Mile High Rev

REVerie - Point of Faith to Air My Sermon on "God & Government"

AM91 - Denver's Point of Faith.

Some dear friends who are on staff at a local Christian radio station – AM91 – Point of Faith - in Denver, were in church a few weekends ago when I preached a sermon from Romans 13 on “God and Government.”  They apparently felt it might be something they could broadcast prior to the election next Tuesday.  So I think they are planning to air it on Sunday afternoon at 4:00 pm.  I haven’t heard the promo yet, but a friend did and I think he told me it would on Sunday at 4:00 pm.  If you want to make sure, you can contact the station at the link above.

Don’t expect an endorsement of a Presidential candidate!  Expect the Biblical perspective on the relationship between Christians and their government!  I felt very honored by their request to air the sermon.  Hopefully, it won’t get me in trouble! 

REVrant 42.11 - Pastoral Reboot

I’ve been in the process of transferring files and programs from my crashed computer to a new one the past week.  I tried to salvage the old computer, but it only runs in “safe mode” now, and that’s unacceptable for the kind of work I need to do.  For example, I can’t print in safe mode, or access the Internet, or run my anti-virus program.  As part of the process, I’ve “rebooted” the old computer a dozen or more times.  Fortunately, I’ve made good progress in getting the old files onto my new machine.

You all know about “rebooting.”  Turn it off.  Turn it back on.  Watch all those programs and files reload.  Listen as the hard drive spins and the fan starts up.  Watch the computer return to it’s previous state….hopefully, that is! (Mine hasn’t!)

As I’ve focused on the computer, I thought about the “Fall Break” Jan and I normally take at this time of the year.  For the past five years or so, we’ve been attending a conference during the first weekend of November, and then follow that up with a week of vacation.  It became a tradition. Until this year.

This year is different.  This year, both Jan and I felt the need to “reboot” during our scheduled time away.  (I used the word “un-plug” with a friend in an email today.)  We’ve been pushing hard, running fast, and battling during a very dark ministry season – October is always a dark month, but this October has been intensely so.  Ironically (and thankfully) the October ‘08 darkness has not been rooted in all too typical church problems like gossip, staff infections, and relational disharmony.  Praise the Lord, He is sweeping that away. 

No, this darkness has been more about battling the powers of evil in the lives of hurting people, through the pain of their physical brokenness, and through a raging internal spiritual battle that has the potential to lead to discouragement and depression.  It’s been tough.  I’m not surprised.  But I am surprised by the palpability of it.  I feel it as I type these words. 

So, we’re going to “reboot” for the first two weeks of November.  Step #1 – Un-plug.  2# – Let the machine cool down to room temperature.  #3 – Scan for viruses.  #4 – Eventually, turn the computer back on with an optimized hard drive operating at full speed.  It has to be done to make sure the machine is operating the way it was designed to work.

Jan and I would appreciate your prayers for our “pastoral reboot.”  It starts Friday morning – 10/31/08.  I won’t be preaching for the next two weekends. (This weekend – Pastor Kelly, and the next weekend – Pastor Hart!)  We hope to come back with passion, energy, and a healthy and recovered operating system.  (Until then, blogging may be light.)

REVrant 42.10 - Apple pledges $100K in Calif. gay marriage fight

Apple pledges $100K in Calif. gay marriage fight - The Denver Post.

Makes me glad I own a PC.

…And makes me wonder about sending my Ipod back to the manufacturer.

…And makes me wonder about turning my Levi’s into “yard work” clothes.

…Actions have consequences.

REVved - I VOTED TODAY

Today was the day!  Jan and I received our mail-in ballots recently, but hadn’t found the time to look at each item on the two page (legal size) front and back ballot.  I’ve been discussing the length of the ballot with some friends.  It’s long!  Another friend emailed to say that four of the proposed amendments had been withdrawn.  Then there was the challenge of deciding about approving the continuation of several judges, about whom I know absolutely nothing.  I don’t recall the voting process ever being this challenging.  But, we got it done, and plan to drop the ballots off at the Jefferson County government building “drop-off” site today.  

