This Lord set his rainbow in the sky this past Sunday evening.
A promise: You will never come under his wrath again; you will never drown in the consequences of your sin; you will “find grace in the eyes of the Lord” forever. Your inability to fulfill your side of the covenant agreement is secured on the Lord’s side of the table. There is an ark of safety found in Jesus – believe this today and every day after until this salvation vessel reaches the other side.
Have a blessed day!
Pastor Ivan
Dad wanted his funeral service to feel like you were going to church on Sunday morning. He wanted music and singing, scripture reading, prayer, and a full sermon on the Cross of Christ and the hope of the Resurrection. The only thing that dad did not request was an offering:)
He wanted me to preach the sermon, but before that, he wanted me to begin the worship service with some of his favorite songs on the piano. This video clip catches the last two songs of a medley that I put together for him: Unseen Hand and It is Well with My Soul. Several began to sing the words as I played. This was worship of our Living God. This is God’s grace through Jesus Christ.
Like the snap of a finger, dad’s tinkering in the garage is like a stopped clock: screwdrivers left on the bench; the vise grip about one inch spread; grease rags left out; a new oil filter for the four-wheeler still waiting to be put on. All of this replaced with funeral flowers on the floor! Just like that – it all comes to a halt. This is what my last conversation was about with my dad. We talked about Ecclesiastes 7:1-4:
“A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.”
I can’t remember everything that we talked about, but we did enjoy what we have always enjoyed with each other – talking about God’s Word and how it all points to Jesus Christ. As I reflect upon this portion of scripture and my last conversation with dad about this text, my thoughts are as follows:
By God’s grace, I’m right behind you dad.
At the right of my father’s body was this display provided by my church family; I thank the Lord for the prayers and acts of love that we have received – I am so blessed to have such a loving church who weeps with those who weep. Below is the clipping from the newspaper’s obituary section. My dad and I used to pick at each other over who has the correct time, since WV is Eastern and IL is Central. I would call dad up and ask, “When does WVU play today?” He’d respond, “My time”, never acknowledging that I lived in the correct time zone. You will notice that the obit refers to my dad’s time of death as “Monday, August 22.” Early, that Monday morning mom told me that dad had died at 12:06 am. When I got off the phone with mom I grinned and said to myself, “Ha – he died on my time: 11:06 pm Sunday, on the Lord’s Day – that’s my story and I’m sticking with it. Besides, he can’t argue with me about it anymore.”
But . . . what is time when you are eternally with the Lord?!
I love you dad.
There are few things in this life more important than feeling and being useful. Very few. The sense of purpose and contribution, serving and working to make a difference, is a sixth-sense make-up of our humanity. It’s an undeniable part of what it means to be made in the image of God. We hate feeling useless no matter how the feeling arrives.
For some, it arrives because of a lack of education, for others, a lack of physical abilities. Feeling useless can happen to an exasperated mom of young children – unable to juggle multiple moments of crises in the normal routine of home life. At one time or another, we all feel useless – unable to provide, help, fix, plan, repair, coordinate, bend over to pick something up, . . . the list goes on. There was a saying that I grew up with that was used if you were caught being lazy: “you’re as useless as tits on a boar hog.” That’s because your presence serves no purpose, like non-lactating protrusions on a non-castrated oinker! A waste of flesh.
When you come to the end of your life, your self-perception can understandably be one of emptiness. Not that I speak for myself, not yet, but as an observer, a listener, and a reader, but one who was very near to the end said it like this:
“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing” – 2 Timothy 4:6-8.
Which means, when you come near to the finish line, you have nothing left to give. You’re spent and completely extracted of all vitality and produce. There’s nothing left. It’s like any sport where you come to the last round, the last lap, the last minute, the last hill, or the last hurdle – you have given it everything and left nothing in the tank. What’s left? A sense of accomplishment? Yes. But also, and especially so, if the finish line is thick and extra long: useless. You’ve got nothing more to give. In fact, you’re spending more time waiting than doing. I don’t know, but it has to be a crushing feeling. Why so?
