A Letter To You

To any and all who would lend me your ear and your heart, I beg you to consider the following story and plea from my heart.

A few months back a member of our church family passed away. As her pastor I had the great honor of speaking at her funeral service and sharing encouragement with her family members and friends. Although her death was sudden and unexpected, and although it brought much sorrow to her loved ones, it was truly a celebration of her life and her reception in heaven with Jesus.

This past week, one of her sons was laid in the same position, in the same room, with much of the same people looking in the same direction, in the same manner, with much of the same tears flowing down their cheeks. Although I had met this gentlemen only one time, I was asked to speak at his funeral service.

There was something much different about this gentleman's funeral service than there was of his mother's just months earlier. This gentleman never professed a faith in Jesus Christ, his family members and his friends did not know where he stood with his maker, no one was able to offer a testimony on his behalf, and no one stood secure on where his soul would spend eternity.

As the funeral service continued, as it concluded, and as the casket was placed over it's final resting place, the uncertainty grew, as did the sorrow, the heartbreak, and the grief. This day we were able to honor his life, we were able to remember the memories made with this man, we were able to reflect on the impact that he has made in the lives of others, yet we were not able to celebrate , and we were not able to rest assured.

Now, I believe that God offers comfort, encouragement, and support in our time of need, I believe that God will strengthen this family in the same way. But, as a sister stood at her brother's casket for more than ten minutes repeating; "I will see you again, you are in heaven now".

"I will see you again, you are in heaven now!"
"I will see you again, you are in heaven now!"
"I will see you again, you are in heaven now!"
"I will see you again, you are in heaven now!"

For ten minutes she continued, over and over she cried, over and over she wailed, over and over she shouted; "I will see you again, you are in heaven now!" This poor woman tried her best to convince herself, tried her best to convince those around her, tried her best to convince God, that her brother was going to make it into heaven. How troubling it must be to see the cold body of a loved one and know that it might be too late.

As I stood beside the casket that day, I could only hope that the second half of that statement was true, hope that he had made a commitment before his life was taken from him, hope that he called on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ before his last breath passed from his body. I could only hope, because it was too late for prayers.

And, as I stood beside the casket that day, I could not help but see the faces and think of the names of the individuals close to me that have not yet made a commitment to Jesus. Prayers were offered for you that day - prayers that you will come to know Jesus Christ, prayers that you will come to accept Jesus Christ, prayers that you will come to experience Jesus Christ - because without Him you are lost.

Salvation gained a whole new meaning that day!

So, as I conclude this letter to you, I must ask: "have you accepted Jesus". I don't care how inconvenient it is for you to make it to church, I don't care how boring you find a preacher's sermon, I don't care how many excuses you have for staying away from church people. Simply this, I care about you and I want to make sure that I can celebrate with you some day. Maybe I won't be around to celebrate your life at your funeral service, but I will be around to celebrate your life for all of eternity.

I love you and I want the best for you.

Changing Everything

Our children have always had an early bed time, sometimes they are ready for bed by 6:30 in the evening. And, for the most part, they have slept until 7:00 a.m. or later. Over the past couple of weeks our oldest son has begun to wake up earlier and earlier; 5:15, 4:45, 4:15. And, when he wakes up in the morning, he is up for the rest of the day.

Now, every morning we hear him in his room between 4:00 and 5:00 a.m. talking, singing, laughing, playing. I should add that he has two volumes; loud and louder, and he shares a bedroom with his ten month old baby brother.

This leaves us with a couple of options; force him to stay in his room and listen to him scream out (waking everyone in the house up) or get up with him and begin the day. As you can see, both options result in either myself or my wife (or both of us) up at a very early hour.

Neither Kim (my wife) or I are morning people but, given the above options, we are being forced into this lifestyle (at least for the time being). So, we can either deny it or accept it, we can either go to bed at an early hour or be tired and grumpy every day. So, we accept it, we go to bed early, we get up earlier, and we change everything! Why? Because when you decide to be a parent, children change everything.

Children Change Everything!

In effect, our son is saying to him mother and I; "Since you have decided to have me as your son, you must forget about your own desires, you must give up your personal wants, you must deny yourself some sleep, and adapt to my schedule every day from now on."

As a pastor and a believer in Christ it occurs to me that Jesus said something very similar; "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." (Luke 9:23) As followers of Jesus Christ we must give up our own desires, we must give up our personal wants, we must deny ourselves some sleep, some time, some pleasure, and follow Him and His schedule from now on.

Why? Because when you decide to be a follower of Christ, Jesus changes everything.

Jesus Changes Everything!

Psalm 2

Let's take a look at Psalm chapter 2,

·        In this Psalm, there are four stanzas of three verses each

·        Each stanza has a different focus

·        The focus of the first stanza is mankind

Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One. “Let us break their chains,” they say, “and throw off their fetters.” (Psalm 2:1-3)

We need to know some things about Psalm 2 first.

