Pastoral Search Committee Report

In our search for a suitable pastor, the following scratch sheet was developed for your perusal. The list contains the names of the candidates and comments on each.

• Noah: He has 120 years of preaching experience, but no converts.

• Moses: He stutters, and the former congregation says he loses his temper over trivial things.

• Abraham: He took off to Egypt during hard times. We heard that he got into trouble with the authorities and then tried to lie his way out.

• David: He is an unacceptable moral character. He might have been considered for minister of music had he not "fallen."

• John: He says he is a Baptist but lacks tact and dresses like a hippie. He would not feel comfortable at a church potluck supper.

• Peter: He has a bad temper and was heard to deny Christ publicly.

• Paul: We found him to lack tact. He is too harsh, his appearance is contemptible, and he preaches far too long.

• Timothy: He has potential but is much too young for the position.

• Jesus: He tends to offend church members, especially Bible scholars, with his preaching. He is also too controversial. He even offended the search committee with His pointed questions.

• Judas: He seemed to be very practical, cooperative, good with money, concerned for the poor, and professionally dressed. We all agreed that he is just the man we are looking for to fill the vacancy as our Senior Pastor.

God’s Pleasure

Thoughts from my reading in Whiter Than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy by Paul David Tripp. My thoughts in red.

Then you will delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
Psalm 51:19

I must admit
I am embarrassed
by
what gives me
pleasure.
It doesn't take
much
to make me
smile.
I get
real pleasure
from
a good steak
nice chocolate
a comfortable
bed.
I want the joy
of
cold soda
and
hot tea.
I want the bathroom
to
be empty when
I need it.
I want the streets
I drive on
to
be free of other
drivers.
I want people
to
respect my opinions
and
validate my plans.
I want my wife
to
be satisfied
with me as
I am.
I want
my bills all
paid
and plenty of money
to
do the pleasurable
things
that make me
happy.

It’s all about me and what I want. I have an idea of what would make me happy and I pursue it. I want to feel good. I want things to taste good and to smell good. I want comfort. But what if I am wrong? What if I’m looking at the wrong things in the wrong places? What if the pleasure I experience is a cheap substitute? What if I’ve been fooled?

But God
isn't like
me.
His pleasures
aren't a sad
catalog
of
low-grade
idolatries.
His desires
aren't shaped
by
ravenous self-focus.
He
doesn't.
live
in a perpetual state
of
self-absorbed
discontent.
His pleasures
are never
regrettable
ugly
or
unholy.
When
God smiles
His reason
is holy
and His purpose
is
pure.
He finds
great pleasure
in His glory
and
great joy
when
the repentant
turn
from the pursuit
of
their own glory and
turn
toward His.
He has
great pleasure
in
the success
of
His plan
and finds
satisfaction
in seeing
His children
turn
from their pleasure
to
live for
His.

If we don’t understand God, the above would seem incredibly self-centered. Why does everything have to be about Him? Why do I have to do everything He wants me to do? Why do I have to live for His pleasure? But to know Him is to realize that when I live that way, everything falls into place. I experience the highest pleasure and contentment.

Someday
by His grace
the pleasures
that give me
pleasure
will be
the things that
please God.
Until then
my
hope is in the
fact
that He finds
delight
in rescuing those
who
have been led
astray
by their pleasures
because
once more today
I'm
going to need
that rescue.
And I'll need
it
every day until
my
deepest pleasures
are nowhere to be found
in
the creation
and only to be found
in
the Creator.

Isn’t it great that He works in us? I don’t have to muster the strength to change myself. He shows me what is wrong and gives grace and strength to change. He lets me taste what true pleasure is and a longing for it is planted in me.

A question from the meditation:

How close is what gives you pleasure to what gives God pleasure?

It’s something I know in my head but it’s not something I live everyday. The world is so good in pushing its stuff. Every day it’s in my face. Something to buy, eat, look at or listen to; another hollow promise. But I have tasted the true pleasure, the experience of knowing I am doing exactly what God wants; I have felt His smile. So to answer the question, it depends on the day.

Philip


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Righteous Judgment

Thoughts from my reading in Whiter Than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy by Paul David Tripp. The devotional is indented and abbreviated.

. . . so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Or as The Message says, You’re the one I’ve violated, and you’ve seen it all, seen the full extent of my evil. You have all the facts before you; whatever you decide about me is fair. Psalm 51:4

What an interesting thing for a man who's confessing sin to say! Why would David be talking about God's justice? Now, it makes sense, when you have the sense to confess, to remind God of his mercy, but to stand before him and remind him of his justice is another thing all together.

