God’s Word

Trusting in the Wrong Things

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“A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed. Nowadays the part of a man that a man does assert is exactly the part he ought not to assert – himself. The part he doubts is exactly the part he ought not to doubt – the Divine Reason” (G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy).

These days, the problem is always with THEM. It’s always someone else’s fault. In politics, the blame has gone to either Trump or Harris supporters, depending on which side of the aisle you sit. It has become very fashionable (and very easy) to point the finger from a high and lofty position with which to judge others.

Even in this, I have to point the finger at myself as well. I can’t tell you how many times I read a passage in my Bible and thought how this or that person needed to hear it. They’re the ones who need straightening out.

But then God gently reminds me that this word I’m reading is not for anyone else but me. The reason for my time in God’s Word isn’t so I can use it to point out other peoples’ flaws. If there’s any finger pointing, it’s me pointing back at me.

In this culture, it’s also popular to redefine truth and Christianity to fit into societal norms rather than transforming society by biblical truth. So many people and churches and even denominations have watered down the gospel to the point that it’s only a kind of feel good self-help doctrine where no one’s really lost and sin doesn’t really exist and everyone’s going to heaven and it really doesn’t matter how you live.

But the problem is that there’s no hope in that kind of gospel. There’s no deliverance or transformation or future. Jesus talked about the blind leading the blind, and that fits a lot of current theology. But Jesus came to set us free and not just make us better human beings but brand new creations. He came to die for us while we were yet sinners that we might truly become the sons and daughters of God.

The Bible talks about working out your salvation in trembling and fear. Maybe that looks like preaching the gospel to yourself and each other every single day. Maybe it looks like not trusting in your own understanding but in all your ways leaning on God’s revealed truth and on God Himself. Maybe it looks like not accepting everything that comes from a pulpit or position of authority but exercising discernment by checking everything against the Word of God to see that it matches.

Why Go to Church?

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I stole this from a Facebook post. It’s not a perfect answer, but I think it does make a point:

A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday.

He wrote: ‘I’ve gone for 30 years now, and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons, but for the life of me, I can’t remember a single one of them. So, I think I’m wasting my time, the preachers and priests are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all.’

This started a real controversy in the ‘Letters to the Editor’ column.

Much to the delight of the editor, it went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:

‘I’ve been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals.

But I do know this: They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today.

Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!'”

I get the point of what the author is trying to say, but if hearing sermons at church is the equivalent of eating, then that means those who get all their spiritual knowledge on Sunday are only eating once a week. That’s not enough.

If you don’t have a consistent time of Bible reading and devotion every day, you’re just as spiritually malnourished as you would be physically if you ate one meal at the beginning of the week and didn’t eat again until the next week.

Church is for gathering together to encourage each other. The sermon is part of that. So is the worship. But that can’t be all the spiritual nourishment you get to last you for 7 days.

On the contrary, if you neglect that gathering together on Sunday, you miss out on the benefit of being around God’s people. Also, you’re disobedient to God’s command for believers to gather together. You don’t get that edification and encouragement and (sometimes) gentle reproof.

It’s not an either/or but a both/and. You need Sundays and you need to feed on God’s word every day. We all do.

Scriptural Hymnal

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I went to a concert tonight at Christ Community Church that was a bit atypical. What made it unusual is that it was a Scriptural Hymnal Release Celebration — basically, the words of Scripture set to music.

I’m all for modern worship. I’m all for the classic hymns. But there’s something especially powerful about straight up singing the Word of God. Knowing that instead of singing words about God or words to God, you’re singing God’s words back to God is a mind-blowing concept.

I learned tonight that over the next year or so, there will be 100 songs released on 10 albums. How cool would it be if churches all across the country picked up on these hymns and incorporated them into their worship? I mean you can’t get better theology than that. You definitely can’t get more biblical than the Bible.

It reminded me more than a little of Handel’s Messiah, but with contemporary arrangements and using the NIV instead of the KJV. But I guess Messiah was contemporary for its time. It only seems antiquated because it’s around 400 years old. Not that I mind. I still love Handel’s Messiah and listen to it at least once every year.

But this was what I needed. What better way to get Scripture into your mind than having it become an ear worm through hearing the songs? What better way to pray and praise than singing God’s word back to God?

Much thanks to Randall Goodgame, A. S. Peterson, and the good folks at the Rabbit Room for this one. It was a truly spectacular night.

What God Gives

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I would love clarity, answers, and above all a road map. Although I’m not quite in Job’s shoes in terms of tragic losses, I sometimes can relate to His questions of God’s silence and hiddenness.

But what I often forget (and what Job eventually learned) was that God doesn’t so much give answers as He gives Himself. In the long run, that’s better. After all, I’m not always the best at asking the right questions or focusing on the right things.

