Tag: Jesus Christ

The Three Israels – Part 3: Modern Israel

The Three Israels – Part 3: Modern Israel

In light of current events, it seems pertinent to share a set of three sermons I preached during the Autumn of 2023, on the Biblical, Historical, and Modern meanings of the name “Israel.”

This is the third and final message dealing with “Modern Israel.”

Part 1: Biblical Israel, can be found HERE.

Part 2: Historical Israel, can be found HERE.

If you prefer – the audio of this sermon can be found at the following SoundCloud link:

This audio version was originally written and preached for Dailey Chapel Christian Church, on October 29, 2023. The following transcript has been minimally updated since then.

_____________________

Our message for today, begins with a story. It’s a story that I never knew about, until almost a year ago, so I’ve been waiting to tell it for a while. Almost two years ago, after church one morning, Mike Lunsford handed me a really thick book. It was a thousand-pager. And he challenged me to read it before I got done preaching through the Book of Romans.

I said, “Challenge accepted.”

I was probably only in Chapter 2 or 3 of Romans at the time, so I don’t know if Mike realized this then, but it was easy for me to accept his challenge, because I knew it was going to be a few years before we would even be close to getting all the way through Romans. I had some time to procrastinate, so the book sat on my shelf for quite a while before I cracked it open.

Then, when Nelly and I were dating, we read it together. I would read a chapter and record it on my phone, and then email her the file, so she could listen to the audio on her earbuds while she was at work. And sometimes she would do that on her off time as well – read and send me the audio.

We’ve been doing that ever since. And we’ve gone through several books this way, including, eventually, this thousand-pager that Lunsford provided. So, anyway, I have to give credit where it is due – if it wasn’t for Mike, we probably would have never picked this particular book to read, and we wouldn’t have discovered this amazing story that it contains.

It’s a story about a 33-year-old farmer from Missouri – a Baptist, born in the grain belt, who would one day change the whole world. That was the hook that got me past the first 20-30 pages of this book. Some of my favorite stories are ones about farmers that change the world, or even save the galaxy – that’s what Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, and even Superman are all about you know – they’re all about farmers that do amazing things. And that’s what this story is about as well. Except this story is a true one, about a true man.

Now, this particular farmer from Missouri was born way back in 1884. So, by the time he was 33 it was 1917. And, if you didn’t sleep through your High School history class, then you know that 1917 was a pivotal year on planet Earth – it was a difficult time. So that Summer, this farmer left the fields behind, and reported for duty at the National Guard. Like many Americans at the time, he was answering the call of President Woodrow Wilson, to go fight in Europe – to win “the war to end all wars,” and make the world safe for democracy.

But, before this farmer went off to France, he had to go through training first, so they sent him to Camp Doniphan, on the wind-swept plains of Oklahoma. Back in those days, officers were elected by the men in their companies, and he was very popular, and well liked, so as soon as he enlisted, he was elected to be first lieutenant. The farmer had become a soldier 

He was Harry S. Truman of the 129th Field Artillery of the 60th Brigade attached to the 35th Division of the United States Army.

And at camp Doniphan, his commanding officer put this bright young man, with an aptitude for organization and detail – in charge of the canteen. 

Now, army canteens back then were ways for the troops to purchase items that were not part of their standard issued supplies – things like paper, and smokes, and soda, and candy and that kind of stuff – non-essential items that troops could buy if they had someone in charge of the canteen who was good at keeping it stocked and organized and running smoothly.

And this is the kind of thing that Truman excelled at. He was great at looking at things that were in a state of disorder, or not running as efficiently as they could be, sizing them up accurately, and implementing plans to improve them, or put them in order. And he was also good at finding the right people to help him execute his plans.

So, he utilized all his innate talent in running the army canteen. It was, by no means a prestigious position – but it’s what he was assigned to, so he gave it everything he had. He quickly discovered, that army canteens could actually be quite profitable if the right person was running them, because it was like being a middle man between the civilian suppliers of goods, and the soldiers who had money to spend. The guy running the canteen could buy things cheap, mark things up a little, and make some profit.

To do this, Lieutenant Truman brought on a partner to help with the finances. He was Sergeant Edward Jacobson. Jacobson, you can probably tell from his last name, was a Jew. He was from New York, but his family had moved to Missouri in 1905 – that’s how he ended up in the same army camp as Truman.

I hope no one takes this as racist, but Truman recognized what all of us know – that Jews tend to be pretty good at making money. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. In fact, I’m of the opinion that it’s one of the gifts that God bestowed on them as a people, so that they would be able to survive and thrive as foreigners and strangers among the nations of the world.

So anyway, Truman appreciated this quality, and he partnered up with Jacobson, and the two not only became extremely successful business partners, but life-long friends as well. By all accounts, Jacobson was Truman’s best friend, they were like brothers, and they remained so until Jacobson’s death in 1955.

It’s this deep bond of friendship, between the Baptist Farmer and the Jewish Businessman, and more specifically, the respect and trust they had for one another, that lies at the center of this story, and which would eventually have an impact on world history about 30 years after it had an impact on the quality of canteen supplies at Camp Doniphan.

Now, we’re going to come back to Truman and Jacobson in just a bit, but for now, we need to talk about something else that was happening, in the meantime, as 1917 progressed into 1918 and WWI began grinding to a halt. But before we talk about that, so we can get back to Truman and Jacobson, we need to briefly address why we’re talking about this subject at all.

The last couple of weeks, as we’ve been working through Romans Chapter 11, we’ve been talking about the name Israel a lot. Israel being the main subject matter of Romans 9, 10, and 11. And so, as we’ve been working our way toward the end of this middle section of Romans, we’ve been examining what exactly the name Israel means. This name Israel is used in three different ways – I call them the Three Israels: Biblical Israel, Historical Israel, and Modern Israel. Two weeks ago, we started this topic by defining the name Israel from a purely Biblical perspective.

What’s Israel mean in the Bible?

In the Old Testament, it was the people that God chose for Himself out of all nations on the Earth, to lead into the Promised Land through Moses. God built a physical kingdom and named it Israel, after the name He gave to Jacob, the grandson of Abraham.

When Jesus arrived, centuries later, and made a New Covenant. His death and resurrection re-defined the name Israel to include people of all nations who put their faith in him. His sacrifice tore the veil in the Temple apart, and made access to God available to all people who believe in Jesus – and ONLY to people who put their faith and trust in him and follow him.

That’s Biblical Israel – the Israel that we have been transplanted into as citizens of God’s Kingdom, the Israel that will never end and extend into eternity.

But what about those from the people of Israel who didn’t accept Jesus as the Christ? What about them? This is what Paul is addressing in this whole section of Romans – what about the Jews who reject Christ? This is the Israel that we talked about last week, in part two of this three-part sub-series. This is what I call Historical Israel.

They are the Israel that Paul says, was pruned out of the Olive Tree. They took a different path through history, but have none-the-less kept their racial identity, kept their loyalty to the Old Testament (to varying degrees, depending on which specific Jewish denomination they belong to), and they are the Israel that has survived being hunted, corralled, persecuted, and nearly made extinct throughout the last 2,000 years, beginning with the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. It’s Historical Israel whose history we surveyed, and I summarized very briefly last week, even though, that was kind of a long sermon.

It’s historical Israel that Jesus prophesied about in Luke 21:20-24:

“When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”

That’s Jesus prophesying about the path of Historical Israel – from the Roman destruction of Jerusalem onward, down through the ages. This prophesy has been repeating itself over and over throughout the history of the Jews. The Romans did terrible things to them and trampled on Jerusalem 30 or 40 years after Jesus said this, but many other countries have done these things as well in the intervening centuries. Just as Jesus said, Jerusalem was given over to the Gentiles…

It was given over to the Gentiles, until recently in world history. Now, we’re treading on shaky ground here, because the Jews are in charge of Jerusalem again, but even though they technically have the city, there is still a mosque and a Muslim shrine sitting on the Temple Mount. So, the Gentiles still have a little bit of a foothold, but it’s a close call.

And this brings us to what I call the third manifestation of Israel – the Israel we are talking about today in part three – the modern State of Israel which exists on the Earth today, and which we hear about in the news on a daily basis. Where did it come from? Between the year 70, and the year 1948 there was, technically speaking, no country on the world map called Israel. So, how did it re-appear after so many centuries?

Was the nation of Israel created in 1948 or was it re-created?

Is this Israel the same Israel that was there before, or is it something different?

Was it brought about by the will of God, or the decisions and actions of human beings, or both?

Does the fact that the Jews are almost completely in charge of Jerusalem mean that the times of the Gentiles are almost fulfilled?

The answers to these questions are an endless topic of debate, even among Christian scholars. They’re ultimately a matter of belief.

Many Jews would say that this Israel today is the same one that existed when Joshua led the Israelites over the Jordan River three or four thousand years ago. Many Christians would agree with them. However, many other Christians would not agree with them. It’s a matter of debate and belief, and whatever one believes about this specific topic, it should not be something to ever break fellowship over. The Church has, over the centuries, become too divided already over opinions that are non-essential to the truth of the Gospel. So, it’s OK to have different opinions and convictions about this particular subject, because there is still an element of mystery to it.

But whatever we believe about it – we still have to deal with the fact that there is a very real country on this globe, with the name Israel, and it is governed by, and primarily populated with, Jewish people.

It’s populated with Jewish people who can trace their collective ancestry, back through history, back to the people who once lived in the land of Judea when Jesus walked the Earth, and further back to their ancestors like King David who ruled in Jerusalem, and further back to those who crossed the Jordan River, and further back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

So, how did this modern nation, this political entity baring the name Israel – a name that conjures up all this rich Biblical and extra-biblical history – come to exist?

Well, it goes back to what happened at the end of WWI. At the end of WWI, the British, having defeated the Ottoman Empire (if you want to know how that happened you can watch Lawrence of Arabia). But the British defeated the Ottoman Turks, who had been allied with Germany. And that brought to an end, 400 years of Turkish Muslim rule over the land that had been known as Israel at one time. 

It wasn’t called Israel anymore, and hadn’t been for almost 2,000 years. The Romans had renamed it Syria-Palestine, when they drove the Jews out in the second century. And the name stuck. By the way, if you’ve ever wondered where they got the name Palestine, it’s just the Latin for Philistine.

