Thursday, October 22, 2020

Dear Church Family,

  The command to love one another serves as the basis for the other 20+ “one another” verses in the New Testament. Remember the verb form in Greek calls us to obey our Lord’s commands and not simply file them away as pious suggestions. Some look like actions everyone – Christian or not - should do, while others must be termed counter-cultural. Actually even the call to love goes beyond “normal” human love as the love Jesus to which Jesus calls His people to show must be sacrificial and not self-seeking.

  1 Thessalonians 5:11 calls the church to act in a supernatural way, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” The ‘therefore’ reminds us to look at the passage in its context. The two previous verses teach great truths that frame the church’s identity in Christ. God has appointed His people to salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord as we “live together with Him.” Since we enjoy union with Christ, we can never live separated from Christ. The passage cements the truth that God’s people have the high privilege and joy of living in communion with each other, as well.

  Paul’s links two commands in this verse. Most translations read ‘encourage,’ but the root word also describes the Holy Spirit as the “Comforter.” Paul writes to a church living in a pagan society and in uncertain times. So the way Christians can comfort one another lies in edifying others. In Ephesians 2:22 Paul pictures the church as an edifice “being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.” Since His people want the church to bring glory to God we strive to do all we can to make sure every part of the building (the church) reflects the perfection of God.

  How do we practice what Chapter 26 of the Westminster Confession calls “mutual edification”? The meaning of edification directs us to the activity of building. Building requires energy and working according to a plan. God’s plan calls us to use words spoken with “truth in love” so that “we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ.” (Eph. 4:15) The best words we can speak come from the Bible. So we can share with others words of eternal truth that the Holy Spirit inspired. Then we can bear witness to the goodness of God we have experience. I was blessed minutes ago by Irene Harwood who gave praise to God for His many blessings despite having surgery to repair her broke hip caused by a boisterous dog jumping on her. To say the least, she made my day. Perhaps words of hope you share with someone will grow them in the grace of knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

  Romans 14:19 Ephesians 4:12 also call us to this neglected practice of building one another up. May we joyously follow these commands to the glory of God and for blessing to His church!

Living by grace to His glory,
Pastor Gillikin

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

Dear Church Family,

  I must follow up on our Lord’s new command to love one another with a look at Peter’s response. Peter was not simply one of the twelve disciples. He made up the inner core of three along with James and John. Jesus called Peter, along with his brother Andrew, as his first two disciples. A quick read of the Gospels shows Peter to be the most-mentioned person after Jesus.

  So it comes as no surprise when Peter asks a question after Jesus issues the command to love one another. Now to be fair before giving the command Jesus had said, “I will be with you only a little longer…Where I am going, you cannot go.” Rather than inquire in any way about how to live out the command or why Jesus gave the command, Peter jumps back to the previous statement and wants to know where Jesus is going.

  Today Peter would fit some psychological profile such as being hyper-active or impulsive. He had shown this in Matthew 17 and the story of the Transfiguration. Jesus shines brightly with the glory of God as Moses and Elijah talked with Him. Peter decides in that incredible moment he should put up a trio of tents for them. Only a voice from heaven keeps Peter from doing that. Just a few hours after Jesus gave the command to love one another, Peter denied Jesus three times even though he had argued with Jesus in Mark 14:31, “Even if I have to die with You, I will never disown you.” To his credit (or shame), Peter did try to defend Jesus as the Romans soldiers arrested Him by cutting of the ear of the high priest’s servant.

  Rather than focusing on the high calling to love one another, Peter chose to engage in side issues rather than the issue of the heart. He would see the greatest act of love ever when His Savior and Lord died on a cross. Peter ran to the tomb when Mary Magdalene and others told him it was empty. Peter received forgiveness from Jesus in John 21. He received grace. Would that create in him a heart of love?

  1 Peter 1:22 proves Peter practiced the new command. He joyfully wrote, “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply from the heart.” Later in 4:8 he pens a familiar verse, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins.”

  We must be hearers and doers of God’s Word. We have seen the command to love and have received God’s love. How will you love one another today?

Living by grace to His glory,
Pastor Gillikin

Monday, October 19, 2020

Dear Church Family,

  In my last devotion I mentioned “the ‘one another’ habits of a healthy church family.” A group to theologians did not assemble this list. They come straight from the Bible and have been given to train us “in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” per 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Today I will focus on the most important one in the list.

