Recognizing Satan's Voice

In the 1980's Metropolitan Life adopted the motto, "Get Met. It Pays." Why else would someone buy an insurance policy? If it doesn't pay to own the policy why on earth would I want to fund it? The message of the contemporary church has sometimes been, "Get Christ. He Pays." It's obviously true that Jesus paid the ransom for sin, however, the message that Jesus makes everything in life work out the way it should is simply a lie. As we studied this morning it is the voice of Satan that finds expression in many unexpected avenues.

Questions related to why God allows pain and suffering are essentially intellectual queries. This is not to say that they are invalid; rather, it simply means they are questions that can be discussed and debated in the comfort of one's living room. The question asked by the book of Job is a heart probing question that involves one's whole being. The question raised by the author of Job strikes at the root of whether or not one is truly following the God of the Bible or has imagined God to be something other than who he is. The question is simply, "Will you follow God even if everything goes wrong?" Or, to reverse the question, "Do you only follow God because of the benefits you receive?"

C. S. Lewis struggled with both questions. In his book, The Problem of Pain, Lewis expertly analyzes the problem as an intellectual. He describes his former atheist position and then explains how, as a Christian, he now address the issues. After experiencing the gut wrenching agony of losing his beloved wife to cancer he wrote a different book, A Grief Observed. No longer was the issue of pain simply intellectual. He now had to decide if he would follow a God who gave no guarantees concerning earthly pleasure and happiness. This is a most difficult book to read because the depth of struggle to which the author sinks is so depressing that I found myself wrestling with the question. Thankfully, by the end of the book he decides to stay with God even without having his questions answered. May my faith sustain me to that same end.

The Heart of A Shepherd

After church several people expressed interest in purchasing The Way of the Shepherd. According to Amazon it is soon to be released in paperback but they still have hardback copies available. Click here for more details.

It appears my brother's "sheep dung" comments were as accurate as they were humorous. I noticed a number of the more senior members commented on that fact. Perhaps the older we get, and the more we are involved in relationships with people we love, the more we realize how truly messy life can be.

I'm so thankful that God, in his wisdom, saw fit to equip his church with men who can lovingly shepherd the flock. The part of Ezekiel I choose not to read this morning (for the sake of time) talks about the strong sheep taking advantage of the weak. The text mentions these insensitive, abusive sheep eating their fill and then trampling the pasture with their feet (making the grass uneatable) and muddying the water after having their fill of drink. Ezekiel continues, "Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, I will save my flock and they will no longer be plundered." (Ezekiel 34:21-22). Perhaps the most unenviable task of congregational shepherds is recognizing the bullies in a congregation and not allowing them to abuse people.

The goal of congregational shepherds is to see the flock grow strong in their faith and commitment to Jesus Christ their Lord. For that to happen the flock must have good solid Bible teaching, protection from abuse, and guidance in practical ways of living the life of a disciple. An awesome task, but God equips his people with everything they need to accomplish his will. This includes godly shepherds. May He bless us as we select these men.

The Selection of Overseers

I sat in a couple of meetings this afternoon that were quite encouraging. Our spiritual direction (SD) committee meeting met today. We listened to one of our church members describing the work of our newly formed adult education committee. This committee has done a lot of hard work and I know the whole church will benefit in the near future as a result. But what I noticed today was how engaged the five elders who sit on the SD committee were. They were asking questions, encouraging the one making the presentation, making suggestions, and basically keeping themselves informed about what is happening that has the potential to provide our church with spiritual formation. After that we discussed other matters of importance including some follow up visits the shepherds have been making with people who have not been seen at church in some time.

We talked some about the many visitors we have been having at church lately and how difficult it is to remember names and stories that people tell us. One overseer said that he was going to begin keeping a small notebook with him for the purpose of helping his memory. We also talked about how important it is that every visitor to our service be greeted and welcomed. Again, the shepherds discussed ways that we could ensure that would happen.

After that meeting I sat with the Spanish Ministry committee and again was able to observe one shepherd in particular as he listened well, asked good questions, offered suggestions, and demonstrated personal insight into people and how this ministry can be effective.

I'm in the middle of a three sermon series on selecting shepherds, however, I think the best sermon is being preached by the shepherds who are now serving. They are involved in people's lives because they truly care about them. They are engaged in discussions with the other leaders of the church because they want to see every ministry of the church succeed. We need to add to their number those who have like-minded hearts, servant spirits, and mature, spiritual lives. Continue to ask God to reveal to us whom he has prepared for this special role among his people. And keep your eyes open to see who is already serving in this way.

The Function of Elders

I really enjoyed sharing the stage this morning with two of our congregational shepherds. I think it worked out better to hear them speak from their experience of serving in that role rather than to hear me talk about the function of elders in theory.

A lot of people worked behind the scenes to help make our worship service successful this morning. Transitioning our assemblies into the gym is no small task. Since I was gone all last week to take a course in Spiritual Formation at ACU, I really don't know exactly who was involved in the transition. However, I know Alan Richards, Boyce Tate, Scott Shaffer, and David Layman spent many hours setting up. I appreciate their service (and others who I have failed to mention.)

One Word for the New Year

After the sermon today someone asked me what the one word was. I made a big deal about the one word in the introduction and told the congregation that I would not reveal the one word until the conclusion. I'm not sure if the person was just checking to make sure they had it right, or if I had completely failed to communicate. In the reciprocal reading we did from 1 Corinthians 13 the final line, . . . . that we all read together, . . . . and which formally ended the sermon was, "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." I guess at that point I could have said, "And so the one word for the new year is love." I could have done that but thought just ending with the verse would be sufficient. I'm going to believe that the person who asked me that question had the word love in mind and was just checking to make sure that I hadn't slipped another word in when they weren't paying attention. I'm going to believe that, and if I'm wrong then just consider this an opportunity to put your love in practice. Love the preacher even when he does not make the point of his sermon clear. Either way I think this will work out well.