Re-Issue of “Grief – The Expression of Pain” - April 11, 2017

Re-Issue of “Grief – The Expression of Pain”

(April 11, 2017)

 

          In the summer of 2012 a deranged individual shot up a movie theater in Aurora, CO and it prompted me to write a weblog on grief and pain.  This week we have seen yet another tragic set of events at a school in California.  My own heart is broken right now after losing my youngest son only 2 short months ago.  I found it amazing to go back and read my own words and, even though I believed every word I wrote 5 years ago, those same words have so much more sharpness and depth than before.

 

Allen Raynor Weblog: Grief – The Expression of Pain

(July 24, 2012)

 

          Once again people are left asking why after James Holmes went on a shooting spree at an Aurora, Colorado movie theater early Friday morning.  Heinous acts like these have become all too common in recent years.  The local media in Denver have naturally been comparing this tragedy to the Columbine High School shooting rampage in 1999, which took place in nearby Littleton.

          Many people have been affected directly by this tragedy while others have been affected more indirectly.  I did not know anyone shot or killed personally, but I must admit seeing the pictures of 6 year old Veronica Moser-Sulivan on newscasts has brought tears to my eyes.  As a father, a pastor, and as a human being I cannot help but be touched.  We are all affected in some way.  We are left with seemingly more questions than answers.  How do we make sense of this “senseless” outpouring of evil?

          Grief is a natural process that we have to go through when tragedy strikes our lives.  Sometimes we can see it coming, other times it totally blind-sides us.  H. Norman Wright says of grief, “It has been labeled everything from intense mental anguish to acute sorrow to deep remorse.” (Experiencing Grief)  Ken Gire in his 2001 book The Weathering Grace of God compares grief to the description of the Dust Bowl in John Steinbeck’s great novel, The Grapes of Wrath.  He writes, “Steinbeck’s description of the Dust Bowl is what the weather of the heart is sometimes like for someone who has endured a great loss.  A steady wind blows over you, opposes you, oppresses you.  The wind grows stronger, whisking away what little soil surrounds the few rootlets of spiritual life you have left.”

          There are a lot of unanswered questions right now for a lot of surviving victims and family members of those affected.  Trying to comfort such sorrow is an overwhelming task.  You can look into the tear filled eyes of these people and know that from the very depths of their souls they just want to understand why their loved one was taken away.  In the Old Testament, Job desired desperately to understand why he suffered as he did, but it was not revealed to him.  God basically expected him to rely on faith, but not a blind, uninformed, or an empty sort of faith which is no faith at all.  But instead a faith that called to mind God’s past “faithfulness” to Job.  Ken Gire goes on to pose the questions, ‘“What can I do to grow through this experience?’  And ‘How will my life be stronger now?’  Faith is involved in this process.  On one hand you will ask why and on the other hand say, ‘I will learn to live by faith.’  Faith is many things.  It is not knowing the answer to the why, and being willing to wait for an answer.  Eventually you may say, ‘I really don’t need the answer in order to go on.’  Some say not knowing makes recovery difficult, but could it be that knowing could make it even more difficult?  We hope an explanation will lessen the hurt.  It won’t.  Job asked and asked and asked again, but the silence of God was loud.”

          Consider the prophet Habakkuk who cried out and asked God why, but the silence of God again was loud.  Even though Habakkuk never received an answer from God he did come to a place of acceptance.  In Hab. 3:17-18 we read, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord.  I will be joyful in God my Savior.”  That is quite a testimony from one who has gone through so much hurt.  The human spirit is, without question,  resilient.  We are capable of more than we realize we are capable of when in the midst of great pain and distress. 

          Over time we slowly learn to not think about the tragedy or loss quite as much.  It happens so gradually we do not even realize that it is happening.  The great scientist, mathematician, and theologian of the 17^th Century, Blaise Pascal, wrote “Being unable to cure death, wretchedness, and ignorance, men have decided in order to be happy, not to think about such things.” (Pensees)  Indeed mankind has trained himself to not think about the reality which exists all around him all the time.  Mankind has many amusements and occasionally, and with great difficulty and discomfort,  he is brought back to reality of living in the broken world that is described on every page of the Bible in sharp detail.  The good news for those directly affected by the Aurora theater shooting and  all of mankind is that right along with the description of lostness, brokenness, and hopelessness in God’s Word is the truth that God can find what is lost, fix what is broken, and restore hope where once there was none!  That is the Gospel message.  The message of true hope!

 

In Christ,

 

Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor

Re-Issue of “The Bible: One Book, Yet Many” - April 3, 2017

Re-Issue of “The Bible: One Book, Yet Many”

(April 3, 2017)

 

          The following is a weblog I originally sent out in March, 2013.  Recently, in a conversation with my mother-in-law, I was reminded of it and she asked that I send it out again.