  It should come as no surprise the command to love one another appears most often. Jesus gave the “new command” on what we call Maundy Thursday in the Upper Room to His disciples. He has told them He will be with them “only a little longer.” Read slowly what Jesus instructs them to do right after that, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. All men will know that you are My disciples if you love one another.”

  Three major points jump out in those few words. First, by calling the command ‘new’ Jesus seeks to reorient their thinking. Who knows why the Old Testament did not have this command (as it has hundreds of others) or why did Jesus wait until the night before His death to state it. John Calvin opines that Jesus made it novel as if to say, “I wish you continually to remember this commandment, as if it had been a law but lately made.” Certainly the command to love runs counter to human nature that cares about self first and foremost.

  Second, Jesus uses Himself as a model for how His disciples must love. Minutes earlier He had shown His love for them by doing the task of the lowest servant – washing their feet. Over three years Jesus patiently lived with them. They knew first-hand how He had loved them through His many acts of service to them and to those in need. In less than 24 hours they would see His greatest act of love as He died on the cross. At that point perhaps they remembered His words recorded in Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Mad did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Jesus teaches that true love requires costly service and self-sacrifice.

  Third, while God’s people must never seek the praise of men, proof of being a follower of Jesus must be seen by others as we love other members of God’s family. We are not simply seen as being nice. I remain “pro-niceness.” We can love only because we have first been loved by God through the redemptive work of Jesus. As members of Christ’s body – the church – we have the privilege and duty to love each other.

  You can find the command to love also in Romans 12:10; 1 Peter 4:8; 1 John 3:11, 23; 4:7, 11, 12. As the Holy Spirit lives in us, we have the power to obey this command as well as the desire to do so. How will you love to one another today?

Living by grace to His glory,
Pastor Gillikin

Thursday, October 15, 2020

Dear Church Family,

  Let’s go back to our early days when life was simple. You got to play outside without fear. You had no temptation to spend time playing videos games or streaming movies because that technology did not exist. One snowy day all the neighborhood kids gather. Someone suggests a big snowball battle between teams. For reasons unknown all five teams have five members except yours. You alone comprise the team. How would you do in the competition? You would cry (maybe with tears of hurt and anger) “Unfair!” Having twenty people pummel you with snowballs would be no fun. Sadly, more than a few of God’s people try to live as a team of one.

  As a church family we must fight any urge we have to live in isolation from other Christians. First, I John 1:7 proclaims, “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.” Christians must see themselves as “blood brothers and sisters.” We live as salt and light in our fallen world because Jesus has shed His blood to pay for our sins. We walk (live) in the One who came as the “Light of the World.” John states as fact that “we have fellowship with one another.” That means we have all things in common with other members of our church. Remember God calls every person who trusts in Christ a saint, that is, a holy person.

  Phil Ryken wrote a book titled, “The Communion of the Saints.” In it he notes the Bible never uses saint in the singular. Over sixty times the plural ‘saints’ describes God’s people. Paul addresses the books of Ephesians and Philippians “to the saints in Christ Jesus.” God has designed His holy people to live in the plural and not the singular – in community and not in isolation.

  This is why “virtual church” feels weird. During the pandemic we have had to adjust, yet I hope you pray and yearn for the day we can worship as a body of more than forty people. For this reason one adult Sunday School class will meet this Sunday. If safety measures can be maintained, the Session hopes other classes can resume. We will continue “to err on the side of safety,” while striving to function as the church needs to operate as a community.

  Ryken observes, “In a day when Christians are more divided than united, true believers must again commit themselves to their common spiritual communion with one another.” Again and again, it is a blessing to be part of the universal church as well as part of a local church. Look for opportunities to practice the ‘one another’ habits of a healthy church family and do your best to not be a team of one if at all possible.

Living by grace to His glory,
Pastor Gillikin

Tuesday, October 13, 2020

Dear Church Family,

  Have you ever thought of the church as being like a pizza? I had not either until I read this by Robert Letham, “We are not individuals in isolation. We are part of a collective whole, rather like slices of a gigantic pizza. In the Old Testament, people were seen in connection with their ancestors from the past and their tribal connections in the present; you were A the son of B the son of C of the tribe N.”

