Bitter Pills

Bitterness is a powerful pill and once it has been swallowed it not only embitters the swallower, it soon slops all over any-and-everyone who gets near. Like acid, it’s corrosive and destructive, eating up individuals and families. Hebrews 12:14-15 warns: “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: ¹⁵ looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.” Bitter people are not peacemakers. In fact, they view such folks as wimpy. They justify their bitterness by telling themselves that it takes strength to “tell it like it is.” The truth is, such lashing out is only the sign of an immature and graceless heart. Jim Wilson describes them well:

Not only are they bitter, they enjoy being bitter. They somehow like it, and they feed on it. They wouldn’t know what to do if they got rid of it; they wouldn’t have a purpose for living….

It is easy to recognize when somebody is bitter. You can see it in the eyes and in the lines of the face―even if the person is young. You can see it in their mouth, you can see it when they’re smiling or laughing. They are bitter and you can see it. You can hear it in the tone of their voices. You can hear it when they protest that they are not bitter. The bitterness is central and pervades everything.

As bitter people follow this self-destructive course they become more and more isolated and are left to stew in their own caustic juices. This is largely a self-imposed hermitage where the victim can nurse their bitterness and indulge in their victimization. “A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; he rages against all wise judgment” (Pr. 18:1). Moreover, the need to feed the monster inevitably leads to newly imagined offences along with exaggerated and false claims. They retain every offence and embellish it to boot. These distortions and lies are then spread to others, multiplying the bitter fruit until few, if any, dare come close lest they too become the objects of scorn. We find ourselves tip-toeing around the bitter for fear of jostling their cup. They poison the well for everyone so that many relationships are affected.

Perhaps you would like to help a bitter person in your life. Maybe you have reached out repeatedly only to be snapped at or bitten. Nevertheless, you long for peace and forgiveness. As far as you’re able you have worked to be at peace. Nevertheless, it takes two parties to have reconciliation. There’s a time to “shake off the dust from your feet” (Mark 10:14) and to move on. Praying for them is appropriate, but Paul also instructs: “Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, ¹¹ knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned” (Titus 3:10-11). Self-condemnation is, indeed, an extra bitter pill to swallow.

I Am the Head!

A man who thinks he must proclaim his headship over his house probably needs to reassess. If being the head means anything less than being the chief servant who loves and sacrifices and gives for the sake of the family―anything less than the primary example of wisdom and grace―then he is not the kind of head that Jesus has called him to be. Biblical headship is all about sacrificial love for every member of the household. It always seeks the good of each individual as well as the whole, and it places their good ahead of his own convenience. Asserting the “right” to be served, or left alone, etc. is not a sign that one is the head, but is rather a clear indication that he is the tail (if you know what I mean).

Jesus said: “And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” ―Mark 10:44-45

The Christian Celebration of Easter

The Church, in a sense, celebrates Easter every Sunday. In fact, this is why we meet on the first day of the week—to commemorate and celebrate our Lord’s resurrection. The resurrection is not incidental to other things we do on Sunday e.g., prayer, communion, teaching, baptism, fellowship, confession. Rather, all that is done in worship springs from the reality of our Lord’s resurrection. Easter Sunday is a good day to remind us of what we are doing on the other Sunday’s of the year. As such, we need to know more particularly what we are celebrating. The implications of the resurrection of Jesus Christ should quicken our hearts and fill us with joy.

Death is the power of sin (1 Cor. 15:56), and, in rising from the dead, Jesus vanquished the power that had plagued the human race since the Fall. It is central, because (among other factors) the resurrection exhibits that the Christian Faith, unlike the other “great religions of the world,” is not simply a philosophical system, nor is it simply an ethical code, and it is far more than a mystic meditation. Rather, it is a living reality of history.

Muhammad and Confucius and Buddha and even Abraham are dead, but Jesus is alive. Jesus’ disciples for the last 2000 years, therefore, have not first followed His teaching or ethics alone but rather the Lord Himself in His incarnate state. Jesus Christ is seated today at the right hand of His Father, fully God and fully man, interceding for His saints and ruling from the Heavens (Acts 2:22-36). He is not an absentee landlord but is presently ruling in His Church (Eph. 1:19-23) and in the lives of His disciples who have believed on Him (Col. 1:13). He currently has all power and authority in heaven and one earth (Matt. 28:18). He presently sustains all things by the Word of His power. (Heb. 1:3).  Jesus speaks intimately to His saints in His Word, and He speaks to their hearts by means of His Spirit (John 16:13). He is the living Lord Who will one day return to earth to judge the world and mark the end of human history (1 Cor. 15:20-25). 

The doctrine of Christ’s resurrection is not merely the central doctrine of Christianity.  Perhaps its most significant feature is that it constitutes the transforming power of Christianity itself. It is Christ’s resurrection, not His death or teaching or Church, that, by means of the Spirit, transforms both men and cultures. Christ’s resurrection inaugurates His universal Lordship, and Christians must press His claims in all areas of life and thought.  The old evangelical maxim, “If Jesus Christ is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all” is emphatically true.

By recovering the resurrection as the central doctrine of our Faith, we can reverse our spiritually dull lives and the Church can recover its victorious, sin-defeating, world-conquering vision. The vision that once turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6), and gradually, but decisively, brought the pagan Roman Empire to its knees. This vision can vanquish our present secular culture today.  “I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen” (1 Tim. 6:13-16).

