CREDIT: Clipartix.com

Dear Children of God,

Have you ever bought something with the caveat, “Some assembly required”? Then, you get home, open the box, and just go to work – and promptly run into all kinds of trouble, extra parts, and frustration. Well, if you just followed the manufacturer’s directions, starting at step one, usually it goes a lot better. Usually, the creator knows best.

Moses experienced both sides of this issue. Following directions … and not following them. In both cases, God’s people were grumbling that life would be so much better if they would’ve stayed in Egypt – forgetting the oppressive thumb of pharaoh. In the first instance, right after they saw God part the Red Sea and provide daily supplies of manna, Moses cried out for help. God responded, “Behold, I will stand before you … you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” (Exodus 17:6) Moses followed God’s directions and water poured from the rock. Forty years later, Moses again cried out. Only God’s direction was a little different. God said, “Take the staff … and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water.” (Numbers 20:8) Then Moses, for some reason, struck the rock with his staff twice instead of speaking to it as God commanded. Though water came out, God punished Moses for failing to trust and follow directions.

We know what God’s Word says to us. Then, we hear the world say, “That doesn’t make sense!” When we the world rather than God, that’s called “sin.” The consequences include both immediate fallout and eternal outcomes. But, when we sin, God gives us more instructions, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) When we realize our error, turn back to Him, and follow His direction; our Father restores us to His eternal presence. Earthly outcomes still apply; but eternal life is restored. This Lent, follow God’s directions to “return to Him” with your whole heart.

                                                                                        In Christ’s Love,

                                                                                        Pastor Jim

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Imagine a situation. You’ve been called into a meeting because you’re an expert. Your past success shows you’ve handled what others can’t. Your turn comes to speak. Based on your experience, you give your expert opinion on several approaches to solve the problem. Then, without even considering your advice, someone says, “Thank you, but that’s not going to work.” While you’ve demonstrated success in the past, for some reason, this person has no faith in you or your approach. They’re going to do things their own way despite good advice to the contrary. While frustrating – like trying to break through a wall by beating your head against it – this happens.

I can imagine God might feel this way sometimes. On account of sin, brought in by a couple of “I’ll do it my way” types, every one of His human creatures is doomed. But God has the plan that will save them – His Son, His sinless life, His death, His resurrection. All people need to do is have faith in His plan of salvation (John 3:16). Faith in Jesus Christ alone and His work on the Cross is what saves us all from eternal death. 

But many of the “so-called experts” around the table say, “No, that’s too easy. I’ve got my own way.” That way is called “works”. Paul reminds us, “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.” (Romans 4:4-5) 

Works are done to earn something … faith is a gift. No amount of works can save a person because they’ll always be outweighed by sin. But faith in God’s gifts of forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus … that always saves. Then, in faith, we show our appreciation to God for His gift by doing the things He calls us to do – not to earn our salvation, but in thanks for our salvation.

                                                                        Your Brother in Christ,

                                                                        Pastor Jim

Dear Disciples of Christ,

If you have a problem with your taxes, do you call an accountant or your plumber? Water is pouring from your ceiling – do you call your plumber or your doctor? If you need heart surgery, you’ll call the cardiologist, right? The answers seem obvious. You call the expert and follow their directions.

Following directions. When we do, it often works out – especially if the direction-giver is an expert in their field.

Unfortunately, humans can tend to ignore expert directions to follow guidance that sounds better to them. This isn’t new. It’s what got us all in trouble in the beginning. God, the Creator and ultimate expert in His creation, gave Adam one command, “Don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge-of-good-and-evil or you’ll die!” (Genesis 2:17) Adam passed the word to Eve. Eve repeated it to the serpent as he tried to get her to eat from that tree. Then the serpent said, “You will surely not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5) Eve ignored God’s expert directions; she followed the snake, a creature serving Satan’s interests, and its advice. Her disobedience – and Adam’s failure to stop her – allowed sin and death into the world. Just like God said.

When God speaks, we need to listen. He’s the expert in all things, seen and unseen. Immediately after sin and death entered His good creation, God made a promise. He said to the serpent, “I will put (hatred) between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike His heel.” (Genesis 3:15 (NIV)) This good news is God’s promise to destroy Satan’s power to kill and destroy. God did this through the woman’s offspring, the Son of God. As we find ourselves trapped in sin, let us rejoice in knowing God has rescued us through His Son, Jesus Christ. Let us trust God, the expert in all things, in all things.

                                                                        In Christ’s Love,

                                                                        Pastor Jim

CREDIT: Marco Verch

Dear Children of God, 

We like comfort. Why else do we heat/cool our homes? Or – put cushions on church pews? It’s about comfort. We have different ideas about comfort, but we like it. But there’s a problem with the comfort zone – it can keep us from getting things done. We want to stay there. But eventually we need to move out of our comfort zones.

Jesus took Peter, James, and John up a mountain to escape the crowds and chaos. There Peter witnessed, first-hand, Jesus’ full glory as well as the presence of Moses and Elijah. Peter was so engrossed he wanted to stay on the mountaintop. He said, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (Matthew 17:4) Peter, focused on his comfort zone, had forgotten Jesus’ mission. It wasn’t to live on a mountaintop bathed in glory. He was the Christ who came to suffer, be killed, and rise from the dead (Matthew 16:21). This wouldn’t be possible if Jesus remained in mountaintop comfort. Jesus needed to go down the mountain, into the world, to fulfill His Father’s mission.

