From Pastor Caleb's Study

June 23, 2023

The storms that passed through last week blew trees on or through the homes of at least four of our church families (Everett and Jennifer White, Matt and Morgan Vitart, Kyle and Leslie Cunningham, and Madison and Liz Taylor), and lightning struck the home of Ken and Tammie Haynes. Many of you had trees and limbs down on your property, and I daresay most of us were without power for longer than usual (I finally got to use my generator!). I have been thankful to hear all the ways our deacons and you saints have served one another through trial. Let's continue to lift up our church family in prayer and sustain them with tangible love.

These storms rolled through with destruction in their wake, like wave after wave crashing upon our church family. Psalm 13:1 came to mind: "How long, O Lord? Will you forget us forever? How long will you hide your face from me?" The Psalms are full of God's people wrestling with His providence, feeling like He had abandoned them, and we need to mine them for our own prayers as we suffer.

• Psalm 77 is particularly encouraging. In the day of Asaph's trouble he sought the Lord tirelessly and his soul refused to be comforted (77:2). But the Lord wasn't merely the source of his help, He was the source of his struggle: "When I remember God, then I am disturbed...Will the Lord reject forever? And will He never be favorable again? Has His lovingkindness ceased forever? Has His promise come to an end forever? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Or has He in anger withdrawn His compassion? Then I said, 'It is my grief, that the right hand of the Most High has changed.'" (77:3, 7-10). We've all asked those questions, haven't we?
   

• Asaph finds the answer to his questions in God. He remembers God's deeds and wonders of old (77:11-12). He meditates on God's attributes of holiness, greatness, and strength (77:13-14). He brings to mind God's redemption out of Egypt (77:15-20). It's as we remember who God is and what He has done that we are able to steady our hearts and strengthen ourselves in Him (see I Samuel 30:6). The one who wounds us is the one who brings us healing, for He always has a purpose in His ways—although as Asaph reminds us (and William Cowper lyricizes in his hymn "God Moves in a Mysterious Way"), "Your way was in the sea and Your paths in the mighty waters, and Your footprints may not be known" (77:19). We rarely see where God is going or what He is doing; His providence is mysterious and confounding. Yet we know that the God who led His people like a flock under the old covenant continues to do that today under the new covenant in Jesus Christ. And so we can rejoice even in our tribulations: "In this [salvation] you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (I Peter 1:6-7).

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I wrote last week that I would highlight some of the important actions of the 50th General Assembly that gathered last week in Memphis. This is in no way a comprehensive list, but here goes!

• We amended our Book of Church Order to make clear that officers in the PCA, contrary to those who hold to a Side B view of homosexulatiy and same-sex attraction, must affirm and live out a biblical view of sanctification.

  • BCO 16-4 -- "Officers in the Presbyterian Church in America must be above reproach in their walk and Christlike in their character. While office bearers will see spiritual perfection only in glory, they will continue in this life to confess and to mortify remaining sins in light of God’s work of progressive sanctification. Therefore, to be qualified for office, they must affirm the sinfulness of fallen desires, the reality and hope of progressive sanctification, and be committed to the pursuit of Spirit-empowered victory over their sinful temptations, inclinations, and actions."

  • BCO 21-4 -- " In the examination of the candidate’s personal character, the presbytery shall give specific attention to potential notorious concerns. Careful attention must be given to his practical struggle against sinful actions, as well as to persistent sinful desires. The candidate must give clear testimony of reliance upon his union with Christ and the benefits thereof by  the Holy Spirit, depending on this work of grace to make progress over sin  (Psalm  103:2-5,  Romans  8:29)  and to bear fruit (Psalm  1:3,  Gal.  5:22-23). While imperfection will remain, when confessing  sins  and  sinful  temptations publicly, the candidate must exercise great care not to diminish the seriousness of those sins in the eyes of the congregation, as though they were matters of little consequence, but rather should testify to the work of the Holy Spirit in his progress in holiness (1 Cor. 6:9-11)."

• We gave initial approval to a BCO amendment that, if it is approved by 2/3 of the 88 Presbyteries and a majority of next year's GA, would make clear that the PCA is committed to sexual purity in its officers: "He should conform to the biblical requirement of chastity and sexual purity in his descriptions of himself, and in his convictions, character, and conduct."

• We gave initial approval to a BCO amendment that would prohibit the practice of some churches of calling unordained men and women officers: "Furthermore, unordained people shall not be referred to as, or given the titles of, the ordained offices of pastor/elder or deacon."

• We voted to empower our Moderator to appoint a commission to draft a humble petition to send to Federal and State officials condemning the practice of surgical and medical gender reassignment, especially of minors.

• We voted to declare the "Message to All the Churches" a faithful exposition of Biblical polity which shaped the founding of the PCA in 1973. You can read this statement from the 1st GA (with an addition from a statement by our own Presbytery in 2016) here.

There were several other actions that we took, but these are some I thought you might be interested in seeing. Pray that the Lord would continue to make the PCA faithful to the Scriptures, true to the Reformed faith, and obedient to the great commission!

From Pastor Caleb's Study

June 9, 2023

Next week is the PCA's 50th General Assembly. Since being ordained in 2003 (on June 15, so I'll be celebrating my 20th anniversary as a pastor next Thursday!), I've always looked forward to GA. It has not only been a time to catch up with old friends who pastor around the country and world, as well as a time to geek out on parliamentary procedure with my acquaintance Dr. Robert and his rules of order, but it's also a privilege to participate in deciding how the PCA will look moving forward through votes on different recommendations that come from our committees and Presbyteries.

• GA is a week of worship, seminar instruction, fellowship, networking, learning about different organizations and resources in the exhibit hall, hearing presentations from our committees, and voting on overtures.

• You can learn more about the various parts of GA by reading this article by Pastor Jared Nelson.

• You can watch a livestream of the GA - the debate of the various overtures happens on Thursday afternoon (overtures are requests by Presbyteries to change the Book of Church Order or to make a particular statement or to take a particular action).

Speaking of the overtures, there are again several that seek to address the issue of same-sex attraction and homosexual self-description as it relates to officers. The GA approved an amendment to our Book of Church Order last year, but it failed to pass the required number of Presbyteries. So hopefully this year we can approve something that the Presbyteries will pass, to make crystal clear that those who do not conform to the biblical norms of sexual purity in their descriptions of themselves, in their convictions, and in their conduct, are not eligible to hold office in the PCA. Several overtures deal with how to conduct discipline cases that involved abuse. One overture asks the civil authorities to renounce the sin of medical/surgical sex change procedures in minors. All of the overtures are first debated by an Overtures Committee, and only those that pass that committee are debated on the floor of the Assembly.

• You can read all the overtures here.

Because this is the 50th GA, there will be a special emphasis on how God has been faithful to see us through to this golden anniversary, and prayer for Him to keep us through the next 50 years. The church of Jesus is in decline throughout America, yet the PCA continues to see growth. Let us pray that we will continue to be "Faithful to the Scriptures, True to the Reformed faith, and Obedient to the Great Commission of Jesus Christ." At 8:00 on Wednesday morning, there will be an Assembly-wide seminar entitled, "Memories and Aspirations of our Founding Fathers and Sons," in which several men will be sharing how God began and sustained the PCA. I encourage you to watch that as you're able!

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This Lord's Day morning we have the privilege of hearing God's word from one of our church planters, Rev. Mark Horn. Mark is planting a church in Ocean Springs, MS, and hopefully you've had a chance to read his prayer updates the past year. I'm looking forward to learning more about the work God is doing through Mark on the coast in a place that is far more post-Christian than most of Mississippi.

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Continue to pray for all our mission teams and summer youth trips! Also, there is much work being done around the church campus, and the new high school building is nearing completion. Let us pray without ceasing that the Lord would use POPC as a church, and each one of us as individuals and families, to bring sinners to a knowledge of Jesus, and to transform them into the likeness of Jesus. "Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person" (Colossians 4:5-6).
 

From the Pastor's Study

August 6, 2020

Our trip to western North Carolina last week was wonderful - thank you for your prayers. Usually spotty cell phone signal is a decided negative, but on a vacation it can be a feature rather than a bug. It was nice to unplug and disconnect, read some Agatha Christie novels, put together a puzzle, take in the vistas of the Blue Ridge Mountains, play in waterfalls, and enjoy the rest and refreshment of cool evenings and ice-cold water. 

But down the mountain, back on the flatland, school starts in less than a week. Which means the temptation to grumble and complain has reared its ugly head in our family’s hearts (and probably yours?) in spades - especially during a pandemic-induced mask mandate and new health protocols everywhere you go. Complaining is a “respectable sin” - everybody’s doing it, and you can commit it without anyone knowing, with a smile on your face and a bitter scowl in your heart - though eventually it seeps out in our words and attitudes. 

God is not unclear regarding His thoughts on complaining: “Do all things without grumbling or disputing . . .” (Philippians 2:14). So how does a Christian put to death the sin of complaining? There is no magic bullet - but by remembering these three truths, God by His Spirit enables us to strangle the life out of this enemy of our soul.

1. Remember the evangelistic impact of an uncomplaining spirit. Paul goes on to write in Philippians 2:14-15, “Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world…” When we refuse to complain, particularly during a time like the one in which we live, Paul says we stick out like a star in the night sky. A quiet spirit is provocative – it provokes attention, it provokes questions, so that in the words of I Peter 3:15, we are able to share the reason for the hope that is within us with boldness and gentleness.

2. Remember that your complaining is always against God. If you know the history of Israel, its Exodus and wilderness wanderings, then you know that complaining and grumbling was one of the besetting sins of God’s people of old. In Exodus 16, when Israel complains for its lack of food, Moses tells them something vitally important: “. . . the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him – what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord” (Exodus 16:8). To kill complaining, you have to see it as ultimately against the Lord. 

   — It impugns the love of God. If you really loved me, God, you wouldn’t make me go through such hard circumstances! That’s what Israel said when refusing to enter the Promised Land: “Because the Lord hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us” (Deuteronomy 1:27). 

   — It assails the power of God. In Numbers 11, when Israel complained about not having meat, God tells Moses that He will provide meat for a month. And Moses talks back to God: “The people among whom I am number 600,000 on foot, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!’ Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and be enough for them?’” God answers, “Is the Lord’s hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not” (11:21-23). Complaining accuses God of being powerless to change our situation.

   — It questions the wisdom of God. In Numbers 21, Israel spoke against God, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” There was food – but they were sick and tired of it. God’s wise provision for them wasn’t good enough for them. His ways were stupid, only leading to death.