Because we were made to serve and give.
The apostle Paul languished away in prison and yet used the past tense that he had “finished the race.”
Q. How can you be finished when you’re still alive?
A. When you’re at that point that you have nothing else to give and you know it.
But it’s ok. It’s the way it’s supposed to be. Better to come to this end of the race and finish it totally wiped out, having kept your eyes on the Lord, than to have spent your time only on this life and “leave your heart in San Francisco.” If you have spent your life laying up treasures here on earth, what will you do with them at the end? But if your heart was always on the Lord, then, . . . oh what a payday that will be.
32nd Wedding Anniversary! June 29, 1984 – June 29, 2016
I’ve always been slightly annoyed that we know little to nothing about Jesus’ life from age 12 to 30 (Luke 2:42; Matt. 4:17; John 2:11). That’s 18 years of silence and obscurity from the most polarizing figure in human history. Reclusive to the point that we protest, “how dare you hide yourself away for that long when so many needed you?”
Think of it. For 18 years no miracles – lepers, the lame, the sick – he let them all suffer. Disease and disasters of all kinds and he did nothing. Roman Tyranny: nothing. Think of a summer that he knew that the drought would be so bad the farmers would lose their crops. The one who controls the winds and the waves did nothing. Somewhere along the way Joseph, his mother’s husband, would die. Jesus stood by. No healing. No resurrection. For 18 years not one miracle, not one public sermon to establish that the Messiah is here. What was Jesus doing for 18 years while living in a poor, off the beat town like Nazareth, while the world was in desperate need?
Jesus was Enjoying Life without Greed or Guilt.
Let’s build the argument like this:
If Jesus got up in the morning to get some eggs out of the hen house, and there were no eggs for breakfast, Jesus did not fix the problem for his mother.
If Jesus saw that the milking cow would contract an infection that spoiled the milk, Jesus did not “heal” the cow.
If Jesus knew that a terrible and horrific evil was approaching his community, he did alter the plans of wicked men.
When I say that Jesus was living the words of Wisdom (Ecc.), I do not mean to say that he did not weep, grieve, work at, and agonize over the brokenness of the world that he lived in. But I do mean to say that Jesus lived his life without Greed or Guilt.
Greed. Jesus never gave into self-pity; discontent with things that he did not have; greedy for things that he never owned or experienced; he never became greedy for reputation and fame and greedy and impatient for making things right when his Father was “too late”.
Guilt. Also, you wouldn’t see Jesus sulking, despising the very things of earth as if they were evil. He attended festivals and weddings, went fishing, built things out of wood, slept at night, enjoyed good food, brought in the harvest, and worshiped God on a daily and weekly schedule, in his Father’s Word, in his Father’s house. I don’t think that Jesus ever uttered under his breath, “I feel so guilty for enjoying the things that I and my Father made.”
The Tension
On one hand, we are to “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” – Colossians 3:2.
But on the other hand, “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer” – 1 Timothy 4:4-5
And a verse that teaches both:
“As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy” – 1 Timothy 6:17
Don’t love the things of this life. And, Enjoy the things of this life!
The Point
We are to neither permit greed to swallow up our hearts with discontent for things that we cannot have and cannot fix, nor are we to repudiate and shun the good gifts of life simply because there is so much brokenness in the world. Greed or Guilt will keep you from Enjoying Life as a Gift from Your Father in Heaven.
Love of money and reputation and discontent and self-pity will destroy you and others around you. When we say no to the world’s love affair with the things of this earth, we are not shunning God’s good gifts, we are putting them in their proper order of importance. Things are passing away.
But, when we begin to feel dirty and undeserving as we enjoy some homemade peach ice-cream, a good swim, a long nap, and refreshing conversation and fellowship in a safe home, it is because we have forgotten that these things were never earned in the first place – they are gifts of grace from a loving Father who loves to give that we may enjoy Him who is the giver.
