetings, pamphlets, policies, movements, causes, and crusades, matter more to him than prayers and sacraments and charity, he is ours—and the more “religious” (on those terms) the more securely ours. I could show you a pretty cageful down here.

These are letters from a demon to his apprentice, and the Enemy named is Christ. Christ is our enemy’s Enemy as He is our Friend and General.

The foe, Satan, wants to confuse us and direct us away from our mission. The more passionately he can direct us away from the Commission our General has left for us, the more effective his methods. He loves to stir up differences among us and we are to pursue the unity of His Body in the Spirit of Peace, rather than allowing our differences to divide Christ. Yes, they are there, and many of them are heartfelt and important. But are they more important than the unity of Christ’s Body? May it never be! So, my fellow soldiers do not let spite and passion rise up among us that divide us from one another. We are all fighting in the same war, on the same side if we are Christ’s. If we fail to recognize the wily methods of the Devil, we will fall into his traps.

Series Index

So we’re at war. And we’re to fight the war in the power of Christ’s might.

This begs the question: with whom are we at war? Whom are we fighting? Who’s the enemy?

The next verses in Ephesians 6:

Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
(Ephesians 6:11-12)

Going first to verse 12: “for we wrestle not . . .” That “not” is important. This is not a flesh and blood war. This is a war against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

[I'm not going to cover all of these in one post—my goal is to give a thorough treatment to this passage in chunks that are under 700 words, preferably shorter. This accomplishes two things. First, it helps my half dozen readers to read without being overwhelmed and second it helps me to learn to be more terse in my writing. This post will be the longest of this section]

The devil. We are to stand and fight against the “wiles of the devil.” The ESV translates this word, “schemes.” The Greek word here is the one from which our English word “methods” is derived. We are to stand against the methods of the devil.

It’s only recently that I’ve realized a tendency I’ve had in the past to minimize the reality of the forces of evil. And many of us err in our assessment of Satan. Some make more of him than is true, almost making him into a co-god who rules apart from God’s sovereign providence, and others (and I have fallen into this camp more often) practically trivialize the efforts of the eventually losing side of darkness. This war is real, and Satan is a real, active, strong enemy.

In that great hymn, A Mighty Fortress is Our God, Martin Luther writes,

For still our ancient foe
doth seek to work us woe;
his craft and power are great,
and armed with cruel hate,
on earth is not his equal.

Luther refers to Satan as our ancient foe. He goes back a long way—further than we know for sure. And his methods, his schemes, are to work for our woe. He wants us to be sad and disorganized and filled with hopelessness. Satan is no lightweight either. Luther correctly describes him as great in craft and power. Remember that craft, when this hymn was originally translated, didn’t refer to knitting and scrapbooking, but to the vocations of craftsmanship like blacksmithing. Certainly many of our modern “crafts” were once crafts in the traditional sense (pottery comes to mind), but in the hymn Luther is referring to Satan’s craftsmanship. Satan has no equal on earth. Luther continues:

Did we in our own strength confide,
our striving would be losing,

We don’t stand a chance against this guy. Our ancient foe has no equal. If we take confidence in our own strength.

were not the right man on our side,
the man of God’s own choosing.
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is he;
Lord Sabbaoth, his name,
from age to age the same,
and he must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled,
should threaten to undo us,
we will not fear, for God hath willed
his truth to triumph through us.
The Prince of Darkness grim,
we tremble not for him;
his rage we can endure,
for lo, his doom is sure;
one little word shall fell him.

Jesus is on our side, so we need not fear. Satan is a real enemy, but his doom is sure. And so we must stand, by faith in Christ, against of the methods of the devil—by putting on the whole armor of God, about which more later.

Yesterday I posted about the glorious war that the Christian has been called to fight. This war doesn’t look like the wars we see, though it is just as difficult and dangerous for the combatants. Lord willing, over the next few days I’m going to write a series of posts based on Ephesians chapter 6, dealing with our fighting of the war.

Paul, having just finished an extensive section on the Christian walk including a description of various parts of the social order (husbands and wives, workers and masters, children and parents) , turns back to the heavenly perspective with which he began in chapter 1. He wants us to see the Christian walk from God’s perspective—as a war. This is the conclusion to his letter to the Ephesians, his final encouragement to them as they walk with the Savior.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.
(Ephesians 6:10)

I don’t usually use the King James, but because of the poetic flow of this section I like the way the KJV puts the passage. The added benefit is that the King James, being older English, has distinctive pronouns for singular and plural that have fallen away in modern usage, giving a clearer picture of the original.

Finally: “because of all that I’ve written so far, I want to end here” so to speak. And the apostle goes with the familial “brethren” calling to attention the family ties that we all share in Christ. This is not intended to exclude the “sisters” of the Ephesian church, but to emphasize the family relationship.

The command? Be strong. But not in your own strength—but in Christ. In the power of the might of the Savior.

So we’re going to fight this war. We must be strong. But we can’t. We need the Lord, and that’s where Paul’s been headed the whole time. All the examples of who we are in Christ and what Christ has done that he expounded in chapters 1-3: that’s to point us to Christ. The commands of chapters 4-6: to point us to Christ. We need Him and can’t do this on our own.

