Reject the Phrase

by Don Riley | January 22, 2010

“I am doing better than I deserve.”

Please do not tell me that you are doing better than you deserve.

The reason I scratch my head when I hear this said is the implication that we know what we deserve.

Many say, no I am recounting how blessed I am by God and my blessings are undeserved. Good point. My concern is the use of the comparative, the use of the contrast. We cannot comprehend how really bad it would be if we got what we deserve.

You respond. I know that I deserve hell. But do any of us know what that entails?

Do we really know the depths of hell, the heat of hell, the agony of hell, the eternity of hell, the anguish of hell, or the screaming demonic unquenchable pain of hell?

I think none of us do.

Few even consider what we deserve; fewer why we deserve it and least are those who try to keep others from getting it.

If we realized what hell encounters we would spend all of our spare time, spare moments, reaching the lost for Jesus Christ, beseeching non-Christian family members, and begging our non-Christian friends to hear the gospel.

So, please let us not say in a shallow simplistic manner that we are doing better than we deserve for we do not really know what the phrase “I deserve” means.
If we did our lives would be transformed into zealous evangelists.

Reject the phrase: “I am doing better than I deserve.”

Be the first to comment

Christmas Pride!!!

by Don Riley | December 18, 2009

What do we have that is not a gift from God?

We have Christmas pride when the tree is up in our house, the decorations are up in our house, and the Christmas cards have already been sent from our house and forget that there are those this day without a house.

Judge Chris Craft told me this morning that every year a homeless man in Memphis throws a brick through the window of a mid-town hardware store, waits for the police to arrive simply because in jail he will have a warm place to stay and hot meals to eat during Christmas.

We have Christmas pride in our good health. We work out, eat well, refrain from smoking, from excessive drink, and then think that our health is our own doing!! How arrogant that we do not realize that at any moment cells may begin to multiple in a cancerous manner or a single unknown clot may traverse our circulatory system to the stroke of the midnight hour. Some of you are already humming a Wilson Pickett song.

Christmas pride!!!

Just as Jesus came from heaven to earth, this very day we may go from earth to heaven.

Christmas pride!!!

What did we have to do with the Old Testament prophecies about Christ’s coming as a child?

What did we have to do with the angelic visitations heralding Christ’s coming as a child?

What did we have to do with the inn-keepers refusal, the stables acceptance, and the bassinet of the manger?

What did we have to do with the Virgin Birth, the Gal. 4:4 perfect timing of Christ’s coming as a child?

We think we know so much, but we live so little!! Our orthodoxy seldom matches our orthopraxy.

We have Christmas pride in our perspective that we have already heard the Advent message so many times we think, how could we ever have a new understanding of the Word of God about the Virgin Birth, the angels, the shepherds, or the incarnation? This is in spite of the fact that the Word of God is living, active and sharper than the sharpest blade with which this morning we shaved. We view the preached message at our church services as an interlude between the Christmas carols and the lit candles.

The greatest event this Christmas might not be the white twinkling lights throughout the recesses of the city but the white illuminating light of Gods Word that reach the inner recesses of our soul.

Christmas Pride!!!

Phillips Brooks wrote in 1868 after a visit to the Holy Lands the Song, “O Little Town of Bethlehem” which states in his third stanza: “How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given! So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heaven. No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin, where meek souls will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in”.

Let us worship Him anew this Christmas with meek and humble souls and reject the unmerited tendency toward:

Christmas Pride!!!

Give Thanks anyway!!

by Don Riley | November 25, 2009

How can you be thankful at this time of the year, when life is hard, and you suffer from a lack of concentration due to spiritual ADD (atheistic discouraging dilemmas)?

Atheistic because it is a lack of faith even on the part of those of us who are Christians. Discouraging, because we often look to the obstacles of the world instead of the providence and possibilities of God. Dilemmas, because so many of us are circumstantially focused instead of kingdom providentially oriented.

Give Thanks anyway!!

