Words Are Important

In September of 1861, the Union army issued General Orders no. 33, giving detailed instructions regarding burial procedures for slain soldiers. The Orders read in part, "In order to secure, as far as possible, the decent interment of those who have fallen, or may fall, in battle, it is made the duty of Commanding Generals to lay off plots of ground in some suitable spot near every battlefield..." It went on to say, "...with headboards to the graves bearing numbers, and, when practicable, the names of the persons buried in them."

When language such as "as far as possible" and "when practicable" is employed what can it lead to? According to author Drew Gilpin Faust, in her book This republic of Suffering: Death and The American Civil War, such language made the instructions "more an aspiration than an order, and commanders treated it as such." Faust goes on to write, "...more than 40 percent of deceased Yankees and a far greater proportion of Confederates - perished without names..."

This is not how it's done today. In fact, the United States expends more than $100 million each year in the effort to find and identify the approximately 88,000 individuals still missing from World War 2, Korea and Vietnam. The obligation of the state to account for and return - either dead or alive - every soldier in its service is unquestioned.

So language is important. Words are important. So when the Scriptures tell us:

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."

(Acts 17:30-31 , ESV) , how should we respond?

God's command is not repent as far as possible, or repent when practicable. No, this command is not something that we simply aspire to as far as possible, it is a command we must expend our all to obey.

Pastor Van Morris

Pastor Van Morris
Calvary Christian Center
850 Fisher Lane
Mt Washington, KY 40047
(502) 538-7768
(502) 955-6436

Practical Atheism

We cannot be certain just how many atheists there are in the U.S. Some have estimated their numbers range from 3% up to 11% of the population, though it's hard to be certain simply because some may be uncomfortable admitting a disbelief in God.

But I wonder how many practical atheists there are? An atheist is one who believes there is no God. A "practical atheist" is a person who on one hand may profess a belief in God, but lives as if there is no God. The God they profess to believe in has no authority in their life. To say it another way; it is not in their mind that they reject God, it is in their behavior.

Recently, in the wake of the now former New York governor Spitzer's involvement with a prostitute, a high-price call-girl agreed to an interview with one of the major networks. When she was asked, "Was there anything you wouldn't do?" her response was very telling. She responded, "I'm not comfortable answering that, partly because my mom's going to hear this." This is quite amazing to me. This woman is more afraid of what her mother will think of her behavior than what God thinks about it. She quite likely would profess a belief in God, but the God she believes in obviously has no influence upon, nor authority regarding her behavior. This is practical atheism.

We should remember that the Bible states: "You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!" (James 2:19, ESV).

Yes, even the demons believe, but that's not all - they shudder! This is quite appropriate considering who God is.

So is believing in God a sufficient response on our part? Should God feel lucky that we profess a belief in Him? Or is there an additional reaction to His holiness that we should have? Let's let Jesus answer that:

"And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 10:28, ESV)

Pastor Van Morris

 

The Sin Beneath The Sin

I read this week that a Vatican official has listed drugs, pollution and genetic manipulations as well as social and economic injustices as new areas of sinful behavior. These sins are in addition to the traditional list of seven deadly sins (lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride). The Vatican said that its time to modernize the list to fit a global world.

However, is making a list of specific sins the most effective way to deal with the problem of sin? Doesn't this just limit sin to a list of bad things? What about the sin beneath the sin?

For example, let's consider why we were made. We are creatures, created by a gracious Creator. We were made not only to believe in God in some general way, but to love Him supremely, to give Him glory and thanks. We are to center our lives on Him above everything else in the world. To put anything else in God's place of honor, even good things, is a sin. This is the root problem from which all the deadly fruit comes from.  It's the sin beneath the sin.

Pastor Van Morris

 

God Adjusting To Us

Unfortunately, some marriages suffer from a minimalist view of marriage. By this I mean, that some individuals fail to embrace the reality that marriage is a life altering experience, a re-orientation of every aspect of their life.

Imagine receiving a proposal that sounded like this: "I want you to know this proposal changes nothing about my allegiances and my behavior and my daily life. However, I do want you to know that if you accept my proposal, we shall, in theory, be considered married. There will be no other changes in me on your behalf."

Now of course no one in their right mind would accept such a proposal. For a marriage to be healthy there must be a mutual loss of independence, a willingness to adjust for the other person, serving them though it means sacrifice for you.

For a love relationship to be healthy, there must be a mutual adjusting. But what about a relationship with God? Of course I must adjust to Him - He is the Creator and I am the creature - but how could He ever adjust to me? Holy Week is a good time to consider this question.