Take Aways
> Our guard against loving the things of this life too much is not a repudiation of things, but an ordering of Real importance. We are to be afraid of losing our Love for God as Greed and Guilt undermine our Enjoyment of this Life.
> “We Can Change the World” is too often, an ego trip of an exaggerated level of Self-Importance. Your life is not that significant! Most people can’t remember to change the filter in their furnace or keep their room clean, even less, “change the world.” If Jesus did not “change the world” for 18 years, AND, he did not waste his life at the same time, then, take a chill pill and get over yourself. No one’s life mattered more to the earth than Jesus’ did – and for 18 years he lived a simple – poor – irrelevant life, in terms of how the world values living and relevancy.
> Your Identity and Self-Worth is not in your Performance, but rather it is in Christ, who did not “Change the World” for 18 years. Too often we are greedy to make a difference, to fix a problem, to prevent a disaster. Yes, let us not be indifferent to the needs of our family and friends, and the sorrows of mankind all over the earth. Love your Neighbor is the Lord’s command. But do not forget that Jesus fulfilled that command for 18 years while he performed no miracle, healed none, resurrected none, spared none, and prevented none. But he did love others through their sorrows and did what any God-Honoring Human ought to do.
But that was his mark on the world. The way man is supposed to live his life toward God and his fellowman. Loving his Father, and loving others. If it takes miracle working power, and great influence upon mankind in order to have true Identity and Self-Worth, then for 18 years, not even Jesus was worth living. But his life did have value. And so does yours. Love God. Love your Church. Love the Word. Love your Lord. Fight against the encroachment of greed and discontent, and fight against needless guilt that robs you of enjoying the blessings of the Lord, even in the face of so much sorrow and tears in the world.
> Finally, you are free to live an Important yet Simple Life of Loving Christ and Fellowman. A simple life is not unimportant. It’s loving. You are living your life by God’s grace, loving your Lord and serving a few others along the way to your new earth. A life that continues after the grave.
(some thoughts on this subject were helped along by Joe Rigney in his book, The Things of Earth)
That’s Coho Salmon caught about 13 miles out on Lake Michigan. And that’s my son-in-law sitting down because if he we’re standing, well . . . he wouldn’t be standing. We’d be fishing him out of the water too, or off the deck of the boat. This is because he has muscular dystrophy.
The world has always valued muscular strength, and for good reason: Someone has to un-lid those stubborn jars! Physical strength is a wonderful gift from the Lord, like his many other gifts. But, we live in a broken world with a thousand broken ways of brokenness. And unfortunately, we often idolize our strengths without a thought of humility that we have been blessed. You see this in sports where there is more muscle-mass on display than in any other venue of life. Especially in weight lifting, football, and any combat sport. But you can also see this in a little boys’ bedroom as he picks up his metal-frame bed at the footboard, making that Six Million Dollar Man sound, pretending that he’s the strongest of them all: ttttrrrrrnnaaannnaannnaannn . . .
That boy was me as I would finish watching a 70’s episode of Lee Majors lifting a car off the ground to save a little old lady; god-like strength has always been a marvel. And don’t even get me started on the recent years of muscular strength displayed in the Marvel Comic stream of movies. Point: mankind has always marveled in extra-ordinary muscles – as far back as the Greek stories of Atlas and Hercules.
Joey Slogar III, my daughter’s husband, and father of my grandchildren, does not have much of what this world prizes. But he does have what out-lasts muscle-tissue: a soul. In fact, everyone has a soul – it’s that part of our humanity that is immaterial and eternal. We all know it to be true of ourselves because we all want to live forever in a place where brokenness ceases to exist, and death is forever banished. But more than a soul is needed for this kind of joyful vitality. It takes a soul that knows the one whose body was completely broken down and yet rose victorious over all that this broken world could dish out. To live forever with no fracture of body or mind needs a healer who has the power and authority to overturn the dystrophy of the soul. Yes, the dystrophy of the soul is our greatest threat. And since Joey loves Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, the greatest threat to Joey’s long-term paralysis is already defeated. Let’s say it with pictures:
This is what muscles look like when you’re young.
