2006 Sermons Jan

Do you believe in God? That sounds like an absolutely ridiculous question for a minister to ask a congregation, does it not? And I would never have thought of asking such a question had I not come across the following research. A new survey by Harris Interactive reveals that 10% of all Protestants, 21% of all Roman Catholics, and 52% of all Jews do not believe in God!

Of course, I always like to say that statistics are like a lamppost to a drunken man – used more for support than illumination. While I sincerely doubt that the Harris poll is completely accurate, they did come up with some surprising results. For example, Southerners and Midwesterners are more likely to believe in God than Easterners or Westerners. Older people are more likely to believe in God than younger people. Women are more likely than men; Blacks are more likely than Whites; Republicans are more likely than Democrats; and high school graduates are more likely than college graduates.

Thus, in American today, the profile of a person least likely to believe in God is this: A twenty-five-year-old, white, Democrat male from New York with a college degree. The person most likely to believe in God is this: A seventy-five-year-old, black, Republican female from Alabama with a high school diploma. How’s that for using statistics like a lamppost?

When it comes to matters of faith, I like the Wesleyan Quadrilateral, proposed by John and Charles Wesley, who founded the Methodist Church in England in the 18^th century. The Wesleyan Quadrilateral is this: Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and Experience. In other words, we formulate our belief in God based upon Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and Experience. What do the Scriptures say? What does Tradition say? What does our Reason say, and what does our Experience say? We formulate our belief in God based upon Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and Experience…and not necessarily in that order.

There are some miners’ families in West Virginia these days whose recent experience might lead them away from belief in God. A mine explosion trapped husbands, sons and fathers deep beneath the surface of the earth. Mining is very difficult and dangerous work. Why do they do it? The average West Virginia coal miner earns $55,000 a year. Compare that to minimum wage at Wal-Mart. Nobody likes it, but it’s a way to put food on the table for one’s family. It’s not about greed; it’s about earning a decent living.

You know the story. An early report came out that 12 miners were found alive. How cruel a twist of fate those miners’ families must have thought it to be when they dis-covered the report was false. Only one miner had in fact survived, and he was in critical condition.

We base our belief upon Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and Experience. Yet like I said, not necessarily in that order. The experience of these miners’ families was devastating. It’s the kind of experience that might lead one to have doubts about the existence of God.

With that in mind, let us turn now to the passage I read from the gospel according to Mark. For those of you who keep track of such things, you know that I usually preach from the New Common Lectionary. The New Common Lectionary is a set of prescribed Scripture passages that coincide with the context of the Christian calendar. Simply put, we try to preach about Jesus’ birth around Christmas time, and we try to preach about Jesus’ resurrection around Easter time. The New Common Lectionary is a set of pre-scribed Scripture passages that coincide with the context of the Christian calendar.

For those of you who’ve been paying attention, you will note that I preached from this very same passage in Mark on the 4^th of December. That’s the way the New Common Lectionary laid it out this year. The December passage and the January passage appear to be the same…with one important distinction. The December passage focused exclusively on John the Baptist. The January passage actually includes the baptism of Jesus Christ. Thus, the focus has changed somewhat, has it not?

Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the River Jordan. And yes, Jesus was dunked when he was baptized, but we don’t have time to go into all of that right now. The point is this: When Jesus was baptized, the heavens were opened. It’d be like the clouds parting on an overcast day in Meadville to let the sun shine through. Can you relate?

The heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus like a dove, and a voice came from heaven saying, "Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased." Note specifically here that the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus like a dove. It wasn’t a dove; it was like a dove. Why a dove?

The Spirit descended like a dove for a number of reasons. A dove is a tame, simple, innocent bird. A dove does not puncture with its talons or rip with its beak. As one commentator put it, "The dove is a stranger to malice." The dove is meant to symbolize peace. And remember the story of Noah and the flood? What kind of bird carried an olive branch to Noah when the flood waters began to subside? It was a dove. The dove is meant to symbolize peace. That’s why the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus like a dove. For like the dove, the Holy Spirit is meant to symbolize peace as well.

That’s why I talk about this Holy Spirit business so much. Apart from the Spirit, humans are capable of unspeakable evil. But with the Spirit – known as God in us – humans are dramatically transformed. Now do you understand why I constantly talk about how important it is to reach the young people in our community with the gospel of Jesus Christ? Ask a teacher if the nature of children has changed in the last 20 years. As we become more and more "secular" as a society, we become less and less influenced by the Holy Spirit. We literally become more and more capable of evil…but I digress.

Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus like a dove at his baptism. The dove is meant to symbolize innocence and peace. The Holy Spirit is meant to symbolize innocence and peace. That’s what Scripture tells us, but of what comfort is that to the woman who’s just lost a husband – the father of her children – in a mining accident?

Listen to this. As the miners trapped beneath the earth huddled behind a curtain to protect them from deadly carbon monoxide, some of them scribbled notes to their loved ones. A trapped miner by the name of Martin Toler wrote on the back of an insurance application. He wrote: "I’ll see you on the other side. It wasn’t bad. I just went to sleep. I love you."

Deep beneath the surface of the earth, the Holy Spirit descended like a dove and took the souls of some hard working miners. The Spirit brings peace. The Spirit truly brings peace. Amen.

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January 15, 2006 Rev. Dr. Brian Jensen

FOLLOW ME Scripture: John 1:43-51

I recently heard the story of how a long-time church member and a first-time church visitor were discussing the church’s new pastor. They both gave him rave reviews, but the visitor was aware of the fact that the previous pastor had left the church under some rather unpleasant circumstances. "Why did you ask the previous pastor to resign?" the visitor asked.

The long-time church member replied, "Oh, he was awful! He always preached that if we didn’t mend our ways, we would all be going to hell." The visitor thought about that for a moment, then he said, "But that is exactly what the new pastor said today!"

"I know," the long-time member replied. "But the previous pastor acted as if he was glad of it!"

Heaven and hell – they are the fruits of a behavior-based theology. You know, if you’re good, you get to go to heaven. If you’re bad, you might go someplace else. While the preacher should never act as if he’s glad of it, such has become the principle focus of modern day religion. We seem to be more concerned about our eternal destination – we seem to be more concerned about our own salvation – than we are about anything else.

Scripture, however, seems to indicate a different priority. The passage we read this morning is somewhat indicative. The passage we read from the gospel according to John is most concerned with discipleship. Remember that word – discipleship. It’s bound to come up again in the course of this sermon.

Let’s look at our passage from John. Jesus has just called Philip to be a disciple. All Jesus said to Philip was this: "Follow me." There is no promise of eternal salvation. There is no promise of a comfortable, easy life. There is no promise of worldly success. There are only these words: "Follow me."

What does that mean? For the first disciples, it meant walking in the footsteps of Jesus Christ – literally. They walked with him, they talked with him, and – gradually – they came to be like him. What they found was that they had formed a relationship with Jesus Christ – and what he taught and what he believed became a part of who they were.

It’s sort of like how a marriage works. Some people say that after a certain number of years, a husband and a wife actually start to look alike! Now I don’t know if that’s true, but I do know that after a certain number of years a husband and a wife start to think alike and act alike. That’s what a relationship of profound significance tends to do.

For example, suppose my wife starts to think her blue jeans are fitting just a little too tight. Mind you, I tell this story at great personal risk. Anyway, suppose my wife starts to think her blue jeans are fitting just a little too tight. So I look at her…and I say, "Are you wearing my jeans again?" Now for those of you who may not know, my wife is literally about half the size I am. Such a question might offend some women, but my wife simply shakes her head and walks away. I think it helps to make her feel skinny again. You see, a relationship of profound significance implies some give and take – an intimate understanding of where the other person is coming from. A husband and a wife can start to think alike and act alike after a certain number of years. That’s what it means to be in relationship.

As Jesus said to Philip, so too does he say to us: "Follow me." Now obviously, we can’t walk in the literal footsteps of Jesus Christ. But that doesn’t mean we can’t form a significant relationship with him. When Jesus says to us, "Follow me," we respond with faith. In the beginning, that faith is but a seed. But as time goes on, that seed begins to grow. As our relationship with Jesus Christ evolves, we find that we, too, come to be more and more like him.

I think every one of us here has faith in God. I don’t think a single one of us would say we do not believe in God. We all say we believe in God…yet listen to the words of George MacDonald as recorded in his book, Creation in Christ.

I will tell you. Get up, and do something the Master tells you; so make yourself his disciple at once. Instead of asking yourself whether you believe or not, ask yourself whether you have this day done one thing because he said, "Do it," or once abstained because he said, "Do not do it." It is simply absurd to say you believe, or even want to believe in him, if you do not anything he tells you. If you can think of nothing he ever said as having an atom of influence on your doing or not doing, you have too good ground to consider yourself no disciple of his.

You see, the word "disciple" comes from the word "discipline." In other words, discipleship involves discipline. If we are disciples of Jesus Christ – if we are about growing our seed of faith – we are thus inclined to do what the Master tells us to do.

I think that’s an issue that’s become lost on some people these days. For example, a number of years ago I met a professional counselor who actually thinks that church attendance is an integral part of faith. He once asked a man, "Are you a Christian?" To which the man replied, "Oh, yes, I’m a Christian." Then he asked the man, "Do you go to church?" To which the man replied, "No."

The counselor said to him, "How can you profess to be a Christian and not go to church?" To which the man replied – I kid you not – "I’m a Presbyterian!"