There were Jews and “Philistinians” fighting in Gaza 3,000 years ago. David killed Goliath on the border of Israel and Gaza. The people living there today are not the same people that lived back then, and we can’t lump all Palestinians together, or all Israelis together either. There are Christian Palestinians, and Christian Israelis, just like there are Christian Texans and Christian Mexicans (for example). The conflict is much more complicated than just cowboys and Indians – good guys and bad guys. But still, the fighting over that particular piece of land is nothing new. As King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 1:9, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”

In any case, back to WWI…

By that time, Israel/Palestine had been through the hands of several Muslim empires, known as caliphates, ever since about A.D. 635. During which time, smaller communities of Jews had been slowly migrating back into the region, and back to Jerusalem, just as there were other groups of Jews migrating to other places, and settling in other countries across the Mediterranean, Middle East, and Europe.

The Jews who migrated back to Palestine, and those living under Islamic caliphates, were generally well treated by the Muslim kingdoms they lived in, and that was no different with the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire rose to power in 1299, took over rule of Palestine in the early 1500s, and they had controlled it ever since, until the end of WWI.

By 1900, the Ottoman Empire was huge, and it controlled a vast area of the Middle East. And when it was defeated along with the rest of the Central Powers in WWI, the British and the French took control of all that territory, and with the help of Woodrow Wilson, they carved up the Middle East like a Thanksgiving turkey without any regard for the local inhabitants of places like Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine.

All the tribes in these places, had lived in relative peace for centuries under Ottoman rule. That was no longer the case when Britian, France, and the U.S started running the ballgame.

Most of the problems that exist in the Middle East today, can be traced directly to the creation of all these artificial state boundaries that never existed before, and which completely disregarded the culture of the people living in those places.

Imagine it like this. Say that we have a chili-cook off here at church, and every family brings in their own pot of chili…

I use chili for this analogy because, when it comes to chili, everyone has their own recipes and individual styles. If 20 people make chili, we’ll have 21 different kinds of chili. So, say we have 20 pots of chili simmering in crock-pots all nice and neat, in the social room here at church.

And then, while we’re all having church, Big Bad Dom Nepote wanders off into the social room, pulls out a huge hundred-gallon pot, and proceeds to dump everyone’s chili into that, stir it all together, and then put it all back into the crock-pots, and come back and sit down as if nothing happened.

That’s what our government, along with the British and the French did to the Middle East after WWI. They were trying to make everything equal, and they were trying to create order out of a cultural situation that they didn’t understand – that looked like chaos, but it wasn’t. That caused them to rip apart the centuries of order and structure that were already there. So, they ended up creating disorder and chaos instead.

They couldn’t fathom the idea, that some people don’t like corn in their chili.

Some people don’t like beans in it.

Some like it spicy, and some don’t.

Texas makes chili one way, and Cincinnati makes it another.

So, the British and the French, thinking that all chili was the same thing, made a big chaotic stew that the people living in the Middle East – whether they happen to be Christian, Muslim, or Jew – have been trying to pick through ever since.

Now, what about the Jews? That’s the group we’re primarily concerned with at present. Well, the Jews, or Historical Israel as I refer to them, and as we surveyed last week, had been persecuted in just about every country of Eastern and Western Europe and Russia for almost 2,000 years.

So, in the late 1800s they were finally fed up, and they formed a peaceful, political movement, called the World Zionist Organization, whose stated intention was “to establish a home for the Jewish people in Palestine secured under public law.”[1]

They wanted to go back to the land of Israel, and form it into a modern nation. But they needed help to do this.

And after WWI, they had the British to help them. The British government was sympathetic to the Zionist movement, so after they took control of the land previously ruled by the Ottomans, including Palestine, they began laying the foundation for the establishment of a Jewish State.

But if this was going to happen, it was going to happen slowly. They weren’t very careful with the creation of the other Middle Eastern states, but they knew with this one, they had to be precise, and there was a lot of disagreement about it, even within Parliament. The British wanted to help, but they dragged their feet on it.

Then WWII happened, and when the whole world saw what the Nazis had done to the Jews, the process of creating a Jewish state was expedited. But by that time, it wasn’t solely a British decision any longer. After WWII it was in the hands of the newly formed United Nations. And the United Nations, at that time, looked to the United States for guidance and leadership.

So, that meant, that the creation of a Jewish state, was in the hands of an international organization that was looking, not just to the United States, but to the Executive Branch of the United States government for guidance and direction about what to do, and about whether or not to do it at all. If this new country was going to be formed, it couldn’t survive without support from the United States, and the President in particular.

Back to the story I started at the beginning of all this.

In all the intervening years between 1917 and 1947, when the U.N. was set to decide this matter – farmer, soldier, Harry S. Truman, had become President Truman. And President Truman wanted nothing to do with being involved in a such a monumental, world-altering decision. He believed it was right for the Jews to have their own country, but there was too much pressure on him to make a decision, in terms of he being the main guy to make it a reality.

He had pressure on him from the Arabs in the region who didn’t want a Jewish State, he had pressure from his own State Department that didn’t want us involved in creating a Jewish State. He had pressure from the British, pressure from the Jews, and pressure from the Christians in our country who supported the Jews.

By late 1947, Truman had been lobbied so vigorously and rudely by all these different groups, including prominent Jewish leaders, that he basically washed his hands of the whole thing, and told the U.N. to do whatever they wanted. He had become completely unapproachable on the issue of a Jewish homeland, and he would not take a single meeting with anyone who wanted to talk about it. Which meant, without U.S. leadership, it probably wouldn’t happen. 

And so, knowing they were nearly doomed, in a last-ditch effort, the most prominent Jewish leader alive at the time, the man with the most influence, who would become Israel’s first President – his name was Dr. Chaim Weizmann – he flew to America to talk to the President.

And Truman knew this man really well, and respected him, but he refused to talk, even to him.

There was only one person in the world that could talk to Harry Truman about this, in that crucial moment of all moments for the Jews, and it was his old friend Eddie Jacobson.

So, one morning, Jacobson flew in from Kansas City, and as the story goes, he walked into the Oval Office, completely unannounced – as only he could – and he had an honest chat with his friend.

At this point, there’s a lot more details that I don’t have time to tell, but when it was all said and done, his friend had convinced him to meet the Jewish leader Chaim Weizmann, and afterwards, the President made it known to the entire world, with all the authority of his office, that he would support the establishment of a Jewish State in Palestine, and that it would have the full backing of the United States.

The U.N. voted, and passed the resolution in November of 1947, and on May 14, 1948, Israel declared its sovereignty. 12 minutes later, the United States became the first nation to recognize them, and a few minutes after that, the other world superpower – the Soviet Union – recognized them as well. At that point, it was a done deal, at least for the Jews.

The modern State of Israel, though primarily populated with “historical Israel,” cannot be exactly the same, because there are non-Jewish people also living within its borders. And it’s definitely not the same thing as Biblical Israel – as part one of this series outlines very carefully.

Unfortunately, this modern manifestation of Israel has had nothing but war and terrorism ever since it’s formation.

And, if we take the prophecies in the Bible seriously, then the indication from Scripture, is that, that particular piece of land will continue to have war, and terrorism until the day, when a remnant of the Jewish people living there, will choose to call on the Son of God, the one whom their ancestors pierced on the hill of Golgotha outside of Jerusalem.

Those aren’t my words.

That’s not my prediction.

That comes from the prophet Zechariah, who wrote of a time, long in his future, a time that the world has still never seen – a time when the armies of the whole world would surround Jerusalem to finally see it destroyed. And when they do, he says:

“Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him. On that day there will be neither sunlight nor cold, frosty darkness. It will be a unique day—a day known only to the LORD—with no distinction between day and night. When evening comes, there will be light. On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter. The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name” (Zechariah 14:3-9, NIV).

There will be peace one day in Jerusalem. But only when the King Returns. That’s how Zechariah puts it.

Paul says it like this, in Romans 11:25-29:

“I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written: ‘The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.’ As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.”

Now, as we close this topic today, and as we close this section of Romans out, I’m not going to pretend that I understand what all this means. I don’t. Paul calls it a “mystery,” and seems to indicate that when our time is over – when there are no more Gentile Christians left on the earth – when we’ve all been hunted down and killed by the Beast… then, somehow, God will bring the survivors of Historical Israel, and the inhabitants of Modern Israel at that time, back into the Olive Tree of Biblical Israel.

There’s all manner of theories about that, but we don’t know for sure.

That seems to be what Paul is saying, in Romans 11. But, full disclosure, I don’t know for sure what he means. I’m patching together a series of different verses to come to that conclusion, but I don’t know for sure. I want to be clear about that. This is a really difficult topic to understand, even with Paul talking about it so much. And even so, I wish he’d given us just a little bit more. But I guess he said what he was supposed to say, and what God wanted him to say.

What we can be sure of, is what Zechariah boils down for us in verse 9 of that 14th Chapter:

“The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name.”

As important as the name Israel is – as important as it is for us to understand what it means and how it’s used and what it really refers to… As much as we, as the Church, cannot escape our connection to the name Israel – Israel is not the name we revere above all other names.

Jesus Christ is the one we give that honor to.

To him, and him alone, be all the glory in Heaven, and on Earth.

I think that’s how we conclude this topic the best – by saying, whatever happens, however it goes down, whatever God has in mind for the Jews… Jesus is still the King. And that’s how Paul closes this subject as well – with a doxology, a praise to God, in the final verses of Chapter 11…

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?’ ‘Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?’ For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen” (Romans 11:33-36, NIV).

[1] See, “Zionism: World Zionist Organization (WZO),” at Jewish Virtual Library –

(www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/world-zionist-organization-wzo)

All three of these chapters can be found in the second volume of Totally Righteous: 150 Sermons from Paul’s Letter to the Romans…

The Origin of Totally Righteous

FeaturedThe Origin of Totally Righteous

I’m sure many people these days have stories to tell about their experience during 2020, and how that year changed things in their lives, or how it shaped their perceptions of things like the size of the world, the capabilities of the government, and the way that news is reported (or not reported). Some people lost jobs, and many people lost family members – both during the pandemic, and in the aftermath of it. There’s a lot of debate about this, still today… I think that’s because our individual experiences of what happened are all somewhat unique, despite the same set of general circumstances being unexpectedly hoisted on everyone at the same time. People responded differently to the global, national, and regional circumstances, based on their own set of personal circumstances. What I mean is, people in New York City were compelled to respond a certain way, given the number of people there, the population density, and the fact that it’s an international hub of travel, trade, and commerce, on the northeastern border of the country. People in Los Angeles were compelled to respond another way, for similar reasons. And people in the small town of Clinton, Indiana, responded a completely different way.

