Category Archives: Perils of Shepherds

End Times & Danger

Church on Mission, Perils of Shepherds

In high school I was a constant student of Revelation, Daniel and the End Times. I consumed books by Hal Lindsey, Tim LaHaye, Salem Kirban, and a few others who were putting out books and studies. We watched “A Thief in the Night” and its sequels at church. It was the 1980’s and the threat of imminent thermonuclear war hung over society.

Some of the books I collected, like Kirban’s “Guide to Survival” had been written in the 1960’s when race riots & civil unrest had seized the country. In times of unrest or upheaval, our natural interest into End Times spikes. As the current pandemic began to circle the globe, I began to see it rise again. Sermon series, blog posts, articles, and theories. Once again we are in the End Times. As a high school student, many were pretty sure that Henry Kissinger was the Anti-Christ as he checked enough boxes. (He’s almost 100 years old, but not dead yet, so maybe there’s still time).

I graduated from high school in 1988. I was already surprised because I hadn’t expected God was going to wait even that long, the “End Times” was so close. Someone gave me a booklet that was very popular that year. “88 Reasons Why the Rapture will be in 1988.” The sequel, “89 Reasons…” didn’t do as much business (not a joke, that really happened).

At this stage, you might expect that I am going to say we are not living in the “End Times” as such, or talk through why one point of view or another is valid. I’m not going to do that. I’m done trying to tease out End Times moments and map Revelation & Daniel over the latest news.

Instead, I have begun to wonder this: when it comes to the End Times, are we more focused on what is going to happen to Us, or what is going to happen to Them?

Stick with me here. When is the Rapture of the Church? Is there even “the Rapture?” Is the Tribulation literal? Will the church go through it, part of it, etc. These questions seize our imagination because we want to know what we are going to face. When we sense cultural trends that may be working against us Christians, we suddenly sense that the End Times are upon us.

What if our biggest concern about the “End Times” wasn’t us, but them? When time comes to an end, no matter how bad it might get for a short season, it means we are almost to the final full reign of Jesus, the final imprisonment of the devil, and the end of suffering. We are also almost to the final judgement, the moment beyond which no one else will be saved. If we understand that salvation through the grace of Jesus’ shed blood on the cross is essential, than we should be far more concerned about time running out for others than about our own temporary suffering.

In a moment of frustration a day ago, I stated, “I just wish Jesus would hurry up and come back!” My dear wife reminded me, that will be a terrible day for many many people.

Revelation ends with a plea for Jesus to come quickly. How could we not look with eager anticipation for that moment. But just a few books earlier in Peter, we are reminded that Jesus is not waiting because He is slow, but because He wants more people to have a chance of salvation.

So let me ask you, when you think of the End Times, are you focused on what is going to happen to you, or what is going to happen to your unsaved friend or neighbor?

Tweet
Share6
6 Shares

Dry

Life in Christ, Perils of Shepherds, Personal

The tree planted by the water does not wither when the drought comes and the desert winds blow.
It doesn’t mean it’s not pretty dry out.  
After another weekend of pandemic preaching, wandering through an empty building that seems to get quieter each week while the outside voices get louder and hotter, I can feel the grit of the blowing sand.


My bark is dry.
Life is sustained and I am not withered.  My soul sits intact and secure, yet that’s not what it feels like.
It feels like dryness and wind.

Sitting in heaven, you never knew that feeling, did you?  But you came down, took on flesh, and experienced the best and worst of what it means to be human.
You got tired, so tired you slept through a storm.
You got lonely enough that after years of praying alone, you couldn’t bear to be alone on that terrible night and asked your friends to be with you.  
You got dry enough that you cried out to your Father and expressed your feelings of abandonment.
It wasn’t a sin, and it wasn’t a sign that you weren’t abiding in God.
You were just dry.
My bark is dry.
Its Monday and the deserts been a bit hotter lately.   My roots are ok, my leaves are green but
my bark is dry.

Tweet
Share8
8 Shares

Has the Church been Idol?

Church on Mission, Perils of Shepherds

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

(2 Corinthians 5:17-21)

As Paul speaks to a church that had a tendency to get caught up in all the latest passions of its culture, he reminds them of both their new identity (new creature) and new purpose (ministry of reconciliation). He’s been building this picture of identity for several chapters, including comparing the church to clay pots and tents. He is reminding us that we do not represent earthly strength and permanence. Now he uses the image of ambassadors. Visting, but not citizens.

Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. …..
…We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry,

(2 Corinthians 6:1, 3)

Working with Jesus then, the goal is that call to reconciliation, to salvation through Jesus. To accomplish this, Paul wants to make sure nothing gets in the way of that work. He wants to present no obstacles in how he does ministry that would interfere with the call for reconciliation.

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you,

(2 Corinthians 6:14-17)

Paul draws the argument together here. We cannot lift this passage from its context to just teach about marriage. This is about the ministry and identity of the people of God. A warning not to mix the idols of the world’s culture with the identity and ministry of the church.

The world has many idols; the things it turns to for guidance, comfort, and control. Our current culture uses tribal grievance, character attacks, outrage at opponents/political enemies, claims to hidden knowledge and conspiracies, and a strong sense of grievance. The western church, especially in America, is too easily swept up into the use of these. From pulpits to Tweets to Facebook pages people who claim to have heard Christ’s call cheer and support politicians and movements that are built on these idols. Not only that, but we step into the yoke and share these idols, using them to advance our agendas. We declare that this is good, or at least necessary.

This is to be not separate at all, but rather yoked up and working alongside the world. Its’ idols are now our idols. We believe that somehow we have found common cause with those who are serving Belial. Christian, may we be visibly, materially, substantially, and eternally apart from these things!

Tweet
Share12
12 Shares

Jesus is Asleep

Life in Christ, Perils of Shepherds, Personal

Several of them had been out on this water since they were boys. As men they had earned their livelihood navigating these waters, through calm & storm. Sure, Matt was not great with boats as he’s always had an office job, but that was ok.
This time was bad. This was a tough situation. There were a bunch of them all in this fishing boat and the storm was intense. Even with their experience, they were losing control of the situation and they realized they were facing a life or death moment.

And Jesus was asleep.

He’d been really busy lately and had just come off a major time of teaching. Physically exhausted, he was actually sleeping through the calamity. He was their leader, and although their full understanding of what it meant would take more time, they knew He was of God. So they woke him up, rather upset. “Don’t you care what is happening to us!?!?”

Fear does that to us. Jesus seemed to not care. The reality actually was that he just wasn’t afraid. He could sleep because he was at peace. He knew perfect security in the hands of God. They should have known that too, but they were overwhelmed with the knowledge of their circumstances rather than their knowledge of Him.

So he calmed the storm.

He didn’t calm it because the storm was their problem. He calmed it to show that HE was the answer to their security; that he had greater power than the storm that they thought was a threat.

Peter had his own lesson on this as his very accurate awareness of a dangerous situation out on the water overwhelmed his awareness of his Savior. He sunk into the water after a few steps. Jesus pulls him out reminding him to trust him, not the situation.

I have asthma and am not as young as I used to be. I fear dying less than I fear leaving my family without a father, but the fear is real.

And Jesus is asleep.

I have to remember this so I can sleep too. Jesus is not asleep as in displaying a callous disregard for my situation. Far from it. He is actually far greater than my situation and I have no more to fear from it than from any other threat. No one can touch me because I am His for all eternity.
I am seeing waves, and hearing the howling of the wind and it tries to demand my attention, insisting that I dwell fully on what is truly a scary and dangerous situation. Jesus reminds me that he is at peace, and he has offered that peace to me. He never said the storm wouldn’t come or that it wouldn’t be scary. He just reminds me that even the wind and waves obey him and I need to be more aware of HIM than I am of the storm.

“Fear not,” is a phrase God loves. Jesus said it a lot. These days I am discovering again and again how much I need to focus on Him in order to obey that simple request.

I’m praying for you. Pray for me. I pray we can all know the peace that goes beyond the understanding of this world.

Blessings to you.

Tweet
Share18
18 Shares

You’re a ______ Man, Charlie Brown?

Life in Christ, Perils of Shepherds, Personal

Now and then, a friend or community member has declared to me, “you’re a good man.” One of the most interesting things about being told that is the immediate rush of blood to my ego, which, in its pure and distilled form, is my biggest obstacle for goodness.

