City of Hope Church

One of a Kind Marriage, Part 3

2008-05-15T15:05:00.002-04:00

How can Jesus possibly desire and love a wife like us?

Because that is why he came and died. He died so that we could enter and experience a forever-covenantal love relationship with God—where our acceptance is not based on our performance, our beauty, and our reputation but on His perfect performance, his pure beauty, his faultless reputation and his voluntary and sacrificial death on the cross.

There is an ancient ceremony between two nomadic tribes when a father promises a boy to a girl in marriage. The fathers would slaughter a goat or another animal and cut the carcass in half. At sundown, each father would walk barefoot through the blood path. The slaughtered animals symbolized what would happen to either party if they violated the terms of the agreement—death!

Since we broke our covenantal commitment in marriage with God the Father someone had to die. Because our Father is eternally and thoroughly committed to us in this covenantal marriage, He chose His Son Jesus to die the death we deserved to die. Jesus was slaughtered for us so that our marriage with Him would flourish and last forever.

Since he is our Husband, his sufficient grace frees us from the tyranny of living for our false lovers. Jesus isn’t merely the godly means of finally feeling good about ourselves and he isn’t our “natural high”.

Jesus as our Husband enables us to remain pure and chaste. He enables us not to be “led astray from our sincere and pure devotion to Him.” Due to his persistent commitment to us even in the midst of our struggle with other lovers, He pursues us and makes us who we are in reality, His beloved Bride.

Because he loves us so, we are able to love him in return. Not perfectly but as we depend upon our One of a kind Lover, he will grow us in our love for him.

And as we grow in our love for Him because we are overwhelmed by His love for us, he enables us to move towards others in intimacy and service.

“To know and experience that we are fully and eternally accepted by God in Christ makes the false marketing of idols [false lovers] much less attractive. By nature, we are captive to our own self-worship [our number one false lover]. Only the power of the gospel can begin to totally reorient the direction of our hearts toward the worship of God and the service of others. As this happens, we begin to look less and less for idols [false lovers] with which to support our own deification. We begin to find more joy in living for the pleasure of Jesus and less for the approval of men. A primary sign of the diminishing rule of idols [false lovers] and addictions is seen in our increased joy in loving and serving others.” (Scotty Smith, Reign of Grace)

How deep is your love for Christ your husband? Better yet, may you be encouraged and motivated by His deep love for you! His love never fails, and perfects our ill attempts to love him and others. Enjoy your scared marriage to our One of a Kind Lover! He went to great lengths to secure it!

Because I care,

Pastor Jeff

One of a Kind Marriage, Part 2

2008-05-05T14:20:00.002-04:00

In my last Blog, I encouraged you that Christ is your Husband and we are His Bride. Jesus pursues us actively securing a lasting intimate relationship with us. And yet even in God’s stubborn love for us in our marriage with Christ, we still struggle with other loves in our lives.

Here the Apostle Paul reminds in 2 Corinthian 11:3:

3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

How do we struggle to desire and love Christ in this sacred marriage?

Paul fears and rightly so that the Corinthians will be seduced to unfaithfulness by other false loves. Their past has proven his concern. They had allowed other things (e.g., pride, sexual immorality, forsaking the poor) to lead them astray from a growing relationship with Jesus.

He reminds them of the Fall when Satan tempted Eve and she was deceived. When her heart desired the fruit more than God, she lost and left her first love and turned to other things to make her complete and satisfied. She began to doubt God’s goodness and truth and this led her to replace God with other things—to be like God, gain knowledge, and experience “true happiness.” You can see the affects of Eve leaving the Lover of her soul— she hides and blames others for her sin. She now gets her satisfaction from loving other things rather than God.

We do not have to stop with Eve. Throughout Biblical history God’s people have struggled to remain faithful, chaste, and pure to their covenant vows to God. Here these graphic descriptions of God’s people unfaithfulness to their marriage to Christ found in Scripture:

“If a man divorces his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man's wife, will he return to her? Would not that land be greatly polluted? You have played the whore with many lovers; and would you return to me? declares the LORD." (Jeremiah 3:1)

15 “But you trusted in your beauty and played the whore (were unfaithful) because of your renown and lavished your whorings (unfaithfulness) on any passerby; your beauty became his. 16 You took some of your garments and made for yourself colorful shrines, and on them played the whore (were unfaithful). The like has never been, nor ever shall be. (Ezekiel 16:15-16)

12 My people inquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles. For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the whore. (Hosea 4:12)

In these passages, God is denouncing their unfaithfulness to Him as spiritual adultery. Paul warns the Corinthian church and us of a similar struggle in this passage. We will commit spiritual adultery.

In fact, we need to know what may lead our hearts astray. For we are tempted and often times give into the temptation of being unfaithful to God and committing spiritual adultery.

God knows that we can and will be deceived like Eve, and to love other things more than God. Often these other things drive us away from our marriage with Christ. Seeking comfort, peace, power and position are such competing lovers. Our obsession with our reputation, respect and approval interferes with our relationship with Jesus, and they become more meaningful to us than Jesus. Our pursuit of career, possessions, physical health, strength, and obedient children can also lead us astray from the One who loves us completely and thoroughly. Not that any of those things are evil or wrong in themselves. But when we allow ourselves to be ruled by them more than Jesus and his love, then we will become complacent and unmoved by our Husband and his pursuing and stubborn love.

Friends, I know that this is true. One such competing love in my relationship with Jesus is my obsession with order and respect. If the house doesn’t look a certain way and I am not resting in Jesus and his love for me, I can become angry with my wife and children and say things that are manipulating and hurtful to get my way. What’s going on? I fear that they are not respecting me when they don’t keep the house in order. Because I find more value and satisfaction in an ordered house than in Jesus and all that he has provided me in the gospel, I show what I am really loving, serving and worshipping—myself.

Every false love promises to free us so that we finally feel good about ourselves—about our place and performance in life. The substances we choose to provide us life—i.e., alcohol, money, spiritual performance, sexuality, knowledge, etc.—suck us into varying degrees of dependence and addiction. False loves promise a life of purpose, peace, control and affirmation, but they cannot deliver the goods. The only deceive and destroy. Our false loves either in religious or irreligious forms are just “a destructive mirage full of empty IOUs”, says Scotty Smith.

So God in this sacred marriage desires for you to come and to honestly confess the competing false loves in your life—to acknowledge your unfaithfulness and run to your Husband and find forgiveness and rest. He delights to provide it!

What are your false loves? Ask the Holy Spirit to help you to see what is leading your astray from your sincere and pure devotion with Jesus. He desires for you to find rest and freedom for your souls so that you can experience a growing intimacy and confidence with Him.