Sure, there were elderly people, those with other serious health issues, those with compromised immune systems, and so on, who took extra precautions. But still, I remember quite vividly, going out to get gas on the first day of the “lock down,” (partly because I thought the price of gas might skyrocket, and partly because I was curious about what other people were doing) and realizing on that sunny, breezy day in mid-March, whilst waiting for my tank to fill and looking around, that absolutely nothing was different in the middle of town.

The same stuff was happening that day that would naturally be happening on any day in Clinton with that kind of weather – people walking their dogs, young couples walking down the sidewalk hand-in-hand, mothers strolling their babies, drunks stumbling in and out of the liquor store, the IGA buzzing with activity, the Dairy Queen drive-thru at full capacity, and the smell of carne asada wafting through the air from Taco Tequila’s. Nothing was really different, at least outside in the open air. But of course, indoors, everyone’s lives were still changed in some way, or at least impacted – either temporarily or permanently.

And my life changed a little bit too. But not in a bad way.

I was in my fifth year as the preacher for my small, country church – Dailey Chapel Christian Church. And that was the year I finally realized how to preach a halfway decent sermon. I have a lot of people to thank for this realization, the Lord most of all, of course. But the pandemic actually helped me in this regard too.

I had an epiphany of sorts, that Spring.

You see, despite having degrees from Bible college and seminary, I had never taken preaching classes, because I didn’t want to be a preacher. I had explored a few other areas of vocational ministry prior to serving Dailey Chapel, but nothing lasted. But God slowly closed all the other doors I was trying to walk through, until preaching behind a pulpit was the only one still open.

So, quite reluctantly, I walked through that door, and began the process of stumbling and bumbling my way through one sermon after another, in front of my congregation. Dailey Chapel proved, immediately, to be a group of people that, despite my difficulties and struggles, were willing to encourage me, support me, love me, and allow me the time and space to learn.

And eventually, in the Spring of 2020, I realized something about preaching that is probably quite obvious to most other preachers… I could actually write my entire sermon out, word for word. Moreover, I also learned that there is even a name for this style of preaching – “manuscript style.” I’d always been a decent writer, but not that good of a speaker. And having grown up watching other preachers, and seeing other preachers on TV or on podcasts, I thought I had to have a basic outline of what I was going to say, and then just “let the Spirit speak through me.” But that never seemed to work. God’s Spirit grants all Christians specific gifts, and one of mine is writing… once I realized I could preach what I wrote, everything changed.

2020 helped me figure that out.

Our church responded to the COVID lock downs by having people stay outside in the parking lot, while I preached from the side porch of the church building. But even so, I still wanted to reach people that weren’t going to be there at all, and we weren’t interested (like many other churches) in doing a video livestream. But I did discover that I could record the audio of my sermons, and upload them to a website called SoundCloud – which would enable me to post links to the sermon on our church’s Facebook page, or even send the links to individuals via text message. But the prospect of recording my sermons, caused me to realize that I had to have them all written out beforehand – every single word. You can’t say, “um” a lot, or have long pauses………………….. when you’re recording something. Thus, I began using my writing gift to craft sermons.

About a year later, as I was struggling to come to terms with a new set of medical circumstances in my life – a condition known as atrial fibrillation – which is relatively common among people over the age of 60, but less so for those in my age range, I was compelled to start thinking of my longer term plans in regards to preaching. When your heart starts to beat wonky, and they put the paddles on you to shock you back into normal heart rhythm… well, that tends to cause a person to think about their mortality, and what they are going to leave behind when the Lord calls them home. Well, that’s what I started thinking about a lot more anyway. What was I doing with my life, and how was I doing it, and how could I do it better by utilizing the gifts that God has given me?

I had always been teaching through individual books of the Bible, since first coming to Dailey Chapel. And I wanted to continue doing that. But having just finished Matthew’s Gospel at the time, I was ready to look ahead, and begin a new sermons series. For this one, I would be starting fresh. It was while preaching through the last four chapters of Matthew that I had begun writing out my sermons. Whatever new series I began, with a new book of the Bible, would have completely written out sermons from the get go.

After praying about which book of the Bible to preach through, I felt a strong pull toward Paul’s letter to the Romans. I had read through Romans several times, since my early 20s, and of course, there are many great one-liners in the letter which I had heard many many times since I was a kid:

“…there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (8:1). “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” (8:16). “…our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (8:18). “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (8:28). “…If God is for us, who can be against us?” (8:31). “…we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (8:37-39).

And that’s just from Chapter 8!

But I really wanted to go through the entire letter, verse by verse, and understand it in its entirety, while sharing the fruits of my study, with the congregation that has given me so much over the years.

And well, it took about three and a half years – nearly four – but I eventually made it all the way through Romans, by the Lord’s grace.

And now, I have published the first volume of these sermons, which total 150.

This is the first of a three-volume series comprising these 150 expository sermons on the Letter of Romans.

Again, these are fully written, manuscript style messages, that I delivered to my congregation – Dailey Chapel Christian Church – over the course of almost four years.

Volume One contains the first 49 sermons and covers Romans 1 through 4, with significant detours into the Book of Genesis.

I’m currently editing the next two volumes, which will be available in the coming months. But Volume One is available here, in hardback and Kindle ebook:

https://a.co/d/am7InFr

The Curry House

FeaturedThe Curry House

I originally published the first part of this 16 years ago, as the events described therein were still in the process of unfolding.

Sometimes, things happen in life that you just cannot forget, no matter how much time passes.

The Curry House is one of these things.

___________________________________

For those who are interested, the story of how the Curry House happened is a tale of epic proportions that stretches across the globe and crosses the borders of three states.

For practical purposes, it all began in the Autumn of 2002 when Adam Coffman from Indiana, and Jeffery Gujjarlamudi from India crossed paths on the campus of Kentucky Christian University in the small town of Grayson in the Appalachian foothills. It was at this school that they slowly forged a friendship by sharing with each other the mutual struggles and experiences they each had endured as servants of Jesus Christ. Though they came from two vastly different worlds, they recognized in each other, the similarities that Christ had authored into their lives.

In those early days, the campus life at Kentucky Christian University was fraught with hidden perils and discouraging pitfalls of all kinds. Thus it was, that in a small corner of the guys’ dorm, Waters Hall, Jeffery and Adam began to fortify a place of refuge among the chaos and ruin that plagued the college grounds.

In the midst of their unexpected ministry opportunities, (while paying thousands of bucks to get their degrees) the two friends often found sustenance in that staple of college-life foods known to many as Ramen noodles.

However, the pre-packaged spice packets that accompanied these sodium laden rations were ultimately unsatisfactory to Jeffery’s attuned Indian taste buds. And in a moment of divine significance, Jeffery remembered that his mother had imparted to him upon the day of departure from his homeland a small package of Indian Spices known as “Curry spices” and “Garam Masala.”

Thus it came to pass, that sometime in the early spring of 2003 Adam and Jeffery received what can only be termed as a flash of divine insight, as they were inspired to combine Ramen noodles with Garam Masala and Chili Powder – along with some clarified butter known as ghee.

And so, as the East met the West in that tiny pot of noodles, the gloom of their environment subsided briefly as the divine wind of change and revival blew in from the heavens.

Thus it was, that an entire year went by which held many trials and adventures for the unlikely friends who labored under the darkening sky of a land lost in its own shadows.

Tales of those times have been told elsewhere, but what is important to tell here, is that Jeff eventually imparted the ancient wisdom of curry-making to Adam, as it had been handed down from his parents Sam and Esther.

Eventually, now in another room of the same dorm, Jeffery brought forth a gift that had been carried to him by his parents upon a recent visit from India. This gift was a jar of Mutton Pickle, which is essentially a combination of fried pieces of lamb and tomato sauce preserved in an extremely potent mixture of heavily concentrated Indian spices. Just one small spoonful of Indian Pickle is enough to flavor an entire bowl of rice, which at this point had replaced noodles as the preferred form of carbohydrate. Jeffery would later share other jars of assorted kinds of Pickle (such as Tomato, Lime, Spinach, and Mango) that his mother had prepared for the growing number of people who began showing up to share in the food and fellowship that God had provided.

In the Spring of 2004, Jeffery and Adam met Kiel Nation, a young lad from the region of Lexington, Kentucky. During the next several months, and on into the following autumn, Kiel became the third member of the Curry House Posse which was at that time still in its infancy.

It was at this time that Adam journeyed forth into the wilderness, as God had ordained that his time in the foothills of Kentucky was at an end. And so he set out for his homeland in Indiana, leaving Jeffery and Kiel to carry on the work that God had begun on the campus.

It was at this time as well, that the Lord brought into their midst one Keith Doyle, a humble brother from Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Keith moved into Jeffery’s room and the three brothers still left on the campus began to propel the sharing of food and fellowship to another level.

As the brothers, Kiel, Keith, and Jeffery began to meet and host more and more guys in the Waters Hall dorm; eventually the need arose to produce entire dishes of Indian cuisine.

And so, in direct insubordination of school policy, and working in secret, like the Roman Christians hiding in the catacombs of the Second Century — (because there were, in those days, a couple of immature, jerks in charge of the dorm) the three brothers would cook dishes of Vegetable Curry, Chicken Curry, Beef Curry, or variations of these and other ingredients each night throughout the week for whomever wished to come.

As a side note, Curry is a general term used to denote that ingredients have been cooked in a sauce of Indian spices. Common blends of Indian spices generically labeled as ‘Curry’ might contain coriander, cumin, chili powder, fennel seeds, cardamom seeds or powder, mustard seeds, turmeric, or several other variations of spices such as fenugreek, paprika, cloves, and cinnamon. Along with these spice combinations, onion, garlic, and cilantro are essential ingredients in almost every dish given the name Curry.

And for the next two years, the brothers continued the ritual of serving food in their rooms to those who came in search of food and fellowship. There were no regulations, no rules, and no expectations of any kind… only a desire to serve the Lord by serving others, and giving freely to others as Christ had freely given to them.

Engaged in many struggles these three brothers fought their way through a gauntlet of malicious principalities aligned against them. Yet through God’s provision they eventually graduated, and upon their departure from Kentucky Christian University, Keith went to live in Lexington, Kentucky, and Jeff and Kiel, now rejoined by Adam began attending Winebrenner Theological Seminary in Findlay, Ohio.

Throughout the fall of 2007, and the winter and spring of 2008, Jeff, Kiel, and Adam would voyage to the home of Gary and Janet Staats in Findlay a couple of nights a week where they would make Curry and attend the seminary. Because Dr. Staats and his wife are extremely hospitable people, they began opening up their house each Tuesday night for those at the seminary to come and enjoy the fellowship meal as well.

