The Power of Words

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Ephesians 4:29 (ESV)

Talking. Talking is something that we do from the earliest stages of our lives. Babies begin to “babble” and mimic what you are saying. Words such as “Da Da,” “Ma Ma”, “NO”, and “Ball” are formed. And as a parent sometimes you fear that you may catch your child repeating a word or a phrase that we did not intend for them to hear. We all have probably done it at some point, caught a child emulating that very behavior and then spend time explaining that it was a poor choice of words and hoping and praying that they forget such phrases quickly. But unfortunately with words, we cannot take them back. There is no rewind button or white out. We cannot gather them in again, once they leave the tips of our tongue they are gone forever and with the development of social media, the internet, and cell phones some of our finest words and not so finest words are available at a moment’s notice. They do not go away easily (or ever). 

As children we are taught the nursery rhyme, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words may never hurt me.” Yes, parents have told us that to help us and console us, but the reality is that words do hurt. Words can be very destructive. In the third chapter of the epistle of James, we see some examples and images of the importance of words. Words have power to heal and destroy. Some of us still may hurt from comments made about us years ago in school, or made about our bodies, or made about our children, our parenting, or our lifestyle choices. Hopefully we also take to heart the encouraging and positive words we have heard as well. 

We must be keenly aware of our tongues in our lives as Christians. Gossip. Slander. Rumor. Lies. Insults. All of these things that not only destroy individuals, but they can tear apart families and churches.  The letter to the church at Ephesus reminds us of the importance of positive words and actions. We can use this as a litmus test for whether it should be said. Is it wholesome? Is it helpful? Does it build up? Does it benefit? Alan Redgrave also offers these suggestions with the acronym “T-H-I-N-K.  Is it true? Is it helpful? Is it inspiring? Is it necessary, is it kind?”[1] When we use these lenses and these thought processes we can certainly protect those we love and ourselves from unnecessary pain and harm as well as exalting Christ through our behavior.

 Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Photo Credit: marczini

http://www.freeimages.com/photo/1382970

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[1] Redpath, Alan. Taken from A Passion for Preaching.  Found online at http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/g/gossip.htmAccessed 8 July 2015. 

(Is it) Time for Change?

One of the hotbed words in today’s culture is often change, and our lives live on change. Change brings emotions; for me change can bring out fear, while for others it may bring out excitement. People change jobs, change homes, change cars, change clothing styles and hair color. Political candidates often run on platforms of change, saying that they are going to change from their predecessors. Other times change comes through major decisions, on June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States, changed the landscape of marriage for a generation. With this change, some will respond with fear, others excitement. I know that I am “late” in getting into the conversation, and I am sure that I am probably not re-inventing the wheel. More than likely, someone else has said what I am going to say in a more eloquent way. I ask nonetheless, that perhaps you give me the privilege of sharing one thought

Aside from John 3:16, one of widely recognized verses in the Bible comes from Paul’s letter to the church at Rome, which says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” A scripture opens and cuts us! Why? We all will find ourselves in the same predicament. It is a reminder of who we are. If you were to replace the “for all have” with “Mike Holleman has” sinned, or insert your own name into the scripture it reminds us of our sin and failure. I am broken. I am guilty. I am a mess-up. I am depraved. I am deserving of death. We really, could replace any name or group of people in that picture, “Republicans have sinned…” “Democrats have sinned…” “The Church has sinned…” The painful truth is that we all are in the same predicament. Whether we want to recognize it or not, God is present. He sees us. He sees us in all of our “glory.”

All of us have sinned, are sinning and will sin in the future. Despite our best efforts to combat or curb sin, the fact is that we cannot and will not eliminate sin from our lives. Thankfully, this is not the end of the story, for God made a way for us.  Romans 5:6-8 expresses it well, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

This scripture brings hope. It means that sinners can saved by grace through faith. Christ died for the sinners. Does the Bible designate that only a few sins can be forgiven? NO! It says that sinners can be saved. It does not say that X sin will not be forgiven, or Y sin will not be forgiven. The only sin not forgiven is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (which is another discussion for a different time). We need to be preaching the gospel. We need to be preaching the transforming power of Christ.  

Up to this point, nothing there should shock anyone, right?  That is the story that has been the story for 2000 years. In that respect, nothing has changed. The world is populated with sinners and Jesus made a way. As Canadian pastor Carey Nieuhoff said, “The church as always been counter-cultural…and continues later saying…Being counter-cultural usually helps the church more than it hurts it.” Here is where the change needs to take place. God can and does work in the midst of every situation, whether we see it as good or bad.

