Proverbs 29:11

A friend of mine confessed not too long ago that he struggles with his temper.  Perhaps it would be better to say that he struggles with people when things don’t go his way: lines to long, waitress takes too long, someone seated ahead of he and his family when he’s been waiting, when he’s sold the wrong item, etc.  He has a tendency to go from casual moment to defcon 5 in a heartbeat.  he knows this is not right and he also knows he has developed a reputation for it.

I was reading this passage and thought of him.  In fact, I am sending him a text with this verse in it, not to punish or abuse him but just to remind him.  perhaps the next time he thinks about blowing up, God will bring this verse to mind and that might slow the eruption.  I don’t think I can do this wit everyone, but we have built a friendship over a lot of years.

Sometimes what we read is for us and sometimes it can be a word by us, especially if we have been given permission to speak the truth in love into a buddy’s life.

In this verse I think the key phrase is “full vent”…it’s a picture of just opening up the dam and somewhat losing control of all the water.  It’s not that we can’t speak and we can’t have an opinion; and it’s not that we are to be a victim, but Proverbs 15:1 says a “gentle answer turns away wrath but a harsh word stirs up anger.”  Perhaps this verse is as much about balance as anything.

dwight

Tell Me How You Really Feel – Proverbs 27

I like to joke around.  It helps me as I interact with people and show the lighter side of who I am (actually the more common side of who I am).  I feel like if I don’t take the time to find the humor in everything, that I can easily become cynical, angry, and quite depressing, even to my own outlook.  Sarcasm can sometimes be a part of my conversation, not because I want to put anyone down, but simply as another form at being (or more likely attempting) to be funny.

Often I can be and have been around people who are passive aggressive in their nature.  Sometimes when I hear people vent, I want to break the tension in the conversation and say, “Why don’t you tell them (or me) how you really feel?”  It’s a humorous break in a tense situation, but I don’t mean much by it except to help someone see a lighter side to an infuriating or depressing moment.

What I had never realized until recently is that this statement, although humorous in its intentionality, is quite Biblical.  Verse 5 in Proverbs 27 says, “Better is open rebuke than hidden love.”  Let that settle for a moment.  Not many of us would rise and make this statement as their preferred method of communication with others.  Who actually enjoys being criticized and confronted in a moment of being wrong?  Certainly not myself, however good and necessary it may be.

I would much rather people love me, whether I know it or not.  Yet, the more I think about it, it’s not the position I need to be in nor a position I should want to be in.  What good are people that love me, if I never know about it?  What good is their affection for me as a person or for what I do for the sake of the Gospel if I am never encouraged by them being brought to my attention?

In the same thought process, what good is someone who openly rebukes me?  I don’t want anything to do with that.  I could care less if they don’t like something about me or what I do.  Yet again, that is not the right attitude either. I need to refocus, put these two contrasts into their proper perspective.  So what is this statement really telling us about confrontation and admiration?

Rather than assume that rebuke is coming from an enemy, we should look at it from the perspective that it is coming from someone who cares and loves us.  True rebuke and constructive criticism will always come from someone who has your best at heart, who wants to see you succeed and learn from your mistakes.  In reality, it’s open love, just manifest in a different way.

In the same vein, hidden love does us no good because it is not shared or expressed.  If they truly loved you, they would say something.  What good is their love if they don’t care enough to do what they can to encourage and equip you as a believer, friend, etc.?  The more I think about it, the more I am convinced – I don’t want someone to love me privately.  I’d rather be rebuked openly by someone who loves me because their rebuke is a part of their love and care for me.

THAT is why open rebuke is better than hidden love.  Assuming it is coming from a compassionate heart, I’ll take it any day.  I may not like it (in fact, I know I won’t), and I may not enjoy the moment, but I’ll certainly learn, grown and be thankful in the end – not only for what has happened and what’s been shared, but for the love and care of the person who has brought it to my attention.  Do you have people like this in your life?  Are you this kind of person to those whom YOU care for and love?  Take a moment today and “consider these things.”