Alas, by the summer of 2008, the Lord had called these four brothers out of their homes in Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio, and directed them to reside in a house which he had provided for them on the main street of Findlay. And so it is, that these four brothers, doing only what their Lord had trained them to do over the years, continued to cook food and invite whoever happened along to join them in camaraderie.

____________________________________

Well, like I said, that was 16 years ago.

These past few weeks, I’ve been editing a series of videos that I captured, haphazardly, during that time – and which have just been sitting in my computer all these years.

The Curry House, which evolved into the first church I pastored – Night Church – still remains, to this day, a phenomenon of Christian community which I have often looked back to, as a reference point, and at the same time, a cause for lamentation at the fact that I have no idea how to re-create it.

It was special, powerful, beautiful, and unique.

It was something that the Lord did, and those of us who experienced it, were simply along for the ride.

Here’s the video I edited of it, which is my primary motivation for making this post. 👇

All in Good Time

FeaturedAll in Good Time

A couple of months ago, Parke County – in Indiana, opened a time capsule that was buried in the ground back in 1974.

Below, is a photo shared by Jeff Gooch – Funeral Director of Gooch Funeral Homes – posting a picture of his father, with the following caption:

“This was my dad (Larry Gooch) putting the final touches on the time capsule for the Rockville Sesquicentennial in our backyard in July of 1974. When we arrived at the courthouse we were greeted by many of our townspeople waiting to place items inside. Gene Swaim from Rockville Vault and Monument Company placed a granite marker for future generations to see and remember the location. It is at the south end of the steps on the west entrance of our courthouse. Note the bumper sticker on his truck-it says Rockville Sesquicentennial July 2-6. I remember everyone in town had a sticker on their rear bumper. This time capsule is to be opened this year for our centennial celebration.”

The time capsule was successfully opened on July 27th of this year…

Wherever one time capsule is opened, another is sealed.

Thus, because my church is in Parke County, I’ve been asked to write a letter to my church – Dailey Chapel Christian – for the next time capsule that will be buried this week, and opened 50 years from now.

The following letter is what I’ve submitted to the future…

_____________________________________________

To the People of Dailey Chapel Christian Church in 2074:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I have no way of knowing who will be reading this (if I did, that would be really spooky). Do they still use that word “spooky” in 2074? Just curious. The truth is, there might not be anyone reading this. But I hope that some of the younger people in our church will be around to pull this out of the ground one day… little Lilie Lou or Scarlett Dickey… any Nepotes – Leila or Raegan… Nora or Tate Metheny… Daniel or Joe Lunsford… Maizee with the big smile, or little Sylvie… Henry, Jack, or George Overpeck… any of the Simmons kids – Evie Lou, Charlie, or Conway… any Haltom’s… Carson Cox – are you out there somewhere? I hope so.

It’s a crazy world we live in, and 50 years is a long time. One thing, that I’m pretty sure about, is that I won’t be around. But I’m ok with that. I know where I’ll be going. If I was still alive, I’d be 95 by then, and although it’s not impossible, it’s also not very likely. However, my beautiful bride Lynell (Nelly) is two years younger than me – and she’s a lot healthier and has really good genes, so perhaps she’s still kicking around down there. Please look her up, tell her I love her, and I’ll see her again soon.

Sorry… that might end up being a lot of work for one of you lucky listeners. It’s not every day that someone gets a chance to write a letter to the future, so I have to make good use of the opportunity.

In any case, I’ve been the Preacher/Minister/Pastor for Dailey Chapel for about 9 years now, and it’s been one of the most challenging, but also happiest times in my life so far. I’m glad to be the one writing this letter. And I suppose it’s my duty to impart some words of wisdom from the past, or at least come up with something clever to say, so here goes…

Disclaimer: This is one of the sermons (a revised version of it) that I preached for Dailey Chapel a few years ago (in 2021) and something I’ve used several times for funerals I’ve presided over… It’s one of my personal favorites. And it’s about the very thing you’ve all gathered together to commemorate this day: TIME.

On September 14, 2015, at exactly 5:51am Eastern Standard Time… Physicists from the Massachusetts and California Institutes of Technology were able to catch something in a very large net that had been traveling through space at the speed of light for 1.3 billion years.

A hundred years earlier, Albert Einstein had invented a bunch of math jargon to describe the existence of something he called gravitational waves. In his mad-genius sort of way, he speculated that when objects in space collide with each other, they create ripples the same way a rock does when thrown into a lake. Einstein was convinced of this, but he never thought it would be possible to prove. As it turned out, he was right about the existence of the waves. But he was wrong that it would never be known for sure.

In the mid 90s engineers from MIT and CALTECH began building two giant observatories to prove his theory. These facilities – one in Louisiana and one in Washington State, took several years to complete, but once activated, they worked in tandem to a create a digital net almost as wide as the Louisiana Purchase to try and catch and record the waves that Einstein had talked about.

And that is exactly what they did. They caught, measured, and tracked a series of gravitational waves passing through their net in 2015. When traced back to their origin point, it was discovered that 1.3 billion light years away from Earth, two giant black holes had slammed into each other, releasing a tidal wave of energy that exploded outward, and sent ripples in all direction. 100,000 years ago, that energy crossed the threshold of our galaxy The Milky Way and proceeded toward our solar system until passing harmlessly through our planet 9 years ago (9 years, as I write this letter).

Now, to help you visualize the amount of distance we’re talking about… It would take a human being 37,200 years to travel 1 light year through space. The gravitational waves detected in 2015 had traveled 1.3 billion light years to reach us. The universe we live in is SO BIG – that they don’t measure it with miles or kilometers – they measure it with TIME.

The light from our own Sun takes about 8 and half minutes to reach us. That means, if the Sun burned out and went dark or disappeared somehow – we wouldn’t know it until 8 and half minutes later. That means, when astronomers look at the sun through a telescope, they are seeing it the way it was 8 and a half minutes in the past.

The light that comes from the next star over – Proxima Centauri – takes a little over 4 years to reach us. So, if there was an alien in that star system looking at us through a telescope – they would be seeing us the way we were 4 years ago.

Information like this boggles the mind. We can barely fathom these vast distances, and the amount of time it takes to traverse them. And what does it mean? Does it even matter? Yes. It does. It matters, because this is one of the ways that our Lord shows us how great and powerful He is.

King David said it best — ”By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. 7He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses. 8Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the people of the world revere him. 9For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.” (Psalm 33:6-9)

There’s a well-known theological concept called Natural Revelation. And although this is a concept that is touched upon in many places throughout the Bible, it is most clearly articulated by the Apostle Paul in Romans 1:20 – where he says that:  “since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”

In other words, he’s saying that when we look at everything around us – everything that God has made, we are looking at things that God has provided as evidence of His existence. So, whether we’re looking at the smallest of things right in front of us, through a microscope, or the very largest of things millions of miles away, through a telescope – all of it, reveals something about the One who created these things.

Moreover, Paul is also saying that this is an obvious truth. It’s common sense. To suggest otherwise is the very definition of foolishness. As King David once said at the beginning of Psalm 14 and Psalm 53, “it is the fool who says in their heart, ‘there is no God.’” –That’s actually the same Psalm. It’s in there twice.

Now Paul, also, in his letter to young Titus – warns him to not be prideful about his belief in God. He tells him in Titus 3:3 that, “At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived, and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures.” That’s Paul’s way of telling his protégé that the only thing separating us from the foolish – is the fact that we have fallen on the mercy of God. He’s reminding Titus that it is through love and humility and kindness that we demonstrate God’s mercy most clearly to those who have not accepted it.

If I tell someone that there is a God who loves them, in our culture, they probably won’t believe it. But if I tell them that God loves them, and I back it up by showing them that I love them too – THEN they might actually believe it.

But still, it’s not enough for people to know that we love them. We’re human beings. Our love is imperfect, and inconsistent, and flawed. And that’s why we have to point people to God whose love is perfect, and unwavering, and unparalleled.

So, that means we have to be patient with people who don’t believe the same things that we do. And in the meantime, we have to find ways to show them God’s love and mercy. We ourselves, have to ‘wait upon the Lord,’ and ask Him to use us – to lead us into the right situations and give us the right words when the time comes. And sometimes it’s hard to be patient. Sometimes it’s really difficult to wait for other people. But patience is one of the ‘fruits of the spirit,’ that Paul talks about in Galatians 5, and elsewhere.

We always want things to happen when we want them to happen. We want things to happen in our time. But God has his own time.

Now of course, when the Apostle Paul was writing about Natural Revelation he didn’t have microscopes or telescopes to see all the things that we can see today. But every advancement in science and technology that has come along since has only proven the concept of Natural Revelation even more. The more our technology allows us to see and observe, the more God’s immense power becomes visible. His fingerprints are all over the universe and everything in it.

And with this in mind, I’ve been taking some time, to go back to the Beginning of the Bible, into Genesis, so that we can do a little review on the 6 Days of Creation. What can we learn about God, what can we learn about ourselves, what can we learn about Christian faith from examining the Days of Creation through the lens of Natural Revelation?

For this message, I want to focus on something that God created on Day Four. So let’s take a look at that passage – Genesis 1:14-19.

And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

When we read through these verses we see the words ‘govern,’ and ‘separate,’ used in repetition. These words are both related to the idea of organization. God was organizing his creation under the canopy of time, and using the sun, moon, and stars to do it – he says it right there in verse 14, “let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years.”

The top researchers and scientists, and physicists in our culture (the ones that do not believe in God) explain away all the other things that exist in the universe – they have theories like evolution and the big bang that allow them to mentally evade the idea that there’s a God. But they haven’t been able to do that with TIME. They have no theory that allows them to provide an alternate reason for where time comes from. They can’t explain time.

The existence of time does not fit into any kind of scientific framework that currently exists. One of the most well-known physicists since Albert Einstein, a man named Richard Feynman – Richard Feynman was the George Washington, the Jimi Hendrix, and the Michael Jordan of physics all rolled into one. Any college student studying physics and space and time has to read his books and lectures. He’s considered to be one of the most brilliant minds ever on the subject – THAT GUY – back in the early 60s, when asked about the origin of time, basically said: I don’t know.

Most of the people who are considered to be experts in the field of physics today, with all the technological tools and more collective knowledge at their disposal than ever before – the kind of people who built those observatories to catch gravity waves in Louisiana and Washington – they basically scratch their heads when it comes to figuring out why time exists.