My next Blog, we will consider:
Even though we are unfaithful to Jesus as we struggle with our false loves, He is never unfaithful to us. Jesus is the end of our struggle to find life in our false loves.

Pastor Jeff

One of a Kind Marriage

2008-04-28T13:07:00.002-04:00

I am thinking a lot about can I encourage you in your relationship with Jesus. One such amazing reality that we have as followers of Jesus and one in which I want to encourage you is that we are married to Jesus.

Have you ever thought of your relationship with God as a marriage? Some of us approach our Christian life as a business, a well-planned program or an educational pursuit. But Paul in the below passage reminds us that the Christian life is much more intimate, much more personal and much more relational. Paul is jealous that you understand and experience the deep rich love relationship that Jesus has with you. Let’s hear what he has to say.

2 Corinthians 11:1-3:
I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! 2 I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Scotty Smith in his book Reign of Grace writes “As God’s image bearers, there is romance DNA written into every cell of our being. The craving to be championed and cherished shows up in our art, advertisements, arguments—anywhere you look.” John Eldredge, in his book Sacred Romance which depicts our love relationship with Christ, writes “The Romance has most often come to us in the form of two deep desires: the longing for adventure that requires something of us, and the desire for intimacy—to have someone truly know us for ourselves, while at the same time inviting us to know them in the naked and discovering way lovers come to know each other on the marriage bed.”

Amazingly, the more we immerse ourselves in God’s story of redemption found in Scripture, the more as Scotty Smith describes “we find ourselves revealed not as hopeless romantics finally getting asked to the ball, but as irresponsible prostitutes becoming the beloved queen of the King of glory, Jesus.” To say it another way, Cinderella is not the biblical version of the one of a kind sacred marriage with have with Christ. The biblical version of the one of a kind sacred marriage is if one of the ugly, envious, conniving stepsisters was being wanted, wooed, and won by the passionate affections and amazing sacrifice of the Great Prince. This is what Christ has done for us.

Paul gives us in this passage a beautiful metaphor of God’s faithful and jealous love towards us because we are married to Christ. Christ is our Husband, we are His Bride.

What does God want us to believe about our sacred marriage?
Paul is speaking with the affection of a father. He is jealous for the Corinthian’s purity of heart in relation to Christ. He passionately desires for them to believe that they have an intimate and sacred relationship with God that God brought about because of his love for them. As it is custom for the father to give his daughter in marriage to an approved bridegroom, so Paul, their spiritual father, had given them in betrothal to one husband, a Divine Husband—Jesus Christ. The betrothal of a maiden implies purity and faithfulness; she is committed to the one man to whom she is engaged to be married.

The ancient customs saw the betrothal not like we view engagement where either party can back out before the wedding and there no legal consequence of breaking an engagement. A betrothal was an ironclad contract that could be severed only by unfaithfulness or death. Though the couple might not celebrate and consummate their marriage for years, legally they were still considered married.

One commentator states, “by adding the word one Paul stresses the truth that, just as the marriage relationship is exclusive, so believers in Christ owe an exclusive loyalty to Him.”

Paul is looking future—as it is the father’s prerogative to present the bride to her husband on the wedding day: Paul anticipates with joy the presentation of his Corinthian believers as a faithful and undefiled virgin to Christ, when at Christ 2nd Coming, He takes His bride to Himself and brings her to that forever home which Christ has gone to prepare. It is then that the marriage of Christ with His Church will be celebrated amidst the rejoicing in heaven.

The OT frequently speaks of God’s people as the spouse of the LORD.

For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. (Isaiah 54:5)

For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. (Isaiah 62:5)

When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord GOD, and you became mine.
(Ezekiel 16:8)

And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD. (Hosea. 2:19, 20)

These very words from God describe our relationship with Christ in very intimate terms—so intimate that it is almost embarrassing! But this is what is so amazing about the gospel. God reconciles sinners to himself through Christ and welcomes us into a relationship that is intensely personal. He does not simply tolerate us in this marriage; he brings us close to himself by giving Himself to us. This is covenantal language not some prenuptial agreement with conditions or escape clause but a lasting commitment and the penalty to breaking it was death.

Christ is our husband and we are his bride. We are married to Christ. We are the objects of his affections. And in turn, we are to make him the object of our affection sharing with nothing and no one else! That is why Paul speaks as a jealous father who wants nothing to disrupt, compromise or interfere with this relationship.

Friends, be encouraged in what God has accomplished for you. Jesus is pursuing you right now even in the midst of the messiness of your life to make you his holy and undefiled bride.

Do you believe it! Or is it awkward for you to see yourself married to Christ? It’s not a manly picture! Or is it because you are not presently experiencing an intimate and personal relationship with your spouse. So it makes it hard to believe that God would love you without conditions and accepts you just as you are. Or do you fear what would happen if you got close to God in this way? You might have to give up control and your devotion to other things.

My next Blog we will consider:
Even in God’s stubborn love for us in our marriage with Christ, we still struggle with other loves in our lives. What are those other loves?

Warmly,

Pastor Jeff

I've Moved!

2008-04-22T18:21:00.003-04:00

My personal blog For the Healing of the Nations moved. You can find it here. In addition to the posts at this blog you can join me there for more conversation!

Pastor Irwyn

Dysfunction & God's Plan

2008-04-22T18:12:00.002-04:00

It seems that we very readily label individuals or families as dysfunctional. By that label we mean to imply that the individual or family does not exhibit “normal” or “appropriate” behavior in one or many aspects of life. At the same time, since dysfunction is so prevalent maybe it should be labeled “normal”. I say that a bit tongue and cheek, but what is normal in this broken world is the sin at the root of our dysfunction.

One of the things that you have to love about the Bible is the fact that God doesn’t hide the dysfunction in the lives of the people who we find there. For example, Genesis 27 reads like a soap opera. Intrigue, deception, and lying are the prominent features. Isaac, Esau, Rebekah, and Jacob are all scheming around one thing, God’s blessing.

One commentator writes about Genesis 27 in this way:

From beginning to end, the concern for the blessing predominates. Isaac sought to bestow it, and Esau wanted it. Rebekah heard about it and ensured that Jacob got it. Isaac unwittingly gave it to Jacob, and Esau was furious over having lost it.

If you haven’t read the chapter in a while, I commend it to you. We ought not be surprised that we find people scheming and manipulating others when we read the Bible. They’re just like we are! What is meant to shock us, however, is the fact that God worked out his plan of redemption through folk like that. His plan wasn’t somehow thwarted by messed up folks, as if we were able to trip God up.

