For the last month you could say I’ve had Dietrich Bonhoeffer “on my mind”. In reading his community-focused devotional, Life Together, I found several interesting insights and perspectives. Among them, Bonhoeffer discusses a dimension of life we all engage in: work. What I found to be novel was his insistence that work is essentially spiritual –just as much as prayer is. Prayer and work do not exist in tension with each other but have their rightful place in the Christian’s life. But work? On par with prayer? Come on. Bonhoeffer presents some valid points and answers various objections we might have –even if we initially disagree with his propositions.

After the first morning hour the Christian’s day until evening belongs to work. “Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labor until evening” (Ps. 104:23). In most cases the Christian family fellowship will separate for the duration of the working day. Praying and working are two different things. Prayer should not be hindered by work, but neither should work be hindered by prayer. Just as it was God’s will that man should work six days and rest and make holy day in his presence on the seventh, so it is also God’s will that every day should be marked for the Christian by both prayer and work. Prayer is entitled to its time. But the bulk of the day belongs to work. And only where each receives its own specific due will it become clear that both belong inseparably together. Without the burden and labor of the day, prayer is not prayer, and without prayer work is not work. This only the Christian knows. Thus, it is precisely in the clear distinction between them that their oneness becomes manifest.  Work plunges men into the world of things, the Christian steps out of the world of brotherly encounter into the world of impersonal things, the “it”; and this new encounter frees him for objectivity; for the “it” –world is only an instrument in the hand of God for the purification of Christians from all self-centeredness and self-seeking.  The work of the world can be done only where a person forgets himself, where he loses himself in a cause, in reality, the task, the it. In work the Christian learns to allow himself to be limited by the task, and thus for him the work becomes a remedy against the indolence and sloth of the flesh.[1]

Ever wonder why so much of our day is spent on seemingly trivial, albeit necessary labor. Even when we spend significant time in prayer, it only comprises a small portion of our day. Work, in all its forms fills the majority of our lives. Is this simply a reality caused by the Fall? Not necessarily. Work has its place and is nobler than we usually believe it to be. The toilsome aspect of work is a result of sin but work itself is not. God gave Adam tasks to do; living in perfect freedom and paradise –and this was good.

Work is an integral part of life just as prayer is. The physical and spiritual aspects do not exist in opposition but in harmony. We should glorify God in everything we do and seek to know him on our knees and through the mundane labors of the day.

I found this video on Justin Taylor’s blog over at The Gospel Coalition.

Follow this link, and don’t judge it based upon the still frame of some cartoon old guy. The video is worth the 13 minutes. Let me explain why.

I recently through a Thanksgiving which brought me close to the realities of our fallen state in this world. There was sinful struggle, sickness, and death. One week later, I am preparing to lead a two and a half hour Bible study on the coming re-creation after the return of our savior. Perhaps the polarity of my past week has created a place for God to move with less interference from my flesh. Maybe the proven mortality of a loved one has caused me to confront mortality staring back at me in the mirror. Maybe God is just moving on my heart. Whatever the cause may be, when I saw this video I was brought low as my spirit lifted Christ high.

This video spoke to me; it spoke with power, wonder, and emotion. It spoke to me as a sinner, freed from my chains yet still bound to my flesh. It spoke to me as a saint, undeservedly sharing the glory of an unblemished savior. It spoke to me as a son of the most-high God, basking in His honor because of His grace. It spoke to me as a father, watching an animated video praying for my son.

At times it feels like my role as a father, husband, and church leader is too much to bear, and I am thankful for those desperate times. Because it is in those instances that I truly look to God to be my strength. He becomes my comfort. He becomes my deliverer. He becomes all that I spend my Sundays telling others He is. And he does those things in the most unexpected ways imaginable.

Today, He retook His place as my all in all through a cartoon. What a wonderful, mysterious God we serve.

Few events in modern history fascinate us more than Nazi Germany during the 1930’s and 40’s. How could a historically Christian nation come under the spell of one of the most murderous, wicked tyrants to walk the earth? In the aftermath of World War II, the world stared aghast in unbelief at the atrocities committed by the Nazis: concentration camps, death squads, medical experiments on humans etc. After six years of war six million Jews had been murdered as well as tens of millions of civilians and soldiers on all sides.

The question that haunted and continues to haunt the world was where were the Christians in all this? In a country that birthed the Reformation, that sent the first protestant missionaries out of Europe (the Moravian Brethren), that was known to be civil, cultured and advanced came the most debased, villainous regime in recorded history. We all search and hope for some glimmer of light, a ray of hope, a dissenting voice among the satanic chorus.

