River of Life Church

HOW TRUE IS MY REALITY?

For more than two millennia, there have been those that have argued that Truth is personal, changing with one's experience and beliefs. That it is relative to circumstances and events.  Almost to a person, the advocates of such thought have mistakenly substituted Truth for Reality.

 Indeed, Reality does shift with the sands of time.  Continuing in that vein, when one finds themselves in a desert without an adequate supply of water, the Reality is that they are thirsty.  However, once water has been restored to their systems, the Reality shifts to the fact they are now replenished and no longer thirsty.  And while it may be a true statement that one is thirsty, it still is not necessarily Truth, for Truth remains absolute regardless of the circumstances.

Granted, the above argument could cause one to think I am merely straining at gnats, but I hope I can illustrate a better reason for recognizing the difference in these concepts.  And in so doing, I trust I will not step on any toes but my own for that is certainly not my intent.

River of Life is a worshiping church, built on a foundation of worship and praise since the beginnings of our history.  As a body of believers, we have seldom been without a fairly large number of skilled singers and musicians who were also blessed with the ability to lead others in exalting the Name of our Lord.  Our public meetings have usually allowed a substantial amount of time for all who desire to honor Jesus.  And, we offer many opportunities for folks to come together for that express purpose.  But, why?

The Reality is that worship often helps us to transcend our daily circumstances, to, at least for awhile, forget any problems and difficulties of life and simply adore Him.  Praise and worship gives us opportunity to commune with our fellow Christians in an activity that lifts our spirits and gladdens our hearts.  Getting "lost" in glorious music and melodies can be one of the best experiences we can hope to have on this earth.  Whether the song is a classic hymn with full orchestration or a contemporary piece accompanied by the instrumentation of our modern era or a spontaneous eruption of musicality that tends to "carry us on its wings", the expression of worship in music can be exhilarating and glorious.

But what if it isn't?  What if, despite the best of our (or someone else's) efforts, all the praise and worship in the world leaves us feeling flat, deflated, looking at our watches, and wondering if we're the only one in this condition?  What if?  This is where Truth comes to bear.  Truth is immutable, unchangeable, immovable.  Truth is not dependent on our attitudes, feelings, circumstances, abilities, or tastes.

Jesus didn't just say that He was "True"; He said He was "theTruth."  He not only encompasses what is true, He is what gives anything the ability to be True.  Because He is the Truth, His word is True.  And because He is the Truth, He is worthy of our worship and praise even when everything around us denies it.  In those times, we worship based on what we know of Him, He is the Truth, the very core!  And His word is True, wholly based in Truth.

So, how True is my Reality?  Do I focus on what is real, what I am experiencing, how I'm feeling, what the condition is of the world around me?  Or, is my focus on Him who is True, the Truth?  Do I allow my Reality to change my concept of Truth, or do I allow the Truth to change my concept of Reality?  How True is my Reality?

AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME - Dec, 2016

Those who know me, read these articles, or hear me teach know that I am a fanatic about the historical context of scripture.  While the words of the Bible are timeless truths, I believe that without a clear understanding of the situations in which they were spoken, we are in danger of misusing the words of our Lord or His servants.  These were not random statements made in a vacuum, and when we remove them from their context, their impact may be lessened or skewed.

This is the season we pay extra attention to the earthly coming of our Lord and Savior. The apostle Paul said that "in the fullness of time" or "in due time" God sent His Son into the world.  The birth of Christ was not a random event that could have happened at any point in history.  From a human perspective, perhaps the timing was not specific, but the Bible tells us that from God's viewpoint, it was at just the right time that Jesus was born of flesh.  And Jesus chided the Jews for not being attentive to the signs of the times that pointed to the Nazarene being the long-sought Messiah.