Chriscendo

Leaving A Legacy – Proverbs 20

Here’s a really, really popular buzzword among Christians today … LEGACY.  We hear sermons preached about it, we think about it from time to time (I know I do and have), and Scripture reminds of of both what a legacy is and how it should look for those of us who are His disciples.  It really is one of the big opportunities to be known as a child of grace and to impact others for the cause of Christ.

May times I have thought that leaving a legacy was kind of like writing my own last will and testament.  What do I want people to know about my life?  How do I want to be remembered?  Will I have to forever bear a checkered past like some whose life stories are recorded in the timeless word of God?  How will people remember me when they hear my name?  What will my life’s story tell others around me?

These aren’t bad questions to ask, but I’ve noticed over time that there is one small problem with this mindset – in many ways, it’s kind of all about us.  We want to make sure we die with honor, that our name is worthy of the history books, that we will be remembered, perhaps even memorialized with a rock in a prayer garden or a plaque on a church wall.  Sure, we want to encompass all of that revelry in the Gospel and in Christ, which to me sounds a lot like using God to qualify our own vain ambitions, does it not?

So what is the real reason for leaving behind a legacy?  The answer is in Proverbs 20:7 – “The righteous who walks in his integrity – blessed are his children after him!”  Notice that the verse DOESN’T say that for the man who walks in his integrity, his name will be honored; his name will go throughout the generations; he will be remembered by the people.  Those things may be true, but the bottom line to the righteous man’s integrity is the benefit it brings to the next generation.

Why do we leave behind a legacy?  Because we want to leave the next generation with more.  We bring blessing to the next generation by being men and women of God who walk in righteousness and integrity.  Our reward is the fringe benefit they receive in being the next generation behind us.  Like Steve Green’s song says, “Oh, may all who come behind us find us faithful.  May the fire in our devotion light their way.  May the foot prints that we leave lead them to believe, and the lives we live inspire them to obey.”

I’m not sure I can say it any better.  My purpose, my desire in the legacy I want to leave behind MUST NOT be grounded in my personal tastes, desires, and wants.  It MUST be grounded in my love for and devotion to the generation that will come after me.  I will not be around forever.  Unless God returns soon, I will close my eyes in death and meet my Savior face to face.  But before I do, I want to help inspire and prepare those who will pick up the baton and carry on the work of the Lord until He says we’re done.

That is our responsibility for those of us who help lead the way for those who will carry on – our children, our grandchildren, those whom we disciple.  This is not for us, but for them.  Yes, I want to be known as a man of integrity, who lived a life that honored God and obeyed His commandments.  But more importantly, I want to live that life so that I can serve others.

Let me sum it up with words by Nicole Nordeman.  “I want to leave a legacy.  How will they remember me?  Did I choose to love? Did I point to You enough to make a mark on things?  I want to leave an offering, a child of mercy and grace who blessed your name unapologetically, and leave that kind of legacy.”  May our legacy be the offering we give in our final days to the Lord that serves those who pick up where we leave off.  Take a moment today and “consider these things.”

Chriscendo

Proverbs 8:1

My 4th-6th grade years were located in Germany on an Air Force Base and we lived on the third floor of an apartment complex.  Every day, a horn sounded to let the base know it was 5:00pm, as if it was saying “Do you know where your kids are at?”  For my brother and I, that was our clue that it was time to head home no matter where you were or what you were doing.  In fact, there was an expectation that no matter where you were, within five minutes, you should be walking in the door for supper.  There was never an argument about “I didn’t hear the horn.”  It was almost like a herd of ants when someone steps on the mound…the horn blasted and kids just scattered.

The very first verse of Proverbs 8 says, “Does not wisdom call?”  There should be no doubt that God’s desire is that each of us hear the call of wisdom.  There are no excuses for bad decisions or unclear assumptions.  God desires to pour into us His counsel and wisdom, but much like the kids of my day, not everyone wants to listen.  Sometimes we are so caught up in the game that we have to get one more out, or we have to finish building whatever it was we were building.