This fact meets us right where we are. For we are all dysfunctional. What do we do with the dysfunction around us and in us? How do we avoid just becoming cynical about everything, and throwing up our hands? Ultimately folks, in everything we rest in the sovereignty and goodness of God through Jesus Christ. He’s the one who is making all things new in spite of what it looks like all around us. His plan wasn’t thwarted in Genesis 27 and it won’t be thwarted now.

In Christ’s love,

Pastor Irwyn

The Unchristian of Christianity: How we must put Christ back into Christianity

2008-04-10T15:55:00.009-04:00

As I was exercising today, a segment on the Today show caught my attention. Matt Lauer interviewed a man who was dressed in a racecar type suit with various religious and nonreligious bummer stickers all over it. This man felt compelled to go out and talk with a diverse spectrum of people about faith specifically about the Christian faith. He interviewed both Christians and those who do not consider themselves Christians. He found that the Christian message of loving one another was lost. Many felt that most Christians do not love others well.

I am also reading a book called Unchristian. David Kinnaman, the author, found that young people from 16 to 29 years old believed the following about present day Christianity: Christians are “antihomosexual, judgmental, and hypocritical. These big three are followed by the following negative perceptions, embraced by a majority of young adults: old-fashioned, too involved in politics, out of touch with reality, insensitive to others, boring, not accepting of other faiths, and confusing.” He further describes the crisis of Christianity in this way: “Only a small percentage of outsiders strongly believe that the labels ‘respect, love, hope and trust’ describe Christianity. A minority of outsiders perceives Christianity as genuine and real, as something that makes sense, and as relevant to their life.”

Honestly, the last two sentences hits me hard but I must confess I can appreciate and respect their critique. We have not loved well! What do you think about how young people view Christianity? Do the negative images that people have of Christians get your blood pumping? How do you respond to this statement: “Modern-day Christianity no longer seems Christian.” How can we listen and hear their critiques and still move towards them in the truth and love of the gospel? How can we put Christ back into Christianity?

Warmly,

Pastor Jeff

Questions 'Bout Christianity

2008-04-03T20:02:00.002-04:00

I've shared with some of you recently that we're on a two month quest to field questions, issues, criticisms, and concerns about Christianity and Christians. We want to hear from non-Christians (whether in other religions, skeptics, atheists, etc.) and Christians (from whatever denomination) alike.

April & May are the "fielding" months. In June we'll select the most common (or top) six to eight issues and reflect on them. Then our sermon series in July and August will be dedicated to seeing how the Bible responds to each. Hopefully, that will serve as the beginning of a longer dialogue.

You may respond to this blog or send your responses to info@cityofhopechurch.net.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Pastor Irwyn

Who Are We? New Dialogue on Mixed Race

2008-04-01T10:44:00.004-04:00

The NY Times has an informing and insightful article regarding people of mixed races. As you know, we are a church who desires to seek gospel reconciliation. I feel that we need to have honest discussions on race and how the gospel offers us the mandate and power to pursue reconciliation. I would love to hear your thoughts and comments. Additionally, there is a video that accompanies this article. Worth the watch!

Warmly,

Pastor Jeff

Peace

2008-03-25T09:29:00.002-04:00

Peace is like a colorful rainbow.

Peace looks like a white dove.

It sounds like the peaceful wind, and

It can be a soaring eagle, but

Peace is always Heavenly.

By Samuel Rickett

I thought that I share this beautiful poem from my son. Peace is Heavenly for it is from God through the person and work of Jesus Christ. For those who put their trust in Jesus we are no longer at war with God and His enemies but are at peace and His friends. Awesome News!

Pursuing Ethnic Harmony

2008-03-24T19:49:00.002-04:00

Friends,

Pastor Lance Lewis has offered a thought provoking question on his blog that I think directly relates to what City of Hope Church is striving toward. I've taken it as the impetus to make the first post on my blog which has been sitting dormant for over a year.

Pastor Irwyn

The Power of the Resurrection: Jesus Makes All Things New

2008-03-24T17:14:00.003-04:00

Last night at our Easter Celebration Service, I encouraged you with the good news that because Jesus Christ has risen we have a new record and identity, a new heart and power, and a new hope and inheritance.

New Record and Identity
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. (Eph. 1:3-10)

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor. 5:21)

12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12-13)

What these verse means is that God promises to save from sin’s penalty those who believe in Christ and consider them as His righteous, beloved, chosen children forever.

We have a righteous record - As the Just Judge, God promises to accept the sacrificial work of Christ as satisfying his just wrath against humanity and consider humanity’s sin imputed to Christ and Christ’s perfect righteousness imputed to us. Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, we are declared righteous and are seen as righteous before God!

Additionally, we are part of God’s Family - As the Gracious Father, God promises to accept and love those who believe in Christ just as He accepts and loves His one and only Son. Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, we are forever adopted into God’s family!

Because God is satisfied with Jesus (in all he is and all he has done), he is satisfied with us!

New Heart and Power
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

This passage means God also promises to save those who believe in Christ from sin’s domineering power over their lives by freely giving them a new heart and a new Spirit to empower them to know God, honor and enjoy Him forever and follow Him and His ways.

Although you can never be free from sin’s ongoing influence until heaven, God promises through Christ to deliver you from sin’s domineering power today. The Holy Spirit gives you the power to grow in Christ-likeness; to fight sin; and to freely live out His righteousness.

New Hope and Inheritance
11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Eph. 1:11-14)

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Rom. 8:2-30)

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began 3 and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior; (Titus 1:1-3)
54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (1 Cor. 15:54-58)

God promises that one day all of your struggles will be over and he will bring you to your eternal home--a place where he will wipe away every tear from your eyes and make all things new. We have hope NOW for a future inheritance!

So What? What differences does it make in our lives that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ has provided us with a new record, new heart and a new hope.

I shared with you last night when I trusted Jesus as my Savior and Lord that God changed the way I responded after playing tennis poorly. Before I was a child of God and had this new record, heart and hope, you can say that my language was pretty foul when I messed up a serve or a forehand return. I would put John McEnroe to shame. So when I became a Christian, the Holy Spirit convicted me of this bad behavior and enabled me to turn from it (repent) and often refrain from the foul language. But as I grew as a Christian, the Holy Spirit convicted me even further that the struggle with this particular sin is much deeper than the bad behavior of cussing. He showed me that I needed heart surgery that He alone could do. Because of this new heart and power, I began see the reason why I cussed: I didn’t believe that this new identity was enough and found my satisfaction in how well I played and looked to others. How I looked and played meant more than resting in Jesus Christ. You see, I was not resting in my new identity in Christ but resting in my performance and appearance. Because Jesus has risen, the Holy Spirit enabled me to repent not only of my foul language but also of my heart struggle of finding my acceptance and satisfaction in what I did and how well I did it. The bad behavior is only the result of a deeper problem—where am I going to find life, satisfaction, and identity. Do I believe that Jesus is enough for me even when I fail and that all I need is found in Jesus even when I look bad to others? Or do I believe that I need other things to complete or satisfy me? How about you?

