Green Grits and Ham

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The most perfect food in all of the world are grits. When made right. No Yankee grits. ecch! I discovered Yankee grits on my recent trip to Long Island New York. Yankees put sugar and milk in their grits. That's just down right blasphemous. To be made perfect, they must have salt, pepper, and butter. A few weeks ago, Patty and I were eating at a posh, eloquent, Southern restaurant...the Waffle House. It is at Waffle House that one can experience the elevation of Southern grits. You see, there is only one thing that can make Southern grits any better. When warm, melting grape jelly slides off your toast and into your grits. It is just a small taste of heaven. The yellow butter mixes with the bluish jelly to form a kind of green grits. The Wedding Feast in heaven will have green grits. And ham...honey baked, not green. I am sure of it because Daniel and his three friends ate green grits. (A little known exegete of the Hebrew in Daniel 1:12 reveals that the word Zeroa` [pulse], would be better translated as grits.)

Perfection.

So, my oldest daughter Shea said to me one time, “I think you should say that Jesus is sinless instead of perfect. His life wasn’t perfect, it was sinless. He had a lot of rough times, a lot of hardship; it was less than a perfect life.”

Hmmm. Well, she is like everyone else I encounter. They all have the right to be wrong. (tounge-in-cheekly, he said.)

I am very proud of her. She is thinking things through, which is important. Desire t-bone steaks, not baby formula, Paul tells us. I wish more of my congregation desired to think things though instead of being spoon-fed their theology.

But the fact is that this next generation does think this way about life. And the problem is that their view of life being perfect as measured by ease and comfort should give us pause. The Bible didn’t promise us a life free from troubles. As I have stated to my church many times, if you don’t have any problems let me know. I’ll pray that you get some!

Jesus had hardships, but that doesn’t mean He was out of God’s will. So why do we think that a trouble free, easy life is the only life that is perfect? A lack of problems is not a sign of God's will, just as the presence of trouble is not a sign of the absents of God's will.


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What does this all have to do with green grits? Most people wouldn’t consider green grits perfect, either. The fact is, you really can’t make them that way. Trust me on this one. I've tried. Grape jelly and grits don’t work as a recipe. But when it happens, it’s...well...perfection.

So it is with life. The things that we endure make us who we are. The things we sacrifice builds us into who God wants us to be. Would I like more stuff? Yeah, why not? But in reality, I have more house than I deserve, more cars than I deserve, and more love than I deserve. And to me, that’s just about as perfect as it gets.

The Outrageous Nonsense Of Misplaced Faith

Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense? James 2:14-17 (The Message)

John MacArthur tells the story of a queen that went to the theater to see a drama and wept her way through the entire drama. From beginning to end it was pure emotion. This was in the time of the carriages in years past. And she went out to get in her carriage and it was a very cold and wintry night and she had left her coachman out there where he belonged. He didn't belong with her class. She found him frozen to death and according to her biographer she shed not a single tear over his death.

That is just like us. We get all emotional at a movie or a TV story. Dramas are supposed to fill us with emotions. Back when Top Gun first came out, the US Navy set up a recruiting booth right outside of the theater. I went to see a Movie with Patty a few years ago, and it was just pathos laden. I won’t tell you the name of the movie. It was what we would call a chick-flick. Every woman came out just boo-hooing. I had to wring the estrogen out my shirt. It’s fine to go see movies. I’m not preaching against movies!  But do movies and TV and the theater inoculate us from the crisis and desperation all around us? Yesterday I saw a commercial for Christian Children’s Fund. How many of us see the little kid in Africa, who needs a sponsor, and we become incensed or even angry at their plight, but we don’t give a second thought about the plight of our own neighbors. WHEN, church; when are we going to care more about the lost living within 5 miles of the church than we do about our wayward nephews and nieces, sons and daughters, and cousins living three counties over!? When are we going to stop playing acting at being a live, breathing, and faith filled Christ follower? When are we going to stop living in our fanciful, self deceiving, self centered, fantasy world, and come back to reality? How long are we going to pine away over our lost relatives? Do we ever stop praying? NO! Not until it’s everlasting too late. But Jesus said (not what I SAY , what Jesus SAID) if they won’t heed the truth when they know the truth, give them over to the Satan and use that energy; shed those tears; invest that kingdom resource into someone who will respond to the Gospel of our Lord and Savor! Let us stop with the in-ward focus, and let us start focusing on the reachable.

Listen; if we want to see the Spirit of God fall in power, we have to act like the church that desires to see Him. We have to be like the churches that have experienced Holy Spirit revival. We have to take our resources and our money and make them subject to the task of reaching lost souls. So what say, ye? Will we be like the queen, or will we be like the Apostle Paul and say, “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.”?

