Being a Citizen of Heaven

(image courtesy of gdlchurch.com)

I recently preached a message based on Paul’s letter to the Philippians, 3:17-4:1. In it the Apostle marks a stark difference between those who do not follow God from those that do. In stating this difference, he used a phrase that piqued my interest and was the motivation behind this message.

Paul talks about this difference in this way:

            … many live as enemies of Christ. ¹⁹ Their destiny is destruction, their god is their   stomach, and their glory is their shame. ²⁰ But our citizenship is in heaven. (vv. 18b-20a)

Citizenship in heaven? What does that entail? As I pondered this, I began to consider what it is to be a citizen of the country I live in, the United States.

The Declaration of Independence states that all of us are created equal, that we are endowed by the Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.                                                                                     

Like many, I suppose, I have a tendency to take these rights for granted. I am attempting to stay more aware of these things so that I might be better attuned to try to effect change for those who are not being treated equally.

As I think about my rights and responsibilities with regard to being a citizen of heaven, I find that here as well I am a work in progress.

Considering your heavenly citizenship will call you to think and act in ways that will seem contrary to the world around you. And though it will present its own unique set of challenges for each of us, our goal is to simply stay aware of what I’m calling: dual citizenship. Attempting to keep our hearts and mind focused on Christ will, even if it is ever so slowly, work change into us. It is a process.

The process of transformation that Paul mentions in the letter to the Philippians is an on-going event. You and I are being transformed into the image of Christ. Image: something like or reflecting the presence of. I’m not saying that we are to walk piously around with our hands folded.

In fact, the very opposite. Citizenship in heaven does not negate our responsibilities to our fellow humans (and all of creation)! A heart and mind focused on Christ and living as a citizen of heaven should be helping to open our eyes to the world around us. The process of transformation, as it brings us closer to the heart of God, will make our hearts more compassionate. It will show us things to pray for, always a good first response! It will allow you to see with concern the pain or suffering or uncertainty of another without also casting a judgment about them or their condition or its cause. For some, it will inspire toward actions that seek not only the relief of symptoms, but will work for change that can eliminate some of the systemic things that plague us still today.

To sum up, being an active participant as a citizen of heaven will allow us to get closer to the heart of Jesus that Luke talks in the gospel that bears his name. In the 13^th Chapter he quotes Jesus as saying that He has often felt as a mother-hen as He laments over Jerusalem. This is a loving and tender picture of a mother-hen gathering and protecting her brood under her wings. This was Jesus’ desire for those who opposed the kingdom of heaven then. I firmly believe it still is today. Jesus invites everyone under the protective wings of God, that includes you and me. May we all, in this Lenten season and beyond, allow that on-going transformation to take place in us; that we grow in our love for God, realizing the blessing of being a child of the Almighty. And may this growing awareness increase our own hearts capacity and willingness to love. With our true desire being to simply honor God as we live in the reality of being a citizen of heaven even as we still live as citizens in the world today.  Amen.

Be blessed and be a blessing,

Pastor Chuck

The Fuzzy Line Between my Wants and Needs

In my role as pastor, I often find myself giving counsel to folks concerning their finances.  For couples, the stress of maintaining a budget at home can be overwhelming, especially in those cases where no budget is in place! This entry, however, is not going to be about Budgeting 101, as important as that is.  Rather, I would like to address what I perceive as being the major cause of financial struggle:  the blurring of the line between our wants and needs.

As usual, these thoughts pertain as much to me as anyone.  I find the above-mentioned line getting fuzzy far too often.  Here is a recent case in point: I enjoy reading very much, and in this season of life, I have much more time to do so.  I generally have two or three books going at once, with one pertaining to ministry, another to American History and the third being some kind of mystery novel.  Allow me to give a shout out to my precious wife at this point.  Betsy is our primary wage earner so that I can attend to our ministry full time.  Being blessed with the ability to manage my time well is how I can do this and still find time to read.

