How Do You Know?

How do you know?  How do you really know?  Knowing that you are in a right relationship with God has to be the greatest and most important knowledge ever. With all the competing persuasions claiming with equal emphasis to be in right relationships what proof does any of us have that we indeed possess that knowledge?

Some make lists.  There is “The How You Dress List?”  Though not as common as it once was, this list reduces the knowledge of God to the wardrobe of Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman.  Wear the right stuff and clearly you have a proper relationship with God.  Others make a “Did You Do This List?”  Did you say certain words in a certain place with the blessing of certain religious people?  This is the reduce faith to a formula method of determining authenticity.  Still others make “A Feeling List.”  Did you or do you feel a specific way?  Emotions are the gauges of godliness according to this crowd.  Another group uses a “Do You Do This List?”  These lists are usually tailored to the tastes of those devising them and consist of various moral, benevolent and religious exercises.

While something approaching the truth may be discovered in any of these methods, they all err on some level.  If these are suspect we are back to our original question about knowing for certain that we do indeed posses bona fide knowledge of God.  We might wish to take our question to the Bible for an answer.

Perhaps one of the reasons confusion abounds on this matter is that the Bible does not do what so many expect it to do.  We want the specificity of a tersely worded how to manual. We expect to open the Bible to a certain page specified in the index and be told in 150 words or less a watertight method for ascertaining whether or not we have the knowledge of God.  

What annoys many in our mechanistic world is that the Bible is not big on mathematical equations. Obviously there are clearly worded statements in the Bible about receiving a saving knowledge of God but the salvation stories of biblical figures are as varied as the persons themselves. We often prefer a regimented ritual complete with an easily marked checklist but God wants a relationship. 

What the Bible is big on is the consequences of real knowledge.  Results reveal relationship. A number of results could be delineated but topping the list is peace.  “The result of righteousness will be peace” (Isa. 32: 17).  “Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5: 1).

The same can be said of our growth in that knowledge.  The Bible connects holiness with peace as well.  “Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness – without it no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12: 14).

The proof of my justification is peace in the face of death. The proof of my sanctification is peace in the face of life.

 

This post previously appeared in The Daily Press.

 

Chief of Cardiology

I have a history with coronary disease.  Cardiac episodes have been common in my extended family.  Apparently I got the “achy breaky heart” genes myself.  Lots of coronary tests, a heart attack and two stents have made me an amateur cardiologist who is definitely interested in heart disease.  No amateur cardiologist is God. He is the Chief of Cardiology. 

The prophet Jeremiah was a preacher of the heart, wearing his heart on his sleeve as he ministered among hardhearted people.  He knew the terrain of the heart as well as anyone which makes his observations about the conditions of the heart all the more significant.  The heart is more deceitful than anything else and desperately sick – who can understand it?  I, the LORD…  test the heart to give to each according to his way, according to what his actions deserve (Jer.17: 9 – 10).

The heart is deceived or “crooked.” The heart is hopelessly bent out of shape. Though Jeremiah seems very much in touch with his heart he informs us that no one can genuinely understand his or her heart.  The heart is the ultimate con man. John warned us that our heart could rise up and condemn us even when God did not:  if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts (1 Jhn. 3: 20).  The essence of deception is to believe what another says rather than what God says.  The heart is a notorious liar deceiving us 24/7. 

The heart is diseased.  The phrase desperately sick could be translated “beyond cure.” Everyone suffers from spiritual coronary disease; a condition which is always fatal.  One statistic which should never be overlooked is that for every one birth there is one death. 

The heart is diagnosed by Dr. God. Only He can diagnose our heart’s true condition; charting the manifestations as well as the motivations of the heart. The best physicians are partial in their diagnosis but not God.  Every sin hidden from the view of others is known to God.  Every thought embarrassing to us is noted on God’s clinical records.  God knows the pathology of sin in each of our lives and holds us accountable.  Some illnesses may be unrelated to any choices we have made and consequently we are spared any blame for our sickness but sin in the heart is different; it must be accounted for.

