Category Archives: Uncategorized

Falling Out of Love

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How did you celebrate Valentine’s Day?  We spent it huddled inside as Snowpocalypse 2021 descended.  Our family celebration with its hand-made cards and home-made fondue is postponed until the Winter Storm Warning expires.   But we do not need a day on the calendar, and more importantly, we must not wait for a day on the calendar to express love for loved ones.   

Roses, chocolates, and Hallmark cards are not to be despised.  That is unless that is all there is.    Our love must never be a casual thing.  We speak of “falling in love” and “falling out of love” as though it is a sickness or spontaneous whim.    But whirlwind romances lead to precipitous marriages then often to heartbreaking divorces as men and women follow only their heart’s desire.  

But love is not a thing to be fallen into or out of.  It grows out of commitment and grows into even greater commitment.   We don’t make vows to love one another so long as we both shall “feel like it.” Do you remember your wedding vows?  Perhaps you remember saying, “I do,” but do you remember what you agreed to when you said it?  As a pastor, I get to stand with couples as they make vows to live as husband and wife “for as long as [they] both shall live.”  

For newlyweds this day is a day of joy, celebration, and anticipation.  The weightiness of their vows waits for the happy couple in their future.  But as a pastor, I also walk with couples to the end of this vow through the valley the shadow of death.  As joyful as it is to hear couples recite vows at their wedding, it is a pastor’s sacred privilege to observe vows faithfully discharged on a couple’s last day as husband and wife.

Not long ago, I sat with “June” at the bedside of her husband of sixty-nine years.   As his earthly life was fading, she told me the story of their life together.  It was a hard story.  A life of challenges, setbacks, disappointments, sickness and some good times too.   “How did you make it through?” I asked.  Never looking up, she quoted without hesitation.

“For whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.”

Ruth 1:16-17

As she spoke, I was struck by the remarkable picture of faithfulness.   That vow, so easily spoken seven decades earlier, had been faithfully kept through poverty and plenty, sickness and health, better and a great deal of worse.   It was not merely promised.  It was lived.    She had not lost her first love.   The intensity of her love for her beloved had not waned with adversity or prosperity or familiarity.  Quite the contrary, it had grown.    Romance may wane and take new forms, but love must grow.   When it does not grow, when it declines, when love for our beloved is diminished because of a growing love for ourselves, then something is dreadfully wrong.  Even if all seems well on the surface.

The Ephesian Church was a church on the move.   They were hard workers.  They were straight as an arrow, doctrinally.   They had solid elders who knew how to spot a fake, a mile away.   They strenuously resisted the compromising theology of the progressive Nicolaitans.   Though they lived in a city and culture, unpromising for the Christian faith, by all appearances, they were prospering as a church.  But for all their theological acumen, solid eldership, and commitment to hard work, they were missing the most important ingredient to the Christian life – a growing love for Christ and for one another.  

The Risen Christ makes a shocking accusation – “I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.”  For all their praiseworthy attributes, Jesus’ verdict is so serious that if not remedied, they would cease to be a church – “I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.”

How do we measure our health as a church?  By growth in numbers?  By increased giving?  By broader ministry reach into our community?  By powerful, theologically rich teaching?   Or by proven, solid leadership?   All these things are important.   But without love – growing love for Christ and for one another, all these excellent attributes are, in the words of Paul, “a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.”  Has the church abandoned its first love to pursue self-love?   Have you abandoned love for Christ and for one another in order to love and serve yourself?  

Jesus remarked, “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.” (John 13:34-35)   Do people recognize that we are followers of Jesus Christ by the way we love Him and one another?  If not, He is coming — coming to take our lampstand.

Join us this week as we continue our survey Revelation as we examine the first of the “Letters to the Seven Churches” and consider how this opening message to the Church at Ephesus is a warning to us of the danger of abandoning the love we had at first.

We meet on the square in Pottsville, right next to historic Potts’ Inn at 10:30 am for worship.  Get directions here or contact us for more info.  Or join us on Facebook Live @PottsvilleARP or YouTube. 