Right answers and clear thinking and even a five-year plan without God’s immediate presence do me no good. I’d screw it up or try to subvert the process to get to the end quicker. And as I’ve learned sin is taking my own shortcut to God’s promises and/or trying to get God’s provisions apart from God.

So much of what God wants from me in this season means slowing down and really seeping in each day instead of wanting to rush on to the next big event or the next holiday. Lately, I’ve been actually hungering for the Word of God instead of reading it as part of my rote routine.

I think God gets us all to a point where we have to lean on Him and learn from Him for as long as it takes to get us weaned from ourselves and our own self-help. He puts us in a season where all our theoretical head knowledge about God becomes lived-out experience and love for God. Basically, we find out what “Jesus loves me, this I know” really means.

Take your time, God. As much as I really would love to have clarity and answers and a detailed plan for my life, what I need right now is You. Just You.

Longing for the Word

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“Christians are persons who no longer seek their salvation, their deliverance, their justification in themselves, but in Jesus Christ alone. They know that God’s Word in Jesus Christ pronounces them guilty, even when they feel nothing of their own guilt, and that God’s Word in Jesus Christ pronounces them free and righteous even when they feel nothing of their own righteousness…

Because they daily hunger and thirst for righteousness, they long for the redeeming Word again and again. It can only come from the outside. In themselves they are destitute and dead. Help must come from the outside; and it has come and comes daily and anew in the Word of Jesus Christ, bringing us redemption, righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. But God put this Word into the mouth of human beings so that it may be passed on to others. When people are deeply affected by the Word, they tell it to other people. God has willed that we should seek and find God’s living Word in the testimony of other Christians, in the mouths of human beings. Therefore, Christians need other Christians who speak God’s Word to them. They need them again and again when they become uncertain and disheartened” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer).

One question: when last did you long for the word of God? When did you last hunger and thirst for Scripture?

These are questions not meant to guilt you into picking up your Bible, but to gauge where you and I are spiritually. I know for me if the Bible is the last thought in my mind when I have some down time, it means that I am in a spiritually vulnerable place.

May God grant each of us a desire for His word that outweighs all other appetites, even physical ones, so that we can search the pages of His word and find Him there.

Amen.

 

Something I Read Lately

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philippians

 

I’ve prayed this prayer many times on many different occasions. Never once has God answered my prayer by changing my circumstances, i.e. making my life easier, taking away my difficulties, instantly transporting me to the other side of my trials. What He has done is reminded me ever so subtly that He will be with me as He always has during my dark road.

Peace isn’t always  a feeling of contentment. Sometimes, the butterflies remain but so does the promise that God won’t forsake me. For me, a feeling of peace doesn’t always mean peace, nor does a lack of it indicate its absence. Try and work that one out and see if it makes sense.

After all, it is a peace that is beyond my utmost understanding. I don’t need a god who I can figure out and manage and understand. I need a God who is bigger than me, stronger than me, wiser than me. I need a God who is completely Other than me (not a bigger, stronger, wiser version of me).

My advice to you? Keep praying for that peace that passes all understanding and keep claiming it, whether you feel it or not. Keep trusting that the God of peace is walking with you through your dark road.

Sometimes the absence of peace means there is something in your life that needs to change. You’ll generally have an idea of what that something is and how to go about making the changes. You can’t have peace if you’re consistently making choices that go against God’s Word and refuse to submit to His will for your life.

Even then, peace comes with repentance. Peace comes to those whose hearts are broken, like King David’s, over their sin. Peace comes to those who admit once again their total and complete dependence on God.

That’s all for tonight. Come back for something completely different. Or maybe more of the same. You never can tell with me.

 

 

 

Lessons from Lent

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lent2011

This may be old hat for you or not. I’m not sure. But stop me if you’ve heard some or all of this before: last year, I gave up only Facebook for Lent. This year, I decided to give up all social media. It turned out to be one of my best decisions ever. Although if I’m honest, I was being obedient to what I felt God was calling me to do. It really wasn’t my decision at all.

I don’t regret for one single second going without social media for those 46 days. I got in more prayer time, I read my Bible more, I read more books in general. Plus, I had a greater sense of peace from not being tied down to Facebook or Twitter.

I think sometimes in order to appreciate something more, you need to step away from it for a while. That was the case for me. I did sometimes feel out of the loop after missing all the news from Facebook. But I can always catch up on that.

Lent is more than just giving up. It’s replacing it with something better. It’s no good to give up social media if you’re going to fill up the time with television. Hopefully, you spend your extra free time in learning to hear God’s voice and hear His heartbeat and feel His love for you. Obviously, the best way to do that is through His Word.