The scientists and the mathematicians don’t do well with the concept of time. As the Psalms of King David have shown us – it’s the writers and the poets that explain time much better. Time makes good material for poetry, and storytelling, and classic rock and roll power ballads.

My favorite non-bible author J.R.R. Tolkien once wrote: “Time all things devours. Birds, beasts, trees, flowers. It gnaws iron, bites steel, grinds hard stones to meal. It slays kings, ruins towns, and beats high mountains down.”

One of my favorite songwriters Roger Waters wrote some beautiful words on the subject of time: “You run and you run to catch up with the sun but it’s sinking. Racing around to come up behind you again. The sun is the same in a relative way, but you’re older. Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.”

Our culture is obsessed with time. Just think about all the phrases we have to describe time in different ways:

All in good time.

In the nick of time.

From time to time.

We’re living on borrowed time.

It’s a matter of time.

Time out. In time. Time flies. Time to go.

About that time.

Take some time. Make some time. Kill some time.

Once upon a time.

There’s Adventure time. A Wrinkle in Time. The Land Before time.

Hot Tub Time Machine.

Snack time. Dinner time. Summer time. Double time.

Hang time. High time. Game time. Face time.

Prime time. Local time. Real time. Record time.

Quality time. Screen time. Quiet time.

Miller time.

Big time. Small time. Nap time. Space time.

We keep time. We spend time. We lose track of time.

No time flat. No time to waste. Some other time. Make up for lost time. Now is the time.

Hit me baby one more time.

We can obsess ABOUT TIME all we want. But time cannot be controlled. It cannot be solved by a math equation. There is no end to its ability to baffle scientists. There is no end to its ability to inspire artists, poets, and writers. And whether you’re from the countryside or you’re a city dweller – you cannot escape the clock.

Time is the great transformer of things. It changes ALMOST everything. It dissolves things that we think are solid. It moves things that we think will always be there. It destabilizes, shakes, and decays everything around us. It cannot be stopped. It cannot be bought. It cannot be bargained with. It can’t be reasoned with. And, eventually, it will take every one of us by the hand and walk us into the grave.

Despite all the terrible things that time does to us – it is still a precious gift from God. God created it for us. And God saw that it was good.

The reason it stings us the way it does – is because it is one of those things that REMINDS us all, that WE ARE NOT GOD. It reminds us that we are powerless, we are fallen, and we need someone to save us.

The good news is that someone has saved us. His name is Jesus, and he is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

The Bible tells us that we are not like the rest of humanity that has no hope. Why? Because we have a King who is Master over the Grave. Our God is Master of Time itself. He created it. It has no power over him. And as Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.”

He is immoveable, he is unstoppable, he is our only hope out of this mess, and he is the one who makes all things new.

Heaven and earth will pass away – just as I have passed away. But the words of Christ will never pass away. Call out to him today, ask him to speak to you.

In Christ’s Love,

Adam Joseph Coffman

September 11, 2024

The Cost of Being a Disciple of Jesus

FeaturedThe Cost of Being a Disciple of Jesus

DISCLAIMER: I originally wrote this sermon four years ago, in August of 2020. If you want to listen to it, I’ll embed the audio version at the bottom of this post.

But I’m trying to publish more regularly on this blog because that’s what you’re apparently supposed to do…

So, I pulled this one out of the archives, because it’s a real humdinger. And you should read it. Seriously, it’s a good one, if I do say so myself.

____________________________________

This morning, we’ll be reading through a passage from Luke 14:25-33.

But before we take a look at this passage in Luke, I want to tell you a story that’s a little bit closer to us in history. This isn’t something that happened 2,000 years ago, but much more recently.

It begins about a hundred years ago, in a city called Breslau. Breslau is in the southwest of Poland today, but a hundred years ago, and up until the end of World War II, it was still a part of Germany. And that’s where this story begins – in Breslau, Germany, a hundred years ago, in 1920, when a young man by the name of Dietrich gave his life to Christ, and decided that he wanted to study the Bible and become a teacher of God’s word.

Dietrich was a very intelligent young man, very devoted to his studies; by 1927 (when he was only 21 years old) he had graduated from the University of Berlin with a doctorate in Theology. Still young, and not quite sure where his place was in the world, he decided to come here to the U.S., and ended up as a professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He was only in the U.S. for one year, but while he was here, he was lovingly accepted into a Baptist church in Harlem, where he taught Sunday School classes, and where he began to encounter the societal injustices being experienced by Christian minorities – in particular, black Christians that he had become friends with. As a white man, but still an outsider, a foreigner from Germany, he had slipped in between these two segregated worlds of American Christians – black and white, rich and poor, educated and uneducated. Dietrich knew his Bible really well. In the Gospels, he read, as we have been reading, about the reality of God’s Kingdom in the here and now. And he wrestled with the contrast between what he was reading about the Church in the New Testament, and what he was seeing the Church do (and not do) in New York and other places.

How could the Church in the New Testament be so united in purpose, and the Church of modern day be so fractured and divided?

Why was the wealthy Church so pre-occupied with its own position on the highest levels of secular society, and so blind to the suffering of the poor Church just a few blocks North?

How does that happen among God’s people? How does one group of Christians become obsessed with finding a seat at the table of high society, while another group focuses on pulling people out of the gutters and giving them food, and clothing, and housing?

Why do the Christians with the most resources at their disposal, hoard their wealth, while those with just enough to get by give away everything they have? Why can’t they work together? Why can’t they find balance in the community of God’s Kingdom – the community of people saved by grace – the community that Jesus gave his life to bring into existence?

What was the answer to these questions?

What could be done about it?

Dietrich wasn’t entirely sure, but he didn’t ignore these tough questions; he wrestled with them. And this unique perspective that he had, as an outsider and foreigner, influenced him a great deal. And he took that perspective with him, when he returned to his homeland in 1931.

When he returned to Germany, he began teaching theology at the University in Berlin where he had received his doctorate four years earlier, and not long after that, he was ordained as a pastor in the Lutheran Church.

And, it was less than two years later, on January 30, 1933, that the Nazis took control of his country.

As we all know now, with our 20/20 historical hindsight, Adolph Hitler’s rise to power would eventually culminate in the horrendous disaster that we call World War II, where millions of people would perish, and where terrible things had to be done in order to stop a man that was closer to an example of the Anti-Christ than almost anyone else in history.

Have there been others like Hitler?

Yes.

Joseph Stalin probably executed more people, for instance. But Hitler did three things that really single him out:

1. He lied to the Christians in Germany that were susceptible to deception.

2. He silenced, imprisoned, and killed the Christians who were not so easily deceived.

3. He waged genocide against the Jewish people.

If Hitler had succeeded in taking over the WHOLE WORLD, he would have been THE Anti-Christ.

As it turned out, he was only one of the many little antichrists like those the Apostle John warned us about in his first epistle (1st John 2:18).

Like I said, we all know this now. It’s more or less common knowledge. But to many of the Christians throughout Germany at the time Hitler took power it wasn’t as clear. Even though it SHOULD HAVE BEEN.

Hitler’s rise to power was hailed as an act of God by the majority of church leaders in Germany at the time. They threw their support behind him completely – telling their congregations that Hitler had been sent by God to lift them out of economic depression, and restore their honor on the world stage. Some went so far as to say that Hitler spoke on God’s behalf, and that the fulfillment of God’s Kingdom was embodied in the person of Adolph Hitler. Churches that had been firmly established and rooted in place for centuries, wasted no time in allowing Hitler to steam roll his way through them. In fact, they stepped aside as he removed Pastors, Bishops, and Elders who were not “pure-bloods” of Aryan descent. They remained silent when he demanded that he, the Fuhrer be recognized as head of the Church (rather than Jesus Christ), and they supported efforts made to remove the Old Testament from the Bible – because of its pro-Jewish agenda. These were not things that happened overnight. They were ideas that Hitler had been preaching for months BEFORE he was in power. There was plenty of opportunity for the churches in Germany to at least try to prevent his ascension to power – by speaking out against him. But those with the most influence in their society, remained silent. Or they openly supported him.

But not everyone.

There were small groupings of Christians in Germany, in the middle of all that madness, who refused to bow down and worship that man.

And the hero of this particular story – Dietrich – was among them.

Just a couple of days after Hitler became Chancellor, Dietrich was able to get onto a radio station in Berlin and sound the alarm.

Before they cut him off mid-sermon, he denounced Hitler and everything he stood for – and he rebuked every Christian who followed him for their idolatry to the “cult of the fuhrer.”

In the months and years that followed, he began organizing the minority groups of Christians who didn’t follow Hitler, by helping to create a network of churches dedicated to voicing opposition to him, as well as to rendering aid to their Jewish neighbors who were already under attack. He was putting into practice what he had learned when he was in New York – that he couldn’t just talk about the Gospel – he had to live in its reality. He couldn’t just stand around and do nothing while so much evil was taking place around him. He had to actually do something about it.

So, he did.

Between 1933 and 1939, he helped organize and lead an underground seminary where he taught his students that the cost of being a modern disciple of Jesus was complete loyalty to the King and His Kingdom, above all else. –Even if it meant losing your friends, losing your family, or losing your country.

And for this, Dietrich was branded an enemy of the state, his coalition of churches and his seminary were deemed illegal by Heinrich Himmler, and Dietrich himself was exiled from the city of Berlin.

Dietrich’s friends in New York City urged him to flee the country, and he did in the Summer of 1939. But he did not stay in the United States for very long. In a letter to one of his former professors at Union Seminary, this is what he wrote, shortly before returning to Germany:

“I have come to the conclusion that I made a mistake in coming to America. I must live through this difficult period in our national history with the people of Germany. I will have no right to participate in the reconstruction of Christian life in Germany after the war if I do not share the trials of this time with my people … Christians in Germany will have to face the terrible alternative of either willing the defeat of their nation in order that Christian civilization may survive or willing the victory of their nation and thereby destroying civilization. I know which of these alternatives I must choose but I cannot make that choice from security.”

It wasn’t long after his return home, that because of close trusted contacts within the German military, he first became aware of concentration camps where Jews were being systematically exterminated. And that put Dietrich in the position of finally having to choose, definitively, which of his two kingdoms he would betray.

Would he become a traitor to Germany? Or would he become a traitor to God’s Kingdom, by looking the other way as his neighbors were being murdered? He chose God’s Kingdom over the kingdom he had been born into.

