Living in the 8th Chapter

When I was in seminary years ago, a professor of mine once asked us, "Are you living in the 8th chapter today?"  We were studying Paul's letter to the Romans and just recently finished a study of the 8th chapter of Romans when he asked that question.  What did he mean by asking the question?  Paul opens the 8th chapter of Romans saying, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the Law of sin and death."  The point of these opening words in Romans 8:1-2 is that we no longer have to live lives that are driven by our sin-filled human natures.  We can now live a life that is powered by the wind of God's Spirit and love.  We can choose to walk with God, not walk away from God.  To live in the 8th chapter of Romans is to live a life that walks with God, a life that is powered by the winds of God's Spirit and love.

It also means, as Paul writes in Romans 8:28, that God can work all things - both good and bad - into his greater purpose, and we will see this greater purpose played out in our lives if we are willing to love him and walk with him according to his purpose.  What this means is that we have to let God lead.  We don't walk with God telling him where we want to go in life.  We walk with God, letting God show us where to walk next.  Every fork in the road is a decision that needs to be led by God.

Such a walk can be lonely at times. While it is easy to visualize the Lord walking with us, leading us along the way, the truth about any journey with God is that there are times when God's presence feels far away.  There are times when we wonder where God is, or even why God has abandoned us.  It can cause us to ask, "Does God really care - does God love us still?"  Paul answers, Romans 8:38-39, that God still loves us, and always will.  In fact, Paul tells us that there is nothing in all creation that can ever make God stop loving us.  Hence, we walk by faith in confidence that God will provide the necessary direction when we need it along the journey.  We claim the promise that God loves us still.

All of us are on a journey going somewhere in life.  Some are looking for the next happy hour along the way, while others are trying to find a life that has meaning - one that makes a difference.  For the Christian is who walking with God, one question to ask is - Are you living in the 8th chapter as you walk with God?  There is no condemnation for those who walk with God.  He can use everything we do - both good and bad - and weave it into a journey that takes us where we need to be - if we are willing to love him and are willing to be called according to His purpose.  And when the road gets lonely - and it will at times - we can claim his promise and know by faith that He will always love us.

Life can be good, when you're living in the 8th chapter.

Blessings,

Dennis

Perfect Love Cannot Avoid Wrong Thinking

Recently I've been reading in John Wesley's A Plain Account of Christian Perfection, and while the title may seem odd, Wesley is clear that being filled with perfect love does not create an error free life.  He writes in his account, "A man (or woman) may be filled with pure love, and still be liable to mistake.  Indeed I do not expect to be freed from actual mistakes till this mortal puts on immortality.  I believe this to be a natural consequence of the soul's dwelling in flesh and blood.  For we cannot think at all, but by the mediation of those bodily organs, which have suffered equally with the rest of our frame.  And hence, we cannot avoid sometimes thinking wrong, till this corruptible puts on incorruption."

In a world today where some demand allegiance to their convictions, and no compromise; it seems to me that they would do well to reacquaint themselves with some of the classic Christian writings like Wesley's writings on Christian perfection for if they did, they might understand the truth behind Paul's statement in Romans 3:10 that .. "no one is righteous."  The consequence of our sinful human nature is we sometimes think wrong, and failure to admit such weakness reveals the presumption that we think we are right all the time and all the time we are not right.  So, if God's perfect love cannot remove wrong thinking from us, then how much more presumptuous it is to think that we can always be right on our own.  It's like saying we have the knowledge of good and evil, but such knowledge belongs only to God.  (See the creation stories in Genesis 1 and 2)

While it is easy to talk about this subject on the stage of national politics (what a great temptation that is) the rubber hits the road for most of us in family relationships.  Every couple has moments when one is convinced the other is wrong about something.  I heard Ralph and Nell Mohney share how they learned to end a conversation in which they held strong opinions that were polar opposites.  They would say to each other, "Well, you my be right."  Of course, they walked away from that conversation still thinking each other was wrong, but the fact that they were willing to admit the potential of their own wrong thinking kept a certain humility in play that helped them both grow closer over the years.  So, the next time you find yourself in a heated discussion, before saying anything you might regret, why not end the conversation with the words, "You may be right."  In the very least, it allows you to walk away, so that you can argue another day, but still love.