The man is Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In this young Lutheran pastor we see who each one of us would hope to be: a sincere, courageous, active, devout pillar of truth amidst a million lies.

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas is worthy read. I promise. With no shortage of required readings and impending term papers, you’d think I’d wait a month until winter break. Only one problem: I started reading it…..and couldn’t put it down.

The best plot summary is summed-up in a sentence by Bonhoeffer himself: “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

Metaxas describes Bonhoeffer’s aristocratic upbringing, the impactful death of his 18 year old brother Walther in World War I and his desire to become a Theologian at a young age. A brilliant intellectual, he earned a doctorate of Theology at age 21. Bonhoeffer traveled extensively during his short life. He was cultured and erudite –every bit the German gentleman. And he was a devout Christian.

Bonhoeffer’s uncanny foresight into cultural injustice and Theological error is strikingly prophetic. In his trip to America in 1933 he attended Union seminary in New York. He was appalled at the Theological liberalism of the day. He heard the perennial liberal preacher Henry Emerson Fosdick and was alarmed that Christ was not preached. He was most moved by the piety and sincerity of the African America churches in the U.S but was saddened by the prevailing racism of the day.

Bonhoeffer saw the evils of National Socialism earlier than anyone in Germany. He was outspoken and rallied against Hitler publicly before he was silenced. He worked in every way he could to preserve the integrity of the gospel and genuine Christianity. When Hitler drove the nation into a world war, Bonhoeffer was proud to be a German but conceded that the only in defeat could his country be saved. Metaxas highlights the struggles of a man who loved his country and understood the complexities of serving one’s nation and obeying God-ordained authority. He trained pastors at Finkenwalde seminary in the 30’s and never told his students what they should do if called into military service. It was a matter between them and God. Of the 150 seminarians who attended during those years, 80 of them were killed in the second war.

The inner tension between fighting for your country in an unjust war and obeying higher authority was empathetically brought to light. There were good, devout Christian men serving in the German armed forces. During Bonhoeffer’s courtship with Maria Von Wedemeyer, her father and brother were killed during Stalingrad within a few weeks of each other. Bonheoffer confirmed Maria’s brother, Max just years earlier. It was heart wrenching to read.

Metaxas sheds light on the distinction between Christians serving in the army and the wicked, anti-Christian SS branch of the military. The SS and their leaders were animate in their detestation of Christianity. They were responsible for nearly all the atrocities done in the war. Many in Germany were not part of the SS nor were they aware, especially at the beginning of what they were doing. Metaxas rightfully vilifies the SS leaders who were the authors of the “Final Solution” (extermination of Jews in Europe) For instance, he says this about the death of Reinhard Heydrich:

On the positive side of things, Heydrich was dead. At the end of May, the albino stoat had been ambushed by Czech resistance fighters while he was riding in his open-top Merceded. Eight days later, the architect of the Final Solution fell into the hands of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.[1]

On the romantic note, Metaxas gives us a fascinating look into the relationship between the 18 year-old Wedemeyer and a man 18 years her senior. The letters of correspondence between the two are moving and memorable. Bonhoeffer had earlier resigned to a life of singleness for the sake of ministry –but this changed with the beautiful lady Wedemeyer. Shortly after their engagement in 1943, Bonhoeffer was imprisoned. This love story is tragic as Bonhoeffer was executed before they could wed. In his letters, he would express his love and devotion while hinting at his death with phrases such as, “can you go on without me?”

The crux of Bonhoeffer’s life was his belief that to act or not act in opposing Hitler by any and all means was the difference between obeying God in righteousness and staining one’s hands with blood of the innocent. Bonhoeffer, who considered himself a pacifist decided that joining the Abwehr (intelligence gathering agency) in order to plot against Hitler in an eventual assassination attempt was what God asked him to do. Most in Germany opposed to such action on grounds of violating their conscience.

Bonhoeffer knew that to live in fear of incurring “guilt” was itself sinful. God wanted his beloved children to operate out of freedom and joy to do what was right and good, not out of fear of making a mistake. To live in fear and guilt was to be “religious” in the pejorative sense that Bonhoeffer so often talked and preached about. He knew that to act freely could mean inadvertently doing wrong and incurring guilt. In fact, he felt that living this way meant that it was impossible to avoid incurring guilt, but if one wished to live responsibly and fully, one would be willing to do so.[2]

The bold, daring, righteous life Bonhoeffer lived led him to do what most wouldn’t do. He also conceded that everyone in the nation would suffer for the evils of the regime –not just those immediately involved.

Bonhoeffer’s life is so inspiring because, if we are all honest with ourselves, wonder if we would be like him or the millions of Christians who stood idly because of fear or simply to salve our consciences. May this man, fully-devoted to God and submissive to his will, be an inspiration we seek to emulate in our own generation.

