The Darkest Day in Christian History

Posted on April 7, 2012 | 2 Comments

(This is part 2 of my Easter Weekend series. Click here for part 1.)

Put yourself in the place of the twelve disciples for a minute.

For about the last three years you have walked with Jesus and seen every great miracle and heard every teaching he has presented. You have possibly been one of the ones to even hear God testify, “this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

After all this time, there is little doubt in your mind that you are walking with the Messiah; the promised King of Israel that would one day come to set the nation free from bondage and oppression and sin.

But somewhere recently, something changed. While you expected a Kingdom to be built – the one Jesus kept saying “is at hand” – He started talking about His approaching death. You’ve tried reasoning with Him about it and He’s said you’re working for the devil. You put up a small fight against the soldiers who came to take him away, and Jesus rebuked you. And now, in the last forty-eight hours, you watched your King being arrested, beaten, humiliated, mocked, and murdered.

Sure, Jesus said that this was coming. He even talked about returning to life in three days, but who knows. Jesus said all kinds of confusing parables, so you aren’t exactly sure what He meant? Besides, even if He did come back to life, the tomb was being guarded. They’d probably just kill Him again.

For the last three years, you have had the best life imaginable, ministering and seeing God move daily. There was joy and freedom being with Jesus. But now, this has gotten serious…

Personally, I cannot imagine a darker day in all of the history of Christianity (or Judaism) than the day the Messiah spent laying dead in the tomb.

His disciples had scattered when they came to arrest Him, and although they were probably dispersed among the crowds overlooking the cross, most never publicly show their face until after the resurrection. In fact, while the eleven remaining disciples hide, it is Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus who take to body for burial.

Hiding, afraid for their lives. Do you feel the weight that twenty-four hours can place on the life and faith of a Christian?

So what did they do?

Well, the Bible tells us nothing of this day except that it was a Sabbath. Fortunately for the disciples it meant that even if the religious leaders were going to come after them, it wouldn’t be today.

I am sure in the day’s mixed emotions, the disciples went back and forth between the Spirit and the flesh. There was probably a lot of prayer and recalling the teachings Jesus has spoken. Maybe even some study of the Old Testament prophets. But I also suspect that in a group of fearful men, there were also talks of both fleeing and fighting back. A lot of tears were probably shed. And there was probably a great mix of hope and discouragement.

Today reminds us that for the Christian in the darkest day of their life, an answer from God doesn’t always come when you want it. Sometimes you just have to take what you already know by faith and then wait and see what the morning brings.

(Part 3 will go live at 5am, Easter Day.)

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Crucified

Posted on April 6, 2012 | 4 Comments

(This is part 1 of an Easter weekend blog series)

To Christians, today  is known as “Good Friday,” a  celebrated holiday so called because it is the day that the sacrifice was made for our sins in Jesus willingly dying on the cross. For those of us who have tasted the grace of God, however, felt in the cross of Christ, today holds more grief than good as we realize the weight and consequence of our sin placed on Him.

Today we celebrate the fact that we crucified the Son of God.

As I went to bed last night I went through my normal routine of checking emails and Facebook messages one last time. I spent some time in prayer. Then I climbed into my bed, laying in front of my fan, and settled in for a good night’s rest.

But almost 2,000 years ago, Jesus would have been spent last night in the upper room with His disciples, celebrating the Passover feast. As the disciples did as they had always done, eating the unleavened bread and drinking the wine, celebrating the fact that their sins for the last year were covered by the blood of the sacrificial lamb, Jesus begins to tell them a new Passover story.

He tells them that the bread they are eating now symbolizes His flesh which would be beaten, broken, and torn from his bones, and the wine now represents His blood which would be poured out for them. They knew the promised Messiah had come. But what they were learning is that their new-found King would become their Sacrificial Lamb.

Almost a week ago, Jesus rode into town on a donkey as the people cried “Hosanna!,” “Salvation is Here!,” declaring that Jesus was Lord. He then provokes the religious status quo by turning over the tables in the Temple and talking about it’s destruction and saying, “I’ll rebuild it in three days.”

Though the plan had been to take care of this Jesus after the holiday passed, when the Jewish people start worshipping a man as God, true or not, something has to be done. A plot against Him forms.