 

Allen Raynor Weblog:  The Bible: One Book, Yet Many

(Mar. 11, 2013)

 

          Have you noticed that searching for a new Bible is not as simple as it used to be?  Over the course of time selecting a Bible has become complex to say the least!  There is choice of colors, binding styles, print size, etc. Over the past century there has been an explosion of various translations of Scripture, snowballing toward the end of the 20^thCentury.  These include The American Standard Version (ASV) 1901, The New American Standard (NAS) 1971, The New International Version (NIV) 1978, The New King James Version (NKJV) 1982, The New Living Translation (NLT) 1986, The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 1989, The English Standard Version (ESV) 2001, and The Holman Christian Standard Version (HCSV) 2004.  These are only some of the more prevalent ones.  In fact, there were more than 50 translations published over the past century!   Additionally, over the last few decades there has been something of an explosion of various Bible paraphrases such as The Living Bible (1971) Good News For Modern Man (1976), The Cotton Patch Bible (various sections published throughout the 1960s), and The Message (2002).  There are topical Bibles, chronological Bibles, life application Bibles, interlinear Bibles, etc.  Reader’s Digest came out with a condensed Bible, presumably including what their editors deemed of greatest interest.  Inexpensive paperback New Testaments have been distributed by churches and organizations and Bibles have been placed in hotel rooms all around the world by the Gideon’s.  There are a multitude of children’s Bibles available. You can even purchase recordings of famous voices such as James Earl Jones and Johnny Cash reading The New Testament.  There is The Franklin Electronic Pocket Bible, and you can even have the Bible on your phone by downloading a simple App.

          Reference Bibles, linking Scripture with Scripture in a systematic way, were first popularized by C. I. Scofield and his famous reference system.  Later others such as The Thompson Chain Reference Bible came along.  But, perhaps the most fascinating phenomenon of all is the advent known as “The Study Bible.”  The study Bible certainly made sense when first introduced, although there was some push-back from those who said it was not right to have man’s commentary notes bound together with Scripture.  But over time, those nay-sayers faded away.  Many find study Bibles indispensable as they study God’s Word.  There are a couple of ways to view study Bibles.  1) A person has to ask themselves, does it detract people from deeper study when information is too easily available right there in the center or bottom margin?  2) Have study Bibles turned into a sociological phenomenon to the point where they are detracting from the Bible alone being God’s Word?   As to the second issue, I would say I have 2 concerns.  First of all, I fear profit is driving publishers to publish nearly anything they believe will sell.  In that sense they are profiting from the Bible in a way that is somewhat questionable.  Second, I am concerned that people seem to be imposing themselves upon the Bible to some degree.  What do I mean by this?  Well, consider these available titles: NLT Girls Life Application Study Bible, NLT Guys Life Application Study Bible, The Women’s Study Bible, the The African American Heritage Study Bible, The ESV Global Study Bible, marketed as being for “the globally minded believer,” The Revolve Bible, purposefully meant to look like a fashion magazine marketed to teenage girls, and for gospel music lovers there is The Gaither Homecoming Bible.  Study Bible’s based on age, gender, skin color, political concerns, outside interests, hobbies, etc.?  Is this over the top?  Is there any limit to study Bibles?  Will we one day see the Tea Party member’s study Bible, the barbeque lovers study Bible, the hemorrhoid sufferers study Bible?  It sounds ridiculous, but, while the Bibles themselves are no doubt helpful to many, they also are highly reflective of a man-centered culture which is far more inductive when it comes to God and his Word than deductive, as mankind once was in generations past.  To a large degree our generation has sought to fashion the Bible to our personalities, tastes, and interests in virtually every way we believe we can legitimately do so.  It is not to say, many of the things which are done are necessarily wrong, but it does certainly say something about us.  One piece of telling evidence of this can be seen by walking down the entire aisle at the Family Christian Store devoted to Bible covers.  There are covers made to look like a football, one that looks like a watermelon, one’s that come in either “mossy oak,” or “real tree” camouflage, or are in zebra or cheetah print.  There are many different colors and multiple shades of each color.  There are ones with flowers on them and ones with geometric shapes and designs; and these are just the tip of the iceberg!  Again, this is reflective of our culture mainly in two distinct areas – our wealth and our narcissism.

          Many study Bibles have people’s name attached to them.  Is it right to put a person’s name on the Bible? Are these Bibles drawing more attention to individuals than to Scripture itself?  Such titles include The Matthew Henry Study Bible, The A. W. Tozer Study Bible, The John Maxwell Leadership Bible, The Henry Morris Study Bible, and the MacArthur Study Bible. 