Measuring Up

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“When I get to heaven I will be amazed at three things. First, those who are not there that I thought would be. Second, those who are there that I thought would not be. Third, that I am even there at all.” ~ John Newton

I grew up in the Fundamental Independent Baptist Church of the Deep South. I even went to a Fundamental Independent Baptist School. Every Friday we would have preacher boys come in and have chapel at our little school. These were mostly youth guys at their respective churches who aspired to have their own little fiefdom one day. Every Friday we had to endure Sermonettes from these Christianettes.......usually about cigarettes.

They were really into soul winning and these boys did not sin. We knew they didn’t sin because they told us they didn’t sin. They would call all the guys drunkards and all the girls whores and it was their great pleasure to inform us that we were all going straight to Hell. I have to say that, even though these guys didn’t sin anymore, they looked suspiciously arrogant to me.  Especially since they all wore a blue suit, white shirt, and red tie.

In Ecclesiastics 7: 20 Solomon opines that “there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin.” In James 2, the pragmatic James tells us that we should not be respecters of persons. I heard a story about a boy who walked for miles to get to church, passing by churches much closer to his house. When asked why he walked so far, the boy said, “They love a fella over there.” Another boy told his mom about how much he liked his new Sunday School teacher. She asked what made him better than the last teacher. The boy said, “He treats me like I’m a people.”

We may think of these as cute little stories, but would to God that more churches treated visitors like they were "a people." James says when someone visits the church we are not to “hold them up with partiality.” The Greek phrase there, Prosopolepsia, literally means to lay hands on someone’s face. In other words, don’t judge them on superficial, outward appearances. Don't just "lay hold of their face" and judge them on what they look like on the outside. The Message parapharse puts it like this, "If a man enters your church wearing an expensive suit, and a street person wearing rags comes in right after him, and you say to the man in the suit, 'Sit here, sir; this is the best seat in the house!' and either ignore the street person or say, 'Better sit here in the back row,' haven't you segregated God's children and proved that you are judges who can't be trusted?"

Here’s an idea. Instead of judging people, let’s look to Jesus and make Him our standard. When we can measure up to that Man, then we can compare ourselves to other men. 

Dear Mr. President...

Dear Mr. President. Let's catch up on the Ground Zero debacle, shall we. Hamas announced today that it is in favor of building this mosque less than three blocks from the site of the worst massacre in U.S. History. This is the same group that led celebrations in the streets of Palestine on September 11, 2001. So, OK, no surprise there. Feisal Abdul Rauf, the imam who will be the leader of this mosque has refused to call Hamas a terror organization, and previously said that America was to blame for the 9/11 attacks.

Ummm... Oh, yeah, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid opposes it. Reid said that it was cool to build the mosque, just please build it somewhere else. Finally some sense from Harry. And on the brighter side, at least BHO is uniting the parties! Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink said families and friends of 9/11 victims are opposed to the project "and I share their view." One of his GOP opponents, Rick Scott, started running a TV ad that said: "Mr. President, ground zero is the wrong place for a mosque." Yet Mr Obama continues to strike a defiant stance.

Uhh, Mr. President. A little piece of advice...You are known by the company you keep! Perhaps it is time to start keeping company with Americans instead of celebrating Ramadan with your Muslim buddies. Then you would understand why both Republican and Democratic Americans are not in favor of the mosque being built on this site!

Mosque To Be Built At Ground Zero

If you haven't heard, there are plans approved by New York City to allow an Islamic Center, including a Mosque, swimming pool, culinary school, and an "interfaith" gathering place to be built at Ground Zero. Whether you agree or not, the Muslims in New York have a right to build their mosque wherever the law allows. If there is no violation of building permits, codes, or other such stipulations of the law, they should be allowed to build their center. If the Muslims are denied, the law has presented a case for Jewish, Buddhist, Hindi, Satanist, Mormons, JW's, and/or Baptists from building a place of worship as well.



Of course, legalities and rights aside, there is another issue here, the issue of responsibility. I dare say that building a Mosque on or near Ground Zero is an act of considerable irresponsibility. It would amount to a Shinto Temple being built within a mile of Pearl Harbor, or a Baptist Church being raised next door to the Dome of the Rock. Although my eschatology permits me to loosely consider a rebuilt temple as something of a Baptist Church, I cannot imagine a Crusade Baptist Church being built in a Muslim country as going over too well.



Understand, this is more than a matter of poor taste. It represents a serious misunderstanding of the sentiments of most Americans toward the Muslim faith and a huge gaff in their ability to win some PR points by, having now been legally cleared, backing off. Nevertheless, this is systemic of the Islamic fundamental principle of winning at all cost.