·        Like many Psalms, it was written by David

o   Acts 4:25: You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

Before we focus on Psalm 2, let’s talk about Acts 4, we’ll work back

·        Acts 2: The Holy Spirit comes on the day of Pentecost

·        Acts 2: Peter addresses the crowd and 3,000 were baptized

·        Acts 2: House churches are formed and begin to spread

·        Acts 3: Peter and John heal a crippled beggar at the temple

·        Acts 3: Peter proclaims the Gospel message of Christ

·        Acts 4: The Priests and Sadducees were disturbed

·        Acts 4: Peter and John were thrown into jail

·        Acts 4: The number of believers grew to 5,000

·        Acts 4: Rulers and teachers of the law

·        Acts 4: Peter proclaims Christ’s message to the leaders

·        Acts 4: The rulers and teachers of the law were astonished

·        Acts 4: They released them with a warning

On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: “‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One. (Acts 4:23-26)

You see, Psalm 2 begins with a question about the people of earth;

·        What good is it if they plot against God – they must be fools.

·        Why do they try to outwit God – this is absurd. 

·        Nations might take a stand against God and against His ways

·        Rulers and leaders might gather and make plans against Him

·        They may say, let’s break this slavery that God has us in

·        They may say, why should we submit to this Jesus fellow

·        They may think that without God they will be free

And what is God’s response? 

·        Verse 4 takes the focus from mankind to God.

The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, "I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.” (Psalm 2:4-6)

God’s Response is, first, an unexpected response

He laughs

·        God merely laughs at them, He is amused by all of their puny plans.

·        Psalm 37:13 says; “the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he knows their day is coming”

·        And Proverbs 1 goes on; “But since you rejected me when I called
and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand, since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock when calamity overtakes you— when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you.”

He rebukes in rage

·        In fierce fury, He rebukes the wicked and the evil doers

·        He speaks to them out of His anger toward them

·        The word anger here is the Hebrew word meaning “anger”, “wrath”, or, ”face”

·        This is the anger of man, an anger that we comprehend.

·        Basically, this is saying that God speaks to these evil doers face-to-face with words of anger that they can understand.

He terrifies in wrath

·        The word terrify is to “make anxious” or “disturb”

·        What’s more, the word wrath is so much different than the word anger used before, this wrath is the wrath of God

o   It is a heated anger, a burning anger

o   It is the word always used for God’s wrath

·        God fills these people with fear,

o   literally putting the fear of God in them

And why?

·        For the Lord declares, this is the King of my choice, and I have enthroned Him in Jerusalem, My Holy city.

You see, God is moving forward with His plan and His purpose and that is the establishment of the throne on which Jesus Christ will sit.

·        This upsets the plans of man, it upsets the plans of world leaders, and it even upsets the plans of religious leaders.

·        But it is God’s plan and for Christ’s throne to be established and so it will be done!

·        We may have to wait a long time before we see Christ enthroned over this world, but it is already a fact in God’s purpose.

·        There is no other King but Jesus!

So then, beginning with verse 7, we focus on Jesus, as He speaks

I will proclaim the decree of the Lord: He said to me, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.” (Psalm 2:7-9)

To understand this passage, we must understand that this is regarding the second coming of Jesus Christ.

·        This is not the Gospel of grace and mercy that we are to preach today because this is not what Christ came to deliver when He walked on the earth.

·        This passage refers to the judgment that will come to all who disregard His message of grace, mercy, and love.

·        This passage refers to the judgment that will come to all who plot and conspire against God’s ways.

Listen to this paraphrase of verses 7 through 9; His chosen One replies, “I will reveal the everlasting purpose of God [listen up, here it is], for the Lord has said to Me, ‘You are my Son, this is Your Coronation Day. Today I am giving You Your glory.’ Only ask, and I will give You all the nations of the world. Rule them with an iron rod; smash them like clay pots.”

·        You see, that’s the judgment of Christ’s second coming

And then, in the final stanza of chapter 2, the focus changes again

·        First it was on mankind on earth

·        Then it was on God the Father in heaven

·        Next it was on Jesus Christ on His throne

·        And now it is on the Holy Spirit speaking to man

Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (Psalm 2:10-12)

This is the ultimate warning from God, directed at the kings and rulers of this world, through them, aimed at the people under their rule.

·        God is saying; Kings and rulers of the earth, listen while there is still time.

·        God is saying: Serve the Lord with reverent fear; rejoice with trembling. Fall down before The Son and kiss him before His anger is roused and you perish.

·        God says: I am warning you, His wrath with soon begin.

The most famous kiss in the Bible was in the Garden of Gethsemane

·        When Judas walked up to Jesus, armed guards following closely behind Him

o   This had been prophesied for hundreds of years

o   This had been planned since the fall of mankind

o   This had been spoken of by Jesus hours before

§  Clearly Jesus knew what was happening.

·        And what was Jesus’ response to this kiss from Judas?

o   “Friend, what have you come for?”

·        You see, Jesus was giving Judas one more chance to turn this kiss of betrayal into a kiss of friendship.

o   And, this is exactly what God’s Spirit is doing here,

§  Giving mankind one more chance!