Perhaps, we need to stop living too much into the culture, but attempt to be the Church. As Christians, we need to take a strong stand against ALL sins. We cannot (and should not) demonize some sins and whilst overlooking others. All lies are sin. All gossip is sin. All racism is sin. All theft is sin. All forms of sexual immorality are sin. As Christians, we cannot and should not be hypocritical picking out specific sins while neglecting the whole. We do it not in a spirit of judgment and condemnation, but in a spirit of love. We dialogue. We share. We show compassion. We help. We love. Moreover, we should do our best to proclaim that in love. We come not from a place where we are perfect, rather one where we have experienced grace and thus should extend grace as well. You have probably heard the quotation “The Church is a hospital not a museum of saints.” If the church were full of “perfect” people, no one would be there except Christ.

So in effect needs to change? I might argue is our Church. We still have the same Christ, who still offers the same love, the same grace, the same, mercy and the same forgiveness. The only necessary change is the one that we need to make in our hearts. Are we going to respond with fear or a renewed vigor for the church to stand against all sin, and to love our neighbors?

What do you think?

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

A Christian Aroma

This afternoon, I took one of those plug-in air fresheners and put it into one of the electrical sockets in the office. Even before turning it on, I could smell the aroma that was going to come from it. And when I plugged it in, it began to fill the office with whatever fragrance it is. I know however, that this fragrance, while initially strong, eventually, will taper off. It will be less powerful tomorrow and over the next few weeks, eventually needing to be replaced again. I also know that after a while the smell will not be so vibrant perhaps because my nose will become “desensitized” to it. Even when I eventually go to change it, there still will be a remnant of that fragrance.

As Christians, we at times can find ourselves in ruts, times where we may feel like we have distanced from God. And our faith, like the air freshener, begins to not “produce” as much as we once did. Perhaps we get distracted and pressured by the world. Perhaps some of us have gotten to the point that we are going through the motions. Remember what Christ had to say about this? Revelation 2:4-5 says, But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.  Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.” Well what are those works we did at first? Perhaps we have neglected the key areas of scripture and prayer which is our lifeline. If we ignore prayer and scripture, we quickly become dry. 

Some of us may say, well, I don’t know what to pray. I read a quote from John Bunyan, the author of The Pilgrims Progress who said/wrote, “When you pray, rather let your heart be without words then your words without heart.” It is ok to not know what to pray, You can sit in silence during a time of prayer, let out your heart to God. If we let our hearts out to God we know that he is listening.

What about scripture reading? Start slow, pray that God would meet you in your reading and that he would give you a thirst or a longing for the scriptures. It does not need to be a long time, but something that can be developed over time.  Perhaps use a devotional or go through a book of the Bible and read a bit a day, maybe look at some devotionals and listen to Christian pastors, I recommend Alistair Begg from Truth for Life.

I hope that these thoughts keep us on the track to continuing to be pursuing God and living as Christians and producing an “aroma” that is honoring and glorifying to the Lord. 

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Going on Vacation?

A few weeks ago, we went to Michigan to celebrate my grandfather’s 90th birthday. At the party, they had their family Bible there and inside of the Bible was a crude “bulletin” that we had made as kids for our “Cottage Church” service. Enclosed in the contents was an order of worship containing “solos” by cousins, a sermon by my grandfather and aunt, among other things. We may have not been at a “church” service that day, but we certainly took time to worship, even while we were on vacation.
Now that school has let out for the summer, vacation is a time that just about everyone anticipates. We ask our eldest son, Joshua, how many days until we are going on vacation, and he proudly gives us the correct number. It is good to be excited for vacation and a time of rest is something that God has commanded as a good thing! (If you are wondering about that, I would encourage you to look at a previous blog about the Sabbath located here.) But as vacation is on our minds, and our church attendance will certainly be experiencing the “summer numbers” trend, I thought I would take a moment exhorting all of us to not take a “vacation” from God.
For most of us, vacation is a time of refreshment and renewal. It is a time to reconnect with our spouse, to spend some time catching up with family, and a time to create memories doing various things that you might not do on a regular basis, but we may need to remember an essential part of our family, and that is God, right?
Many times we find ourselves very busy and as a result we cut out things in our daily routine and often the thing that gets “axed” is the most important part of the day, and that is time spent with God. I know that in my life there have been times where I say, “I need to get back on track with God. I need to get back to (Prayer, Scripture Reading, etc) and I will do it tomorrow...and then a few days pass, a week passes, and maybe longer.
Vacation can exacerbate a problem of “spiritual dryness” by getting us out of the routine.   But the reality is that we need to develop a thirst for it. Scripture should be something that we long for, God is what we should long for. Better than McDonald’s fries, the more of God that we get the more we should want! In a time of distress, David wrote, “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So i have looked upon you in the sanctuary beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as i live; in your name I will lift up my hands.” (Psalm 63:1-4)