          Christian Book Distributers (CBD) has a whole catalog of nothing but Bibles.  The 2013 CBD Bible Catalog is 68 pages in length!  Their regular March/April bi-monthly catalog of many products devotes 18 pages to Bibles and Bible accessories.  There are 5 pages of study Bibles, 1 page of NIV Bibles, 1 page of ESV Bibles, 1 page devoted to KJV and NASV Bibles, 1 page devoted to NKJV and HCSV Bibles, 1 page to Bible paraphrases, 3 pages to specialty Bibles, 1 page for Bibles for kids, 1 page entitled “Bibles & New Testaments,” 2 pages of “Bible Bargains,” and 1 page devoted to Bible accessories (Bible covers, highlighters, tabs, etc.).  When added up, there are several hundred choices available just from this one section of one catalog!

          I do believe that what we see is highly market driven.  People have a teenager, for instance, that they desperately want to read God’s Word.  They see a title such as Teen Life Application Study Bible and they purchase the Bible as a gift with the hopes and prayers it will make a difference.  A wife who desperately wishes to see her husband get right with God and get back in church purchases a men’s study Bible for him.  A woman seeking to personally grow closer to God purchases a women’s devotional Bible with the hope that it will fulfill her desires.  Is there anything wrong with these things?  Not necessarily.  If we have pure motives and we actually use these as tools, I see no problems at all.  But there are a couple of comments I would make.  First of all, “To whom much is given, much will be required.”  We have been given an incalculable number of resources in our modern world.  We have translations, commentaries, devotionals, reference works, and so many other things previous generations did not have.  While some of the tools cause me to raise an eyebrow from time to time, by and large the explosion of information available to us is a very good thing.  However, we must be discerning.  Also, there is no substitute for God’s Word itself.  As long as we do not allow things to get out of their proper order, we can greatly benefit from all that we have to great spiritual benefit.

          I would highly recommend to you a few Bibles I have found particularly helpful and enjoyable.  The American Patriots Bible contains many interesting tidbits from American history and shows how the Bible has been valued by key people in our nation’s history.  The Reformation Study Bible has extensive notes concerning key people and events instrumental in the Protestant Reformation.  The Apologetics Study Bible is a great resource to help you discover Biblical answers to the questions often asked by skeptics.  The MacArthur Study Bible (available in NKJV, NASV, and ESV) has been among my favorites for years.  John MacArthur is a trusted scholar and preacher of the Word of God and his insights are fantastic.  Any Bible is meant to be a valuable tool.  If you open its pages and study its content it will change your life.  Theologian Bernard Ramm wrote, “A thousand times over, the death knell of the Bible has been sounded, the funeral procession formed, the inscription cut on the tombstone, and the committal read.  But somehow the corpse never stays put!”  Hebrews 4:12 says, “The Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” 

          I like to read the Bible through a couple of times each year alternating the particular study Bible I use, reading the notes as I go along, learning much on each and every page.  I love the words of the late British evangelist Rodney “Gipsy” Smith who said “What makes the difference is not how many times you have been through the Bible, but how many times and how thoroughly the Bible has been through you.”  Take advantage of the great opportunities of our age, totally unknown to previous generations of Christians.

 

In Christ,

 

Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor

Allen Raynor Weblog: “The Best Inheritance of All”-Mar. 30, 2017

Allen Raynor Weblog: “The Best Inheritance of All”

(Mar. 30, 2017)

 

          One of the television programs I enjoy is a show that is aired on The Fox Business Network called Strange Inheritance hosted by Jamie Colby.  The 30-minute episodes feature people who have inherited unusual items or collections which are almost always valuable.  Past episodes have featured such things as a large and intricately detailed collection of ships in a bottle; land containing dinosaur bones; a massive collection of model trains; a nostalgic movie theater in Pennsylvania; a huge collection of western art; very rare baseball cards more than 100 years old; and the original headstone of JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.

          People collect many things.  Some are valuable while some are not.  Most people collect things based on their areas of interest and not so much on the basis of whether it is, or will be, valuable.  Whatever a person collects is valuable to them, and sometimes only them. I know of many pastors who have collected many books and built impressive libraries of, in some cases, several thousand volumes.  The primary motivating factor has been to gain better knowledge of God, His Word, making disciples, ministering, evangelizing, understanding theology, and church history.  My guess is that such collections will never be featured on shows like Strange Inheritance or The History Channel’s American Pickers.  The world places value on certain things, but not on other things.  The world has little interest in books they 1) Do not understand 2) Challenge their lifestyle.  Take a look at people.  Where do they spend their time, where do they spend their money, and what do they like to talk about?  It is pretty easy to figure out what a person is all about when you see where their affections lay.