Let me suggest that there are two ways that the justice of God should comfort us sinners. First, his justice means that his assessment of us is accurate. It isn't colored or slanted by prejudice or bias of any kind. It isn't shaped by any kind of hidden personal agenda. God's assessment isn't weakened by favoritism or the cynicism of previous experience.

He loves us and that is how He filters everything about us.

Unlike my experience in this broken world, I don't have to fear that God will wrongly associate me with some group, or have his view of me colored by a grudge, or have his perspective on me colored by irritation or impatience. I can rest assured that God's view of me is trustworthy in every way. And because God's view of me is untainted by sin, it's clearly more reliable than any view that I'd have of myself.

That’s what makes it easier to take God’s scrutiny of us. It’s the opposite of what makes it hard to accept the same scrutiny from some people.

Second, the way that God as Judge responds to me is right and pure as well. God's discipline of me is without personal bias. It isn't weakened by anger or impatience. His justice is never distorted because he's lost his temper or has tired of dealing with me. To add to this, since he isn't only just, but also merciful, loving, and kind as well, God's justice is always restrained and tempered by these things.

I know I am less than beneficial many times when helping other people see their faults. If we are angry, exasperated or annoyed we treat people differently. We hang things over their head and magnify their imperfections to make our own look smaller.

So, I can place myself in the hands of the justice of the one who sees me with accuracy and deals with me righteously. We stand before God unafraid, not because we're acceptable to him, but because his justice has been satisfied by the death of Jesus. So, God is to us both the One who's just and the One who justifies!

• I don't have to manipulate God's view of me.
• I don't have to run from him in fear.
• I don't have to rationalize away my wrongs.
• I don't have to work to shift the blame to someone else.
• I don't have to put forward false pretenses.
• I don't have to marshal arguments for my acceptability.
• I don't have to try to buy my way into his favor.

No, I can be who I am and what I am and stand in the light of his righteousness without fear, because Jesus has taken my sin and suffered my stripes. So the One who is my Judge is also my Justifier. There is rest. There is hope.

We don’t have to pretend with God. He knows what we are and is working to change us. He knows we fail and it doesn’t change His emotional love for us.

Take a Moment

Stop and consider how sweet it is that you stand before a God whose assessment of you is not colored by ugly prejudice or self-serving bias. Think of how comforting it is to know that his view of you is always accurate and true.

It's beyond sweet but it's still sad that I run and hide. What is there to fear?

Philip


Get this book and join the journey:

Olive Tree – PDA or Smartphone

Amazon - paper

Deceptive Peace

“It must have been the right thing to do because I feel such peace.”

In a world guided by subjective emotions, objective truth is easily discarded. The guiding principals are gems such as, “Follow your heart” or “If it feels good, do it.” The conclusion, “It can’t be wrong because it feels so right.”

A basic definition of peace is a state of tranquility without disturbance or agitation. So I guess if you are in a coma, we might describe you as peaceful but most outside observers wouldn’t think all is well.

How about the calm before the storm? Maybe the peace someone feels is a brief, deceptive moment before the coming consequences.

I think using peace as a judge of good or bad decision making is very dangerous. As Christians, we speak of the peace from God as a good thing. Philippians 4:6-7 has this to say, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” I don’t see peace here as a sign of good decision making but as a result of prayer. When I pray for my prodigal children instead of worrying about them I receive peace from God. That peace lets me rest in the knowledge that God loves them and is working in them. Even with that peace I still have an unsure turmoil in wondering what part I played in their messed-up lives.

Probably the strongest argument for peace in decision making is this: “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” (Colossians 3:15)  Rule in this verse means to arbitrate or to act as an umpire. An arbitrator or umpire has to act according to the rules. So the same here; the rules are the Word of God. That’s where everything has to start and end.

It’s good we have Scripture to guide us because we are reminded in Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” Without external objective guidance our internal compass gets out of calibration.

We also need other people to help guide us. Good friends can give perspective; they can see what may be unclear to us. We may be wrapped up in emotion and they bring clarity. Of course, the wrong voices can be destructive. If their lives are not guided by God’s Word then it may be the blind leading the blind. I heard an alcoholic talking about this recently. He realized that his friends were not going to help him out of his bondage; they didn’t see a problem. He recognized that he was going to need new friends before he was going to be successful with recovery.

Sometimes, the opposite of peace may be present when we are doing the right thing. Paul realized this in Acts 20:22-23 where he said, “And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.” Of course there was a peace but not the way we may look at it. If Paul wanted to avoid hardship he could have said, “I just don’t feel a peace about going.”

So what it all comes down to is if God’s Word says something then our feelings don’t matter. If we are disobedient then the peace we feel may be God’s absence or maybe the calm before the storm He is about to unleash.

Philip