02/14/2021 | “Overwhelmed” | 2 Corinthians 4:7-18

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The events of 2020 were bad.   And, unfortunately, for many, 2021 may get worse.   As Christians, how do we respond when life is absolutely overwhelming?   We profess that our faith gives us strength “many trials of various kinds.”  We are instructed to “count it all joy.”   Yet, when things go from bad to worse, how do those scripture truths hold up as threads in the fabric of our lives.  How do we keep from being overwhelmed? Or do we? Or perhaps the question is not ‘how do we keep from being overwhelmed,’ but are we ‘overwhelmed by the wrong things?’  In 2 Corinthians 4, the Apostle Paul points to this paradox, as he writes.

We do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 

Paul admonishes us to be overwhelmed by the grace of God, not the gravity of the present crisis.   Are you overwhelmed?  Overwhelmed by fear of what will happen next?  Or overwhelmed with faith in the One who is the same yesterday, today and forever. Listen as we examine 2 Corinthians 4:7-18 and consider the calling as Christians to be overwhelmed by the things that will last forever. 

“Overwhelmed,” 2 Corinthians 4:7-18

Overwhelmed

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Are you overwhelmed yet?  Every sphere of life seems turned upside down right now.  Surely we have learned not to ask, “how much worse can it get?”   But with every news-cycle, the catalog of catastrophes expands.   While not to the level of the Biblical plagues, we can well imagine how the people of Ramses’ Egypt felt.   Just when you think it can’t get any worse, it does.    But as bad as the circumstances of last year have been, even worse are the downstream consequences.    Life has always been uncertain, but we feel it more keenly now.  And with that, mental, emotional, and spiritual crises have produced a far greater impact than the events that triggered them. 

A recent article in JAMA, makes some pretty startling observations.

Since February 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to at least 200 000 deaths in the US and 1 million deaths worldwide. These numbers probably underestimate COVID-19 deaths by 50%, with excess cardiovascular, metabolic, and dementia-related deaths likely misclassified COVID-19 deaths.

This devastating pandemic has affected nearly every aspect of daily life. While nations struggle to manage the initial waves of the death and disruption associated with the pandemic, accumulating evidence indicates another “second wave” is building: rising rates of mental health and substance use disorders.

This magnitude of death over a short period of time is an international tragedy on a historic scale. Focusing on the US, the number of deaths currently attributable to COVID-19 is nearly 4 times the number killed during the Vietnam War. This interpersonal loss at a massive scale is compounded by societal disruption. The necessary social distancing and quarantine measures implemented as mitigation strategies have significantly amplified emotional turmoil by substantially changing the social fabric by which individuals, families, communities, and nations cope with tragedy. The effect is multidimensional disruption of employment, finances, education, health care, food security, transportation, recreation, cultural and religious practices, and the ability of personal support networks and communities to come together and grieve.

A June 2020 survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of 5412 US adults found that 40.9% of respondents reported “at least one adverse mental or behavioral health condition,” including depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress, and substance abuse, with rates that were 3 to 4 times the rates 1 year earlier.2 Remarkably, 10.7% of respondents reported seriously considering suicide in the last 30 days.2 The sudden interpersonal loss associated with COVID-19, along with severe social disruption, can easily overwhelm the ways individuals and families cope with bereavement.

The events of 2020 were bad.   And, unfortunately, for many, 2021 may get worse.   As Christians, how do we respond when life is absolutely overwhelming?   We profess that our faith gives us strength “many trials of various kinds.”  We are instructed to “count it all joy.”   We declare that we can endure “all things through Christ who strengthens us.”   We have an expectation that things will work out because, “if God is for us, who can be against us.”  Yet, when things go from bad to worse, how do those scripture truths hold up as threads in the fabric of our lives.  How do we keep from being overwhelmed? Or do we?

Or perhaps the question is not ‘how do we keep from being overwhelmed,’ but are we ‘overwhelmed by the wrong things?’   The Apostle Paul points to this paradox, writing to the ancient Church at Corinth. 