   — It attacks the justice of God. Israel forgot that the reason they were wandering in the wilderness was due to their own sinful rebellion. They thought they deserved far better, when in actuality they deserved far worse. “Why should any living mortal, or any man, Offer complaint in view of his sins?” (Lamentations 3:39).

   We must strive to see the sinfulness of our sin, so that we will hate it enough to kill it. 

3. Remember that Jesus died for your complaining. In Mark 14:36, we read this: “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus affirms the love of God His Father, the power of God who is able to change His circumstances, and the wisdom of God whose will is always right. He submits to the God who is able to change His circumstances, but who sometimes isn’t willing. He was the spotless, sinless Lamb of God. Yet notice what Jesus wanted removed from Him: a cup - the cup of God’s wrath. Jesus knew that God was completely just – and that He was about to have the sin of His sheep reckoned to His account, imputed to Him, and then God was going to punish Him as His people’s substitute. He was about to bear the sins of His people in His body on the cross. It’s as we remember that Jesus died to forgive our complaining and grumbling and to free us increasingly from a complaining and grumbling spirit that we are enabled more and more to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ, and so refuse to allow sin to reign in our mortal bodies, to obey its lusts and passions.

It will be easy to find things to complain about in these coming days, weeks, and months. But remember the words of the great Puritan John Owen in his classic The Mortification of Sin: “Make [killing sin] your daily work; be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you.” Let the poetry of Henry Francis Lyte fill your heart: “Soul, then know thy full salvation, Rise o’er sin and fear and care. Joy to find in every station, Something still to do or bear. Think what Spirit dwells within thee, Think what Fathers smiles are thine, Think that Jesus died to win thee, Child of heaven, canst thou repine?”

Some Thoughts on Returning to Public Worship

This blog post probably isn’t what you were thinking it would be. I’m not going to give any opinion here about when churches should return to gathered corporate worship, or what health measures we should take. (Although I will note that our elders at POPC are meeting this week to discuss when they want to open wide the church doors again for the saints here, and we covet your prayers.) Rather, I want to share with you a few sentences about public worship that I came across in the 1884 Encyclopedia of the Presbyterian Church in the USA (scroll down the page and you’ll see the link to this large book) . These points were succinct, encouraging, and I believe will be important for us all to meditate on as we prepare to return to gathered corporate worship, whenever that might be. How will we return? Will it be with a proper understanding of the importance of gathering together with the saints, and in a proper approach to our triune God?

Public worship is of great utility.

1. It gives Christians an opportunity of openly professing their faith in and love to Christ.

2. It preserves a sense of religion in the mind, without which society could not well exist.

3. It enlivens devotion and promotes zeal.

4. It is the means of receiving instruction and consolation.

God is eminently honored by the social worship of his people, and he delights to honor the ordinances of his public worship by making them means of grace. Most commonly it is by means of these ordinances that sinners are awakened and converted, and that saints are edified and comforted.

Public worship should be:

1. Solemn, not light and trifling (Psalm 89:7; Hebrews 12:28-29);

2. Simple, not pompous and ceremonial (Isaiah 29:13; 62:2);

3. Cheerful, and not with forbidding aspect (Psalm 100);

4. Sincere, and not hypocritical (Isaiah 1:12 ; Matthew 23:13 ; John 4:24);

5. Scripturally pure, and not superstitious (Isaiah 57:15).

— “Public Worship” in the Encyclopedia of the Presbyterian Church in the USA

As we continue to remain apart, may the Lord keep creating within our hearts the longing and hunger for His courts; and may we return with a spiritual frame of heart, in reverent joy, with simplicity and sincerity!

More Questions and Answers from Sunday, 5/3/20

5/4/20

Wilson received more questions yesterday than we were able to cover in the 15-20 minutes Q&A period after our morning worship service, so I wanted to give brief answers to them here on our blog. I’m not exactly sure yet if we’ll be able to continue this Q&A in the same way once we resume gathering for corporate worship, whenever that occurs. But it’s been well received, so I hope to figure out some way to continue interacting with you in this manner.

Here are questions that we didn’t get to answer yesterday:

1. Connecting last week’s sermon and this weeks [on I Peter 1:3-5 and I Peter 1:6-9], are our responses to trials meant to be a gift of assurance to the believer? Conversely, are the way that people respond to fiery trials meant to show if we are in God or if the trials of this world choke us out?

This is a great insight. The parable of the sower in Matthew 13/Mark 4/Luke 8 makes this very point. The seed that falls on the rocky ground is “the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away” (Matthew 13:20-21). In Luke 8:13, the language of “a time of testing” is used in the place of “tribulation or persecution.” It’s clear that trials and tribulations are a test of the reality and genuineness of a person’s faith. In the child of God, “suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3-4; see also James 1:2-4). In the false professor, trials are very often the occasion of abandoning a profession of faith that did not flow from a true conversion. I’m reminded of Pliable in Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, who followed along with Christian at the beginning of his journey, but at the Slough of Despond he turned back in disgust and discouragement. Of course, just because we respond poorly to a trial is not a reason that we ought to conclude we are not genuinely converted - as I mentioned in my sermon yesterday, Peter failed the test and denied Jesus three times. Yet he repented, he turned back in sorrow and new obedience, and strengthened the church through his writings. As God grants endurance, and repentance where endurance is flagging, we see the fruit that should lead us to be assured that we are in a state of grace as opposed to a state of sin.

2. Why does God have to use suffering to strengthen our faith? Why couldn’t He just make our faith perfect?

This question is indeed a mystery, along the same lines of “Why didn’t Jesus establish His kingdom immediately at His first coming?” or “Why doesn’t God take me home to glory immediately upon saving me?” God knows the answers to those question, though He hasn’t chosen to reveal them to us in their fullness. What He has revealed is that “it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering…[B]ecause he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews 2:10, 18). If Jesus learned obedience through what He suffered (Hebrews 5:8), then we His people, still living on this side of glory, should not expect to learn obedience in any other way (especially since Jesus’ learning obedience did not entail any movement from disobedience to obedience, but only deeper experience of what obedience actually meant). We are being conformed to our Savior, who endured the cross before He enjoyed the crown. And just like in the case of Jesus, God uses our suffering to comfort and strengthen others who are suffering. One reason God doesn’t take us home immediately after saving us is because He has work for us to do in bringing other sons and daughters into His family - in the same way, when we suffer and are comforted by God, we “are able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (II Corinthians 1:4). Could God make our faith perfect without suffering? Certainly He could. But He has chosen not to do so, for wise reasons. And so we trust Him and obey.

3. When Peter says, “if necessary” [about our trials], I know he uses that to strengthen us but does Peter imply that God uses that as a tool for Christians who are in sin? We know God tempts no one (James 1).

The Bible is clear that trials can come as discipline for our sin, as well as for training for future righteousness. As I mentioned yesterday, a coach might make his team run sprints because they have been lazy or disruptive in practice, or even if they have been model athletes, he may make them run sprints in order to be in shape to last an entire game. In the same way, God disciplines those He loves, whether in response to our sin (to draw our hearts back to Himself) or irrespective of any particular sin (so that we might yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness, as Hebrews 12:11 puts it). I don’t think Peter only had in mind Christians who were acting sinfully, since later in his letter he will mention suffering for doing good (2:20; 4:16). But trials do come as a tool of God’s sanctifying grace, and so as the Puritans were apt to say, let us “kiss the rod” that smites us, and trust that God’s discipline is always for our good.

4. Why does God need to see if our faith is real if He already knows all things?

It is true, God already knows all things from the beginning (Isaiah 46:9-10 - "I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose’”). He knows those who are His, whom He has chosen from before the foundation of the world (II Timothy 2:19). Yet in Genesis 22:12, after Abraham shows himself willing to sacrifice his son Isaac, God says, “[N]ow I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” Some commentators say that this text proves that there are some things God doesn’t know, and must learn through experience. This is a dangerous and heretical view of God. But why do the Scriptures speak in this way? I think John Calvin answers this question well: “Truly, by condescending to the manner of men, God here says that what he has proved by experiment, is now made known to himself. And he speaks thus with us, not according to his own infinite wisdom, but according to our infirmity. Moses, however, simply means that Abraham, by this very act, testified how reverently he feared God.” Another way to put it is that the trial of our faith reveals to ourselves and to others that our faith is genuine. It’s not that God needs to see if we really have faith, but trials demonstrate the reality of faith for all the world to see. And on the last day, as we saw from I Peter 1:7, we will be glorified and openly acknowledged before God and all creation.

5. How does this text help us to help others in their suffering?

I think this is a powerful text to use as you counsel and encourage those who are suffering. Use my three points as you speak to them: God recognizes your suffering - He sees it and sympathizes with you. God reassures you that He has ordained suffering just for a little while if necessary. God has reasons for your suffering - in this life and in the life to come. These truths are a healing balm to the wounded soul, and I hope that all God’s people will apply them to their own hearts and use them to help others. And as I mentioned above, II Corinthians 1:4 shows us that another reason God ordains suffering is so that we can enjoy His comfort in the midst of it, and thus be able to give that comfort to others. Sometimes God’s primary reason for bringing you through a trial is so that you might be able to minister to someone else walking through a trial. Has not every believer seen that at some point in our life?

6. If God does not punish believers because of their sins because of Christ, what are we to make of the Old Testament when God seems to be doing this to His people?

The saints of the Old Testament were definitely judged for their sins. Just to take two examples, the Israelites in the wilderness were excluded from the Promised Land because of their refusal to believe God and go into the Promised Land; and Israel and Judah were sent into exile to Assyria and Babylon, respectively, for their idolatry and sinfulness. But it is absolutely imperative to realize that, like the church today, Israel was a mixed multitude of unbelievers and genuine believers. So to use Paul’s language in I Corinthians 11:32, God’s judgment on Israel was condemnation/punishment for the unbelievers, but discipline for the believers. The word “judgment” refers to the suffering and affliction endured, but in itself it does not carry the negative connotation of condemnation (see also I Peter 4:17 in this regard). Jesus bore the punishment of all His elect people on the cross, including the Old Testament saints. Yet in both covenants, old and new, true believers have suffered God’s judgments as discipline. As Proverbs 3:11-12 tells us, God disciplines and reproves those He loves. That verse, which applies first to Old Testament saints, is picked up in Hebrews 12 to apply to New Testament saints. The principle of I Corinthians 11:32 is operative throughout the whole Bible.