It’s good to linger in the mountaintop comfort zone, worshipping God with friends. God calls us to this mountaintop each week to receive His grace and to nourish our faith through His word and the Lord’s Supper. It’s great to hang out there for a while, but there’s still work to do. 

Lent, which starts this Ash Wednesday, is a good time to step out of our comfort zones. It’s a good time to sacrifice some of our comforts while remembering Jesus’ sacrifice for us – praying for strength to fight Satan’s temptations to give in to our cravings.  It’s also a good time to stretch our comfort zones by spending more time in prayer and God’s Word – pick up a Return to the Lord Lenten devotional to help you. Lenten ideas like these might help you experience more fully the Easter mountaintop that awaits. 

                                                                                        In Christ’s Love,

                                                                                        Pastor Jim

Dear Disciples of Christ,

Not to get too far ahead of myself, but it’s February. February means Lent is almost here. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 22nd. And with that, many will go into a Lenten fast. When many think of “fasting,” they might think of not eating. But fasting is about more than food. Fasting is giving up something we find pleasurable. As you begin preparing for Lent, it’s a good time to think about what “pleasurable” thing you might fast from during Lent’s 40 days. However, more important than the “thing” you fast from is this – who you’re fasting for and why.

As always, a great place to understand what God desires from us is – HIS WORD! In Isaiah, God tells us the fasting He does not desire is the kind of fasting to earn the favorable opinion of others, fasting that leads to unhappiness and conflict, fasting that is for show (Isaiah 58:1-5). 

Instead, God encourages us to fast in ways that involve loving self-sacrifice in response to His grace toward us (Isaiah 58:6-7). This means responding to God’s love for us by fasting, giving up some of our God-given provision, to benefit others. Maybe providing food, clothing, shelter in some way to those who have none. Fasting might look like this, fasting from your daily gourmet coffee experience or another luxury treat and donating money saved to a food bank or organization like Food for the Poor. Or maybe fasting from that new outfit you’ve had your eye on and supporting a local homeless shelter (e.g. Project Echo or Safe Harbor). Or possibly fasting some of your time spent in personal entertainment and leisure to volunteer at a shelter, school mentoring program, or other organization that helps people in need.

Fasting is a wonderful practice. It worships God by loving Him and others first. It also helps us learn to more fully trust God to provide for our needs as we willingly give to others from what He has generously provided us. Fasting for the Lord – give it a try.

                                                                        In Christ’s Love,

                                                                        Pastor Jim

Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

What do you think the priority of a university should be? Many say, “The education of students, pushing the frontiers of knowledge through research,” or similar words. But to see the amount of money spent on extracurriculars, such as athletics, one might argue that education is a second or lower priority. When the University of California, Santa Cruz entered the world of college athletics, the students wanted to establish a proper priority between education and athletics. They did so by adopting the name “Banana Slugs” for its teams. The odd name brought some attention, but it also promoted a more balanced perspective between the school’s priorities – education first, athletics somewhere below that.

Here's a similar question, “What do you think the priority in our lives should be?” The answer, I hope, would be something like, “I should love, trust, and obey God above all else.” That’s a great answer. But how do we show this is our top priority? The Prophet Micah tells us what Israel thought its top priority should be – burnt offerings, rams and rivers of oil, and offering their firstborn (Micah 6:6-7). It sounds good, but does God really want our sacrifice of things to Him as our top priority? No. God requires the following, “Do justice, and love kindness, and walk humbly with God.” (Micah 6:8)

God desires that we show what our top priority is by being living sacrifices (Romans 12:1) … loving Him by giving ourselves in love to others in accordance with God and His word. To “walk humbly with God” involves trusting and loving Him by obeying His word as we live out our lives together. We do that by showing our love to those around us – not just the people we love and care for, but all people everywhere – treating them fairly, helping provide for their needs, protecting them from injustice, forgiving those who sin against us … in short, loving them as God loves us. Let us seek to live like this, establishing our top priority – God is #1!

                                                                        In Christ’s Love,

                                                                        Pastor Jim

Dear Disciples of Christ,

I read the other day of a regular traveler along I-68 in western Maryland. It’s a scenic, very hilly piece of interstate. He’d gotten quite used to the scenery until it became a blur to him, especially in the winter when the trees were bare and the ground was brown (or white with snow). But, one night he experienced something new! As he descended toward Exit 50 he noticed a beautiful array of lights in the valley below. The lights caused him to wonder, “What’s that?! I gotta see it!” The bright lights, invisible by day, shone brightly in the dark to draw Him in.

A continuing theme in this season of Epiphany is light … lights that contrast with darkness to reveal the light of Christ in world. It’s a light we see growing as the season progresses to lead people to God and the light of His grace and mercy. God speaks through Isaiah to promise His people, living under the oppression of foreign powers at the time, it’s not always going to be like this, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone” (Isaiah 9:2). Joys will multiply. Burdens and oppression will be lifted. And these promises are realized centuries later when the Light of the World, Jesus Christ begins His ministry.

Jesus begins His ministry, not to bring the royal throne of David back to Jerusalem, but to bring an even greater kingdom into reality. He says, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). Jesus commands Israel, and you and me, to turn away from reliance and trust in the powers of the world - the sin of idolatry - and return to reliance and trust in God. He calls on His disciples, including you and me, to be bright lights shining in the world … lights which attract others to Jesus and into the kingdom of heaven that awaits all who believe in Him.

                                                                        Your Brother in Christ,

                                                                        Pastor Jim