A Compassionate God

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Anxiety, Compassion, Depression, God, Grace, Kindness, Mercy, Trouble, Worry

“The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” (James 5:11, NIV)

How badly we need these words.

God is compassionate.  God has mercy on those who cry out to Him.

Do you know this?  Do you believe it?  God is full of compassion and mercy.  When your spirits are low and your heart is afraid, when you suffer and struggle, run to Him.  He does not turn away the hurting, or reject those who cry out to Him.

Seek the Lord when you are in need.  His depths of compassion are unfathomable, His breadth of mercy immeasurable.  God is kind and gentle.  God is love.

May God be your comfort and peace in every trouble.

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A Curious Notion!

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America, Christianity, Church, Ecclesiology, Megachurch, Multi-site, Pastoring, Shepherding

The recent retirement of the lead pastor of a multi-site church, David Chadwick was featured in a little article at the Christian Post.  At the end, the article notes:

He said prior to his decision to resign he had started having doubts about the multicampus church model where lead pastors mainly connect with the congregation through video.

“Churches all over the country are doing it, with videos shown on the screen in other places,” Chadwick said, “Elevation (Church) is probably the primary example here in Charlotte.  You know, I just began to wonder more and more–how effective is that?

“I know I’m a good communicator…I can have people come and listen.  But doesn’t a pastor need to speak to his people?  So I began to struggle with that too,” he said.

What a curious notion!  A pastor needing to speak to his people?  Like, physically present with them?  How charmingly old-fashioned!

I speak with tongue in cheek, because Pastor Chadwick had “began to struggle” with something that should be patently obvious (though obviously it is not obvious to a large section of the American church)–that pastors are supposed to speak to their people.  Not only does that mean being physically present, but, even more, that means a pastor should actually know the people to whom he is preaching.

A pastor is supposed to shepherd the flock of God.  He preaches the Word not to strangers, but to people with whom he has a relationship.  He should know them by name, and have some knowledge of what’s going on in their lives.  The same pastor who preaches the Word of God to them should be the one they can talk to about their struggles, the one who visits them in the hospital, the one who baptizes them, dedicates their children, marries them, and buries them.  That’s a shepherd; that’s a pastor.

This suggests not only that multi-site churches are highly problematic but that megachurches are problematic too.  You can preach to 10,000 people; but you can’t pastor them.  A church need not be tiny, but it oughtn’t be huge.

I know that such a radical claim is contrary to the accepted wisdom of much of the American church.  But I think the church would be stronger if we had more moderate sized churches instead of megachurches and multi-site churches.  As a side bonus, it might help us avoid this sort of thing.  In any case, it would encourage pastors to be pastors, and churches to be real communities, sojourning together through the storms of this life.

The Longings of Prophets and Angels

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Angels, Blessing, Gratitude, Holy Spirit, Prophets, Revelation, Scripture

The grass, they say, is always greener on the other side.  It is easy to wish for the blessings that God has given someone else, and to forget the blessings He has given to you.  It is easy, when you are wrestling with some spiritual issue or personal struggle, to wish for a private revelation from God, as is sometimes recorded in the Scriptures.  Instead, we should reflect on how the prophets longed to stand in our shoes.

“Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow” (1 Peter 1:10-11, NIV).

We wish for the personal revelation they enjoyed, but they searched intently for the fullness of revelation that has been given to us!  The mystery of the gospel, the awesome saving work of God, has been revealed; what the prophets probed intently and longed to grasp, we have had handed us by the generosity of God.

The gospel is the greatest of all treasures.  Christ suffered for us on the cross, and rose victorious.  He reigns, He will return, and all who hope in Him will inherit joy forever.  God has allowed us to know these things, on the sureness and authority of His Word.  We are blessed, we are privileged, and we should be thankful.

“It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.  Even angels long to look into these things” (v.12).

Even more, it is important to recognize that the personal revelations given to the prophets–thrilling as that must have been–were not for themselves.  They received the words, but not the clarity of their meaning.  God made them understand that what they had been given was for us.  On this side of Pentecost, when the Spirit has been poured out upon God’s people and the gospel is clearly preached, we have the fruit for which the prophets labored and longed.

Even stranger and more wonderful to our minds, the mysteries revealed to us are what occuply the longings of angels.

In a time of discontent, and an age so interested in personal revelations, we should remember the goodness of what God has given us.  His Word written speaks clearly and profoundly so that we may know His Word our Savior and Lord.  Knowing Him, the Son, we are brought into fellowship with the Father, by the power of the Holy Spirit.  These blessings cannot be measured, only enjoyed.

 

Africa to the Rescue!

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Africa, Christianity, Homosexuality, Humanity, Salvation, Same-Sex Marriage, Truth, United Methodists

Earlier this week, the United Methodists voted to accept the Traditional Plan, maintaining and strengthening their stance against the sexual revolution.  This decision likely came as a surprise to many, considering that it goes against the direction America’s mainline Protestant denominations have been taking for some time now.  There’s talk about a schism, some liberals fear an SBC-like conservative shift (“fundamentalist takeover” is their preferred terminology).  Time will tell.

But, for the moment, it would seem that God has been gracious to the UMC.  His instrument in turning them from the brink, or at least slowing their course, would appear to be the sizeable part of their denomination that resides outside the U.S., notably in Africa.  I have seen no statistics on the breakdown in the vote itself, but commentators on both sides of the debate appear agreed that the African vote was decisive to the conservative victory.

But, of course, the difference between the conservatives and the liberals was not essentially ethnic, but ethical.  The divide was theological, and this became evident in some of the arguments before and responses after the decision.

The conservative position is theocentric–centered on God.  They are concerned with obedience to what God says in His Word, with holiness and truth.  They care about people, but recognize that celebrating sin doesn’t actually help people, even if it’s what people want you to do.  God must be honored and trusted, and the gospel must be proclaimed untarnished.

The liberal position is anthropocentric–centered on humanity.  They were concerned about hurting people, which is good, but they let harm be defined by the pagan culture around them.  They bought the world’s narrative about human flourishing, informed by the idea that aberrant sexual desires are identity categories analogous to race.  They seek to remain relevant in a changing world, but they haven’t learned the lesson of the other mainline denominations: seeking relevance, they traded timeless truth for momentary error, and became almost immediately irrelevant.

The key is that a human-centered theology will not actually lead to human flourishing.  Only a God-centered theology will do that.  The Creator knows what is best for His creatures.  We should trust Him.  The African Methodists are helping the American Methodists remember that.