7. Can we ever see the precise reason for our suffering in this life?

I believe that using the Scriptures as our guide, we can discern many reasons for our suffering. But even as we scan those reasons, we may not know the precise reason why God has ordained a particular trial come into our life. Providence is best read backward, as someone once put it. We see after the fact what God was doing through our suffering. I love the illustration of a tapestry, that underneath looks like a tangled mess of thread, yet when you turn it over you see the most exquisite design. In the same way, in the moment it is difficult to makes sense of suffering. Yet even in this life, God pulls back the curtain to some degree to show us His purposes. Of course, some suffering may go unexplained or un-understood all our life. And I’m not even convinced that we will know comprehensively all of God’s purposes in our suffering in the life to come - since we will be finite rather than infinite in a glorified state. But I trust that God will show us what He has been up to in our lives to such a large degree that we will be able to glorify Him perfectly in glory - that we will be able to affirm like never before that “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).

8. How can we direct those caught in a “health, wealth and prosperity gospel” using a proper understanding of suffering?

There are entire books written on this subject (see this website, for example), so I will be very brief. Show those caught in the prosperity gospel, that Jesus suffered and calls His people to take up their cross as well (Matthew 16:24; I Peter 2:21). Show them that Paul says “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). Show them that he writes that “All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (II Timothy 3:12). Show them that God has granted us suffering along with faith (Philippians 1:29). Show them that we are called to rejoice in our sufferings, and that sufferings are to be expected in the normal Christian life (Romans 5:1-5; 8:17; Philippians 3:10; James 1:2-4; etc.).

Counsel for Pandemic Parenting

April 29, 2020

Biblical Counseling and Training Ministries (BCTM) sent out a helpful article for parents this past week sharing some suggestions about how to process these quarantine weeks and months with our children. I hope it will be an encouragement to you as you seek to continue to raise your children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

3 Practical Ways to Help Our Children During COVID-19

by Sara Littlejohn, MAC 
Counselor, BCTM-East MS

It was eleven o’clock on a school night and my 7th grade daughter sat on the edge of my bed sobbing, “It is all just too much!” We were on day two of distance learning and day 20 of social distancing. I crawled up next to her and whispered, “I know, I know, it is all too much for me too!”  I wrapped her up in a hug and told her I wanted her to go to bed and whatever had gone sideways with her day - with her school assignments, with her heart and mind - we were going to evaluate it under the light of a new day. 

There is no prize being handed out to the set of parents who quarantine the best during COVID-19. Some families are genuinely enjoying the extra time with their children at a slower pace of life. Some families are really struggling, feel like they are drowning, and making it through each day is a complete victory. As thoughtful and compassionate believers, we would be wise to give each other an extra ounce of grace to run the full spectrum of parenting emotions during this quarantine.
 
Whether you are living your best quarantine life right now or just surviving this quarantine life, here are a few suggestions that might help your kids process what is going on around them. And if it all feels like it is just too much and you cannot handle one more suggestion, that’s ok! Hug those babies and keep moving forward. 

Find the Heart
Right now our kids are experiencing a broad range of emotions: disappointment, fear, loneliness, exhaustion, confusion, relief, happiness, depression, anxiety and so many more. One helpful thing to do is find a healthy outlet for our kids to express what they are feeling and experiencing.

As parents, we do not like seeing our children anxious, disappointed or sad. But it is very important to invite our children to share with us what they are feeling and experiencing. They are real people, with real feelings and real experiences. And they are carrying all of it around in their tiny bodies. We might assume we know what they are feeling and experiencing, but until we give them the opportunity to tell us, we cannot be certain.

By inviting our children to share with us what they are feeling and experiencing we are directly reflecting how our Heavenly Father invites all of us to share with Him what we are feeling and experiencing.

Inviting our children to share with us what is going on inside of them will look differently for each. Some kids will love to journal their thoughts, feelings and experiences. Some kids will better be able to express their feelings through drawing you a picture, a Play-Doh sculpt or a Lego tower. Some kids will want to sing you a song or even put on a play about how they are feeling. Get creative here! Give them a simple prompt, “Journal, draw, sculpt, build with Legos, sing me a song, or put on a play about how you feel about the Coronavirus.” After they complete the prompt have them explain their project to you to the best of their ability. As a parent, this can be a rich time of uncovering what is going on in their little hearts and minds. Besides helping you understand your children, giving them this kind of opportunity to express their thoughts and feelings in healthy, constructive ways might also keep them from more unhealthy and destructive expressions later on. 

Remember, after you invite your children to share their experiences and feelings with you, you want to respond by thanking them for sharing with you personal and important things. Don’t try to fix their feelings or minimize their feelings. Instead, ask them if there’s anything you can do to love and encourage them right now. Or even better, pray with your children after they share. You can teach them by example how to take those personal experiences and feelings they just shared with you to the Lord. Together, in word and deed, you can boldly approach the throne of grace knowing you serve a God who hears the prayers of his children.

Find a Rhythm
Many of us have undergone a major shift in our schedule and daily routine. We are all searching for something predictable and familiar. Finding a new rhythm will not look the same for every family, but it can be helpful to establish one while we all learn to wait well. 

Some families will benefit from a daily schedule with activities designated for each hour. I would digress in my sanctification if I tried to implement this in our home, but many of my cherished friends and family are thriving in this approach. Some families (like mine) are benefiting from a list of things that need to be accomplished and then going about doing them throughout the day. Regardless of how you find your new rhythm, make it one that is fitting for both you and your children. Don’t try and be a superhero. Be reasonable and keep your expectations on yourself and your kids sane. Remember, no prizes are being handed out for the most beautiful, crafty and organized quarantine. Your new daily rhythm might look like keeping all the people under your roof alive, fed and clothed. Celebrate even these seemingly small accomplishments! 

While the rearrangement of our days can be disillusioning, remember to point your heart and your children’s hearts to a rhythm and a foundation that never shifts beneath us: the God who is our sure foundation and our stability during this time (Isaiah 33:6). He is the God that supplies us every day with our daily bread (Matthew 6:11). He is the God who never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). We cannot promise our children or predict for our children how these next few days, months and years are going to unfold, but we absolutely can point them to the God who holds our every single day. 

Find Hope
It is not a matter of if we are going to blow it as parents during quarantine, but really a matter of when (and how often) we are going to blow it. We are going to lose our patience, say unkind words, be selfish, get frustrated and lose our way. But what an opportunity to practice repentance and humility before our children. If you sin against your child, repent. If your child sins against you, forgive. Isaiah 40:11 reminds us that our Savior gently leads those that are with young. I don’t know about you, but I need a gentle Guide right now. We are with our young a lot right now, and Jesus never stops pouring out His grace and His kindness toward us as we navigate this new terrain. It's alright to admit how confused, upset, irritated, or anxious you are right now - that's exactly why you need a Savior! So put your hope in him, and point your kids toward him (not yourself) for hope as well.

A new day did come for my struggling 7th grade daughter. The sun came up and a new day dawned, and while our troubles did not disappear we were able approach them with new energy. A new day is also going to come for each of us. COVID-19 does not get to write the final chapter of our days and even our lives. Our hope, our children’s hope and the only hope for this broken world is found in the Living Hope that is Jesus Christ. May just an ounce of this hope sprinkle onto our everydays as we seek to gently lead our children as we are gently led by the Good Shepherd himself. 

How Not to Lose Heart During a Pandemic Quarantine

April 27, 2020

During our Question/Answer time following the morning service yesterday (you can find the service and the Q/A here), the first question was a great one, and I was only able to give a partial answer off the cuff - but several more answers have come to mind in the past day and a half. The question was this: “What are some ways to stay positive and not descend into the spiral of negativity which is so easy to get trapped in during this time?” The question recognizes how difficult the past two months have been - many feel trapped, stuck at home, stuck with their families, unable to go where they are used to going and do what they are used to doing. It is easy to get discouraged, to lose heart, to grow weary - even to grow discontent, bitter at God, covetous of the way we were able to live before this pandemic. To be sure, these are days of sorrow and loss, so if we are grieved and saddened and mourning, such emotion is to be expected and affirmed. Too often we try to do every thing we can not to be sad. Yet sadness, in a fallen world, is an appropriate response. But like the apostles, God calls us to be “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (II Corinthians 6:10) - to grieve as those with a great hope (I Thessalonians 4:13). How do we do that?

I answered this question by reminding us how important it is to begin and spend and end our days in the word of God and in prayer. Meditating on God’s promises, God’s character, and God’s grace to us in Jesus Christ throughout the day will enable us not to lose heart as we struggle through a pandemic quarantine (see II Corinthians 4:16-18). But there are other good and helpful answers to this question. Here are a few (starting the list with the number 2 so that we don’t forget #1 above):

2. Spend time with other people. Now maybe you think, “This is exactly what I’m not able to do!!” or “It’s the people around me that are causing me to be so negative!!” It may be true that you aren’t able to be with people as easily as you once were. But I encourage you to be creative in how you spend time with others. Perhaps it something as simple as an old fashioned phone call, or as high tech as a Zoom or Facetime video chat. Perhaps you sit in someone’s driveway and talk to them or eat lunch together from a distance. Perhaps you participate in the new social distanced practice of drive-by home parades, and talk from your cars. If you’re able to combine #1 and #2, all the better - how we need to be encouraging one another with the word of God, strengthening one another in the Lord (I Samuel 23:16; I Thessalonians 5:11). Make sure to spend time with people who are going to comfort and sympathize with you, but who will also challenge and rebuke your discontentment, and exhort you to put your trust in the Lord with them.

3. Get outside. This may seem like an “unspiritual” answer - but when you recall that God has made us body and soul, and that God has made all things to display His glory, then Christians must never forget that one of the best ways not to lose heart is to spend time in nature, in God’s creation. Not only will you get needed vitamins (and recognizing that our souls are affected by our bodies, how important it is during these times to recognize the connection between physical health and spiritual health), but you will get needed perspective. God is sustaining all creation, and He will sustain you all your life. See the majesty and goodness of God in plants, animals, bodies of waters, the blowing wind, the brilliant sun. Read Psalm 8, Psalm 19, Romans 1:18ff., Acts 14:17 - then go out and see the power and kindness of God.

4. Serve someone. One of the best ways to fight negativity and discouragement and a downcast spirit, is to focus on someone other than yourself. Often our negativity is sinful: it’s selfish, self-centered, envious, jealous, bitter, prideful, discontented, covetous. Fight off these bad fruits by seeking to do good to someone around you. Love your neighbor, whether through writing them a letter, making or baking them something, buying something for them, doing something unexpected for them, etc. Joy comes from making someone else happy. Be a blessing to someone else in need - and you won’t only see that your needs are not perhaps as large as you’ve made them out to be, but you will also gain the blessing promised in Jesus’ word: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).