I’m willing to accept that from an average human viewpoint that I’m at least a neutral guy and probably even a reasonable “good” person in that I have not committed any major crimes and do try, most of the time, to avoid minor infractions as well. I’ve never aced the test, but I do try to be generous, honest, kind, and observe behavior that is considered by most “good.”

It is the flip side that most people see less of that is my problem. I am selfish every day in small and often easy to hide ways. I have thoughts and attitudes running rampant through my head at times which would convict me if broadcast on a screen. I struggle with impatience, a judgemental attitude, and many more violations of goodness.
Then there are my good moments which are sometimes the result of less than laudatory motivations. Sometimes I do good things for reasons much less noble. Being good sometimes gets me what I want, whether it be praise, reward, or some other positive result. Sometimes I am good just to avoid a bad outcome, not because of any virtue. (For instance, I always obey the speed limit in the presence of law enforcement).

And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.

(Mark 10:18)

So am I a good man? In a comparative sense maybe, but not objectively. Any honest core sample will reveal far too many impurities to be considered really good. So why do people call me a good person?
The biggest reason is that there is a contravening force at work in me. Fighting against my selfishness, my self-centered motives and my desire for ease and reward, is an outside force that I have welcomed in. This Spirit is actually good and represents not comparative goodness, but absolute pure goodness. He comes, not because I did something that merited it, but because He did something that allows me to accept Him.

Some time back I invited Him into my existence and asked Him to remake the confused and flawed being that is me. The renovation isn’t complete, and there are many many times that you will still see me clearly with its flaws and blemishes. Fortunately, there are other times where His influence and love are behind the wheel and I am truly selfless, gentle, loving, merciful, and gracious to others. Light shines forth, not originating in me, but reflecting through me. When this happens, sometimes others realize they have seen a good man.

They have. That good man is not me, but when I’m yielded, you will see Him in me. He’s a good man.

… not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
(Philippians 3:9)

Tweet
Share14
14 Shares

Tribal Confusion

Church on Mission, Life in Christ, Perils of Shepherds

The word “Tribalism” has come to define our modern political situation here in the United States. We tend to define our identity, loyalty and now even our convictions, not by independent values, but by our tribal identity. If our party does it, it’s a principle. If the other party does it, its somewhere between hypocrisy and a crime. Our party is patriotic, their party is unAmerican. And on it goes.

I regularly witness Christians deeply embedded in this tribal warfare, expressing strong tribalism and shaping their values around their tribe. Truth itself is given a partisan filter and loyalty to our tribe becomes defining.

So the first question is, if we are Followers of Christ, have we confused who is in our tribe? Then the second question is, have we confused what our tribe represents. Finally, have we confused what it means to fight for our tribe? Let’s take these one at a time, and briefly overview how the Bible answers these questions.

Who is Our Tribe?

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

(1 Peter 2:9)

While I am registered to vote in one political party (and in the past have been a state delegate for that party), it is not my tribe. My tribe is the people of God, consisting of all those who have accepted the gift of God’s salvation through the sacrifice of Christ. That means that my tribe stretches across both major political parties in the USA as well as across the borders of the USA to include many who live in other countries around the world. When we prioritize our local political tribe over the members of our true tribe, we forget a warning from Scripture.

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

(2 Corinthians 6:14-16)

My tribe is the temple of the living God. Neither political party in America, NEITHER, can claim that mantle. Both are full of unbelievers and represent narrow political interests that are not based on the Kingdom. I might find more in common with one party over the other, but neither party represents the Kingdom. That’s my tribe, and again, my tribe is not based in the USA but in the Kingdom to come.

What Does Our Tribe Represent?

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

(2 Corinthians 5:17-20)

We could spend paragraphs and paragraphs quoting various passages from the Bible; the Great Commission, the commands to love our enemies and bless those who persecute us, the commands to appear as lights, to lead as servants, and on and on. We represent Christ, not a moral code. He came to save, not condemn, and Scripture says that He is holding back returning in judgement because the work of saving isn’t done yet (2 Peter 3:9). So our tribe is assigned the job of not passing judgement but declaring reconciliation, of being living representatives of Christ, not modern-day embodiments of the Pharisees.

How Does Our Tribe Fight?

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.

