Let Your Glory Fall.

My heart is confident, God, my heart is confident. I will sing; I will sing praises. Wake up, my soul! Wake up, harp and lyre! I will wake up the dawn. I will praise You, Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to You among the nations. For your faithful love is as high as the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches the clouds. God, be exalted above the heavens; Let Your glory be over the whole earth. - Ps.57:7-11

God’s faithful love and His glory are so far beyond what we can even think or imagine. Our hearts should be confident in that He is enthroned in power and glory… and they should be desperate in that His faithful love is of greatest, immediate need in our personal lives. Relentlessly singing, shouting, proclaiming, and heralding His greatness should be the theme of our life-song among the nations. The peoples of the world should hear a consistent, unified effort from the Christian community to make much of Him and less of ourselves. We should wake up the dawn singing His praise and shouting His goodness.

I long for the day when we will authentically worship God in such a way that His glory will fall on us and completely devastate us. More of Him. More of His glory. More of His goodness. More of His presence and power in me and through me. That’s the goal. Lord God, let Your glory fall.

 

Grace and Peace,

Tony

 

What is the Bible About?

Seems like a silly question at first, but I believe many Christians today read their Bibles (well, at least the ones that are reading their Bibles) from the wrong vantage point. To some, it has become a self-help book, and to others, a historical narrative providing allegorical meaning to their own lives. The pervading idea is that scripture is about me, and I learn more about myself when I interact with it. And for sure, there is a grand motif woven throughout all 66 books of the Bible… an overarching theme which, when approached humbly and submissively, does in fact change the reader from the inside out. But the Bible is not about you.

When we look to Scripture wanting to find a text that will magically give us “the word we need” to get through the day, or when we approach its pages hoping to exhume from the ink some nostalgic feeling for self-indulgement, we diminish the richness of God’s revelation to us. The Bible is not a collection of self-help ideas, and it has not been revealed, compiled, protected, and preserved for thousands of years so that you can deduce from it some meaning of your own choosing. The Bible is about Jesus. Cover to cover, front to back, Genesis to Revelation. All of Scripture is about Jesus.

On this topic, R.L. Plummer has written in 40 Questions About Interpreting the Bible,

The story line of the Bible reveals the need for Jesus, the promise of Jesus, the anticipation of Jesus, the incarnation/arrival of Jesus, the teachings of Jesus, the crucifixion of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus, the ascension of Jesus, and the promised return of Jesus. The Bible is a book about Jesus.

There are those among us who would seek to extract some kind of generally applicable ethical guidelines from scripture; they pretend that divine revelation is a social handbook, amendable and changeable from generation to generation. There are others who would approach it with malicious skepticism; they are the self proclaimed intellectual elite who boast in their “search for the historical Jesus,” heralding their own finite wisdom in the place of God’s revelation.

You would think this is a new phenomenon, brought on by the rise of postmodern thought and the length of time we are removed from the original sources/texts. But the wrongful approach to God’s revealed Word has been around as long as Scripture itself. In John 5, many Jews (the ones who knew the Scriptures) “began persecuting Jesus” (v.16) because He was shattering their boxed-in interpretation of the Scriptures. Jesus responded with a rather lengthy monologue about His importance in the thought and application of all things spiritual (that is… all things). In wrapping up His indictment against them, Jesus’ words are profound:

You pore over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, yet they testify about Me. And you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. (vs.39-40)

Your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, because He wrote about Me. But if you don’t believe his writings, how will you believe My words? (vs.45-47)

The Bible is about Jesus. Not self-help. Not social welfare. Not human prosperity. It is not a “10 Easy Steps” guide to success or health. It tells the story of redemption, start to finish. From Page 1, the Bible tells the story of redemption in Christ Jesus. To remove Him or His redemptive work from its pages is to cheapen the Truth that God has so graciously given.

So what does that mean for you?…

1) Don’t just open the Bible and hope that a self-help text will pop out at you. Study it. Learn the whole Bible. The Word of God in its totality speaks to the whole man. When we come to know Jesus and His redemptive history through the pages of Scripture, our lives are necessarily transformed from the inside out. There is no shortcut to sanctification.

2) Look for Jesus on every page, and in every story. When you are reading through the Old Testament historical narratives, poetry, prophecies, law codes, or sacrificial procedures, ask yourself, “What does this teach me about Christ?” The more frequently you look for Jesus in the Bible, the more skilled you will become at seeing Him.

3) Study in community with other believers. One of the easiest ways to nurture destructive false doctrine is to interpret Scripture on your own without any accountability from the Christian community. Every one of us is susceptible to misinterpreting Scripture. God has given us a Christian community – the Church – in which to learn about Him and grow in Him. Find a church which teaches the Scripture. There are lots of self-help, motivational speakers parading around as pastors and teachers these days. Find a church that will get you into the Word, and learn together with them.

4) Expect to be challenged and resolve to change. The more we learn about Christ, the more we are confronted with our own sinfulness and rebellion. Coming to know Christ through the pages of Scripture will require us to change ourselves so that we can become more like Him. R.L. Plummer wrote, “The biblical authors do not envision a situation in which someone can affirm the correct meaning of the Bible and at the same time refuse to obey it.” Coming to know Jesus more and more demands that we “obey His commands” (John 14:15).

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Now… stop reading blogs and go read your Bible.

Grace and Peace,

Tony

Haiti Vision Trip Diaries January 2013

Pastor Kenny and I took a quick trip to Haiti this past week, praying that God would open our eyes and ears to what He is doing there. Proverbs 19:21 says that there are many plans in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the Lord is what will stand. My fellow Pastor and I had many thoughts in mind, but we were united in that we would not predetermine our plan for July until we saw and heard first-hand what God is doing among the Hatian people. We don’t want to go in and do what we think is right. We want to join God in His work. In this post, you will find two short diary entries, one from each night in Haiti this past week. God has indeed revealed His direction, and has opened our eyes and ears to clearly see how He is working and what we can do to help. I thought it beneficial to keep these two short diary entries easily accessible to our church members and partners as we continue to follow God’s leadership in this endeavor.

Grace and Peace,

Tony

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1/3/2013

Today we (myself, Pastor Kenny, and four other Haitian brothers and sisters) travelled to the outer Western parts of Haiti. I am blessed and honored to be working with such a Godly, passionate, and visionary group as we seek God’s future direction for our work here. In three churches and schools we listened to, sang with, and prayed with the pastors (who are also the schoolmasters) and some of the children and other town leaders. In almost every case, facilities are less than subpar, and money is just about nonexistent. 35-50% of the school aged children in each area do not go to school because parents cannot afford the $50 (USD) per year to send them.

The highlight of my day today was singing “How Great Thou Art” (in English while they all sang in French) – declaring God’s greatness and goodness while standing in front of an orphanage building (which houses 50 children) that in the states we would be ashamed to call our trash bin. The pastor of that church/orphanage/school never asked for a dime. Only that we pray for him and his ministry.

Tomorrow we go to some schools and churches in the city. Still praying for God’s discernment and direction, as there is much to be done here. Much more to come, including some pics and videos. The Lord is really working among and through this group of people. I can already feel it.

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1/4/2013

We traveled today around some of the “larger” cities and towns. Pastor Kenny and Monsieur Veniel took me to meet and talk with Representative Gustave Andre Louis of the Kenscoff District, and also with Mayor Jean Pierre of Kenscoff. We had to work our way through hundreds of people just to get in the Rep’s office – they were lined up and gathered to meet with him (one on one) to discuss their individual needs (Can you imagine if our Congressmen would do that?) He actually gave them money and rations as they came. Representative Gustave is also Pastor of a Baptist Church in Kenscoff and started the school in that city 15 years ago. He loves Jesus and his people with a passion. Next week, Pastor Gustave (as he introduced himself) travels to the US Congress to discuss the possibility of Haiti exporting some of its many natural resources. There are scores of different fruit and nut trees that grow indigenously, but none are really exported to their full potential.

Mayor Jean Pierre is also a great man of God and, as Pastor Gustave did, welcomed me with a warm embrace and a sincere smile. It felt like I had known them for years. Kenny and Veniel are good friends with these two men and consider them family. The Mayor’s wife cooked a delicious Hatian meal for us at lunchtime in her home, and was a fine hostess. Pastor Kenny has a vision to begin a Bible Institute in Kenscoff in the near future – a project I am hoping to be involved with.

One gentleman I have had the pleasure of working with the past two days – and hope to invest in and maintain a close relationship with in the future – is Pastor Edome Orvilus who has recently finished 4 years of theological training and is scheduled to be ordained in 2014. This man has left a great impact on my ministry as he desires to see his people come into a thriving relationship with God and live that out every day in their families and communities. There are very few “full-time” pastors in Haiti. Most work long hours outside the church to support their family and their ministry. Pastor Edome currently works at his father’s church and also preaches occasionally (on a rotation) at pastorless churches outside the city.

Then there’s Ruth. Ruth has given every second of her life to loving God by loving children in Haiti. She dreamed up, planned, and brought to life a brilliant school with painted murals, a playground, and well-trained teachers in the inner city of Petionville. She and her cousin Guillaume work together in a self-supported foundation (yes… NO outside support) for improving schools and training teachers all across Haiti. Ruth’s heart beats for Jesus. She desires to work in the schools inside and outside the city limits (many of which we had to travel to by foot) training teachers and providing them with necessary resources. This is a cause worthy of our continual support (she actually said money is NOT the answer. Tangible resources and your occasional expertise-presence is what they need). Ruth hosts a TV show every Saturday morning which trains teachers in Haiti. But many homes do not have the luxury of electricity. Furthermore, children who live outside the city simply cannot attend government schools (if you traveled here for more than 30 seconds you would see why… Donkeys, foot-traffic, mountains, and hundreds of miles of undeveloped roadways) so Churches and Pastors start the schools themselves and charge the students about $2-6 USD per month [when I first wrote this entry and posted to Facebook it read "per day" but that was a mistake] to attend for the professor’s fees (yes, about 35-50% of students in these areas cannot afford it, so they just don’t go to school at all). Ruth wants children to grow up loving Jesus most of all. She is skilled as an educator and pours her life into Haiti’s schools and children. I hope to partner with her, Pastor Kenny, and the others in the future to reach these outer lying schools with the love of Jesus and the importance of education. These children must learn that they are important to God and that if they will “seek first His kingdom,” the rest will fall into place according to God’s plan and His great mercy.

The living conditions are what you would expect from a “third-world country” recently devastated by an earthquake.

• We passed a location in the side of a mountain today named Titayen – it is a mass grave of over 1 million people who died in the earthquake.
• I saw individuals urinating on the side of the street and less than a mile down the road, others bathing in the same water flow.
• I witnessed emaciated dogs, blindfolded chickens, and brutally beaten cows to the extent of imprisonment for animal abuse in the States.
• Ruth told me of a certain community where approximately 40% of the 12-15 yr olds have children and will just give them away to whomever will take them. My heart breaks at the thought.
• People call “home” what I would have previously been ashamed to call my trash bin.

And these words cannot even come close to explaining the living conditions here. All the while, people met me on the streets with handshakes, hugs, smiles, and warm words. Everyone from children to older adults wold embrace me and say a kind word (and no, they didn’t ask for money). They are so beautiful, and so very significant in the sight of God. I cannot imagine anyone ever coming here and not falling in love with these people…

… Maybe that’s why we stay away. Maybe we are afraid of the love that God will place in our hearts which will necessarily call us into action.

Piers Morgan’s Amendment to the Bible

A good friend sent me this link yesterday (watch the short video at the bottom of the page). It is an exchange between CNN’s Piers Morgan and Pastor Rick Warren (author of The Purpose Driven Life) of Saddleback Church. In this interview, while discussing homosexual marriage, Mr. Morgan posited that it is time for an amendment to not only the US Constitution, but also to the Bible in support of same-sex marriage. His comments include the indictment that the Bible is “basically, inherently flawed” and out dated.

Pastor Warren’s rebuttal is honorably true to Biblical inspiration. He says it is not the Bible that’s flawed, but rather, human opinion, because it is in a constant state of change. That’s the right answer. If there is no timeless, set standard of truth, then each society is free to assume or decide what is true and what is not. The slipperiness of this slope is devastating. By this standard one would claim that slavery was morally “right” when it was agreed upon by the majority of our society. But when the majority shifted, slavery became “wrong.”

Or maybe it’s not society that decides, but rather, some higher truth that reigns within us. Perhaps it is the good of the common man, or the overarching process of human evolution. By this standard, one would claim that if an individual is acting in a manner that is supportive of the common good of man or advancement of the evolutionary process, then the action is “right.” The difficulty with this standard is obvious: Who gets to decide? If each individual is left to decide for himself or herself what is morally or ethically “right,” then all human agents can justify any act of violence by appealing to their own reigning moral compass. I’m sure that the sick minds who committed the mass murders in our country over the past few decades had justified their acts of violence in this manner; they felt justified according to their own moral compass. If it is the evolutionary process that drives morality and/or ethicality, then we end up with eugenics. This worshipping of the evolutionary process is what drove Hitler’s Naziism in the early part of the last century.

The interesting thing about Morgan’s argument is that by suggesting an amendment to the Bible, he is not doing away with the problem of a higher standard of morality. He is simply redirecting worship of the Eternal God (made known through the Bible) to worship of self (made known through the human conscience)…

• Morgan says the Bible is fundamentally flawed. But the Bible says human conscience is fundamentally flawed (Rom. 3:11).
• Morgan says the Bible is outdated and current human conscience should set the standard for morality and ethicality. But the Bible says God’s Word is inspired by God and infallible (2 Tim. 3:16, 2 Pt. 1:20-21), “eternal, fixed in the heavens” (Ps. 119:89) and that human conscience throughout the generations is scarred by degrading passions (Ro. 1:26).

So here’s the thing: Piers Morgan is 47 years old and socially accepted homosexuality in our culture is even younger. But the Bible was penned over the course of 2000 years using 40 different authors from varying social statuses and ethnic backgrounds and it has been protected and preserved for almost 2000 years since its final words were recorded. Amending the Bible to fit our current cultural passions is a sin against God (Rev. 22:19) and a crime against history. 

On a more logical note, amending the Bible would not solve our problem. For there are those who appeal to the “higher authority” of nature to argue against homosexuality. There are those who appeal to the “higher authority” of evolution, inward conscience, or even longterm societal good to argue against homosexuality. All of these arguments are arguments from below, so to speak. They begin with humanity’s understanding and feelings and proceed from there. But the Bible constantly warns of such faulty, shifty reasoning (Jer. 17:9, Ps. 14:12, 16:25, Ro. 1:18-32, etc.).

There is a more dependable, more constant argument, though – it is the argument from above. It is not a standard that will always appeal to our feelings and desires because it, unlike our consciences, is not flawed. This is the standard of God’s eternal authority – revealed to us in His Word, the Bible, and preserved and protected for thousands of years. God inspired the biblical author James to write, “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?” (Ja. 4:1). He continues in vs. 2-10:

You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Submitting to God means acknowledging His authority and the eternal truthfulness of His revealed Word. James says that at first this feels like grief – mourning and wailing. The message of the gospel is offensive: You do not have what it takes to be righteous enough to earn heaven. You must trust Jesus as Savior to accept the gracious gift of life He offers. Otherwise, you will remain lost and dead in your sins, eternally separated from God. That is humility. But when we humble ourselves in this way, God lifts us up.

The pridefulness of human conscience tells us that homosexuality is okay – because “this is what makes me happy.” But the Bible tells us that homosexuality – just like the long list of other sins (murder, lying, adultery, theft, idolatry, etc.) – is a sin against God and can never produce true happiness. In fact, what parades as happiness while satisfying the degrading cries of our flawed, sinful conscience will end up being our destruction in the end… both individually and societally.

Piers Morgan is wrong. The Bible does not need an amendment. It needs advocates.

Grace and Peace,

Tony

Team Haiti 2013

Please be in prayer over the holiday season for this crew and others who are prepping for a large-scale gospel-immersion crusade in Port Au Prince, Haiti in July of 2013. Pastor Kenny DeJean and I will be heading to Haiti to meet with local church leaders in early January, and looking/listening for what God is already doing and what He desires to do through us. We are praying for God to do something that we cannot take credit for. Please join in praying for His guidance and discernment as we’re in this crucial planning phase.

Good/Bad Presents…

I decided to try something new in this post… I need some feedback. You may answer one of the two questions, or both…

1. What is the BEST Christmas Present you ever received? Why was it so great?

2. What is the WORST Christmas Present you ever received? Why was it so bad?

Feel free to add variations. Maybe you would like to share the best or worst gift YOU ever GAVE. Warning: Your response may or may not end up in a sermon. Just sayin’.

Have fun with it. I’ll go first…

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1. The BEST Christmas gift I ever received was a pack of Warheads in my stocking. Santa somehow knew that was my favorite candy in the whole world. I really can’t even explain why it was so great. I received other wonderful presents that year and many great, expensive gifts in Christmases past. But when I pulled the Warheads out of my stocking that year, it was so very personal. I think the gift was so meaningful because it made me realize that my wife knew me. We had not really talked about how much I liked Warheads. She just knew. I know it sounds dumb, but that was more than the gift of candy. It was a gift of knowing. Vanessa knew me and that was a gift I’ll never forget.

2. The WORST Christmas gift I ever received was a pack of JellyBeans. [Why does this all involve candy? I don't know. But it's true.] These Jelly Beans were not the regular kind. They had awful flavors – some that are just unmentionable, really. One was vomit flavored, another was dirt. Others claimed to be flavored earwax or month-old banana. I cannot remember who gave me those, but I do remember the trauma it inflicted on my taste buds. They looked like regular Jelly Beans, so I popped one in my mouth before I read anything about them. Quickly I spit it out, but not before it had violently assaulted my taste buds. Blehhhhh…

YOUR TURN! Comment below!

 

Grace and Peace,

Tony

Sandy Hook Tragedy

“Horrified” is the first word that comes to mind. The parents, friends, and family of those children and school personnel are to be remembered in prayer for the rest of our lives. Today will be a day that is not soon forgotten. The cries of hurting mothers, fathers, siblings, and dear friends will haunt our nation for decades to come. Every day of their lives they will wonder what happened, why, and how it could have possibly happened to them. 

The sick depravity of a mind that would do something like this is beyond me. Romans 1:28-31 describes a society where the lack of Godly moral standards leads downward to a path of unmentionable sin and horrific tragedy. Such is the society in which we live. A “depraved mind” is what Paul calls it. Look up “depraved” in a thesaurus and you will see this:

“corrupt, perverted, deviant, degenerate, debased, immoral, unprincipled; debauched, dissolute, licentious, lecherous, prurient, indecent, sordid; wicked, sinful, vile, iniquitous, nefarious; warped, twisted, sick.”

All of these words describe the mind of a man who would walk into an elementary school and open fire on young children. Somehow, he had justified this action in his own warped mind. And now, somehow, we have to make sense of it in ours. The human condition is dire. Lost in sin and hopeless without God.

In our desperate condition and horrified bewilderment, let us remember that God is our Rock. The Most High God is our Redeemer. (Ps. 78:35).

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Psalm 46 is our meditation and prayer:

God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
(Psalm 46:1-5 ESV)

“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. 
(Psalm 46:10-11 ESV)

 

Grace, grace, and more grace… 

Peace, peace, and more peace,

Tony