How can we be thankful when your friend takes his own life, or a wife strikes her daughter so abusively that the daughter goes to the doctor and the mother goes to jail?

How can we be thankful when you have not closed a deal in three years, or another has not done any new home appraisals because new homes are not being constructed?

How can you be thankful when your beloved wife dies of cancer and you are alone?

I visited today with a man who told me his nephew went into the next room and shot himself. Six months later his brother decided that suicide was the best remedy to understand his brother’s death and his weapon of choice was his own car. How can you be thankful in that?

Thankfully, the Word of God says in 1st Thess. 5: 18 “Give thanks in all things for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus.” We are called to give thanks, not necessarily to be thankful.

The heart of God, through the Word of God, knows and understands our true feelings.

It is encouraging that we are not called to fake it until we make it, but rather proactively do that which we can do in spite of circumstances.

Give Thanks anyway!!

We are called to give thanks, not to necessarily be thankful; but the spiritual irony is that as often as we give thanks we acknowledge One greater, more powerful than we. We are referencing the One from whom every good and perfect gift comes. We are also referencing the One who is never on vacation, who never allows anything to come our way without first being filtered through His permissive will.

Eric Liddell in the movie Chariots of Fire stands under an umbrella after winning one of his many races and tells the assembled fans, “You came to see a race today, to see someone win. It happened to be me. But I want you to do more than just watch a race.

I want you to take part in it. I want to compare faith to running in a race. It’s hard. It requires concentration of will, energy of soul. You experience elation when the winner breaks the tape, especially if you got a bet on it (laughter). But how long does that last?

You go home; maybe your dinner is burned. Maybe you haven’t got a job. So, who am I to say, believe, have faith in the face of life’s realities? But I would like to give you something more permanent. But I can only point the way. I have no formula for winning the race. Everyone runs in her own way or his own way. So, where does the power come from, to see the race to its end? From within. Jesus said, “Behold, the kingdom of God is within you. If with all your heart you truly seek me, you shall ever surely find me. If you commit yourself to the love of Christ, than that is how you run a straight race.”

But what if the race is hard? Can we be thankful? The race has a finish in the eternal presence of the One who loves us and understands every fallen tear, every heavy sigh, and every crushing disappointment.

So when you go into the holidays and things are not a Norman Rockwell picture of rosy cheeked kids and basted turkey joy, remember what we are called to do.

Give thanks anyway!!

Stop

by Don Riley | October 23, 2009

Please do not send this e-mail on to anyone especially the ten people you love.

I do not care if you break this chain e-mail. I promise that if you send this to ten people and then back to me probably nothing good will happen to you by 11:00 am tomorrow morning.

Ok, now that I have gotten my sarcasm out of the way, this devotional is for you if the following is true for you:

You are very busy.

You are tired of evil flourishing and the righteous not.

You are discouraged because your name is not up in lights.

You cannot seem to close the deal.

You have more bills than income.

You are not getting the love, respect, and honor you seek.

You are always behind.

You are not the super parent you thought you would be.

Stop right now and say to God (hey, you really do not have to, because of course this

is not a formula prayer, or a magic bullet so please stop and say anything to God),

“Lord, forgive me for trying to run the universe.

Have mercy on me.

Thank you, Father for your love.

Thank you, Jesus for your love.

Thank you, Holy Spirit with your love.

Fill me with your presence, in Jesus name, Amen”.

The next time you face the enormity of being in charge of the universe simply stop and pray.

May I encourage you in the name of the one who promises never to leave us nor forsake us to:

Stop.

Ministry on the Run

by Don Riley | October 16, 2009

Ministry some weeks seem like a walk, while some weeks seem like a run.

Those busy weeks on the run make me wonder whether I even stopped to put on my running shoes.

This week has been a sprint.

Earlier this week, I met with a man who in the course of our sandwich and soup prayed to receive Christ. That spiritual heart transplant made my week, month and year.