          If most people in this world were to inherit a large collection of Christian books, or even a collection of Bibles, they would hardly know what to do.  Ironically, people are anxious to inherit money and valuable possessions from a loved one, but they place value on things that have no value to God, and fail to place value on things that have enormous value to God.  We might call it a big inheritance mix-up where people’s thinking is totally opposite of what God intends.  Paul, writing to the Ephesian church, wrote “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.” (Eph. 1:11)  He wrote to the Colossian church that we should be truly thankful for our inheritance in Christ as he commends “Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.” (Col. 1:12).  Peter opened his first epistle by reminding the saints of their inheritance in Christ.  He said “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Pet. 1:4-5)

          Beginning at a young age, I was taught to put God first, others second, and myself last.  As I grew into adulthood and slowly understood God better I eventually came to understand the need to put God first, my family second, and everything else after that.  That has been my goal and aim.  I am deeply saddened and often disturbed when I learn of others treating God and their families so flippantly.  So much is taken for granted.  But, it is more common to take God’s blessings for granted when we fail to realize those blessings have come from God.  The problems of this world can easily be understood by the fact that the world does not know God nor His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.  Because of this, they will inherit nothing from God.  He is not a father to them, nor are they His sons.  They are not the “new creatures” in Christ that Paul talks about in 2 Cor. 5:17.  Instead they stand to reap what they have sown (Gal. 6:7).  They will inherit this corrupted world that is destined for God’s judgment.  But, as believers we have a wonderful inheritance waiting for us.  It is an inheritance of God’s own choosing prepared and preserved for us, His children.

 

In Christ,

 

Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor

          

Allen Raynor Weblog: Re-Issue of “The Death of the Grown-Up” -(Parts 1 & 2)-Mar. 16, 2017

          The book The Death of the Grown-Up: How America’s Arrested Development is Bringing Down Western Civilization by Diana West is one of the best, and most informative, books I have ever read.  Eight years after reading the book and writing this two-part weblog in April/May 2009 I find the words even truer than I did back then. 

 

Allen Raynor Weblog: The Death of the Grown-Up (Pt. 1)

(April 29, 2009)

 

          Where have all the adults gone?  Sound like a strange question?  Well it is not really as far-fetched as it might seem.  In a book entitled The Death of the Grown-Up: How America’s Arrested Development is Bringing Down Western Civilization, author Diana West shows how the phenomena we now see in western culture is an anomaly when compared with the patterns of all of history.  This is not, a Christian book per se, and if the author is a Christian it is not told.  She is merely a keen observer of what has, and is, taking place.  The following comes from the first chapter of the book:

 

     Once, there was a world without teenagers.  Literally.  ‘Teenager,’ the word itself,

     doesn’t pop into the lexicon much before 1941.  This speaks volumes about the last

      few millennia.  In all those many centuries, nobody thought to mention ‘teenagers’

      because there was nothing, apparently to think of mentioning.

      In considering what I like to call ‘the death of the grown-up,’ it’s important to keep

     a fix on this fact; that for all, but this most recent episode of human history, there

     were children and there were adults.  Children in their teen years aspired to

     adulthood; significantly, they didn’t aspire to adolescence.  Certainly adults didn’t

     aspire to remain teenagers.

     That doesn’t mean youth hasn’t always been a source of adult interest: Just think in    

     five hundred years what Shakespeare, Dickens, the Bronte’s, Mark Twain, Booth

     Tarkington, Eugene O’Neill, and Leonard Bernstein have done with teen material.

      But something has changed.  Actually, a lot of things have changed.  For one thing,

      turning thirteen, instead of bringing children closer to an adult world, now launches

      them into a teen universe.  For another, due to the permanent hold our culture has

      placed on the maturation process, that’s where they’re likely to find most adults.

      This generational intersection yields plenty of statistics.  More adults ages eighteen

      to forty-nine, watch the Cartoon Network than watch CNN.  Readers as old as

      twenty-five are buying ‘young adult’ fiction written expressly for teens.  The

      average video gamester was eighteen in 1990; now he’s going on thirty.  And no

      wonder; The National Academy of Sciences has, in 2002, redefined adolescence as

      ‘the period extending from the onset of puberty, around twelve, to age thirty.’  The

      MacArthur Foundation has gone farther still, funding a major research project that

      argues that the ‘transition to adulthood’ doesn’t end until age thirty-four.

      This long, drawn-out ‘transition’ jibes perfectly with two British surveys showing

      that 27 percent of adult children striking out on their own return home to live at

      least once; and that 46 percent of adult couples regard their parent's’ houses as their

     ‘real’ homes.  Over in Italy, nearly one in three thirty-somethings never leave that

      ‘real’ home in the first place.  Neither have 25 percent of American men, ages

      eighteen to thirty.  Maybe this helps explain why about one-third of the fifty-six

      million Americans sitting down to watch SpongeBob SquarePants on Nickelodeon

      each month in 2002 were between the ages of eighteen and forty-nine.