But, Psalm 2 ends on a high note;

·        “Blessed are all those who take refuge in Him.”

·        Oh, the joys of those who put their trust in Him.

Imagine...

Large billboards have been erected in Terre Haute, Indianapolis and other major cities around the United States by an organization known as the "Freedom From Religion Foundation" with the message; "Imagine No Religion". Perhaps you have seen one of these billboards?

The organization consists of a great number of atheists with the intent to protect "and to promote the constitutional principle of separation between church and state". The issue, of course, is that these individuals have not done their research on what the first amendment of our constitution says, why this portion of the first amendment was written, or what the intent of our founding fathers was when they wrote this portion of the amendment. Either they failed to do the required research or they did just enough research to support their desired outcome and argument.

Yet, the first amendment also provides for freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of press, and freedom to peacefully assemble and for these freedoms I am thankful. But, what's interesting is that God also provided these freedoms shortly after He created the earth and everything in it. That is, when He spoke in the garden of Eden. See, freedom is what God gives to all of His creation, and that freedom is a beautiful thing!

Someone asked me not long ago what proof I could offer that God exists. After a lengthy response I concluded by saying that if God were to provide definite proof there would be no atheists and no agnostics, instead everyone would be believers in The One True God. That is the wonder of this thing God has provided for us all; free will.

But back to the billboards. These billboards do not upset me in the slightest. This atheists organization does not upset me in the least bit ; it saddens me that they are misinformed, it concerns me that they are misguided, and it disappoints me that they are misunderstanding, but it does not upset me. The truth is that these billboards provide us, even believers, with a great question and a persons answer to this question reveals the nature of their heart and their soul.

Imagine No Religion
Imagine if there was no set of beliefs or practices regarding God.
Imagine if there was no commitment or devotion to God.
Imagine if there was no worship or observance of God.

Considering this, I can imagine no religion. I meet people daily with no religion; no belief or practice of God, no commitment or devotion of God, no worship or observance of God. Yes, I can easily imagine no religion because I see that daily.

But, what if the statement is changed, changed by just one word, how does this make you feel?

Imagine No God

Skillet: Lucy

A few years ago the band Skillet came out with a song, Lucy. There was much speculation over the meaning of this song, who Lucy is/was, etc. This is a quote from John Cooper, lead singer of Skillet on the true meaning of the song:

“..this week is the very first time that I’ve ever told what this song is about, because, uh, it’s very special to me, but I feel like it’s time to talk about it a little bit, so.. listen up while I tell you a story about a young girl and a young guy who found themselves in a hard situation. They didn’t know what to do when they found out that she was pregnant; they were young, they didn’t have any money, they were scared, they didn’t want to tell anybody, they didn’t know what to do, and the only option that they could see was to terminate the pregnancy. So that’s what they decided to do… they went to a clinic, they had the procedure done, and at first they felt relieved that all their problems had gone away. But then something happened that they did not expect… and that’s over the next few weeks, which turned into a few months, they began to feel an intense sadness… and a pain and an agony and a guilt that wouldn’t go away. They didn’t know what to do, so they finally went to see a counselor; they said look — tell us what to do, we just don’t know, and the counselor made a suggestion. The counselor said here’s what you need to do — stop acting like you had a procedure, and act like you had a death in the family. So the couple went home and they made three decisions; number one, they decided to have a funeral service for the baby; number two, they bought a tiny little headstone; and they last decision to make was what to name the baby. After a couple weeks they finally decided they would call her… Lucy.”

Now, listen to the song and watch the video, lyrics are below.

Hey Lucy, I remember your name
I left a dozen roses on your grave today
I'm in the grass on my knees, wipe the leaves away
I just came to talk for a while, got some things I need to say

Now that it's over, I just wanna hold her
I'd give up all the world to see
That little piece of Heaven looking back at me

Now that it's over, I just wanna hold her
I've gotta live with the choices I made
And I can't live with myself today

Hey Lucy, I remembered your birthday
They said it'd bring some closure to say your name
I know I'd do it all different if I had the chance
But all I got are these roses to give
And they can't help me make amends

Now that it's over, I just wanna hold her
I'd give up all the world to see
That little piece of Heaven looking back at me

Now that it's over, I just wanna hold her
I've gotta live with the choices I made
And I can't live with myself today

Here we are, now you're in my arms
I never wanted anything so bad
Here we are for a brand new start
Living the life that we could've had

Me and Lucy walking hand in hand
Me and Lucy never wanna end
Just another moment in your eyes
I'll see you in another life in Heaven
Where we never say goodbye

Now that it's over, I just wanna hold her
I'd give up all the world to see
That little piece of Heaven looking back at me

Now that it's over, I just wanna hold her
I've gotta live with the choices I made
And I can't live with myself today

Here we are, now you're in my arms
Here we are for a brand new start
I got to live with the choices I've made
And I can't live with myself today

Me and Lucy walking hand in hand
Me and Lucy never wanna end
I've got to live with the choices I've made
And I can't live with myself today

Hey Lucy, I remember your name