Posted by Pastor Pat on April 19, 2009
“Jesus said to her, ‘Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” John 20:17
Often in reading the Scripture, we skim past great oceans of truth and thus fail to appreciate the height, depth, width, and breadth of what we just read. I believe John 20:17 is one of those untapped “oceans.”
In the words of our Lord, something powerful happened because of the cross. The alienated become brethren, the orphaned become adopted and the wayward become worshippers. Jesus uses an Old Testament formula to speak of the relationship His people have to their God, “My Father and your Father, and My God and your God” (Ex. 6:7; Lev. 26:12 ['I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people']; Jer. 7:23; 30:22; Ezek. 36:28). “His words are reminiscent of Ruth’s words to Naomi: ‘your people shall be my people and your God my God’ (Ruth 1:16)” (F.F. Bruce, The Gospel of John, p.391). The language is that of the covenant made with Israel and promised to Israel. Let us not miss the slight alteration in our Lord’s expansion of this idea. Jesus identifies Himself with His people. Jesus includes us in His family. Let us for a moment recall the statement of our Lord in John 15:14-15.
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Posted by Pastor Pat on April 12, 2009
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:23-25)
Why should I assemble with the saints of God on a weekly basis? What place or importance is Sunday morning worship to have in my life? Why should I attend weekly gatherings outside of Sunday morning? What contributions do such activities make in my Christian walk?
Often weekly church attendance can have a place of importance until something else comes up. Most of the time we are regular in our attendance, but sometimes other “things” crowd out our weekly attendance. Things like camping trips, fishing trips, family gatherings, or simple laziness can excuse us from attending. What place are “religious” activities to have in the Christian life and why should we attend to these things?
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Posted by Pastor Pat on March 7, 2009
Resurrection truth is a deep and settling expression of God’s richest grace. In the absence of such truth our own selfish desires and appetites would consume us. Life would cease having sunrises of hope
(1 Cor. 15). The despair would be oppressive and mankind would become more cannibalistic in their greed and self-indulgence.
Without a resurrection from the dead this life would be a “period” instead of a “line.”
It is all too easy to allow this truth to slip away from our psyche. In so doing, we are robbed of a compass in the midst of life’s storms. It is the resurrection from the dead that feeds the hungry and quenches the thirst of the parched. Hope . . . the word has lost much of its punch. What is hope? Hope is hearing the news of a child’s safety, of a positive doctor’s report, of a financial need being met. Jesus Christ is hope.
This hope was declared with an exclamation point in His resurrection from the dead. As we consider the resurrection there are several truths we need to be reminded of.
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Posted by Pastor Pat on March 5, 2009
I would like to begin this short study on noting the relationship of the cross to the Lenten season. Like most things surrounding us, familiarity causes them to lose their significance. We become so accustomed to all things “Christian” that we fail to see beyond the shadow and believe the thing it represents is the shadow itself. It is like the plastic fruit sitting comfortably in the middle of the dining room table. What the plastic fruit represents is real fruit, but the illusion exists to make those who see it for the first time to think it is real. The cross in our “Christian” culture is like plastic fruit. It exists only to represent. In many ways, we have allowed the cross to collect dust as it sits comfortably in the middle of our lives; to become familiar, and in its familiarity, our view of it diminishes and we rob it of its intrinsic value. Albert Mohler captures this idea in his thoughts on, “The Foolishness of the Cross.”
Paul’s language is familiar to us because we have read and heard these words so many times. In fact, we have probably become too familiar with them, because what Paul says here, as the Corinthians would have heard it, is a revolutionary message, a counterintuitive message, a counter-cultural message, and in all probability, the Corinthians were not quite prepared to hear this. For what Paul says is that the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved, it is the power of God.[1]
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Posted by Pastor Pat on March 4, 2009
The historical intent of Lent is to place the modern reader into the storyline of the Bible. If we consider the biblical storyline and three corresponding “holy-days,” it is perhaps easier to understand why Lent is notable. First, the season of Advent celebrates the foretold and pre-figured Hero’s arrival. In Advent, God’s Hero arrives. Second, the season of Lent celebrates the foretold and pre-figured Hero’s work. It is not simply the Hero’s arrival that fulfills the promise; it is His work. Lent notes the Hero’s work by marking Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. Finally, the season of Pentecost celebrates the expansive and continuing legacy that His church is left with as a consequence of the Hero’s work. Pentecost marks the certainty of God’s promise and story in the carrying out of His mission in and through the church.
Yet part of the initial question is, “What is Lent?” I would like to begin by noting what Lent is not. First, Lent is not a means of meriting divine favor. Whatever Lent is, it is not this. Those who have distorted Lent and mutated it into a means of meriting favor from God have grossly erred. Second, Lent is not a time for fleshly introspection. No one need look far if their desire is to find hidden sins. We cannot afford to forget that within the “flesh” there dwells no good thing. Third, Lent is not to determine whether one is or is not worthy of the Lord. Those whose identity is in Adam will never be worthy in and of themselves. And those whose identity is in Christ will never be anything less than worthy in and of Christ. There is no action on the introspective that can cause them to be more or less worthy than they already are in Christ.
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Posted by Pastor Pat on March 3, 2009
(Advent, Lent, Pentecost)
Why Does Waukesha Bible Church
Mark Certain “Religious” Holidays?
Or
How We Participate in the Global Community and Conversation
Without Losing Our Theological Distinctiveness
As lead pastor and co-elder, I am sensitive to the unique personality we have as a local church. I am also aware of our part inside the global body of Christ. Neither one can be denied without doing great harm. I was raised religiously as a Roman Catholic. I left the Roman Catholic Church and became an Independent Baptist. Apart from the “New Birth,” my movement from Roman Catholicism into becoming an Independent Baptist was not intentional. It simply existed, and it was where I ended up. Although the move was providential and not necessarily intended by me, looking back I believe it was necessary and important that I break with the Roman Catholic Church. After I left Catholicism, I began attending a Bible College. My religious training took me further into a subset of Christianity called, “Fundamentalism.” The brand of Fundamentalism I engaged in practiced an idea called “secondary separation.” Inside of this context, I opposed all forms of doctrine that did not line up with my (“our”) system of thought. This ideology produced a separation and isolation from the larger expressions of professing Christianity.
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