Do we really believe that? Does being a Presbyterian imply that we don’t need to go to church? Looking at our national statistics, one might be inclined to think so. Only about a quarter of all Presbyterians are in church an any given Sunday morning…except Christmas and Easter, of course.

Of course, we can argue that one’s faith can grow outside the church. And that may be true…if you live in a monastery. I think faith can grow outside the church, but I don’t think faith does grow outside the church. But the thing is, the church isn’t something most people choose on their own. Many must first experience God before they truly opt to make their faith grow.

The passage we read from John is indicative. To Philip, Jesus said, "Follow me," and Philip began to follow. That’s the way it is with some people. But our passage also notes a man named Nathaniel. Philip told Nathaniel all about Jesus, and Nathaniel had his doubts. In fact, Nathaniel actually said to Philip – in reference to Jesus of Nazareth – "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"

Nevertheless, Philip convinced Nathaniel to meet Jesus. Without going into all the details, Jesus spoke to Nathaniel as if he knew all about him, even though they had never met. The point is that Nathaniel experienced God. He sensed that Jesus knew him inside and out. Nathaniel was not lured into discipleship by the mere command, "Follow me." Nathaniel had to experience God for himself. And when he did, he became a disciple.

Yet what does it mean to truly "experience" God? Luke Timothy Johnson expressed it quite well in an interview in the magazine, The Door. Listen carefully.

The test (of) whether or not something is a religious experience is the conse-quence in the transformation of a person’s life. Genuine religious experience shapes time and space around itself, or reshapes time and space around itself. So if I listen to a Mozart symphony and simply leave the concert hall whistling, I’ve had an aesthetic experience. If I leave the concert hall and put all my energies from that point on to become a violinist, at some level, that concert was a religious experience.

Likewise, if I’m in church and I hear a pastor preaching a sermon on Lazarus and I’m deeply moved and I tell the pastor, "My gosh, that was a powerful sermon," and I go back (to my normal life) and nothing happens, then that was just an aesthetic experience. But if I leave the church, sell all that I have and give it to the poor and devote my life to bandaging the wounds of the ill, then that was a religious experience.

As Johnson said, "The test (of) whether or not something is a religious experience is the consequence in the transformation of a person’s life." In other words, to experience God brings about great change. Our priorities are shifted. We begin to live for God instead of for ourselves. Making that seed of faith within us grow comes to be of the utmost importance.

I think Johnson overstated the matter a little bit. I’m not asking you to sell all you have, give it to the poor, and devote your life to bandaging the wounds of the ill. Yet still, things will not be like they were before. There truly is a cost to discipleship. We must give of ourselves for the good of God’s kingdom.

Have you experienced God? Have you sensed God’s deliverance at a particularly low point in your life? Have you encountered God’s grace in the face of profound self-recognition? Have you found that God has forgiven you in spite of the mistakes you’ve made? If so, then you have experienced God. Your eternal destination should not be your worry. Instead, your concern should be with how you respond when Jesus says to you, "Follow me." Amen.

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January 22, 2006 Rev. Dr. Brian Jensen

PARIAHS Scripture: Jonah 3:1-5, 10

Once upon a time, there was a very wealthy widow who lived in New York City. When this wealthy widow died, she left her considerable fortune exclusively to God. Now as you might suspect, the will was contested. The lawyers demanded that God make an appearance in court to plead his case. Thus, a subpoena for God was issued and the sheriff’s department was called upon to present it to God. After considerable deliberation, the sheriff’s department finally reported back to the court: "After due and diligent search, it has been determined that God is not in New York City!" How’s that for a conundrum?

Such was apparently the case in the passage I read from the book of Jonah. God was nowhere to be found in the city of Nineveh. Let me set the scene for you. The events of our passage would have taken place late in the 8^th century, B.C. Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria. The Assyrians had just conquered the Israelites and dispersed them throughout the Assyrian empire. Thus, to the Jewish people hearing this story, the Ninevites would have been seen as pariahs. They would have been seen as outcasts in the kingdom of God. So Jonah is called to proclaim the word of God in Nineveh. You know the story. Jonah turned tail and ran! He was later cast into the sea and swallowed by a great fish. When the fish finally spit him up on the shore, Jonah stood up and said, "All right, God. What do you want me to do?" So Jonah went and proclaimed the word of God to the Ninevites. And miracle of miracles, they took him seriously. They repented of their evil ways and turned to God. Now when I teach my confirmation class, I always use the book of Jonah at the end of our Old Testament studies – right before I move into the New Testament and the story of Jesus Christ. That’s because the book of Jonah presents a profound Christian message. The love and mercy of God is open to all – even to those whom we see as pariahs – even to those whom society has deemed as outcasts.

That led me to thinking about those in our American history who were viewed at one time or another as pariahs. The first pariahs, of course, were the Native Americans. We took their land and virtually exterminated a race of people through disease, alcoholism, and the end of the bayonet. Of course, now we let them run casinos tax-free, as if that makes everything all right. About 100 years later, the pariahs were the slaves from Africa. I saw a marvelous documentary on Abraham Lincoln on the History Channel the other day. It was the issue of slavery that compelled Abraham Lincoln to become president. Actually, Abraham Lincoln had been out of politics for about five years. Then his own contemporary, Stephen Douglas, passed the Kansas-Nebraska bill. Thus, if you owned slaves and moved into a northern state, you could keep them…just like you could keep hogs if you took them with you into a northern state. Abraham Lincoln was incensed by that. This is what aroused him to seek the presidency, to preserve the union, and to abolish slavery. But the point is this. We look back on those who were deemed pariahs, and think, "What were people thinking?" Really…what were people thinking?

So, who are the pariahs of today? Who are the outcasts of today? I think we can clearly state that, at least in the Christian community, the modern-day pariahs are the homosexuals. Jerry Falwell actually said that 9-11 was due to God’s judgment of homosexuality. Of course, he later recanted due to public pressure. As you know, I’ve been teaching a C.S. Lewis class on his book, Mere Christianity. Listen to how C.S. Lewis looks at this. He sees sins of the flesh as coming from the "animal" self, and he sees the sin of judgmentalism as coming from the "diabolical" self. Here’s how he put it. "So the self-righteous person who goes to church every Sunday may be far closer to hell than the prostitute." Then he adds, "Of course, it’s better to be neither." But do you see the point? The sins of the flesh are a spur-of-the-moment thing. The sins of the heart are a conscious choice. C.S. Lewis believes that the sins that come from the diabolical self are worse. Now at this point in time, I suspect the liberal end of the spectrum here is cheering, and the conservative end of the spectrum is angry. But bear with me. We’re about to sort things out. Recall that Jonah was sent to the so-called "pariahs" of his day to call them to repentance. I think of Jesus talking to the woman caught in adultery. He looks at the crowd that was set to stone her and says, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." Of course, everyone dropped their rocks and went away. But then, Jesus looks at the woman and says to her, "Go and sin no more." You see, the outcast are forgiven, but then they are told to repent of their sins. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s a two-way street.

As long as I’ve got everybody’s undivided attention, I’ve got another set of modern-day pariahs for you. How about the Iranians? They want nuclear power; they want nuclear weaponry. And the United States and the United Nations are doing what they can to put a stop to it. I had a bit of a vision as to how the Iranians might see that. Imagine, if you will, a big boy. He’s the biggest, strongest, toughest kid in the neighborhood. He’s not a bully, but he’s something of a self-designated policeman. He sees two of the smaller boys having a dispute, so he decides which one is right. Then he takes the one he thinks is wrong, and drives his head into the ground. Then, that big, strong boy notices that some of the smaller boys are starting to lift weights. They’re starting to take martial arts classes. The big boy gets scared. How are you going to feel if you’re one of the smaller boys and the big boy beats you senseless before you’re ready to defend yourself? Look, I don’t want Iran to have nuclear weapons either. It’s just that maybe nobody should have nuclear weapons, period. Please, don’t get mad at me about this. It’s God who says, "Those who live by the sword will die by the sword." So if we see the Iranians as pariahs, maybe what they need is the gospel. Maybe what they need is repentance. And maybe we do, too. I’m not laying down hard and fast rules here. I’m just trying to get you to think about it.

Jonah was sent to proclaim the word of God to the people of Nineveh. Incidentally, do you now what the name Jonah means? It means dove. The dove symbolizes peace, and the dove symbolizes the Holy Spirit. Maybe we need another Jonah today. Because – as we can clearly see from the book of Jonah – the love of God is open to all. No one should be considered a pariah. Amen.

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January 29, 2006 Rev. Dr. Brian Jensen

AUTHORITY ISSUES Scripture: Mark 1:21-28

Forty years ago, my family lived in the married student housing projects of Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. At the age of 32, my father had given up farming – sold everything he had – and had gone back to college to become an electrical engineer. Once, when I was six or seven years old, I was confined to the house due to a cold or the flu or some such thing. Looking out the window, however, I saw the neighborhood bully clamp his hands around my two-year-old brother’s throat and slam him to the ground. Now in my mind, no one was allowed to beat up on my little brother…except me. Thus, I made a mental note: this is one score that needs to be evened.

Now I’d been in fights before, and I knew full well that I got in trouble at home every time I got into one. Still, my six or seven-year-old mind was convinced that this was one occasion where the defiance of authority was fully warranted. Thus, once I got over my illness, I went out in search of the neighborhood bully. I found him, and – since this is church and all – let’s just say that the score was evened.