  Dr. Letham, from whom I learned much about the Holy Spirit in his seminary class, uses a great analogy to teach us about the heterogeneous nature of God’s people. [FYI that big word means “to consist of people that seem to have little in common.”] Revelation 5:9 tells us that Jesus shed His sacrificial blood for those “from every tribe and language and people and nation.” Ephesians 3:28 declares, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

  Despite the variety shown in church family across the world and over time, there exists a unity unique to God’s people. In Ephesians 5:30 Paul simply states, “We are members of His (Christ’s) body.” Paul’s teaching on spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 details those various gifts with the point in v14 that “the body is not made up of one part but of many.” He goes on to remind us that the body has parts like feet, eyes, etc. This leads us to marvel at the unity we enjoy as the body of Christ. Because we are united to Him we are united to all other followers of Christ.

  Going back to the pizza analogy, you can get pies from Dominos, Pizza Hut, Papa Johns or Blue Mountain. A look at the Dominos menu, shows the choices (variety) border on the infinite. There are five types of crust, three sizes, ten sauces (including ketchup-mustard), eight meat toppings (anchovies not listed) and 18 non-meat toppings. Or you can pop a frozen pizza into your oven at home.

  So while we each are created uniquely by God, we function best and to the glory of God as we live in community as the body of Christ. Again, it is a blessing to be part of the universal church as well as part of a local church.

Living by grace to His glory,
Pastor Gillikin

Monday, October 12, 2020

Dear Church Family, 

  As I type that greeting I realize that I am guilty of redundancy. I have used excessive words in my salutation. The opening I have used to start these devotions since mid-March are unnecessarily repetitive. I have already written almost forty words pointing that I violated a rule of writing that I diligently try to follow and that is to use as few words as possible.

  I lovingly open with “Dear Church Family” to let you know I write with a pastor’s heart to not just any family, but to the “Church Family” God has called me to serve. The love I have for this church is surpassed only by the love I have for Jesus and for my biological family. I hope you can say the same without reservation. Just writing this reminds of Ambra Garrison (Sandy Massey’s mother) who when her health allowed, affectionately yearned “to be with my church.”

  The church Ambra loved to be with was not the beautiful building with which God has blessed us. She wanted to be with God’s people. Please remember the church of Jesus Christ consists of people who, per the 63rd Question of the Larger Catechism, “profess the true religion.” By grace we are people who, to paraphrase our membership vows, confess we are sinners who deserve God’s judgment, have no hope without His sovereign mercy and rest upon the finished work of Jesus Christ alone for salvation.

  The next question in the Larger Catechism goes on to detail “the special privileges of the visible church.” I will focus on one for several days though all merit close attention. The church has “the privilege of…enjoying the communion of saints.” Did you your heart just start to beat faster reading that last sentence? God has blessed the people of the church with a special bond termed communion. Ephesians 2:19, 21 state, as the church, we are “fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household” …”joined together and rise to become a holy temple of God.”

  That is just the start of the unique blessing we enjoy as a church family. Stay tuned for more!

Living by grace to His glory,
Pastor Gillikin

Thursday, October 8, 2020

Dear Church Family,

  I recently had someone with whom I had limited close contact tell me they might be infected with the Covid virus. I immediately switched into self-quarantine mode. Thankfully about 24 hours later they had tested negative. That heavy sigh you heard came from me. I was thrilled they did not have the virus and I certainly do not want to be one who might spread the virus to anyone. I and the church will continue to keep others and myself as safe as possible.

  At the same time I want to be infectious – just in a different way.  Despite what you might think, I have not lost my mind. Music writer David Regier inspired this when he tweeted, “Turns out that asymptomatic Christianity doesn't spread either.” When I read that back in June I immediately thought of Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount where He told His disciples:

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?
It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the
light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put
it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your Father in heaven.”

  Can you see in these four verses the call for God’s people to be infectious? First note the goal of our infectious behavior is the glory of our Heavenly Father. This serves as the motivation for our all do as 1 Corinthians 10:31 directs, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.” 

  Second, Jesus declares as a fact that all who trust in Him as Savior and Lord are salt and light. As salt, we serve as a godly influence in our fallen world and for the good of the kingdom of heaven. History shows the change God’s people bring as they live out their high calling of living to the glory of God. Last night’s steak dinner tasted delicious due to the application of the right amount of salt. As light, we reflect the glory of God who is light. Through our acts of love and mercy to others we give vivid testimony of God’s love to us. Sin has darkened our world and brought gloom. By faith in the Light of the World, we rise up, per Isaiah 60:1-3, and “His glory appears over you.” Then, “Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn.”