When asked by a Dutch colleague of his at the time, “what he was praying for these days?” Dietrich told him, “If you want to know the truth, I pray for the defeat of my nation.”

And that’s when Dietrich became a spy.

He began working within the Abwehr – the German Military Intelligence network –which was not yet under the control of the SS. There were many German officers in the Abwehr, already functioning as allied spies against Hitler. They recruited Dietrich with the understanding that he would use his contacts in Europe and the United States to smuggle intelligence to the Allies, and to help Jews escape from Germany. And that’s what he did for the next few years…

Before he was eventually caught and arrested in the Spring of 1943.

Dietrich spent two years in prison for treason, during which time he was the pastor for his fellow prisoners, and even some of his prison guards.

On April 4, 1945 Hitler personally ordered Dietrich’s execution, and he was hung that same week at Flossenburg Concentration Camp.

Two weeks later, the U.S. 90th and 97th Infantry Divisions liberated that camp.

A week after that, the Soviets took Berlin.

Hitler committed suicide at the end of the month, and Germany surrendered on May 7th.

Dietrich’s prayers for the defeat of his nation came to pass. But he himself, had already gone home to his real country.

The doctor who saw Dietrich’s hanging described his final moments like this:

“I saw [the] Pastor … kneeling on the floor praying fervently to God. I was most deeply moved by the way this lovable man prayed, so devout and so certain that God heard his prayer. At the place of execution, he again said a short prayer and then climbed the few steps to the gallows, brave and composed. His death ensued after a few seconds. In the almost fifty years that I worked as a doctor, I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God.”

And that brings, the story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer to a close.

Now… why am I telling you all of this? Why is this story an important one?

Well, let’s finally get to Luke 14:25-33, and you’ll see why…

“Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.”

Now, those are some harsh sounding words, are they not?

There’s a huge crowd following Jesus, and instead of reveling in all of his many followers, it’s almost as if he’s trying to get rid of them. He tells them they can’t follow him unless they hate everyone else… that they even have to hate their own life! Now, he doesn’t mean this literally – that they have to hate. After all, this is Jesus – he teaches us to love everyone, even our enemies.

So, he’s not literally telling us we have to hate ourselves and our families. He’s saying that His Kingdom always comes first. The Kingdom always takes precedence. He’s saying that our love for Him has to be total. Our loyalty to Him has to be complete. He’s saying, if you really want to follow me, you might have to say goodbye to the people you care about. He’s saying: If you say ‘yes’ to me, you might have to say ‘no’ to the people you love.

Jesus is using this allegorical language about building towers and going to war, which might all sound a little strange to us. But he’s pointing out the natural human tendency to look ahead. If we’re being wise, then we think before we make a major decision about something; we think about what that decision is going to mean, and whether or not it’s going to be good or bad, and we think about what we’re going to have to give up, or let go of.

We have to estimate what it’s all going to cost.

How much money to build that building?

How many troops to win that war?

Well, we don’t have to estimate what it costs to follow Jesus; he tells us EXACTLY what it costs – it costs EVERYTHING.

Dietrich knew that. He knew it really well. He knew that we can’t just hide in the comforting glow of God’s grace – that to do so, cheapens the sacrifice that Jesus made. We have to go into the darkness with the light that we have.

We have to do something.

And whatever that is – it might cost us everything.

It MIGHT cost us family; It MIGHT cost us friends; It MIGHT cost us our country.

And if so, that’s ok.

That’s what it means to pick up YOUR CROSS and FOLLOW HIM.

In John 15:18-19, Jesus said quite clearly: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world…”

Let’s remember these words of Jesus in the coming months.

Let’s hold tightly to them, as the rhetoric in the world around us becomes louder, and the nonsense becomes overwhelming. Our job is still the same: To love our neighbors, to love our enemies, and to love God the most.

The kingdom we’re living in is temporary; it is crumbling. But the Kingdom we belong to is eternal, and it will never fall.

There won’t be any Democrats or Republicans in Heaven, my friends.

“Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be handed over to the holy people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.” – Daniel 7:27

Dailey Chapel’s Annual Basket Dinner

FeaturedDailey Chapel’s Annual Basket Dinner

This past Sunday, I decided to depart from our regularly scheduled program, to deliver a message that suited the occasion – our church’s annual celebration which we call “Basket Dinner.”

One thing that I find interesting about Basket Dinner – and this was true from the very first time I heard someone mention it. Back when I had no clue what it was… Basket Dinner has always been talked about around here, like it’s a universal event; as if it’s something that every Christian on Earth celebrates every year – like Christmas and Easter.

I remember once, asking a younger Caleb Dickey who grew up in my church, about Basket Dinner — just a few weeks after I moved out here… before I had ever been to one, and he was still in High School at the time, but he described Basket Dinner, as if it was a universal, concrete fixture of reality – something that all Christians partake of each year. And I know that he knew it wasn’t this universal Christian holiday, but that’s how he spoke about it. And it made me realize, that this was a deeply rooted part of Dailey Chapel’s history. I’ve realized that more and more with each year that I’ve been here.

Basket Dinner is a special, unique fixture of Dailey Chapel, and it’s very personal and meaningful to us, especially to all those who have celebrated it for decades, or for some – most of their lives, or whole lives. But there is also something about it, that is relatable to all churches.

So… I was thinking, this past week, about how we observe this special Sunday each year to honor those who’ve come before us, and met together in years past under the banner of Dailey Chapel – whether it was in our current building, or the previous one.

And, off course we know, that a building isn’t what makes a group of people into a church – it’s the gathering together, in fellowship, around the Lord’s table, around his word, to break bread and pray. Those are the main ingredients of church. A building isn’t necessary – it’s a blessing, and a luxury, and we enjoy having it – but the church isn’t a building.

If you ever happen to be up here, sometime after dark, by yourself, you’ll realize very quickly how different this building is when the people of the light are not gathered together in it. We’re up in the woods, and it’s a VERY scary place at night!

And at one point, in the past — as Mrs. Joanie Lunsford retells our history each year — the people of Dailey Chapel lost their building in a fire, about 84 years ago. But they didn’t lose each other, and they didn’t lose their faith. And as far as I can tell, they used the opportunity to grow stronger. And the evidence is all around us now. All those people are gone, but their church has outlived them.

It’s a feature of our existence on earth that sometimes, things have to go wrong, or something bad has to happen, in order for God to receive the glory that is due him. Sometimes, things have to go wrong, so that, they can be made right again – proving that our God is one of redemption, renewal, recovery, and restoration.

And this is nothing new. This is an old lesson – one that’s true for all of us. It’s woven into the fabric of reality itself.

And Scripture teaches us this old lesson over and over again. That things sometimes have to go wrong, before they can be made right. That things have to be broken, so that they can be put back together even stronger than they were. King David said in Psalm 30 that “there is weeping throughout the night, but joy comes in the morning.”

One of the beautiful things about the stories in Scripture, is how they capture truths that are common to all people of all times. The stories themselves are rooted in history, among real people, who really lived. But the lessons that the people in the stories learn, transcend the times and places in which they happened. In other words, the lessons that God wants us to learn are the same lessons that He has always wanted His people to learn.

And one of the biggest lessons – is that sometimes things go wrong, so that God’s people can remember their need for him, in all areas of life. And when they do, then the soil of hardship produces the fruit of victory.

That’s what we’re really commemorating each year on Basket Dinner Sunday. And as I said, it’s an old lesson – and it’s told over and over in the pages of Scripture, through the lives of many people.

We could go back to Genesis and read about Abraham for instance. A lot of things went wrong in Abraham’s life. He was constantly ending up in places he shouldn’t have been, and at times, in situations that were dangerous. And God always took care of him. God blessed him abundantly.

But the main thing on his mind was the fact that he wasn’t going to have any children to leave behind after him. So what did God do? He let Abraham and Sarah get so old, that the prospect of having children was completely hopeless from a human perspective. Sarah had presumably already gone through menopause, I think it’s safe to say – she was 90! But God allowed her to get pregnant and give birth to Isaac, through whom, she became the Mother of Nations. Hopelessness was turned into blessing.

Abraham and Sarah’s grandson Jacob, learned the same lesson. He was forced to flee his family, and leave behind his home, and everything he had – his own brother literally wanted to murder him. Everything went wrong in his life. He lost everything, just so God could get his attention.

And once God had his attention, he put Jacob’s life back together piece by piece. He blessed him with wealth and abundance, and many children, and peace with his brother who had wanted to kill him. Jacob’s life had to go completely off the rails, before it could be put on the right track.

Jacob had a son named Joseph. Joseph became the head official of the Egyptian Empire, second only to the Pharaoh. But he got to that position, only after spending years as a prisoner, sold into slavery by his own brothers because they were jealous of him.

From what we read about Joseph, he didn’t really do anything wrong. God wasn’t putting him through difficult circumstances to get his attention like he had done with his father Jacob. God already had Joseph’s attention. And because of that, he was able to use Joseph’s life as a powerful foreshadowing of Jesus. But that meant suffering, before it meant victory.

God let Joseph’s whole life go wrong on the floor of a dungeon, and then, he lifted him up out of the pit, by making him the Prime Minister of Egypt, and using his talents, and ingenuity to save millions of people from starvation, including his own brothers who had sold him into slavery.

It was those same brothers that Joseph spoke to in Genesis 50:20, saying to them, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” 

300 years after Joseph died, the same thing happened, on a much larger scale. All of the Hebrews were slaves in Egypt. And God used Moses to bring them out of bondage and form them into their own nation.

Then there’s the Judges and the Kings. Their were those like Samson who was strong and powerful, but had to have his strength taken from him, and his eyes burned out, and his body put in chains – all so God could show Samson and his enemies where strength and power truly come from.

I mentioned King David already. We see this pattern play out many times as we read about his life in 1st and 2nd Samuel. His life was constantly falling apart, and going wrong, and each time, he came back stronger.

When he was still a teenager, he became stronger than all the fighting men in his nation. When he was a fugitive, God sheltered him. When he sinned, God forgave him. When he lost a child, God comforted him. Whenever David lost his way, the Lord was there, to pick him up, and set him on the right path again.

It’s David who wrote, in Psalm 30:1-5, “I will exalt you, LORD, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. 2 LORD my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me.3 You, LORD, brought me up from the realm of the dead; you spared me from going down to the pit. 4 Sing the praises of the LORD, you his faithful people; praise his holy name.5 For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.”

Sometimes things have to go wrong, before they can go right.

Moses led the Israelites into a dead end, so God could make a new path for them through the sea.