      (Nickelodeon’s core demographic group is between the ages of six and eleven.)

      These are grown-ups who haven’t left childhood.  Then again, why should they? 

      As movie producer and former Universal marketing executive Kathy Jones put it,

      ‘There isn’t any clear demarcation of what’s for parents and what’s for kids.  We

      like the same music, we dress similarly.’

      How did this happen?  When did this happen?  And why?  More than a little cultural

     detective work is required to answer these questions.  It’s one thing to sift through

     the decades looking for clues; it’s quite another to evaluate them from a distance

     that is more than merely temporal.  We have changed.  Our conceptions of life have

     changed.  Just as we may read with a detached non-comprehension how man lived

     under the divine right of monarchs, for example, it may be that difficult to relate to a

     time when the adolescent wasn’t king. (Diana West; The Death of the Grown-Up;

     chapter 1)

 

          My purpose here is, by no means, to put down young people between 13 and 19 years of age who are, by today’s standards, “teenagers.”  The real problem is that adults are often not mentoring these young people into full adulthood, but instead are all-too-often teaching by their example that one really does not have to grow up.  It is a sort of “Peter Pan” syndrome which finds eternal bliss in immaturity.  As we consider Scripture, we find the need to be mature and be responsible emphasized again and again.  Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 13:11, “When I was a child, I spoke as a child; I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”  Being a child is a wonderful thing, when you are one, but when you are really an adult, it is far from cute!  Something to think about!

 

Allen Raynor Weblog: The Death of the Grown-Up (Pt. 2)

(May 6, 2009)

 

          Last time we began to lay out the problems Diana West identifies in her book The Death of the Grown-Up.  She continues by presenting some of the history which has brought us to the present day.  She writes…

 

     About a hundred years ago, Booth Tarkington wrote Seventeen, probably the first

     novel about adolescence.  Set in small-town America, the plot hinges on seventeen

    -year-old William Baxter’s ability to borrow, on the sly, his father’s dinner jacket,

     which the teenager wants to wear to impress the new girl in town.  In other words,

     it’s not a pierced tongue or a tattoo that wins the babe: it’s a tuxedo.  William dons

     the ceremonial guise of adulthood to stand out – favorable – from the other boys.

     That was then.  These days of course, father and son dress more or less alike, from

     message emblazoned T-shirts to chunky athletic shoes, both equally at ease in the

     baggy rumple of eternal summer camp.  In the mature male, these trappings of

     adolescence have become more than a matter of comfort or style; they reveal a

     state of mind, a reflection of a personality that hasn’t fully developed, and doesn’t

     want to- or worst, doesn’t know how.

     By now, the ubiquity of the mind-set provides cover, making it unremarkable

     indeed, the norm.  But there is something jarring in the everyday, ordinary sight of

     adults, full -grown men and women both outfitted in crop tops and flip-flops,

     spandex and fanny-packs, T-shirts, hip-huggers, sweatpants, and running shoes.

 

          The Rolling Stones’ most famous hit is perhaps the unspoken mantra of this generation - I Can’t Get No Satisfaction.  There is incessant chasing after things which offer the hope of real satisfaction - fitting in, internal happiness, etc.  Many young girls, for instance, genuinely feel that if they could just become more like Brittany Spears they could truly be happy.  West goes on to write:

 

     In a world where distinctions between child and adult have eroded, giving rise to a

     universal mode of behavior more infantile than mature…belly bare, and buttocks

     wrapped like sausages.  At one time, so sexually charged a display by a child would

     have appalled the adults around her; now ‘Baby Britneys’ – and their legion –

     delight their elders, winning from them praise, Halloween candy, even Girl Scout

     music badges.

 

          “Common decency” is not so common anymore.  We are not talking merely about dress, but about a whole lifestyle which has seemingly arisen out of nowhere.  Well, everything is from somewhere.  As you might have predicted money is the bottom line.  The phenomena we see today stems from coming to see ‘teenagers’ as a group in which to market products.  In that sense, teenagers have become pawns in a big, ugly game.  Think of all the products which are specifically marketed to those between 13 and 19 years of age.  Magazines, books, clothing, cars, video games, grooming products, music, electronic equipment, food, and the list goes on and on.  Teenagers are in that sense “victims” of the times and culture.  Make no mistake, it is in the best interest of those who make and market products targeting teens to expand the teen years, so to speak.  That is why men in their thirties and forties, for instance, have become such a large demographic target for the video game industry. 

          Who bears the responsibility here?  The adults, of course, however we are now a few generations removed from children moving directly into adulthood so we are essentially asking effectual adolescent parents to control their adolescents!  It is like the fox watching the henhouse or the government investigating itself!