  While I hope no one gets the Covid virus, I yearn that all of us will be infectious as we live as salt and light to the glory of God. Pray and seek opportunities to speak the truth and extend grace to others.

Living by grace to His glory,
Pastor Gillikin

Tuesday, October 6, 2020

Dear Church Family,

  Before we read the Statement of Faith on Sunday, I cited these words from 2 Corinthians 7:1, “Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” In this verse Paul summarizes the argument he made in the previous section that address the question, “Why be holy?” Here is a summary of Paul’s reasoning.

  First, God’s people must “not be yoked together with unbelievers.” Paul echoes this thought in Ephesians 5:7 when he writes, “do not be partners” with those who lives in ways that “are improper for God’s holy people.” This refers certainly to a Christian marrying an unbeliever, but also to being in any relationship that could cause one to not live a holy life. Then Paul asks a series of rhetorical questions that ends with, “What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God.” The temple served as the dwelling place of the holy God and now by grace His people serve as that temple. Therefore, they must be holy [set apart for divine service] as God is holy.

  Paul strengthens his contention by quoting Isaiah 52:11, “Therefore, come out from them and be separate, says the Lords. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” Isaiah’s words come in the context of God’s promised salvation coming to His redeemed people through the work of the Suffering Savior. This mirrors Romans 12:1 call to “offer your bodies as living sacrifices” in light of God’s mercy. Any acceptable sacrifice had to meet high and exact standards before an Old Testament priest could offer it to God at the temple in Jerusalem.

  Paul closes 2 Corinthians 6 with another promise of God given to King David in 2 Samuel 7. Note the words on adoption that come to God’s holy people, “I will be a Father to you and you will be my sons and daughters, say the Lord Almighty.” In other words, the children of God live in a way that brings honor to the head of the family. God is holy, therefore His children lives as holy people.

  So why are we to be holy? We need no further reasons that what Paul gives. We have God’s promises. We live in reverence of God. We have been declared to be His holy people – even His beloved children.

  In the pandemic we use anti-viral wipes to protect during the pandemic. More importantly, may we by grace live pure lives free from the contamination of body and spirit.

Living by grace to His glory,
Pastor Gillikin

Monday, October 5, 2020

Dear Church Family, 

  Yesterday during the congregational prayer I closed with words from a prayer by a PCA pastor named Scotty Smith. I rarely use written prepared sentences in a prayer. [I do jot down items to be prayed for in my worship outline, so in that sense I do prepare my prayers for worship.] This prayer jumped out at me as I read it on his blog. It captures what we feel during this time of pandemic.

  Rev. Smith referred to two verses that contrast two extremes. First, he cites Isaiah 42:3 that looks for to the Suffering Servant who “will not break a bruised reed and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out.” This points to the gentle character of Jesus who will lovingly shepherd His people. Then he goes to Luke 9:54 where disciples James and John, who were termed “Sons of Thunder” by Jesus in Mark 3:17, want to call down fire on a village in Samaria that did not welcome them. Thankfully, Jesus rebuked them, yet in our situation today, we are tempted to do that. Here is his prayer in full. I commend it to you as a prayer you might use in your daily walk with your Savior and Lord.

Lord Jesus, on this last day of September, we are grateful to know you rule the world
with your truth and grace. Perpetually praying for us; powerfully executing sovereignty over nations, nanoseconds, and naysayers; graciously meeting us with your burden-bearing love.

When we feel like “weak reeds” or “flickering candles,” you don’t judge us,
you welcome us. You don’t roll your eyes; you open your arms with kindness.

When we want to “turn over tables” or “call down fire,” you understand our disgust,
then hand us towels and basins, and bid us start washing feet again.

Jesus, we bring you our conflicted hearts, spinning heads, turning stomachs,
and twitching muscles. We’ve never lamented more deeply the state of our Dis-United States.
We’ve never longed more intensely for the fullness of your Kingdom. How long, Oh Lord?

We’ve never been more aware of our own need for the work of your Spirit,
the power of the Gospel, and the sufficiency of your grace. Jesus, keep us humble,
hopeful, and heart-centered for challenges ahead. So very Amen we pray,
in your kind and trust-worthy name.

Living by grace to His glory,
Pastor Gillikin

Thursday, October 1, 2020

Dear Church Family,

  Congratulations! You have made it to October. We now enter the last quarter of what has been a remarkable year. As the pandemic began to spread in late winter I titled my newsletter article written in the last week of February, “On Being Hopeful in a Viral World.” Please read it over and grade how your hope in Christ has sustained you over the last seven-plus months.