When I walked in the house late, there was no excuse that my father would accept.  I had heard the horn and I knew the rule.  It was always a question of whether I chose to act or not.  My dad didn’t stop loving me because I came in 5 minutes or 30 minutes late, but there was usually some consequence to my action.  IN some cases I lost time and might have to be in before the horn sounded the next day.  But usually, I just started running when the horn blasted.  I probably should have learned to get closer the later it got, but I pushed boundaries even back then.

God wants to make life as easy as possible for us but sometimes we just struggle to listen.  Wisdom is calling…can you hear it?

dwight

Can’t We All Just Get Along? – Proverbs 6

I’m not completely sure why I’m writing this – I have no hidden agenda, I’m not thinking about anyone in particular, nor am I attempting to be passive aggressive (glad we got that out of the way).  However, reading today’s passage has made me take pause at particular couple of verses in Proverbs 6.  Let me jump to the punchline and share them with you.

Verses 16-19 read, “There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.“

So what, right?  These are bad things, terrible things, things that God actually HATES.  That’s pretty strong language.  Then I began to think about the Church – not just the big “C” like Pastor Dwight explains it, but also the little “c,” meaning our local church bodies.  Above all else, I feel at times that our local communities of faith struggle in the area of unity.  After all, it’s only natural.  We are all different people with varying opinions, viewpoints, information, and perspectives.  That opens the field to a wide array of outlooks on how things should be done and/or decided in the life of a church.

Unity is something that we all should be striving for in our churches, making sure that we are never the catalyst of malice or turmoil in our church. Yet how many of us realize that we don’t have to be verbal or outspoken in order to sow the seeds of discord within our body of faith?  Yes, even in our silence we can be a source of dissension and division in our church.  How so?  Let’s go back to the passage.

In this chunk of Scripture, there are six things that God hates.  I want us to look at four of them.  Two of those four require either written or verbal action to be accomplished, while the other two can be carried out in silence unknown to those around them.  God hates “a false witness who breathes out lies” aka “a lying tongue” from v. 17, and “one who sows discord among brothers.”  Those are divisive actions.

Now notice these other two hated things by our Lord – “haughty (disdainfully proud; snobbish; scornfully arrogant) eyes,” and “a heart that devises wicked plans.”  The imminent danger in these two things are that they are attitudes of the heart, which can be concealed from others in the body.  Without lifting a finger our proud eyes and our deceptive heart can be chipping away at the foundation of our church’s unity without others knowing.  Worst of all, God hates it!

My friends, for our churches to have true unity, it has to go deeper than the superficial facade that we portray to others when we darken the doors of church on Sunday.  No, it has to be a natural conveyance of what our heart is purposed to do and desires.  After all, we’re not hiding anything from God, so how to we imagine we’re not going to damage those whom we are brought together with in community, to share life together with, when our hearts are not in the right place, even if our actions speak otherwise?

True salvation begins in the heart, just like true obedience, faithfulness, and so also follows unity.  So what does unity of our hearts look like?  That could be a blog post all in itself, but a few of those might be our faithful giving to God, because we love Him and the spreading of His Word.  It might look like more volunteering in various ministries because we can’t help but get involved in what God’s doing in our community, city, and world.

It might even look like a worship experience that defies explanation, but captures the heart of those who participate and leaves them lost in enthralled praise for who God is and what He’s done.  Hearts that are not unified in Christ cannot produce these things.  Churches cannot produce these things apart from that vital component of unity.  Will you help be a unifying member of your local body and the body at large?  Take a moment today and “consider these things.”

Chriscendo

Difficult days

It seems like that’s all we here nowadays from the pulpit, from the internet, from the news, and from people’s testimonies.  Story after story of policemen being ambushed, opposing views being labeled racist and intolerant, and more.  Even this weekend I read an article about the University of Texas removing the the statue of Jefferson Davis because he was a confederate.  It’s amazing how history is being thrown away because someone doesn’t like it.  If we’re not careful, personal opinion and personal gain will be the divining factor in all situations.

