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"I Was Only Joking!"

1/31/2019

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Strasbourg, France. The stunned gasp from the congregation was totally unexpected. I racked my brain trying to figure out what had happened. I had been preaching and used a big theological word and suddenly realized that many of the non-native English speakers in the room might not know the word. So, I had stopped and asked if someone could define the word for the benefit of everyone. A young American university student raised his hand and I called on him. 

His definition of the term was correct, but contained several equally difficult theological terms. I rolled my eyes and said, “Thanks, that was SO helpful. It REALLY cleared things up.” He, and a few others in the room laughed, but their laughter was drowned out by the loud gasp of many others in the room. What could the problem be?

I suddenly realized that I was the cause of the gasp. Rather than understanding my remark as light-hearted teasing, many thought that I had ridiculed a young man’s attempt to be helpful. He had been bold enough to answer my question, and I had made fun of him in front of everyone. 

The awkwardness was a common problem in France. The humor of one culture doesn’t translate well into other cultures. On the Iron Range of northern Minnesota, where I had spent 14 years, the teasing among friends was almost constant. But in France, I would think of some quick retort only to find it falling flat and the people around me looking confused or sometimes hurt. I found myself constantly find myself biting my tongue to keep from saying things that people wouldn’t think were funny. 
 
One of the things that I noticed was that American humor (along with British humor) tends to be filled with sarcasm. It is the quick jibe or clever put-down that gets the laugh. The late Don Rickles was a master at it. Living in Strasbourg, I learned to restrain myself. There were also difficult conversations trying to explain that if Americans said something that seemed mean to you, it probably meant that they actually like you. It reminded me of a pastor I knew who was devastated when he woke up and saw toilet paper hanging from all the trees in his yard. He assumed that someone in the church hated him and had a hard time understanding that the youth group had done it because they loved him!
 
Now that I am back in the United States, I find my tongue is looser. But I don’t like what is coming out. The light-hearted put-down which so rapidly comes to my mind tastes sour, even though my intent is to build relationships! The sarcastic quip doesn’t feel “right” anymore. But why? Is it one of those things that is just a normal part of culture and requires some “translation” to understand (like toilet papering someone’s house), or is there something else going on?
 
Since I observed that much of American humor is sarcasm, I decided to look up the word in the Bible. While there are examples of sarcasm in the Bible, the word itself isn’t found there. Interestingly, the word sarcasm comes from a Greek word meaning “to strip or cut the flesh”.  The dictionary goes on to define the English word to mean “the use of remarks that clearly mean the opposite of what they say, made in order to hurt someone's feelings or to criticize something in a humorous way.” So, we use the excuse of humor to say things that can wound or injure others. After all, we were only joking!

I did some more searching online about sarcasm and came across several interesting sites that were devoted to fiction writing. They said that sarcasm in dialogue can be used to show that a character in a story is cynical, bitter, and usually arrogant. Sarcastic characters are typically impatient and do not respect the person at whom the sarcastic comment is made. Those character traits didn’t seem to fit with the fruit of the Spirit. Things like love, joy, peace, and patience hardly produce snarky sarcastic comments.

Then I ran across a quote from Ellen DeGeneres (of all people). Here’s what she said, “Most comedy is based on getting a laugh at someone else’s expense. And I find that’s just a form of bullying in a major way.” That made me pause and think about the quick-witted jest that tears at someone’s flesh just to get a laugh. It is not really much different than the brute who pushes the little kid into the mud puddle because it is funny.

This way of joking is a far cry from Ephesians 4:29. “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only that which is useful for building others up according to their needs so that it will benefit those who listen.” 
 
What is the driving force of the sarcastic quip? Perhaps it is a desire to fit in with a group of people that loves put-downs. We all feel the desire to be accepted by others, but you would think that we would have overcome succumbing to peer pressure when we left our teen years behind. Perhaps there is bitterness or arrogance inside of us. Perhaps we are cynical and have become deeply pessimistic. Perhaps we harbor a secret desire to tear others down to make ourselves feel better or to look good. These things poison the well from which our speech flows. They cause us to excuse hurtful speech in the name of humor. 
 
As followers of Christ, we are called to live lives of radical love. When our hearts are full of his love, our mouths will be filled with a sweetness that will build others up according to their needs. Our desire to encourage others should far outweigh our need to fit in with a group that loves to tear one another down. And so, I am setting a guard over my mouth these days. But even more, I am paying attention to the words I speak and asking the Lord to reveal what is behind what I am saying. I want my words to be full of grace and seasoned with salt so that it will benefit all who hear them. To do that I need to be willing to look at  the source from which my words flow. 

May the words of our mouth and the meditations of our heart be pleasing in His sight (Psalm 19:14). 

​Pastor Karl
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“Lord, teach us to pray.”

