I'm Pulling For The Nice Guy

Opening day for baseball was yesterday.  Now I'm not a huge fan of baseball, but this year I'm going to keep a closer watch, especially on the National League – particularly on the St. Louis Cardinals.

Yes, I know that most people around this area most likely will pull for the Cincinnati Reds, but not me.  I'm pulling for the Cardinals.

My reason is very simple – Trevor Miller is a relief pitcher for the Cardinals.  Trevor and his wife Pari were once members at C.C.C., back when Trevor was, interestingly, signed with the Reds.  Sadly they had to leave us, when Trevor moved on to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Someone told me they recently heard a baseball commentator speak of Trevor, saying that he was known as "the nicest guy in baseball."  Wow!  What a compliment.  And from what I remember of Trevor, I would have to agree 100%.  The Miller's were and still are a dear family.

And by the way, here's an opening day highlight – Cardinals 11, Reds 6.

Pastor Van

Easter 2010

We set the target, we aimed, and we hit it – and then some!  Our goal at C.C.C. was to have 500 in attendance for our Easter services this year, and at the end of the day we had a grand total of 529 – praise the Lord!

This is a great tribute to our congregation, for we would not have reached our goal without their diligent effort.  Many within our church family have been inviting friends and family members for weeks.  Simply put, our success was not the result of a brilliant publicity campaign, nor was it the result of a community mail-out campaign (though I think there is nothing wrong with that approach), rather, our success was the result of our dear people inviting people.

O how I thank God for our caring people.

Pastor Van

The Sin Beneath the Sin of Hypocrisy

This month the hunt for the Air France jet that disappeared in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean last year will resume.  However, it's not going to be all that easy to find, considering that the area where the plane went down is up to 13,000 feet deep.  That's why an armada of the world's most advanced underwater robots are being used in the search, leading some involved in the project to say, "If it's in there, they'll find it."

Wouldn't it be great if hypocrisy was that hard to find?  But it's not – is it?  It's not that difficult to detect when one is pretending one thing while in fact practicing something contradictory.  The question is, however, why does one behave hypocritically?  What is the sin beneath the sin of hypocrisy?  Why is driving hypocritical behavior?

The New Testament, in particular the words of Jesus, are very helpful in answering our question.  For example, he warned his disciples about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees:

"…he began to say to his disciples first, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." (Luke 12:1)

The Pharisees were among the religious leaders of Jesus' day, and he warned his disciples to beware of the leaven (the corruptive influence) of the Pharisees – which was hypocrisy.  There it is for all too see, Pharisees pretending one thing while in fact practicing something contradictory.  But what's driving such sinful behavior?  Let's make it more personal – what drives our hypocritical behavior?  Jesus tells us:

"They do all their deeds to be seen by others." (Matt 23:5)

There it is!  Send all the robots home, we don't need them, Jesus has discovered and revealed for us the sin beneath the sin of hypocrisy – it is valuing the praise of man over the praise of God.  We enjoy the honor and praise of men so much that we will work overtime to keep up an outward show, all the while concealing the inner disposition of our heart.

For many who hear the gospel message and begin to take a closer look at Christianity, they are put off by the hypocrisy of some who profess the faith.  If you're one of those people, what is the remedy?  How can we keep from getting caught in the vicious circle described by Kenneth Bailey? :  "Law-keepers often condemn lawbreakers as 'sinners'.  Lawbreakers generally look at law-keepers and shout 'hypocrites.'"  So what must we do?

We must be like the woman who came to the house of Simon the Pharisee, to wash the feet of Jesus with her tears (Luke 7:36-50).  Her total focus was upon Jesus.  May that be our focus as well.

Pastor Van Morris

Secrets

On Sunday mornings at C.C.C. I've been preaching through the book of Romans, and recently we looked at St. Paul's statement in chapter two, verse 16:

"…on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus." (Rom 2:16)

It appears that God's ability to discover "secrets" is being put to the test.

A new iPhone application called the TigerText allows users to set a time limit for a text to hang around after it has been read.  When the life span has been exceeded, the message will disappear from the recipient's phone, the sender's phone and any servers.

In addition, those who need an even more comprehensive way to cover up their mis-deeds, the "delete history" option will eliminate any evidence of a given phone call. No more getting caught by the old "press redial" routine.

Just think, if this works cheating spouses can relax, knowing their "secret" is safely suppressed.  They can now move about freely, destroying their family and others.  Teens who are in to "sexting" can expose themselves without fear of their youthly indiscretions coming back to haunt them later in life.

So for now we can all breath easier.  There is, however, one final test as to the effectiveness of this device - Judgment Day.  So we'll have to wait and see.

Pastor Van

 

 

What's Your Worldview?

What is your worldview?  How clear is it?  Are you seeing what you need to see?

My wife and I took our granddaughters , ages 12 and 10, to a Titanic exhibition at the Louisville Science Center.  On display were 150 items brought up from the ocean floor of the chilly, northern Atlantic where the "unsinkable" Titanic sank.  There were stories of those who survived, as well as the sad stories of those who perished in the wee hours of April 15, 1912.

Being a student of history, and being especially interested in this particular oceanic disaster, I was listening and observing very carefully.  One of the details mentioned during the exhibit was the fact that Titanic's lookouts had no binoculars, thus severely limiting their view.

This particular detail reminded me of something I had read earlier in my own amateur research of the Titanic's demise.  Years ago I had purchased an original newspaper, the Tri-Weekly Gazette and Bulletin from Williamsport, Pa., dated April 24, 1912.  On the front page was the latest news concerning the disaster.  The main title read: "FATAL BERG SEEN AND REPORTED BY TITANIC LOOKOUT".  The additional sub-title read: "Would Have Discovered it If Provided With Glasses as Customary."

The story covered the Senate Committee investigation into the sinking of the Titanic, especially the testimony of one witness.

Fredrick Fleet was one of the lookouts on the  doomed liner.  Fleet acknowledged that if he had been aided in his observations by a good glass he probably could have spied the berg into which the ship crashed, in time to have warned the bridge to avoid it.  Fleet added they had, "...asked for them (binoculars) at Southampton and were told there were none for them.  One glass, in a pinch, would have served in the crow's nest."

Fleet also testified that he saw, "...a large black mass...about the size of two large tables."  However, amazingly, the iceberg Titanic struck was actually 50 to 60 feet high.

Could it be that the limited view of Titanic's lookouts resulted in the loss of over 1,500 lives?

Can a limited or obscured worldview also lead to a much more serious disaster?

By worldview I mean the platform on which we choose to stand and from which we look out and see the world.  Author Nancy Pearcy defines worldview as, "a mental map that tells us how to navigate the world effectively."  Worldview is the vantage point from which to see what Emile Cailliet called "the landscape of reality."

A person's worldview can be derived from any kind of ideology or influence.  For example, some view their life as originating from mere chance, the result of Darwinian natural selection.  Others, however, view their lives as creatures created by God in His image - creatures who must one day give account to their Creator.  These are two, totally opposing views.  Let's say, for the sake of consideration, that perhaps the second view is true, that we are all on a journey headed toward the Berg of God's judgment.  If the worldview we hold doesn't enable us to see this and to prepare for it, then our worldview is limited, it's impaired, it's insufficient.  And the result is we will crash headlong into God's judgment unprepared - and great will be our loss.

There is, however, hope.  The Gospel is the good news, the announcement that a new relationship with God is available by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  Jesus took the judgment of God in our place on the cross.  Our sins were placed upon Him; He took our punishment that we may in turn have His righteousness placed to our account; He was raised from the dead for our justification.  Through Christ, the Berg of God's judgment has been dealt with.

Does your worldview include this hope?  If not, your worldview is severely limited.

Pastor Van Morris       

 

What You Need If You Have A Screw Loose

On a recent visit to the Gordon Food Service DC in Shepherdsville, Ky. where I make a weekly visit as a chaplain, after going through some stretching exercises with the maintenance department, one the guys reminded his co-workers that due to the continual operation of the machinery the entire warehouse was constantly vibrating.  He continued to tell them that this could result in screws and bolts gradually becoming loose, and in some cases possibly backing out all together.  This of course could potentially lead to a dangerous situation so he encouraged everyone to be on the lookout.

This got me thinking.  We live in a broken, imperfect world that is in need of constant maintenance.  Things come loose and need to be tightened up.  Constant vigilance is required to avoid and prevent accidents.

I remember reading about a man named Asaph who was coming undone.  He wrote about his experience in Psalm 73.  Asaph was a devout follower of the God of Israel.  He was deeply convinced of God's goodness to His people.  However, Asaph began to notice the prosperity of the wicked.  They had no interest in and no devotion to God - and in spite of this they were doing quite well.  

Asaph couldn't believe what he was seeing.  He couldn't understand it, it made no sense to him.  Asaph even began to question his own devotion to God.  Asaph was coming undone.  He needed some maintenance.  Asaph needed to be tightened up - but how?  Let's look:

But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.( Ps 73:16-17)

Asaph came to worship, and it was there that the Spirit of God began to drive down the truth of God's Word deep into Asaph's soul.  What the agitation of a life lived in a fallen world had worked loose, the worship of God had tightened up.

If you feel like you're coming undone (at times we all do!); if  the world has shaken you so severely that you're not seeing things clearly; I encourage you - come in for some spiritual maintenance.  Come and worship God together with God's people.   

Pastor Van  

 

 

David - Living and Loving As He Saw Fit

On October 30, 09', President Barak Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepherd and James Bird Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.  Commenting about the bill, the President said the following: "This is the culmination of a struggle that has lasted more than a decade.  Time and again we faced opposition.  Time and again, the measure was defeated or delayed.  Time and again we've been reminded of the difficulty of building a nation in which we're all free to live and love as we see fit."

Now if you're reading these words you might be asking yourself: Does President Obama really mean this?  Does he really envision a nation where we're all free to live and love as we see fit?  We might ask – what would this look like?

In our Wednesday evening Bible study, we have been working our way through the Old Testament book of 2 Samuel.  We recently arrived at chapter eleven where we have King David, a "man after God's own heart", committing adultery with another man's wife.  After being informed by Bathsheba that she is now pregnant, David begins to scheme, ultimately having Urriah placed on the front line of battle, insuring his death.  Bathsheba, after a brief period of mourning, moves in with David and becomes his wife. 

So what do we have here?  Some would say adultery and murder, which is correct.  However, David might say, "I'm just living and loving as I see fit!"  

Is this the nature of the freedom President Obama is talking about?  Is this the kind of society he envisions for America?  I hope not.  For this is not freedom – this is rebellion.  President Obama is echoing the battle cry that resounds in the heart of every fallen sinner – "…to live and love as we see fit."

The eleventh chapter of 2 Samuel closes with these words: "But the thing David had done displeased the LORD."  We may chose to live and love as we see fit, but what our President is not telling us is that one day we will stand before God and give an account, answering for where our freedom has taken us.

Pastor Van