Moving on to Maturity

Posted on July 24, 2016 by Don Merritt

Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And God permitting, we will do so.

Hebrews 6:1-3

For me, this little bit of text always brings me up short, for we see that the things we almost always talk about are the “elementary teachings,” the “milk” but not “solid food” of maturity at all! Let’s take a closer look:

“…not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God…” This is something we need to see in a different way, for it isn’t maturity in Christ. What is this “foundation” for repentance from sins and faith in God?

Think…

It is the cross.  All of us take everything back to the cross, and properly so, but we normally do that as if the cross was the end, but it is not the end; the cross is the beginning of the story. Yes, it’s true, as awe-inspiring, wonderful and amazing as it is in its fullness and mercy and love, the cross is the beginning, not the end of maturity.  “Cleansing rites” for us today would be in the same category as rituals, ceremonies, styles of worship and so forth.  These things are elementary, “young” and baby milk things, not the sort of things that the mature in the faith are much concerned with. “Laying on of hands” and other spiritual gifts are wonderful, but elementary.  Resurrection, eternal life, and judgment are at the beginning of the process, wonderful promises, and highly instructive at an early stage of growth, but they are not in and of themselves maturity in Christ. Can you see why I said that these are things we always talk about?  Yet, they are milk, not solid food for adults; God permitting, we will move on from these things.

Before I close out this section, let’s pause and take stock.  Hebrews is written to Jewish Christians in Rome who are being persecuted by the Emperor Nero, one of history’s most notorious criminals.  The author is writing this to encourage them, to instruct them and to hopefully energize them so that they do not give up their faith in the stress of persecution. Doesn’t it seem reasonable to suggest that their “elementary” spiritual development might be the cause of their temptation to drift away? I hope that we too, will reflect on this.

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Relationship 201

Posted on July 23, 2016 by Don Merritt

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Many of you who read this are familiar with the concept of spiritual disciplines. A spiritual discipline is a spiritual practice that is designed to bring a person closer to God by doing a thing or things such as prayer, meditation, and spending time in solitude or engaging in the study of the Bible. In fact, there are many classical spiritual disciplines and most scholars that I am familiar with identify around 25 “classical” spiritual disciplines. , inclusive of the ones I just mentioned. In addition to the “classical” disciplines, there are also “expressive” disciplines such as writing, teaching, art, musical performance and so on, which have the goal of bringing a person or group closer in relationship to God; I’ve written on this before, and you can find a series on this topic under the tab “The Journey” at the top of the screen.

For this post, I want to discuss briefly one of the expressive spiritual disciplines which is praying God’s Word. This is, in a sense, the combination of two classical disciplines, the study of the Word and prayer. The result of this combination is powerful, to say the least, because it leads a person directly into a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ that is much more interactive than the classical disciplines of Bible study and formal prayer normally do.

Everyone knows about prayer, but Bible study is often quite a different thing, for it is largely a mental process of learning facts, discovering meaning and background; it tends to be academic in nature. That is not to suggest that Bible study is a bad thing; may it never be said! Yet I must remind you that many of the greatest Bible scholars are not believers, just as most people who are experts in Greek Mythology are not believers in Greek gods. While classical Bible study is very important for any Christian, the fact remains that it can also be confining spiritually, and thus we find the reason to combine it with prayer which is a spiritual exercise.

If I haven’t scared you off, here’s how you do it:

Take a short text, say for instance Hebrews 1:1-4. I like to begin by thanking God for His Word, and for my access to it, and then ask Him to reveal its contents to me. I actually pray the text, or to put it another way, the Bible text is my prayer. I go through it in very short little pieces, a phrase or a clause at a time. As I go, depending on the phrase or clause, I might give Him praise for it or give Him thanks for it. I might also ask Him what it means, how I should understand it. As I continue I go through the entire chunk of text in this way, but as often as not, I find myself going other places as well, places He leads me to in Scripture and I see connections I hadn’t seen before. Sometimes He leads me to aspects of my life or attitudes that I have which need my attention.