This is what muscles look like when you’re old.
And this is what muscles look like when you’re dead.
But this is what muscles look like when they are dystrophic, BUT the soul, which is more than muscles, enjoys the good gifts of the Lord.
Joey is more than his muscles in the best way possible. He knows who is mightier than the brokenness of man. True, his biceps don’t have the impressive flex factor that others have, but as the apostle Paul reminded young Timothy, “for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” – (1 Timothy 4:8). This means that for everyone whose muscles are either in atrophy or in dystrophy – makes no difference; the most important thing is the pursuit of knowing the godliness of the Lord. We must remember that being born with visible brokenness is not due to mom and dad’s sin (John 9:3a). But due to sin, which is unbelief and rejection of God who sent his Son, all of us come into the world with our hearts not merely weak, but dead and condemned (John 3:18-19). The good news is that if Jesus can raise the spiritually dead, then it is a cinch to also provide a new body (Matt. 9:5; John 11:25).
The pain of muscle-loss in this life is temporary. The pain of soul-loss is forever. This is why it is important for all of us to remember while living in a muscle-idolizing culture, that we are more than our muscles.For those who have come under the grace that is in Christ Jesus, like Joey, muscular dystrophy will not have the final word. Jesus will – and that’s the point:
“. . . that the works of God might be displayed in him” – John 9:3b!
They, Connie and daughter Brittney, do much good for the city of Chicago through events and sponsorship’s to help children in the inner city. There were close to 700 registered for the “Sweetness 8k and 5k Run”. By God’s good mercies on our bodies, we were able to do well in this (first for me) 5k. I had a few objectives: outrun Cheryl and Ashley; outrun all pregnant women; outrun all senior citizens; and outrun all those who are directionally challenged – surly I can beat anyone who gets lost!
A couple pics:
5k chip times:
Me: 24:11 – placed first in the male 50-54 slot;
Cheryl: 29:50 – placed third in the female 50-54 slot;
Ashley: 27:11 – placed second in the 25-29 slot.
Good times together!
You’ve see this before. The years of gravity, storm, and decay have taken their toll. But, there it is . . . still. Still standing – and with amazement we wonder how? This is a small farm on the outskirts of town where I live in Northern Illinois. I took this photo yesterday afternoon (May 29, 2016). For all those who are striving hard in this life to not lose hope in all that Christ is for us, this is how our hearts often feel. The apostle Paul said it this way:
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies” – 2 Corinthians 3:7-10.
I think of my parents, for example, when I see this barn still standing against the backdrop of a standing tall silo. True, one day the old corn crib will give way to time – but not without displaying to all who see her that there is a humbling beauty in the way that she persevered to the end; that’s not only true of my parents, but all lovers of Jesus Christ who also persevere through various bodily afflictions, against addictions and idolatries of possession and wealth, and other losses of sorts. Mostly everyone endures great hardship in this life, for sure. But enduring hardship while saying “Jesus is worth it” is different. The treasure in this old earthly jar of dust is an affection to know Christ more deeply through suffering than through ease. Then, when others see how you still love Jesus, though you suffer, the “power” that explains your endurance is not from you but from God.
What does it mean then to carry in our bodies “the death of Jesus” so that his life can be seen by others?
It is our willingness to not live for ourselves but for others, sacrificially giving our lives away because Jesus gave his life away for you. And that is his life. The life of Jesus is a sacrificial one, for he did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). Jesus died so that we would be free from the destructive enslavement of living for self (2 Cor. 5:15). And when the world insults, mocks, and threatens for putting Christ first, our response is with courtesy and good deeds (Titus 3:1-3; 1 Peter 2:9-17).
If you are tempted to give in because you feel that you don’t have the power to go on, then that is why you are tempted. It wasn’t in your power at all that brought you this far. Don’t believe for a second that it has been your will-power of self-determination that has been sustaining you. Look again to Christ – and see again that his grace has been sufficient and will be so for as long as he chooses to keep you standing, even if it is nearly touching the ground!
the sound board 