What can be so exciting for the Christian is that we have hope that God is at work continually changing us into the likeness of Jesus Christ until we die or He comes again.

We are and will be made new in both soul and body and delivered not only from sin’s domineering power but even its presence. Presently, we live on the continuum between slavery and freedom.

Moreover, this new life God promises us is also cosmic. The good news is that because “Our God reigns” there is a new world coming where all things that are now crooked in our lives, churches and culture will finally be made straight.

God promises that one day all of creation will be made new as he makes his invisible kingdom visible over every sphere of life. And in this promised new heavens and earth there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order will pass away. Paradise will be restored.

This vision of the good news of the coming Kingdom accomplished by the Resurrected Christ is meant by God to serve as a fuel for the gospel flame in our hearts to spread through our church and to our city and to all the nations for the glory of God.

In Christ, we have everything. We don’t need anything else to fill us up—we have Jesus Christ! This is truly mind-boggling when we consider the greatness of our glorious, mighty, gracious and holy God.

You are the temple of God and God resides in you through the Holy Spirit. You are his and he is yours!

The Resurrected Jesus has accomplished this for us! Giving us a new record, new heart and new hope so that as we live in this world, we will influence and impact it for good. He is making us more like Him to live godly lives in a world full of temptations and vice.

We are empowered with His resurrected power partnering with God to make all things new!

On a final note, as I was running this morning these thoughts came to mind:

Because of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, He enabled the early church to survive and thrive during much pain, hardships and persecution. They only had the Old Testament and the oral traditions and the apostles’ teachings about Jesus Christ, and yet they changed the world. John Piper encourages, “The disciples were ablaze boldness, risking their lives by preaching that Jesus was alive”.

I sometimes wonder if Christians should have a bonfire to burn up all the “Christian self-help” books for I believe they distract us from truly resting in Jesus Christ and needing Him alone. We often depend upon the techniques and principles these books espouse than Jesus Himself to fight our battle with sin, become who we are in Christ and make a lasting impact in our community. Personally, how many books have I read that I even remember what it says nonetheless apply.

What do you think? I am sure I struck a nerve and hope a good discussion.

Remember we have all we need in Jesus—a new record, a new heart and a new hope!

Warmly,
Pastor Jeff

Marriage & Weeping

2008-03-15T09:31:00.003-04:00

I tuned in to an interesting discussion on ESPN radio earlier. A popular talk show host was going on about the need for marriage to “evolve” in this country. What he’d like to see is marriage vows take the form of sports contracts. Just like athletes know that after five years they’ll be free agents, it would be good for husbands and wives to know that they could opt out, upgrade, or choose another team. All of the callers I heard get on the air, both male and female, were in agreement with the host. Think of the benefits they said. Husbands and wives would be much more health conscious and physically active. If you knew that you and your spouse would become free agents, you wouldn’t let yourself go physically. You’d lay off the fries and go to the gym more often to keep yourself marketable for your current spouse or potential others. Everything else in society has evolved, claimed the host; technology, culture, etc. It’s time for marriage to do the same.

Now, even though he didn’t give any indication that he was joking, I’m not sure whether or not he was being absolutely serious. He may have just been trying to provoke some controversy.

What his and the callers comments speak to is a clear admission of the unreasonably high divorce rate in America. The host, who is divorced, even talked about how great his relationship is with his ex-wife now that they’re divorced. Since men and women are going to get together, the solution to the divorce problem is not to change people, but to change marriage. It’s unreasonable, they said, to expect men and women to stay together for 20, 30, 40 or, God forbid, 50 years.

“Solutions” like this one are really interesting because they are a veiled admission of hopelessness, the hopelessness for the human enterprise to fix what’s wrong with this foundational institution for society. Frankly, this is symptomatic of the “it’s all about me” disease that we human beings suffer from.

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday. It’s a day when we look back on Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, riding on a colt as the crowds spread palm branches along the road and shouted, “Hosanna!” It’s a day when we also look forward to his coming again in glory. I’m reminded of Luke’s account of the triumphal entry in chapter 19 of his gospel. He tells us that as Jesus drew near to Jerusalem he wept over it. He said, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from you eyes.”

When I hear off-the-wall “treat marriage like a sports contract” solutions to the divorce epidemic in our day, there is a weeping in my heart. We are still blind on this day to the things that make for peace. They are still hidden from our eyes. Sometimes the brokenness of this world makes us laugh at ourselves. Beneath the laugh, however, is a desire that the brokenness be made right.

Are you married? Are you thinking about getting married? Are you re-married? Are you single because of the dissolution of a failed marriage? Whatever state you find yourself in relative to this God ordained institution, learn from Jesus the things that make for peace, peace with God. Learn from him that his overriding concern for your marriage is that it glorify him by your growth in holiness. Yes men, that might mean that you won’t get to play as much golf or tennis as you’d like. Yes ladies, that means that the human relationship you ought to pursue most vigorously is the one with your husband, not your girlfriend.

May God, by his grace, begin to cure us of the “it’s all about me” disease.

In Christ’s love,
Pastor Irwyn

Faithfulness ≠ Fanaticism

2008-03-04T10:20:00.002-05:00

In his book The Reason for God, Belief in an Age of Skepticism, Tim Keller responds to one of the major deterrents to Christianity for those who are skeptical about this faith. That deterrent is fanaticism.

I am, without a doubt, a football fanatic. I help to coach my son's youth football team. Frankly, I'm happy that he wants to play football since it gives me an opportunity to coach. I have recently overspent in procuring NY Giants Super Bowl XLII paraphernalia. My body convulsed in scary ways when Eli Manning escaped a sure sack and David Tyree caught the football on his helmet as Harrison was hanging on his arm. I take what I'm sure is a sinful joy in wearing my NY Giants Champions cap in Borders and Starbucks at the Cap Center, right up the road from FedEx field. Though I did not play one single down, nor break one bead of sweat during training camp, I walk around saying we won the Super Bowl. The absurdity of it all!