Then another day, over another sandwich a man berated the bride of Christ for her many failures. I almost exhorted the man for slandering another mans wife but I didn’t think he would understand the application.

I have heard criticism and sensed failure about knowing what to do, how to work something out or even being in the right place at the right time.

The last devotional I wrote was September 19, 2009 and I paid a price for writing about God being in control. Many praised it. Some negatively responded so aggressively to it they asked to be taken off my mailing list.

I have spent too little time in prayer this week even to the degree that I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit wooing me to stop, talk to Him, listen to His Word, to His affirmations, and to His comforts. His Word says “Be still, and know that I am God” Ps 46:10.

I identify with a passage in Eugene Peterson’s book, The Contemplative Pastor where he writes, “But after the sun goes down on Sunday, the clarity diffuses. From Monday through Saturday, an accountably unruly people track mud through the holy places leaving a mess. The order of worship gives way to the disorder of argument and doubt, bodies in pain and emotions in confusion, misbehaving children and misdirected parents.

I don’t know what I am doing half the time. I am interrupted. I am asked questions to which I have no answers. I am put in situations for which I am inadequate. I find myself attempting tasks for which I have neither aptitude not inclination. The vision of myself as pastor so clear in Lord’s Day worship, is now blurred and distorted as it reflects back from the eyes of people who view me as pawn to their egos. The affirmations I experience in Sunday greetings are now precarious in the slippery mud of put-down and fault finding. Sundays are important-celebrative and essential. The first day defines and energies our lives by means of our Lord’s resurrection and gives a resurrection shape to the week. But the six days between Sundays are just as important, if not so celebrative, for they are the days to which the resurrection shape is given. Since most pastoral work takes place on the six days, an equivalent attention must be given to them, practicing the art of prayer in the middle of the traffic.”

Playing in traffic can be dangerous. Ministry on the run can cause one to be run over.

Actress Emmy Rossum played the part of Sean Penn's murdered daughter Katie in “Mystic River” the part of Christine in the movie version of “Phantom of the Opera” and Jennifer Ramsey in the movie “Poseidon”. I need to see these before I would be able to recommend them.

I find it ironic that Emmy Rossum sings a song entitled “Slow Me Down” in that in real life she is getting a divorce after 18 months to her husband Justin Seigel. She admits on Good Morning America to Diane Sawyer that the song is autobiographical.

Here are the words to the song she wrote entitled “Slow Me Down”:

“Rushing and racing and running in circles
Moving so fast, I'm forgetting my purpose
Blur of the traffic is sending me spinning
Getting nowhere

My head and my heart are colliding, chaotic
Pace of the world I just wish I could stop it
Try to appear like I've got it together
I'm falling apart

Save me
Somebody take my hand, and lead me
Slow me down
Don't let love pass me by
Just show me how
'Cause I'm ready to fall
Slow me down
Don't let me live a lie
Before my life flies by
I need you to slow me down

Sometimes I fear that I might disappear
In the blur of fast forward I falter again
Forgetting to breathe, I need to sleep
I'm getting nowhere

All that I've missed I see in the reflection
Passed me while I wasn't paying attention
Tired of rushing, racing and running
I'm falling apart

Tell me
Oh won't you take my hand and lead me
Slow me down
Don't let love pass me by
Just show me how
'Cause I'm ready to fall
Slow me down
Don't let me live a lie
Before my life flies by
I need you to slow me down

Just show me I need you to slow me down

The noise of the world is getting me caught up
Chasing the clock and I wish I could stop it
Just need to breathe, somebody please
Slow me down.”

There is one who slows us down even when we do not want to slow down. My hospital visitations this week have demonstrated to me the number of people who are there not by choice but by God’s divine calendaring of their lives.

He slows us down.

He saves us from the tyranny of the urgent.

He saves us from the mundane and unimportant and causes us to reflect on the vast scope of that which is eternal.

Ministry is the job description of everyone whose eyes now read this. It is your job description.

Why do we run in ministry?