We need the power of His might.

The call is to rise up and stand—to be strong—but only to be strong in Christ. Because our strength fails and His never does. So before we ever take up the weapons of the war, before we get to know our enemy, we must stand up and be strong in Christ, and depend upon Him for everything. So have this attitude as you go to war: be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.

Last week I posted a note about a new album that I’ve been burning up. Not really burning up (though doesn’t that conjure up two entirely antithetical images? And wow–did I just use antithetical in an actual blog post?) literally of course, but listening to a lot.

In the fourth song, Hymn, Anthony pens the line:

Rise up o Church
And grab the sword
Stand up and fight
This glorious war

The whole verse that contains this line is fantastic. I can’t get all the words down for sure and I’m too lazy to run get the jacket and look and see if they’re there (I think they are), but the line just inspires me.

Rise up Church! Grab the spirit’s sword! Fight! We’ve been called to a glorious war!

And a war it is.

I’ve known those who are angry at the Church. Those who think she’s become the whore of Babylon or just filled with false teachers and so not only can but ought to be avoided.

But Jesus builds the Church. And He is. She is far from perfect, but she is His Church. And she is at war.

War conjures up many images for me, but the one that is conjured up right now is of a rag tag group of men fighting to save their homes from an oppressive invader. They didn’t ask for the fight and they don’t want to fight, and they would much rather be home living in peace. These men probably wouldn’t be friends in most situations. They come from different social strata and have varying educations and opposing opinions in a broad spectrum of topics. They probably would argue tooth and nail about all kinds of matters and would generally avoid being around one another.

Except for the pesky war. Because of this war, these men who wouldn’t be friends in a normal, peaceful situation become a band of brothers who are willing to die for one another. Because of the war, the unfriendly become life long friends. Because of the war, they learn to get along and in fact grow in love and devotion to one another, trusting their lives into each others’ hands.

And so to those of you who claim Christ’s Name as that alone in which you find your salvation I say this:

You’re at war.

And because you’re at war you need to tend to your weapons and your fellow soldier’s in this army of rag tag people that you often don’t like and that you’d rather were someplace else. Why? Because they’re not the enemy. They’re the ones that will watch your back when you’re asleep and who will engage against the foe for your sake, whether they agree with you about secondary and tertiary matters. So stop fighting in the camp, and take up the weapons that the Commander has given and fight the glorious war. I’ve got your back, even if I disagree with you. If you’re in the General’s Army, you’re my friend. Army, navy, baptist, presbyterian, whatever the label–if you’re Christ’s, I’ll watch your back.

The last couple of posts have “seemed out of character” for me to some of my readers. And since “some readers” makes up a majority of “those readers I actually have” I thought I should address those concerns. :0)

Earlier this year, Raquel wrote a post about a Casting Crowns song called Voice of Truth.

There’s another song on that album called Stained Glass Masquerade about which Adiel posted a couple of months ago.

In football, when someone grabs another player’s face mask, it calls for a penalty. Sometimes 5 yards. Sometimes 15.

In the Church, when someone else’s mask is grabbed usually what happens is that somebody leaves the field.

I said it this way to a friend on Sunday, “I’m tired of being the one who’s supposed to have it all together.”

And I was. And I am.

And there’s a reason for that.

I never had it all together. And I can’t keep it all together.

We wear masks on Sunday to keep other people out. To keep us safe. To keep others from hurting us. Maybe it’s because we don’t want other people to see us cry. Maybe it’s pride. Maybe it’s a delusion that we can control something. Maybe it’s fear that they won’t like us if they really know what we’re like.

What is it with you? Are you open with those in your covenant community? Have you opened yourself up to them? Why not?

You see, God loves me. And He loves me knowing how awful and useless I am. He knows where I’m failing better than even I know myself. And He loves me. He not only loves me, He paid for all of my uselessness and wickedness and failings and awfulness with His own Son.

And yet.

I’m too often afraid.

Remember the old deodorant commercial? “Never let them see you sweat.”

We are afraid to let others know we’re weak and frail and useless.

But what does the Gospel say?

The Gospel says we’re weak. And frail. And useless.

And that’s why Jesus came. Because He loved (and loves!) a weak and frail and useless people and died for their weak, frail, useless souls.

So that in Him we wouldn’t be weak or frail or useless anymore.

And in Him we’re not.

But in ourselves, in our own strength, we are.

But we forget who we are and who we are in Christ.

So you may see more of who I am on this blog from time to time. And make no mistake it is who I am. I am a weary, failing person who is tired of trying to do too much. And the only way I become anything else is if I turn to Him who does more than I ask and rest upon and wait upon Him.

So may we all, today, wait upon the Lord and have renewed strength. And when we do not, may we fall so hard upon His grace that we remember who we are and who He is and what He’s done.

And then the Gospel will live itself out in our lives as weak and frail and useless people point to the mighty, strong, benevolent Savior who can save our weak and frail and useless neighbors just as He saved weak and frail and useless me. Weak and frail and useless you.

So take off your face mask and believe the Gospel and go forth in peace by His grace alone. Repent of trying to go it on your own and trust in the risen, ruling Savior! He alone does great and marvelous works. May He do so today through broken vessels like you and me.