   In recent years the term ‘going viral’ meant that a post on YouTube had been seen by a million people. Now, just the mention of the corona virus causes people to grab the Purell and put on a face mask. Travel plans have gotten scrapped, people are avoiding crowds of any size, the stock market yo-yos wildly and store shelves are empty of ‘survival items’ and cleaning supplies. Has the world gone insane? Am I safe? What is going to happen?

   As your pastor, let me give you hope in this time of uncertainty with some facts that will comfort and give you hope.

  First, and most important, God is in control! The Bible clearly teaches this. If God is not sovereign over all things, then He is not God. That would leave us without hope. God’s power is greater than any natural or man-made threat to our well-being. Please read Psalm 46 and Job 38-41 to remind yourself of God’s greatness.

   Second, God brings glory to Himself in times of crisis. Might we hear news of people coming to faith in Jesus during this viral crisis? People have trusted in government, technology, their own strength and just about anything else for, but those things (idols perhaps?) now fail to deliver the security that many thought they would provide. People want to be saved from the virus that as I write has just above 200 cases in the USA. (That is less than one in a million though the numbers will surely rise.) Thus, the odds of getting the virus, much less dying from it, remain remote. Yet there is a much greater threat to life eternal lurking within every person. That threat is sin. Pray that God will bring many to Himself during this time and be ready to give an answer for the hope that is in you.

    Third, God will use this time to grow us His people in faith. Do you really believe that all that God does is for our good and will bring Him glory (Rom. 8:28)? Are you sure He will never leave you or forsake you (Heb. 13:5)? Are you able to rejoice in the Lord always (Phil. 4:4)? Can you always be joyful, pray without ceasing and give Him thanks in all things (1 Thess. 5:16-18)? God grace is sufficient at all times, especially during a crisis. He will grow us in grace and knowledge of Himself through this time.

    While we have this sure hope in Jesus, I do encourage you to take reasonable precautions. It is always good to eat well, exercise, drink plenty of fluid and get sufficient sleep. No one will be offended if you do not shake hands or give a hug. It is also a time to show Christian care to those who may be in need. Look for opportunities to help with a meal or running errands. If not sick, I hope you will make every effort to be in worship to encourage one another and most of all, to give glory to God.

     As someone shared with me, “This will either blow up or blow over.” Regardless, our holy God remain in control and will be glorified.

Living by grace to His glory,
Pastor Gillikin

Tuesday, September 29, 2020

Dear Church Family,

  Let’s start this rainy day with a pop quiz. One question will be easy, while I will be very impressed if you get the second one correct. I did not know the whole answer until yesterday. So put yourself back into your fourth grade classroom. First question, spell the name of the current month. Second question, why does this month have that name? Please do not use the Google machine!

  I will let you grade your own quiz. For the first question, you should have spelled: S-E-P-T-E-M-B-E-R. I trust you all got that correct, though I will give partial credit if you thought it was still March. To answer question number two you need to know something about the Julian calendar (named after a Caesar and not a Hyatt). We use the Roman calendar which begins with March. ‘Septem’ is Latin for seven, thus September was the seventh month. If you knew that, give yourself a pat on the back and apply to be on Jeopardy!

  I gave you that quiz to point out that names mean something. On our staff: Sarah = “princess”; Elaine = “torch”; and Skip = silly little boy who grew to be 6 foot 6. All except the third come from a dictionary, so I will go instead with my given name John which means “the Lord is gracious.”

  This takes us to Acts 11:26 where a simple sentence states, “The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.” The term Christian means ‘follower of Christ.’ Scholars contend people in Antioch employed the term to distinguish them from Jews and to mock them as ‘little Christs’ who lived like Jesus. Nonbelievers thought their mean words would hurt the feelings of God’s people. They were wrong. Contrast their derisive intent with the report Barnabas gave about the followers of Jesus in verse 23, “When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.”

  God’s people in Antioch lived in such a way that their neighbors took notice. They reflected Christ in daily life and not just on the Sabbath. So we, as “disciples…called Christians,” must live in such a way that unbelievers around us see that we live as was sung Sunday, “Yet not I, but through Christ in me.” Peter wrote to the persecuted church in 1 Peter 4:16, “If you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.” Earlier in 2:12 Peter encouraged them to “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”

  Names mean something and the name “Christian” matters most of all. May we bear that name to the glory of God!