Solomon wrote in his very first Proverb – be careful…sinner’s will entice you to change your ways and your opinions and your outlook in order to (verse 19) get “unjust gains…it will take away the life of its possessors.”  The phrase means that decisions and directions will be made not because of rightness or wrongness but because of the gain of some.  In June, one of the CNN anchors even suggested that we should consider taking down the Jefferson Memorial in Washington D.C. because President Jefferson represented the South and the South represented slavery so that means he was an example of slavery.  Which is so untrue, because President Jefferson spoke against slavery on multiple occasions.

I wonder how long it will be before an opinion like that of the President of Iran that states there was no holocaust becomes an option for historical review.  Will our world come to a place where the stories and testimonies of those who endured the prison camps of WWII be removed from history as well?  Someone said the decisions that have been made recently in our country have created a slippery slope…I think it is getting more slippery with each passing day.

My point is that the moment mankind repeats itself historically, seeking to make decisions based upon its own personal preference, its going to get worse before it gets better.  It doesn’t matter whether the decision is being made in the classroom, the church, the government or in our home, the moment that our preference becomes the determining factor in right and wrong, it’s gonna go downhill fast.

You cannot change the world; you cannot change the opinion of all man, but you can change your own.

Dwight

You Are Amazing, God – Proverbs 30

How many of us have Genesis 1:1 memorized?  Perhaps many.  As we open the very first pages of our Bible, we arrive at the very first words God intended us to read and to know about Himself.  It says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  Back up to just the first few words and let it settle in for a moment – “In the beginning …. God.”  Can you imagine?  Before anything existed, before there was even light to contrast the darkness, there was an Almighty, sovereign Lord who perfectly existed in the personhood of the Trinity.

Since there was so such thing as time as we know it to be in the present, who knows how long God delighted in Himself, perfectly harmonious and at one with the Father, Son & Spirit.  Yet in the very first moments of temporal existence, He begins by creating something.  Yet He doesn’t just create anything, He creates specifically in a way that results in the existence of humanity, and thus the unfolding of the first three chapters in the book of Genesis.

I know it’s a cool thing to know that we serve and are redeemed by this Almighty, omnipotent God, but I wonder sometimes if we are truly overwhelmed by the thought, or if we just SAY we are.  What I mean is there is a dramatic difference in my mind between being cognitively enthralled with who God is, but greater to me is the moment when I’m so full of thought about the greatness of my Savior and Lord, the Father and the Holy Spirit, that I am left speechless.  I have no words to lift up in praise that do not sound trite and liturgical.  I feel almost breathless because I am contemplating the immense grandeur of One who is beyond me in so many ways, who loves me more than I’ll ever know, and who has accomplished more than I could ever have time to thank and credit Him for.

This is the God we know.  This is the God who loves me and you.  It should humble and nearly cripple us to know that by comparison we are in essence NOTHING.  Like the Psalmist writes, “What is man that you are mindful of him?”  When God responded to Job’s emotional angst in chapter 38, it is nothing short of phenomenal to read all that God is in control of, which makes us appear irrelevant by comparison.  The writer in Proverbs 30 says these words, “Who has ascended to heaven and come down?  Who has gathered the wind in his fists?  Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?  Who has established all the ends of the earth?  What is his name, and what is his son’s name?  Surely you know!“

So what should our response be to our wonderful God?  Worship would be my first response.  Praise and prayer of thanksgiving and adoration come to my mind.  We do these things corporately on the Lord’s Day as a community of faith, but how consistent is this inspired worship taking place in our lives personally?  Are we daily overwhelmed by Him?  One song says these words – “I see the work of Your Hands, galaxies spin in a Heavenly dance oh God all that You are is so overwhelming.  I hear the sound of Your Voice all at once it’s a gentle and thundering noise oh God all that You are is so overwhelming.  I delight myself in You captivated by Your beauty.  I’m overwhelmed, I’m overwhelmed by You.”