However, whether the mosque is built or not, the most distressing part of this sad saga unfolded today (August 13 , 2010) when President Obama weighed in on the discussion. Once more, as he did by saying the Cambridge Police force acted "stupidly", and then insulting disabled Americans by claiming he should bowl for Special Olympics, he has acted utterly un-presidential. By weighing in on a subject that is best left to the local law and to local officials, he has set the agenda and embolden Muslims to forget decorum and civility, and build their mosque away from an area ripe with racial tension.



Whether these Muslims are of the radical flavor or not is completely beside the point. It was Muslim men who flew those planes into the Towers and Pentagon. It was because of Islam, correctly interpreted or not, that over 2,000 individuals died that horrible September morning. And building a center to celebrate that religion on the spot memorializing their brutal murder is an affront to Western sensibilities. Shame on these people for not recognizing this and acting according to the "peaceful" faith that they attest belongs to Islam. The law may be on their side, but according to research 69% of Americans think they shouldn't build on that site. And it's not like there isn't available real estate in Manhattan that is far enough away from Ground Zero for an Islamic Center to go unnoticed. One would think they could afford a good PR firm and some good will!

********Update************
8/14/2010 7:33 pm
The prez has backed-off Mosque comments:

Obama Extends and Revises his Remarks

So, what side is he on?
BY William Kristol

"Today in Florida President Barack Obama "backed off" (as Politico’s Carol Lee put it) his defense of the Ground Zero mosque. Obama now claims that last night he was only defending the legal rights of the organizers: "I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there. I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding. That's what our country is about. And I think it's very important as difficult as some of these issues are that we stay focused on who we are as a people and what our values are all about."

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-extends-and-revises-his-remarks


***********Update # 2**************
8/14/2010 11:41 pm
The Prez has backed-off his back-off statement of Mosque

The White House on Saturday struggled to tamp down the controversy over President Barack Obama’s statements about a mosque near Ground Zero — insisting Obama wasn’t backing off remarks Friday night where he offered support for a project that has infuriated some families whose loved ones died in the Sept. 11 attacks.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41069.html

I Didn't Come To Take Sides, I Came To Take Over

I have been preaching through Hebrews 11 on Wednesday Nights for several weeks now. I am finally starting on the last section, about what I am labeling "The Others." Kind of ominous, right? Sounds a bit like a horror story. Well they are the others from the vantage point of little ink afforded them by the writer of Hebrews. First on the Faith Parade of the Others is Joshua.

Specifically, the story of the battle of Jericho is the lynch pin on which Hebrews 11 places Joshua's entrance into the Hall of Faith. And it did take tremendous faith to follow God's plan.

God: "Hey Josh. Here's what I want you to do. Go walk, check this out, around the city! They'll never see that one coming. Ahhhh. Then go home."

Joshua: "OK. Alright! Ummmm, listen. I know you're God and all...buttttttt...me and the Lieutenants here were thinking of a more traditional approach. A good old fashion siege type, thingy...you know...battering rams, catapults, that kinda stuff."

Isn't this the way we are? We ask for God to reveal His will, and show us His plan, but we do our own thing anyway. The story of the Battle of Jericho doesn't actually start in chapter six. No, it starts with a confrontation Joshua has back in chapter 5. The Israelites were camped near Jericho, waiting to start the campaign, when General Joshua has an encounter with a foreign soldier. Here is the scene from the ESV, the Scripture in Blue, my comments in Black:

When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand.



So Joshua sees a soldier, not Jewish, not Jerichoish, err, Jerichoese, Jerichoian, anyway, so he figures he is with another army. Joshua doesn't want to get in the heat of battle and realize he has another enemy on his flank, so he approaches the soldier for a treaty summit.

And Joshua went to him and said to him, "Are you for us, or for our adversaries?" And he said, "No."

Just "No."? That really wasn't a yes-or-no kinda question. Either you is or you ain't. In essence, He says, "Neither." Then He tells why.

"I am the commander of the army of the LORD. Now I have come."

Woooo! That's an Amen verse! You have to read that last statement with the right emphasis. "Now I." Say it with me "I." Again, "Now I have come." "Now I'm here, Joshua."
We see in the last statements made by the soldier that it is a pre-incarnate appearance by Jesus, what we call a Christophany.


And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, "What does my lord say to his servant?" And the commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, "Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.

Notice the "Take Thy sandals off" comments. Have we heard that before...thinking...thinking. Oh, yeah. God said it to Moses at the burning bush.