There is a difference, however, between being reasonably obnoxious (in my opinion) as a football fanatic and what Keller describes as a Christian fanatic. He says on pp.56-7,

"When arguing for their faith they often appear intolerant and self-righteous... A fanatic is someone who is thought to over-believe and over-practice Christianity... Think of people you consider fanatical. They're overbearing, self-righteous, opinionated, insensitive, and harsh. Why? It's not because they are too Christian but because they're not Christian enough. They are fanatically zealous and courageous, but they are not fanatically humble, sensitive, loving, empathetic, forgiving, or understanding⎯as Christ was."

What then does intense, radical commitment to Christ look like? It starts with the recognition that I'm a Christian by sheer grace alone, and that I'm preserved to persevere in the faith by the power of God alone. If God left me to myself, I would fall away from the faith. As one preacher reminded me a few months back, "If God relaxed his grip upon us even slightly we would spontaneously combust in to all kinds of sins."

I think about Abraham's journey when I consider what faith in the Lord looks like. The first time the Lord spoke to Abraham is recorded in Genesis 12, and the last time is recorded in Genesis 22. In between, we see the ups and the downs of his life of faith. He lies about Sarah being his wife on two occasions. He leads his 318 men to rescue Lot, is blessed by Melchizedek, and refuses to take any of the spoils of war from the king of Sodom. And on it went. My point is that there were times when his faith was strong, and times when his faith waned. Yet, in chapters 12 and 22, the texts that frame, or bookmark Abraham's life of faith we see the overall character of that faith. His was a true faith that expressed itself in a willingness to radically obey God's word and commands even when it made absolutely no sense to him. He wasn't just offering up lip service when he said that he trusted the lord. He could be bold with the king of Sodom, but still intercede before God on behalf of that wicked city.

This balance of boldness, humility and compassion is hard for us to strike. That, however, is what will make a Christian stand out. Not because we're fanatics, but because of a humble yet unwavering commitment to this God who binds us to himself by sheer grace.

In Christ,

Pastor Irwyn

A Good Word

2008-03-02T10:52:00.002-05:00

Folks,

Check out Pastor Lance Lewis' post here. It's a good word and good advice on pastoral ministry and shepherding.

In Christ,

Pastor Irwyn

Beauty in the Eyes of God

2008-02-25T14:58:00.003-05:00

“The beautiful people at the Oscars,” giggled the commentator. I was struck by her comment. She was so excited about all the physical beauty that was displayed on the red carpet last night. Now put this in contrast to another comment I heard the day before. An elementary age boy called a girl of the same age “a fatso.” This unkind statement took place at a Christian basketball program where many children confess a faith relationship with Jesus. Why am I bringing this up? I feel that they are connected.

In many ways, we have allowed others to influence our understanding of beauty and they have redefined it for us. What do I mean? If you ask the typical person in the church to define beauty, what do you think they will say? I bet 8 out of 10 (I didn’t do a survey so please don’t take this as authoritative) would define beauty first as physical (tender blue eyes, glowing complexion, perfect skin, thick lips, six-pack abs, chiseled chin, tight thighs, etc.). Do we every wonder why so many of our young people struggle with their identity, with cutting, and with eating disorders? Do we every consider why so many people, men and women, have plastic surgery or taking diet pills to “remain” youthful? How about the whole epidemic in professional sports where steroid use and other types of enhancements are common to get the edge on others?

This kind of pursuit for physical beauty will leave us empty and enslaved. I know that it will because physical beauty is an idol for me. I want to look good to others and not just in my performance but how I physically look. Ask my wife. I regularly comment to her that I am getting fat. Or, on the opposite extreme, I often remind her, “I am the best looking guy around.” (Yes, I confess that I am very arrogant and self-consumed, but you have to love me because God tells you so). My whole life I was told that physical beauty and strength was important. In High School, I almost campaigned for the superlative, best dressed. When I didn’t even get nominated for it, I was crushed. I often get my life, my contentment, and my satisfaction in how I physically look. I bet some of you do as well.

I bring this all up because we need to be reminded of another beauty—a beauty that only God created and provides. The below verses are just a few of the many verses that talk of the beauty of God.

“One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4)

“Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.” (Ps. 96:6)

“…but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.” (1 Peter 3:4)

Albert Mohler writes: Augustine understood that beauty was a key Christian category. Indeed, Christians cannot properly think as Christians without understanding the power of beauty. In his Confessions he said this: "I have learnt to love you late, Beauty at once so ancient and so new! I have learnt to love you late! You were within me, and I was in the world outside myself. I searched for you outside myself and, disfigured as I was, I fell upon the lovely things of your creation. The beautiful things of this world kept me from you and yet, if they had not been in you, they would have had no being at all." In that confessional statement, Augustine is saying that it was beauty that was calling him. It was his Creator that was calling him, and yet the things of apparent beauty in the world distracted him. And yet he does not despise those things; he remembers that their beauty is merely a reflected beauty, derived from the fact that God is their Creator.

Augustine continues: "It was you then, O Lord, who made them. You who are beautiful, for they too are beautiful. You who are good, for they too are good. You who are, for they too are. But they are not beautiful and good as you are beautiful and good. Nor do they have their being as you the Creator have your being. In comparison with you, they have neither beauty nor goodness nor being at all." Augustine realizes that in order to see true beauty, he has to go to his Creator, and then, knowing the Creator, he may observe the creation and see that it does indeed bear the mark of its Maker. There is undeniable beauty in creation, but in comparison with the infinite beauty of the Creator, such finite beauty no longer has the seductive allure it once had. All earthly beauty is simultaneously validated and relativized by the contemplation of the beauty of God.

Jonathan Edwards, who said this, picked up the same theme: "True holiness must mainly consist in love to God, for holiness consists in loving what is most excellent and beautiful. Because God is infinitely the most beautiful and excellent being, He must necessarily be loved supremely by those who are truly holy. It follows from this that God's own holiness must consist primarily in love to Himself. Being most holy, He most loves what is good and beautiful, that is Himself. To love completely what is most completely good is to be most completely perfect. From this, it follows that a truly holy mind, above all other things, seeks the glory of God and makes the glory of God His supreme governing and ultimate end."

Another word in the Bible for beauty is glory. God manifests His wise, holy, compassionate, loving, and just character to all humanity. We see his ultimate glory in Jesus Christ. It is not the physical beauty of Jesus that we see God’s glory. Isaiah, a OT prophet, describes the coming Messiah, “For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him” (Is. 53:2).