(1 Corinthians 10:31-33)

And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

(1 Thessalonians 5:14-18)

Neither Nancy Pelosi, nor Donald Trump, nor George Soros, nor any other human figure is the target of our fight.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

(Ephesians 6:12)

In Conclusion, it is vital that if we want to help transform the culture of the USA or whatever land we live in, that we remember who is our tribe, what it means to be the People of God’s own possession, and what it means to live that reality out each day in our conversations, in our social media posts and memes, in the values that we show before the world. Without Christ, no one will be saved, no earthly country will ever be great, and no law will bring righteousness.

Let’s be careful out there.

Tweet
Share90
90 Shares

Trading Penneys for Apples

Church on Mission, Perils of Shepherds

JC Penney was a successful chain of stores, but it was time for a new CEO and as times were changing, the company knew it needed to make sure it stayed current so as to reach customers and accomplish its retail mission. They decided to tap a successful CEO who had a track record of success with Apple. Ron Johnson was thought to be behind the Apple store design which had done well. He was a follower of Steve Jobs and had taken some of his greatest lessons to heart.

He came to JC Penney and began to quickly make the changes he thought would help update the store for future success. His changes emulated what had worked for the Apple stores. One not-so-minor problem; JC Penney wasn’t Apple, it wasn’t selling technology and its target clients were not the same as Apple. If you watch the video embedded below, you will see the catastrophic decline that immediately followed these changes.

There is a cautionary tale for today’s church. Culture is changing and the church must constantly adapt its methods so that it can continue to deliver the Message and accomplish the Mission that Jesus gave it; to Make Disciples. Some churches choose to go the way of Blockbuster Video (a separate idea and future blog post) and just quietly go out of business by not figuring out newer ways to do the same thing. There are many churches that do know that there needs to be change and often they look to what has been successful for others and try to copy that success.

Churches need to change, but each church needs to change according to their own culture, their own community, and the unique circumstances that God has placed them in. Even in the early church, things that worked in Jerusalem didn’t necessarily work in Galatia. As some churches became primarily filled with Gentiles instead of Jews, there were cultural differences that had to be taken into account.

When we try to blindly emulate the style and methods of someone else’s success, we will run a great risk of destroying the good parts of what we have. Change must be done carefully and thoughtfully with a careful study of your own culture, your own gifts and weaknesses, and the unique situation that God has placed you in. This is why I’m a big fan of churches bringing in an Assessment Team who can listen to the church, help the church take stock of itself, and then help guide the church through the correct changes. Otherwise, we risk thinking that one size and one method will fit all and we will only hasten the decline we were trying to avoid.

If you are a pastor or other leader who longs to see the church grow in its Mission to make disciples, make sure you don’t trade your Penneys for Apples.

Tweet
Share12
12 Shares

A Tractor, A Son, & God

Life in Christ, Perils of Shepherds, Personal

Oh No! Not Again!

As the weather forecast started talking about snow in early November followed by a turn toward cold temperatures, I feared a repeat of last year where winter started early and the snow came and stayed before I was done with everything. So Wednesday turned into a sprint to the finish on outside projects. One of those projects is taking the mower deck of the tractor and putting on the snowblower.

When I inherited my Dad’s Kubota, I had to get a friend (thank you Nick) to teach me how to do work because I had never done it with my Dad, having moved out on my own long before he bought the tractor. Now that I know how to do it, I can take care of it pretty easily each spring and fall. This year, however, I decided it was time for my oldest son to learn it too, so I had him help me. I could do the work just fine without him, but I enjoyed teaching him and spending the time with him while we worked together. It made the job much better.

When it comes to “Serving the Lord” I have had the idea that I am working for God. I am serving Him, doing His work and accomplishing things for Him. This mindset means that I must be faithful, I must do a good job, I must live up to my responsibilities. If that concept doesn’t produce enough pressure and even stress on its own, then there is the problem of my weaknesses and mistakes. My humanity gets in my way and I don’t serve Him as well as I should. I don’t always do the job as well as it ought to be done.

This year God has been dealing with me on this and teaching me a better understanding of how He relates to me and what my relationship with Him means. He has shown me that the work of the ministry is truly His work and He is doing it. He has allowed me to help Him, not because He needs help or can’t do the job on His own, but because He likes to teach me and He likes to spend time with me. (He did, after all, die so that I could be with Him). He is fully capable in His wisdom and power, to build His kingdom, but He has chosen to bring me along and let me learn to do the work too. He wants to work alongside me and share the work in a way that bonds Him and me together.