So this neighborhood bully ran home crying to his mother, then his mother called my mother. Of course, you know who got into trouble, don’t you? I honestly felt I was justified, but the rule in my house was: NO FIGHTING! Now maybe I’m making excuses for myself, but it was at this point that I began to have authority issues. I felt that my parents were being unfair, and began to challenge authority on a regular basis. But don’t worry, I’ve grown out of it now…sort of.

A lot of people have authority issues these days. In fact, I have a sneaking suspicion that authority issues in this great nation of ours are become worse and worse as society emphasizes individualism more and more. I’ll tell you who I feel sorry for: the police. They’re out there trying to do their jobs – trying to enforce the law – yet they constantly run up against people with authority issues.

For example, a man was speeding down the highway, feeling quite secure in a pack of cars that were all going about the same speed. Suddenly, however, a highway patrolman raced up behind this man and pulled him over. The man was furious! He yelled at the patrolman, "That’s not fair! Everyone in that pack of cars was speeding! Why are you pulling me over?"

The patrolman calmly looked at the man and said, "You ever go fishing?" Completely diffused, the man said, "Well, yeah." Then the patrolman said, "Ever catch all the fish?"

The police are in a position of authority. They are responsible for enforcing the law. Yet they constantly come up against people with authority issues. Somehow, the bulk of them manage to handle it with tack and with grace. But I’ll bet you they could tell some incredible stories!

A lot of people have authority issues. Like I said, I have a sneaking suspicion that authority issues in this great nation of ours are becoming worse and worse as society emphasizes individualism more and more. We’re living in a time the so-called "experts" refer to as "postmodernism." One of the clarion calls of the postmodern age is questioning authority. For example, it used to be that no one questioned the authority of the medical professional. Now we are all encouraged – perhaps even required by the insurance company – to get a second opinion. And I grew up believing teachers were infallible. In fact, if I got in trouble at school – which I never did, of course – but if I had gotten in trouble at school, I was in a whole lot worse trouble when I got home. I’m not sure that’s the case any more. And for some strange reason, we feel we have to dig up dirt on vaunted figures of the past. We frequently hear of indiscretions on the part of Martin Luther King, Jr. or John F. Kennedy. Why, I recently saw a documentary where they tried to sling mud at Abraham Lincoln! Authority issues are a part of our culture these days.

In fact, to back that up, there’s a new "affliction" that’s recently been uncovered. You’ve heard of A.D.D. and H.D.D., but have you heard of O.D.D.? It’s called Oppositional Defiant Disorder. The person with O.D.D. has dramatic issues with authority. They say now that it’s organic. They say now that it’s caused by a chemical imbalance. Thus, some people have authority issues because they simply can’t help it. They naturally respond aggressively to authority. Look, I know what you’re thinking. We’re not rendering judgments here. We’re simply looking at the issues.

So we have some authority issues in our society today. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the passage I read from the gospel according to Mark. Jesus had recently called his disciples, and they went to a town called Capernaum. It was the Sabbath day, so Jesus entered the synagogue and taught. As it says in verse 22, "And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes." The story goes on to talk about how Jesus encountered a man with an unclean spirit and he cast the spirit out. I suppose that’s really the point of this passage, but hey – it’s my sermon and I can go any direction I want!

As I read this passage and spent a little time contemplating it, I was truly struck by verse 22. "And they were astonished by his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes." The reason this verse struck me so is because of what we’ve been talking about so far. Jesus taught as one who had authority. How does a society with the authority issues we seem to have respond to that?

Let’s start by taking a look at authority in general. Jesus taught as one who had authority. What does that mean? I think what it means is this. Jesus taught as if he knew God personally. The people gathered in the synagogue that day sensed immediately that there was something different about Jesus – that he was some kind of prophet. Note that it says that he taught as one who had authority, "and not as their scribes."

Jesus didn’t teach the way their scribes taught. How did their scribes teach? Their teachings were filled with quotation marks. They only seemed to parrot what their own teachers had taught them. Jesus didn’t teach like that. He spoke as one who knew God personally.

Let’s look at this from a preacher’s standpoint. How do I preach a sermon with authority? Well, what generally passes for wisdom these days is statistics and quotations. You know, if 93.76425% of all people think one thing, then it must be right. And if the preacher quotes the likes of Augustine, John Calvin and Karl Barth, the congregation says, "Boy, is that preacher smart," or, "Gosh, that’s real authority," or, "What the heck is he talking about?" I know you’re thinking one of those three things!

To truly teach with authority – to truly teach as Jesus taught – one must speak as if one knows God personally. Now I’ve got to admit, God has never come down to my office and had a conversation with me. Thus, I’ve got another theory to add. To teach or preach with authority, one must have some kind of authority in one’s life. Write that down. To teach or preach with authority, one must have some kind of authority in one’s life.

What kind of authority must one have in one’s life? It’s really quite simple. The ultimate authority on God – the ultimate authority in life – is Scripture. To teach or preach with authority, one must have some kind of authority in one’s life. That authority …is the Bible.

The Bible is what we call the handbook of faith. True, it was written by human beings, but we believe they were inspired by the Holy Spirit. That’s why we – before we ever even crack the book – should pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance as we read. It’s the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes all the difference in the world. That’s why some people open a Bible and see nothing but a bunch of old, tired stories…while others open a Bible and it transforms their lives. The Holy Spirit matters.

Yet we live in a society marked by biblical illiteracy. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not criticizing. Because it’s never too late to start. Pray for the Spirit’s guidance, open up a Bible, and read it. But perhaps even more than that, we need to base our lives upon what it says. We need to make the Bible our primary authority.

Jesus once told a story about two men who built houses. One built his house upon a rock, while the other built his house upon the sand. When the storms came, the house that was built upon the rock stood firm. The house that was built upon the sand… crumbled.

The point is, a house needs a good foundation. So does our faith. Pray, read and apply the Scriptures. Make the Bible the primary authority in your life. I promise…it will help you with your authority issues. Amen.

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February 5, 2006 Rev. Dr. Brian Jensen

TOMORROW IS NONE OF MY BUSINESS Scripture: Isaiah 40:21-31

Once upon a time, there was a little boy who had reached the age of six, but had yet to speak a single word. As you might suspect, his parents were gravely concerned. They’d taken him to doctors and speech therapists alike, yet no one could find a single thing wrong with him. There was nothing wrong with his vocal chords; there didn’t seem to be any deep-seated psychological problems; everyone was completely baffled.

One day his mother gave him a cup of hot chocolate. Suddenly, out of the clear blue sky, the little boy said, "This hot chocolate’s no good!" His mother was ecstatic! She looked at him and said, "Why did you wait so long to talk?" To which the little boy replied, "Up ‘til now, everything’s been okay!"

While I suspect that story is apocryphal, still it illustrates a powerful point. There are many circumstances in life where we fail to speak up until something is wrong. A chef in a restaurant is not likely to hear from us unless our steak is tough as leather. The boss at work is unlikely to hear from us unless we feel we’re being taken for granted. The minister at the church isn’t likely to hear from us until he says something that’s just ridiculous! (And he will. He always does.)

And then there’s the issue of God. Now some may be better than others, of course, but frequently God is faced with the very same problem. God is not likely to hear from us until something is wrong. Do we thank God for the sunrise each morning? Do we thank God for the ability to draw a breath? Do we thank God for the intellect to earn a living? Some do and some don’t, I suppose. But for the most part, God’s not likely to hear from us until something is wrong…with our families, with our jobs, or with our health.

Such was the case in the passage I read from the book of Isaiah. God heard not a word from his people until something was wrong. Let me set the scene for you.

Isaiah was a prophet to the people of Judah and its capital city of Jerusalem from 742 until 687 B.C. Now at the time, the Hebrew people were divided into two kingdoms. There was Israel in the north, and Judah in the south. In the year 721 B.C., the northern kingdom of Israel and its capital city, Samaria, were conquered by the Assyrians.

But like I said, Isaiah was a prophet in the land of Judah. It was Israel that fell in the time of Isaiah, not Judah. Still, the people of Judah were as jumpy as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs. They were terrified that they were the next to fall. Such was the historical situation in the time of Isaiah.

Now let me make things really complicated. If you pick up a Bible and open it up to the book of Isaiah, you will see that there are 66 chapters. There is one book of Isaiah in your Bible, and that book has 66 chapters. But a good biblical scholar will tell you that there are at least TWO books of Isaiah; maybe even three. Biblical scholars believe that chapters 1 through 39 are the first book of Isaiah. Chapters 40 through 55 are the second book of Isaiah, and chapters 56-66 are the third book of Isaiah. Each "book" of Isaiah would have a different author, for each would have come at a different time in history. Is that complicated enough?

All right, the prophet Isaiah was active between 742 and 687 B.C. He was the author of the first book of Isaiah, chapters 1-39. But the passage I read from the book of Isaiah came from chapter 40. Most scholars believe that the second book of Isaiah – chapters 40 through 55 – were written about 150 years later. No one knows exactly who wrote the book. We simply call him, "Deutero-Isaiah." Are you with me? Or do we file this one under, "Too much information?"

So the time of the writing of the 40^th chapter of the book of Isaiah was around 550 B.C. By this time, the southern kingdom of Judah had fallen to the Babylonians. Now let me just say that the Babylonians were not the nicest conquerors in the world. They destroyed the magnificent temple in Jerusalem. They deported any of the citizens of Jerusalem whom they deemed a political threat. It appears that the Hebrew people were allowed to worship God, but not in the way they had done for generations. In short, this is a time of real despair.