Part of this time-management skill includes the ordering of books on line, quite often through Amazon.  I like that I can type in an author’s name an instantly get all that person’s work to choose from.  That part of instant-gratification is helpful.  To the point of my want/need line getting fuzzy, however, I must consider how quickly I am going to receive my order.  If I subscribe to Prime, I can get them the next day, usually before 10 am!  The simple question is do I need it that soon or is it something I want because it sounds interesting/fun/new/different etc.  Seen in this light, I easily recognize that the line has gotten fuzzy and simply pay for traditional shipping, which will get my package to me in a reasonable time frame anyway.

I see another way the want v. need line can get blurred easily.  As I mentioned earlier, my wife is the one who brings home the bread to our household.  She has an incredibly demanding job that keeps her in the office 10 or more hours day, 5 to 6 days a week! Betsy has a deep faith in, and love for God which undoubtedly gives her the strength to meet the demands of her work life with such a cheerful and positive attitude.  Because she is so well grounded, I don’t see her struggle with her want/need line very much, if at all.

This is true even though she uses several different services that send her clothes to try on in styles she has selected in the profile given.  I enjoy that she gets to try different things (without me having to ride shotgun to the mall) in the midst of her hectic schedule.  What is even more wonderful is the ease with which Betsy simply sends back the majority of the items, because she does not need them.  It’s a great example of the clarity between what wants and needs should be.

Not surprisingly, examples can be found in the Bible that are written to help us clarify our wants and needs as well.  Psalm 37:4 tells us to delight yourselves in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart (NIV).  This is really another place that speaks about our priorities in life.  David, who wrote this psalm, had experienced a vast amount of wealth and comfort in his life, as well as much strife and hardship.  The lessons of life had taught him that when he put the Lord first in his heart and mind, he found that all he had materially paled when compared to the relationship God had established with him.  Once he discovered the pure delight of God’s love, the rest of the desires of his heart fell in line behind this most important one.  He could see the difference between a want and need.

The Apostle Paul gives yet another example of how to prevent the wants/needs line from getting fuzzy when he wrote to the Philippians: And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19 NIV).  Here too we can see that the Scriptures teach that when we seek God to fulfill all  we truly need, His inexhaustible storehouse will supply us fully.

How then does someone like me come to see the want/need line more clearly? The answer is that it starts and ends with God! The bible tells us that His care and faithfulness toward us never ends or even takes a break.  If I (or anyone) is seeking to fill life with instant gratification only to find these things quickly fading into non-importance, we need to better focus on our unchanging and all-powerful Creator.  By seeking Him first and always (see Matthew 6:33 for more on this!), we will realize that He is indeed the fulfillment of every need we have.  With this comfort in the bank, the wants of life can assume their proper place at the back of the line.

The issue is that most, myself included as always, don’t have a thriving relationship with God, usually because we don’t know Him all that well.  Thankfully, this is a correctable situation that can be rectified in two easy steps.  One: Pray like you believe someone is really listening (He is) and two, read more about Him (His entire story is available in print!).

Any relationship that is vibrant includes getting to know the other person more deeply.  It is an on-going proposition.  This means that all healthy relationships are two-sided.  With regard to the relationship God offers, He is all in all the time, which leaves it up to us to grow into our part.

I’m not one for making idle promises, so please don’t take the following lightly: If you will make the effort to deepen your part in your relationship with God, I promise that the line between your wants and needs will become easier to discern.  I speak from personal experience, having both lived in the blessing of intimate contact with God and knowing the loneliness of shunning Him as I try to fill the void by pursuing the things on my want list.  Trust me, having this line more clearly defined has been one of the greatest blessings to me, as I’m sure it can be for you!