Undoubtedly there are more ways not to lose heart as we suffer through this season of affliction - so please leave your answers in the comment section below!

More Questions and Answers!

April 20, 2020

Yesterday we tried something new - a brief time of questions and answers after the morning worship. Our goal was to have some interaction that we’re prevented from having since we aren’t gathering corporately right now, as well as to provide an opportunity for further unpacking of the rich truths of God’s word. We received great questions via text, Facebook, and YouTube, and most of them arose out of the sermon I had just preached on I Peter 1:1-2. (If you would like to hear the sermon or see yesterday’s Q/A time, please click here.) We’ve had good feedback from you on this experiment, and do plan on continuing it while we’re only live-streaming our services.

Due to the limited time, we weren’t able to answer all the questions we received. So I want to take this chance to answer some of those briefly.

1. Can you offer any words of encouragement for Christians to pursue personal holiness and ministry to our communities and neighbors in times of trials (like now) when many times our gut instinct is to just wait for “normal” to return?

I’m immediately reminded of C. S. Lewis’ statement in his essay “Learning in Warfare,” found in the book Weight of Glory: “If we let ourselves, we shall always be waiting for some distraction or other to end before we can really get down to our work.  The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable. Favorable conditions never come.” Lewis was talking particularly about the work of education, gaining knowledge as a student. But replace “knowledge” with “holiness” or “ministry opportunities” and you have a great answer to this question. Yes, the pursuit of holiness and ministry is made more difficult in some ways given our circumstances. But from another point of view, other ministry opportunities - like phone calls, Zoom chats, letter writing, driveway conversations with neighbors, shopping for shut-ins - are more convenient and more normal during these days. And certainly there an abundance of ministry opportunities in these fearful days! In addition, our new circumstances of sheltering in place with family members, dealing with so much loss, all the uncertainty surrounding this virus, etc., are showing us new areas of sin and unbelief that we need to put to death and apply the gospel to, and new areas where we can strive to be holy as God is holy. Even if things never go back to “normal,” the call to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and to help others do the same, remains our duty (II Peter 3:18). And our God is sufficient at all times to help us by His Spirit to become more like Jesus. Nothing is too difficult for Him, so let us press on for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ, however abnormal the times are.

2. I don’t understand the distinction you made between the two different definitions of sanctification. How can one live a life of holiness without being daily made more like Christ?

I hope that I didn’t communicate that we can live a life of holiness without being daily made more like Christ, for that is not at all what I intended to say at all! Rather, the distinction I was making was between what we might call positional/definitive sanctification, and what we might call progressive sanctification. Sanctification is both an act and a process. Peter in I Peter 1:2 is referring to the former. The Holy Spirit sets us apart from sin and consecrates us to God at the beginning of the Christian life so that we might begin to live a set apart life in our daily experience. Every Christian has been sanctified in Christ Jesus (I Corinthians 1:2; 6:11) and is being sanctified in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:19; I Thessalonians 4:3; 5:23). The act of the Spirit’s setting us apart/sanctifying us is the basis of His ongoing work in making us more and more holy. The Bible uses the language of “sanctification” in both ways, though more frequently it is speaking of a definitive sense - although we typically use the language to refer to the process of growing in Christlikeness (as do the Westminster Standards). Both senses are absolutely vital to a right understanding of the Scripture, and to our glorifying and enjoying God. So let us pursue holiness, knowing that we are already saints - holy ones - in the Lord Jesus by His Spirit.

3. There are some pastors who call themselves apostles. What should we think about that?

This is an unfortunate and unbiblical practice that I wish would end. It is clear that the apostles were foundational to the church of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:20; 4:11), and that there were specific qualifications to be an apostle. The apostles had seen the Lord Jesus Christ in human form and performed signs and wonders to attest their calling. Though Paul was not a part of the original group of apostles, but was one untimely born, he saw the Lord and performed the signs of an apostles: “Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?…The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works” (I Corinthians 9:1; II Corinthians 12:12). Pastors who call themselves apostles not only denigrate the biblical office of apostle, but may also be claiming an authority that belonged only to those the Lord Himself gave this title and status.

4. Can we be too heavenly-minded that we’re no earthly good?

Possibly, if being heavenly-minded wrongly leads one away from engagement in the world to live a life of service and good works toward the saints and those outside the church. But this question hints at a false dichotomy, as if heavenly-mindedness and earthly-goodness are incompatible. True spirituality, true heavenly-mindedness, should always catapult us from the presence of God into the brokenness of this world with love and grace. As we seek the things that are above, and set our minds on things that are above, not on the things that are on earth (Colossians 3:1-2), then the way we relate to other people, the way we do our jobs, the way we approach the lost, will be transformed (see Colossians 3:5-4:6). Those who are closest to the Lord Jesus through prayer and His word should be the quickest to desire to “do good to everyone, especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10).

5. How does predestination practically change the way I live in my suffering?

When we know that God has chosen us for salvation from before the beginning of the world, then no matter what we go through, we know that He is working it for our good and our final salvation (Romans 8:28). We know that trials are not coming because He is still angry with us, for He has chosen us to be covered by the blood and righteousness of Jesus His Son, on whom He poured out His full wrath in our place (I Corinthians 11:32; Hebrews 12:1-12). We know that no difficulty or hardship can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39). We know that we can endure all things for the sake of those whom He has chosen for salvation, as Paul did in prison (II Timothy 2:10). There are many other ways to answer this question, but these four are sufficient for now. The next two sermons in I Peter will touch on this theme in part, so stay tuned!

What Does the Bible Say About Fasting?

April 6, 2020

In light of the coronavirus pandemic that is wreaking such physical, emotional, and economic havoc among the nations of our world, four denominations are jointing together this Friday for a day of prayer and fasting: the PCA, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC), the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARP), and the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA). Fasting is not a religious practice most evangelicals are familiar with - it’s typically associated in our minds with Romanism or Islam. Our lack of knowledge of fasting, both intellectually and experientially, is unfortunate.

Biblically speaking, religious fasting is not a mindless act of ritualistic formalism or asceticism (though it certainly can devolve into that). It’s not a technique to help you lose weight (though some may fast as a dietary method). It’s not waking up too late for breakfast, or being so busy you forget to eat lunch. Rather, it is to deny oneself intentionally some or all food or drink for a period of time in order to humble yourself before the Lord and to seek Him earnestly and intensely in prayer during that time. It is all too possible for fasting to become legalistic (“I fast twice a week,” Luke 18:12) or formalistic, just going through the motions, or to be seen by men (see Isaiah 58:1-12 and Matthew 5:16). But Jesus assumed that His people would fast: “But you, when you fast…” (Matthew 6:17). When the disciples of John the Baptist asked why Jesus’ disciples didn’t fast, He answered, “The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast” (Matthew 9:15).

As Jesus teaches in Matthew 5:17-18, fasting is something one can and ought to do individually before God, as we see in the lives of David (II Samuel 12:16; Psalm 35:13; 69:10; 109:24), Ahab (I Kings 21:27), Nehemiah (Nehemiah 1:4), Daniel (Daniel 9:3), Anna (Luke 2:37), and our Savior Himself (Matthew 4:2). But it also can be practiced corporately, as we see when the sons of Israel were defeated by the tribe of Benjamin during a civil war (Judges 20:26), when Israel gathered together to confess its sin in the days of Samuel (I Samuel 7:6), when Israel mourned the deaths of Saul and Jonathan (I Samuel 31:13; II Samuel 1:12), when the Moabites and Ammonites came to fight against Jehoshaphat and Judah (II Chronicles 20:3), when Ezra set out to lead the exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem (Ezra 8:21, 23), when Israel gathered to confess its sins in the days of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 9:1), when King Ahasuerus decreed the destruction of the Jews, and when Esther prepared to go before him concerning that edict (Esther 4:3, 16), and when the Ninevites desired to repent (Jonah 3:5). It was the prescription of Joel to the people of God as a sign of their repentance (Joel 1:14; 2:12-15). We see churches in the apostolic period fasting and praying together as they set apart men to gospel ministry (Acts 13:2-3; 14:23).

Clearly then, there is biblical warrant by command and by example to engage in this practice. Our Reformed forefathers who wrote the Westminster Standards recognized solemn fastings as one part of religious worship (Westminster Confession of Faith 21.5; Westminster Larger Catechism 108). Though they saw no biblical warrant for holy days other than the Lord’s Day, or for particular stated days or seasons of fasting such as Lent, yet they did see a place for fasting: “There is no day commanded in scripture to be kept holy under the gospel but the Lord’s day, which is the Christian Sabbath. Festival days, vulgarly called Holy-days, having no warrant in the word of God, are not to be continued. Nevertheless, it is lawful and necessary, upon special emergent occasions, to separate a day or days for public fasting or thanksgiving, as the several eminent and extraordinary dispensations of God’s providence shall administer cause and opportunity to his people” (Westminster Directory for Worship, 1645).

Fasting is an expression of humility (Isaiah 58:3, 5), of mourning (Nehemiah 1:4; Joel 2:12), of contrition (Nehemiah 9:1-2), and of dependent supplication (II Samuel 2:21; II Chronicles 20:3; Ezra 8:21; Daniel 9:3). By forsaking food and/or drink, the one fasting declares that his or her need for God far surpasses his or her need for daily bread. Whether that need is forgiveness, guidance, intervention and deliverance, or strength to go on (or all of the above!), fasting is a physical action that should flow from the heart, in which the physical hunger or thirst reminds us of and manifests our deeper hunger and thirst for God. As David Mathis beautifully explains, “Fasting, like the gospel, isn’t for the self-sufficient and those who feel they have it all together. It’s for the poor in spirit. It’s for those who mourn. For the meek. For those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. In other words, fasting is for Christians. It is a desperate measure, for desperate times, among those who know themselves desperate for God” (Habits of Grace, 121-122).

The COVID-19 crisis is undoubtedly a time in which fasting and prayer is right and good, so I encourage you to join brothers and sisters around the country this Friday in seeking the Lord’s face for mercy and grace. Instead of eating breakfast and/or lunch and/or dinner, pray. If this Friday is not a good time for you, then perhaps pick another day. For resources to help guide your time of prayer, check out this short article by Richard Pratt, or this list of suggested prayers. May the Lord hear, may the Lord draw near, may the Lord answer our cries to Him for help.

The Immunity of Christian Hope, By David Elston

April 1, 2020

This article was recently posted by one of the ministries we support, Biblical Counseling and Training Ministries (BCTM). May it encourage your heart today!