Can you imagine what that would be like for us? Suppose the city of Meadville was conquered by the city of Erie. All of our leading citizens would be deported to Erie. All the Allegheny professors would be forced to teach at Gannon or Mercyhurst. All the churches are destroyed. Families are divided. Businesses are allowed to operate, but guess where all the profits go! It would be devastating, to say the least.

This is the situation in our passage from Isaiah. There are two basic questions that begin to circulate. One, does God have the POWER to help his people, and two, does God have the WILL to help his people?

Interestingly enough, God hadn’t heard much from his people before they were conquered. They were living their lives as usual, and becoming more and more corrupt. We know from the prophet Jeremiah exactly what they were doing. They were guilty of moral and spiritual disintegration. Oh, they may have been worshiping God in body, but they weren’t worshiping God in heart and in soul. They were more concerned with making money than they were with anything else. There were serious JUSTICE issues in the land. People would take advantage of the most powerless people in society. The most powerless people in society in those days were widows and orphans. They’d take widow’s houses from them because they could get away with it, and orphans were put to work as little more than slaves. In short, God was not pleased with the way they were living their lives. Could that have had anything to do with why God allowed them to be conquered? I’ll let you be the judge of that.

So…now that things have gone awry, the people are all over God. Like I said, there were two basic questions. One, does God have the POWER to help his people, and two, does God have the WILL to help his people? In verses 21 through 31 in the 40^th chapter of Isaiah, God answers both questions with a resounding, "YES!" God sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, it says in verse 22. Thus, God DOES have the power to help his people. And finally, it says in verse 31, "They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." Thus, God has the WILL to help his people as well.

These are strong words of encouragement that God delivers through his prophet known only as Deutero-Isaiah. God’s message is two-fold. One, know in your minds that God is powerful enough to handle the situation. And two, know in your hearts that he will. In my mind, this is a clear call to faith.

But if you look really closely, there are actually two kinds of faith at work here. C.S. Lewis would call it faith in the first sense, and faith in the higher sense. I might call it faith of the head and faith of the heart.

Faith in the first sense – or faith of the head – is a basic acceptance of basic Christian precepts. You know, we believe God is sovereign, we believe God created the world, we believe God cares about us. We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, we believe he died for our sins, we believe he was raised from the dead. Faith in the first sense is a basic acceptance of basic Christian precepts. I suppose it’s enough to get you into heaven if that’s your main concern, but it will never give you that peace you truly seek. You will still be restless.

Then there’s faith in the higher sense…what I call faith of the heart. Here we do more than believe in basic Christian precepts. Here…we place our TRUST in God and leave it to him to guide us. We come to realize our own spiritual bankruptcy, and leave it to God to sort things out. This is both the easiest – and the hardest – thing in the world to do.

If you’re bull-headed – like I am – it usually takes some kind of crisis to get us to do this. I have a very good friend who’s battling a dread disease. He’s worked hard all his life and had hoped to enjoy a long and leisurely retirement, but now he’s facing the prospect of dying before he ever gets there.

Ladies and gentlemen, enduring something like this is a little like walking off a cliff. We stand there – suspended in mid-air – waiting to drop or to be lifted up. We are powerless to affect the outcome either way. This is where we recognize our own powerlessness…and come to place our trust completely in God.

This is faith in the higher sense. It is at one and the same time the easiest – and the hardest – thing in the world to do. It’s easy because we just let go. It’s hard because we’re so afraid. We’re so afraid of what tomorrow might bring that we try to control everything ourselves, as if we really could control our own destiny.

Elisabeth Elliot, in her book, Keep a Quiet Heart, addresses this very thing. She writes, "Today is mine. Tomorrow is none of my business. If I peer into the fog of the future, I will strain my spiritual eyes so that I will not see clearly what is required of me now."

Don’t strain your spiritual eyes. Tomorrow is none of our business. Believe in God, but place your trust in him as well. Then, in the end, you will truly find your peace. Amen.

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February 12, 2006 Rev. Dr. Brian Jensen

THE DALE CARNEGIE METHOD Scripture: II Kings 5:1-14

Bob Keitel was a man I deeply respected and admired in my church in Luverne, Minnesota. Bob was a retired eye doctor, and he had a wit and a wisdom the likes of which I had never encountered up to that point in my life. I suppose, deep down, I wanted to impress this man – not just because I respected and admired him – but also because…Bob was the church historian. When it came time for him to write about my time in Luverne, I wanted it to be good!

One Sunday morning after church, Bob walked up to me and said, "Brian, I really appreciate your Dale Carnegie method of teaching." I said, "Dale Carnegie method of teaching? What do you mean?" Bob said, "Well, you tell us what you’re going to tell us, you tell us, then you tell us what you told us."

To tell you the truth, I was a little bit offended by that. The Dale Carnegie method of teaching is similar to what we call "deductive" preaching. I’m much more creative than that! I practice what we call "inductive" preaching. My philosophy is, when you begin a sermon, no one should know where you’re going. But by the time you end that sermon, everyone should know where you’ve been. Deductive preaching is tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them. Inductive preaching is taking people on a journey that leads – ideally – to a logical conclusion. So I said to Bob, "Bob, I don’t use the Dale Carnegie method of teaching!"

"Sure you do," Bob replied. "You tell us what you’re going to tell us in the children’s sermon, you tell us in the sermon, then you tell us what you told us in the benediction!" Ah, he had me there. I had to admit that I did use the Dale Carnegie method of teaching after all.

In pondering the passage I read from the second book of Kings, I decided that perhaps the best way to explain it would be to use that Dale Carnegie method of teaching in the sermon itself. This passage is so rich and so involved that I think it wise to tell you what I’m going to tell you, tell you, then tell you what I told you. Are you ready?

The story has a number of significant "moves" or "scenes." The first thing we see is that a great man has a serious problem. Then we see a little Hebrew maid – a slave girl – offer a piece of tremendous advice. "Go see the prophet in Israel," she says. The great man heeds her advice with much pomp and circumstance. But the prophet in Israel doesn’t even bother to see the great man himself. Instead, he sends a messenger. The great man is deeply insulted and angry. But then some servants calm him down and convince him to do as the prophet asks. The great man does as he is told and his significant problem is resolved. He is deeply humbled and grateful. That’s what I’m going to tell you. Now let me try to tell you.

Naaman was the great man who had a serious problem. Naaman was the commander of the army of Syria, and as our passage says, "By him the Lord had given victory to Syria." Some commentators even speculate that it was Naaman who shot the arrow that killed the evil King Ahab of Israel. Thus, we’re talking about a time around 870 to 850 B.C.

That’s why Naaman was considered a great man. But Naaman had a serious problem. Naaman was a leper. Leprosy was a disease of the skin that began with brownish-red spots on the face, ears, arms and legs. Pardon the graphic nature of this, but these spots later became thick nodules that turned into open sores or ulcers. It caused severe mutilation and deformity in the hands and feet. Since Naaman was still clearly able to function in society, we can assume his leprosy was in its early stages. Still, his future prospects were grim.

Enter the little Hebrew maid into the picture. On a Syrian raid into Israel, the little girl had been taken captive. Her parents were probably slaughtered and their home plundered. Then this little girl – maybe 9 or 10 years old – was turned into a slave in Naaman’s house. She served Naaman’s wife.

She saw what was happening to Naaman. She could have thought to herself, "Good! This evil tyrant is only getting what he deserves!" But that’s not what she did at all. Instead, she told Naaman’s wife about a prophet in Israel who could heal her husband. Talk about making the best of a bad situation! This little girl was the epitome of the phrase, "Bloom where you’re planted." Instead of bemoaning her plight and wishing evil upon her captors, she recalled the faith she had been taught. No one knows what ever became of this little girl, but chances are – for her act of courage and faithfulness – she holds a special place in the kingdom of heaven. She’s the real hero of this story, I think.

So Naaman heads to Israel amid great pomp and circumstance. He brings with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten festal garments. The value of the money Naaman brought is estimated to be $80,000. Can you imagine how much money $80,000 was 3000 years ago? Clearly, Naaman wants to be healed in the worst way, and he’s willing to pay any price for it.

Naaman first goes to the king of Israel – a king who is not identified. (For those of you biblical scholars out there, it was likely Ahaziah or Jehoram, since Ahab was dead and Jehu came later.) In any case, the king is devastated, thinking the king of Syria is picking a fight with him since there’s no way a king can heal a man of leprosy! In time, the prophet Elisha gets wind of this situation and says, "Send the man to me that he may know there is a prophet in Israel."

So Naaman leads the parade to Elisha’s house, which was probably just outside the city of Samaria. Naaman arrives with his horses and chariots, his gold and silver and festal garments, and likely a host of soldiers, servants and slaves. Can you see this royal procession arriving at a dusty, old stone hut in the middle of nowhere? Surely Naaman expected this prophet of God to come running out of his hut and fall upon his face in obeisance. Surely Naaman expected this prophet of God to call upon his god with hoots and hollers, with song and dance, and with flames and fires of sacrifice. Surely that’s exactly what Naaman expected.

I think of the Westminster Presbyterian Church in downtown Minneapolis. People in the know would say that if you ever saw the senior minister of that church making hospital calls, you knew someone of importance was there. He only came out for names like Dayton and Pillsbury. He did not come out for names like Smith and Jones. People of power and influence have a right to expect the best, right? People of power and influence need to be tended to by the head honcho. Nothing less will do.