          What can we do?  Is there any hope?  Absolutely there is, but only if we recognize the problem and resolve to do something about it.  We must break the cycle if there is to be any relief from the cycle!  We desperately need parents to act like parents not just “buddies” to their kids.  We need good behavior modeled for our teens in a non-threatening way.  Most of all, we need Godly principles taught in the home.  Too many parents mildly rely on a youth pastor, or Sunday School teacher to make up for years of Biblical neglect in the home.  It is like asking someone to relocate Mt. Everest with a shovel!  We need adults teaching young adults how to be adults!  If you are at least one of the following we need your help – parent, grandparent, church-member, or an adult of any age.  We are in desperate need of good role-models.  Will you be one?

 

In Christ,

 

Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor

 

Allen Raynor Weblog: “Are You Settling for More or Less?”-Feb. 9, 2017

          I recently read a book titled Settle for More written by former Fox News Anchor Megyn Kelly.  The book, autobiographical in nature, shows how she has overcome a variety of difficulties and set-backs.  Set-backs and obstacles are common to all people, but the way we handle them is crucial.  In Kelly’s particular case, the untimely death of her father and the difficulties of career burn-out greatly affected the course of her life.  She was inspired one day while hearing Dr. Phil on television saying “The only difference between you and the person you envy is you settled for less.”  She goes on to talk about how that quote changed her life.  The key to getting from where you are to where you want to be takes determination and persistence.  But it also requires a person to pay a certain price; therefore it is necessary to weigh out how much we really want something. 

          In reading this book, and reflecting, I cannot help but make a comparison between this concept and the Kingdom of Christ and His church.  After pastoring for almost 22 years I can assuredly say I have seen overwhelming numbers of believers “settle for less,” in their walks with God, when they should only be settling for more.

          Everywhere I look it seems there are people pursuing their dreams and goals educationally, economically, in regards to their career, and in regards to their family.  People are adding to their personal collections of whatever they collect, talking about trying a new restaurant, saving for a dream vacation, and getting all their ducks in a row for retirement.  But how important are these things really?  Certainly, they bring us some level of happiness and that is fine.  However, I must ask, “How much do they matter in the long run?”  Everything at a garage sale was new at one time.  Furthermore, everything at the city landfill was also new at one time! Your old clunker probably was once a source of pride when you first drove it home.  Your new cloths quickly become old.  We tend to pursue things with very limited value with gusto while displaying a great deal of apathy about some things that really do matter, and matter a lot, like the Kingdom of Christ.

          I have observed many believers sadly settling for much less than God desires.  I grew up in church but I did not necessarily always want to be there.  In fact, I am confident in saying that I would not have gone most of the time had not my parents made me go.  But, there came a change in me in my late teen years when I really committed my life to Christ.  I could not get enough church.  I could not get enough preaching, teaching, or reading from the Scriptures.  The best way I can describe how I felt, and still feel, is that it is like an “unquenchable thirst” that I have now and have had for the better part of 30 years.  I have since built a decent size library of Christian books simply out of a desire to learn and know more about God.  It is very hard for me to understand how others are not reacting the same way I reacted when first coming to know Christ.  It seems I am constantly asking myself about others, “Do they really know Christ?”  I hope so, but their behavior and lack of desire for the things of God, sure makes it hard to tell sometimes.

          So many Christians fall into a comfortable groove of settling for less, even far less, than God desires.  C. S. Lewis wrote “God is not so much offended that we want too much as by the fact that we are satisfied with so little.”  Paul commends the church at Philippi to develop and keep a joyful attitude about Christ that motivates them to ever-increasing service, just as it had occurred in his life.  He writes “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me . . . forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:13-14)  Paul did not see this as merely for him, but he understood this thirst/desire for the things of God to be a hallmark of all Christians.  He goes on “Therefore let us, as many as are mature have this mind . . . Brethren join in following my example and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.” (Phil. 3:15; 17)

          The modern day term “nominal Christian” is really a contradiction and would have really caused the Apostle Paul to scratch his head.  The word “nominal” means “Existing in name only; small; far below the real value or cost.”  Sadly, that is the best way to describe many who would claim the name of Christ.   Their brand of Christianity does not resemble the third chapter of Philippians, but instead the dictionary’s definition of “nominal.” Paul wrote to young Timothy “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth.” (2 Tim. 2:15)

          In these difficult and morally challenging days in which we live, nominal Christians are unfortunately bearing testimony to their neighbors, classmates, co-workers, and extended families that there is little to “Christianity.”  It is just a moniker or title and means little to nothing.  They wear the name, without the changed lives.

            Many of the great martyrs of centuries past went confidently to their own deaths, proclaiming that “Jesus is Lord” with great boldness and conviction.  By contrast, many modern- day church members are melding with the world and treating church as little more than a back-up plan when they have nothing else to do.  I assert the gathering together of believers for church should be a top level priority.  Christ Jesus died for the church and will once again return for His church/bride.