How then should we set up our vacation for success? Here are some suggestions that I am going to try out myself:

1. Prioritize Prayer. Perhaps the most important thing that we can do is pray. Prayer is communication with God, right? While we are catching up with our family, Talk to God! Tell him the things that are stressing you out, and upsetting you.  Charles Spurgeon once said, “A true prayer is an inventory of needs, a catalog of necessities, an exposure of secret wounds, a revelation of hidden poverty.” Use prayer ad a time to receive from God as well. Consider some time of silence.
2. Scriptural Start. For some, vacations can be less “scheduled” and more relaxed. So schedule some time scripture reading. For me, this time is best in the morning hopefully before the boys get up. Maybe you’re a night owl, make it work for you but, this will be well worth our time. Maybe something as little as 5 minutes...you can always add more time or "small" for you could be to read a small book of the Bible. Sometimes quality is more important than quantity. If you don’t want to take your Bible along....you can always download an app for your phone. I use Bible Gateway.
3. Traffic “Tune In”. Most vacations involve road trips. Take some time and turn on the Christian Radio. For those who may struggle finding a Christian radio Station, or would like a break from it perhaps you would consider an audiobook or CD series. While we certainly could choose any genre, consider a Christian book. Last year we read Not a Fan by Kyle Idelman by taking turns with the physical book. This year, for our trip, I did not procrastinate and I purchased Satisfied by Jeff Manion from Barnes and Noble online on CD. There are a lot of books available in audio form. Another great way would be to purchase it from Audible.com or download the app from your phone! (For those with kids, maybe something such as the Adventures in Odyssey series. We are trying this out for the first time this year).

What are some of your suggestions? What has worked for you? Leave a message in the comments. I would love to hear from you!

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Mother's Day and Father's Day

Last week, I alluded to holidays in which I must “tread lightly” and I address two additional holidays today: Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. I have preached at least one “Father’s Day” type sermon while I was interning at First Reformed in Sully IA centering on the Father in the Prodigal son, who of course represents our heavenly father and it was “God, thank you for fathers who…” I do not think that I have even preached a “Mother’s Day” sermon.  These two holidays are another occasion where we need to season things with a little pastoral salt. I must pay careful attention to additional circumstances.

Why do I feel this way? What could I be thinking? You may think, Pastor Mike, I do not see anything wrong with these types of sermons and I wish you would preach them. Well, I have a few reasons that I would like to share with you from some from personal thoughts, others from friends, family members and other pastors.

1.      Once again, our focus should always be on God. We certainly should be thankful for our mothers, fathers and those who have formed us, but to honor them over Christ is not something that we should do. I do not want to be redundant, but in lieu of last week’s blog, it seems like it is.

2.      We should be sensitive to those who are silently suffering. Miscarriage. Infertility. These words are taboo in the church despite the fact that is present in the Bible. These issues are incredibly real and cut close to the heart causing pain and anguish for many. Chances are members of our congregation are afflicted by or know someone who is afflicted by infertility. We do not always talk about it. Couples may not want everyone to hear that story and thus they keep it concealed from everyone. We may have someone mourning the loss of a parent recently or may be mourning/lamenting that “I will not be a father/mother”. This may make Mother’s/Father’s Day a really hard day for them as they may be “wishing” for something different or “lamenting” their current situation.

3.      How might someone who had broken/poor/non-existent relationships with their parents receive these sermons? I am blessed in my life to be born into a situation where my parents were married, supportive, and caring (and they still are). However, as sin and brokenness continues to alter the lives of our families, we begin to see a plethora of family situations. We have single-parent families, divorced families, re-marriages, children living in foster situations. Some of those children do not have a positive relationship with a father or a mother. There may be pain, there may be bitterness, there may be hurt. For them to hear a sermon honoring fathers may not be incredibly helpful.

For these reasons, I think we need to be careful in potentially “topic-focused” subjects on these days. The Bible certainly should be our guide in following God as parents, children, spouses, etc. and change our lives. Nevertheless, we do not need to use a specific day for it.

What are your thoughts about “Mother’s Day” and “Father’s Day” Sermons?  Please leave a comment and chime in!

(Are we) Singing Patriotic Hymns this week?

As a pastor, one of the times where I have to tread lightly are on the times of “holidays” that do not have a strong (or really any) significance for the church.  The holidays I am thinking of but are not limited to are Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Presidents Day, Martin Luther King Jr Day, etc. Each one of these days certainly has significance and I do not want to discredit that. However, instituting patriotic hymns, can detract from the real reason that we are worshiping this Sunday (and every week) and that is because of our Triune God. When we take a look at a number of those patriotic hymns, the emphasis many times is on the beauty of America, the wonderful America and not on the wonderful God who gave us our lives and our nation. Singing these hymns for us detracts from the redemptive work of Jesus Christ whose blood purchased pardon for us. We certainly can and should pledge our allegiance to our nation, we have to remember that our allegiance should first belong to the one who deserves all of the praise and glory. Our worship is reserved for God and God alone, not our nation. As the scriptures say, “Thou shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3) Let our focus be on worshiping God not ourselves.

Secondly, we should be sensitive towards those around us. While this is probably more applicable for those in larger cities, we must remember that Christianity encompasses more than just the United States of America. If we were worshiping at a church in Canada, Germany or Japan and they began to sing songs about their nation being wonderful, would we perhaps cringe a little bit? A worship service should be a safe place for all. Our worship then, should reflect what God wants from us.  Revelation 7:9 says, “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages…” If we are singing songs about our nation, we may be unintentionally sending a message that God only is for the United States, which clearly is not the case.

I am thankful to God for those who have valiantly served. It is not my intent to “slight” or diminish the sacrifices that they have made. As an American and as a Christian it is my privilege and really my duty to honor those brave men, women and military families who have sacrificed so much for our freedom and safety as a nation. You may hear me say a prayer of thanksgiving on Sunday, but the day that we focus on that should be Monday not the Lord’s Day.

“Scripture quotations are from the ESV^® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

PS There are a number of blogs and discussions about this topic on the web, I did peruse them in preparation for the blogs. I don’t remember all of them but I thank them for their contributions to the discussion.

Some samples are here.

http://www.churchleaders.com/pastors/preaching-teaching/148369-nationalism-or-christianity.html

http://www.ccwatershed.org/blog/2014/jul/4/should-we-sing-patriotic-hymns-mass/

http://redcardigan.blogspot.com/2011/09/patriotic-hymns-at-mass-yes-or-no.html

Sabbath

Image Courtesy mjimages

For many Sabbath may look like the picture above. Doing nothing.What is the Sabbath and what does it mean for us? Ideas of Sabbath could be arranged on a very diverse spectrum. Today, you might say that some of us do not really celebrate a Sabbath at all and thus there are no restrictions, while others may have been restricted to the point that they could not play outside and were only allowed to read books and attend church. Sabbath was equivalent to  Sunday and it meant there was no shopping or going out for dinner, but it was a “quiet” day with special clothes that you could not get dirty. What was your thought of Sabbath?

Two weeks ago, Krystal and I went to the RHMA Small Town Pastors Conference in Morton, Illinois. One of the seminars that we went to was led by Dr. Don and Nell Sunukjian, who serve as professors at the Talbot School of Theology. The title of the seminar was “Stamina and Joy for the Long Haul.” One of the major perspectives of their view for joy and stamina was a recovery of the Sabbath. And while it is fresh in my mind I share these ideas with you…

As Dr. Sunukijan reminds us, The Sabbath was instituted before the law in creation. Genesis 2:3-5 says, “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. ² And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. ³ So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” The “Law” does not appear until Exodus. God rests. God, who is omnipotent (meaning all powerful) rested. God does not require rest however he demonstrates for us a practical and important lesson. We need to rest…maybe physically but also mentally. We cannot go 7 days a week.

If God takes a rest, then we certainly should as well. It is essential for us to do that, but practically speaking, how can we do that? Well, the Biblical pattern is one day of rest with six work days. For Pastors and their families, Sunday is not a practical day to take a “Sabbath”….because they are preaching, teaching and separate for a portion of the day. A Sabbath is something for the entire family, for us to reconnect with one another.   Set a day in the week and make it the Sabbath. Don’t do your normal work meaning the work that you would do for income or your “regular work.” So stay at home moms, you should celebrate this as well…no Laundry that day! By all means as the Sunukijans suggest, feed your family, that does not keep you from familial responsibility…but rather job responsibilities. And maybe fulfill your responsibilities in a way that grows you.

On the Sabbath, it is ok “to work” doing things that will reinvigorate you…for my Father, that means he can garden….for you that might mean baking cookies for a friend or with your kids. Use the Sabbath to connect to grow and to refresh. Don’t keep on going through all 7 days. It is not God’s intention for you or for me. The Sabbath is a gift to us….unwrap it and enjoy it. Pick a day a week as a family, mark it as a Sabbath and see how it changes your outlook.

“Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”