There is a body of water in Massachusetts called Lake Char. That, at any rate, is its' English name taken from a species of trout. The Indians, however, gave it a different moniker, a 44-letter word meaning, "You-fish-on-your-side-I-fish-on-my-side-nobody-fishes-in-the-middle." The United States Board of Geographic Names reports that it intends to stick with "Lake Char." Too bad, I say.
What I mean by that is that even though the Native American name is unwieldly, it certainly has character! It also says something about the culture that once surrounded the lake. I wonder if we could play a similar game with church names? We give them nice, presentable titles, usually something about God, the Bible, or the street where the church building is located, but what if we gave them titles that really describe what goes on in those churches?
How about, "You-sit-in-your-pew-I-sit-in-my-pew-nobody-sits-on-the-front-pew"? It would certainly tell us something about the boundaries that often throttle our brotherhood/fellowship and leaves visitors on the outside with nowhere to sit at all. What do you think of, "You-have-your-friends-I-have-my-friends-nobody-makes-new-friends"? That one might help us figure out why visitors or even new members sometimes fail to be tied into, assimilated into the Body of Christ, our local New Testament Baptist Church. Here is an interesting one, "You-will-not-forgive-me-I-will-not-forgive-you-everybody-else-needs-to-choose-sides"? This one would help us to understand why some churches dry up spiritually, become stagnant and die.
But the term "church", as we have it in the New Testament, really means "the called ones" or "called out assembly." The true confession and position of the Body of Christ is "You-leave-your-side-I-leave-my-side-everybody-meets-in-the-middle-with-God's-love-and-let's-serve-the-Lord-together." May God make us just such a church! When that happens, we will quit worrying about protecting our favorite spot - we will quit worrying about showing off our catch and we can start looking around for someone to help us haul it in (Luke 5:1-11)!
Go Fish,
Pastor David Blevins
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Smile, You're On Candid Camera!
I was thinking about Jehu not long ago. Do you remember Jehu? He was the man who was very anxious to show his "zeal for the LORD." According to the text in 2 Kings 10:15,16 this evidently involved taking a chariot ride with the future monarch. Put that alongside 2 Kings 9:20, and we get some insight into what this zealot considered religious behavior: "The driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously."
Well, based on that standard, we Baptists ought to be right smack dab in the middle of one great revival for we love to think we are in a NASCAR race when we drive!
This Old Testament passage occurs to me almost every time that I am cruising the highways around Richmond. I guess you could even call it a religious experience, since the four-lanes are filled with crazy drivers of the Jehu-variety!
That is, until they spy the Photocop.
Do you know about the Photocop? It is a camera set at license plate level or higher and rigged to a radar device, stop light, or toll booth. If you drive faster than the posted speed limit, run a red light, or try to skip out on paying the toll fee, a switch is flipped and the machine photographs your license plate number. The department of Motor Vehicles will then send you a ticket along with a nice note and no, you cannot order 8x10 glossies or even wallet size!
That makes me think of another Bible text - Revelation 20:12, which says, "and the books were opened...and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works."
God is sort of like the ultimate Photocop and He is not limited to one intersection in one city, nor only to traffic violations (Prov. 5:21; Prov. 15:3).
Like the Photocop machine, God's judgment is delayed, but no less certain (Heb. 9:27). However, the Good News is that God the Father is willing to expunge your record - to expose the sin negatives of your life to the dazzling light of His Son's (Jesus) love. So, let me ask you - is the film clean? Do you know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? If not, then please trust Him and get saved today by repenting of your sins, asking Him to cleanse you from every one of your sins, and inviting Him to live in your heart!
Smile, and say...Jesus,
Pastor David Blevins
Well, based on that standard, we Baptists ought to be right smack dab in the middle of one great revival for we love to think we are in a NASCAR race when we drive!
This Old Testament passage occurs to me almost every time that I am cruising the highways around Richmond. I guess you could even call it a religious experience, since the four-lanes are filled with crazy drivers of the Jehu-variety!
That is, until they spy the Photocop.