It feels good to have completed my civic duty to vote today.  I hope you will all do the same.  I am not officially registered with a specific political party, as I think it is important to vote according to my conscience and on the basis of moral issues.  There are moral issues at stake in this election!  Be sure to vote.  

REVrant 42.9 - Computer Failure

Yes, it happened on Saturday afternoon, just as I was preparing to print my sermon notes.  The computer screen went to the BSOD – “Blue Screen of Death.”  My computer “crashed.”  Providentially, and abnormally, I had printed out a draft on Thursday of about 85% of my typical sermon notes.  After fiddling around for an hour, I knew there was to be no easy fix. 

I had to leave the house by 5:15 pm, and it was nearly 5:00 pm.  I hand-wrote what I could get off the computer…I was able to view the document file in “Safe Mode” but could not print anything.

After the Saturday night service, I was able to get into “Safe Mode” and copy the document I had been working on all afternoon to a flash drive.  I took it over to my laptop, loaded the document file, installed a printer driver, and got the the sermon printed in time for Sunday morning. 

I blocked it all out of my mind to concentrate on people and preaching on Sunday!  My sermon was titled – “Why The Church Can’t Operate Like American Idol.”  The text was Romans 14:1–13a.  The theme was obvious – DON’T JUDGE EACH OTHER!  As I was in the middle of the computer battle, it occurred to me that Satan certainly wouldn’t want people in the church to stop “judging” one another.  Maybe some of the technology distraction was spiritual warfare?

Thankfully, I have my laptop as a back-up.  I’m guessing that the desktop is headed to the computer cemetery.  Hopefully, I will be able to retrieve the files I need prior to the “funeral.”

REVrant 42.8 - What To Do About Your Financial Worries

I’ve never seen people more worried about money.  I have some empathy.  I received my quarterly retirement fund statement – through September 30, 2008 - and nearly choked at how much I lost since January.  And then Jan reminded me that October’s record-setting losses weren’t even included in those figures.  BIG losses, “my friends” (<—in the words of John McCain).  Five figure losses, to be more precise!

So, should I be worried? Not according to God. 

“Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” Matthew 6:25–27

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34

Jan’s grandmother (Anne Smith) had a little sign in her home that she passed on to her daughter (my mother-in-law) who has since passed it on to Jan.  I scanned it below. 

In case you can’t read it, here it is again:

                 WHY?

Said the Sparrow to the Robin:

I should really like to know,

Why these anxious human beings

Rush about and worry so.

 

Said the Robin to the Sparrow:

I think that it must be

That they have no Heavenly Father,

Such as cares for you and me.

REVrant 42.7 - Have They No Shame? AIG Executives Rack Up a Reported $86,000 Tab During Hunting Trip

FOXNews.com - AIG Executives Rack Up a Reported $86,000 Tab During Hunting Trip.

Last week, it was the posh $440,000 weekend retreat. 

This week, it’s an $86,000 hunting trip in England. 

Yes, that’s right, AIG (the insurance company we taxpayers bailed out) has taken another luxury trip.  Oh, you’ll read about it being planned “before the bailout,” as though somehow that softens the blow.  Remember that the government bailed this company out – bottom line – $123 BILLION dollars.  And they use some flimsy excuse about the trip being “pre-planned.”

 

AIG Executives…listen up….CANCEL ALL FUTURE TRIPS, JUNKETS, EXCURSIONS, TOURS, CRUISES, VOYAGES, HUNTING TRIPS, PARTIES AND GOLF OUTINGS!  “Pre-planned” or not!  It’s time to tighten the financial belt!  You can’t spend like you used to any more.  Your government (we, the taxpayers) has saved you from financial disaster.  Would it hurt you to show that you noticed?

These guys make me think of Proverbs 22:1 – “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than gold.”  They are missing the boat on both – “a good name” and “to be esteemed.”  Right now, sadly, these AIG guys have neither.

REVrant 42.6 - School Field Trip to Teacher's Lesbian Wedding

FOXNews.com - School Field Trip to Teacher's Lesbian Wedding Sparks Controversy.

FIRST-GRADERS!  Yes, some San Francisco first-graders were taken on a “field trip” to their lesbian teacher’s same-sex wedding on Friday.  A school official referred to the wedding trip as a “teachable moment.”  The students apparently tossed rose petals on their teacher and her “wife.”

What was being “taught” in this “teachable moment?”  That’s it’s OK for two women to get married to each other.  That marriage isn’t just for a man and a woman.  That as long as people love each other, their gender doesn’t matter when it comes to being married.

A Bible text came to mind as I read this story on the Internet today.  Luke 17:2–3a – “It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.  So watch yourselves.”

I would not want to be the one responsible for taking first-graders to a lesbian wedding. 

How many times have I heard it – “Why do you care what two consenting adults do?”  The answer in this case could not be clearer…two reasons: 1) God’s standards (and I know this is a minority view), and 2) Pliable minds (I guarantee you these kids will never forget attending this twisted event).  The teacher and the school recklessly imposed this perverse activity on innocent children in a so-called “teachable moment.” 

Lord have mercy.

REVrant 42.5 - Pastors Can Say/Pray the Goofiest Things

CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time - Blogs from CNN.com.

A pastor delivering an invocation for a John McCain rally in Davenport, Iowa prayed the following yesterday:

“There are millions of people around this world praying to their god—whether it’s Hindu, Buddha, Allah—that his opponent wins, for a variety of reasons. And Lord, I pray that you will guard your own reputation, because they’re going to think that their God is bigger than you, if that happens!” 

Arnold Conrad, the former pastor of Grace Evangelical Free Church in Davenport, is the culprit.  Pastor, please.  It’s episodes like this that make American evangelical pastors look ignorant, backwoods, and desperate.  Like God was going to panic when He heard that prayer and make sure He shows He’s the BIGGEST and BEST GOD by having John McCain get elected.  Seriously? 

I know what happened between Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel, but this isn’t that.  God’s reputation doesn’t depend on getting a certain candidate into the White House.  And it certainly won’t make God a loser if it’s Obama.

REVrant 42.4 - "Lovers of Money" in the "Last Days"

Let’s start with the Bible.  Earlier tonight, while reading what Paul wrote to a young guy named Timothy, I was struck by the way Paul shrewdly diagnoses the current disease in the U.S.  Read this:

1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.  (II Timothy 3:1–5)

These are obviously “terrible times.” We all know this is the worst economic time in America since The Great Depression in 1929. The stock market is in a free-fall.  No one knows where it’s going to end.  Most of us with retirement investments have lost 40% in one year. People everywhere are asking, “How did this happen?  And then to rub salt into our wounds, we read about one of the companies the government bailed out – AIG – taking a $440,000 pleasure junket to the posh St. Regis Hotel on the Pacific Coast in California – AFTER getting an economic bailout with OUR tax dollars!  Have these people no shame? 

At the risk of being thought simplistic, I believe that the Bible captures the heart of the cause – we’ve become a nation of “money-lovers!”

v. 2 – “lovers of money.”  And…”boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy…without self-control…treacherous, rash, conceited, and lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.” (To cite some of the things from the list above!)

Yes, I believe our current financial crisis is a symptom of much deeper spiritual problems.  The Bible tells us it is going to be this way in the “last days.”  Sure seems like “last days” to me when I read the list.  I could provide multiple illustrations for every point in the list Paul provides. 

If Americans don’t stop living like this, they can expect more of the same. 

It’s time for America to turn back to God and godly living.  Nothing else is going to turn things around.  Billion dollar bailouts don’t work! (As we’ve seen.)  Who moves into the White House isn’t the ultimate answer.  (As we will see.)  Financial advisors (God love them…) don’t know how to stop this. 

I love the way the Psalmist puts it in Psalm 42:11 – 

“Why are you downcast, O my soul?  Why so disturbed within me?  PUT YOUR HOPE IN GOD, for I will yet praise Him my Savior and my God.”