          In Christ there should be no shame but a consistent and unmistakable motivation to only settle for more of Him.  Paul confessed “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation.” (Rom. 1:16)  Never settle for less.  In Christ, only settle for more!

 

In Christ,

 

Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor 

Allen Raynor Weblog: Re-Issue of “A Fresh Perspective on Failure”-Feb. 6, 2017

          Often a book I read inspires me to write a weblog summarizing the arguments made by the author.  This was the case after reading Erwin Lutzer’s book Failure: The Back-Door to Success.  Lutzer is the pastor of the historic Moody Bible Church in Chicago and, over the years, has become one of my favorite authors.  I encourage you to check out some of his many books sometime.

 

Allen Raynor Weblog: “A Fresh Perspective on Failure”

(May 31, 2011)

 

          It is natural for human beings to generally prefer success over failure.  The really tricky part though is determining, and then understanding, what really constitutes success.  In his book, Failure: The Back Door to Success, Erwin Lutzer explores the issues of success and failure and offers a slightly different take than the typical consensus that failure is bad and success is good.  He explores how success often is born, out of failure.  It is true historically, and it is still true today.

          Sometimes failure is merely a stepping stone to ultimate success.  In the words of Peter Marshall, “It is better to fail in a cause that will ultimately succeed than to succeed in a cause that will ultimately fail.”  Sometimes there is a bit of a “wilderness” wandering which must take place for us before we can really hear God speak.  Often the clamor and noise of the world and its subsequent distractions cause God’s voice to be drowned out to our hearing.  Sometimes He is speaking and we just cannot hear; other times He is not speaking at all and forcing us to wait for our own good and development.  Lutzer writes, “Often the doorway to success is entered through the hallway of failure.”(30)

          Was anyone ever called to be a failure?  Well there are a handful of Biblical characters that we could point to that would be failures in the eyes of men.  But these same characters were hardly failures in the eyes of God.  Was Noah a failure because he could not convince more people to get in the ark?  Was Paul a failure because he was ultimately martyred?  Was Hosea a failure because his wife played the harlot?  Was Stephen a failure because he was stoned to death?  Consider this discouraging assignment given by God to Isaiah.

‘Go, and tell this people: Keep on listening, but do not perceive; keep on looking, but do not understand.’  ‘Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and repent and be healed.’ (Is. 6:9-10)

Lutzer writes, “Isaiah was told in advance that the people would not respond to his ministry!  He was to preach only to provide a further reason for God’s coming judgment!”  Worldly success was very limited for any of the Old Testament Prophets.  In fact, as I have read a number of leadership books and church growth books I do not find much about the prophets.  The Bible is used, but not often the prophets.  Unfortunately, we have come to believe we know what success is and anything which does not look like the world’s version of success looks suspiciously like failure.  But is it really?

          Well, it might indeed be true failure, but it also might be the particular “class” in the curriculum of God’s school in which we are students.  About the time I was 1/3 of the way through my Hebrew course in seminary I was not only thinking about how I could get out of this “pressure cooker” of a class, I was thinking about filling out applications at Home Depot!  Suddenly wood screws, pipe fittings, and plywood was much more interesting than pronominal suffixes and sere yod’s!  One of my young sons at the time was looking at some Hebrew sentences I was attempting to translate and asked the profound question, “Daddy how do you read it when it is written like that?”  That was a good question, which I did not have a good answer for!  Every day of Hebrew class I felt like a failure.  I feared being called on by the professor to answer a question or, worst of all, have to go to the board and show my work in front of the class.  I realize now it was not true, but at the time I felt like I was the only student in the class who was lost and the others had a handle on things.  I ultimately came out of the class with a B+ but felt like I was swimming upstream the whole way!  I did not fail Hebrew – not even close – but I felt like I was failing the whole way through.  Sometimes we only feel like we are failing when we really are having some measure of success.

          Neither failure, nor the threat of failure, is necessarily a bad thing.  The threat of failure can serve to motivate and otherwise sharpen our actions with a precision which nothing else could do.  But failure can be painful.  How many painful lessons from childhood can we recall?  C.S. Lewis said, “Pain is God’s megaphone.”  In much the same way, failure is an important word from God.  Circumstances are one of a handful of ways by which He tends to speak to us.  Failure is not necessarily a bad thing.  Failure can work to make us better, failure in the world’s eyes may be unmistakable success in God’s sight.  True failure however, can even motivate us to get on the road to true success.  My advice would be, to use all your failures wisely in your pursuit of true God-ordained success!