I don’t claim that I was anywhere near perfect in that regard. I wasted too much of the time I had away from social media. But I’m not beating myself up about it. Instead I choose to focus on the fact that I was more discipline in regard to prayer and Bible reading than I’ve been in a long time.

I hope to be able to participate in Lent again next year. I hope that I can be free enough to walk away from anything that enslaves me and takes my eyes off Jesus, whether that be social media or TV or anything else.

Like I said before, it’s really not about giving up stuff or sacrificing what you love. More than that, it’s about prioritizing your life and making sure that Jesus and His Kingdom really and truly are first. Then everything else will line up and fall into proper place.

What I Gave Up for Lent This Year

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Last year, I gave up Facebook for Lent. I won’t lie. It was harder than I thought it would be. I found out how much of a hold Facebook had on me and how much of my time it consumed.

It was freeing to not feel tied down to Facebook, to not have to check to see who responded to my posts. Who liked them. I admit I didn’t always use the extra time toward seeking God. But it was a start.

This year, I’m giving up ALL forms of social media. For those of you new to the interweb, that means Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. I checked E) All of the above.

This is my second day and the old tug is back. That tug that says that one glance won’t hurt. That one look won’t lead to an hour or more checking status updates of friends.

I covet your prayers. Specifically, I’m asking for you to pray that I’d use this time more intentionally to seek God in prayer and in His Word. That I’d be open to whatever He says, whether it’s something I want to hear or not, whether it’s easy or painful, even if it requires me to die a little more to the safe and comfortable and routine.

As you probably surmised, I haven’t given up WordPress. It’s funny how God can speak to me through my own writing, sometimes while I’m in the very midst of writing it. This and a sleepy cat in my lap are my forms of therapy.

I’ll keep you updated on what I’m learning and hearing from God during these 46 days of Lent. I’d love to spend this time praying for you specifically as well, so feel free to text me your prayer requests at (615) 556-5850 or email me at gmendel72@icloud.com. I am also available to meet with you in person (if you live close to the Nashville area). But please, no autographs. 😁

May this God that the grave couldn’t hold draw you ever closer to Him during this season of remembering and reflection and become the very desire of your heart. Amen.

A Beautiful Borrowed Lenten Prayer

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Nouwen

 

I found this Lenten prayer from Henri Nouwen when checking my email. I’m subscribed to a site that sends me a daily quote of his because I am a huge fan of his writing. This one spoke powerfully to me and echoed my own thoughts better than I could ever express them. It seems very appropriate for this Ash Wednesday.

“The Lenten season begins. It is a time to be with you, Lord, in a special way, a time to pray, to fast, and thus to follow you on your way to Jerusalem, to Golgotha, and to the final victory over death.

I am still so divided. I truly want to follow you, but I also want to follow my own desires and lend an ear to the voices that speak about prestige, success, pleasure, power, and influence. Help me to become deaf to these voices and more attentive to your voice, which calls me to choose the narrow road to life.

I know that Lent is going to be a very hard time for me. The choice for your way has to be made every moment of my life. I have to choose thoughts that are your thoughts, words that are your words, and actions that are your actions. There are not times or places without choices. And I know how deeply I resist choosing you.

Please, Lord, be with me at every moment and in every place. Give me the strength and the courage to live this season faithfully, so that, when Easter comes, I will be able to taste with joy the new life that you have prepared for me. Amen.”

I could only add that God would give me the discipline to take the time I normally spend on social media and use it to delve into His Word and not just read words but to have my mind and heart transformed by what I read.

 

Yet Another Bible Find

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Lately, my quest is to go to used bookstores and thrift stores in search of obscure or relatively unknown translations of the Bible. I have all the popular ones, like the NIV, NASB, ESV, NKJV, and so on. Why stop there?

Today. I found a copy of the Revised English Bible at a bookstore in Green Hills. It’s a revision of the New English Bible and both are primarily British translations. I bet you’ve never heard of either one.

My goal is not to pay $80 for a top-quality leather Bible. I try to keep it under $10 if I can.

I never know when I’ll run across a version of the Bible that I’ve never heard of before. I find it’s helpful to read through more than one translation to get a better picture of what the original writers were trying to communicate.

For the record, I am not a fan of the KJV. I personally would rather not have to translate the translation, but if that’s your Bible of choice then more power to ya. I still say it’s good to diversify every once in a while.

I’m still looking for a New Jerusalem Bible. It’s a Catholic translation that Brennan Manning used quite a bit in his books. And it is quite the tricky one to find, apparently. If you see one, let me know where and how much (preferably in the Nashville area).

If there’s any point to this, it’s to read your Bible more. And yes, I’m preaching to myself, too. If I believe I possess the words of God written to and for me, I should do more than carry them around. I should read them, obey them, and live them.