Living by grace to His glory,
Pastor Gillikin

Monday, September 28, 2020

Dear Church Family,

  Sometimes I read something that causes me to slap my head as if I am telling myself, “Why haven’t you thought of that?” I have learned not to slap myself too hard lest I be covered in welts and bruises from doing it so often. Ray Ortlund, a PCA pastor in Nashville, recently posted an essay on The Gospel Coalition website that caught my eye. It had the title “Gospel + Safety + Time = A Church Where Anyone Can Grow.” I state from time to time that we must be wary of any formula that seems to guarantee “Spiritual success” however you choose to define it.

  While his words have a formula, Ortlund simply points us great Biblical truths that lead us to maturity in Christ – lives that are “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God” per Philippians 1:11. Notice this wisdom in three short paragraphs.

“Gospel: good news for bad people through the finished work of Christ on the
cross and the endless power of the Holy Spirit. Multiple exposures. Constant immersion.
Wave upon wave of grace and truth, according to the Bible.

“Safety: a non-accusing environment. No embarrassing anyone. No cornering anyone.
No shaming. But respect and sympathy and listening and understanding,
so that people can exhale and open up and unburden their souls. A church
environment where no one seeking the Lord has anything to fear.

“Time: no pressure. Not even self-imposed pressure. No deadlines on growth.
Urgency, but not hurry, because no one changes quickly. A lot of “space” for
complicated people to rethink their lives at a deep level. God is patient.”

  May we be a church that overflows with the Gospel while allowing God to graciously and  sovereignly work in His perfect time to accomplish His eternal purposes.

Living by grace to His glory,
Pastor Gillikin

Thursday, September 24, 2020

Dear Church Family,

  A couple of weeks ago I saw a picture of a woman who took a picture with her I-phone of a Starbucks cup while wearing a mask (and yoga pants I think). The caption asked, “How would you explain this to someone twenty years ago?” Imagine you somehow became a modern Rip Van Winkle. You wake up from your twenty-year sleep and see our world in this time of pandemic. What words would describe how you see people acting? (By the way Rip, forget trying to figure out what an I-Phone is. I have had one for six weeks now. All I can do is phone and text, just like I did for over 17 years with my faithful flip phone. O never mind, you don’t know what a flip phone is either.)

  My guess is you would use terms like angry, antsy, anxious, bored, bothered, etc. and you have just used the first two letters of the alphabet. Then you think of the Teacher whom the book of Ecclesiastes quotes. In verse eight of the first chapter he observes and you might today, “All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing or the ear its fill of hearing.”

  Here again, the genius of the Bible shines brightly. Follow the inspired thoughts given in this one verse and apply it to today. We can say that fatigue plagues fallen man. The many troubles of the past six months (and still going) wear just about everyone out. Several times in the Psalms the cry goes up, “How long, O Lord?” If you have felt that way, you have much company. Then we see on TV or social media (which I encourage you to limit) or hear in various ways the bad news of spikes in the number of positive Covid tests, unrest in the streets, etc. After six plus months we yearn for, as the next verse says, “something new.”

  Yet instead of something new, we need to remember the great truths of the Bible that remain true even if you have taken a nap for twenty years. God controls all things and works all things for His glory. Those eleven words should cure the discontent any one of God’s people might feel. A. W. Tozer wrote, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” Discontent ebbs like the outgoing tide when we live by faith in the sovereign care of God. We need big thoughts of our infinite, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present and loving God.

  We do not deny that life has taken on a weird vibe. We can admit a certain frustration with life as normalcy fades in the memory. We have to adapt to a new way of life with masks, social distancing, wipes and visiting people on the other side of a window. Yet God reigns supreme and as His adopted children, we rest in His fatherly care.

  Jeremiah Burroughs, a Puritan pastor from the early 1600s, wrote a book with a title that summarizes its message named “The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment.” He defines this rare jewel as “that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God's wise and fatherly disposal in every condition.” Rather than being seen as “angry, antsy, anxious, bored, bothered, etc.,” may we live lives marked by that jewel!