I want my private worship to look like this, and I want Yours to look like this too.  I know that when something like this is realized in our people, our communal worship becomes a truly awesome worship experience.  As we gather together today in worship, let us sing these words with passion and purpose – “Bless the Lord oh my soul,
Oh my soul.  Worship His Holy name.  Sing like never before, Oh my soul.  I’ll worship Your Holy name.”  Take some time today and “consider these things.”

Chriscendo

I Give You My Heart – Proverbs 23

I am a parent.  I’ve been a parent now for 10 years and life gets more and more interesting with each passing day.  Each week, each year brings new lessons, and a lot of the time, I’m either reminded now or I understand better the reasons and the methods behind my parents implementation of parenting me and my two brothers.  Parenting isn’t easy.  We have the God-ordained responsibility of caring for people who cannot take care of themselves, shielding them from negative influences, and most importantly, teaching them about Jesus.

It’s overwhelming sometimes.  Ok, it’s overwhelming MOST of the time.  However, it’s something I wouldn’t trade for the world.  I enjoy it, and I’m honored to be able to raise the three children that I have to love God, love each other, and love this world like Christ.  I didn’t always think this way, but as the years have rolled by, as one songwriter put it, “This is not what I was headed for when I began, this was not my plan … but everything I had to lose came back a thousand times in you … I don’t remember anymore who I even was before … this is not what I was headed for when I began, this was not my plan, it’s so much better than.”

The reason why it’s overwhelming is because I’ve learned the hard way that there is a distinct difference between having my child’s behavior modified or conformed into what I think is best, and having my child’s heart.  It’s in their heart where their will, emotions, and outlook reside.  It’s in their heart where they choose to obey out of love, fear, or hope of reward.  And at times, it feels like I need a blowtorch to get through the thick steel that seems to be blocking me out.

I want their heart, but more importantly so does the Lord.  He wants each of our hearts and he wants it to be completely sold out to him, not split, shared, or rented out to others.  Proverbs 23:26 says, “My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.”  This verse is simple yet it speaks deeply to me today.  I am a child of God, yet not just a child, I’m an heir of all that Christ has.  However, it’s not enough to just be part of the family and a partaker of the great eternity that awaits all believers, Christ wants my heart.

MY heart … YOUR heart.  Do you truthfully understand that?  If God has our heart, He has ALL of us – not just our schedule, our tithe, our moments when we volunteer, He has ALL of us.  It’s as if God is speaking directly to me when I read these words – “Chris …. give me your heart!  Watch what I do in your life and through your life as a result of this.”  It’s stunning.

Oh that we could fathom the riches of the depths of the love of God toward us and of us!  If His love for us by sending His Son to die on a sinner’s cross isn’t enough to overwhelm you, then imagine the fact that when He saves You, he makes you not only justified by God, but part of His family.  If that’s not enough, He then decides He wants to make you a joint heir with Christ, and to conform you to be just like His Son.  But even beyond all that, He loves us SO MUCH that He passionately pursues us, wanting nothing more or less than our whole heart.

Christ said the greatest commandment was to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength – meaning that obeying this command is simply reciprocating upon what God is already trying to accomplish with each of us.  My throat chokes up and my eyes begin to water because I know beyond any doubt that I’m such a failure at giving God all of my heart.  I lament with Paul in Romans 7 where I am grieved that I don’t do what I should and do what I shouldn’t.  How can I NOT want to give Him all of me, my whole heart when He has given infinitely beyond anything I can give in return?

This is our Savior!  This is our God!  Rather than wallow in self pity, let’s pick ourselves up and say, “Yes, Lord.”  Let us pray the words of the song which says, “Lord I give you my heart, I give you my soul.  I live for You alone.  Every breath that I take, every moment I’m awake, Lord have Your way in me.”  Take a moment today and “consider these things.”