After the Passover meal, Jesus excused his betrayer to do that thing which he had been paid to do, then He and the other disciples retired to a quiet garden at Gethsemane. It was at this place we see the weight of our sins that would soon overtake our Lord begin to crush down on Him. As His disciples struggle to keep their eyes open, Jesus goes into the most grievous time of prayer the world has ever seen. The Son of God crying out to His Father, “Daddy, please don’t do this!”

As capillaries begin to rupture under His skin and drops of blood begin forming on his body like sweat – a sign of extreme stress – we hear the words that once and for all set in motion our salvation: “Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours be done.”

Soon the religious militia shows up in the garden to take Jesus away. The disciples flee and hide, as Jesus spends the rest of that night in prison being tormented by the guards.

As morning arises Jesus is taken before both Pilate and Herod to be charged for his blasphemies. Neither ruler finds him guilty, but the crowds who a week ago were shouting “King,” now screamed “Crucify.”

After being beaten until He no longer resembled a man, Jesus picked up His cross and began the long walk up the mountain called Calvary. Falling under the weight, others were forced to carry his cross as Jesus struggled towards His own death.

By noon, Jesus was nailed to the cross and hung between two thieves. The crowds mocked and spat at Him. Even his fellow criminals taunted Him. “If You are the Son of God, then come down off that cross.”

Though He could have come down, Jesus remained.

Darkness had covered the city as creation watched it’s Creator being murdered for crimes He did not commit. As the sin of the world came to rest on Jesus, the Father in Heaven turned His face away from His only Son. “Father, why have You forsaken me?”

Around 3pm Jesus looked to the skies and cried out one last time, “It is finished.” As He breathed His last breath the earth shook. Rocks crumbled. Tombs opened with the dead coming out alive. And inside the temple, the veil that for centuries had kept man separated from the Holy of Holies – the dwelling place of God’s Spirit – was torn in two, from top to bottom, giving all humanity access to the Father.

The guard who watched Jesus die, seeing nature grieve, said, “Surely, this was the Son of God.”

His body was taken and laid in a tomb. A stone was placed over the entrance, and the religious leaders sent a guard to watch the body.

On Good Friday, our sin-debt was hung on that cross, punished by God, and taken to the grave. Our curse was dealt with by the only One born of woman who didn’t deserve to die. And Jesus words to Nicodemus finally carry their full weight, “God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son…”

Jesus – our God – was dead.

(Click here to go to Part 2 of the series)

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Ministry Update – March 2012

Posted on March 29, 2012 | Leave a comment

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD AND PRINT THIS UPDATE LETTER

On March 1st I landed in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and as cliché as it may sound, I really can’t believe it’s already been a month.

As an always-busy American, one of the hardest things for me to adjust to any time I enter a third-world setting is the lack of ability to get anything done quickly. This is just as true of Haiti as it has been anywhere I’ve been. But despite all of my workaholic frustrations, I still believe that things  are getting done exactly as they should in God’s sovereign timing.

The HGIM-Haiti orphanage is still going through the government’s bureaucratic process for certification, and because it is a lot of inspections, meetings and paperwork, there has not been a lot I have been able to do yet as far as assisting and equipping the staff in daily administrative work. Unfortunately, even the church planting work has been put on hold until the government certification work can be resolved.

In the mean time, my month has been filled with making various connections with other Christian ministries and NGO’s working here, many of which have come through the guesthouse where I am staying. I have also had the opportunity to share my faith with many people I have met around the area, both Haitian and American. I am also hoping to begin finding some preaching opportunities as I continue to meet other missionaries and pastors here.

The biggest challenge I’m facing is the Creole language. Most places I have been to before have had a fairly large English speaking population. In Haiti, though, the problem is that even many people who can speak English will not do so as a matter of pride. This means a large part of my free time is being spent in language study, and it certainly isn’t as easy of a language to learn as everyone keeps tells me it is.

Also, I have been working on video editing and article writing for a forthcoming discipleship website being developed by HGIM. This site will be a great “equipping” tool for us and our ministry partners as we continue to expand our evangelistic efforts, and hopefully for yours as well. Be watching for the site’s release later this year.

“Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers.” Sidlow Baxter

  • Pray for God to send revival; that salvation and healing will come to this nation.
  • Continue to pray for the orphanage certification process, a speedy completion, and for our staff to stand faithfully against frustration and fear of man.
  • Pray for my ability and dedication to learning the language.

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Rules Don’t Equal Righteousness

Posted on March 27, 2012 | 2 Comments

What is the essence of true spirituality? What does it look like for someone to live out  in the world the life they received through new (spiritual) birth in Christ?

These questions have been weighing on my mind a lot lately as I have been discussing with others the call of the Christian as an individual and the capacity for great impact by Christianity on the wold.

Talking to one of the workers in the guesthouse I am staying at, it was explained to me the differences between Catholics and Evangelical Christians teachings in Haiti (at least according to his perceptions). He said that both groups worship the same God, and share the same bible, but the Catholics don’t believe there is any requirements placed on your life beyond faith, so you can live your life any way you want with no restriction. The Evangelicals on the other hand call people to change their actions through lists of restrictions and rules that one must obey to be a believer.

Now, certainly I disagree with the Catholic view as presented to me, as I know Christianity calls us to marked life change. However, though I would consider myself to be Evangelical, I don’t agree with a call to a new set of rules and regulations that one must obey to be a believer either.

I think all of these thoughts floating around in my brain came to a head the other night when one of my good friends posted to twitter: “If the ‘fruits of the Spirit’ happened w/o human thought and moral effort, why did Paul list them and urge the Galatians to develop them?”

Now, I know my friend’s heart was not at all a press for legalistic rules and regulations to  lead us by “works” to that spiritual fruit, although that was my first interpretation of the quote. And as I have not had a chance to talk through the issue with him, I won’t even assume to speak for his intentions. I only quote it hear to say it directed things I had already been meditating on this week to the point of having to sort through this issue.

Upon reading his quote my mind immediately went to Paul’s quote in Galatians 3:3, “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”

My fear is that too often in Christianity we push people toward fleshly discipline as a way of maturing them spiritually. However, Paul himself says that never works:

“If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.” (Colossians 2:20-23)

In fact, as I recently read through the book of Colossians, I made the following notes in my journal (with minor edits here for readability):

Don’t be deceived by spiritual looking actions no matter how universally they are taught or commanded. They don’t carry any real spiritual authority or power, or impart Christ-life to the soul. (Col 2:16-23)

Instead, realize that your life is in Christ who dwells in Heaven, sitting on the throne that is above all thrones. So then, to live “on earth as it is in heaven” means that our lives are lived from heaven to earth (Col 3:1-4), and so, like Christ did, we determine to follow the Spirit as He prompts us to “do the will of our Father.”

The natural outflow of this spiritual obedience as opposed to the keeping of fleshly rules, is that it will put to death what is earthly in us (Col. 3:5-11) and we will put on the heavenly nature we have in us because we are now in Him (Col. 3:12-17) This isn’t supposed to be dead religion that we live in. Instead, it truly is us discovering that we live a new, abundant, and spiritually overcoming life as Christ lives through us.

The reality is that Christ does call us to repentance (Matt. 4:17). He calls us to be holy just as He is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16). And he desires that our lives will be marked by obedience to Him (Matt. 28:20). The question is, what actions on our part will actually take us there.

I am convinced that the quickest way toward a renewed life is not to cultivate rules and regulations that make us look holy or pious, but to in fact, cultivate a spiritual intimacy with God in prayer and learn to walk daily as He leads us, allowing Him to renew us in His image. This does indeed take action on our part. But I find that these actions are more grounded in the New Testament practice of the faith, than most of the modern commands we find in too many churches. So instead of the old Baptist creed, “We don’t drink, and we don’t chew, and we don’t date the girls that do,” we are told, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thes. 5:17), “Walk in the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25), and “Let all that you do be done in love”, on which hangs all the Old Testament law (1 Cor. 16:14; Matt. 22:37-40). These then, should be where the majority of our spiritual pursuits lie.

Or to put it very simply, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’” (Romans 1:17)

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Haiti Update – Weeks 2 & 3

Posted on March 22, 2012 | Leave a comment

Another couple of weeks have passed in Haiti, and I definitely feel like I am now fairly comfortable with the culture and getting around the immediate area on my own (though discretion is always necessary). However, I have yet to attempt traveling beyond Petionville, as I am concerned with managing the return trip.

As far as the work goes with the orphanage, the cultural collide is taking its toll. While we have priorities on the HGIM side of things, due to circumstances here, it has been a while since the last visit to Haiti.  On top of that, it appears the staff has priorities of their own. There is a lot of stress among the staff which makes accomplishing many of our objectives very difficult and I feel like a lot of this strain is being perpetuated further by the difficulties we are facing with the government certification process. It is long, and nothing is done quickly here. Please pray that we can move ahead more quickly so my time “on the ground” can be as productive as we had hoped it would be, helping in whatever capacity that I can.

Overlooking Port-au-Prince from the mountainside.

On Saturday I made my first trip to the center with the orphanage director and a government inspector who needed to interview the children. Some of the younger children sang a song of welcome and I got to talk to a few children face to face and hear about their daily lives. This led to me providing a little money for buying the boys a ball and some underwear for one of the girls. That girl later told our Pastor that “Jesus bought her underwear.” He told her my name was Scott, but she insisted that to her, at least, I look like Jesus in the films. He just laughed.

There is much work that needs done before certification can be completed, including some plumbing work and some repairs to the well pump. Also, the recent rains are causing problems, including having apparently eroded away the soil and knocking down our fence, and is now withering away the soil under the foundation of one of our buildings.

Eroding foundation at orphanage with start of a retaining wall.

One of the major problems Haiti faces is that the country is mostly mountains, and so you are either crammed into overcrowded cities, or building on the hillsides. Also, with a lack of any building codes ensuring safety, it is not rare that heavy rains and the annual hurricanes can leave some areas completely laid waste.

This week the leaders are spending their days working with government contacts and trying to manage a very frustrated staff. While they’re working with the government (something I’m not able to do being an American), I’m keeping myself busy with video editing for a soon coming discipleship resource website and spending time studying the Creole language.  As is typical in most third world countries, there is a lot of “hurry up and wait” that goes on, so you just do the best that you can.

In other news, the guesthouse and the people I have met coming through are great. The staff is doing their best to help me learn Creole. A lot of the people in the neighborhood have gotten used to seeing me, so it is less of a shock for some of them to see a white guy walking around on his own. I have made some good contacts with different organizations here who help in medical and other aid work. And I hope that by next week I can begin renting a car to visit some of the other orphanage that I have made contact with.

Cafe Terrasse in Petionville

Please pray for me that I can continue to pick up the language. That is one of the biggest struggles. Most people tend to believe you can be pretty conversational after about 3 months of being here. Next week will mark almost a month, and I don’t feel like I’m doing that well so far.

Also pray that the politics surrounding our getting government certification will resolve quickly so that our staff’s attention can turn to our number one priority: raising these children well to become upstanding citizens of God’s Kingdom living in Haiti.

And again, just pray for me that my time here will be fruitful. We know that despite our plans and frustrations we work for a Sovereign King who will see to His work being completed on His timing.

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Christ in You: The Hope of The World

Posted on March 20, 2012 | 3 Comments

I have slowly been working my way through a very large book called, “John G. Lake: The Complete Collection of His Life Teachings” compiled by Roberts Liardon. Last night, as I read one of Pastor Lake’s sermons from April 26, 1914, I was stirred to pray that God would give me the grace to become the type of person being talked about in his message.

One small paragraph caught my attention while looking over my highlights, and grieved me that this may very well be the type of Christian I, and many of you, feel most comfortable becoming. He said:

“The Spirit of the Lord, as we prayed, told my soul that the peculiar sin of the present hour among the children of God is a peculiar spiritual lethargy that has been permitted to gradually steal over our souls, robbing us of the quickened consciousness and understanding of the blessed Holy Ghost and of His peculiar presence. That instead of lifting our hearts and welcoming Him, we have descended into a study of the understanding of His ways and works and methods until a dimness has come over our spirits.”

What he says there is that too many of us fall into a category of Christians who spend all our time seeking head-knowledge of what the Gospel means and how it should be lived out, but we seldom pull our heads out of the books and pursue life-knowledge of the Gospel. We study, but we don’t act on what we find.

This brings to mind the famous quote by G.K. Chesterton, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.” I think that is true to what I am saying, but also not quite complete. If I were to dare add to his words, it would say, “it has been found difficult, uncomfortable, humiliating, and threatening to the preservation of our egos and status, and left untried.”

As I read the words of Pastor Lake, and was praying that I would not be the type of Christian who is consumed only by spiritual head-knowledge, God brought to mind the verse of scripture that says, “To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27)

Immediately I flipped over the that passage to see what God was wanting to say to me, but before I even got there, I felt like God told me the problem is that I have held a wrong view of this truth. What He showed me is that I have tended to think of it that Christ lives in me and this is the hope of glory in my own salvation. The Holy Spirit, however, pressed on me that I am already sealed for salvation. It is now Christ living in me that is the hope of glory for the people around me. Christ is in me so that He can leak out through my actions and interactions with others, making Himself known to the world

It is Christ living in us that allows us to fulfill the command to “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

The problem with the head-knowledge Christian is that they study and study to make sure they have Christ inside and understand the depths of that truth, but they never live a life where Christ leaks out of them and touches others, offering the hope of glory to the lost world.

If Christ is living in you, it is so that you can live Him out in the world. This is why Paul goes on to say in verses 28-29 that it is “Him we proclaim…” and, “For this I toil, struggling with all HIS energy that HE powerfully works within me.”

Now, don’t misunderstand me. It is a good thing to spend time in prayer, and in the Word, and even in the books written by so many of our great Christian heroes. We need to have a biblically grounded view of the spiritual life. But it is only beneficial if it leads us to a life overflowing with the reality of Christ in us. That is the hope for the world, and that is when we will be most useful to the Kingdom of God.

Christ is living in you. That is where the hope for the world is found. Let Him leak out!

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Empowered to Serve

Posted on March 13, 2012 | 1 Comment

Last week I wrote a blog about the reality of God’s Kingdom touching earth through miraculous deeds, and the fact that the Bible testifies that those things continue in the church today.

Knowing many people who read my blog personally, I know that the “charismatic,” “continuationist” viewpoint is one that some do not agree with, or still have questions about, and I hope to continue to handle this topic tactfully, in order to not offend those people.

As I began pursuing the gifts of the Holy Spirit a few years ago while attending an independent Baptist college where the common believe was that the gifts have ceased, it seemed like such an overwhelming issue and there were many questions in my mind as to how the gifts should be incorporated into church and life. Because those around me did not believe the gifts continue, I didn’t have anyone to turn to to find the answers I was seeking.

On top of that, I saw many charismatic leaders on Christian television who, it seemed, used the gifts as a way of making a name for themselves, and to gain status in the world. I knew there was something wrong with this, and it served to add to the ammunition of those opposed to my beliefs.

It didn’t take more than a look at 1 Corinthians 12-14 to tell me that the basis for using the gifts is love, but the other day as I was reading in Matthew, another passage caught my attention that I believe it speaks to this issue as well, and I want to share it here:

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to (Jesus) with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:20-28)

These disciples, who had walked with Jesus for a while by this point, who had been given authority to heal and cast out demons, and who were to some degree were helping to lead the masses following Jesus around, now come to Jesus and completely miss the point of the mission of God. They miss the mandate to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth (Matthew 6:10), and instead, come looking for more authority that would come to them by having the seat of power next to Christ when the Kingdom is fully come.

Jesus calls them on it. He goes into this teaching that seeking power for oneself is a trait inherent in establishing an earthly throne, but that this is not how things work in God’s Kingdom. Instead, the power of the Kingdom is given most to those not seeking power itself, but who are instead seeking to serve others from a selfless, compassionate heart, just like His own. He even uses himself as the  example, as He had been telling the disciples that He was on His way to Jerusalem to die for the sins of His people.

Now, the reality is that people can use God-given authority and power from a sinful, self-serving heart and still see the power work. Jesus said that on the day of judgement “many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:22-23)

However, for those believers who are legitimately seeking God’s power for the purpose of transforming their world into a Kingdom culture – “on earth as it is in Heaven” – then Jesus says, these people will be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

From this truth, to those reading who are seeking how the gifts are to be used, allow me give you some very simple scriptural advice for this pursuit:

  • Make sure your heart and mind are working from a position of Christ-likeness. “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus…” (Philippians 2:1-5)
  • Don’t seek a logical answer to mysteries of faith. Just go after God to do something  miraculous, and watch Him work. “Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts…”(1 Corinthians 14:1)

When we are acting out of the love of God, with a mind to serve others and bring God’s Kingdom to earth, the Holy Spirt will be there to empower us and to see us through. It really is this simple, as long as we don’t let our systems of theology get too deep for our faith to handle.

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