I'm indebted to Timothy Keller for the following thought. In the incarnation of Christ: His coming into this sinful, fallen world as a man; and through His atoning death upon the cross, God has said in Christ, "I will adjust to you...I will serve you though it means sacrifice for Me."

It's interesting that the Scriptures utilize the metaphor of marriage when speaking of a saving relationship with Jesus Christ: " Wherefore, my brethren, you also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that you should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." (Romans 7:4)

The gospel of Jesus Christ is a call, an invitation to be joined to Jesus Christ, to re-orient every aspect of your life toward Him. He is not inviting you to be a good moral person, but instead to believe that He died for your sins and through faith in Him God will forgive you and accept you.

Pastor Van Morris

 

Finding Treasure

When was the last time you made a discovery that left you pleasantly surprised? As for me and my wife, it was about a year ago. For years we thought the Schwan's home delivery truck that passed through our neighborhood was filled with expensive frozen foods that were much too pricey for us. That was until Brian, our salesman, knocked on our door. He gave me a catalog of their many products, and explained what made Schwan's unique. My wife and I were pleasantly surprised to find that not only was their food very affordable, it was also delicious.

That's not the first time that my wife and I made a find that was pleasantly surprising. You see, we used to think that Christianity was rigid, restrictive - like a straightjacket! But we eventually came to see things much differently.

I agree with Timothy Keller who wrote, "In may areas of life, freedom is not so much the absence of restrictions as finding the right ones, the liberating restrictions." Liberating restrictions are those that produce greater power and scope for our abilities and a deeper joy.

Jesus talked about such a discovery: "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." (Matthew 13:44) The "kingdom of heaven" (living under the Lordship of Christ) is something that will totally re-make you. It is not more religion. It's not adding another self-help book to your library. It is giving yourself utterly to Jesus Christ. It is a "treasure".

When the man finds the treasure he sells all he has to purchase it. He is basically saying, "What good is all this stuff if I don't have this." How could he do this? How could he seemingly give up so much? Because he had already made the emotional transfer - "in his joy". He saw the value of the real treasure.

Someone put it well when they said: Anyone who will not give themselves utterly to Jesus has not realized that He gave Himself utterly for you.

Pastor Van Morris

Worthy Leaders

A short time back, I read something from the Old Testament book of Isaiah that deeply disturbed me - it made me do some thinking about the 2008 presidential election.

As I write this article, no one knows who the nominees for each party will be. We're all waiting for the smoke to clear so we can see who our guy is going to be. Of course, we all have strong opinions about who that person should be. So as we wait, some say, "We'll have to see who God is going to give us." But what if God might be taking away? Let's consider the following words from Isaiah:

"For behold, the Lord GOD of hosts is going to remove from Jerusalem and Judah Both supply and support, the whole supply of bread, And the whole supply of water; The mighty man and the warrior, The judge and the prophet, The diviner and the elder, The captain of fifty and the honorable man, The counselor and the expert artisan, And the skillful enchanter. And I will make mere lads their princes And capricious children will rule over them, And the people will be oppressed, Each one by another, and each one by his neighbor; (Isaiah 3:1-5)

Now of course our country does not have the same theocratic-national form as did Israel. However, is there a principle here? I am intrigued by Ray Ortland Jr.'s commentary on these verses:

"He [God] is taking away their [Israel} leaders and replacing them with irresponsible "boys", so that social cohesion dissolves into chaos. In their desperation, the people will look around for someone, for anyone, to provide guidance and courage. But no one will be willing. The warning for every generation is this: One way God judges his people is by depriving them of worthy leaders."

So in this election year I'm praying, asking God to have mercy upon this nation ( though we certainly don't deserve it), and I'm asking him to give us a worthy leader. I hope you'll join me.

Pastor Van Morris

 

Excellence In 2008 ?

As we begin a new year,  all followers of Christ should take time to reassess their calling:

"His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence..." ( 2 Peter 1:3 ESV). God has called us to Himself, a God of glory and excellence.

Since we have been given the ability to believe - what one writer has called the God-awakened capacity to respond fully to Jesus - and we now share in God's divine nature, this results in a newness of life. We now must add to our faith:

"For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue..." (2 Peter 1:5 ESV).

We should note that the word excellence in verse 3, and the word virtue in verse 5 come from the same Greek word, meaning moral excellence. When a tool worked correctly it was said to be excellent.

The point is this, when we express an appetite for good, for what pleases God, we are demonstrating that we do indeed share in His divine nature. We are working correctly.  When He takes us in His hand as a tool for His glory, may we hear He say, "You're excellent."

Pastor Van Morris