Account for our sin we must, but we can never atone for it. We cannot atone for a single sin on our best day at our finest hour.  For this is what the LORD says: Your injury is incurable; your wound most severe.  No one takes up the case for your sores.  You have nothing that can heal you (Jer. 30: 12 – 13). We need a heart transplant from Dr. God Who offers to plant a new heart in us.  I will give you a new heart … I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh (Ezek. 36: 26).

A new heart is just a prayer away.   

 

This post originally appeared as a column in the Daily Press.

 

 

What makes a Leader?

I’m a college football junkie.  If I were a member of Congress I would sponsor legislation requiring college football 12/365!  Marginal college football news is major news for some of us.  I could talk college football all day every day. 

But before those of you who don’t share my passion for pigskin turn the page I want to draw a lesson from the game for everyone – even those who don’t love it.  The lesson is found in the recent NFL Draft.  I like Pro Football; I love college football.  This means I tend to look at professional football through the lens of the college game.  I am interested in what motivates pro owners to spend thousands on a young man based on his performance in college.  Among the many variables considered in forecasting professional prospects is performance under pressure at the college level.

Think about quarterbacks. Quarterbacks playing for an elite team may fail to develop the skills necessary to succeed at a higher level since they were so protected.  Did USC produce quality NFL quarterbacks during the height of their program? You could ask the same about Florida State and Miami. In these cases you can observe that dynasty programs may produce distinctive quarterbacks during their early periods, before having overwhelming advantages.  Jim Kelly, Bernie Kosar, Vinny Testaverde, Brad Johnson, and Carson Palmer come to mind. On the other hand, quarterbacks from elite football programs tend to fail.  Witness Steve Walsh, Craig Erickson, Gino Torretta, Matt Leinart, John David Booty, and Mark Sanchez.    

Moral of the story?  Tough times produce tough men and women who can lead in tough times.  Tough times demand an ethic acquired only in other tough times.  The ugliness of life can certainly make us ugly but it can also make us beautiful.  Hardness may weaken us to such an extent that we will never recover.  It may, however, prep us for even greater hardness.  The fire may destroy us, but then again, it may temper us for greatness. 

The first century B. C. freed slave, Publilius Syrus, known for his maxims said it well: "Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm."  The pilot who steadies the helm in high seas is typically the one who has been blistered by wind driven brine before.

If this principle is true it can certainly be found in our Bible.  It can!  “Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so I would not exalt myself.  Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times to take it away from me.  But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’  Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.  So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, catastrophes, persecutions, and in pressures, because of Christ.  For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12: 7 – 10).

This post appeared originally as a column in The Daily Press.

We Should Own Stock in Liberty University... Well Maybe We Do!

My daughter, Jessica Autry Byrnside, graduated Saturday from the Liberty University School of Education with her Masters of Teaching in Special Education.  This makes two LU degrees for her and 13 for the family.  In another year we expect the family total to climb to 16.  All five of our children have undergaduate degrees from Liberty as do the spouses of the three who are married.  My oldest son holds a Masters of Divinity from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary and his wife has three (count 'em) masters from Liberty.  My youngest son expects to complete his Masters of Counseling next May at the same time his fiance receives two undergraduate degrees from LU.

Do we own stock in Liberty?  Well maybe it is the other way around!  Perhaps Liberty owns stock in us!  The University has invested heavily in our lives and I pray for many returns.  Let's pray that Jerry's original vision is fulfilled in the Autry family and champions have been trained for Christ and that they change the world one degree at a time!

Sloppy Church

Let’s face it: church life is sloppy!  Not because our Lord is sloppy but because life is sloppy.  It has always been that way.  Paul famously said, “Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or anyone practicing homosexuality, no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom”  (1 Cor. 6: 9 – 10).  Had he stopped right there we might make an argument that there are a whole lot of non-sloppy churches.  Permit Paul to finish his thought: “And some of you used to be like this” (1 Cor. 6: 11).  Imagine that – a church full of formerly flagrant sinners!  The very idea!