Thanks For reading,

Pastor Chuck

Corrective Lenses

I remember the day long ago while riding in the backseat of the family car when I told my folks I couldn’t read the road signs we passed.  I was 10 years old and in the 5^th grade.  My parents didn’t panic, they send a note to my teacher the next day asking that I be moved to the front row until they could get me an appointment with the eye doctor.  A week later I was given my first eye test (I could barely make out the large E on the top of the chart) and soon after those dorky looking black glasses became part of me.  Though thankfully the styles have changed, some 50 years later I am still wearing my glasses.

No surprise there, as that long-ago doctor had told my mother that I would need to wear them the rest of my life.  And if my blurry vision without them wasn’t reminder enough, my drivers license notes under Restrictions that I need corrective lenses to legally operate a motor vehicle as well.

Through the ensuing years I have gone to get my eyes re-checked when I notice things stating to getting fuzzy around the edges again and when advised to, I have purchased new glasses with a stronger prescription (and finally line-less bifocals to help in reading!).  I thank God for the technology and those who administer it so that weak-eyed people like me can have normal vision.

It is fair to say that my bad vision has been ‘fixed’ when I wear my eyeglasses.  When I think about this, I get a little better understanding of what the Bible says about fixing our eyes on the Lord. The author of the Book of Hebrews puts it this way:

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2 NIV).

Obviously, this is a different use of the word fix, but you get the idea.  Here’s my simple analogy: I ‘fix’ my weak eyes every time I don my glasses.  In regard to my faith, each time I stop to ‘fix’ my eyes on Jesus, I allow myself to see life with a clearer perspective.  Stopping to consider what the Savior of the world has done for a sinner like me gives me the ability to see the ‘eye-chart’ of life with greater clarity.  Though things will still be a little fuzzy around the edges, I can see perfectly through the eyes of faith that God is indeed in control.

Which brings me to the next thought about my vision as I ponder what the Apostle Paul wrote: For we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV).  Is he saying I don’t need my corrective lenses after all? Did I waste all that money on exams and new specs all these years? Of course not! I would be foolish to go bumbling through life, tripping over unseen objects because I chose to not wear them.

But the Scripture plainly tells me to walk by faith.  Other translations render it we live by faith, so I rightly conclude, then, that it would also be foolish of me to stumble through life with compromised spiritual vision.  The question becomes: How to do this? I believe the answer lies in the ability to perceive more than just the surface of what is going on around me.  This is the fixing my eyes on Jesus part.

When all is well in my world, it can be quite easy for me to remember to thank and praise God for His care and abundance.  My spiritual vision, if you will, is operating just fine when I do this.  But what about when conditions are not to my liking? How do I see things if someone is in my face about something; or if my employer seems to be putting unreasonable tasks on me and no one else? How I perceive situations like these will go a long way in determining how well my eyes are fixed on Jesus.

For example, do I take immediate offense at being misused in the workplace? If I do, my eyes on squarely on me and my situation and the resultant affects on my life.  I’m not saying we have to be doormats, but I would suggest that we might make the effort to find out the root cause of the problem.  If that is not an option, here’s a better one: pray for the other person(s) involved.  For me, I find this very helpful because it takes my focus off of me and allows me to see the other person as someone who may have issues of their own.  Even better, I believe that all my prayers are heard.  What better way to find a solution to a problem or at least come to some common ground than by going to God Almighty, seeking His guidance.

Being honest, how well and often I follow my own advice varies from day to day.  What I gather from that fact is that my spiritual eyes need corrective lenses just as much as my natural ones do.  It only makes sense; with my glasses on, I pass every eye-test with 20/20 vision.  When I walk and live by faith, my spiritual vision is vastly improved as well.  I put my glasses on first thing each and every day and have done so for decades; now if only I could get into the same habit of fixing my eyes on Jesus!

How about you? Got any spiritual insight (pun intended) lessons to share? I’d love to see them.

Blessings to all,

Pastor Chuck

If it’s Good Enough for Dirty Harry . . .