Several of the Old Testament prophets foretold the conditions that would bring the Savior Into the world.  From Moses to Malachi, these men and women saw by the Spirit of God that not only was the Christ coming, but they foresaw what the world would be like when it happened, and what His reception would be.  When at last He did appear, those who were looking had grown weary of the search, and since their perception of what a messiah should look like was skewed, very few would ever know Jesus was the One they were looking for.  Andrew recognized Him at the moment Jesus called to him, but it took Andrew's brother, Simon Peter, three years to be assured of the truth.  John the Baptist, Jesus' cousin, recognized Jesus as Messiah, but most of the people in His hometown were violently angry that Jesus would claim to be God's Son.

The religious leaders of Jesus' day misunderstood what the prophets had said about the coming of their King.  They imagined a conquering hero bringing a kingdom that would put all of the Gentiles "in their place" and return Israel to its former "glory" as under King David.  In their self-centered perspectives, they failed to see that the "place" for the Gentiles was within the Kingdom of God.  They did not recognize that God's kingdom, while returning the worship and adoration of David's tabernacle to its rightful place, would also superseded geopolitical borders.  The Jews lost sight of the fact that Jesus was not about the overthrowing of the political leaders.  They missed that the real mission of the coming king was to conquer sin and death, to set the world free from the effects of the fall, reconciling mankind back to His Father.

 As I wrote this, I saw a very practical example of this “missing the signs” that befell God’s chosen people.  Because of an accident, City of Danville crews replaced the traffic lights on Main St. at Floyd with short. portable stands bearing STOP signs on all four corners of the intersection.  And even though the signs were out in the traffic lane, in clear unimpeded view,  I watched multiple drivers proceed directly up Main Street hill without so much as a hesitation at the cross street.  I understand; in my 45 years of driving up that hill, that’s the first time I ever saw a STOP sign there.  The intersection didn’t appear as those errant drivers expected, so they inadvertently flirted with disaster, or at least a ticket.  They missed the signs.

So while we celebrate that our Lord has come, let us also be mindful that He is returning.  Let us not fall into the traps of the Jewish leaders and fail to recognize the signs.  Let us not be so self-focused that we think that what happens in America, or the West, will be the harbinger of His coming.  Jesus and Paul both described the signs of His return, but again they may not look like we thought they would.  Let us be ever watchful, for His return will not be a random event, but will be "at just the right time". 

BEING A KINGDOM SEEKER

I am very glad to be alive in this day and in this place.  That God saw fit to place me here in the USA at this, what seems to be, a critical juncture of time, I see as being nothing short of His divine providence.  That I am able to live in a country that enjoys debatably the most religious freedom in the world, means that I can also enjoy the right to seek another kingdom - the Kingdom of Heaven.

As Randy so ably pointed out in a Facebook posting earlier, the Kingdom of Heaven (synonymous with Kingdom of God) is not necessarily a physical location.  The Kingdom of Heaven is anywhere that the rule of Heaven takes place.  Thus, when Jesus said, "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you", He was stating the obvious.  When God rules in our hearts, when our desires, actions, thoughts; when our whole beings are governed by the word of God, the Kingdom of Heaven is being demonstrated.

Hebrews 11 is what we call "the faith chapter" in that the writer describes those who persevered in the faith, yet they never received the fulfillment of their faith.  In citing Abraham's and the Children of Israel's journey, he says, "They were clearly looking for a country of their own...yearning for a better country, a heavenly one.  Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them."  Heb 11:14-16

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells His hearers to not run around searching for what they will eat, what they will drink, what clothes they should wear.  He said that the pagans (literally: people of the earth) spend their time, energy, and stresses concerned about these temporal things that our heavenly Father is keenly aware that we need.  He says that we have a higher concern:  "But seek (be about, crave, endeavor, require, go after, search out) first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness" and all of those temporal needs will be provided to us.  (Matt 6:31-33)

"Seeking", then, is not simply sitting and waiting while something comes my way.  It is a much more active verb, perhaps even including the idea of "pressing in" as discussed in that Facebook posting I earlier mentioned.  To "crave" something is to desire it so strongly it can be tasted.  "Be about" carries with it the idea of a soldier whose entire mission is the defense of his country, he doesn't live to fulfill his own advancement or pleasure, but is wholly devoted to the cause at hand.  "Endeavor" speaks of enterprise, business; making the Kingdom of God our life work.  "Require" means to accept no substitutes and nothing less.  "Go after" is running toward a prize, like a track runner chasing after the laurels awarded to the winner.  And "Search Out" is a picture of exploration. 