One of the things I admire about Desiring God Ministries and John Piper is how much awesome content they are willing to give away.

Just recently, Desiring God posted John Piper’s seminar on missions titled Let the Nations Be Glad.

If you’ve ever read the book, you’ll know that Piper’s discussion of missions is passionate as well as theological. His discussion of the surpemacy of God in the missionary endeavor is both insightful and invigorating.

So do yourself a favor and listen to this this 3-part seminar.
You’ll be glad you did.

Let the Nations Be Glad!

Have you ever seen a witch? Not a genial, candy-seeking child strolling your street on Halloween, or a masked mannequin on display at Target , or even a fearful character in a movie, but a real one.

If you’re like most, you’ll be at a loss for an honest definition. Merriam-Webster defines a witch as the following: One that is credited with usually supernatural malignant powers.

Know anyone like that? Probably not.

But what you do know is that anyone who meets that qualification cannot be good news. Even non-Christians would consider a man or woman who uses supernatural powers malevolently as evil.

Why are witches worthy of such glory and attention as to be imitated by children on a holiday glorifying the powers of darkness?

Why do Christians, with full knowledge of the Biblical prohibition against witchcraft in the Old and New Testament not become disconcerted by Halloween’s glorification of it?

Maybe it’s because they are ignorant of real, powerful, demonically-subservient witches. Maybe it’s because they’ve never met or even heard of an actual witch.

During two years as a missionary in Suriname I experienced the realities of demonic activity regularly. Witches were normal entities of Aukaan culture. They never wore black pointed hats or had big warts on their noses. They were hardly distinguishable from everyone else, but they were real –and they were feared.

I recall numerous discussions where harm to friends or family was attributed to a witch. Often it was poisoning or physical maiming through evil spirits. A non-believing friend whom I spent many hours sharing the gospel with expressed a deep, inconsolable fear of the work of witches. I’ll never forget how his countenance darkened suddenly when discussing the topic.

The work of witches was vindictive and seemingly arbitrary. Jealousy was a typical motivator for hurting or killing someone else. While the culprits involved usually remained hidden, the effects of their work were not.

They were real, dangerous and evil.

One of the most puzzling and vexing stories in the Bible comes from I Samuel 28. Saul and the Witch of Endor. In the account the spirit of the Lord is no longer with Saul because of his disobedience and Samuel’s prophecy that the kingdom has been taken from him and given David. Saul has removed all the mediums and spiritists from the land as the law required but is now in a panic. The Philistines are waging war and Saul is no longer receiving guidance from God as to what he should do. One of his advisors tells him there is a witch in Endor whom he should seek. Saul disguises himself and goes to see her. She makes Saul swear not to report her and then summons up Samuel’s ghost. He speaks with Saul and declares that he and his sons would in fact, die that very day. Saul leaves and the words of Samuel come to pass.

Was the spirit really Samuel? How could a witch bring the soul of a dead man to speak? Was it an evil Spirit who feigned being Samuel? And of course, how do we reconcile the fact that everything this apparition said came true?

As Christians we’re warned not to meddle with witchcraft. The Bible never claims witches do not possess supernatural power. It doesn’t assert sorcery as hocus pocus. It does say that Satan and his demons are the source. God is infinitely powerful and superior to the Devil –but never denies the evil one’s power.

In many countries, and among countless people groups, witches are a powerful and dreaded enemy. Those without Christ are exposed to the forces of darkness that come to ‘kill, steal and destroy’.

In Jesus, we have no fear of witches because of the Holy Spirit living in us. But we should heed the Bible’s acknowledgement of their existence and power.

Revelation 22:15 says, “Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”

Those who practice sorcery (witches) will be condemned to everlasting punishment in hell. Should our houses be decorated and our daughters dressed as these? I think not.

Our perspective on imitating and glorifying witches during Halloween should be changed.

I am currently the executive pastor at my church. This means my job is defined by implementing the vision of my pastor. It is my job to make sure his vision is protected, nurtured, and expanded by the rest of our staff. One of the key components of the vision for our church is to institute a thriving family ministry, and I assume most pastors reading this would say that a thriving family ministry is part of their vision too. And there is good reason why it should be.

Statistics

Most pastors understand the need for a family ministry because of stats like these –

Barna: Only 33% of churched youth say the church will play a part in their lives when they leave home.

UCLA: 52% of incoming students regularly take part in church events, but only 29% are still involved in church events by their junior year.

Ron Luce: 88% of kids raised in Christian homes do not continue to follow the Lord after they graduate from high school.

Brian Haynes: Only 67.8% of children under the age of 18 live with married parents. 25.8% of those children live with single parents.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: In 2006, an estimated 905,000 children were victims of abuse or maltreatment. 1,530 child fatalities resulted from abuse or neglect.

The statistics are terrifyingly bleak and readily available to anyone with ears to hear. Most pastors know about these statistics, and they feel the call to respond. For the past decade, there has been a growing movement towards family based ministry in response to the statistics like those above. Most likely, you feel the pressure to stem the anti-family tide that is drowning our culture.

There is just one problem, most of us, as pastors-in-training, were taught how to dissect a passage of scripture with the skill of a brain surgeon, how to speak with authority and passion, how to plant churches, raise missionaries, and seek the welfare of our cities. But no one took the time to explain the most basic step towards our need for a healthy family ministry. No one told us how to best start a home based movement in our churches. But there is one simple first step which will inevitably start your church down the right road.

The First Step

Instituting a healthy family ministry in your church does not begin with research. If you are a pastor, that probably doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to you. Everything begins with a solid knowledge base, right? Yes, but research will not get you there.

The first step in family ministry is not about fasting and praying for church direction either. You will need the guidance and wisdom only God can provide, but your prayers for the future of your church will be secondary to the most basic need in any family ministry.

The first step to a thriving family ministry is to be a minister to your own family. Before you blow this off as a given, I want to offer five questions for you to use to gauge your ministry to your family.

1. Do you preach the importance of family but justify your schedule to yourself during sermon preparation?
2. When you hear the word “calling” do you think of your wife and children or your title?
3. Which do you know better, your staff’s daily schedule or your children’s?
4. Does your family see the same energy exerted to deepening relationships as they see you exerting to improve your church?
5. Does your congregation hear you tell stories about your family? 

Before you ever try to implement a family ministry, you need to have a clear conscience and strong confidence when it comes to your family. You need to affirm your calling and place as the head of your household as often as you affirm your place as the head of the church. Your wife should feel she has a partner in the home, not an absentee ballot. Your family needs to see you planning for their future, leading family meetings, and pursuing their righteousness. Finally, your congregation needs to know the previous statements describe you.

The best way to start a family ministry movement in your church is to have a family worthy of emulation. Lead your family, then start worrying about how to get others to do the same.

Why did God create the world? While speculation about God’s divine purposes is usually fruitless and often dangerous, a sufficient (at least as adequate as anything I’ve researched), albeit non-exhaustive answer is found in the Trinity.

Understanding God as love is best comprehended in the eternal context between the three persons of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The three are a community constantly giving love and receiving it in return in perfect harmony. There is no need. There is no want. There is no deficiency.

We understand love because God. Love by nature, gives, it shares, it delights in the other.

The giving aspect answers the question of why God created the world. It was because of love.

God’s love, demonstrated in the relationship between the father, Son and Holy Spirit prompted him to create beings in which to share it with.

God wasn’t lonely; he wasn’t bored; he wasn’t even seeking beings to give him homage.

God did something in complete accord with his perfect nature: he created.

And while God’s ways are not our ways, nor are his thoughts our thoughts God reveals what pleases him to reveal about himself. This alone is an act of grace.

Some questions are beyond our ability to comprehend such as why beings created without sin would choose to disobey God. It’s a mystery….but it is reality.

We were strangers and rebels living in opposition to the almighty when the same love that brought forth creation was the cause behind Christ coming to earth to die on a cross and save us from sin.

The same love existent in eternity between the godhead gave of itself in the person of Jesus for an underserving creation.

This should profoundly shape our perspective on God, humanity and creation –and make us eternally grateful.

Had a challenging conversation with a friend yesterday about moral relativism, and came across this insightful article. It’s dense, and I’m not going to lie — it’s reaching the outer limits of my intellectual capacity. But it’s a good primer on why not even philosophers espouse moral relativism — a position many (perhaps most) non-Christians hang onto.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/the-maze-of-moral-relativism/

“The argument is significant because it shows that we should not rush to give up on absolute moral facts, mysterious as they can sometimes seem, for the world might seem even more mysterious without any normative vocabulary whatsoever. ….

“None of this is to deny that there are hard cases, where it is not easy to see what the correct answer to a moral question is. It is merely to emphasize that there appears to be no good alternative to thinking that, when we are in a muddle about what the answer to a hard moral question is, we are in a muddle about what the absolutely correct answer is.”

In churches across the country today, congregations took time to remember the national tragedy of September 11th and our own personal horror and grief at what occurred ten years ago today.

But how are we to remember today?  In what way can we honor the victims who were lost and the heroes who sacrificed, and do it in a distinctively Christian way?

Pastor Glenn Packiam gives his perspective on this problem, and I think his insights are worth quoting at length

To begin with, we must tell the truth. Justice requires that we name things as they are. We cannot simply put a veneer of tolerance over the rough timber of terrorism. The terrorists behind the attack acted as our enemy, and their acts were nothing short of evil.

Yet Jesus calls us to do more than name our enemies; He calls us to love them.

There is a way of “remembering” that is un-loving toward our enemies. If we only remember our courage or our virtue—though there are many stories of American courage and virtue since 9/11—we are not yet remembering well. If we only remember our enemy’s evil, or the horror that we felt because of their acts, we are not yet remembering well. To only remember our virtue and their evil is to glorify our pain, idolize our nation, and reinforce our prejudice toward our enemy. All of that is what a Christian must call sin, and it is far from loving our enemies.

If we are to remember well, we must tell the truth about ourselves. We must remember that we, too, are sinners, that all of us—our enemies and us—are those for whom Christ died. Neither of us is excluded.

Miroslav Volf, a Yale theologian and a respected Christian voice with his own painful memories of civil war in Yugoslavia, calls us to “remember” a violation from at least three angles:

1. We remember that our enemies are not excluded from the community of humans to whom God has extended forgiveness though Christ’s death;

2. We remember that we are not excluded from the community of sinners in need of God’s forgiveness; and,

3. We remember our pain within the Story of Christ’s death and resurrection.

By placing our memory of pain and violation within the larger, sacred memory of Christ’s death and resurrection, our memory becomes Eucharistic. We are not simply remembering our pain; we are remembering Christ. Refusing to make our pain or pride or prejudice the Lord of our lives, we choose instead to surrender to Christ, to see the world through His death and resurrection…
May God give us the grace this Sunday to not rally around a flag, but to raise the cross of Christ—a cross that speaks of forgiveness instead of retaliation, of mercy triumphing over judgment. May we not simply remember well; may we also remember Christ.

_______

You can read Pastor Glenn Packiam’s entire article: What Should A Pastor Do With 9/11?

What is the greatest struggle/challenge of the Christian life?  This was the question posed a few weeks ago for your opinions and discussion.  Today, I will assert my own answer.

First, however, it’s important to see what the greatest struggle is not.  The greatest struggle of the Christian life is not primarily prayer, Bible reading, evangelism, or the spiritual disciplines in general.  The greatest struggle is not raunchy movies, worldly music, violent video games, or godless entertainment all together.  The greatest struggle for Christians today is not abortion, gay marriage, atheistic universities, or even that damn liberal media we hear so much about.

While all of the above are important and worthy of our serious thought, attention, and response, they are all ultimately secondary or even tertiary matters in the Christian life.

If intimacy with God, obstacles to holiness, and social justice are not the greatest struggle in Christian living, then what is?  Truly seeing Jesus Christ and valuing Him rightly‘

It is truly seeing and rightly valuing that transforms our lives and makes us fit for Heaven.

Seeing and Valuing is the Difference Between Being a Follower of Jesus or Not

“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing.  In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.  For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:3-6).

The difference between those who believe and are saved and those who reject and perish is that one sees Jesus Christ as infinitely good and valuable while the other sees Jesus as foolish and weak.

Truly seeing and rightly valuing is difference between Heaven and Hell.

Seeing and Valuing is the Power to Fight Sin and Live in Obedience

“By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.  He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.  By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:24-27; cf. Matthew 4:1-11).

When you read both Hebrews 11 and Matthew 4 we see that one thing Moses and Jesus had in common was that when faced with temptation they looked to something far superior.  Hebrews tells us that Moses valued Jesus more than the ease and wealth of Egypt.  Matthew shows that Jesus valued God more than an easy way out while in the wilderness.

In the same way, we are tempted to sin by false promises of satisfaction in things other than God.  Our strategy for defeating sin, then, is to remind ourselves of the superior satisfaction we have in Jesus Christ.

Seeing and Valuing is the Means to Our Transformation

” And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Our growing in the likeness of Jesus (sanctification) occurs as we gaze intently upon Him.  We do this through the spiritual disciplines of Bible reading, prayer, evangelism, worship, and many, many others.

Seeing and Valuing is the Power to Persevering to the End

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:1-2).

The greatest struggle of the Christian life is to clearly see Jesus Christ and value Him rightly as the infinitely good and valuable person in the universe.  It is our success or failure at doing this that will determine whether our lives will be marked by holiness and victory or worldliness and defeat.

As you pray today, pray that God would give you eyes to see Jesus clearly and a heart to love Him rightly.