Chriscendo

Proverbs 18:10

I just love this verse.  My wife is a huge fan of Disney as many know and her favorite Princess if Merida of the movie “Brave.”  Though it’s a little stretch the last scene reminds me of this verse:

When all seems lost, Merida collapses into the arms of her mother.  She admits her shortcoming and expresses her love and in the vision of Disney, all things become perfect once again.

I love knowing that no matter how messed up I make things, I can always run into My Father’s Arms and once again, all things will be made perfect.  Do not assume that I miss the poi of repentance or confession, but the point is that He is always there!

dwight

 

Why I Love Senior Saints – Proverbs 16

If I haven’t said it enough before, I’ll say it again – I love my church family!  In recent days, I came to learn that (as long as my math is right) about half of our congregation’s members are comprised of those who are ages 60 and older.  That was a staggering number to me at first, but then in the next moment I began to think to myself, “What a privilege!”  How many churches can say that?  What a goldmine of wisdom and experience that is represented in this demographic of our community of faith at Erlanger Baptist Church.

I bring this up, because I feel like the older generation of believers in many churches do not seem to have the voice they once had.  Some modern models of church growth and planting have specifically ignored this great group of saints all in the name of reaching the millennial generation.  While I appreciate people caring about MY generation and it’s need for the Gospel, do we not commit the greater crime by ignoring the generations that helped get us to this moment?

Even our secular culture can be disdainful towards those older and perhaps even more feeble than we are.  They are insignificant, in the way, and in some extreme philosophies of thinking, a burden on society.  How reprehensible!  How awful that we would be so quick to write off those who do not have the same vigor, mental stamina, or physical prowess as those much younger?  Why do we do this?  I ask, because as I see it (and Scripture confirms this) we are ignoring what is one of our greatest assets in life, and in our spiritual journey.

Enter Proverbs 16:31.  It says, “Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.”  Contrary to what culture may say, our senior saints are a vital asset to the Church, to culture, and to our lives personally.  God’s Word tells us that one of the obvious signs of aging (the gray hair) is a gift, yes, a gift from God to those who have been on this earth longer than us.  Ephesians 6 reminds us that old age is a reward for obedience to God and to our parents while on this earth.

Encouragingly, some cultures did see these people as important and they were given great and honorable respect among the people.  In fact, in Roman culture, older people were treated with greater respect than those who were wealthy or in great seats of power.  Many of the older generation were revered almost to the point of being gods by the younger generation.  It pains me to see that this is not the case in our culture today, and even in our church culture.

We who are younger need to be reminded that the grey hair, the white locks of older age are “a great honor and ornament, as it is a singular blessing of God, a token of great experience and prudence” (from Matthew Poole commentary).  The older generation have so many things to share with those of us who have not lived those years of life yet – so many stories to be told, so many testimonies of God’s grace and power in their lives, so many experiences (both good and bad) along their life’s journey.

I’ve learned in recent years to be especially thankful for the older generation in my church.  I love to hear them talk about things they have done, what they have witnessed in history with their own eyes, how they have seen the cultural shift take place over the years, as well as all the wise insights they have gleaned from trial and error and those who have gone before them.

But what I enjoy most is hearing them speak about God’s amazing grace – His grace in their salvation, His grace in their darkest moments, His grace in their times of joy, and His grace in the life of their church.  Nothing, I believe, compares to these true stories of bragging on God.  Like the song we have been singing says, “As saints of old still line the way, retelling triumphs of His grace, we hear their call, and hunger for the day when with Christ we stand in glory.”

As a worship pastor, I praise God that the color of the heads in our congregation is not limited to blonde, brown, black and red.  I feel privileged to be able to worship with those who have seen God’s work first-hand in ways that I have yet to experience.  Senior saints of EBC, you have my respect, and my thanks, but most of all, I love you all dearly!  Friends, thank God for our senior saints!  Take a moment today and “consider these things.“