Arguably the sloppiest church and city in New Testament times, Corinth was a cesspool of every imaginable sin and a number of unimaginable ones.  In Paul’s time they had coined the term “to Corinthinize” which meant to engage in public acts of the most degrading sins. You name the embarrassing sin and it was found in abundance on the streets of Corinth.  Any church in Corinth doing anything approaching real life ministry was bound to be populated with these morally awkward people.  When Paul came “announcing the testimony of God….with a powerful demonstration by the Spirit” (1 Cor. 2: 1, 4) many were pulled from the pit dripping with the raw sewage of sensual sin.

There are two kinds of churches, not “Sloppy” and “Non-sloppy” but “I Admit We Are Sloppy” and “I Pretend We Are Not Sloppy.”   Every church is sloppy.  Some are sloppy by design; others are sloppy by default.  Some churches are strategically seeking to reach the lost and the least and are knowingly filling their building with souls broken hard by deep, devastating sins.  Other churches are just as passionate about steering clear of any and all social and spiritual rejects in an effort to insure a membership of the “right kind of people.”

Problem is: The mystery of iniquity works everywhere and as long as you have people you will have sin.  In fact the more people you have the more types of sin you have.  One church admits it wants said people while the other church hides the fact it already has such people.

Give me Church A that openly acknowledges the power of God to lift the depraved and damaged over Church B that pretends no such critters are found among their number when people about town know otherwise.

In our drifting and soon to be drowning culture, Paul’s list of “undesirables” is becoming the new normal.  My mantra for such a sensual season is C. T. Studd’s:  “Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.”

Lest we become disheartened over the predicament of the church let’s tack on the exciting finish of Paul’s Corinthian thought: “But you were washed… sanctified… justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6: 11). Yes!

24

I admit it.  I am an incurable “24” fan!  In my totally unbiased and extraordinarily accurate opinion Jack Bauer is the all time undisputed hero of dramatic television. Jack Bauer is who James Bond dreams about when he sleeps.  He is Captain America without the uniform.  Jack Bauer is who Chuck Norris wants to be when he grows up.

Okay, you get the picture.  I really, really, really, like “24.”  I was totally stoked when Fox announced Jack was coming back for “24: Live Another Day.”  The world will once again be safe for democracy!

“24” follows the efforts of Jack Bauer, a counter terrorist agent, as he stops ultimate bad guys in 24 one hour episodes which represent one day in his life.  The coming reintroduction is a mini-series of only 12 hours.

Is there a point to your madness, Pastor?  Actually there is.   “24” is fiction.   I wish threats to world order could be resolved in a mere 24 hours by the heroics of a single man with a receding hair line and great one liners.  Over a half century of life argues loudly that it simply isn’t so.  We might give “24” some credit though; most other dramas suggest crisis can be reduced to ashes in an hour including commercial breaks.

There are too many flag draped coffins and somber soldiers playing “Taps” in lonely cemeteries for us to believe for one skinny minute that the “24” narrative can ever be true.  We applaud the heroism displayed in living color by our brave men and women in uniform so we can sit comfortably in our dens and cheer for fictional characters like Jack.

The danger for those of us styling ourselves as followers of Christ is the pipe dream that all our battles can be started and finished in a 24 hour solar day.  They just can’t!  Experience has taught us and re-taught us that pain often stretches well past sunset and sorrow often hangs around for quite a number of sunrises.

Isaiah mused 2700 years ago that “those who trust in the LORD will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint” (Isa. 40: 31).  Conventional wisdom interprets this as a progression from the heights of spirituality to the lower regions of faith.  Soaring like eagles is the ultimate and running and walking are lesser substitutes.  I have believed for some time that is backward.

Most can soar for a time if given enough religious excitement.  They might manage a good gallop.  What requires the greatest grace is the gritty determination to plod on when it looks as if you have made little progress today and perhaps yesterday also. 

I wish we could lick every foe and settle every difficulty in 24 hours just like Jack but observation and revelation alike shout that the Christian life is a lifetime gig.  We don’t just live another day; we live every day as the heroes and heroines Jesus made us.

This post appeared originally as a column in the Daily Press