Funeral Service for Reese Andrews

You can download or listen to the audio of Reese Andrew's funeral service HERE. You can locate it by Title, Date (March 6, 2013), or Series "Funeral".

It has Been a Hard, Good Week

It was hard to be at the hospital with sickness and suffering; it was good to see Christian doctors and nurses applying their gifts. It was hard to have so many sleepless nights and waiting days; it was good to spend them with people we love. It was hard to watch the roller coaster of anxiety, hope and fear; it was good to observe the saints trusting God for the future. It was hard to hear the groans and cries of pain; it was good to hear the prayers of the saints and to see the peace that passes understanding. It was hard to see a lively man confined to a bed; it was good to see that bed surrounded by the people who loved him. It was hard to watch a faithful wife so fatigued from labor; it was good to watch that same faithful wife minister to the man she loved. It was hard to hear the news that it was time to gather the family; it was good to see that family quickly assemble to say farewell with hugs and kisses and prayers. It was hard to watch one of God’s children fade away from this world; it was good to hear an ICU room filled with hymns played on violins by students and two sons. It was hard to watch the monitor as his numbers dropped one-by-one; it was good to know that zero meant that he was free at last. It was hard to embrace a grieving family; it was good to have the living Word to comfort them. It was hard for a community to stand in long lines to express their condolences; it was good to see them doing what a community is supposed to do. It was hard to think that he would not be at our church again; it was good to see that church family assume all their ministerial places to demonstrate the love of Christ. It was hard to prepare for a funeral; it was good to have such an honor. It was hard to see his mother, his sisters, his wife, his children and all the rest of his family sitting in the front pews of the church; it was good to see five hundred more friends standing behind them with love and support. It was hard to hear a young daughter read her remembrances of her father; it was good to cry. It was hard to imagine that he was really gone; it was good to hear story after story recalled by friends and family. It was hard to see a room full of sorrow; it was good to hear that same room filled with laughter because of the many memories. It was hard to deliver the sermon; it was good to preach the gospel. It was hard to say goodbye to my friend, Reese Andrews, it was good to know that he is forever present with the Lord. There were many other hard things and good things this past week. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Rom. 8:28).

Life of Pie

You have heard me say it many times before, and I ask you to indulge me once again. The Church is the Body of Christ and therefore it is central to everything.  In other words, everything else stands in relation to this fact. You and I are members of that Body, not as an addendum to our lives or some sort of condiment, but as the most important fact of our existence. For many, the church is a “slice of the pie” of their lives, alongside family, jobs, recreation, entertainment, hobbies, and a thousand other things, all of which vie to become more of the pie. For some, church is a bigger “slice of the pie,” than for others, and this might provide some false consolation for them. But the demands of Jesus are total and absolute.  He is not interested in being a “slice of the pie” of YOUR life. HE is your life! HE is the pie! Everything else is a slice of that. 

Matthew 16:24-26

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. ²⁵ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. ²⁶ For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

Christin's Quote Book

• Education is something you get when your father sends you to college. But it isn’t complete until you send your son there. ―Anonymous
• Knowledge is what you get from reading the small print in a contract; experience is what you get from not reading it. ―Anonymous
• Familiarity breeds contempt―and children. ―Mark Twain
• Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you’re a thousand miles from a cornfield. ―Dwight D. Eisenhower
• Don’t criticize your husband’s faults. If it weren't for them, he might have married a better wife. ―Anonymous

Christin's Quote Book

• Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside a dog, it’s too dark to read. ―Groucho Marx
• He has all the characteristics of a dog except loyalty. ―Sam Houston
• He did nothing in particular and he did it very well. ―W.S. Gilbert
• The eyes believe themselves; the ears believe other people. ―Anonymous
• A man is as big as the things that make him mad. ―Anonymous

Christin's Quote Book

• Probably nothing in the world arouses more false hopes than the first four hours of a diet. ―Dan Bennett
• Many a man in love with a dimple makes the mistake of marrying the whole girl. ―Stephen Lealock
• Diplomacy: lying in state. ―Oliver Herford
• A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman’s birthday but never remembers her age. ―Robert Frost
• Man cannot discover new oceans until he has the courage to lose sight of the shore. ―Anonymous

Hello Dolly

My wife had me watch a few minutes of “Hello Dolly,” and I enjoyed some of the dialog between the uncle, Horace Vandergelder [played by Walter Matthou], and his niece, Ermengarde Vandergelder. Uncle Horace has sent her suitor [Ambrose] away, and she is distressed. I especially loved the line: “You’ll thank me when you’re 50.” It made me smile.

Ermengarde: Uncle Horace! Uncle Horace!

  Horace: Yes, what is it?

Ermengarde: What have you done to Ambrose?

  Horace: I had a quiet talk with him.

Ermengarde: You did?

  Horace: Yes, I explained to him that he's a fool.

Ermengarde: Oh, Uncle!

  Horace: Weeping, weeping ― a waste of water. I've done you a good turn. You'll thank me when you're 50.

Ermengarde: But, Uncle, I love him.

  Horace: Save your tears for New York, where they won't be noticed.

Ermengarde: But I love him!

  Horace: You don't.

Ermengarde: But I do!

  Horace: Leave those things to me.

Ermengarde: If I don't marry Ambrose, I know I'll die!

  Horace: Of what?

Ermengarde: A broken heart.

  Horace: Never heard of it.