 

Those who know me know that I do not go to the movies very often. Taking one trip every two or three years is my average.  That’s not to say I don’t watch movies, it’s just that I tend to watch the ones I really like over and over (and over!) again at home.  Anyone who has sat through my recitations of various scenes from Jaws (Quint’s speech about the USS Indianapolis), Caddy Shack (Bill Murray’s Cinderella Boy) or just about any part of Godfather II is well aware of my quirky viewing tendencies.

There is another to add to this list, and it (hopefully) will give some direction to this blog: Clint Eastwood as Inspector Harry Callahan in the movie Magnum Force: “A good man has got to know his limitations” has been a long-time fave of mine. Though this dialogue from early in the movie was used by “Dirty Harry” as an insult toward his lieutenant, I believe we can find something useful in it by taking this iconic line out of the movie context and applying it to our own lives as we run it through the biblical filter.

2000 years before Clint, the apostle Paul wrote about the wisdom a person can gain when they take honest stock of their experiences:

I know what it is to have plenty, and I know what it is to be in need.  I have found the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. Philippians 4:12 NIV

 Paul knew his human limitations.  He knew that the plenty he had experienced was a blessing from God, as well as having the faith to believe that no temporary hardship meant an absence of God’s presence.  The Apostle understood that current circumstances did not define him.  They are merely the reality of our human existence.

Being honest, I don’t often have this clarity of vision.  My pride wants to leap up and declare that seasons of abundance are a direct result of my own hard work.  Like many, I suppose, I find it easy to take credit when things are going well.  I tend to consider the rewards of my efforts as being limitless, thus clouding my perception of my own limitations.

Likewise, I am usually far from content when I find myself in need.  When in this place, I tend to focus on the particular need to the exclusion of almost everything else.  There is little to no consideration of my own limitations here, only a deep desire to have my need met.  If I allow this thought process to have full reign, two things normally pop into my head.  First, I will decide that the situation is hopeless and will never end (insert whiny voice here). No need to concern myself with limitations, because my world is collapsing, taking me with it.  The other non-helpful thought is to take extreme measures to rectify the situation on my own.  Just as in my pity-party, this approach discards any possibility of my own limitations, leaving me blind to any other courses of action.

Thankfully, I have discovered a far better way to proceed: Learning to follow Paul’s example.  He wrote of the secret of being content in every situation.  What’s great is that the secret really isn’t a secret.  Paul’s message for us is to get and stay focused on Jesus first and always.  This gives us the chance to grow beyond the surface level existence of our fleeting experiences.  As we do, the contentment that the great Apostle found can be ours as well.

As usual, I find the application of this truth simple, but not easy.  The difficulty arises from having to admit my limitations.  I proclaim (and sometimes even am able) to live my life totally dependent upon the Lord Jesus.  Though I am sincere in my desire to do this, in my heart of hearts I know my pride still often gets I the way.

Which brings me back to the not so secret ‘secret’ Paul wrote about.  As I read that verse again, he says he has found the secret of being content in any and every situation.  There it is! He found it! How? I assume by learning from the differences of how he managed things on his own through his various challenges and comparing that to how things went when he sought the Lord’s guidance.

Now that I have a better understanding of how this works, I’m still lacking in ways to make it apply to my day to day life.  That is, until I read my devotional this morning (January 17^th).  For 2019, I’m reading Jesus Calling, written by Sarah Young. (I recommend it highly!).  On this day she is writing about the very thing I have been pondering in this blog: knowing the secret of having God’s contentment each day.  Young says that by staying in continual contact with Jesus throughout the day, you can live above your circumstances even while you are in the midst of them.  The secret to godly contentment is to stay in constant communication with the Almighty! With my eyes and heart focused on Him, I am immediately and always able to live above the circumstances I am in.

There you have it; a new quote I will carry with me and repeat often!  Nothing against all those movie lines I’ve committed to memory, but meditating on the fact that it is possible to live above your circumstances even while you are in the midst of them is going to have a greater impact on me than anything Dirty Harry ever said.