That’s what Naaman thought, but that’s not what he got. The prophet Elisha didn’t even come out of his hut. Instead, he sent a messenger who said, "Go wash in the Jordan River seven times and you shall be clean." Not only did Naaman not get the head honcho, he didn’t even get hoots and hollers, song and dance, or flames and fire. Instead, he got, "Go wash in the Jordan River."

The Jordan River was filthy – no match for the rivers in Damascus from whence Naaman came! Naaman was furious! He turned and left in a rage. This could well have meant war for Israel. Naaman had the power to lead the Syrian troops to battle, and the influence to pull it off.

But his servants went to him to try to calm him down. They convinced him that if the prophet had asked him to do something great – something like lopping of the head of a lion, or bringing him the broomstick of the wicked witch of the west – he would surely have done it. Why not do what the prophet has asked? Why not give it a try?

So Naaman did as he was asked, and he was made clean. He washed seven times in the Jordan River, and his flesh became as the flesh of a little child. Naaman had experienced a miracle, and he was deeply humbled by it. He vowed to worship God from that day on.

There…I told you what I was going to tell you, then I told you. Utilizing our Dale Carnegie method of teaching, it remains for me to tell you what I told you. What did I just tell you?

I told you about a great man named Naaman who had a problem. He had a problem with leprosy, but he had a bit of an ego problem as well, didn’t he? I told you about a Hebrew slave girl who managed to bloom where she was planted. Yet perhaps she was only able to bloom where she was planted because her parents had insisted that she learn about God at a very early age. Had they not done that, she would never have known there was a prophet in Israel.

I told you about a man of God named Elisha who knew that God could heal this man. He knew Naaman had tried everything else to solve his leprosy problem – he’d called upon the false gods of Syria; he’d gone through the most up-to-date medical procedures available at the time. Elisha knew this was a man at wit’s end, and that he was finally ready to turn the matter over to God.

And finally, I told you about how Naaman’s problem was resolved. By washing in the Jordan River seven times, his skin was completely restored. Naaman was a changed man after that. That’s what happens when we turn to God with our problems. Our problems get solved – even some problems we didn’t realize we had – case in point, Naaman’s ego. And when we experience the grace of God for ourselves, we come to be transformed.

The message here is clear. When something in our lives is keeping us from being whole – when we’ve tried every way possible to resolve it and failed – then we are ready to turn it over to God. When God resolves the issue, we will have experienced the grace of God for ourselves, and we will find ourselves mysteriously transformed. Our lives will be different from that day forward. And it’s then that God can really use us. Like Naaman, we must become bold witnesses of the faith. For that’s God’s plan to transform the world. God transforms the world…one changed soul at a time. That’s what I told you. At least, that’s what I meant to tell you. Amen.

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February 26, 2006 Rev. Dr. Brian Jensen

TIME MARCHES ON Scripture: Mark 9:2-9

Little Billy and little Johnny were two little Catholic boys who went to a Catholic school. Now little Billy and little Johnny had a penchant for getting into trouble…and they tended to get into the most trouble when they were together. One day, little Billy and little Johnny got in trouble in the classroom and the teacher sent them down to see the priest. So little Billy and little Johnny sat outside the priest’s office until he called little Billy in to see him. Little Billy sat down in the priest’s office and the priest just paced back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Finally he said, "Where is God? Where is God?" Little Billy just sat there, stone-faced. Finally the priest said, "I want you to think about what I said. Now get out of here and send little Johnny in." So little Billy walked out of the office and sat down next to little Johnny. He said, "Boy, are we in trouble this time!" Little Johnny said, "Why?" To which little Billy replied, "Well, apparently God is missing, and we’re getting blamed for it!"

Little Billy and little Johnny didn’t quite get what the priest was trying to say to them. But that brings to mind a very important question. Where is God? Where is God in our everyday lives? Keep that thought in mind as I tell you the following story. When I was serving the First Presbyterian Church in Luverne, Minnesota, I also served a little church outside of town in a town called Beaver Creek. It was about seven miles away. Now every Sunday morning, I would race to Beaver Creek to lead their worship service at 9:00 a.m., then race back to Luverne the lead their worship service at 10:45. So one sunny Sunday morning, I was driving to Beaver Creek. Suddenly, my truck just died. Unbeknownst to me, my fuel pump had quit. I stepped on the gas – nothing. I put the truck into neutral and tried to start it again – nothing. So there I was, coasting down the highway at about 60 miles an hour. I coasted about a mile or two, then whipped the truck into the driveway of some people I knew who went to the Beaver Creek church. I ran to the house and said, "Have you got a car I can borrow? I’ve got to get to church!" So they gave me the keys to a car and I made it to church on time. Was that a coincidence, or was that providence? Was I just lucky, or did God have a hand in that series of events? I’ll let you be the judge of that.

In the passage I read from the gospel according to Mark, Peter, James and John didn’t have to ask, "Where is God?" God was standing right before them. Let me set the scene for you. Jesus took Peter, James and John up a high mountain. Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared before Jesus, and Jesus was transfigured before them. Now I can’t tell you exactly what that might have looked like. Suffice it to say that the Greek word translated "transfiguration" here is "metamorphothay." It literally means, "metamorphosis." Like a caterpillar to a butterfly, Jesus was transfigured from an earthly being into a heavenly being. So here stands this transfigured Jesus with Moses, who had been dead for nearly 1300 years, and Elijah – who had been gone for nearly 800. The disciples were awestruck. The disciples were terrified. So Peter, in his usual brash way, said, "Master, it is well that we are here. Let us make for you three booths – one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." A booth would have been a place for them to sit, maybe even with some kind of shade from the sun. You see, for the disciples, this was a high moment of vision. They wanted to preserve their high moment of vision indefinitely. They wanted to just soak it in. Then, suddenly, there appeared a cloud overhead, and a voice from the cloud saying, "This is my beloved Son; listen to him." Then in an instant, Moses and Elijah were gone, and Jesus returned to his earthly form. This was a high moment of vision for the disciples, but it was not a moment they were allowed to preserve.

Ah, time marches on. I think of Chuck Wright, my next door neighbor in Salem, Ohio. We were very good friends. Chuck’s daughter, Robyn, had graduated from high school and had gotten a full ride scholarship to play volleyball at LaSalle University in Philadelphia. Well the time came for Chuck and his wife, Kim, to take their daughter to college for the very first time. They did so, and when they got back, we went over to see them. I said to Chuck, "What was it like, taking your daughter to college for the very first time?" Chuck said, "I cried the whole way home." Now my daughter was six or seven at the time. I said, "I don’t want that to ever happen to me. I want my daughter to stay little forever!" Then Chuck’s wife, Kim, said, "Maybe if you just quit feeding her." We all have those beautiful times in our lives – those high moments of vision – that we’d like to preserve forever. But time marches on, and everything changes. Don’t we all have those high moments of vision – those times in our lives that we’d love to preserve forever? Maybe for you it was a wedding day. Maybe for you it was a special family vacation. Maybe for you it was a tremendous business deal. Maybe for you it was a particularly sacred moment at church…a moment when you were certain that God was with you. We’d all love to preserve those high moments of vision forever. But we can’t. Time marches on and everything changes. But don’t you see? These high moments of vision are meant to strengthen our faith by giving us a spiritual memory. In other words, we sense that God was faithful in the past, and we trust God to be faithful in the future. That’s what a spiritual memory does. It convinces us of God’s faithfulness in the past, and gives us a confidence that God will be faithful in the future as well. We can’t preserve our high moments of vision forever. But we can use them to strengthen us for the future.

What happens when we fail to develop a spiritual memory? Our faith weakens, we begin to doubt God, and then we start to complain. We complain about the weather. We complain about the economy. We complain about our jobs. We complain about our spouses. We complain about our children. We complain about the church. When we fail to develop a spiritual memory, our faith weakens, we begin to doubt God, and then we start to complain.

The transfiguration was a high moment of vision for the disciples. It built within them a powerful spiritual memory that would strengthen them for what lay ahead. What lay ahead? Soon they would march into Jerusalem and their beloved Lord and Master would be crucified. They, themselves, would be persecuted unto death. Yet their high moment of vision had built within them a powerful spiritual memory; something they could return to in troubled times. If God had been faithful in the past, then they had no reason to doubt that God would continue to be faithful in the future.

Ladies and gentlemen, time marches on and everything changes. Don’t complain about it, for complaining is a sign that the Devil is alive and well in our society today. Instead, recall God’s faithfulness in the past. Develop your spiritual memory, and it will strengthen your faith. For if we find that God was indeed faithful in the past, we have no reason to doubt that God will also be faithful in the future. Amen.

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March 12, 2006 Rev. Dr. Brian Jensen

FOLLOW ME

"I know," the long-time member replied. "But the previous pastor acted as if he was glad of it!"

The counselor said to him, "How can you profess to be a Christian and not go to church?" To which the man replied – I kid you not – "I’m a Presbyterian!"

Yet what does it mean to truly "experience" God? Luke Timothy Johnson expressed it quite well in an interview in the magazine, The Door. Listen carefully.

The test (of) whether or not something is a religious experience is the consequence in the transformation of a person’s life. Genuine religious experience shapes time and space around itself, or reshapes time and space around itself. So if I listen to a Mozart symphony and simply leave the concert hall whistling, I’ve had an aesthetic experience. If I leave the concert hall and put all my energies from that point on to become a violinist, at some level, that concert was a religious experience.

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March 19, 2006 Rev. Dr. Brian K. Jensen

STEPPING STONES OR A WALL?