This is such a different way of viewing my day to day life as a servant of God. Rather than thinking that it all rests on me, to my pride or my pain, I realize that I am called to faithfully work alongside the Master as He builds His kingdom and works in people’s lives. He takes joy in teaching me and allowing me to help Him. This makes me less lonely, less fearful of my inadequacy, and reminds me that God is not a distant taskmaster, but an ever-present Father.

I am thankful for my son, and for God allowing me to be a Dad so I can learn what it means to be His child.

Tweet
Share6
6 Shares

Successful Failure

Life in Christ, Perils of Shepherds, Personal

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Thomas A. Edison

Yesterday’s blog post detailed one of the ways I tend to fail. Specifically how I tend to fail when I’m afraid I’m going to fail. It’s quite a cute little conundrum which I really hate about myself. Nevertheless, there it is, a truth about me. As I near a big milestone birthday and reflect back, I realize how much I have learned and am learning from my failures. I have to admit that it is true that I have learned far more from the failures, the mistakes, the hard times, and the weaknesses than I have learned from my successes and wins.

What has really been interesting to discover is how much others need my failures. This is harder for me than learning from my own failures. For others to learn from my failures means I need to share my failures with them, allow others to see my failures and not defend or excuse my failures. That is asking a lot!

The largest area where I have found this to be true is in raising my children. Especially as they have entered the teen years, I have found that it is vital that I be open, honest, and forthcoming about my weaknesses and failures. These messy areas of my life are hard to hide from my kids anyway since they live with me, and being honest and open about these untidy areas of my life allow me to speak into their lives and help them deal with things in their own lives in a more honest and hopefully preemptive way.

Church is the same way. As a pastor, rather than trying to portray a flawless, perfect man who has it all together, I need to be honest and transparent about my failures and weaknesses, because that can benefit many. This is true not just of pastors, but all of us. We need to be honest and open about our failures. We will learn far more from this very normal part of our earthly lives. It is very destructive to pride, but perhaps it takes a lot of pressure off of all of us. It is a key for us to not Keep Up Appearances.

Tweet
Share54
54 Shares

A Failing Church

Church on Mission, Perils of Shepherds

There are people who believe that their spiritual gift is “Church Critic.” They have a fun ministry of pointing out to others all the areas that we need to “fix.” Pastors oftentimes really struggle with people with this particular gifting, not only because its generally pretty discouraging, but also because most pastors desperately want to fix each of these things and when a Critic is expressing their gift, the pastor often adds pressure to himself.

A few years ago I was approached by someone with the gift who opened the discussion with, “do you know about the problem with this church?” My response was, “Yes, and I’ll bet my list is longer than yours. It’s actually worse than you think!” The Critic didn’t quite know what to say. I had out-gifted them! Rather than defend and try to explain the fact that we were failing in some area, or feel defeated, I was just honest. Our church is very far from perfect and has many areas that need work.

At the heart of the issue is the feeling by some that our goal is to achieve as much perfection as possible. We should seek to do things well, and we should continually work on areas where we are weak, but the goal of the church is to proclaim the grace and mercy of God and His love expressed through the death and resurrection of Jesus on the cross. As fallen human beings we continually demonstrate that we “fall short of the glory of God.” The fix is not to try to be perfect, but to again rest in and proclaim the grace and mercy of God.

When someone approaches me and tells me they are unhappy with an aspect of our church, I can easily find common cause with them. There are always areas that I am unhappy with as well. I ask them if they thought that the goal was to make us happy? My happiness is not a goal, nor do I make it a goal to try to please each person who attends. Instead, my goal is to proclaim, share, and show the love, mercy, and grace of Jesus, and sometimes my own and the churches own failures help communicate that.

So if you come to our church, you will observe a failing church with failing people. We have this treasure in clay pots. If we are who we’ve been called to be, our weakness and failings will provide a showcase of the power of God who saves sinners and is kind to evil and ungrateful people.

And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

(2 Corinthians 12:9)
Tweet
Share3
3 Shares