1/31/2019

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​The disciples watched every move Jesus made, listened to every word He spoke, saw every miraculous work He did. As they watched Him in action, they learned from Him. As they listened to Him pray, they must have recognized something that was lacking in their own prayer life.
 
Has anyone ever taught you how to pray? Do you want to spend more time in prayer, but you just don’t know what to say – or like the disciples, do you get distracted or sleepy? (Matthew 26:40-41) Do you struggle with confidence when there’s a chance to pray out loud?
 
Perhaps we – as disciples of Jesus – also need to learn to pray the way Jesus did. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, He said, “Pray like this…,”and he goes on to give them a model of how to pray (Matthew 6:9-13). We are also disciples of Jesus, so it is our joyful duty to pay attention to His teaching. As we use Jesus’ teaching as a model for our time in prayer, we will find prayer to be an incredible gift from our Heavenly Father – one that we will cherish every day. 
 
Each month, in this blog, we will unpack the different parts of the Lord’s Prayer as we learn to pray the way He did. As we seek to know Him more, He will counsel us with His eye upon us.(Psalm 32:8)

​Angie Stanislowski
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Returning From Exile

1/19/2019

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There are a lot of themes that run throughout Scripture. One theme that does not find its way into many conversations but has been coming up again and again for me as I read Scripture is Exile and the Return from Exile. (Also check out the Bible Project’s Series on Exile. It is crazy good.)

The lack of attention to this theme is a bit of a mystery because it is all over Scripture. It literally starts on the first pages in Genesis and reaches its resolution on the last page in Revelation.
​
Adam and Eve have a wonderful, tailored-for-human-life home in Eden. The presence of God has no hindrances. They literally take walks with Him and speak with Him directly. They have no hindrances either. They do have humanity’s designed limitations, a command from God, and a single forbidden tree but we would hardly call these hindrances. But they sin with that one tree they shouldn’t eat from and they are exiled from their wonderful home and God’s presence to a cursed world and existence.

We are 3 chapters in and Scripture already defines all of human existence as an exile, looking forward to a return.  

Fast forward to the last page; humanity returns to the presence of God. There is a new Eden, with some new trees, in a re-created existence that is preferable to the original, all of which comes through Jesus. Hallelujah for the Gospel!

In between those pages are all kinds and shapes of smaller exiles and returns. These smaller exiles give a picture of the grander exile and return on the first and last pages. Yet they still point to the fact that humanity is not home yet.

The most notable exile and return is the multistage exile of the Israelites out of the promised land, in starting in 2 Kings 17:6. Sin is systemic and rampant in the tribes and kingdoms of Israel and Judah. First the northern kingdom falls to the Assyrians. Then later, the southern kingdom takes a dive to the Babylonians. There is hope! There are prophesied promises of return to the promised land and back into God’s grace. We see it narratively in Ezra and Nehemiah. The people of God are home! It is on the last page of the Hebrew Old testament too (2 Chronicles 36:22-23). Sadly, tension remains. Where is everybody? Where are the representatives from the rest of the tribes of Israel? Where is the previous closeness with God? Where is the once strong nation being led by a divine king? Where is the beauty of the original temple?
Then Jesus comes and another stage of the ultimate exile and return begins. But Jesus coming, His death, His resurrection, His ascension, the coming of the Spirit, preaching of the Gospel to the whole world, still leaves tension.

1 Peter 2:9-11 puts it this way.
"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation."

 
We are a nation of royal priests from a different kingdom. In our current kingdom, we are actually exiles, sojourners, people moving through, and not yet home. We are still waiting for the ultimate return on the day of “visitation” when God finally comes back.

The mystery of why the theme of Exile and Return, which occurs throughout Scripture, is not commonly recognized and discussed in our own lives, I believe, is because essentially, we do not think that we are in exile. This could be for a number of reasons. Simply not knowing Scripture’s truth is one reason. There are also understandable reasons from experience. We like it. We think it is home because it is all we have known. We think the land we rent or own, or our country’s square miles of rock on this large spinning sphere is home.
Then, when there are things wrong here, or we feel that things are not right, we tend to think it can get better.

This ends up shaping our expectations in our relationship with God. We expect God to show up here and make this place more home-like. So we pray, we read, we get wisdom, we get discipled by a more mature believer, all to make sure our lives and circumstances become more right. Will God “show up” and do work in us and our circumstances here? Yes! But the extent to which God shows up will still include tensions that point to the fuller return. The world won’t be completely right until Jesus returns.

Okay. How does the recognition that we are exiles shape our expectations of our relationship with God?

It creates in us an expectation that we have a need to turn our focus away from here and point it there to connect with Him.
We need to shift our focus away from the immediate, visible, and felt. We need to shift our focus away from the needs, earthly desires, and hurts. We need to leave here.
We need to shift our focus toward the promises of God, the declared truth, and the invisible. We need to shift our focus toward His power, goodness, His personhood, and justice. We need to return there.