When Good Enough Isn’t

In his devotional book titled My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers wrote the following for May 25^th: Whenever right is made the guidance in life, it will blunt the spiritual insight.  The great enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but the good which is not good enough.  The good is always the enemy of the best.

I/we tend to settle for the good.  Let me be clear, there is nothing wrong with good.  In fact, Scripture encourages us to not grow weary of doing good (Galatians 6:9 NIV).  The stumbling occurs when we decide something we have done is ‘good enough.’  It’s almost like admitting we know that it is not the best, but that it, (whatever it is), will have to suffice.

Jesus had much to say on this topic.  If you have a bible handy, please read Luke 10:38-42.  In case you don’t, here’s a quick paraphrase: Jesus and His entourage are passing through a village on their way to Jerusalem.  As was the custom of that time, He and the group with Him stopped at the home of some people He knew, Martha and Mary (whose brother was Lazarus).

As was also customary then, the hostess, in this case the older sister Martha, was expected to provide a meal for these guests.  With no microwave or take-out available, meal preparation was an involved process back in the day.  Martha goes about these preparations while her sister Mary opts to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to Him talk.  Martha is so upset by this that she goes to Jesus in an attempt to have Him intervene on her behalf and make Mary help her.

I love Jesus’ response: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.  Mary has chosen what is better, and it will  not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42 NIV).

Though compassionate toward her heart, Jesus tells Martha straight-up that Mary had chosen what was better.  Yes, preparing a meal for guests was a good thing, but being in the presence of the Son of God was (and is!) infinitely better.

We all need to be careful to not fall into the ‘it’s good enough’ trap because it is almost always a self-serving one.  I can rationalize with the best of them that my reasons (excuses) for not going the extra mile are legitimate.  After all, look how busy I am, and at least I’m doing something, are frequent thoughts I struggle with in this area.

The bottom line is this: if I say something is good enough simply for my own reason(s), it isn’t.  When I honestly look at a certain set of circumstances over which I have said or felt this way, this truth is invariably revealed.  The root of the vast majority of my ‘good enoughs’ is selfishness.  There is usually something I have/want to do that seems more important, hence the need for the good enough label placed on what I was doing.

How shallow this is, particularly when viewed through the lens of eternal matters. Jesus’ mild rebuke to Martha thankfully is speaking to me today, reminding me that I am but a small cog in the cause of Christ.  Today, I choose what is better, which means I am closer to Jesus than I was.  As I get closer, I realize how much more I need Him.  He offers the absolute best, why would I want to settle for anything that is merely good enough?

Is God Non-Denominational?

 

I am blessed to live and minister in an area where there is a great amount unity displayed among the various Christian churches.  Many of us have been able to recognize that God calls us to work together for His purposes.  This is not to say that the pastors I know, along with other church leaders, aren’t caring for their individual flocks.  They are, but they manage to do it in ways that keeps their focus outward toward the greater community, where there is still so much need.

Allow me to share several examples of the unity of the Spirit that exists here.  One Sunday per month a different church will host a community worship service.  Upwards of 11 different fellowships will be represented at one of these.  The hosting church supplies the worship music and those who organize these gatherings bring in preachers/speakers from outside our immediate area to help us see even more clearly God’s plan to reach all people.

Another way in which God displays His unity is through the Saturday morning prayer group.  Every Saturday morning at 7 (that’s right, 7 am) this group has met to pray, seeking to know God more deeply that we may be better able to minister His love to our community.  The group has faithfully gathered for the past 6 years for this purpose.

God calls us to be unified under His banner.  On any given Saturday, pastors/leaders from the Assemblies of God, Methodists, Lutherans and non-denominal churches gather to cry out to God, together!  Though each of our Sunday worship services has a different flavor, we are learning together that the ‘Main Course’ is the same throughout.