We see the beauty of Christ in his perfect life, his sacrificial death and his supernatural resurrection and kingly ascension. If you want true beauty, fix your eyes on Jesus and put your trust in Him and his work. What’s so radically amazing is that as we put our faith in Jesus Christ as the only Savior and King, he makes us inwardly beautiful, and now the One and Only Glorious and Beautiful God sees us as beautiful and glorious. We have Jesus’ holiness, his love, his mercy, his compassion, his joy, his hope, and his power—his heart for God and others!

As we turn our focus more and more on Jesus and the beauty he has provided us completely and thoroughly, our souls will find our satisfaction, our contentment and our life in Him and not in the pursuit of physical beauty. The Spirit will enable us to confess and repent of our vain pursuit of physical beauty, to believe and rest that we are beautiful in his sight, and to accept others just as God has created them and not to call others names that hurt or destroy. God has given us new eyes to see as He sees.

What are your thoughts?

Warmly,
Jeff

He Satisfies the Longing Soul

2008-02-06T09:21:00.000-05:00

In yesterday’s Tuesday morning Bible study I do at the local jail, I only had one inmate attend. This gave me an opportunity to hear more of his story and seek to bring God’s word to bear on what he shared. He had recently been through a very dark and depressing period of wondering how he was going to make it through his remaining years of incarceration. The Lord graciously began to bring him out of it when he received a letter from his estranged daughter. She reconnected with him after previously saying that she was done with him. This was food for his soul.

He also spoke at length about his experience in the jail after coming to faith in Christ. He said he was at a loss because he no longer felt bitterness toward the police officers who shot him 14 times, he no longer was seeking revenge against his ex-fiance who ran off with the money and the children. He had forgiven them all and it was a strange feeling. He didn’t really know what to feel because anger and bitterness had filled him so much of his life, and now he wanted to be filled with something else.

We looked at Jesus’ words in Luke 6:21, “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.”

Psalm 107:9 also came to mind, “For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.”

How amazing it was to talk with this brother about the experience of being emptied of malice, bitterness, and hatred, then longing to be filled with Christ and his righteousness. He is a different man.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. This season reminds us of Jesus’ 40 days and nights in the wilderness fasting and satisfying his whole person with nothing but the Father and the Spirit. In his book Ancient Future Time, Robert Webber reminds us that Lent, “calls us back to God, back to basics, back to the spiritual realities of life. It calls on us to put to death the sin and the indifference we have in our hearts toward God and our fellow persons. And it beckons us to enter once again into the joy of the Lord – the joy of a new life born out of a death to the old life.”

What are you hungry for friends? What are you longing for?

Pastor Irwyn

A Rich History of Grace

2008-02-05T18:05:00.000-05:00

I’m a fan of history. Most of my historical interest both before and after becoming a Christian has been focused on people of African decent. One of the pleasures of this focus since becoming a follower of Jesus is to examine this history in light of the history of redemption, the Bible. The Bible is the history of redemption because it tells the story of how God has redeemed and is redeeming his people.

In my preparation for last Sunday’s sermon on Genesis 15 I came across a quote by theologian Herman Bavinck that gave me a new term. He said the following:

“From the very first moment of its revelation, grace assumes the form of a covenant, a covenant that arises, not by a natural process, but by a historical act and hence gives rise to a rich history of grace.”

The grace of the covenant the Lord made with Abraham in Genesis 15 is overwhelming. He takes the onus of its fulfillment completely upon himself. What God began in Genesis after humanity fell gave rise to a rich history of grace. This history shone brightly in the darkness of the cross, and it is still being written today. The new covenant in Jesus Christ is a continuation of this same covenant of grace. In Genesis 15 God humbles himself to obligate his life to his people. We see God do exactly the same thing in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

You may ask, “why does this matter?” It matters because Abraham and Sarah fail after God makes a covenant with them. So did Noah. So did David. So did Israel. So did Peter. And so do we. Consider what the writer to the Hebrews says in Hebrews 6:13-20:

For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

The Hebrews’ pastor sure knew that they were included in the rich history of grace, and this reality was a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul. For those who have fled for refuge in Christ it is a source of strong encouragement to cling to the hope set before them. And this hope is not in ourselves, but in our God who is faithful.

Where are you in the rich history of grace?

Pastor Irwyn

A Missional Community: Creating a Better Society for Everyone!

2008-01-27T19:53:00.000-05:00

“How else are we going to make it if we don’t join together to create a better society for everyone?”, a woman confessed to a Washington Post reporter on her excitement with Barack Obama’s message of change and hope. As I hear her heart, I am struck by her comment and desire to see this kind of excitement with Jesus’ message of change and hope. For truly only Jesus can make this woman’s desire a reality. Only Jesus and His mission can create a better society for everyone!

Last night, I shared how Jesus entered our world. He entered it to identify with us; to save us; and to bring us peace with God. Now he calls the church, both globally and locally, to the same mission. He wants us to identify with our community; to engage it; and to bring it to find peace with God. This call is not easy for we are often afraid, lazy and comfortable with the status quo. Nonetheless, this is our call! This is our mission! What is awesome is that we have peace with and of God to enable us to fulfill it! Jesus is with us as we share Him and His message, the greatest hope for the world! The real and active presence of Christ is our source of empowerment.

Here these words from John (John 20:19-21)
19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

Let me hear from you on your ideas on how we can fulfill Jesus’ mission in the Columbia community and beyond. What are some ways we can identify with and engage her with the love and beauty of Jesus? How can we make this community a better place for everyone—a community that is being renewed, strengthened, and healed by Jesus and His message?

Remember we do this not for our sake but for the glory of God! So when we think of ways to identify with and engage Columbia in the mission of Jesus, how can we do this in a way that glorifies (honors, pleases, represents) Him?

Lastly, remember we go not because we are better than our community. We go with Jesus’ message of change and hope confessing our own neediness, brokenness and sinfulness. We go realizing that we have received and are receiving much love, mercy and grace from Jesus in his perfect life, death, resurrection and ascension. Our motivation is Jesus and we identify with and engage our community in humility.

I look forward to your ideas as we partner together in bringing the greatest message of change and hope to our community!

Jeff

A Hope Filled Dream

2008-01-21T18:29:00.001-05:00

James Rouse, the founder of Columbia, MD dreamed the following as he developed this new kind of city: “Does it uplift, inspire, stimulate and develop the best in people.” This may seem like an idealistic dream but as one who lives here you can experience at least a part of that dream. You see people and organizations working in community together inspiring and stimulating one another.