Jonah had to be eaten by a fish, so that the people of Nineveh could be saved.

Esther was forced into the harem of King Xerxes, so that she could become the queen and save her people from genocide.

Hezekiah had to be face to face with the entire Assyrian army on his front porch, so that God could give him a front row seat to their complete annihilation by one of his angels.

Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, so that Nehemiah could rebuild it for people who learned that the Lord gives, the Lord takes away, and the Lord gives again.

That’s the whole story of Job too. The Lord allowed Satan to take everything the man had – his wealth, his family, even his health. Where most of us would probably complain to God about something like, Job only said: “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.” And then God gave it all back to him double.

We could go on identifying this same lesson in Bible stories all afternoon.

Peter denied that he knew Jesus, before realizing how much he loved him, and was willing to die for him.

Paul had to be struck blind, BEFORE he could truly see who Jesus was.

Jesus had to die in order to prove that he had authority over death. He had to sacrifice himself, so that all of us could be saved. Things had to go wrong for him, so that everything could go right for us.

It’s not easy for us to learn these kinds of lessons. We can read about them in Scripture, but it’s not until we really go through something difficult that we have the opportunity to understand them. The lessons become real. And we learn. We grow. And then we forget.

They’re easy to forget. And then we have to re-learn the lesson. It’s painful. It’s humbling. It sometimes feels like God is abandoning us.

Believe me, even as a minister, I have days where I get pretty upset with God. And when I do, I go to him with all the classic complaints. Why is this happening God? What are you doing to me? Where are you? Why does it feel like you’re not here?

And then, God reminds me that sometimes things have to go wrong, so that they can be made right again.

Every year, when we have our Basket Dinner… when we eat the fried chicken, and go listen to the music – I have my own commemoration that happens inside my thoughts.

I’ve talked about this several times before, but one of the other things Basket Dinner is about, is repetition. So, I’ll speak about it again, just for a moment.

When I first came to Dailey Chapel – 9 years go – it was not Basket Dinner Sunday. It was a few weeks later, in the last week of August. But I tend to reflect on my arrival here more, during the week of Basket Dinner, because it’s a time of thinking about what our Church is, and where it came from, and how it’s a blessing to all of us that we have this fellowship.

And as Mrs. Carmen Palma can attest – she later remarked that I was the saddest preacher she had ever met. And I certainly was very sad. I was so sad and broken down, that I have only ever told this story in small pieces over the years. That’s how I’ve processed what happened to me during the two years before I found Dailey Chapel, or Dailey Chapel found me. I’ve had to process it in small doses.

So, whenever I talk about it, it’s always in fragments. But I was very traumatized. And I know that word gets a little over-used a lot these days. But I’m pretty sure that I had some kind of post-traumatic stress, after experiencing two years at a church in Indianapolis that almost killed me.

And the stress from that had manifested physically in the fact that I was the most unhealthiest I had ever been. And a lot of that was my own fault. I wasn’t taking care of myself properly. And also, I was trying to take care of a lot of other people, and I wasn’t mature enough to handle that, or know how to set healthy boundaries. I thought I could be a hero, and I was humbled to discover, quite painfully, that I was just another person in need of saving. And eventually, I came to the realization that I could no longer serve as a minister in that church.

And when I finally made the decision to resign as the youth minister of that church, I went to the elders, and I had a good talk with them. I told them I felt that I needed to be somewhere else, where I could do something other than youth ministry, because you have to have a lot of energy to be a good youth minister.

You have to be physically capable of keeping up with the kids, and break up fights, and clean up messes, and do a lot of traveling. Some of that I couldn’t do, and some of it I just didn’t want to do anymore.

So, I went to the elders, and we agreed that I would keep working until they found someone else to replace me, or I found another job. And if nothing had happened in three months, we would reassess the situation. That was my agreement with the group of elders.

And the following week, they met in secret, without me, and decided to fire me – but they also agreed not to tell me I was fired, but just to let me keep working and figure it out when they didn’t pay me. They were banking on the fact that I would keep doing the job for free, as a volunteer.

Now, the associate minister at that time, was a friend of mine, and he knew me since I was a kid; he went to church with our family. And when he discovered the plot, he called and told me about the secret meeting and the decision of the elders, and how it was the Senior Pastor’s idea. And I was stunned. I felt betrayed.

And I did confront the Pastor about it, directly, to his face. I told him, I couldn’t believe how he was treating me that way, like I was trash, especially after all the work I had done for the church. And he didn’t say anything. He had no response at all.

And that was the end of my youth ministry career. I did still maintain my connection with a number of the high school kids, that I was closest to. I didn’t need to be paid to be friends with those kids.

But I did need another job. And I needed to get healthy. And it took me almost a year to find Dailey Chapel. In the meantime, I had an online job doing editing for a Bible software company, and I did some other stuff to get by; I was an Uber driver for a little while.

I had just bought a car the month before I lost my job. So, I had to do whatever I could. I was selling all my collectibles, my massive Star Wars collection, my comic books, my video games, and all the stuff that I had collected over the years to one day pass along to my kids – if I ever had them.

But it wasn’t enough, so I had moments where things were pretty scary.  I was struggling to make the car payments. It was repossessed once, but some friends got it back for me. A couple of my best friends, who are missionary teachers, and were in South Korea at the time, were sending me money so I could get by. A neighbor across the street who had been my grade school principal, and the super intendant of my high school, brought dinner to me one evening. He heard it through the grapevine that I was struggling, and still living in my parents’ house, which had been foreclosed. A few other people that had been close to my parents also brought food to me so I could eat. It was very humiliating, but I was so thankful for their generosity.

In short, I was barely scraping by. And I was getting really tired of life in the process.

A person can only take so much humiliation before they start to think about ending it all. And I was alone, most of the time, without anyone to talk to or encourage me. My home church was really big. And I was just another face in the crowd. I could go there and be among 500 people and never talk to anyone. But to be completely honest, I didn’t go most of the time. Because I felt like I was a failure. I felt ashamed. And no church wanted to hire me. I had a Bible college degree in Biblical Studies and Missions, and a Master’s in Theology and Church History… and a great deal of practical ministry experience. And I couldn’t get a job because I wasn’t married at the time.

So, I almost gave up. I contemplated suicide. I really gave it some thought. Now, looking back, I believe there were demonic forces attacking me pretty persistently with that kind of thinking. But, I stayed in my Bible, I kept praying – and God sent me enough life-lines to get me through each day. One day at a time.

And, by some miracle, I held on long enough for Tim Dickey (the chairman of the board, and the Commissioner Gordon of Dailey Chapel) to respond to my desperate email for a chance to be considered their next minister.

Yes… that means, that I am the Batman in this story.

And here we are, 9 years later. And I consider all that to be just as much a part of our church’s history, as all the rest of it.

Sometimes, things have to go completely wrong, before they can be made right. Basket Dinner is a time for remembering the history of our Church, and what has been given to us, through the Lord’s providence, from those who came before.

And for me personally, it’s also about remembering my own history with this church. And what I was before I found them, and what they have given me since then.

A fire had burned up just about everything in my life, except my faith. And Dailey Chapel has helped me to rebuild it, stronger than it ever was before.

Some of you are going through things now that are rough and unpleasant to say the least. Some of you have lost family, some have lost friends. Some of you have health issues that are causing you pain or making life more difficult. Others of you have people in your lives that are going through terrible suffering and you don’t know what to say to them.

And that’s to say nothing of all the chaos and confusion and hatred we see happening in the world outside.

Christ is the only answer we have. He’s the only answer we need. Keep following him. Keeping moving forward. If we are in Christ – if we belong to Him – if we stay in the vine, then there is purpose and meaning behind all of the pain and suffering and brokenness and death.

He’s already made everything right – we’re just in the process of learning it right now.

I’ll close today with Paul’s words from 2nd Corinthians 4:16-18. “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

BREAKING NEWS: Non-Christians Behave Like Non-Christians

FeaturedBREAKING NEWS: Non-Christians Behave Like Non-Christians

I want to say at the outset of this, that I intend no disrespect to my brothers and sisters in Christ – fellow pastors and teachers, or otherwise. But, I am concerned over the level of mud-slinging and stone-throwing that I’ve been seeing online over the past couple of days, in regards to the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Paris, France.

The specific part of the event in question involved an on-stage, live reenactment of what appears to be Leonardo da Vinci’s famous mural The Last Supper, painted about 500 years ago – with the obvious modification being that the “disciples” are depicted as a group of flamboyant drag queens.

Ha. Ha. Ha. Good one… You really got us.

This, somewhat ironically, reminds me of a story from the Book of Acts. I say it’s ironic, because it occurred in Chapter 17, when the Apostle Paul found himself strolling through the city of Athens – which happens to be the place where the first modern Olympic Games were held in the Spring of 1896.

As often occurred on his epic missionary journeys across the Mediterranean, Paul went directly into the most public places of town to make his plea on behalf of Christ. Paul’s method of public preaching in the open squares was not unusual, offensive, or disrespectful. It was common at the time, especially in a city like Athens, for teachers to philosophize openly among the masses to anyone willing to listen, and even to invite criticism which would lead to further discussion and debate on the topic at hand.

Make no mistake, Paul was “greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols,” as we’re told in 17:16 [NIV]. But although this idolatry provoked him, he didn’t allow himself to be overtaken by anger and bitterness. It’s completely reasonable (for those among us who believe that Christianity is being mocked) to feel provoked, distressed, or offended by the actions of non-Christians, but it’s important that we leave those feelings at the foot of the Cross, and that OUR ACTIONS reflect Christ’s response to such things.

“To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 22 “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” 23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats” (1st Peter 2:21-23 [NIV]).

That’s how Paul responded to being offended. He presented the Gospel boldly but respectfully. And in his explanation, he even used the idolatry he witnessed as an avenue to reach the hearts of those listening to him. Look at what he says to the pagan citizens of Athens in Acts 17:22-23 –

22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.” [ESV]

Paul’s reaction to the idolatry in Athens led to mockery by some, further inquiry and curiosity from others, and to the conversions of a few (17:32-34).

What would the outcome have been if Paul had allowed his distress to turn into vocal outrage? When I see my fellow pastors reacting to modern paganism in such ways, I think to myself, “Come on, guys, we can do better.”

In 2nd Corinthians 4:2, Paul says that, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

And in 1st Corinthians 2:14 he says, “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.”

Taken together, the overall point is that if a person is an unbeliever they do not have the light of God’s Spirit to show them the way of life. Even if their intention is to directly mock our faith, “they know not what they do.”