Do you know about the Photocop? It is a camera set at license plate level or higher and rigged to a radar device, stop light, or toll booth. If you drive faster than the posted speed limit, run a red light, or try to skip out on paying the toll fee, a switch is flipped and the machine photographs your license plate number. The department of Motor Vehicles will then send you a ticket along with a nice note and no, you cannot order 8x10 glossies or even wallet size!
That makes me think of another Bible text - Revelation 20:12, which says, "and the books were opened...and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works."
God is sort of like the ultimate Photocop and He is not limited to one intersection in one city, nor only to traffic violations (Prov. 5:21; Prov. 15:3).
Like the Photocop machine, God's judgment is delayed, but no less certain (Heb. 9:27). However, the Good News is that God the Father is willing to expunge your record - to expose the sin negatives of your life to the dazzling light of His Son's (Jesus) love. So, let me ask you - is the film clean? Do you know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? If not, then please trust Him and get saved today by repenting of your sins, asking Him to cleanse you from every one of your sins, and inviting Him to live in your heart!
Smile, and say...Jesus,
Pastor David Blevins
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Running For God
In Homer's Iliad, there is a scene where Achilles, hero of the Greeks, faces Hector, the Trojan general, in battle. Hector loses his nerve and makes a run for it so that the two warriors end up staging a three-lap footrace around the walls of Troy.
Describing the scene, the blind poet writes, "good was the man that fled, but far better was he that followed after, and swiftly indeed did they run, for the prize was no mere beast fro sacrifice or bullock's hide, as it might be for a common footrace, but they ran for the life of Hector."
That particular line reminds me of Paul's words to the Corinthians in I Corinthians 9:24, 25. Using the image of the Greek games the Apostle Paul makes a couple of statements that parallel the scene from the Iliad.
First of all, a race can only have one winner. Either Achilles will slice Hector's head off, or Hector will disappear into the city gates, out of danger. In the Christian life, we either gain the prize or we leave the field to the enemy, Satan.
Secondly, the prize motivates the effort. Hector ran harder than he might have under other circumstances; Paul realizes that an athlete might be able to live without a crown of laurel leaves. However, we run for an imperishable crown for the glory of God!
So the Christian is highly motivated in both directions. Negatively, the price of defeat looms large, while the positive prize drives us forward. A final thought: Hector loses in the end because the wily goddess Minerva tricks him into stopping when he should have continued to run. How blessed we are to know that we serve the true God (Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18) who never leads us astray; who gives us strength to continue rather than an excuse for quitting (Isa. 40:31).
So, lace up your shoes and run to win. Refuse to slacken your pace until the gates of that glorious eternal city close about you!
Don't Walk With The Devil - Run For God,
Pastor David Blevins
Describing the scene, the blind poet writes, "good was the man that fled, but far better was he that followed after, and swiftly indeed did they run, for the prize was no mere beast fro sacrifice or bullock's hide, as it might be for a common footrace, but they ran for the life of Hector."
That particular line reminds me of Paul's words to the Corinthians in I Corinthians 9:24, 25. Using the image of the Greek games the Apostle Paul makes a couple of statements that parallel the scene from the Iliad.
First of all, a race can only have one winner. Either Achilles will slice Hector's head off, or Hector will disappear into the city gates, out of danger. In the Christian life, we either gain the prize or we leave the field to the enemy, Satan.
Secondly, the prize motivates the effort. Hector ran harder than he might have under other circumstances; Paul realizes that an athlete might be able to live without a crown of laurel leaves. However, we run for an imperishable crown for the glory of God!
So the Christian is highly motivated in both directions. Negatively, the price of defeat looms large, while the positive prize drives us forward. A final thought: Hector loses in the end because the wily goddess Minerva tricks him into stopping when he should have continued to run. How blessed we are to know that we serve the true God (Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18) who never leads us astray; who gives us strength to continue rather than an excuse for quitting (Isa. 40:31).
So, lace up your shoes and run to win. Refuse to slacken your pace until the gates of that glorious eternal city close about you!