I recently encountered the story of a hospital that conducted a special class for couples about to have their very first child. The room was full of pregnant women and their hus-bands, and the class was in full swing. The instructor was teaching the women how to breathe properly, and informing the men on how to give the proper assurances at each stage of the delivery.

The teacher then announced, "Ladies, exercise is good for you. Walking during pregnancy is particularly beneficial." Then the teacher added, "And gentlemen, it wouldn’t hurt you a bit to take the time to go walking with your wives."

At that, the room got mysteriously quiet. Finally, a man in the middle of the group raised his hand. When the teacher called on him, he asked, "Is it all right if she carries a golf bag while we walk?"

Of course, I realize that we’re in a Presbyterian church and a Presbyterian man would never ask such an ignorant and insensitive question. And that’s my point exactly. It has to do with ignorance and insensitivity. Ignorance can breed insensitivity, and God only knows what can come of that. So, we’re going to try to clear up a little ignorance today.

Ladies and gentlemen, as you well know, we live in a very trying and tumultuous age. Ever since the events of nine-eleven, it’s almost as if the world’s been sitting on a powder keg. I remember trying to preach a sermon in Salem, Ohio about forgiveness shortly after the World Trade Center towers were felled, and I remember getting a somewhat hostile reaction. My greatest fear was a Holy War B Christians against Muslims B and I felt that forgiveness had to begin somewhere. Of course, we did not forgive our trans-gressors, and the battles soon began. A doctor friend of mine who came back from a military stint in Afghanistan said to me, "Don’t kid yourself. We’re in World War III right now."

How do you feel about the Muslim faith? Do you think it’s a legitimate religion in and of itself, or do you think they need to come to Jesus Christ? And if you do think they need to come to Jesus Christ, how do you propose we bring the gospel to them? Do we bring it by way of the tank and the fighter jet, or do we bring it by way of love?

Now I know some of you are ready to walk out of here right now! But just bear with me for a little bit. What we’re really trying to do here is battle ignorance and insensitivity. I think we’ll come out all right in the end.

There’s an e-mail that’s sweeping the country right now. It’s entitled, "JIHAD!" Have you seen it? If you have, I know you’re thinking, "We’ve got to put a stop to this! We’ve got to squash those Muslims before they squash us!" And if you haven’t seen the e-mail, don’t worry. I’m going to read it to you in a moment.

This article was written by a man named Rick Mathes. Now I know nothing of Rick Mathes, other than what the e-mail says about him. It says, "Rick Mathes is a well known leader in prison ministry." But listen closely to what Mr. Mathes has to say. He writes:

Last month I attended my annual training session that’s required for maintaining my state prison security clearance. During the training session, there was a presentation by three speakers representing the Roman Catholic, Protestant and Muslim faiths. Each explained their belief systems.

I was particularly interested in what the Islamic Imam had to say. The Imam gave a great presentation on the basics of Islam, complete with a video. After the presentations, time was allotted for questions and answers. When it was my turn, I directed my question to the Imam. "Please, correct me if I’m wrong," I asked, "but I understand that most Imams and clerics of Islam have declared a holy jihad B or, a holy war B against the infidels of the world. And that by killing an infidel, which is a command to all Muslims, they are assured of a place in heaven. If that’s the case, can you give me a definition of an infidel?"

There was no disagreement with my statements and, without hesitation, he replied, "Nonbelievers!" I responded, "So let me make sure I have this straight. All followers of Allah have been commanded to kill everyone who is not of your faith so they can go to heaven. Is that correct?" The expression on his face changed from one of authority and command to that of a little boy who had just gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He sheepishly replied, "Yes."

I then stated, "Well, sir, I have a real problem trying to imagine the Pope commanding all Catholics to kill those of your faith, or Dr. Stanley ordering Protestants to do the same in order to go to heaven." The Imam was speechless. I continued. "I also have a problem with being your friend when you and your brother clerics are telling your followers to kill me. So let me ask you a question. Would you rather have your Allah, who tells you to kill me in order to go to heaven, or my Jesus, who tells me to love you because I am going to heaven and he wants you to be with me?" You could have heard a pin drop as the Imam hung his head in shame.

That’s the end of what Rick Mathes has to say. But the person who’s spreading this e-mail apparently adds a few words of his own. He writes, "Needless to say, the organizers and promoters of the Diversification Training Seminar were not happy with Rick’s way of dealing with the Islamic Imam and exposing the truth about the Muslim’s beliefs." Then he adds, "I think everyone in the U.S. and Canada should be required to read this, but with the liberal justice system, liberal media, and the A.C.L.U., there is no way this will be widely publicized." He concludes, "Pass this on to all your e-mail contacts. This is a true story and the author, Rick Mathes, is a well known leader in prison ministry."

Wow! What do you think of that? Now I’ve got to admit that when I first received this e-mail about six months ago and someone asked me if this stuff about Islam was right, I said, "I think it might be." That was ignorance. But when I got it again, I decided to research it a little bit. You see, we have a real authority on Islam in our own community. His name is Tim Solomon. So I showed the e-mail to Tim, and I got the real scoop.

Tim was appalled by the article. First of all, he couldn’t believe how the Imam responded. Either it wasn’t a very knowledgeable Imam, or something’s been taken way out of context. So we’re going to look at three aspects of the article. We’re going to consider jihad itself, what an infidel is, and dying a martyr’s death for eternal life.

There are actually four kinds of jihad: jihad of the mouth, jihad of the hand, jihad of the heart, and jihad of the sword. Jihad of the mouth has to do with speaking on behalf of the faith. In the Christian church, we call this evangelism.

Jihad of the hand has to do with overcoming our tendency to not do good works. In other words, it’s a call to live the faith you profess. Then there’s the jihad of the heart. This is defined as a transformative faith. It’s faith moving from the head to the heart.

But it’s this jihad of the sword that we’re concerned about, isn’t it? The jihad of the sword is strictly a defensive posture. You may defend yourself if you are attacked for your faith. Now granted, this isn’t the same as Jesus telling us to turn to other cheek, but jihad of the sword is never meant to be an aggressive attack either.

Rick Mathes asked the Imam about killing infidels. Infidels are defined as non-believers, as the Imam said. But Jews and Christians are not considered non-believers. Mohammed himself allowed Jews and Christians to thrive and worship their God even after he took over the leadership of Medina. Jews and Christians, by definition, are not considered infidels.

Then there’s this business of martyrdom. You know, if you kill someone for the faith and die in the process, you get to spend eternity with 72 virgins. That’s what we’ve been told, right? But that’s not what Islam teaches. Think of the stoning of Stephen in the book of Acts. Stephen was a Christian witness who was martyred for his faith. That’s what Islam teaches as well. You go to heaven when you are persecuted for your faith, not when you are an aggressor.

So why have the waters become so muddied? As in the Christian faith, there are various Asects or Adenominations. In the Muslim faith , and I’m simplifying here, there are the Sufis, the Sunnis, and the Shiites. The Sufis are the mystics, similar to what we might see in a Christian monk. Their lives are dedicated to solitude and prayer. The Sunnis are like the mainliners in the Christian faith. They represent the bulk of the Muslim faith, and they believe pretty much as I outlined earlier.

But then there are the Shiites. They’re the fundamentalists of the faith. They can be radical and zealous. And they tend to grossly overstep the bounds of the faith. It’s a lot like the radical Christian who blows up an abortion clinic and claims that God told him to do so. Now regardless of how you feel about abortion, I hope you all agree that bombing abortion clinics - killing innocent bystanders - is not Christian. Even if the person who does so CLAIMS to be a Christian, I hope we all agree that they did not act in a Christian manner. That’s what the Shiites do. They overstep the bounds of the faith, and those who are of the same faith are embarrassed to be identified with them.

I hope this all makes sense. I hope I’ve cleared up a little ignorance and insensitivity. I know it’s helped my own ignorance. But don’t get me wrong. I am not advocating that all of us become Muslims, or even that the Muslim faith is equal to ours. Actually, I like C.S. Lewis’ take on this. In his book, Mere Christianity, he writes, "If you are a Christian you do not have to believe that all the other religions are simply wrong all through-But, of course, being a Christian does mean thinking that where Christianity differs from other religions, Christianity is right and they are wrong." Personally, I think that’s a very "orthodox" take on things.

But I started all this by reading the Ten Commandments from the book of Exodus, didn’t I? What in the world has that got to do with what I’ve said thus far? Well, unfortunately, I don’t have time to make the connection viable - unless, of course, you want to be here another hour or so. So let me try to summarize.

In the Ten Commandments, God has laid out the laws for righteous living. The Ten Commandments are stepping stones to God. Our obedience draws us closer to God. Worry first about drawing closer to God yourselves. And once you’ve attained perfection - once you have learned to abide by God’s laws completely B then you can decide who’s in God’s kingdom and who is not. Amen.

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March 26, 2006 Rev. Dr. Brian K. Jensen

TOTO, WE'RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE

You’re all familiar with the Wizard of Oz story, are you not? Dorothy is a little girl who lives in Kansas, and she’s got a little dog named Toto. At one point in time a terrible tornado arises and Dorothy and her family try to seal up the house. Suddenly, Dorothy realizes that her little dog Toto is not with them. So she runs outside to rescue Toto. In the process she hits her head and is magically transported to the land of Oz. Dorothy realizes she is in a strange place when she is surrounded by a group of little people known as the "Lollipop Guild." At one point in time she looks at her dog and says, "Toto, we’re not in Kansas any more!" And the rest of the story is dedicated to Dorothy’s attempts to get back to Kansas…to get back to the way things used to be.