Therefore, I’ve titled this brief blog, God is Non-denominational.  Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to the earth to make salvation possible for all mankind.  Having done this, the Lord also established His church.  At no point in the Scriptures do I find Jesus declaring anything about denominations.  It is His church, with Him at the head.

Please don’t conclude I am bashing denominations.  I’m not.  I merely point out that they are a man-made add on to what Jesus had established.  As man-made, they are immediately flawed because of our less than perfect nature.  My admittedly brief study of the history of denominationalism seems to make one thing clear: the more rules and regulations we make regarding our particular brand of church, if you will, the murkier we make the way to knowing Christ.

Again, let me be clear, I am not picking on denominations or calling them a bad thing.  I have dear friends both in leadership and in congregations  who faithfully serve God under these different headships.

The caution I extend to all, myself (a non-denominational pastor) included is this, we must be conscious of who are we edifying through what we do.  Is it God our Father or some long-standing tradition in our church.  I have sat in on board meetings where much time was spent discussing what were the appropriate colors to have on the altar for a particular season.  To the tradition that might be important, but wouldn’t that time have been better spent talking about how we could meet the spiritual and physical needs of both people inside and out of that church?

Is there value in denominations? Absolutely! I came to know the saving grace of our Lord Jesus while attending a Lutheran Church many years ago.  Many people are still receiving excellent spiritual care in many various houses of worship.  This is a good thing.

But let us all remember, it is God first, last and always.  Anything we construct on the path to Him must not serve as a roadblock to faith.  May we all, regardless of our denominational affiliation, recognize the call to unity God has placed on us.  Together, with the Lord leading all of us, we can truly impact our communities for the Kingdom of God.

Happy Birthday to me from the NYS DMV!

 

I received a reminder from the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles several weeks ago that it was time to renew my driver’s license by my birthday this year.  Actually, I was grateful for the heads-up, as I don’t have much cause to look at my license these days and may well have missed this date altogether.  Having not been pulled over for a driving infraction or seldom writing personal checks that need an ID, I rarely use it.

I dutifully went to our local DMV office last week with all the necessary forms. (note to self: double check this before leaving the house, it may help having to avoid wait in line twice!) Finally, with everything updated and paid for, I was given a temporary copy of my new license.

I looked it over to confirm all the information was correct and noticed a check mark under the category of ‘Restrictions’ and a capital letter B.  Turning it over, I found the key explaining the B meant I need corrective lenses to operate a motor vehicle.  That must be why the nice clerk had asked me if I needed glasses when I drove.

I spared her the long story and said yes.  You, dear reader, won’t be as lucky! My eyesight went bad when I was barely 10 years old, so into the world of nerdy frames I went.  Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful for the professionals that give care to our eyes as well as the technicians who craft the lenses to each patient’s individual ocular needs, as I have needed these corrective lenses ever since.  Through all the style changes, from aviators to micro frames that were too small for me to properly use the lineless bi-focal, I have relied on my glasses to give me 20/20 sight.

That’s 20/20 physical eyesight.  Often, I find that my spiritual eyes are in need of adjustment as well because they are out of focus.  I notice this in several ways.  Sometimes I allow my physical vision to be all that I see.  I far too often miss something beautiful that’s going on around me because I am distracted by whatever has my undivided attention.  Also, because my spiritual eyes are often in need of correcting, I am not able to discern clearly what God has planned for me.  This is especially troubling because I know what God has said about this: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV).  God has a wonderful plan for me but I need to be able to see it well to live it out.

My trip to the DMV brought my focus to the restriction my weak physical eyes have placed on my drivers license.  Moving forward, I am going to remind myself daily of my need for ‘corrective lenses’ on my spiritual eyes as well.  With God’s help, I will use the gift of improved spiritual vision to see more of the things He wants me to see.  More importantly, I hope to see more of Him everywhere I go, both in the places He has for me to help others and to be evermore aware of the path He has laid out before me.

So thanks again to the New York State DMV for the birthday present of making appreciate all the more both sets of corrective lenses I need!