Christopher Columbus might have discovered North America, but people like de Gama, LaSalle, Lewis and Clark searched out the continent.  It was not enough to merely know it was there, there was a deeply-felt need to know the essence of this land we now live in.

So, yes, I am glad to live in America, for it affords me the opportunity to freely "search out" this Kingdom of God, to not merely be aware of the fact that it is, but to satisfy the deeply-felt need to know the essence of this Kingdom and our King.

Richard

COMING INTO OUR OWN

The US Army has advertised for recruits with the slogan, “Be All You Can Be.”  It is a nice catch-phrase, and encourages our youth to discover and implement to the full their whole potential.  It is certainly a Biblical sentiment.

I have recently been reading an account of much of the military and political background of the nation of Israel from the announcement of her establishment in 1948 through the 1967 so-called “6-Day War”.  Without too much detail here, a United Nations proclamation partitioned Palestine into Jewish and Arabic sectors, giving the Hebrews their first opportunity for self-determination in two millennia.  For many devout Jews this event marked the beginning of the coming of Messiah.  For many evangelical Christians, this marked the beginning of ‘the last days”.  Whether either is an accurate conclusion, only our Father in heaven truly knows, and is not the point of my writing.

While the UN edict established as fact the Jewish homeland, most of the rest of the world saw this as a mere experiment that was doomed to failure and was done only to ease the conscience of the western world following the European Holocaust.  Most seemed to think that the Arabic world would tolerate the small upstart of a nation for a short while, then would decide enough was enough and would wipe Israel from the globe, once and for all.  There are many who still believe that.

For the first 19 years of her existence, Israel was said to be made up of two types of Jews; the military infrastructure, and what was referred to as the “schleppers”, a derogatory term to describe those typically born in Palestine and, because of their secular perspective or their failure to recognize the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, were willing to accept the benefits of being a nation, but were not willing to contribute toward its improvement or survival – the “takers” in a society, as opposed to the “givers”, the “wait-and-seers”, passively awaiting events that matched their expectations. 

The Israeli military shocked the world in June, 1967, when surrounded by Soviet-backed hostile nations that had vowed to push the Jews into the sea, they struck with lightening precision, decimating the militaries of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria.  In six days, this “little experiment” proved itself to be a true nation capable of self-governing and a force to be reckoned with.  They had not only pushed back their attackers, they had, after 2000 years, recaptured Old City Jerusalem, site of Solomon’s Temple.  They had come into their own, and the world took notice, and most of the “schleppers” had a change of attitude.

During His earthly ministry, Jesus described the Kingdom of God (or heaven).  He told His followers that it was within reach, within them.  He told them that many of them would see its fulfillment before they died, but that it was unlike the kingdoms of the earth.  His resurrection from the dead was proof of God’s edict establishing the Kingdom as an entity, yet because of either a secular perspective or a failure to recognize the fulfillment of Isaiah’s, Jesus’, Jeremiah’s, Ezekiel’s (and many others’) prophecies, much of the church seems to have adopted a “wait-and-see” attitude, passively awaiting events that match their expectations.  It would seem some are reluctant to embrace the sacrifice, suffering, and commitment Jesus said the Kingdom of God is made of, and wait for a painless “kingdom”.

Among our Lord’s last words to His followers while He was on the earth were “All authority of heaven and earth has been given to me…”.  By this statement, Jesus is acknowledging the establishment of His new Kingdom with Himself as its Head.  He completes the thought with this charge: “All authority of heaven and earth has been given to me, [so I am appointing you].”  Let’s be careful to not “schlep” away the opportunity to “come into our own”, fulfilling every potential of the Kingdom of God at our disposal; let us be about our Father’s business.  Whatsoever we do, let us do with all our might, for His glory and majesty.

Richard

BUILDING COMMUNITY, MAKING DISCIPLES, IMPACTING OUR NEIGHBORHOODS