- Dennis

Gray is the Color of an Open Door

It's interesting, to read in the Gospels, how many times Jesus was confronted by Pharisees who tried to trick him with black and white scenarios.  On one occasion they said, "Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" (Matthew 22:17) and on another occasion they brought to Jesus a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery and said to him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.  In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women.  Now what do you say?"  (John 8:4- 5).  In both cases, religious leaders were using black and white scenarios as a way of trapping Jesus into saying something that could be used against him.

In both cases, Jesus saw the gray.  In regards to taxes, he said, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's.  In regards to the woman caught in the act of adultery, he said to the men, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be a first to throw a stone at her."  Well, they all walked away because none of them were without sin.  However, Jesus was without sin.  Jesus could have stoned her, but instead he said, "Has no one condemned you?  Neither do I condemn you.  Go now and leave your life of sin."  Instead of stoning her, Jesus chose to forgive her and challenged her to leave her sin filled ways.    Yes, even when some things are clearly right & wrong, Jesus left a door of gray open to move from wrong to right. 

Today you will encounter many people who live in many different lifestyles.  Some are living well while others are not, but what kind of doors are you opening by the way you interact with others?  Our words have the power to close doors, or open doors.  Jesus always used his words to open doors.  We would be wise to imitate his teaching and to follow in his way.

Dennis   

Giving Thanks Can Be Healthy For You!

The other day I ran across an article that caused me to pause and think about the benefits of giving thanks.  A 20th century endocrinologist named Dr. Hans Selye was known across the world for studying the effects of stress on human life.  Dr. Selye claimed that there are two emotions, more than any other emotions, that exert the most influence on our peace of mind and sense of self-fulfillment.  The two emotions are revenge and gratitude.  Revenge, which springs from unresolved hostility can destroy a person as well as those around him or her.  Gratitude can heal the soul.  People who experience gratitude here in life are more at peace within themselves and have much higher degrees of self-fulfillment.  According to Selye, the degree of fulfillment verses frustration can be directly influenced by these two emotions of revenge vs. gratitude. 

How do we experience gratitude?  One way is by learning to give thanks.  The psalmist said in Psalm 107:1 - "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever."  The psalmist then continues taking the reader down memory lane when ancient Israel was wandering, and how much they need to thank the God who delivered them from their lonely wanderings, bringing them to a good place, satisfying their thirst & hunger with good things. - Psalm 107:9.  The metaphor is powerful, because we live in a world where many wander inside themselves, not really knowing where their place is in this world, or where they need to go to find a good place.  They hunger and thirst for what they do not yet know.  The good news is that God can bring them to a good place as well, satisfying their thirst and hunger with good things.  So, want gratitude?  Learn to give thanks!  Nothing heals a bitter spirit more than a thankful heart. 

 

Do All Dogs Go to Heaven?

There was a song I learned while attending Christian life meetings in college back in the 1970's during my days as a college student on the campus of McMurry College in Abilene, Texas.  We used to sing it all the time and it went something like this ...

 

Heaven is a wonderful place

Filled with Glory and Grace

I want to see my Savior's Face

Heaven is a Wonderful Place - I want to go there.

 

Repeat Song

 

The song always made me think of heaven as pie in the sky, a place where we go after we die.  While Heaven is all that - I've learned over the years that Heaven is more than all that.  Heaven is also the ham where I am.  Jesus once said that the kingdom of God (heaven) does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." Luke 17:21


What this means for me is that we don't enter heaven getting our ticket punched on the gospel train, knowing that God will tell us when the train is ready to leave, but heaven is a place whose journey begins within us.  It's a journey of the heart where God creates heaven in our heart, giving us a new way to live and serve, thus creating places of heaven on earth, a foreshadowing of s world we'll enjoy when we go to heaven!


But, do all dogs go to heaven?  Now there's a question I will address this Sunday in worship at the 11 a.m. sanctuary service.  Why not come and bring a friend as we explore the topic together.  See you Sunday!


Dennis 

Predestination

Predestination in the Christian world means a divine foreknowledge of all things that happen.  Some use predestination to shape their definition of elect, a people chosen by God, to include only an elect few.  Some believe in double-election saying God elected some to be saved, while others are elected to be damned.  I don’t any Christians in my community who advocate such a view, but it seems implied in our society at large. I belong to one of the two major political parties in this country.  I won’t say which one, but I do receive letters from the national organization around election time, and if I took seriously everything written in those letters, I would believe my party to be elected by God to save this nation from economic and moral disaster, while the other party is been damned by a faulty political philosophy that will lead to economic and moral ruin.  Whether we say it or not, we practice in our two party system a “double election” in national politics!  Personally speaking, whether in religion or in politics, such a view divides us from one another, which is the root problem of our sin.  

One reaction to this idea of double election is single election, meaning God elects all, or predestines all to be saved, an idea that originated in the ancient teachings of church fathers like Clement of Alexandria in the Catechetical school in Alexandria and continued by Origen who followed as Clements’ successor. Today, post-modern Christian authors continue to explore single election with books like If Grace is True 2003 and The Evangelical Universalist 2006, writings in the past ten years that lift up the idea of a God who elects to save every person.   I think it sounds great, but there is that haunting, evocative question read in Hebrews 2:3, “How shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?”  This suggests a choice to be made, and it appears to be a choice that we choose to either accept or ignore?

There is another way to look at predestination:  all of us are predestined to be loved.  John 3:16 says that “God so loved the world...”  Paul writes in Romans 8:38 – 39 that nothing he knows of can ever make God stop loving us.  If we are predestined to be loved, then God has made a choice.  God chose you, but what choice will you make?

We will explore this topic more as we continue our sermon series in the sanctuary on basic beliefs.  Join us as we dig deeper into basic Christian beliefs like salvation, sanctification.  We’ll explore all these beliefs from our United Methodist tradition.

What Do You Believe - Really?

I've been reading some in Gregory McDonald's book, The Evangelical Universalist, which he wrote back in 2006.  The title intrigued me because I don't usually associate the word, evangelical, with the idea of universal salvation.  Nevertheless I always enjoy a good book, whether it's to learn and embrace new ideas or to learn why I don't agree with an author's viewpoint.  In chapter one where he talks about biblical interpretation he writes, "...a commitment to an inspired Bible is not a commitment to inerrant interpretations."
What he goes on to say in this chapter is that it's one thing to call the Bible inerrant, but that does not mean your intepretation of scripture, or my interpretation of scripture, is inerrant.  I must always consider the possibility I could be wrong at any time, in any place.

If we truly understood this truth, think how much more rich and insightful our theological discussions about sin, salvation and sanctification would be.  Instead of demonizing each other, we might actually hear each other's heart.  John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement once said, "Though we cannot think alike, can we not love alike?  May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion?  Without all doubt, we may."  I suspect that on the subject of universal salvation, even if it is Christocentric, we have those who believe in universal salvation and those who don't believe in universal salvation.  It's like some people believe in a literal hell as an after life for those who die, and have not professed faith in Christ.  Others do not believe in hell as an after life.  Yet others may believe in hell, but only as a temporary place, until God redeems the cosmos.

So, be watching for my new sermon series starting later in June of this year, when I talk about sin, salvation, sanctification, heaven and hell in a sermon series I like to call, "Basic Beliefs of a United Methodist Pastor."  When the series begins in late June, approach this sermon series with an open mind and an open heart.  You might learn to embrace some new ideas, or perhaps I will give you reasons for why you don't believe the way I do."  Either way, it can be a great conversation for both of us to grow our faith in Jesus Christ.


Dennis