Don't Walk With The Devil - Run For God,
Pastor David Blevins
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Pining For You
In "Big Two-Hearted River", Ernest Hemingway pictures his hero, Nick Adams, tramping through a fire-gutted forest, seeking a spot for trout fishing. When Nick gains the edge of the burned-over swath, the first vegetation that greets his eyes is pine trees - jack pines to be exact.
Susan Schmidt of the University of South Carolina commented on this detail in an article that would be found in a past issue of The Hemingway Review. She writes, "Jack pines...are well adapted to fire ecology; in fact, jack pines need fire to be able to re-seed. A forest fire may kill individual trees but the continuation of the forest depends upon periodic fires. Seed cones can stay at the top of the trees as long as twenty-five years waiting for a fire. The extreme heat melts the pine cones so that the seeds can be released." She goes on to describe the custom of French Canadian woodsmen, who used to believe that jack pines poisoned the soil. "No superstitious woodsman would chop down a jack pine, but would burn it to 'kill it', thereby allowing it to re-seed."
All of this makes me think of verses like James 1:3, 4 which tells us that the trying (the Greek word means "to burn") of our faith produces patience which leads to maturity in our Christian walk. From time to time, faith fires crackle across the life of a believer, leaving him with the "burnt-out" feeling so common in our stressful time. We tend to react (or even over react) with sorrow, and we are very quick on the draw to complain to God about the crisis. We should learn our lesson well and be just as quick to realize that the Master Forester knows His business, and He is engaging in some jack pine faith ecology. There are seed cones of faith, talent, prayer, and ministry perched high atop our lives somewhere, and only the fires of trial can release them. An individual blaze may destroy a cherished dream, but it is so vital to the continuation of the Kingdom work as a whole.
So, if you feel burned up, burned out, or just plain burned - glorify God! You and I often only see the tree - But God looks at the pine cones and sees the forest. Even if the enemy (Satan) were to set a blaze in an attempt to destroy you, he did the one thing that assures spiritual survival on your part! Why? Because the flames of persecution and the blood of the martyrs have always been a driving catalyst in the growth of the church (Read the book of Acts and The Martyr's Mirror).
Pining For You,
Pastor David Blevins
Susan Schmidt of the University of South Carolina commented on this detail in an article that would be found in a past issue of The Hemingway Review. She writes, "Jack pines...are well adapted to fire ecology; in fact, jack pines need fire to be able to re-seed. A forest fire may kill individual trees but the continuation of the forest depends upon periodic fires. Seed cones can stay at the top of the trees as long as twenty-five years waiting for a fire. The extreme heat melts the pine cones so that the seeds can be released." She goes on to describe the custom of French Canadian woodsmen, who used to believe that jack pines poisoned the soil. "No superstitious woodsman would chop down a jack pine, but would burn it to 'kill it', thereby allowing it to re-seed."
All of this makes me think of verses like James 1:3, 4 which tells us that the trying (the Greek word means "to burn") of our faith produces patience which leads to maturity in our Christian walk. From time to time, faith fires crackle across the life of a believer, leaving him with the "burnt-out" feeling so common in our stressful time. We tend to react (or even over react) with sorrow, and we are very quick on the draw to complain to God about the crisis. We should learn our lesson well and be just as quick to realize that the Master Forester knows His business, and He is engaging in some jack pine faith ecology. There are seed cones of faith, talent, prayer, and ministry perched high atop our lives somewhere, and only the fires of trial can release them. An individual blaze may destroy a cherished dream, but it is so vital to the continuation of the Kingdom work as a whole.
So, if you feel burned up, burned out, or just plain burned - glorify God! You and I often only see the tree - But God looks at the pine cones and sees the forest. Even if the enemy (Satan) were to set a blaze in an attempt to destroy you, he did the one thing that assures spiritual survival on your part! Why? Because the flames of persecution and the blood of the martyrs have always been a driving catalyst in the growth of the church (Read the book of Acts and The Martyr's Mirror).
Pining For You,
Pastor David Blevins
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