I have a similar dream for City of Hope Church. As I shared last night in my message (check out the sermon resource tab on our website, www.cityofhopechurch.net, sermon entitled Change Takes A Community), this is our hope for City of Hope: “that we are uplifting, inspiring, stimulating and developing mature and loving followers of Jesus Christ.” This may seem like an idealistic dream too. But you know what, we have a God who desires to see His church grow together in community. He himself is community as we witness this in who He is: One God, Three Persons. Moreover, he calls us as Christians to biblical community: a community where we learn to love and trust one another in the midst of our various differences and experiences; a community where we help one another see our sins and mess in a safe place; and a community where we point one another to Jesus who empowers us to take risks amidst the pain and rejection we have faced in the past. Being real, honest, and authentic in our relationships with one another is hard and feels intrusive and uncomfortable. And yet throughout God’s story of redemption, we see Him gathering a messy and diverse people for the purpose to grow together and live for His glory. He didn’t just call me into the family but He called all of you as well. We can’t and must not live alone in this world. We can move towards others in this way because as I said Jesus has provided us the way. Jesus gave himself on the cross for our sins and mess to free us from those sins that keep us from others and free us to give of ourselves as we live in community with one another.

What I want from those who read this blog is something that I only briefly mentioned last night and it is this: How do we apply in the 21st century the following passages?

John 13:34-35
Jesus said…A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

Not only does our Compassionate Shepherd want our biblical community to affect one another in the church but it must also impact the local community in which we serve. How do we show those not yet in our church community or not yet a follower of Jesus that we love one another and how that love really impacts them?

I would love to hear from you!

Your friend and partner in loving one another and those in our broader community,
Pastor Jeff

To Serve and Transform

2008-01-10T08:57:00.000-05:00

The mission statement of City of Hope Church is this, “We exist to serve and transform the Columbia community and beyond with the hope and beauty of Jesus Christ.” We are asking the Lord to give us the grace to die to self, self-indulgence, self-seeking, self-exaltation, and to use us as agents of change for his glory.

It is always interesting to me that during the presidential election season one theme that pervades all candidate debates and speeches is the need for change. Usually, it’s the party opposing the incumbent who makes the loudest cry for change. This year, since there will be no incumbent, clarion call from both sides of the aisle is, “I am the needed agent of change.” “Come and follow me so that I can lead us through the change required to take us out of the problems that plague the nation and back to greatness.”

Without question, we have both the privilege and duty to be engaged in the political process. My only point is that the kingdom of God is not coming in on Airforce One. And the work we’re called to is kingdom work. I like this quote from theologian Gerhardus Vos,

“To Jesus the Kingdom exists not merely where God is supreme, for that is true always and everywhere, but where God supernaturally carries through his supremacy against all opposite powers and brings man to the willing recognition of this.”

What this helps us to know is that our mission is utterly dependent upon the Lord. He may use us, but he’s the one who’s at work carrying through his supremacy and who brings men to the willing recognition of it. Apart from him we can do nothing that will transform one person in our community into a worshipper of the true and living God.

May we take great joy in the reality that our union with Jesus Christ in his death and in his resurrection glory enables us to be about the work of serving and transforming others to the glory of God.

In Christ's love,

Pastor Irwyn Ince

Religious Miss the King

2007-12-20T09:02:00.001-05:00

Why is it that the most religious people miss the King? This last Sunday we looked at the passage about the Wise men in Matthew 2:1-12. In this passage, we saw 4 different responses to the birth of the Messiah and King Jesus. We saw King Herod violently against Jesus; we saw the people of Jerusalem complacent against Jesus; we saw the religious leaders religious against Jesus; and we witnessed the wise men passionate for Jesus. It is the 3rd response that I want to focus on here. Below is the passage that deals with the religious leaders. King Herod heard of the news of the wise men coming to Jerusalem to look for a newborn king and he was troubled. He was troubled for he knew that he didn’t meet the qualifications to be the king of the Jewish people and he didn’t want anything to interfere with his rule. So he wanted to find out the veracity of their claim and he calls in the religious leaders of the day (the theologians and high level priests). This is how they respond to Herod:

4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: 6 “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,  are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;  for from you shall come a ruler  who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

The Jewish religious leaders know the truth, they know Scripture but they use it to serve Herod and not their God. They have all the right answers, quote Scripture beautifully and yet they refuse to go and check out this newborn King. Jewish religious leaders had head knowledge but no heartfelt love for God and His word! Contrast their knowledge and response with the wise men. They were not in the religion business. They were advisors to rulers (much like a chief of staff to the President) in ancient Babylon or somewhere east of Palestine. They were Gentiles and had very little knowledge of the Bible but they heard the news about this newborn king and wanted to discover him. Once they did see him, they bowed down to worship him and gave them their best gifts—gifts fit for a true king.

Why do religious people like me miss the King! Why do we choose to ignore Him rather than to embrace Him? Why do we pursue being right more than pursuing Him? Why does the knowledge of Scripture puff us up and not draw us to devote our lives to Him? Why doesn’t the news of the newborn King amaze and impact us and thus bring us to be passionate for Him? Don’t miss the King: The Son of God left his glorious and awesome throne room in heaven enjoying an intimate relationship with His Father to come down to be born in a broken down stable to a poverty stricken couple and laid in an animal feeding trough. He humbly came down to experience the brokenness of the world and suffer ridicule from his people, rejection from his friends and family, physical and emotional pain and horrible and inhumane death by all for you and me. He sacrificially came down to provide us forgiveness, healing, reconciliation, freedom, rest, joy, and hope.

As he began his service as an adult, listen to some of his first words to the religious, those who were proud and arrogant, Jesus challenges them:

31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” (Lk 5:31, 32)

Let us not miss those words as well. Don’t miss the King for He doesn’t miss us. That is why He came down to save religious people like us. Even when we are not passionate for Him, Jesus and his work shows us that He is passionate for us. Even when we don’t embrace Him for we are busy being religious, He embraced us at the cross. Don’t miss the King this Christmas season for he didn’t miss us!

Advent Thoughts, Week 2 - The Light of the World

2007-12-13T09:18:00.001-05:00

I have been reading a very rich and timely book over the past week. Thabiti Anyabwile (http://purechurch.blogspot.com/), a brother I had opportunity to meet and speak with a couple of times this year, has written The Decline of African American Theology, From Biblical Faith to Cultural Captivity. I don’t think that there’s another work out there like it.