It’s our job to be Christ’s ambassadors in this world – to shine the light of truth, and to bring the love. We’re not living under the Old Covenant. We’re living under the New one. The “goliaths” that we have to fight are our own pride and self-righteousness.

We have to stop thinking about non-Christians in worldly terms – like it’s “us” versus “them.” There’s too many of you allowing the vitriol occurring in the political realm of this world to dictate your words and actions. Stop taking the bait. The enemy craves your outrage and your stone-throwing, because that’s what elevates his kingdom. You aren’t winning any souls by shouting about your lack of “Christian rights.” The Gospel doesn’t say we’re entitled to “Christian rights” in this world. It says we have a King, whose Kingdom “is not of this world” (John 18:36).

There’s all kinds of things in this world, and in our modern culture that are offensive to us. And these people making a parody of a painting of The Last Supper is not the worst of them. It’s actually kind of lame. Mel Brooks did a much better job of it in History of the World: Part 1 (1981).

I’m sure there were people that got upset about that one at the time too. So lastly, I’ll say this: If you’re too hurt and offended by this kind of thing, the answer is really simple: Don’t watch it.

Mom’s Mug

Mug - 15This mug has been in my parent’s house a long time. It was my mom’s mug of choice. I remember many Saturday mornings, waking up to cinnamon rolls, and mom asking me if I would make her some coffee, always in this mug. It’s a Longaberger cup, more popular for their handwoven baskets–which my mother collected for the last 25 years of her life, slowly filling the house with baskets of all shapes and sizes. I can’t believe she’s been gone for over a year now. Watching her die was the most difficult thing I’ve ever experienced… Even knowing it was going to happen wasn’t enough to soften the impact of it.

Mom left us with a lot of stuff to sort through and box away and give away, but those are just physical things, evidence of her presence in a house that was made into a home by the kind of woman she was, and the character she had. Her kindness and her love were evident to anyone who knew her, or even heard her great laugh–a laugh that can still be heard from my Aunt Charlene–mom’s sister.

I have nothing but a brain full of great memories, and a heart full of the love she passed on to me. But when I try to pinpoint one specifically, I think back to about 15 years ago… I was in college at the time, going through a really rough patch. I had already dropped out once and then returned, but I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do with my life, and the pressure was mounting for me to choose a path. Some people think Bible college is a safe haven of theological reflection and spiritual enlightenment. I suppose it can be that for some… But for me it was a crucible that tore me apart from the inside out and left me with more confusion and questions than clarity and answers. In the midst of one evening, feeling like I wanted to leave and drop out for a second time, I did what any boy would do in my situation… I called the one woman in the whole world who might have the answer–I called mom. And after listening to me whine and sob about the darkness and uncertainty of the world, she told me something that she never had before.

She told me that I did not belong to her. She said that when I was born, God spoke to her, and he said very simply, “this one belongs to me.” And she finished by saying that she couldn’t tell me who I was supposed to be or what I was supposed to do, because I didn’t belong to her. She just told me to ask God. And my mother did many things for me throughout my life, but telling me that was the greatest gift she ever imparted to me.

Because asking God is everything.

Originally shared on Facebook on May 8, 2014

Taizé Mug

Taizé MugThis particular cup is very unique. It comes from an old monastery in the middle of France known as Taize. A description from their website reads:

“Today, the Taizé Community is made up of over a hundred brothers, Catholics and from various Protestant backgrounds, coming from around thirty nations. By its very existence, the community is a “parable of community” that wants its life to be a sign of reconciliation between divided Christians and between separated peoples.”

I think it sounds like a pretty neat place, and it must be, because every year thousands of people visit the 74 year old Taizé community which was founded during WWII by a man named Brother Roger. Brother Roger himself was stabbed to death in 2005 at the age of 90 while leading the evening prayer service.

If you’re like me, I had never even heard of this place until I was told about it several years ago by a friend who had visited and in the process had acquired this coffee cup for me. The cup holds a great deal of meaning for me, and it harbors a great deal of irony as well. Sometimes, in this journey of life, we become alienated and separated from those we were once very close with… Sometimes, good friends can even become bitter enemies. Sometimes it’s our fault, and sometimes it just happens–and there is nothing we can do about it. But it always hurts. The friend who gave me this cup from Taizé has been long gone from my life, though he was once a very close brother. And even though we were deeply alienated from each other many years ago, I have kept this cup as a reminder of my friend–there is a hope there, however small, and I think of him whenever I drink from this coffee cup — made by the hands of people who have devoted their entire lives to Brother Roger’s vision of bringing together and reconciling Christians who have been divided.

Originally posted on Instagram @ajcoffman on April 15, 2014

Jesus Christ is God

I always look forward to those rare moments that come along where a random interaction with someone leads to a deeper discussion about something serious, or when a seemingly inconsequential series of events culminates into something that is extremely important, or when something that seems insignificant in the grand scheme of things, becomes the prelude to something with fundamental purpose.

I experienced one of these occasions this past weekend when I went to my cousin’s high school graduation party. After I walked in and helped myself to a fine brunch buffet, I sat down in the living room to chat with my older sister and my dad while we watched a slide show of my cousin’s life. There were several people milling about the house, and there was nothing really out of the ordinary at all. It was pretty much what you expect each year when these types of parties roll around. But within just a few minutes of my arrival, everything changed.

As I was sitting on the couch, discussing home remodeling issues with my sister, a guy from my home church sat down in another chair across the living room. I’ve talked with Rob before, and he’s a great guy who I’ve had a few good discussions with in the past. He loves to talk about God. I could tell as I was chatting with my sis, that he was waiting for a break in our conversation so that he could engage me in a discussion. Well, sure enough, as soon as I finished talking Rob began asking me questions. He began with the usual questions about school and what I was studying at seminary. When I told him I was studying theology and church history his eyes lit up and he immediately sent what can only be described as a barrage of theological questions my way.

Rob asked me some good questions, like who is God? And what is God’s name? I proceeded with a brief discourse about the trinity, to which Rob replied by asking me where in the Bible it talked about the nature of God. I quoted a few passages and then went on to talk about some of the erroneous views of Christ, as Rob asked me some more questions. The questions kept coming and the conversation continued into the next half hour or so. After we reached a point where Rob was sufficiently satisfied that he understood what I believed about God, he then informed me with a grin on his face that he did not believe in the trinity, and that he did not believe that Jesus was God.

To say that I was shocked at this information would not do justice to my internal reaction upon hearing this from Rob. I didn’t know what to say as Rob launched into a discourse that involved his misinterpretation of key passages in the New Testament. The whole time he was speaking, I kept thinking to myself, “is this really happening?”

Knowing that Rob was an influential youth group sponsor, not to mention a member of my home church, I couldn’t resist asking him if the elders of our church knew what he believed. He informed me that they did, and that they had told him they didn’t mind as long as he still believed that Jesus was the Son of God. I went home that afternoon in a haze of confusion, unable to make any sense out of the nonsense I had just heard from this guy that I really did have some genuine respect for, and to tell you the truth, I was even a little depressed by it all.  I felt kind of like I had stumbled into the bizzaro world from Superman, where everything is the complete opposite of what it’s supposed to be.

For anyone who doesn’t know, the deity of Jesus Christ as part of the Trinity is a fundamental, basic doctrine of Christianity, and has been since the inception of the Church. This is also referred to as the Incarnation, which means that Jesus is God come into human history in the flesh. It is the foundation of our entire faith. The scriptures are not vague on this particular issue; they are in fact abundantly clear. Even the Jehovah’s Witnesses, who do not believe that Christ is God, have been forced to produce their own separate mistranslation of the Bible in an effort to avoid the point that Christ is God. If Satan was only ever able to tell one single lie, somewhere at the top of his list would be the lie that Jesus is not God. Because if Satan can get someone to believe that, he can get them to believe absolutely anything. Let’s take a look at the scriptures, shall we?

Matthew 1:22 and Isaiah 7:14
“All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’—which means, ‘God with us.’”

Matthew 4:10
“Jesus said to him, ‘Away from me, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

Matthew 28:9
“So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.’”

Mark 2:5-7
“When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’
Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, ‘Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?’”

John 1:1-5, 14
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it… The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John 5:17-23
“Jesus said to them, ‘My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.’ For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

 

Jesus gave them this answer: ‘I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.’”

Exodus 3:13-14 and John 8:57-58
“Moses said to God, ‘Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them? God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

 

“You are not yet fifty years old,’ the Jews said to him, ‘and you have seen Abraham!’
‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!’”

John 10:27-33
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.’ Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, ‘I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?’ ‘We are not stoning you for any of these,’ replied the Jews, ‘but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.’”

John 12:44-46
“Then Jesus cried out, ‘When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.’”

John 20:28-29
“A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.’ Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’”

Acts 20:28
“Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.”

Romans 9:5
“Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.”

Colossians 1:15-20
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

Colossians 2:8-10
“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.”

Philippians 2:5-11
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

1 Corinthians 8:4-6
“So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.”

Titus 2:11-14
“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”

1 John 5:20
“We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”

Hebrews 1:8
But about the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.’”

2 Peter 1:1
“Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:”

Revelation 1:8 and 17-18
“’I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’”

“When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: ‘Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.’”

Likewise, the following sets of verses are places where the New Testament refers to Christ by the same designation used to refer to God in the Old Testament:

“First and Last”
Isaiah 41:4; 44:6; 48:12 – cf. – Revelation 1:17; 2:8; 22:13

“Light”
Psalm 27:1 – cf. – John 1:9

“Rock”
Psalm 18:2; 95:1 – cf. – 1 Corinthians 10:4; 1 Peter 2:6-8

“Husband” or “Bridegroom”
Hosea 2:16; Isaiah 62:5 – cf. – Ephesians 5:28-33; Revelation 21:2

“Shepherd”
Psalm 23:1 – cf. – Hebrews 13:20

“Redeemer”
Hosea 13:14; Psalm 130:7 – cf. – Titus 2:14; Revelation 5:9

“Savior”
Isaiah 43:3 – cf. – John 4:42

“Lord of Glory”
Isaiah 42:8 – cf. – 1 Corinthians 2:8

In summation, there is this thing that we Christians believe called the doctrine of the Trinity, which in short means that there is one God, revealed to us as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

For anyone struggling to better understand the doctrine of the Trinity, I would recommend a reading of Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, wherein he devotes several chapters to the subject. His discussion of the Trinity helped me a great deal at a time when I was searching for more clarity on this doctrine.