Negatively, we have a disproportionate perspective of our place in life. We think we are indispensable. We think the world revolves around our egocentric self. We take ourselves too seriously and our Lord too lightly.

Positively, we love what we do for the Lord; in that ministry is both a privilege and a joy. We respond to Paul’s admonition to run with perseverance the race set before us, redeeming the time, living passionately for His glory.

Life is short; death is sure, sin the curse, Christ the cure.

Let our ministry whether slow or on the run be in the shoes of the gospel, tightly laced by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Be the first to comment

God is in Control

by Don Riley | September 19, 2009

Many friends in Memphis this week have struggled with concurrence, maybe without knowing what that term means.

Regardless, God’s providence and man’s actions simultaneously often cause one to scratch ones head with an ensuing cerebral Charlie horse.

Concurrence is an aspect of the doctrine of providence. Concurrence is the term that applies to first and secondary causes.

The root meaning of providence is to see in advance.

Theologically, it means so much more.

R.C.Sproul writes in his excellent book, Essential Truths of the Christian Faith, “What God creates, He also sustains. The universe is not only dependent upon God for its origin; it depends upon God for its continuity of existence. The universe can neither exist not operate by its own power. God upholds all things by His power.”

This sounds like the wording from the Westminster Confession of Faith.

Chapter Five on Providence.: “God the great Creator of all things does uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by His most wise and holy providence, according to His infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of His own will, to the praise of the glory of His wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.”

Also: “Although, in relation to the foreknowledge and decree of God, the first Cause, all things come to pass immutably, and infallibly; yet, by the same providence, He orders them to fall out, according to the nature of second causes, either necessarily, freely, or contingently.”

God is in control.

John Calvin writes that “God sustains, nourishes and cares for, everything he has made, even to the least sparrow” (Mt. 10:29).

Another definition by Calvin, “Providence means not that which God idly observes from heaven what takes place on earth, but that by which, as keeper of the keys, he governs all events.”

God is in control.

A friend thanked me, when I said after a horrible automobile accident that touched the lives of thousands this week in Memphis that God was not on vacation.

A precious girl died. Another girl awaits surgery. The driver mourns the loss of his friend and tries to make sense out of events that has changed his life.

For those who have horrible things happen in their lives, let me say, that God ordains all things, but does not explain all things.

Many like Biblical points to use for study and teaching. Here are five for you.

Five aspects of life determined by God.

Speech is determined by God. Prov. 16: 1 “to man belong the plans of the heart, but from the LORD comes the reply of the tongue.”
Steps are determined by God. Prov. 16: 9 “In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.” Proverbs 20: 24 “A man's steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand his own way?”
Success is determined by God. Psalm 75: 6, 7 “No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt a man. But it is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another.” Psalm 104:14 “He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate bringing forth food from the earth.”
Storms are determined by God. Psalms 107:25, 29 “For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.” Isaiah 45: 7 “I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.”
Sparrows are protected by God. Mt. 10: 29 “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.”

But what about the actions of man, the secondary causes in life?

God is in control.

Let us go back to the theological term concurrence.

Again R.C. Sproul, “Concurrence refers to the coterminous actions of God and human beings. We are creatures with a will of our own. We make things happen. Yet the casual power we exert is secondary. God’s sovereign providence stands over and above our actions. He works out his will through the actions of human wills, without violating the freedom of those human wills.”

Again, Sproul, “There is a crucial difference between the providence of God and fortune, fate, or luck. The key to this difference is found in the personal character of God. Fortune is blind while God is all-seeing. Fate is impersonal while God is a Father. Luck is dumb but God can speak. There are no blind impersonal forces at work in human history. All is brought to pass by the invisible hand of providence.”

These are not the things one says to the parent of a child who has recently gone to the church triumphant.

These are truths one ponders with prayerful reflection as the early dawn brings forth the gift of another day.

These are hard sayings.