The point is simply this: I have found, as many others over the centuries have also found, that this is an excellent and simple way to deepen a relationship with our Lord, as well as an excellent way to increase spiritual discernment across the board. Consequently, I would strongly recommend it for anyone who desires a closer walk with Christ, and it is an excellent way to become “naked before God” as we discussed earlier this year in some detail. If you haven’t seen those posts, I would suggest checking out the tab at the top of the page entitled “Nakedness as a Metaphor in Scripture” for further information.

As I wrap this post up, it occurs to me that I might write a Relationship 301 next time… I’ll think it over and let you know.

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Relationship 101

Posted on July 22, 2016 by Don Merritt

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

What is God’s will for us? Where can we find joy? Is it God’s will that we find joy? What should we pray about?

All these questions are answered in the three short verses above!  God’s will for us is that we be joyful, that we pray continually, and that we give thanks in all circumstances.

I don’t know about you, but this seems rather simple to me. Why do so many people say that it is so hard?

When we pray, whose presence are we in?  God’s of course.

How easy is it to slip back into the old ways when we are in His presence?  Not very, for we are centering on our relationship with Him.  We fall backwards when we are looking away from Him, isn’t that right? So, maybe the key is to do what Paul said, and pray continually.

But how?  We have families, chores, jobs, school… The answer is so easy and so obvious that most of us miss it; just talk to Him.

Yes, that’s right, just talk to Him!!!

Talk to the Lord all the time.  Start when you wake up, “Good morning, Lord, thanks for a new day.”  Was that difficult?  Then, as you get ready, keep talking to Him about your day, about the things on your mind, about how much you love Him, and how thankful you are for all that He has done in your life, and the lives of those around you.  Talk to Him about how much you want to serve Him today, and that you want to serve Him today because you love Him.  Talk to Him on your way out the door, on the bus, in traffic, at your work station.  Talk to Him about your work and how you want to do the very best you can so that that He can be glorified… because of how much you love Him.  Talk to Him at lunch, on your way home, in the kitchen, at the dinner table…

Develop the habit of talking to God.  Approach this not in fear and trembling, but as though you are with your very best friend in all the world… because you are!  He is the friend that you can say everything to, your fears, your sins, your mistakes… He knows about them anyway, so why not get these things off your chest? You see, we don’t need any formal written prayers, that are of dubious value anyway, for this isn’t a corporate or ceremonial thing.  It’s just you and the Lord.  Nobody needs to know, except for the Lord… but soon, everybody will see the difference it makes in who you are and how you behave.  They will see your joy, your inner peace and your new inner strength.  Your whole outlook on life will change as you make this practice a part of who you are in Christ, for this is where spiritual growth will take place.

None of this means that you might not have a more formal time set aside for prayer and reflection; this will enhance it.  This does not mean that you don’t study the Word; it will enhance your study. This does not mean that you skip church; it will enhance it.

Some of you will note that I’m not saying anything that hasn’t been said before by others, and that is true.  This practice of continual prayer is as old as the Scriptures, and over the centuries many have written about it, including Brother Lawrence in the classic “The Practice of the Presence of God.”  You need not take my word for it, you can get that on the internet for free.

Or, you can just start talking to God right now.  Tell Him how much you love Him in your own simple words, in your own heartfelt way, and be ready to be amazed at where he will lead you.

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Rejoicing or Groaning

Posted on July 22, 2016 by Don Merritt

When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice;
But when a wicked man rules, the people groan.

Proverbs 29:2

If you ask most people whether they would prefer to be ruled by righteous or wicked rulers, I think it’s safe to say that they would want to be ruled by righteous rulers: So how do wicked ones get elected? If you ask most people if they would rather work for righteous employers or wicked ones, they would say they’d rather work for the righteous: So where do the wicked ones get their workers?

Maybe there are times when the two are hard to tell apart. Maybe one of the things that makes a wicked person wicked is that they can fool people, that they are really adept liars who deceive people; yes, that might be a big part of being wicked. It could even be true that in some cases, most people would compromise integrity to get something extra.

For instance, a pretty good person might be willing to overlook a little bit of wickedness in a leader, if that leader promised something, like new benefits of some kind, or maybe we might be tempted to overlook a problematic boss who pays a little more than the others do. Maybe I should let an ethicist take it from here…

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that I just like to simplify things as much as possible, and these questions really aren’t that difficult; what do we do with the complexities and compromises that we will face in this life? We will simply take our guidance from our Lord; see how simple that was?

All right, so maybe that’s easier to say than to do, but He will surely guide us when we take things to Him, when we ask Him to guide us, and we are willing to go where he leads us… notice that I am presupposing we have relationships with Him. Having a relationship with our Lord Jesus is really the key to most all questions we will face in this life. I don’t mean just a relationship of forms and “practices”, but a relationship that is interactive and intimate. Over the years, I’ve been asked how to do this by so many people; it is probably the question I’ve been asked most often, in fact.

Later today, I’m going to post a sort of beginning to this relationship; let’s call it “Relationship 101”, tomorrow I’ll post the next step, “Relationship 201” and I hope these can help anybody get started, as well as serving as a refresher for all of you “old pros” out there… and me too for that matter.

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Making Your Point by Changing the Meaning of Words

Posted on July 21, 2016 by Don Merritt

It is entirely normal for word usage to change over time as a language and culture evolves. This is one reason that most people today no longer use the older English translations of the Bible; they are written in a language nobody speaks in the 21st century. I mentioned in a post a few years ago that once upon a time I had a bunch of people in a Sunday School class who objected to the NIV being used in class, preferring instead the King James. I offered to teach the entire class from then on in King James English and we took a vote: King James English won the day, and the following week, I spoke only in 1611 English.

The people couldn’t follow very much, quickly became frustrated, and the point was made. A new vote was taken, and we returned to language they understood the next week.

Yes indeed, language can change over time… It is a natural progression. Yet it can also change for other reasons, reasons that are not so natural. This happens when language is changed for political reasons as a way to change social and cultural attitudes and norms, without running into opposition to what might have been considered radical change at some point. In our time, we have a name for this kind of change; we call it “political correctness”. Ever since this trend began back in the late ‘70’s and early ‘80’s, I have been amazed that nobody seems to have noticed the word “correctness” in political correctness; where is the outcry at having an opinion forced upon us; aren’t we all entitled to have our own political opinions?

No, we are not, for there are some who reserve the right to determine which political opinions are “correct”, and that is hard to deny when that very word is in the title: Words mean things!

Political correctness requires that the meaning of certain words must change to fit the political narrative, and two such words are the words “tolerance” and “intolerance”. Here are the definitions of these words from the 1828 edition of Webster’s Dictionary:

The power or capacity of enduring; or the act of enduring

Here is the latest online definition from Merriam-Webster:

willingness to accept feelings, habits, or beliefs that are different from your own

Did you catch the distinction between “endure” and “accept”? For me, this distinction becomes clearer when we look at the differences in the word “intolerance”, first the 1828 definition:

Want of toleration; the not enduring at all or not suffering to exist without persecution; as the intolerance of a prince or a church towards a religious sect.

Now the modern definition:

a reluctance to grant rights to other people

When I was a kid in school a half century ago, I was taught the meaning of these two words, I was taught to be tolerant of views that differ from my own, which required that I be respectful of others even when we disagree on something, or in the language of the school yard, you don’t get to beat them up if they are different than you… but you don’t have to agree either. Is that how the politically correct crowd understands this?

Hardly, for they are the most intolerant of all, but then why should that come as news to anyone; they are the ones who determine which opinions are “correct” and which are “incorrect”. The result of this “correctness” is a psychological phenomenon called “groupthink”. Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome. We can see the results of this all around us.

Believe it or not, I have actually heard Christians say that we must be politically correct; I’ve even heard this said in Sunday worship. Can anyone explain to me why Christians would submit to political correctness? If so, please leave a comment.

I guess this surprises me because it is NOT politically correct to even BE a Christian; signing onto political correctness strikes me as a sort of suicide pact.

I know that some might respond to this by calling me a “racist sexists homophobic pig”, for such is the normal intolerance of those who buy into this groupthink… so by all means, call me names in a comment (no four letter words that begin with “f” please).

For the rest of us who are followers of Jesus Christ, we know the way of love, and we will reply with respect and kindness even though we might disagree, while reserving our right to hold on to our beliefs… just as Jesus would do.

Anybody want to discuss the repercussions of allowing the meaning of the word “gender” to be changed? How about the expressions “social justice” and “economic justice”? You see dear reader, many words and expressions have had their meanings changed over the last 30 years or so, and as a result, we are being torn apart as a Nation, and we aren’t the only ones.

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To Return Home

Posted on July 21, 2016 by Don Merritt

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When the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion,
We were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
And our tongue with singing.
Then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
The Lord has done great things for us,
And we are glad.

Psalm 126:1-3 (NKJV)

David wrote of the time when the captives were able to return to their homeland, to Zion, the mountain where the Lord made His dwelling. He wrote of the pure joy of returning home, to the place where God made His dwelling in the midst of His people; the people were filled with laughter, so great was their happiness. The surrounding nations could see what God had done for them, for indeed, God had done great things for His people.

Have you ever been taken into captivity spiritually? Have you ever felt as though you have been taken far from the place where God dwells in the midst of His people? I’ve had those times, too. Maybe you’re in such a place right now…

For most of us, we don’t come into such a predicament because we were carried off by a foreign army, more likely it was by a series of choices; it might even have taken place because of unwise choices made by other people… and there we are, out in the wilderness alone.

Yet, the good news is that we don’t have to stay in captivity; we can go home again. For the Israelites, going home was a tough thing to do involving an arduous journey, and that might be the case for some of us as well, but God saw them through their trials, and will see us through ours.

There is nothing better in this life than to be in the place where God dwells in the midst of His people; do we really want to stay away for another day?

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Photo of the Week: July 20, 2016

Posted on July 20, 2016 by Don Merritt

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Regular, Sweet, Unsweetened and the Highly Irregular

Posted on July 20, 2016 by Don Merritt

My favorite two drinks in all the world are water and iced tea; oh I like other things too, but these are my favorites. Particularly in the summer, I enjoy a glass of iced tea…shutterstock-10-28866091412-original-web

I first came to enjoy iced tea back when I was about 5 years old, my mom would let me have a small glass on a hot afternoon, and she let me load it up with sugar. My favorite part of this little ritual was at the end, when I could take the long spoon and scrape up the undissolved sugar from the bottom of the glass. Yet as time went on, I put less and less sugar in my iced tea, and by the time I was a teen, I didn’t add sugar at all; ever since that time, the idea of adding sugar to tea has sounded patently ridiculous to me… what’s the point?

OK, maybe I just lost my sweet tooth.

Recently my wife and I were in a restaurant. As I usually do, I ordered iced tea with my meal, and the nice waitress asked me an odd question: “Regular or unsweetened?”

I have a nasty habit of responding to what people say rather than to what they mean, so without thinking I said, “Oh I want regular tea, but without any sugar in it.”

“He means unsweetened,” my wife added, being helpful.

“Sir, I hope you understand that tea has to be processed to take the sweetness out it and it’s very unhealthy,” said our nice waitress in all seriousness. ”I can’t recommend it.”

My jaw dropped.

I understand that in many parts of the southern U.S. sweet tea is a regular part of the cuisine, but this young lady was in Northern Illinois and her accent was very Chicago… Perhaps she was confusing iced tea with decaf coffee and the arsenic used in that process, I don’t know, but I felt like I was in an episode of the “Twilight Zone” for just a moment.

The words we choose can have interesting implications, interesting connotations. When we refer to brewed tea in its natural state as “unsweetened” we run the risk of giving the false impression that tea comes with sugar, even though anyone who has ever brewed tea knows otherwise. To be quite fair, there is nothing inherently wrong with using the word “unsweetened” for it means that no sweetening agent has been added, but when you pair it with “regular” or even “sweet” there is another meaning that many people, in spite of knowing better, will pick up, and that is the idea that it has somehow been made irregular or altered to remove its sweetness.

Here’s another example of this process: Many years ago a man who owned a fast food franchise told me that he could increase his profit margin by having his employees change the way they ask what size of fries or drinks their customers wanted. If they simply ask what size people want, they will usually say “medium”. If they ask whether the customer wants “small or large” the customer will normally say “small”. But, if they are trained to simply say “regular or small” the customer will go for “regular” almost every time… cha-ching!

Just think, what kind of mischief can a politician create if he or she is clever with words…?

As for me, I think I’ll take my tea the way it comes, no sugar, zero calories. You are free to enjoy the sweetened stuff with a few hundred empty sugar calories added if you like…

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Days of Praise

Posted on July 20, 2016 by Don Merritt

I will exalt you, my God the King;
I will praise your name for ever and ever.
Every day I will praise you
and extol your name for ever and ever.

Psalm 145:1-2

Have you ever just sat back and considered everything God has done in your life? For most of us, we don’t take the time to do this often enough; I know I don’t.  It may be hard to get started, as thoughts about the here and now rush though our minds, as the distractions and demands of everyday life make so much noise that it’s hard to think. Yet as we continue to ponder, as we begin to relax, God’s doings begin to enter our thoughts, and before too long, they push the distractions away.

We might even move on to ponder and reflect upon what God has done in His Creation; the wonder of all it, its grandeur so magnificent.

When we invest a little time and attention in this way, it isn’t easy to remain silent, is it?

Our God is so amazing, so awesome, so powerful, so loving; how can we think on such things and not enthusiastically give Him praise?

Funny thing about exaltation; once you get started, it’s hard to stop. Imagine what it would be like if we did this every day; don’t you suppose that every day would be as amazing as the things God does in our lives? Oh yes, I bet they would be; can you guess why?

If we began each day reflecting upon all that God is and does in our lives, we would be seeing all that He does each day as we go along, and each day we would be giving him enthusiastic praise, and when you do that, it’s hard to stop… and each day would then become a day of praise.

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The Gospel Unchained

Posted on July 19, 2016 by Don Merritt

Acts 28:17-31

For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!

Acts 28:30-31

Luke ends his narrative with these words, which wrap up the theme of the book that was stated by Jesus Himself back in 1:8:

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

If you think about it, it really is an amazing story of God overcoming everything this world could throw in his way. There is Paul, having been taken to Rome as a prisoner of the State, kept in chains under house arrest for two years, during which he taught, preached and wrote, right in the very heart of the Roman world.

In this text, Luke also records some of the conversation Paul had with the Jews of Rome, a conversation that changed some minds, and yet left others entrenched against the Way. Yet even in that, the Gospel had gone forth, and Paul had shown them exactly what was going on from the Scriptures, as Luke’s mention of Isaiah 6 shows so well (28:26-27).  Thus, when you come right down to it, we can see that while the world of the first century was different in so many ways; its essence is very much like our own. We, like the disciples of old, are charged with proclaiming the Gospel. Many will listen and receive it, more will not. There will be obstacles to be overcome, there will be persecution and opposition, hardships and struggles, yet the Gospel will be proclaimed, and God will build His kingdom.

In the final analysis, it will be up to each person to decide for him or her self whether or not to receive God’s offer of grace. Yet in this, it is not for us to judge or attempt to force anyone in making their decision, for that is not the way of love. However, it is for us to share, to encourage, to serve and to boldly proclaim the salvation that Jesus shed His blood to make possible.

The rest is up to God.

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