In Christ,

 

Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor

Allen Raynor Weblog: The Tough Issue of Immigration-Feb. 2, 2017

          The issue of immigration has been one of the most difficult for Christians to fully come to terms with, seeing that it is not as cut-and-dry as are some other issues.  There are plenty of doctrinal and ethical issues that are quite clear from Scripture such as the doctrines of justification, the substitutionary atonement, the sinfulness of homosexuality, adultery, and drunkenness.  However, the multiplicity of issues related to the ongoing immigration debate in our nation are often treacherous waters to navigate.

          This is one of the few issues that, at least in part, defies the left and right.  There are some on the right that side with the left on this one and some on the left that side with the right.  Like all issues, it really should rise above politics and be decided by Scripture and conscience.

          We are a nation of immigrants.  The words engraved on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty read “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.    Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost, to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”  Between the years 1820 and 2010, the U. S. saw 80 million souls immigrate to America.  Fourteen million immigrated during the decade from 2001 to 2010.  But, as we know, immigration also has a dark side.  Buried within the statistics are millions of undocumented immigrants.  The latest estimates put those at around 11-12 million.

          The United States has proudly welcomed outsiders, but today there are a number of factors which have changed the thinking of a great many people.  Primarily, it is deeply held concern that the proper channels of lawful immigration have been set aside and there is little oversight to the whole process.  More and more illegal immigration is affecting the lives of average Americans in negative ways.  A combined study of U. S. governmental departments revealed that illegal immigrants were responsible for an extremely high number of crimes.  The study was based on a sampling of more than 55,000 illegal immigrants.  It was shown that there were almost 460 thousand arrests among this sample pool (an average of about 8 arrests per person) for drugs, immigration offenses, etc.  Fifteen percent of this sampling were arrested in connection with violent crimes including murder, robbery, assault, and sex-related offences.

          Now the advent of “Sanctuary Cities” is making it more difficult to enforce laws.  These cities have become havens for drug trafficking, murder, armed robbery, rape, etc.  Several defiant politicians, such as State Governors and City Mayors have proudly announced their defiance to comply with laws already on the books.

          David Jeremiah, in his book Is This the End?  Signs of God’s Providence in a Disturbing New World cites many statistics about the overall immigration problem.  In speaking about the financial, and other burdens, placed on our system by illegal immigration he writes “Dallas’ Parkland Hospital offers the second-largest maternity service in the United States.  In one recent year, sixteen thousand babies were born at Parkland, and 70 percent of them were to illegal immigrants at a cost of $70.7 million.  Because few of these patients speak English, the hospital now offers premium pay to medical employees who speak Spanish.  This need has forced the University of Texas and Southwestern Medical School to add a Spanish language requirement to its curriculum.”  This is just one tiny way illegal immigration is causing problems/issues in our culture.  Health care costs rise to cover the expenses of those who cannot pay.  Further, they rise to cover language training and enhanced pay for those who speak Spanish.  It is true across the entire spectrum of health care, and all social services.

          Believers are to be compassionate to immigrants.  After all, it is almost certain that either we, or our ancestors immigrated to this land we call America.  Immigrants are human beings with the same basic needs and dreams as we ourselves.  The Apostle Paul wrote in Acts 17:26-27 “He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.”  Both the Old Testament and New Testament address the issue at many points, but there are some common threads which run throughout the texts that deal with immigration.  Most importantly, the people of God were to “assimilate” the stranger.  If a stranger/immigrant wanted to live among them God’s Word says they were to keep His statutes (Lev. 18:26, 24:16, Ex. 20:10, Num. 15:30) David Jeremiah writes “The message of the Bible concerning strangers in the land is clear; if they accept the national culture and work as participants in the national economy, they are welcomed and allowed full participation in the life of the nation.  If they refuse to assimilate and cling to their old laws, beliefs, and customs, their activities must be restricted for the good of the nation.” (David Jeremiah; Is This The End?; 50)

          God has always had laws that mankind were to respect and follow.  They should never be seen as merely restrictions for the sake of being restrictive but rather for our own protection and to help us see and appreciate the holiness of God.  Knowing the law teaches us the difference between right and wrong.  This is true of God’s laws and man’s laws.  Immigration is a good thing if it is done lawfully.  Millions have already gone through the process and are law-abiding American citizens which enrich our country in incalculable ways; however the millions of illegal aliens that have no intent of going through a process, nor have any intention of assimilating to our culture have no business being here and should go back to their country of origin or be deported.  There is a right way and a wrong way to go about all things.  God’s way is always the best and He gave a clear path in His Word for those who desired to be a part of His people.  God is a God of order and all things are to be done decently and in order.  Our laws in America also show a clear path to follow if anyone desires to be a citizen of our great nation.  As believers, our duty is to have compassion and point others toward that which is right.

 

In Christ,

 

Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor