Tuesday, October 5, 2010
“Reconciliation"
It may not be the biggest word in the Bible, but my sermon Sunday is entitled, “The Biggest Word in the Bible.”
Fourteen letters must put it in the top two or three long Bible words. What makes it big is not the number of letters but the concept, the theological impact.
I hope to prove that to you come Sunday.
The Bible begins with a nude couple gamboling through the Garden of Eden. They are innocent. They are free. They are the first humans.
Soon they are joined by a talking snake, who is standing on his tail. He is chattering on about how God wants to keep the couple ignorant and submissive. Of course, he is lying through his fangs.
They buy his lies. They pick and eat a juicy piece of fruit from the Tree of Life. Sure enough, they are not ignorant any more. They realize they are naked. But, they are not innocent any more either.
When God the Gardener shows up for Happy Hour in the cool shank of the evening, they are crouching in a dark corner holding fig leaves and whining about who forced whom to eat the forbidden fruit.
Out of the Garden they go. A flaming sword blocks their reentrance. The snake slithers away on his belly through the dust. The man is looking in the Want Ads for a sharecropper job. The woman dreads ever having a baby.
The rest of the Bible is about Reconciliation.
Abram is made some big promises. Isaac digs a few wells. Jacob cheats Esau out of his birthright and his blessing. Joseph saves Egypt and the rest of the world from starvation. Moses is born, saved, exiled, called, sent, victorious, given the Commandments, condemned, and buried near Mt. Nebo.
All through Samuel, the Judges, and the Prophets, God is reaching out for his lost world. Last of all, He sends His Son!
Forgiveness makes reconciliation possible. Eternal life keeps reconciled what was reconciled. But, what God was after all along was reconciliation!
God never gave up. On the world. Or on you!
Come Sunday come.
Dan
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
“Showdown at Sundown!”
Idolatry is on the top of God’s hit list!
Nothing steamed the Lord God as much as a false religion messing with his people’s minds.
Baal was the Canaanite god of fertility and fruitfulness. God warned the Israelites before the Conquest in 1450 BC not to get too close to the natives because of their bizarre and pagan worship practices. In addition to frequent animal sacrifices, these Baal worshipers dabbled in male and female prostitution and even practiced human sacrifices at times. “Baal” often refers to all the false would-be, pretender gods of people who live in darkness.
The truth is that Baal was nothing, and all the modern “baals” are also nothing. But, sure enough, the Israelites mingled their God-worship with Baal-worship!
This false god had “consorts” called Ashtoreths, female goddess versions of Baal. Moloch was the god to whom they sometimes sacrificed their infants (“The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul!”) Another popular goddess was Asherah. (I don’t know if Asherahs were exotic dancer types or not, but they were worshipped via a pole!) Both Baal and Asherah are involved in my sermon text for Sunday: I Kings 18:15-21.
Under God’s direction, the prophet Elijah had prayed that the rains stop failing. It hadn’t rained in three and a half years. A severe famine was strangling the people of Israel, the Northern Kingdom. Ahab was the king; Jezebel was his non-Jewish queen. They were furious with Elijah.
Elijah called on Ahab to have a “Showdown at Sundown!” “Be sure and bring all 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah,” he told Ahab. “Bring two bulls, some firewood, but don’t bring any fire!” Elijah advised. “We’ll find out who the real God is!” he said over his shoulder as he walked away.
It comprises one of the most dramatic stories in all of the Old Testament.
What does this have to do with Jesus? Plenty.
There’s a huge difference between a god who commands you to die for him and One who has sent his Son to die for you!
See you Sunday!
Dan
Thursday, September 23, 2010
My daughter, Natalie, says I am a “melancholy” personality type. I’m not a very good one, though. A good melancholy chap sorts his socks weekly and files his trash in alphabetical order!
I think she means that I have a strong sense of justice and fairness. I hate it when people don’t play by the rules. And, yes, I like order. Clutter drives me up a wall!
A really melancholy librarian would be one who, when she finally got all the books on the shelves in their proper order, wouldn’t really want anyone to check one out!
I detest seeing burly NFL linemen, who have played football for twenty years, get tagged for holding! It costs their team a ten yard penalty, sometimes bringing back a play that either scored or picked up big yardage. It’s crazy! Why would they cheat? There’s only a ba-zillon people watching by television and five or six trained referees a few feet away. But, they are JUST SURE no one will see them hold the other guy by the jersey!
All of that to set you up for this: What about the injustices in the world?
A Tampa policeman gets a call on his cell phone. His replacement is coming in early. He smiles, hoots, and jumps in his cruiser to go home. A few blocks away he collides with an eighteen wheeler and is killed instantly. It takes hours to extricate his vehicle (and body) from under the heavy truck. Anything fair about that? Was it just human error, being in the wrong place at the wrong time, fate, or was God punishing him for some sin?
Some people came up to Jesus one day and, with very serious looks on their faces, shared with him that Pilate had “mingled the blood of some Galileans with their sacrifices.” Since Jesus lived most of his earthly life in Galilee, I guess they thought he would look shocked and pound his fist on the ground. Maybe round up some “burly NFL linemen” types and go clean Pilate’s clock. Start, in other words, a revolution against big Rome.
They didn’t know Jesus very well.
His answer was what was shocking. Those Galileans were NOT super sinners. God wasn’t punishing anybody. “Unless you repent, Jesus said, “you too will ALL likewise perish.” (Luke 13:3) What did he mean by that? He says it again in a few verses.
What in the Sam Hill is the relationship between repentance and random tragedies?
Why is repentance so crucial in Christ’s thinking?
Is repentance a one-time-thing? Or, a minute-by-minute reality?
Come Sunday and find out!
Love you,
Dan
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
“It’s All about Jesus!”
Jesus did three things during his whirlwind ministry in Israel: He preached, he taught, and he healed.”
As John Claypool once remarked, “The Church in the Twenty-first Century must be what Jesus was in the First Century.” If we are to be the Body of Christ, we must do what Jesus did when he was on earth.
First, we must preach. And the church, through the ages has done a lot of preaching. One of my favorite cartoons is a simple square with two men on a tiny, deserted island in the middle of the ocean. They were the only two humans there. One was preaching to the other! The oft-heard expression, “Don’t you preach at me!” sort of sums up the negative attitude many have of preaching. Even the Apostle Paul called it a necessary “foolishness!”
Phillips Brooks, a noted preacher of another day, said that preaching is “truth through personality.” God is willing to submit to the filter of our personalities in order to get his message of incredible love across to those who need to hear it.
Dr. Clyde Fant once wrote a book on Diedrich Bonhoeffer’ preaching. In it, he made an astounding assertion. He referred to Philippians 2, the “kenotic” (emptying) passage about Jesus leaving heaven’s glory and deity to become a man. He made the connection to our preaching. Just as Jesus was willing to be limited to the form of a human being, he is also willing to be limited to what we mortal preachers say about him on Sundays at eleven.
Second, we must teach. Jesus was called “Rabbi” (teacher) much more often than “Savior and Lord.” Most Christians are anxious to know him as Savior and Lord but are loathe to let him teach them very much. The Holy Spirit (the Present Spirit of Jesus!) will help us remember the teachings of Jesus if we allow him to. He taught some things hard to swallow: loving one’s enemies, selling out for the poor, taking up a cross, and turning the other cheek. He added that if we refuse to obey him, we cannot be his disciples.
Third, we must heal. I pray with and for the sick, in hospitals and homes. I counsel many hours a month with those who are struggling. But, I don’t know that I’ve ever healed anyone. I have prevented a few suicides, I believe. I have helped some young people get back on the straight and narrow road. What about healing? Jesus touched and spoke and healed sick and handicapped people. Dramatically. Immediately. Repeatedly.
Baptists have been reluctant to have “healing services.” We are afraid someone will think we are being too “pentecostal.” But, Paul tells us that gifts of healing are a part of the arsenal of the Body of Christ. Paul healed people. Peter healed people. I believe we have the procedure to help people get well. It’s basically in James 5. Our church will have a healing service on October 17. Nothing hokey or spooky.
We will simply ask people if they’d like to come forward to agree in prayer for healing---for themselves or others. I have a tiny vial of ordinary oil that I may use if appropriate. Healing, by the way, includes more than physical ailments; it means curing addictions, bad habits, broken relationships, laziness, etc.
Put it on your calendar. Pray for the Lord to be active among us to heal. It could be the greatest event at Bayshore in years!
Marilyn and I are in Dallas this weekend, doing a wedding and a birthday party. We will be thinking of you and Shawn Mahannah as he preaches. See you Monday!
Love to every one of you,
Dan
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
“Night Cometh!”
But, from whence cometh Labor Day?
In 1863, an eleven year old boy, Peter McGuire, was shining shoes, cleaning stores, and running errands to help his mother feed his six siblings. His father, a poor Irish immigrant, had enlisted to fight in the Civil War. To say the least, Peter learned how to work very hard at an early age.
Later in his life, he barnstormed the eastern half of the United States on behalf of workers, many of whom were children, to get salaries comparable to their labor.
Peter and laborers in several cities planned a holiday for workers on the first Monday in September, halfway between July 4th and Thanksgiving. The first Labor Day parade was held on September 5, 1882. Soon the idea spread across the nation. In 1894, Congress made Labor Day a federal holiday.
Labor Day is one of my favorite holidays. No one buys gifts or decorates their house or yard. We have the day off with no particular agenda. It’s a great day to clean out the old garage or sort your socks.
A lot of folk use it to squeeze out the last vestiges of summer and cook hamburgers at the beach or lake.
Sunday I want to think with you about work, your life’s work, and the importance of working. You may have noticed that time goes by very quickly. The last thirty-five years, since I first lived in Tampa, have disappeared like a morning mist. Oh, I can look back and see some of the things we did in those years. But, they’re GONE! Did I waste a lot of them---of course! All of us are guilty of wasting time.
Time is one of God’s best gifts to us. All of us get the same amount. What we do with it is our gift to God. If we spend it on ourselves and in chasing futile dreams, we may find ourselves empty on the Day of Reckoning. Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness!” The Bible reminds us that “the days are evil” and that we should “redeem the time!”
Jesus told his disciples that “night is coming, when no one can work.” (John 9.4). It may be nearer than we think.
Love you,
Dan
Monday, August 23, 2010
“Admiral Noah”
When was the last time you heard a sermon about Noah and the ark?
Let’s look at this ancient story Sunday. It is probably the one Old Testament story that most people have heard about. Hoping to build on what you already know, I want to walk with you through this epic account of God deciding to destroy in the sixth chapter what he created in the first few chapters of Genesis.
Why are we still intrigued by what happened to the ark? (Is it still moldering up on Mount Ararat somewhere?) Shouldn’t we be more concerned about why God made his grim decision? Are there any parallels today in our society that might make God wonder if we’re ever going to get it?
Corruption and violence were the twin terrors that tipped God in the direction of wiping us off the face of the earth and starting over. Notice any corruption or violence out there? Are you involved in any of it? Have we seen so much of it on TV and in the movies that we have become immune to its sadness and cruelty? The Bible says, “The heart is desperately wicked, and who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)
I often wonder how God can continue to put up with us. There was a time, Genesis Six says, when God gave up on our getting better by ourselves. In a breath-catching move, he volunteered to rescue Noah and his family and made them the incredible offer of being in covenant with them to start a new world! What an awesome God!
We are in recession right now because of corruption in the areas of high finance and mortgage lending. I doubt if anyone could pinpoint who is to blame. That’s not the issue. We church people are corrupt enough to make God cringe. We sometimes treat each other terribly. We all need to repent and turn from our wicked ways. When you get outside the church, the world is exceedingly s-c-a-r-y!
Sunday would be a good time to come sit in the Father’s house and do some deep and significant thinking.
See you there!
Dan
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
“How to Avoid Being Miserable”
Sunday I am preaching from I Thessalonians 4.13-18.
The sermon is “Whatever Happened to Grandma?”
Ever been tempted, when you began reading a big book, to turn to the last page and see how it turned out? You wouldn’t pay the high price of a first-run movie ticket and wait until the last five minutes to go into the darkened theater, would you? You want to see the whole thing, don’t you? You want the drama and the suspense of the story as it gradually unfolds.
But, the Bible tells us how everything is going to turn out. The Gospel has a happy ending for those whose names are written in the “Lamb’s Book of Life.”
Paul wrote I Corinthians 15. It is the greatest treatise in the world about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul lays a series of subjective phrases, one by one, on the table, “If Christ be not raised . . . .” Finally, he says, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” The King James Version puts it this way, “ …we are of all men most miserable.”
However, as Paul declares with authority and clarity in the very next verse: “But Christ HAS been raised, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”
If your Grandmother, like mine, was a Christian believer when she died, she is with Christ right now and will accompany Him when he comes for all believers. That’s how things turn out.
But, don’t take my word for it. Sunday, I’ll show you what Paul said.
After all, I don’t want you to be miserable.
There’s no need.
Blessings,
Dan
August 9, 2010
“Righteous Indignation”
That’s exactly how I feel. At least I hope that’s what it is. I know pure old anger is not acceptable in a Christian’s demeanor. But I am outraged by the deaths of those ten missionaries in Afghanistan.
Accused of being “spies” and for trying to “convert people to Christianity,” they were lined up and gunned down by the Taliban. It’s not the first time this sort of travesty has occurred, and it won’t be the last. But radical Muslim folk can’t take advantage of our Freedom of Religion and build mosques in a free country while persecuting unto death people who, in Christ’s name, are simply trying to render medical help to those for whom hospitals and drugstores don’t exist.
In Murphreesboro, Tennessee, the populace is up in arms about the building of a mosque in their community which borders Nashville. I am sure their pique is exacerbated by the proposed $200 million, thirteen story mosque to be constructed a few blocks from the 9-11 ”ground zero” in New York City. (Do you think the Muslims would allow us to build a megachurch in Mecca?)
Folks, there is no “Father God of Love” in Islam. Mohammed was a violent, immoral man whose third or fourth wife was a thirteen year old girl! Even the Muslims can take you to his grave site. He is still quite dead.
But Christ is alive! He animates his living Body, the Church! He leads us as the Head by means of Holy Spirit, which I reminded you Sunday, is the “Present Spirit of Christ.”
Islam is the fastest growing religion in America and the world! We must awake the great army of Christian witnesses in our churches all over the world. We are in a battle to stay free and alive. Since 1945, we have not had so great a threat to our peace as that posed by Islam.
Hold on a minute! I know there are millions of moderate Muslim people who denounce the Taliban-like tactics. I am not trying to impugn the good guys. But, I honestly don’t know what they are doing to stop this awful blood-letting by the bad guys.
Evangelist Bill Fay is coming Sunday to share with us how we can “Share Jesus without Fear.” Join me in prayer that God will shake us Sunday!
What do you think? Would God again use a pagan nation to either wake up or punish His people who have forgotten Him and are AWOL from the Kingdom? I pray it is only a wake-up call . . . .
I really love this Bayshore Baptist Church!
Dan
Thursday, July 29, 2010 12:10 pm
“Quick! Spell G-O-D!”
I hear and read a lot these days about “Being a Great Commission Church.” I’m pretty sure I know what that means. A church aspires to follow the Great Commission that Jesus gave us in Matthew 28.16-20. It’s a very good idea!
I also notice that every church---even Bayshore---has crafted a “mission statement” that sums up their specific purpose for being in business. It states the goals and lays out their hopes of accomplishment. Another terrific idea!
However, you could look and look and look and not find a better mission statement than the Great Commission. Everything is spelled out very specifically: Go everywhere. Make disciples. Baptize them. Teach them to do what Jesus taught his disciples to do. Rely on the Presence (and Power and Authority) of Christ for the whole journey.
I tell you, folks, when you get right down and examine the Great Commission, it’s very embarrassing to realize that we don’t do or even talk very much about what He said in it.
We don’t make disciples very well.
We baptize very FEW people!
We teach a lot of things, but I am not sure all of it is what Jesus said to do, especially in the Sermon on the Mount.
We really like the idea that Jesus will “never leave us nor forsake us”--FORGETTING (Are you hearing this?) that Jesus promised his abiding presence to those who were doing the discipling, baptizing, and nitty-gritty teaching about obedience.
Oh yeah, he promised to be with those WHO WERE GOING! (Duh!)
Going. Go. First two letters in God’s Name.
Interesting . . . .
Dan
(If you’ll come Sunday, I’ll try to clear all this up for you!)
Wednesday, July 21, 2010 4:45 pm
“The Gospel According to Tom”
We live in a fallen world. In the wake of Tom Morris’ passing, you may want to read the book of Job again.
The easy part of doing Tom’s memorial service will be sharing what he meant to Bayshore Baptist Church---collectively and individually.
I am not going to try and play the part of cool-calm-collected cleric. Although I haven’t been around Tom on a daily basis in many years, I felt like we always picked up right where I left him and Vicki in 1975 and after their 1971 wedding. During the process of calling me to be interim pastor, Tom was kind enough to call me often and keep me informed about what was going on. I feel like I have lost a family member. Truth is, we all have---all of us in the Bayshore family!
He now knows the victory! We are still in the valley. Our tears are falling; his are being wiped away! He ran fastest. He finished first. We will see him again.
On Sunday, I want to bring a message from Zephaniah 1:1-7. With Tom’s death fresh on our minds, I believe it is a good time to focus on eschatology (doctrine of Last Things). Are you ready to meet God? Are things right between you and your Heavenly Father?
The “Day of the Lord” teaching in both testaments is not something we can relegate to dusty seminary libraries and dull lectures. There are signs. There are predictions and warnings. Jesus didn’t leave us clueless about His return. A great many of his parables are about his return someday.
If Tom’s sudden and unexpected passing pushes us to reevaluate our commitment and draws us closer to Christ and His church, he will not have died in vain.
Dan
Tuesday, July 13, 2010 3:38 PM
Did you know that Jesus had more to say about money than any other subject? There are 700 verses in the New Testament on that topic.
That fact is even more interesting when you realize that Jesus probably never carried any money around. When someone asked him if they should pay taxes to Caesar or not, Jesus asked someone if he could borrow a denarius (Roman coin) in order to examine it. He didn’t have any money on him!
I doubt if he ever had another paycheck after he walked away from “Joseph & Son Carpenter’s Shop” in Nazareth! Do you reckon Jesus tithed? I think so. He just didn’t want us to stop with tithing (Matt. 23.23).
I am the bravest man in town! I am going to preach on tithing in the middle of a recession that seems determined to take a “double dip!” In fact, I am even telling you that I am going to preach on that subject. I must be loose in the noggin somewhere to do such a thing.
No, I just want to put the emphasis where Jesus did. If there is anything the followers of Jesus need to learn, it’s how to handle our money, how to think about our possessions, how to avoid worshiping Mammon! “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions,” Jesus asserted. We in American haven’t quite learned that lesson yet. “Beware of covetousness!” he exclaimed. We’re still scratching our heads about that one. What was He saying?
Bring your Bible and one friend. Pray hard for Tom Morris. Ask God to speak loud and clear to your heart on Sunday. This may be your week!
Blessings,
Dan
Tuesday, July 06, 2010 4:48 PM
I have been touched by the tender love and compassion that you have shown to our dear brother and sisters, Tom, Vickie, and Julie Morris. You have respected their need for quiet and privacy and have lavished on them the good cooking of our church families. Thank you for your sensitivity to their predicament. Thank you for the load of prayer support that is sustaining them now as Tom begins treatment for his illness. Let us continue to ask the Father to use medical science and our prayers to effect healing for Tom. Let us claim healing mercies on their behalf!
The exultant spirit of our worship Sunday defied the July 4th-diminished attendance. Another new member! The rousing strains of “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” The happy children waving our nation’s flag. It was a glorious day to be in the Lord’s presence!
I want to draw your attendance this coming Sunday to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know exactly how Jesus died? I know you are aware that he perished on a Roman cross, but how did he die? What specifically extinguished his life? Come and learn the horrors of execution by crucifixion. You will never again look at a cross the same way. It is the absolutely most painful way humans have devised to take another person’s life.
Someone could find the forgiveness of their sins if you would stop right now and call them to invite them to come with you.
(Well, go on and call them!)
‘Love you ‘zackly like you is!
Dan
Monday, June 28, 2010
After three Sundays preaching and working at Bayshore again, I am about to shake the surreality of it all!
God has graciously given us eight new members already!
I have been floored and humbled by your loving, positive response to my coming back among you to help shepherd this great church.
Let me tell you what you’ve got going for you. Our facilities are absolutely gorgeous! The location is perfect for growth. The history of the church is rich with evidence that God will guide us into significant growth, both numerically and spiritually, if we pay the price of discipleship. We have the resources in people power and in financial ability. God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. The silver and the gold are His! He will send the resources to do what He leads us to do.
My wife, Marilyn, arrived from Dallas safely Sunday afternoon late. I feel I am all here now! She will be singing in the choir (along with me) and visiting prospects with me each week. Those of you who have not met her will find her to be approachable and loving, someone you can talk to.
Sunday is July 4th! Come help us celebrate our nation’s 234th birthday. The choir will sing “The Battle Hymn of the Republic!” My message is “One Nation Under God!” My text is I Peter 2.11-17. Your job is to show up with a friend!
God loves you just like you are . . . and so do I!
Dan
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