The thought that behind a frowning providence God hides a smiling face is penned by the 18th century poet and hymnologist, William Cowper who suffered from manic depression and tried three times to commit suicide.

William Cowper captured well deep theological insights in his 1779 hymn, “Light Shining out of darkness”

“God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill,
He treasures up his bright designs,
And works his sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fasts,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain;
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.”

The next time something happens in your life that is unexplainable or too painful to interpret, remember God is not on vacation.

God is in control

Be the first to comment

Remember 9/11

by Don Riley | September 11, 2009

From a Qur’anic verse “Wherever you are, death will find you out.

Even if you are in towers built up strong and high.” ( al-Nisaa 4:78 )

Real people pushed that morning into subway cars, too busy to make their beds because they were running late, those who forgot to put cream in their coffee as they darted out the door, a backward look over their shoulder at the dog whose wagging tail would never be seen again.

At work, they wanted to catch up on e-mails, return phone calls and get that birthday card for their ailing mother dying of cancer in upstate New York. It is a story about real people who became the recipient of unleashed Islamic fundamentalistic terror for being an infidel. Many of them handled and traded millions of dollars with foreign markets unaware of what an infidel is. They would become the object of resultant hatred and thereby miss their lunch appointment.

Another Qur’anic verse’ “That Day some faces will be radiant, laughing, rejoicing. That Day some faces will be dust-covered, overcast with gloom. Those are the dissolute disbelievers.” (Surah Abasa: 38-42)

Former Muslim scholar, now a born again Christian, Mark Gabriel writes in his Powerful, must read book entitled “Islam and Terrorism”.

“When I was a freshman at Al-Azhar University in 1980, I enrolled in class called Quranic Interpretation. Two times a month we would gather to hear lectures from a blind sheikh whose passion for Islam made him popular among the students.

Yet his radical side was obvious. Anytime he encountered a reference in the Quran to Christians or Jews, he took great delight in referring to the Christians as "infidels" and Jews as "the children of pigs." He made it clear that he wanted to bring back the glory days of the Islamic empire through jihad.

One day he gave us students an opportunity to ask questions. I stood up and asked him something I had been wondering about for a long time: "Why is it that you teach us all the time about jihad? What about the other verses in the Quran that talk about peace, love and forgiveness?"

Immediately his face turned red. I could see his anger, but I could also see that he chose to control it. Instead of yelling at me, he took the chance to reinforce his position in front of the five hundred students who were listening. "My brother," he said, "there is a whole Surah [chapter] called 'Spoils of War.' There is no Surah called 'Peace.' Jihad and killing are the head of Islam. If you take them out, you cut off the head of Islam."

Today that man is locked up in a prison in the United States. His name is Omar Abdel Rahman, and he was convicted of masterminding the first bomb attack of the World Trade Center, which occurred in 1993.”

The entire Old Testament can be summarized by the one word: Remember.

Sacrifices, feasts, festivals and commands all reinforce the need for us to remember.

We move on.

Football season begins, the fescue needs to be planted, and we argue over the health care bill.

And we forget.

Why should we remember I asked different groups today?

“Because the unthinkable happened”, one said.

“Because thousands have lost family, friends, co-workers”, another said.

“Because it was an attack on our soil” another said.

“Because it represents the hatred of Christianity and of anyone who is not a Muslim”, another stated.

Remember 9/11. but remember that God reigns and rules from on high.

I t is meritorious that beefed up security and intra-intelligence agencies are more congruent.

We thank God for that.

Wherever evil is present, God is greater.

Wherever terror is plotted, peace is a cross away.

Out of the ashes, our God reigns. He reigns and rules from on high.

We are called “to declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples” Psalm 96:3.

Many of the sons of Ishmael: Muslims in America, in Jordan, throughout the Middle East love America, and love Americans.

They need the cross of Jesus, the shed blood of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus.

Philippians 2 says it best starting at verse 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

One day will be the Day of the Lord, but until then:

Remember 9/11.

Be the first to comment

The Name that is above every name -- the name of the Lord!

by Don Riley | September 4, 2009

Juliet Capulet in the second act of Romeo and Juliet summarize the tragedy of the play by this one line: "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

Enotes.com summarizes the play as follows: Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet are members of two warring families. Here Juliet tells Romeo that a name is an artificial and meaningless convention, and that she loves the person who is called "Montague", not the Montague name and not the Montague family. Romeo, out of his passion for Juliet, rejects his family name and vows, as Juliet asks, to "deny (his) father" and instead be "new baptized" as Juliet's lover. This one short line encapsulates the central struggle and tragedy of the play.

Juliet may think a name is artificial for the sake of an aching heart but names convey meaning. Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will always hurt me. My rewording of this well worn phrase of syntax is true for any who have been maligned on the playgrounds of life through negative and hurtful verbal expression. Fatty, loser, four-eyes, cipher, idiot, lazy, no good, worthless are all temporal cuts with lasting scars.

Names can represent the transformation of a character.

John MacArthur details the background of the original apostles in his carefully researched book entitled Twelve Ordinary Men. The second chapter on Simon Peter addresses the various ways that the name Simon Peter is used in the Bible. The name Simon is first used as Simon in the secular sense when Scripture refers to his house, his mother –in-law and his fishing business. The name Simon is also used by Jesus when Simon is acting like an unregenerate person. “Simon, get behind me”. When Jesus called him Peter, it was to remind Simon of what he was to be, the Rock, and what he would become, Rock, the post Pentecost fire brand who preached such that over 3, 000 came to Christ in one service.

McArthur gives a great illustration in his book Twelve Ordinary Men of how a name can be transformative. When Tommy Lasorda was the manager of the Dodger’s he gave a young, thin pitcher who was new in the Dodger’s minor league system a nickname. The young pitcher was timid, quiet, yet had extraordinary power and control. Tommy believed this young man could be one of the all-time greats but needed him to become more aggressive and competitive- he needed to lose his timidity, so Tommy named him “Bulldog”. This is exactly what Orel Hershiser became and he grew into one of the fierce competitors of all-time. “The nickname became a perpetual reminder of what he ought to be, and before long, it shaped his whole attitude.”

We have been given the name Christian because that is what we ought to be. Even as Christians we need to take on the character of the name itself. Perhaps by thinking about, and reflecting upon the name which is above all names we will be lifted up from the lesser names to the greatest name.

Names in the Bible mean something. They always had great meaning because they represent the character and totality of the person.

The name Abraham means Father of multitudes. The name Isaac means one will laugh. The name Jacob means to take by the heel. Amminadab was called my kinsman is generous. Boaz was called Quickness. The name Ruth means Companion. King David was called Beloved one. The name Solomon means Peaceable. The name Joseph means God will add. The name Jesus means Yahweh saves. The names all have significant meaning.

There are various Hebrew names in the Old Testament for the various roles God assumes. Elohim means Creator. Jehovah means “I am”. Adonai means Lord. Jehovah-shalom means God is my peace. Jehovah-nissi means God is my banner. Jehovah-jireh means God will provide. Jehovah-rophe means God heals. Immanuel means God with us.

Jesus is called by many Biblical names. Jesus is called Anointed. He is called Alpha and Omega. He is called the Branch, the Bright & Morning Star and the Dayspring. He is called the Door, the Good shepherd, the King of Kings, and the Lamb of God. He is called the Lion of Judah, the Prince of Life, the Prince of Peace, the Root of David, and the Root of Jesse. He is called the Son of David, the Son of God, the Son of Joseph, the Son of Man, and the Son of Mary. He is called the True Vine, the Wonderful Counselor, and the Word.

When we consider the power and scope of the names of God and the names for Jesus we begin to realize the soaring truth found in the second chapter of Philippians that His name is above every name. What name? The name of the Lord

Be the first to comment

<< Previous 1 - 2 Next >>