The Immunity of Christian Hope
by David Elston (a counselor at BCTM)

What hope do we have during this season of upheaval and uncertainty? Where is peace found when our normal sources of security - family, friends, money, jobs - are up in the air? The coffee shop barista who has lost a job, the high school senior who will miss prom, the restaurateur who is now considering bankruptcy - where can they find hope in the midst of their loss? 

Coronavirus has made one thing obvious: hope and peace cannot be found in things that, to use the words of Jesus, “moth and rust destroy” and “thieves break in and steal.” To use more updated terms, things that Coronavirus can infect and affect. So then, to where or to whom do we go for hope? Jesus offers us a hope that is utterly immune to Coronavirus and that will outlast the collapse of civilization: his resurrection. With Easter Sunday being less than two weeks away, this is an especially appropriate time to reflect on this hope and how it applies to our current predicament.

Before Good Friday was Good

Before the resurrection occurred, the cross was everything but victorious. Friday was everything but Good Friday. What hopelessness must have been in the hearts of the two women as they watched the limp body of Jesus laid in the tomb! What panic must have peaked in the disciples as the stone was rolled in front of the tomb! They had placed every last ounce of hope in Christ and the kingdom that he promised to establish. They had entered into Jerusalem just five days ago with their heads held high as their Master was praised with palm branches as King. And now those same heads wagged with shame and grief over the complete humiliation of that King.

It is probably not too difficult for you to empathize with the overwhelming emotions of the disciples as you see COVID-19 threaten your security and take away things that are precious to you. The disciples had just witnessed the greatest tragedy in all of history. Of course they are panicking! Of course they’ve fallen into a black grief! Could there be anything worse than people putting to death God's Beloved who came to save them? Creatures putting to death their own Creator?

The Dawn of Hope

But let’s continue to track with their emotions as hope enters into the Story. The Sunday morning after Jesus died, in the midst of their panic and grief, Mary Magdalene and her friends went to visit the tomb. And we know they didn’t have a clue what news awaited them there, because they were discussing on the way how they were going to get the tomb’s stone rolled out of the way so they could see his body and mourn.

When they got to the tomb, an angel delivered the news to the mourning women: “He has risen!” “What? No, there’s no way. Can't be…can it?” A bewildered hope entered their hearts that perhaps Friday was not the end of the Story. A wild faith emerged that looked beyond the limp Body taken down from the Cross to the power and faithfulness of God. Matthew calls this mixture of emotion, “fear and great joy,” Mark calls it “trembling and astonishment.” However you describe it, Jesus’ disciples were blindsided by the hope of the resurrection. Akin to their Old Testament ancestors, they found the answer to the question, “Is anything too wonderful for God?”

But perhaps the most fearful, joyful news of that Sunday morning was that the cross of Friday was, after all, a good thing. The very thing that caused such grief was now a cause of joy. The very thing that had humiliated their King now exalted him. For his death was not the end of his kingdom, but its inauguration. Apart from the resurrection, Jesus was just another martyred prophet. But his resurrection declared his sacrifice an acceptable payment for the sins of his people. What a fearful, joyful thing that our God can take news as terrible as the crucifixion of the Son of God and turn it into the Good News that we know it to be today. This is why the cross has for so long been the defining symbol of Christianity.

The resurrection also serves, in this sense, as the basis of Christian hope in suffering. For if even the death of God’s Son can be made into such good news, what sorrow of ours will not undergo the same transformation? Let us not doubt God’s power and promise to apply the resurrection to our own sufferings, sooner or later. As CS Lewis once said, let us not say of a certain sorrow that no future bliss can make up for it, forgetting that heaven works backwards: God does not only promise to make up for our suffering with a consolation prize, but promises to transform our agonies into glories, just as he did the tragedy of the Cross. Christ, in his resurrected body, is the Living Hope that all who believe in him will share in the blessings of his resurrection. Some of those blessings we receive now (the "down payment") and some we'll receive in the age to come.

And as you consider your present circumstances, here in the midst of COVID-19, can you look beyond the limp body of our nation's economy to the faithfulness of God? Can you see a future beyond the crucifixion of your career, a future that rests in the hands of a King who loves you enough to take a bullet for you? As you suffer, will you do so in hope, believing that whatever agonies await you in the next month can and will be transformed by the same God who transformed the agony of Jesus?

Suffering and Hope Go Hand in Hand

Now, that does not mean we are called to be stoics who do not feel any pain - not at all. Jesus himself was “deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled” when sickness took the life of his friend Lazarus. And as Lazarus’ friends and family mourned their loss, Jesus himself wept over his world that had been infected by death. 

What’s happened in China, Spain and Italy is awful. What’s unfolding now and in the next few weeks in the United States is very real and scary. In the past two weeks, I’ve talked with pastors who wept over the devastation of their flock, 12th graders who won’t walk at graduation, bosses overwhelmed at having to lay off half their employees, moms floundering to teach their children at home. My own (very social) child burst into tears at the thought of weeks (months?) without seeing his friends. Wherever you are in this mix, however you are suffering, take a moment and imagine with me the face of Jesus as he wept over the death of Lazarus. How does that face look to you? Did his eyes simply get moist or did the tears flow freely? Did he cry quietly to himself or sob aloud? Did he hide his face or did he let everyone see the pain on it, and see the heaving of his chest? Whatever it looked like, it was striking enough that the bystanders looked at him and said, “See how he loved him!” It was obvious to them that Jesus must have cared very deeply for Lazarus and his two sisters to have wept in that way. Do you know that in the same way he wept over the loss of Lazarus, he weeps with you, believer, over your losses? And the implication of his tears are the same for you as well: “See how he loves us!”

But for the sake of hope, we must remember the rest of Lazarus’ story. Jesus wept knowing that five minutes later, Lazarus would be alive and well again, resurrected from the dead. In other words, hope and suffering were not contradictory for Jesus, but could both be in his heart at the same time. Surely we, too, are allowed to grieve, to be deeply moved, to weep over suffering. And just as it was with Jesus, rather than deep distress and grief forcing hope out of our hearts, such suffering can go hand in hand with hope. 

COVID-19 can infect our bodies. It can collapse the economy. It can disrupt our way of life. But it cannot infect our hope if it’s in Christ, who overcame the world; in Christ, who lovingly died for us; in Christ, who resurrected from the dead. For our fate is already secured, being wrapped up and joined to his fate. So take heart, you who are in Christ, you have a hope that is immune to all suffering, even the Coronavirus.

Neighbor Love From a Distance

March 30, 2020

How do we fulfill the second great commandment to love our neighbor as we love ourselves during a time when we cannot be physically present with them? It’s a question you’ve likely asked yourself, or a friend, and it’s something that we will have to be thinking about for at least the next month or longer, it appears. Here are a few simple, practical suggestions. This is certainly not a comprehensive list, and I encourage you to share your ideas in the comments section under this post.

1. Make a phone call. Texting is fine and helpful, we’ve become more and more used to communicating to one another in this manner, but in a time when we’re homebound, it’s great to hear someone else’s voice, particularly someone you know and love, and particularly if you live alone and don’t have anyone else to talk all day. God gave us voices, and when we don’t get to use them regularly, technologies that connect us more physically than less physically are a rich blessing. So call your friends, yes. But also call someone you don’t know as well, just to check on how they’re doing. Call someone that you suspect is likely lonely. Call the neighbor down the street that you haven’t seen since the block party last year. And if in God’s providence they are still alive, absolutely, definitely, without a doubt call your mother and father.

2. Make video calls. Whether you use Facetime or Skype or Zoom or whatever your favorite video conferencing platform might be, take advantage of newer technologies that allow us to see one another. Sure, no one loves to see or hear themselves on camera, but at this point, it’s probably just great to see someone other than your family members. I participated in my first Zoom video call this past weekend, and it was so good to catch up with the three other couples on the screen, to share stories from the past two weeks, to laugh together, to pray together. Sure, it was glitchy, and we spoke on top of each other several times. But we finally figured it out.

3. Write letters. Again, texts and emails are fine too, but there’s something about receiving an old-fashioned, hand-written, smudged, signed letter in the mail. A letter can communicate emotion and feeling even better than a text or email. It can be placed on a coffee table or in a book and read again and again. It can be preserved for decades and centuries (“Grandpa, can you show me your letters from the COVID crisis again?”). It doesn’t have to be long - a short note will suffice.

4. Share what’s in your pantry. You may have gotten to the grocery story to stock up on some needed items before the stores ran out. And while it seems that the supply is returning on important products, you may hear of someone who doesn’t have something you have multiple packs/units/items of. Be generous, trusting the Lord to provide for you and your family and you give away what He has already provided for you. Maybe it’s toilet paper. Maybe it’s hamburger meat. Maybe it’s bread. If we panic-shopped, then what isn’t in the stores is in someone’s pantry. So don’t be ashamed to ask around if you’re out of something. Give folks an opportunity to love you. I’m almost certain you’ll have an opportunity to love in return before this is all said and done. (In this category would also fall going shopping or going to the pharmacy for someone who shouldn’t get out due to a higher risk of catching the virus.)

5. Share the gospel. People are going to be asking spiritual questions during this season. They will be more open to talking about God, about death, about eternity, about sin and suffering. Remember the words of Peter: “In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” (I Peter 3:15). Jesus’ words could not be more appropriate than they will be in these coming weeks: “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Now is the time to grow in evangelistic zeal and courage, to practice sharing the gospel. Have a basic outline in your head: God, Sin, Christ, Faith. Talk about the sovereignty of God as the basis of our hope in times like these. Talk about the holy justice of God, and how we deserve far worse than we actually receive because of our sin. Talk about the fall of Adam as the source of all misery and suffering. Talk about the death and resurrection of Jesus as the only hope for sinners, and the return of Jesus as the day when all sorrow will be wiped away. Talk about what it means to trust Jesus, to turn from sin, to strive for holiness by grace, to walk by faith and not by sight. Pray for revival, and pray for opportunities to talk about Jesus with your neighbors.

As I said - there are certainly more practical ways we can love our neighbors; please share them with us! You’ve probably already thought of the ones I’ve mentioned. But if not - try them out.

C. S. Lewis on Coronavirus, Excitement, Frustration, and Fear of Death

C. S. Lewis’ essay “Learning in Wartime,” found in his book Weight of Glory, is an amazing essay in its own right. But it’s even more powerful right now, as we face a virus which is just as life-altering as World War II was back in the 1940s. Originally an address in Oxford in October 1939, a month after Britain had declared war on Germany, Lewis writes to students who may be wondering why they should worry about their studies in light of something so threatening and all-encompassing. Even if you are not a student, no matter what your calling might be, this essay is applicable to you on many levels. The last few pages are particularly rich. I quoted a part of these paragraphs in my sermon this past Sunday, but want to give you more of Lewis’ classic work. As in my sermon, I’m going to replace “war” with “coronavirus” so that we might be helped to apply these words more directly to our situation:

I would again repeat what I have been saying in one form or another every since I started - do not let your nerves and emotions lead you into thinking your predicament more abnormal than it really is. Perhaps it may be useful to mention the three mental exercises which may serve as defenses against the three enemies which coronavirus raises up against the scholar [enter your calling here].

The first enemy is excitement - the tendency to think and feel about the war when we had intended to think about our work. The best defense is a recognition that in this, as in everything else, coronavirus has not really raised up a new enemy but only aggravated an old one. There are always plenty of rivals to our work. We are always falling in love or quarreling, looking for jobs or fearing to lose them, getting ill and recovering, following public affairs. If we let ourselves, we shall always be waiting for some distraction or other to end before we can really get down to our work. The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable. Favorable conditions never come. There are, of course, moments when the pressure of the excitement is so great that only superhuman self-control could resist it. They come both in coronavirus and peace. We must do the best we can.

The second enemy is frustration - the feeling that we shall not have time to finish. If I say to you that no one has time to finish, that the longest human life leaves a man, in any branch of learning, a beginner, I shall seem to you to be saying something quite academic and theoretical. You would be surprised if you knew how soon one begins to fell the shortness of the tether, of how many things, even in middle life, we have to say “No time for that,” “Too late now,” and “Not for me.” But Nature herself forbids you to share that experience. A more Christian attitude, which can be attained at any age, is that of leaving futurity in God’s hands. We may as well, for God will certainly retain it whether we leave it to Him or not. Never, in peace or coronavirus, commit your virtue or your happiness to the future. Happy work is best done by the man who takes his long-term plans somewhat lightly and works from moment to moment “as to the Lord.” It is only our daily bread that we are encouraged to ask for. The present is the only time in which any duty can be done or any grace received.

The third enemy is fear. Coronavirus threatens us with death and pain. No man - and specially no Christian who remembers Gethsemane - need try to attain a stoic indifference about these things, but we can guard against the illusions of the imagination. We think of the [hospitals of Wuhan, Italy, New York, etc.] and contrast the deaths there suffered with an abstraction called Life. But there is no question of death or life for any of us, only a question of this death or that – of a virus now or a cancer forty years later. What does coronavirus do to death? It certainly does not make it more frequent; 100 percent of us die, and the percentage cannot be increased. It puts several deaths earlier, but I hardly suppose that is what we fear. Certainly when the moment comes, it will make little difference how may years we have behind us. Does it increase our chances of a painful death? I doubt it. As far as I can find out, what we call natural death is usually preceded by suffering…Yet coronavirus does do something to death. It forces us to remember it. The only reason why the cancer at sixty or the paralysis at seventy-five do not bother us is that we forget them. Coronavirus makes death real to us, and that would have been regarded as one of its blessings by most of the great Christians of the past. They thought it good for us to be always aware of our mortality. I am inclined to think they were right. All the animal life in us, all schemes of happiness that centered in this world, were always doomed to a final frustration. In ordinary times only a wise man can realize it. Now the stupidest of us knows. We see unmistakably the sort of universe in which we have all along been living, and must come to terms with it. If we had foolish un-Christian hopes about human culture, they are now shattered. If we thought we were building up a heaven on earth, if we looked for something that would turn the present world from a place of pilgrimage into a permanent city satisfying the soul of man, we are disillusioned, and not a moment too soon.”

Absent in Body, Present in Spirit

March 23, 2020

Though my formal and official installation by Presbytery as Senior Pastor of Pear Orchard Presbyterian Church has been postponed until we’re able to gather for corporate worship again, I have begun my new role today as we have been planning all along - and what a strange set of circumstances in which to take the baton from Carl! To be unable to assemble for worship or to meet in groups greater than 10, to be practicing social distancing, not to be able to meet for breakfast or lunch or coffee or visit you in your home - pastoral ministry will have to look very different from what I’m used to in some ways for the foreseeable future. In that light, I have been so thankful that our elders have continued to shepherd the flock, that our deacons have continued to serve those in need, and that our staff have tirelessly worked to make sure that we can worship through our live-stream and that the operations and ministry of the church persist as much as possible as this pandemic unfolds.

The weirdest part of this coronavirus crisis for me is our inability to meet for corporate worship. Such has been the case in previous pandemics, though, and we ought to give thanks to God that we live in a time when the internet exists and we can still worship the Lord together, albeit separately in our homes. And we must not forget that because of our spiritual union with Jesus Christ, even when we are absent in body, we are present together in spirit. The Bible, particularly the apostle Paul, strikes this note in several ways that are instructive for us in a season of pandemic.

1. Our Savior is absent from us in body, but present with us by His Holy Spirit. “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matthew 18:20). “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7; see also John 14:16, 26). Jesus is the Head of the church and we are His body. Because He is absent yet present with us by His Holy Spirit, in union with Him we are able to present in our spirits with one another even when we are absent in body.

2. Our bodily absence yet spiritual presence ought to motivate each of us to pursue holiness. Paul wrote to the Colossian church, “For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ” (Colossians 2:5). He wanted the believers in Colossae to continue to walk by faith in Jesus even though he was not, and likely never had been, with them physically. He speaks in similar ways to the church in Philippi: “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents…Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 1:27-28; 2:12-13). Recalling the spiritual presence of our absent brothers and sisters in Christ, even of your absent pastors, is a strong incentive toward godly living. Certainly I can say with Paul that I long to hear that the saints of POPC are growing in grace even while we are physically separated from one another!

3. Our bodily absence should drive us to pray for one another earnestly. Paul remembered the saints to whom he wrote in far away places, and he prayed for them: “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy…” (Philippians 1:3-4). When we cannot be present physically, we can be present spiritually with our prayers for one another. Mine the Scriptures, especially the prayers of Paul for the churches, as you pray for your church family. Pray with joy as you remember one another and long to see each other again.

4. Our bodily absence should create a deep longing to be restored to one another physically. In I Thessalonians 2:17, Paul writes, “But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face.” Knox Chamblin, one of my seminary professors at RTS, used to say, “The same sun that melts butter hardens clay.” Being away from one another and from corporate worship will either cause your heart to long all the more to be reunited with the saints in the presence of God, or will lead you to be even more careless about worship and about the people of God. Which will it be for you? Again, with Paul, as your pastor, I long to be together again, to see you face to face. As he writes in I Thessalonians 2:19-20, you are my glory and my joy, my hope and my crown of exultation, when Jesus Christ returns to be physically present with us once again.

May the Lord restore us quickly to one another, and may He be with us and watch over us while we are absent from one another!

Hope for the Hurting and Confused

March 17, 2020

What surreal and sobering times in which we live! And yet we can confidently say with David, “But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD, I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in Your hands…” (Psalm 31:14-15). Each day this week, and for the indefinite future, the staff at Pear Orchard will aim to post a brief word of encouragement and counsel here on our website. This morning I want to share three truths that have been bouncing around in my head and heart these past days.

1. Plague and pestilence are from our sovereign Father. In all our human efforts to stem to spread of this virus, let us not forget that this physical, social, and economic disaster is according to the sovereign will of God. He was not caught by surprise by this outbreak like we have been, for He “works all things after the counsel of His will” (Ephesians 1:11). We learn that pestilence and disease specifically is from the hand of God in I Chronicles 21. After David had sinned against the Lord by numbering the people of Israel, God sent the prophet Gad to declare to David, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Take for yourself either three years of famine, or three months to be swept away before your foes, while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the LORD, even pestilence in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the territory of Israel’” (I Chronicles 21:11-12). David responds, “I am in great distress; please let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are very great. But do not let me fall into the hand of man.” George Armstrong, a Presbyterian pastor in Norfolk, Virginia, during the days of the yellow fever epidemic in 1855, noted regarding David’s words: “Thus he speaks, not because David did not regard famine and war as a part of God's providence, but in the pestilence, the mysterious, the terrible pestilence, "the pestilence that walketh in darkness, the destruction that wasteth at noon-day" [Psalm 91:6], the soul instinctively acknowledges the presence of an agent, fresh from before the eternal throne.” God sovereignly sends pestilence, even as He sovereignly sends the hurricane or tornado, according to His inscrutable, mysterious will. Like any trial, though, for the people of God this affliction comes as His fatherly discipline (Hebrews 12:5ff.; I Corinthians 11:32). So David could acknowledge that suffering through a period of plague (which in that case killed 70,000 Israelites) was actually falling into the hands of a God whose mercies are great. “Though He slay me, yet I will hope in Him,” declared Job in Job 13:15. And so must we hope in Him as we endure this judgment of God from His loving hand of discipline. He causes all things to work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28). And so we can say with Jeremiah, “For the Lord will not reject forever, for if He causes grief, then He will have compassion, according to His abundant lovingkindness” (Lamentations 3:21-32).

2. Our joy in changing times is grounded in our unchanging salvation. Few passages of God’s word state this as explicitly as I Peter 1:3-6. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials…” As we are distressed by various trials for a little while, as God deems it necessary, we greatly rejoice in “this” - and what is the “this”? It is the salvation that God has accomplished for us in Jesus Christ. Salvation past - God has raised Jesus from the dead, and has caused us to be born again to a living hope through His resurrection. Salvation future - we have an imperishable, undefiled, and unfading inheritance reserved in heaven for us and ready to be revealed in the last time. Salvation present - even now God is protecting us by His power for this salvation to come. Because this salvation is sure, then our joy is great - no matter what we might be suffering. Our joy is not found in our circumstances but in our God and in His grace to us in Jesus. Are we distressed right now? Absolutely, and Peter does not deny the distressing, sorrowful nature of trials and afflictions. Yet he affirms that even in our sorrow there is a deeper undercurrent of joy that holds us up as we suffer. So let us rejoice and be glad even as we endure the hardships of these days.

3. Though we cannot gather for corporate worship right now, we can and must gather for private worship and family worship. The desire to limit the spread of the coronavirus has led us to forego assembling together in person on the Lord’s Day for a season, and thankfully we have the technology to meet virtually through the internet. But formal worship in the public assembly is not our only opportunity to worship God. Yes, it’s true, all of life is to be worship for the Christian, so that whether we eat or drink or work or play, we are to do all to the glory of God (I Corinthians 10:31). But more specifically, we are to worship God in secret, each one by ourselves, and in our families. Spend time by yourself each day crying out to God in your distress, and thanking Him for His mercies that are new every morning. Listen to His word before you listen to the morning news or to your newsfeed on Twitter or Facebook. Fill your hearts with His truth before they are filled with fear and trembling at the increasing number of COVID-19 cases or the decreasing number of the stock markets. With our children off of school, and so many activities cancelled, even at church, it is all the more imperative that we redeem the time and take advantage of these strange circumstances to engage in family worship each day. Whether first thing in the morning or right after dinner or just before bed, gather your family together to sing, to read the Bible, and to pray. Keep it simple, especially if you’re doing family worship for the first time. Sing the assuring hymns and songs of the church down through the ages. Comfort and encourage the hearts of your children with God’s truth and grace. Answer their questions from His word. Praise and thank God for His goodness in the midst of suffering. Intercede for the sick, for our leaders, for health care workers, for those who don’t know Jesus, for missionaries in other countries. Worship Him as the God who does as things well.

There are so many more truths that we can take hold of and live in the light of, but I hope that these three will sustain your heart this day. God is sovereign, wise, and good.

Francis James Grimke and the Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918

One of my hobbies is collecting and reprinting the writings of and about 18th and 19th century American Presbyterians (I was a history and mathematics major at LSU, and have enjoyed studying history for as long as I can remember; combine that with my love for the Presbyterian Church and books, and I guess it was only a matter of time before Log College Press happened). Preserving and reading old books is important for many reasons (if you’ve never read C. S. Lewis’ essay “On the Reading of Old Books,” do it as soon as you can), but one of my favorite reasons is that “there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 7:10). The trials and issues we face today have already been faced by Christians in generations past, and their writings continue to minister powerfully to us.

One example is immediately obvious: a recent precursor to today’s coronavirus pandemic was the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. Between October 1, 1918, and November 1, 1919, nearly 3,000 citizens of our nation’s capital died from the virus. During October 1918, as we’re experiencing somewhat today, public gatherings were banned. Francis James Grimke was an African American Presbyterian minister in Washington, D.C., who pastored Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church from 1878-1928. When his congregation was allowed to gather for corporate worship again on November 3, 1918, he preached a sermon entitled Some Reflections, Growing Out of the Recent Epidemic of Influenza That Afflicted Our City. In it he elaborates upon several lessons he learned during the worst season of the deadly flu. I encourage you to read all eleven pages of Grimke’s sermon, but I want to summarize a few of the things he learned in hopes that God might teach us similar lessons over the next few months.

1. In spite of all the resources of modern science and all the skill of trained professionals, it is easy for viruses to kill large numbers of people. Grimke soberly reminds us, “How easy it would be for God to wipe out the whole human race, in this way, if he wanted to; for these terrible epidemics, plagues, the mighty forces of nature, all are at His command, are all His agents. At any moment, if He willed it, in this way, vast populations or portions of populations could be destroyed.”

2. Why do some who get the virus die and others recover? Why do some get the virus and others do not? Certainly there are physical answers to those questions. But ultimately, the answer is that God has written all our days in His book, when as yet there was not one of them (Psalm 139:16). Grimke explains, “[The reason] is to be found in the will of God. For some, the time of their departure had come, the limit of their earthly existence had been reached, and this was God's way of removing them out of this world into the next. Some day we have all got to go, but how, or when, or where, we do not know; that is with God alone.”

3. Viruses are no respecter of persons, and certainly no respecter of skin color. In Grimke’s day, racial discrimination against African Americans in the United States was present to a large degree. He was struck by the way that white Americans were having to face the fact that white skin was no guarantee of a stronger constitution, as some in his day were claiming. “In this terrible epidemic, which has afflicted not only this city but the whole country, there is a great lesson for the white man to learn. It is the folly of his stupid color prejudice. It calls attention to the fact that he is acting on a pinciple that God utterly repudiates, as He has shown during this epidemic scourge, and, as He will show him when He comes to deal with him in the judgment of the great day of solemn account.”

4. Flu pandemics keep death and eternity before people in a way that only wars tend to do. Grimke puts it beautifully, and I quote him at length: “While it lasted, it kept the thought of death and of eternity constantly before the people. As the papers came out, day after day, among the first things that every one looked for, or asked about, was as to the number of deaths. And so the thought of death was never allowed to stay very long out of the consciousness of the living. And with the thought of death, the great thought also of eternity, for it is through death that the gates of eternity swing open. We don't as a general thing think very much about either death or eternity. They are not pleasant things to think about, and so we avoid thinking of them as much as possible. It is only when we are forced to that we give them any consideration, and even then only for the moment. They are both subjects of vital importance, however, involving the most momentous consequences. For after death is always the judgment. The grim messenger is God's summons to us to render up our account. That there is an account to be rendered up we are inclined to lose sight of, to forget; but it is to be rendered all the same. The books are to be opened, and we are to be judged out of the books. During the weeks of this epidemic—in the long list of deaths, in the large number of new made graves, in the unusual number of funeral processions along our streets, God has been reminding us of this account which we must soon render up; He has been projecting before us in away to startle us, the thought of eternity.”

5. Finally, it is only a living faith in Jesus Christ that can give a true sense of security in the midst of deadly perils. “While the plague was raging, while thousands were dying, what a comfort it was to feel that we were in the hands of a loving Father who was looking out for us, who had given us the great assurance that all things should work together for our good. And, therefore, that come what would—whether we were smitten with the epidemic or not, or whether being smitten, we survived or perished, we knew it would be well with us, that there was no reason to be alarmed.” For the Christian, to live is Christ and to die is gain. And so while we live, we live for Christ and for the good of our neighbor, not for self. And if He chooses to take us home, then we rejoice that we will be with him forever.

May the Lord grant us protection and peace, as well as grace to use this trial for our spiritual growth and His glory!

Getting Ready for Supper - the Lord's Supper

Even as the apostles of Jesus made logistical preparations for the Passover meal at which Jesus would institute His Supper (Luke 22:7-13), so the apostle Paul reminds us of the spiritual preparations that are necessary before we come to the meal that memorializes Jesus’ death: “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself” (I Corinthians 11:27-29).

As our preparation for earthly meals are informed by the purpose of those meals (is it a wedding? a family BBQ? a church crawfish boil? an anniversary date?), one way to get spiritually ready for this supper is to recall its purpose. The Lord’s Supper is at least three things:  commemoration, communion, and anticipation.

It is commemoration: “Do this in remembrance of Me.” This command has reference to the past. We remember the once-for-all, unrepeatable event of our Lord’s death. We show forth His death; we declare to all around us that the heart of the good news is a bloody cross. There Jesus bore our sins in His body, and our sins were forgiven. There God’s wrath was satiated, and He was reconciled to us. And not only do we remember that event, but we remember our Lord Himself. We remember that He who possessed all glory and riches became poor for our sake so that we through His poverty might be made rich in Him.

The Lord’s Supper is also communion. There is a present aspect to what we are doing at the Lord’s Supper. Jesus Christ is present at the table; He is the host. We commune with our Savior in the here and now, in the eating of the bread and the drinking of the cup. “Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?” (I Corinthians 10:16). By His Holy Spirit and by faith we partake of and feed on all the spiritual blessings that are ours in Him. The one whose death we commemorate is living and present with us as we gather around the communion table. Likewise, our brothers and sisters in Christ are present with us - together, we are the body of Christ, and we commune in one another’s gifts and graces. “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (I Corinthians 10:17).

Finally, the Lord’s Supper is anticipation. We “proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” We must not forget the future aspect to what we are doing as we eat and drink the Lord’s Supper. There will one day be a presence of Jesus bodily and visibly, and seeing Him we will be made like Him! The sacrament of the Lord’s supper will be no more, and the marriage supper of the Lamb will be at hand (Revelation 19:9). We anticipate that day every time we partake of the Lord’s supper.

So as you prepare your heart for this Sunday’s worship service, and in particular for the Lord’s Supper, remember what you come to do. Put on clothes fit for the occasion: “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive” (Colossians 3:12-13).

[1] Based on John Murray, Collected Writings

A Few of The Things God Taught Us At Our Missions Festival

Last week we enjoyed a rich spread of gospel truth and missional encouragement at our 2020 Missions Festival. If you weren’t able to hear Nate Bonham on 2/9, John Snyder on 2/12, or Dave Garner on 2/16 - or even if you were - here are some of the highlights from their sermons.

1. Nate Bonham preached from John 17, and reminded us that missions is for the glory of God and our joy. Remembering that God’s glory is the goal of missions redefines the battlefield, redefines the weapons, and redefines victory. That is, a focus on God’s glory reminds us that the battlefield is actually the heart of man; that the word of God is the weapon, as is our money, which we sacrifice for His glory and for the sake of others knowing God; and that success in missions is guaranteed, for it is based on God’s sovereign grace alone. The purpose of missions is also the joy of those who are saved. God sanctifies His people and aligns our joys with His, and sends us out together with other believers to share the gospel so that we might rejoice as others come to know His joy.

2. John Snyder preached from the life of Ahaz in II Chronicles 28. He challenged us to ask ourselves if we are the kind of people with whom God can entrust new believers. Ahaz’s view of God was so small that it led him toward pragmatism, idolatry, unfaithfulness, and a disbelief of God’s promises. When we walk in the way of Ahaz, when our view of God is tiny, then our evangelism will be affected dramatically. Not only will we cease to evangelize but God will not want unbelievers to be in our midst, lest we infect them with the same view of God that we have.

3. Dave Garner preached from Matthew 28:18-20 and III John 1-8. In Matthew 28 he showed us what makes the Great Commission so great: its comprehensive scope (all nations gathered into the church); its depth (demands a complete life change); its source (the triune God); its authority (the authority of the incarnate Son of God); its accompanying promise (that Jesus will be with us by His Spirit). In light of these realities, we go forth to bring the message of salvation to all the earth. From III John 1-8, he were called to walk in gospel truth, to abound in gospel love, and the breath a gospel mission. Our mission must be marked by a priority (Jesus Christ), a fidelity (to the word of God), an accountability (to the church that sends us), a hospitality (to strangers), a generosity (to those who are sent), an intentionality (to see ourselves as fellow workers), and a mutuality (we are all called to send and to receive, to go and to send).

These notes are just a summary of the truth and exhortation we heard this past week. As we point others to the hope of the gospel, may the Lord continue to spread the fame of His name through us, both around the corner and around the world.

How Do We Put Anxiety to Death by the Spirit's Help?

Two nights ago at our Wednesday evening Bible study on anxiety and depression, we thought about the Biblical distinction between anxiety/worry and concern. There is an appropriate and legitimate concern and regard and care that we are to have as good stewards of the life and circumstances the Lord in His providence gives us. But to be anxious and worried is to act and think and feel in a manner contrary and displeasing to the holy will of God. This truth is established primarily by the fact that God commands us not to be anxious in Philippians 4:4-7; I Peter 5:6-7; Matthew 6:25-34; and Psalm 37:1, 8, among other passages. Jesus died on the cross to bear God’s punishment against our sin of worry and anxiety, and He died to redeem us from this lawlessness (I Peter 2:24; Titus 2:14). Therefore we are to confess our anxiety to God as sin, repent of it, and put it to death by the indwelling Holy Spirit (Romans 8:13). But how do we put to death something that perhaps seems to us so natural, a state to which our hearts are oft inclined? Here are some of the things we considered Wednesday night:

1. Take your requests to the Lord. Paul is explicit in Philippians 4:6, as is Peter in I Peter 5:7 - we are to replace anxiety and worry (self-focused responses) with prayer (a God-centered response). Every request represents a legitimate concern, some distressing, troubling, and just plain hard circumstance that overwhelms us, typically something that we are called as stewards to have regard for and pay attention to and care about. We are to cast these cares upon the Lord with all our might, with thanksgiving for God’s provision even in the midst of them, and with submission to God’s sovereign and good plan. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane was greatly distressed and trouble (Mark 14:33) - but He was not anxious, He did not worry. He was not sinning in the Garden, though He was suffering. His distress and trouble were an appropriate response to the agony of the cross that lay before Him, and His fervent prayer and submission was a righteous act of dependence that models for us what we are to do with our cares and concerns. So often, worry replaces prayer, even counterfeits prayer. But God calls us to replace worry with genuine and heartfelt prayer - to throw ourselves upon and into His everlasting arms - for He is the God who daily bears our burdens (Psalm 68:19).

2. Meditate on God’s word and promises. “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad” (Proverbs 12:25). What word is better than the word of God? God consoles us through His word and promises, and as Psalm 94:19 reminds us, “When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul.” When overwhelmed and attacked by anxiety and panic, speak to yourself the truth of God’s word: that He is near (Philippians 4:5); that He cares for you (I Peter 5:7); that you are of more value than the birds of the sky, whom your heavenly Father feeds (Matthew 6:26); that He has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom (Luke 12:32); that He knows what we need (Matthew 6:32); that He will freely and sovereignly add to us all things that we need in His perfect timing (Matthew 6:33); that He is wise, sovereign, and good, and can be trusted implicitly.

   D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones has stated our desperate need memorably: “The main trouble in this whole matter of spiritual depression [and anxiety] in a sense is this, that we allow our self to talk to us instead of talking to our self. Am I just trying to be deliberately paradoxical? Far from it. This is the very essence of wisdom in this matter. Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them, but they start talking to you, they bring back the problem of yesterday, etc. Somebody is talking. Who is talking to you? Your self is talking to you. Now this man’s treatment [in Psalm 42] was this; instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself, ‘Why art thou cast down, O my soul?’ he asks. His soul had been repressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says: ‘Self, listen for a moment, I will speak to you’. Do you know what I mean? If you do not, you have but little experience. The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know how to handle yourself. You have to take yourself in hand, you have to address yourself, preach to yourself, question yourself. You must say to your soul: ‘Why art thou cast down’–what business have you to be disquieted? You must turn on yourself, upbraid yourself, condemn yourself, exhort yourself, and say to yourself: ‘Hope thou in God’–instead of muttering in this depressed, unhappy way. And then you must go on to remind yourself of God, Who God is, and what God is and what God has done, and what God has pledged Himself to do. Then having done that, end on this great note: defy yourself, and defy other people, and defy the devil and the whole world, and say with this man: ‘I shall yet priase Him for the help of His countenance, who is also the health of my countenance and my God’.” (Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cures, 20-21).

   Not only must we speak the truth to our heart, but we need to put ourselves around people who will speak this truth to us, who will do for and say to us according to Isaiah 35:3-4, “Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, ‘Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.”

3. Search your heart for the sin beneath the sin. Lurking beneath the sin of anxiety is a host of other, deeper sins. The sin of fear (of man, of death, of losing a loved one, of sickness, of suffering, of being poor, of being alone, etc.) is so often a root sin of anxiety. Likewise pride - we seek to control what only God can control, and when we are unable to control it, when we are out of control, our heart grows anxious. We assume that we know what is best for us, and when it is best for us. Anxiety flows from a trust in ourselves and our own strength or wisdom rather than the Lord. Is it any wonder then that Peter tells us to humble ourselves just before telling us to cast our cares upon the Lord? Often an idol of comfort lies at the root of our anxiety, or a joyless discontentment or envy that is upset the Lord is not giving us what we we think we deserve, or what others have. Most of all, anxiety flows from an unbelief in the goodness, power, wisdom, and love of God. All these root sins bear the sinful fruit of anxiety, and anxiety feeds and strengthens those roots. As God searches our hearts and knows our anxious thoughts (Psalm 139:23-24), He will till up these deep roots and by His Spirit will enable us to put the Roundup of grace upon them as well.

4. Focus on what you can and should be concerned with, and leave the rest with God. The opposite extreme from anxiety is apathy, laziness, carelessness. In calling us to put off worry, God is not calling us to put on indifference. Rather, He wants us to be free from the care that is anxiety, so that we can have the care that is righteous and appropriate stewardship. We must pray for our daily bread, but if we do not work, if we do not sow, reap, gather, toil, and spin, then we will not eat (Matthew 6:11, 26, 28; II Thessalonians 3:10-12). We are not to make genuine concerns ultimate concerns, but we are to be concerned with the things God calls us to be concerned with. Whether with regard to our finances, our health, our house, our family, our job, our education, our vehicles, our futures - it it right to do what we need to do, always attending to these things in submission to our chief aim: the kingdom of God, the glory of God, and our glorious Savior Jesus Christ (Matthew 6:33; I Corinthians 10:31; Luke 10:41). Nehemiah 4:9 shows the beautiful twin graces of dependence and diligence: “But we prayed to our God, and because of [our adversaries] we set up a guard against them day and night.” Trust God and keep your powder dry. Be anxious for nothing, but be concerned for all that God calls you to be concerned for. Trust Him, wait on Him, submit to His will. And know that He will cause all things to work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

Preparing for the Lord's Supper This Coming Lord's Day

This Sunday, we are celebrating the Lord’s Supper at Pear Orchard Presbyterian Church. Paul reminds us in I Corinthians 11:27-29, “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.” This passage requires us to prepare for this covenant meal - to think about what we are doing when we come to the Lord’s table - so that we do not eat and drink in an unworthy manner. Each one of us is to examine himself/herself individually. But in regards to what should we be examining ourselves?

Our Westminster Larger Catechism gives a helpful summary of what this self-examination entails in question 171:

How are they that receive the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper to prepare themselves before they come unto it? They that receive the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper are, before they come, to prepare themselves thereunto, by examining themselves of their being in Christ, of their sins and wants; of the truth and measure of their knowledge, faith, repentance; love to God and the brethren, charity to all men, forgiving those that have done them wrong; of their desires after Christ, and of their new obedience; and by renewing the exercise of these graces, by serious meditation, and fervent prayer. [I’ve omitted the Scripture references for each phrase in this answer, but I encourage you to locate and study them in your own copy of the Larger Catechism or online]

The Westminster divines are not teaching “preparationism,” as if by examining ourselves we make ourselves well-deserving of a seat at Christ’s table. Quite the opposite: as we spend time in the days leading up to this ordinance examining our hearts, we see more deeply the reality that by nature we do not deserve a seat at the table, and that our hope for acceptance is in Christ alone. Coming to the table - and making preparation for this supper ahead of time - is an opportunity to survey your soul, to take stock of where things stand spiritually, to ensure not only that you are indeed a believer, but that you are growing in grace and the knowledge of Jesus, and that your love for Jesus is overflowing into a love for others. It’s an opportunity to fan into flames dimly burning wicks, to add fuel to the fire, so that come Sunday you have already been meditating on the wonder of the death of Christ for a sinner such as you, and your heart is tuned to sing His praise all the more.

So take some time this weekend to reflect prayerfully on the state of your own heart. If you are looking for helpful meditations on the Lord’s Supper, check out The Communicant's Manual (1848) by Jacob Jones Janeway, or Plain Words to a Young Communicant (1854) by James Waddell Alexander. Both men are 19th century American Presbyterians who thought deeply on the cross of Jesus and the bread and the cup that He appointed for us to eat and drink to our growth in grace.

Old Testament Help in Confessing Your Sins

Last Sunday night in my sermon at our officer ordination/installation service, we saw from Mark 10:32-45 that the church is filled with sinners. Each one of us struggles with pride, selfishness, a condescending dismissive heart, sinful anger, envy, self-righteousness, self-centeredness, slowness to learn the lessons God is teaching us. Yet Christ has come to serve us, and to give Himself as a ransom for us, paying the price our sins deserved and dying in our place (Mark 10:45). Our sins are completely and absolutely forgiven - past, present, and future. Yet we are still commanded, even as Christians, to confess our sins to God, and when we have sinned against someone, to confess those sins to one another (I John 1:9; James 5:16). As our Westminster Confession of Faith reminds us, “God doth continue to forgive the sins of those that are justified; and, although they can never fall from the state of justification, yet they may, by their sins, fall under God’s fatherly displeasure, and not have the light of his countenance restored unto them, until they humble themselves, confess their sins, beg pardon, and renew their faith and repentance” (WCF 11.5).

So confession of sin ought to be a part of our regular prayer life. Sadly, it often is not. Yet God’s Word is filled with helps toward confession. We are usually familiar with the Psalms that express contrition and sorrow over sin (i.e., Psalm 32, 51, 130, etc.). But a lesser-known aid toward confession is found in the exilic and post-exilic books by Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. Providentially, in chapter 9 of each one of these books, we have extended prayers of confession, written in response to Israel’s sin that led them to be removed from the land of Canaan. They show us beautifully what God-centered, grace-based, self-examining, hopeful, honest confession looks like. If you’ve never read these prayers, take time this weekend to do so. Meditate on them, mark them, make use of them. Though the name of Jesus is not mentioned, yet these saints looked forward to redemption to come through the Messiah. Thus we can learn from them how to approach God in confession, knowing that because Jesus has already become incarnate and died, we bring all our confession to our heavenly Father through the Son explicitly and with even greater confidence than Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah knew.

Let us remember that a broken spirit and a contrite heart God will not despise (Psalm 51:17)!