All of us occasionally find ourselves in a situation where the present is new and the future is uncertain, and we long for the way things used to be. Sometimes when we join the workforce, we long for the carefree days of youth. Sometimes, when our kids become teenagers, we long for the days when they were little. Sometimes, in the midst of difficult economic times, we long for the days when times were better. All of us occasionally find ourselves in situations where the present is new and the future is uncertain, and we long for the way things used to be.

Such was exactly the case with the Hebrew people in the passage I read from the book of Numbers. You’re all familiar with the Exodus story, are you not? The Hebrew people were held in bondage in Egypt for some 400 years and they cried to the Lord for deliverance. Finally, God sent them a deliverer by the name of Moses. After a series of plagues upon Egypt, Moses led the Hebrew people up out of Egypt. Moses led them to the Red Sea, where they found themselves pursued by Pharaoh’s chariots. Then God parted the Red Sea, allowing the Hebrew people to cross in safety. When the chariots of Pharaoh tried to follow, they were swallowed up by the sea. It is the greatest story of deliverance in all of Scripture. But then the Hebrew people wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. And any time something went wrong, the people grumbled to Moses. When they ran out of water, they cried, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?" When they ran out of food, they cried, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?" When they got tired of the food God was providing, they cried, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?" You see, the Hebrew people’s memory was short. Every time they were in need, God provided for them. Yet every time they found that the present was new and the future was uncertain, they longed for the way things used to be. But, you see, the point is this. God was preparing his people for a glorious future. The present was new and the future was uncertain, but God was preparing his people for a glorious future.

Perhaps the mainline Christian church in America finds itself in the wilderness as well. All across the nation, mainline churches are declining in membership. While the population of the United States continues to increase, the membership in churches continues to decrease. Budgets are being cut in most of those churches. And the first thing to get cut is always mission. Like it or not, that’s just the way it is. Without going into generic statistics about churches nationwide, let me give you a few statistics from our own church. Thirty years ago, this church had a membership of over 1600. Twenty years ago, our membership was over 1200. Today our membership is a little over 900. Perhaps even more telling, look at some of the pictures around this building. Downstairs in the hallway is a picture of the old Men’s Bible Study. I’ll bet there are 4 or 500 men crowded into that picture – all here to study the Bible on a Sunday morning. Walk into the choir room and look at some of those pictures. You see packed choir lofts and loads of kids in children’s choirs. These pictures paint a telling picture. The mainline Protestant church finds itself in the wilderness today.

Now as a minister, I’ve seen a lot of Church Information Forms. Church Information Forms are the documents churches produce when they are seeking a minister. And virtually every one of them reads the same: "We want a new, young, dynamic minister to come in and bring people in in droves." Folks, that’s not going to happen. Loren Mead, in his book, Transforming Congregations for the Future, says that the decline isn’t the fault of the minister. It isn’t the fault of church programs. The reason the church is in decline is because of the dramatic change in culture. No longer does culture dictate that people ought to be Christian. What’s more, now the malls are open on Sunday mornings. Sports teams practice and play games on Sunday mornings. And people are so exhausted and stressed out that they simply want to sleep in on Sunday mornings. The reason the church is in decline is because there’s been a dramatic change in culture.

But I think there’s a theological issue here as well. A couple of years ago, I told you about a woman in my last church who had a son-in-law who had a Ph.D. in neurosurgery. He taught brain surgeons how to be brain surgeons! But this man was also an avowed atheist. He did not believe in God. Now this woman did what she could to convince her son-in-law of the existence of God, but she was completely unsuccessful. When she told me about it, I said, "Let me have a crack at him." She said, "Oh, he’d kill you in an argument!" I said, "That may be true. But here’s what I’d tell him. I’d tell him, ‘We don’t choose God. God chooses us. If you don’t believe in God – if you have absolutely no sense of God – then it’s because God has not chosen you.’" She said, "Oh, you can’t say that!" But that’s the truth. We don’t choose God. God chooses us and we respond. So to those who have no sense of God – to those who have no inner urgency toward the things of God – I say, "Be afraid. Be very afraid." Could it be that God is separating the wheat from the chaff? There is no question that the church is changing. Could it be that it’s God who’s doing the changing?

The church is returning to what we call the Apostolic Age. Let me explain. For the first 300 years of the church, the church was in the Apostolic Age. Then in 314 A.D., Emperor Constantine "legalized" Christianity. Yet as Thomas Cahil put it in his book, How the Irish Saved Civilization, "Christianity was received into Rome, not necessarily Rome into Christianity." In other words, Christianity became the faith of the Emperor’s family. It became the thing to be. People became Christian not because they had found a transformative faith in Jesus Christ, rather, because it was culturally expedient. Then the age we call "Christendom" ended. The experts say it ended in 1964. No longer is it culturally expedient to be a Christian. Now, like in the Apostolic Age before us, Christianity is sometimes met with hostility in society. Case in point, look how people react to a nativity scene in Diamond Park. Thus, we find ourselves in an age where the present is new and the future is uncertain. Could it be that – like with the Hebrew people before us – God is preparing us for a grand and glorious future?

I think God is preparing us for a grand and glorious future. Here’s what we’ve got to do. For years the church has talked about raising up disciples for Jesus Christ. But think about it. What do disciples do? They sit and they listen and they hear. But what did we call the disciples after Jesus was raised and God sent the Holy Spirit? Ah, then we called them Apostles. They went out into the world and they made a difference in Jesus’ name. We still need disciples. But we also need apostles…people willing to make a difference. Listen to this. A very wealthy man knew he was in the presence of some teachers. So he blurted out, "Those who can, do! Those who can’t, teach!" Then he looked at a woman and said, "And what do you do?" The woman looked at him and replied, "I take a young mind and I fill it full of knowledge. I take a young heart and I fill it full of love. I take a young person and prepare them for the future. What do I do? I make a difference. What do you do?" Amen.

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April 2, 2006 Rev. Dr. Brian K. Jensen

SIR, WE WISH TO SEE JESUS

A number of years ago, a woman went into a Haagen Dasz store in Kansas City, Missouri for an ice cream cone. After making her selection, she stood in line at the counter and waited for her treat. Yet as she stood there, a man accidentally brushed up against her. As she turned to acknowledge his polite, "Excuse me," she found herself face to face with none other than Paul Newman. He was in Kansas City filming the movie, "Mr. and Mrs. Bridge."

He looked right at her and said, "I’m sorry." But she found herself completely unable to speak. In fact, Newman’s blue eyes even caused her knees to shake.

A moment later, her ice cream cone was ready. She managed to pay for the cone, then left the shop with her heart still pounding. Yet once she regained her composure – several paces outside the door – she realized that she didn’t have her ice cream cone. So she sheepishly started back into the store to get it, and ran into Newman again at the door.

"Are you looking for your ice cream cone?" he asked. The woman nodded, still some-how unable to speak. Newman said, "I think you put it in your purse with your change."

All of us get rattled at times. Sometimes, it’s caused by being in the presence of someone we deeply admire. Sometimes, it’s caused when we feel we’re under intense pressure or scrutiny. Other times it’s caused when we simply have too many things on our minds. Whatever the reason, all of us get rattled at times. It’s difficult to do the right thing when clearly, we’re not thinking clearly.

Now granted, putting an ice cream cone in your purse with your change is not an egregious sin. It’s just a little messy. But the fact remains, as Christians…we need to be about our wits at all times, because you never know who might be watching. It’s our responsibility to set a good example for others.

Yet even seminary students don’t always do the right thing. They have not necessarily perfected their ability to set a perpetually good example. Such was the case in the cafeteria lunch line at the Princeton Theological Seminary. Apparently, they’d had a problem with students taking more food than their meal contracts allowed. The head cook felt the need to prop up a sign beside a bowl of juicy oranges. It read: "Take only one. Jesus is watching you!"

At the other end of the lunch line was a large plate of freshly baked, steaming hot, chocolate chip cookies. One of the seminary students put up a sign of his own. It read: "Take as many cookies as you want. Jesus is busy at the other end of the line watching the oranges!" Ah, only at Princeton, right Travis and Karen?

Like I said, not even seminary students have perfected the ability to set a perpetually good example for others. In fact, none of us have mastered this technique completely. We curse at the driver who cuts us off in traffic, when our children are in the back seat. We lose our tempers with our spouses, when the real tension is something that happened at work. We insist that our own point of view is the only point of view, even to people who are just as devout as we are…yet perhaps even more vehemently to people we believe to be not quite as faithful.

How difficult it is to set a good example for those around us, especially for those who are closest to us. Yet how important it is to set that good example…especially for those who are closest to us. For our example might be the only example of Christ some people ever see.

Look at the passage I read from the gospel according to John. It was near the time of the feast of the Passover, and Jesus and his disciples were in Jerusalem. So were a lot of other people. It was customary for Jews from all over the world to descend upon Jerusalem at the time of the feast of the Passover. Some commentators speculate that this sleepy little town of 50,000 might swell to almost half a million around this time.

Jesus, by this time, had certainly gained regional appeal. Whether or not he had attained world-wide popularity is impossible to say. Yet the fact remains, there were some pilgrims from Greece in town at the time. Perhaps they had heard of him from as far away as Athens. Or perhaps they had simply been moved by his teaching that day. In any case, they approached Philip and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."

Philip, perhaps unsure as to what he should do, went and told Andrew. Then Andrew and Philip together went and told Jesus that these Greeks had a desire to meet him. Our passage never says whether or not these Greeks actually got to meet Jesus face to face. Instead, Jesus went into a dissertation about what it meant to be a disciple.

Curious, isn’t it? Yet I think the lesson is clear. To quote Dr. George R. Buttrick, "Those who have never seen Jesus with their own eyes must come to the knowledge of him through those who can transmit his living witness." Again, "Those who have never seen Jesus with their own eyes must come to the knowledge of him through those who can transmit his living witness." In other words, the person who can most capably introduce Christ to another…is you.

I think of the story of something that really happened in my home town. A woman was dying of cancer. She was in the hospital, and her husband and two small children were left to fend for themselves. One next-door-neighbor came over to the house and said to the man and his children, "I’ll pray for you." Another next-door-neighbor came over to the house and brought that man and his children a large, home-cooked meal. Which of the two revealed the face of Christ?

The answer, I think…is both. We can never underestimate the power of intercessory prayer. Yet neither can we say enough about the sacrifice a person can make in the name of love.

Carlo Carretto, in his book, In Search of the Beyond, addresses this notion of love and sacrifice. He wrote, "First, let us establish three premises. Those who do not love feel superior to everyone else. Those who do love feel equal to everyone else. Those who love much…gladly take the lower place." Later he adds, "Each one of us can identify his or her position somewhere along this spectrum. It comprises the three degrees of the spiritual life here on earth. They are: Death for those who do not love. Life for those who do love. And holiness for those who love much."

So you see, we’re not talking about salvation here. We’re talking about discipleship; perhaps even apostleship. Salvation is not our only goal. Revealing the face of Christ to others – when we may be the only means by which they ever catch a glimpse – is the true goal of apostleship here. Salvation is easy. Holiness is not.

Jesus mapped out an incredibly challenging path to holiness in the 25^th verse of our passage. He said, "Those who love their lives lose them; and those who hate their lives – in this world – will keep them for eternal life." This statement can truly be called what one author termed, "The hard sayings of Jesus."

So I have to ask you: "Do you hate your life?" Most of us would likely say, "No." We love our lives. We live in one of the top 100 towns in America. We have wonderful families. We have terrific friends. We have a thriving church. Business is fairly good. What’s to hate about our lives?

I set out to unravel this mystery a bit in my research last week. I think you’re going to like what I uncovered. When John recorded Jesus’ words, he used the Greek words "misone" for hate, and "kosmo" for world. That doesn’t mean we have to hate our lives. Remember, after all, Christ’s second commandment. "You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself." Not much love will be spread if we hate ourselves. If you don’t believe me, ask a psychologist about that one.

To hate our lives in this world means this: We detest those things in our lives that are contrary – that are contrary – to the things of God. In other words, we come to despise the greed in us that drives us to step on another. We come to abhor the lusts that lurk in the darkest recesses of our hearts. We come to detest the selfishness inside us that prevents us from extending the arms of love to those around us.

Get the picture? We don’t hate ourselves. We hate those things within us that prevent us from revealing the face of Christ to others. And gradually, we begin to put those things we hate behind us.

That’s how we reveal the face of Christ to others. And that’s how we begin to encounter true holiness. Holiness involves an awakening of the self. Then it involves a purification of the self, which includes detachment and mortification. Ultimately, the goal is what we term "the unitive life." Yet if I were to go into great detail on each of these stages, we’d be here until noon tomorrow. So let me try to summarize with one little boy’s experience with two separate Santa Clauses.

A New York mother took her five-year-old son to Bloomingdale’s department store at Christmas time. The little boy waited in line to sit on Santa’s lap. When at last he got his turn, Santa asked him, "What would you like for Christmas, young man?" The boy replied, "A bicycle, a football, and a pair of skates." Santa replied that he’d do his best to comply.

Later that same day, mother and son were in Macy’s department store. They had a Santa, too, and the little boy – hedging his bets as to who the real Santa was – wanted to sit on his lap too. So he did. Again the question, "What do you want for Christmas?" And again, the answer, "A bicycle, a football, and a pair of skates."

But the Macy’s Santa was different. Rather than say he’d do his best to get the boy those things, he asked, "And are you going to be a good little boy?" At that, the boy stood up. He turned to his mother and said, "Let’s go back to Bloomingdale’s. I didn’t have to make any promises there!"

We’re two weeks away from Easter Sunday. In the Easter event, we find the greatest of God’s good gifts. We find the gift of eternal life. Yet God’s not forcing us to make any promises. He simply asks us to love, and to reveal the face of Christ to those around us. While eternal life is ours by responding in faith to God’s gracious act in Christ, holiness is not. Holiness – marked by peace of mind, body and spirit – comes by making a promise to God in return. Amen.

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April 9, 2006 Rev. Dr. Brian K. Jensen

THE CHURCH OF WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW

THE CHURCH OF WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW

Once upon a time, there was a Sunday School teacher who taught what we might call a very "challenging" group of young people. Well come Easter morning, the teacher wanted to gauge just how much her students knew about the true meaning of Easter. So at the very beginning of the class the teacher asked, "Children, can anyone tell me what Easter is all about?" Little Mary raised her hand first and said, "Teacher, isn’t Easter where we light off a bunch of firecrackers and celebrate our independence?" The teacher said, "No, that’s the 4^th of July." Then little Billy raised his hand and said, "Teacher, isn’t Easter where the Pilgrims and the Indians got together to share a great big feast?" The teacher said, "No, Billy, that would be Thanksgiving." Finally, little Johnny raised his hand and said, "Teacher, I know what Easter is. It’s where Jesus made his triumphal ride into Jerusalem. But the Pharisees and the Sadducees were very upset by the things he said. So they had him crucified at the hands of the Roman government. Jesus died, but on the third day he comes out of the cave." The teacher was elated! She said, "Johnny! I’m so proud of you! That’s exactly what Easter is!" "That’s right," Johnny said. "Jesus comes out of the cave. And if he sees his shadow…" Ah, ladies and gentle-men, what we have here is a failure to communicate.

I think there was a similar problem on that first Palm Sunday nearly 2000 years ago. As I read in the gospel according to Mark, Jesus made his triumphal ride into Jerusalem. The people lined the road. They laid their garments in the street. Many waved palm branches and laid them in Jesus’ path. And the people shouted, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" Now Jesus had made it clear all along what his intentions were. In fact, they were symbolized by the fact that he rode on the back of a donkey. In those days, when a king rode into town on the back of a mighty steed, he meant to symbolize that he was a warrior king. Yet when a king rode into town on the back of a donkey, he meant to symbolize peace. Jesus rode into town on the back of a colt, the foal of a donkey. Jesus clearly meant to symbolize peace. Yet that’s not at all what these people had in mind. They wanted Jesus to call upon a legion of angels, squash the hated Romans, and establish Israel as a supreme world power once again. They wanted Jesus to be the kind of king King David had been some 1000 years before. So when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, many of these people would have been sorely disappointed. Perhaps now you can begin to understand why many of these same people who lined the road and shouted, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" were some of the very same people who shouted, "Crucify him!" by the end of the week. These people simply didn’t understand. They didn’t understand what Jesus’ mission was all about. They didn’t understand what the Messiah was meant to be. And by the end of the week, their "misunderstanding" would cost Jesus his life.

Ladies and gentlemen, a lack of knowledge can be a very dangerous thing. In fact, it’s this lack of knowledge that makes cults like the Jehovah’s Witnesses so successful. They like to prey on half truths. For example, the Jehovah’s Witnesses will tell you that it says in the Bible in John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was a God." Well, if we understand the Word to be Jesus, then we know that Jesus was a God. But we only believe in one God, right? So Jesus must be a little less than God." Ladies and gentlemen, Jesus is God. You see, they’ll tell you that John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was a God." But that’s not what the Bible really says. It says, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God." Jesus Christ is fully human and fully God. A lack of knowledge can be a very dangerous thing. In fact, it’s this lack of knowledge that’s giving credence to this new Book of Judas that’s recently been translated into English. Supposedly, Jesus told Judas to betray him. There are lots of other gospels that aren’t in the Bible. When the Bible was "canonized" some 1600 years ago, those people were a lot closer to the source then we are. We have no right to question their authority, in spite of what Dan Brown might say. Besides, we believe the Holy Spirit was active in that process as well. Like I said, a lack of knowledge can be a very dangerous thing.

Ladies and gentlemen, now more than ever, the church needs to emphasize four very important things. They are: koinonia, kerygma, didache, and diakonia. Koinonia, kerygma, didache and diakonia. Koinonia is fellowship. The church needs fellowship among its fellow believers. Kerygma is preaching. The church needs solid, inspired, biblical preaching. Didache has to do with Christian education. The church needs to emphasize Christian education, for children and for adults. Diakonia has to do with service. It has to do with service outside the walls of the church. Now more than ever, the church needs koinonia, kerygma, didache and diakonia. Now more than ever, the church needs substance.

But that doesn’t seem to be the direction the church is going these days. No, we all want to be the church of what’s happening now. In fact, do you know what the new target audience is for those trying to build their mega-churches? It’s men. The new target is men. They figure they’ll get the women anyway because the women have been hoping to get their men in church for years. So how do they target these men? They add activities that men like to do. They set up paintball gun courses so men can shoot each other with paintball guns. They bring in professional wrestlers because men like violence. I’m sorry. Somehow I think that’s missing the point. But you see, the church is trying to get into the entertainment business. They figur