Here is the deal. Joshua is planning an attack. God wants Joshua to do it His way, not the world's way. So Jesus pays old Josh a visit. Joshua says, "Hey, big boy, which side are you on." And Jesus says, "Joshua, I didn't come to take sides. I came to take over!" And he did. And the Israelites won the battle.



I want to leave you with this thought; having faith is allowing God to take over. It is a willingness to trust God to the point that you risk everything because you believe what He has told you. When the world seems to heavy too bear, Jesus says, "I'm not here to take sides. I'm here to take over!"



When you face an obstacle that has walls so thick and so high; when you see a barrier to your goals that can derail all of your plans; when the battles seem hopeless; those are the times to trust God even more.
Put God first.
Never look back.
And go circle your Jericho's and shout with all that is with-in you, because "the LORD has given you the city."



Remember that God took the city of Jericho. All Joshua had to do was possess it. Likewise, God has given you the victory; just go take it!

Learning To Fear The LORD

As father’s Day approaches, I am reminded of the safety of Dad. After all, if daddy is afraid, who are the children to turn to? The writers of the Bible knew this fact. That's why Proverbs 14:26 says, "His children will have a refuge," if Daddy has a "strong confidence." Daddy's confidence is the refuge of his children. Dads, the battle to be confident is not just about us, it is about the security of our children. It is about their sense of security and happiness. It's about whether they grow up fretful or firm in faith. Until children can know God in a deep personal way, we are the image and the embodiment of God in their lives. If we are confident and reliable and safe for them, they will be much more likely to cleave to God as their refuge when the storms break over them later.

So how shall we have "strong confidence"? After all, we, too, are little children, clay pots, weak and broken and battling anxieties and doubts. Is the solution to put on the best show we can and hide our true selves? That will lead to ulcers at best and God-dishonoring teenager-repelling hypocrisy at worst. That is not the answer.

Proverbs 14:26 gives another answer: "In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence." This is weird. It says that the solution to fear is fear. The solution to timidity is fear. The solution to uncertainty is fear. The solution to doubt is fear. But how?

Part of the answer is that the "fear of the Lord" means fearing to dishonor the Lord. Which means fearing to distrust the Lord. Which means fearing to fear anything that the Lord has promised to help you overcome. In other words, the fear of the Lord is the great fear destroyer.

If the Lord says, "Fear not, I am with you, be not dismayed, I will help you," (Isaiah 41:10), then it is a fearful thing to worry about the problem he says he will help you with.

Who are you to fear any problem, when God has promised to help you? So it is prideful to fear problems. And pride is the exact opposite of the fear of God.

So, yes, the Proverb is true and a great help to us. Fear God, dads. Fear God. Fear dishonoring Him. Fear distrusting Him. Fear putting your assessment of the problem above His. He says he can help. He is smarter. He is stronger. He is more generous. Trust Him. Fear not to trust Him.

Love in Action

Every seminary graduate has them. Those profs who speak louder and with more to tell us than any text book ever could. I had two I absolutely adored. One of these great men was Steve Drake. We had some friends in common, but mostly he was a great mentor.

In my “Foundation for Ministry” class, Steve told us the story of a wife that came to his office for counseling. “I not only want to get rid of him, I want to get even! Before I divorce him, I want to hurt him as badly as he has hurt me.” With the Wisdom of Solomon, Dr. Drake suggested that she go home and treat her husband as if she "truly" loved him. She should go out of her way to be kind and generous; She should spare no effort at pleasing him and enjoying him. “Make him believe that your love is undying and that you can’t live without him. Then tell him you want a divorce. That will really hurt him.” She was thrilled with the plan and went about acting “as if” she loved him. For two months, she showed kindness, support and love. When Dr Drake had not heard from her those two months, he called and asked if she was ready for the divorce. “Divorce?” she exclaimed. “Never! I’ve found out I really do love him.”

Here is the point; her actions had changed her feelings. Motion resulted in emotion. The ability to love is established, sometimes, not so much by fervent promise but by repeated deeds. We can learn a valuable lesson from this story. If we put our words into action and if you will SHOW your love with deeds, it will return to you in abundance. As Paul said, “If I gave all my wealth to the poor, and if I were burned alive for my deeds, if I didn’t have love, it would all be for nothing!”

I am afraid that we have lost sight of that, and we have begun, as a culture and a society, to only offer love conditionally. If you give it to me, I'll give it back. Thank God, He offers us unconditional love. No strings attached. We need to be more like that. I fear greatly for my beloved Southern Baptist Convention, that we have become a Convention of Ephesian believers...those whose love has grown cold. We are right on the money with our doctrine and theology, but just like the church in Ephesus, we have left our first love. Remember, they didn't lose it, they left it! We leave the love of Jesus when we want a Baptism every Sunday, but never evangelize. When we want a church full on Sunday, as long as no visitor sits in our seat. Lots of youth and young married couples, but no contemporary music and certainly no disruptions caused by teens and young children. We want our students to go to Bible Drill, but heaven help the poor youth worker who asks for $25 to buy pizza.

Let us stop with the games of playing AT church, and let us put our love into action. I really, honestly, truly, certainly do believe that if we will, we will find full churches, filled baptisteries, and youth growing strong in their faith.

To Close To Where I Got In

Donald Grey Barnhouse tells of a little boy that constantly fell out of bed. Night after night, the thump and cry would rouse the parents from their sleep. One morning, the father asked his son, “Why do you think you keep falling out of bed?” The boy thought for a moment and said, “I don’t know. I guess I stay to close to where I got in.”

While we may chuckle at the boys observations, this is a sad and unfortunate reality for many Christians. They remain to close to where they got in, and don’t stretch themselves to make sacrifices for Christ, and the result is too few people in church, too few baptisms, and too few dollars being given.

Salvation is an incredible transformation. Obviously, it is one that is essential to eternal life. However, Christ has called us, once transformed, to a life of growth. Peter said for us to desire the sincere milk of the word. (1 Peter 2:2) We are to grow our infantile spiritual lives through Bible study. But Paul encourages us to move, like a baby, from milk to meat. (1 Corinthians 3:2) I would say that we should move at least from milk to grits! If milk represents where we got in, and say T-bone steak represents full time vocational ministry, at least move on to some cereal or something! Start tithing, share your testimony, volunteer for a service ministry. Go from learning to teaching God’s laws and Christ’s principles. Christ tells us to multiply our ministry by going, telling, and replicating. (Matthew 28:19-20)

In order to do these, we cannot stay close to where we got in. We must move farther and farther into Christ’s Kingdom. It never ceases to amaze me how many people are involved in The Christian CIA. They come in to church on Sunday to get the game plan, then enter covert mode when they leave. Jesus doesn’t want undercover agents! He wants heralds, clarions, and preachers of the Gospel.

Where will your faith take you in 2009? 2010? Move closer to Christ; study the word, teach it’s precepts, and share the faith with everyone you meet. Please, desire the sincere milk, but for Christ’s sake move on to the blessings of a diet full of ministry meat.

Blessings

Steve

Junk Mail

Jesus said, “And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.” (Luke 6:31)


A version of the Golden Rule is found in the scriptures of at least seven major world religions and in the ethical teachings of scores of great philosophers throughout history. The one major difference is Jesus puts this statement in to a positive context, rather than negative.

In-other-words, Jesus says treat others how you want them to treat you, whereas other religions place it in the negative, treat others how they have already treated you. Even so, it is considered the simplest statement of ethics ever conceived. Its widespread acceptance speaks of a universal truth—people just want to be treated like people.

The human dimension is fast disappearing from much of humanity. Our existence is now defined as a series of numbers - Social Security, bank account, license plate, driver's license, credit card, church tithing envelope number. We get telemarketing calls from computers. We belong to social networks in order to keep current with friends...a very depersonalized way of staying in touch. We email, facebook, myspace, text, twitter, tweat...ok, maybe I made that last one up. And, perhaps the greatest insult is that our genetic makeup is being mapped. Can you imagine me being cloned?! Woo boy. That’s all we need is a bunch of me’s running around. All though...a couple of extra you’s would help with the BIP this Sunday! Nonetheless, all that makes us truly human - spirit, soul, and the image of God - is being replaced by bits and bytes of digital information.

The illustrations may be new, but the tendency to treat people like objects isn't. Even Jesus' disciples were more concerned about using a blind man as a theological case study than they were about his need to be healed (see John 9:2). How do you see people? When you relate to them, is it to meet your needs or theirs? Have you put the Golden Rule into practice this week? Cassatt, Camden, Columbia, and for that matter our country, could use a little more “golden ruling!”

I hate junk mail. (Can preachers say hate?) Most of it ends up in the round file pretty quick. Last week I had a letter from Bestbuy. Typical junk coupons, I thought. “50% off. On package of chewing gum with a $500 purchase.” But I opened it anyway. It was a ten dollar gift card. Not a coupon. As good as cash. I had to think, do I treat people like I treat junk mail? Do you? Do we cast them away before we know what is on the inside? As you look through your mail box and sort out the unsolicited junk mail, be wary. If all that electronic wizardry makes you feel depersonalized, be careful; you may be treating others the same way.

Food for thought,

Steve