In the chapter on African American Anthropology titled, “Ain’t I a Man?”, Thatbiti quotes from Dr. Francis J. Grimké (1850-1937). Dr. Grimké was a former slave who ended up studying at Lincoln and Howard Universities as well as Princeton Theological Seminary. In a 1910 address Grimké lamented the existence of “white churches” and “black churches.” Here’s what he asked,

"Why should there be churches made up of white Christians, and churches made up of colored Christians in the same community, and, where all speak the same language; why should white Christians and colored Christians not feel perfectly at home with each other in the same religious gatherings, if they are all Christians, if they all believe in the Fatherhood of God, and the brotherhood of man, id doing by others as they would be done by, in loving each other as they love themselves, in their oneness in Christ Jesus, and if the same Holy Spirit dwells alike in all their hearts?"

Wow. This pastor of 15^th Street Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC, during a period of pervasive overt racism in our land, was bold to assert that if white Christians wanted to continue to embrace race prejudice, it would be better for them to renounce Christianity and embrace race prejudice with integrity.

When Mary and Joseph brought baby Jesus into the temple, Luke tells us the words of old man Simeon in chapter 2:29-32,

Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.

Here in the Temple, the center of Israel’s world, God discloses through Simeon that salvation for Israel includes salvation for the nations (meaning the ethnic groups of the world). This is the unfolded mystery of God’s plan for redemption. Paul says in Colossians 1 that this mystery was hidden for ages and generations, but is now revealed to his saints. To them, Paul says, God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. That’s what Simeon is revealing here in his song, CHRIST FOR THE NATIONS.

This is why the church I serve, City of Hope, is driven by what we believe to be a gospel imperative:

We will boldly pursue racial, cultural, gender, socioeconomic and generational reconciliation. For it is in the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we are thoroughly reconciled with God and with one another. Therefore, we will prioritize and invest our very lives to reconciliation that is empowered by the Gospel of Jesus Christ who has come to break down the dividing walls of all kinds of tensions and divisions.

All because Jesus is the Light of the World.

In Christ's Love,

Pastor Irwyn Ince

Advent Thoughts, Week 1 - The Tree

2007-12-04T13:04:00.000-05:00

The pastor of my childhood church, Hanson Place Central United Methodist Church, used to say to us every Sunday, “Merry Christmas,” no matter what season of the year it was. He did this, I think, because he rightly realized that the celebration of the incarnation, the celebration of God becoming flesh and dwelling among us in the person of Jesus Christ ought not be limited to one day or one month out of the year. The significance of God the Son taking to himself a human nature is immense.

As we enter the Advent season we would do well to remember that the significance of the incarnation is not limited to baby Jesus being born to Mary and Joseph in a feeding trough in Bethlehem. As we celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ, putting up and decorating pine trees in our homes (which my family has already done), let’s remember to focus on the tree at the center of human history, his cross. What’s more, let’s focus on what it means to be united to him by faith. The apostle Peter says in 1 Peter 2:24, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”

I really don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade this Christmas, but Peter makes this statement in the context of exhorting Christians to glorify God while enduring unjust suffering. Peter actually has the audacity to say in v.21 that we have been called to this. He says the radical implications of being united to the Christ crucified on the tree is enduring sorrows while suffering unjustly. He says this endurance through unjust suffering is a gracious thing. He says if you sin and endure the beating, the consequence of your sin, that’s no big deal. You’re just getting what you deserve. Ah, but if because you’re doing good you suffer and endure it, this is grace before God.

This is a message that shakes us up. It’s strange to us and hard to hear. It’s strange because on places like The Baal Network [TBN – thanks for that Pastor Lance Lewis; http://blaquetulip.blogspot.com/], we’ve been sold a bill of goods. We’ve convinced ourselves that the most effective way to witness the grace of God in Christ to the world is to show people how God in Christ wants to provide all of your material desires, how you can have the American dream in Christ. But that’s not the testimony of the Bible.

The testimony of Scripture is that our most effective witness to the world of the grace of God in Christ is when we’re suffering well. When we’re enduring the sorrows of unjust suffering because we’re doing right, that’s gracious in the sight of God. That’s the witness he’s looking for. Contrary to popular belief union with Christ does not mean that you will be healthy, wealthy, and wise in this life. It does not mean that God wants me to have the gifts that will make me happy wrapped up under the Christmas tree on December 25. Peter's point is that the Christian life is indeed the best life now. But it’s the best life because the blessedness of the Christian life is joy in the midst of suffering. The blessedness of the Christian life is being able to witness to this world of the power, glory, and grace of God in the middle of intense trials and suffering. It is the reality that when Christians suffer unjustly it brings glory to God.

Where did we get a Christianity where Jesus does all of the dying? Where did we get a Christianity where Jesus is the only one who bears a cross?

If (when) you find your self unjustly suffering as a Christian, it’s not because you don’t have enough faith. It’s not because you’re not praying enough. It’s not because you haven’t fasted in a while. Its because the past suffering of Christ is the present condition of believers, while the present glory of Christ is the future glory of those who follow in the steps of the suffering Christ.

1Pet. 4:12-14 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

In Christ’s love,

Pastor Irwyn Ince

Flourishing Faith in the Face of Difficult Decisions

2007-11-28T11:01:00.000-05:00

As Christians, we are faced with many difficult decisions. Decisions on how to lead our family, our business, and our church, decisions on how to best love our family and friends, decisions on what is the right thing to do at work or in our neighborhood, decisions on how to best fight the temptations of sins and decisions on how to effectively engage our neighbors and community with the gospel. Personally, it often depends where I am in my faith in God that will determine how I will face those decisions. It really comes down to believing the Gospel. If I am resting in Jesus’ love for me expressed in his life and work then I can face the hard decisions with confidence.

As we live our life, we can’t separate God’s grace and our faith. They are inseparably linked. The faith we have in Jesus is not available without God’s grace, and this grace can only be accessed through faith in Jesus. It is only through God’s merciful initiative and preserving grace that we are given the opportunity to walk by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7), to flourish in our faith (Romans 1:17; Hebrews 10:38) and to please God by our faith (Hebrews 11:6).

Abram in Genesis 14, his faith did not flourish because he followed some set of principles but as he trusted the God of grace. His faith flourished because he believed that God was intimately involved in his daily life. He grew to experience that whatever he faced in life that God’s promise, presence, power and provision was his. This is true for us in Jesus Christ. We are able to flourish in our faith as we rest and believe Jesus love for us. Because of his work on our behalf, we too have his promise that affirms we are his forever children, we have his presence that provides us peace amidst life storms, we have his power that frees us to godly living amidst a self-saturated culture, and we have his provision that satisfies our deepest longings. The God of grace enables as to become and overcome by faith in Jesus.

To learn more on Genesis 14, check out the sermon, Flourishing Faith in the Face of Difficult Decisions, at our website www.cityofhopechurch.net.