This is a little ethereal, so here is an example from Scripture.

Genesis 4:26.
​“To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.”

Seth was the second generation of people and Enosh was third. The first generation of people were still alive (Adam was 235 years old when Enosh came along). They knew all too well what exile meant. They knew they were not in their home. Then at some point and in some way, people recognized that God was not with them as before and they wanted Him. They changed their focus from the things and people around them and turned their eyes toward the sky and their focus toward heaven and cried out for the God that created them. They wanted His recognition, His voice, His interaction, and His presence.

For us, thousands of years later, still living in exile from our true home, our return home needs to be one of the multiple desires that brings us to a point of moving our focus away from here and turning to there, and then, crying out to God. There should be a desire for the return of Jesus at the end of this age, of course. That is a part of it. Until that comes, however, the desire to return home adds a desperate energy for God himself to our Scripture meditation, prayer, and other spiritual disciplines right now. Daily.

And the beautiful thing that happens is that this desire is fulfilled in a sense. Jesus is with us (Matthew 28:20)! The Spirit has filled those who believe (John 14:16-17, Acts 2:4, Romans 8:15)! We can go before God the Father boldly as His children (Hebrews 4:16)! Again, and frustratingly, there is still tension as we see our own lives and the world around us in desperate need of the Savior and His return.

Here are a couple of things to work through for the time of our exile:
​
Let Scripture and the Spirit speak into your thoughts of “home”. Start asking questions of yourself, your expectations of the relationship with God, and how you process through “home”. Answers may come quick or slow. In any case, we can take our answers to Scripture and see what it says. We can take our answers to God Himself through the Spirit for Him to guide us home.

Let our desire for the world and our lives to change feed our crying out to the Lord for a taste of our true home.
This is at least part of the reason why we turn daily to our Bibles and prayer and other Spiritual disciplines. We are drawn to them for a taste of home. Though we might find it helpful to keep to a list of spiritual disciplines to keep us accountable and moving in a specific direction, let the heart of these disciplines be that desperate energy for God and home.

Put your empathy muscles to work when you see people in earthly exile. The refugee and immigrant is not just displaced from their home land. They are more deeply experiencing the sin-induced exile than those of us who are living in our homeland. Let that empathy muscle move your actions to care and tangible help. Let them speak to you about their experience. I bet you'll find that their experience of exile connects to the Biblical exile in multiple ways.

Let that desire for our true home feed your evangelism.  Humanity’s true home is with God in the place He creates for us to experience him. There is an invitation to be made for all peoples to enter into that place through Jesus. This is Good News. People can go home!

Peace Brothers and Sisters!
Pastor Nick

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A Priority for the New Year

1/4/2019

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The start of a new year is always a time of rethinking our priorities. Even those who do not make formal resolutions spent at least a few moments thinking about what they want to do in the coming year. All of us should spend some time pondering what God’s priorities are for our lives. Often, we struggle trying to discern what the Lord wants us to do. As with many things, what seems complex can really be boiled down to something basic and easy to understand. So easy, in fact, it is tempting to dismiss it as unimportant. Often, we are like players on a basketball team that is enamored with fancy passes and crazy dribbling moves but has forgotten that the purpose is to put the ball in the hoop. It is the basic things that we take for granted that we forget and we do so at our own peril.
 
The Jewish leaders in the time of Jesus were passionate about obedience to God. They wanted to do God’s will and zealously searched the Scriptures looking for the things God wanted them to do. It helped them make decisions about simple and complex matters (John 5:39). They recognized 613 different commands in Bible. Some were positive actions to take and others were prohibitions. These commands guided everyday life.

When asked what the greatest or most important commandment was, Jesus answered that it was to “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength.” This is the number one priority of God for our lives: to love Him (Mark 12:28-34).

Strangely, when I talk to people about their goals for the coming year, loving the Lord never comes up, yet it is the Lord’s top priority for our lives. But what if we made loving Jesus our main goal for the coming year? What would that look like? What would it mean? How would we go about it?

A partially correct answer would be that we would obey him. After all, there are many passages that say that those who love him will obey him (John 14:15-24; 1 John 5:31). Those who say they “love God” but don’t do what he says are deceiving themselves. But I suspect that simple obedience falls far short of what the Lord intends. We all know that it is possible to obey rules on the outside while our hearts are filled with rebellion (Matthew 15:1-9).

Another tempting answer would be to make some promise of bold action to prove our devotion. Such an attempt is silly when we consider who God is. He is the Creator. He formed galaxies by simply issuing a command. What feat could we do that would possibly impress him? Build a cathedral? We’d be using the things he made. Go on a mission trip? Do you really think that will impress God? 

We are called to be in love with the Lord. Our hearts are to be filled with affection for him. We are to be enthralled with his beauty and enamored with his fascinating personality. We are to be awestruck at his power and amazed by his majesty. This is far more than doing things out of duty or dreaming up grandiose projects. It is the greatest calling and what we were created to experience.

How do we grow in our affection for Jesus? There is much that could be said, but let me suggest three simple things.

Increase your knowledge of him.
The more we know about the Lord, the more excited we will be about him. The fullness of God is found in Jesus. His glory was veiled in human flesh, but the Incarnate One displayed what he is like. So, spend time reading the gospels with the goal of learning more about what Jesus is like and what his kingdom is all about. Ask him to teach you more and more about him. Ask him to reveal his heart to you. Take time to express back to him your praise and adoration for who he is.

Increase your capacity to worship him. 
We struggle to find the vocabulary to express our love for the Lord. One of the best ways to become more fluent in worship is through the language of the psalms. Take a psalm and use it to express your adoration of who he is. Read through the psalm slowly. Then go back and read it again, pausing to affirm the qualities that you see there and express them back to the Lord. This habit may lead you to repentance or praise, and it will cause you to grow more intensely in love with him. 
For example, take Psalm 46. After reading it through once, go over it a second time, paraphrase and praying according to what it says. 

"God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
Therefore, we will not fear though the earth gives way,
Though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea
Though its waters roar and foam,
Though the mountains tremble at its swelling…"
Psalm 46:1-3 (ESV)
 
Lord, I praise you because you are a refuge and strength and a help in times of trouble. You are a place where I can hide safe from the storms and battles of life. How awesome you are! You formed the ground I walk on and know the names of distant galaxies. How much bigger and stronger you are than the things that trouble me. But you are a very present help in times of trouble. Right now. Right here. You are present. There is nothing that I need to fear. Though all around me might fall apart today, I rest secure in your arms. You will never fail me. Oh, how I love you!

A steady diet of praying this way will increase your passion for who he is and treble your ability to express your love for him in ways that will fill your heart, and his, with joy.
 
Read books by those who have a deep and a white-hot love for the Lord.

Read A.W. Tozer’s Knowledge of the Holy. 
This little book is a gold mine of bite-sized nuggets about the Lord by a man who loved him with a depth that few have matched. When my spiritual fire is ebbing, Tozer is one author I frequently turn to in order rekindle it. While all his writings are good, this particular book is a series of mediations on different aspects of the character and nature of God. Don’t read it quickly. Read it slowly and methodically pondering the truths Tozer lays before you. Then turn to prayer. Express verbally (either out loud or written) your love for the Lord because of the insights Tozer writes about. 

​Here’s a taste:
 
“The familiar picture of God as often torn between His justice and His mercy is altogether false to the facts. To think of God as inclining first toward one and then toward another of His attributes is to imagine a God who is unsure of Himself, frustrated and emotionally unstable, which of course is to say that the one of whom we are thinking is not the true God at all but a weak, mental reflection of Him badly out of focus.” (Kindle location 1301)
 
“God needs no one, but when faith is present, He works through anyone. Two statements are in this sentence and a healthy spiritual life requires that we accept both.” (Kindle location 640)
 
Read Mike Bickle’s Passion for Jesus.
Mike Bickle has been leading a prayer ministry for years. In fact, he started a prayer room that has had live worship going non-stop for twenty years! It is fueled by a people who are madly in love with Jesus and enjoy spending time declaring his worth. The ideas in Bickle’s book will draw you closer into a relationship with Jesus.

Here are some quotes:

“A life characterized by affection-based obedience is a life in which you are so loved, and so love God, that obedience is the only reasonable response to anything He wishes. For the sake of love, you are willing to give everything and find no sacrifice too great.” (Kindle location 524).

“The accumulation of information about the Scriptures and the mental discipline of hours of Bible study will never thoroughly cleanse the inner man in the way that devotional, worshipful meditation upon God's Word will. In Bible study alone, we store up important scriptural facts and concepts. But when our Bible study leads into personal dialogue with Jesus as we meditate upon His cleansing Word, we also experience growth in spiritual hunger, sensitivity, and nearness to Him. Active intimacy with His presence washes our spirits.” (Kindle location 1604).
 
Why is making loving God an important priority?
The Lord is interested in our hearts. He wants us to be in love with him. Obedience, by itself, can be done by people whose hearts are far away from the Lord. That isn’t what Jesus wants. He wants us to love Him for who he is and what he has done. Love for Jesus will cause us to have what has been called a “long obedience in the same direction”. It won’t be drudgery. It will be the life of one madly in love with their Creator, Savior, and Lord. It is what we were made for. Anything else is settling for far less.
 
So, plan now to cultivate your love relationship with the Lord. Make It your goal to love Jesus more passionately in December 2019 than you do today. May it be your greatest priority in 2019!

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