Living by grace to His glory,
Pastor Gillikin

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

Dear Church Family,

  I don’t mean to cause any alarm, but less than an hour after midnight tonight the autumnal equinox will happen. In you want to set your alarm clock to get up and celebrate, the official time it occurs will be 12:55 AM. I do not think any fireworks will go off, though you can with joy and no guilt eat or drink anything with pumpkin spice in it!  This event reminds us that God remains in control of His creation. Astronomers can pin point to the exact second when this celestial occurrence will happen. They can do this not just because they have super smarts, but due to the order God established when He spoke all things into existence.

  On Wednesday the length of daytime will equal the length of night. Now, as since the start of summer, the days will get shorter. Has the sun moved in such a way to make this happen? No, the spin of the earth on its axis leads to the northern hemisphere moving away from the sun. God created this phenomenon just as he put the moon in place to cause the ocean tides that renew the environment in many ways. Growing up near a major tidal waterway, radio and TV weather reports usually included the tide tables so people knew when the water was coming in or going out. Fisherman and shipping companies valued this information and trusted the reliability of the stated time to do business.

  The whole world – all of creation and all the people living in it – remain dependent on, not just time, but God’s timing. God shows this in 24-hours days as no one gets more than that amount each day. He displays it in the seasons as we move from summer to fall at an appointed time. Chew over these wise words from Marc and Denise Atchely as they wait for God’s perfect timing to place them in ministry in Athens, Greece:

We're being reminded once again that God's plan and timing doesn't always match up with our own.  God did not provide the needed financial support according to our schedule. Instead He provided in His own way and in His own time.  And the way He did it, left no doubt that it was His doing.

So, why isn't it easier to trust His timing with our visa?  Why the impatience on our part?  Are we not certain that He is working things out according to a perfectly timed plan that accomplishes His purposes in the most ideal way? Well ... sure ... of course!  But at least part of the problem is that we're largely thinking about ourselves and how these delays impact us.  And then there is part of us that desires to be in control of our own circumstances rather than leave them in God's hands.  It's a battle with sin.


  As we live in “the times that try men’s souls” may we learn afresh from Paul’s words in Galatians 6:9-10, “Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially those who belong to the family of believers.” Please pray for the Atchley family as they eagerly look forward to serving in Greece.

Living by grace to His glory,
Pastor Gillikin

Monday, September 21, 2020

Dear Church Family,

  Have you heard about the time an evil man tried to exterminate the Jewish people? His well-planned, but evil, goal looked sure to succeed. Thankfully Haman’s conspiracy failed. [Did you think I would mention Hitler?] Haman knew how to play politics and rose to the number two position in Persia. Custom dictated that all people – even other royal officials - kneel down to honor him when in his presence. One official did not bow because, as a Jew, he knelt only to the Holy God. This enraged Haman So he developed a plan to avenge Haman and “destroy all Mordecai’s people, the Jews throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes.”.

  As a ‘faithful’ servant of the king, Haman went to Xerxes to warn him that the Jews followed odd customs “and they do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them.” Like any king Xerxes wants to keep power and that means putting down any threat to that power. He grants Haman authority “to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews” on a specified date soon to come. Upon hearing the king’s edict Mordecai put on sackcloth and wails, as do most Jews. How will God’s people be delivered from this certain death sentence?

  The book of Esther tells us about 500 years before the birth of Jesus the king of Persia had a troubled marriage. He held what amounted to a “beauty contest” to replace Queen Vashti. In God’s providence, Esther who “was lovely in form and features,” eventually won the affection of the king. King Xerxes had no idea his new wife had a secret about “her family background and nationality.” The beautiful queen was a Jew and Mordecai was a cousin who had raised her until she entered the king’s court.

  Glossing over many details of the story, Mordecai sends a message to Esther about the plot. In 4:14 he calls her to act with a pointed question, “And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” By no coincidence Esther became the wife of Xerxes. His first wife displeased him and never entered his presence again. Esther did not want that to happen. In the face of danger, she promised that after fasting for three days, “I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. If I perish, I perish.” God honors her before Xerxes, the plot ends, Haman is executed and Mordecai receives honor. Most of all the people of God are preserved to the glory of God and His covenant promises are fulfilled in Jesus five centuries later.

  Has God raised up His people to stand boldly in the face of danger in today’s turbulent times like now? The danger could be death as the persecuted church faces daily. It could be the scorn of the world that has rebelled against God and decries anyone who stands for righteousness. Matthew 5:13 calls us to be salt and light. We must do so in such a time as this!

Living by grace to His glory,
Pastor Gillikin

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