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies….  So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 

2 Corinthians 4:8-10, 16-18

Through a remarkable series of comparisons, Paul admonishes us to be overwhelmed by the grace of God, not the gravity of the present crisis.   Perhaps our problem is that we are overwhelmed by the wrong things?   A friend once noted that ‘fear is simply faith pointed in the wrong direction.’  Are you overwhelmed?  Overwhelmed by fear of what will happen next?  Or overwhelmed with faith in the One who is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Join us this week as we examine 2 Corinthians 4:7-18 and consider the calling as Christians to be overwhelmed by the things that will last forever. 

We meet on the square in Pottsville, right next to historic Potts’ Inn at 10:30 am for worship.  Get directions here or contact us for more info.  Or join us on Facebook Live @PottsvilleARP or YouTube. 

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

02/07/2021 | “Moving Pictures” | Revelation 1:9-20

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All of us have been moved to sorrow, joy, reflection or action by an iconic song, picture or story.  But no story has more moving pictures than the story of redemption, unfolded in the Bible, with its themes of mercy and grace and good triumphing over evil.  A living and active story of a mighty hero who through self-sacrifice and great power defeated the arch-enemy of all men, sin and death.  In every vignette, every chapter, this story is unveiled.

Painted in the words of Scripture, these moving pictures reveal the presence and power of a Savior who is “God with Us.”  While Scripture never describes what Jesus looks like, it thoroughly describes what Jesus is like.   Nowhere is this idea more vividly portrayed than in John’s inaugural vision in the Revelation.   Join us this week as we continue our survey Revelation as we examine Revelation 1:9-20 and consider how this opening vision reveals, not what Jesus looks like, but what Jesus is like so we might fix our eyes on Him, know Him, and run with endurance.

“Moving Pictures,” Revelation 1:9-20

Moving Pictures

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Occupational therapy!  That’s what my CrossFit workouts resemble.  Occupational therapy teaches you how to do familiar things in a new and easier way in order to accommodate physical weaknesses or limitations.  I have come to accept that I am, almost without exception, the oldest guy in our CrossFit box.  I am the king of what they call “modifications” and “scaled” workouts.  Rare is the WOD in which I can click Rx on my results.   One modification, I have yet to be able to make, however, is to get the rest of my Wod-mates to accept and acknowledge that 80’s rock is the best music to set the pace for the workout.  My hips don’t hop, and the only pop I am concerned about is the pop in my knee.   

One of my favorites from those BC days was Rush.  Their innovative musicality coupled with evocative lyricism resonated with me as a teenager.   A favorite album was Moving Pictures.  The album’s concept was the great power of poetry and music to tell moving stories – moving pictures. 

Probably all of us have been moved to sorrow, joy, reflection or action by an iconic song, picture or story.  But no story has more moving pictures than the story of redemption, unfolded in the Bible, with its themes of mercy and grace and good triumphing over evil.  The Bible is no mere moralistic litany, it is a living and active story of a mighty hero who through self-sacrifice and great power defeated the arch-enemy of all men, sin and death.  In every vignette, every chapter, this story is unveiled.

Everywhere you look in scripture you see moving pictures of Jesus.  With Abraham on Mt. Moriah, Jesus is there.   With Mephibosheth at David’s table, Jesus is there.   With fearful disciples on the stormy Sea of Galilee, Jesus is there.   And in the midst of seven Asian churches facing persecution and turmoil, Jesus is there.   Painted in the words of Scripture, these moving pictures reveal the presence and power of a Savior who is “God with Us.” While Scripture never describes what Jesus looks like, it thoroughly describes what Jesus is like.  

Nowhere is this idea more vividly portrayed than in John’s inaugural vision in the Revelation.   This vision of Christ among the golden lampstands, is, as pastor Richard Phillips noted.

… representative of God’s intention for the entire book.  John is suffering oppression because of his faith in Jesus.  This first vision sets before him the sovereign glory of Christ, complete with emblems of his triumphant, saving work, so that John will be encourage to endure in worship of and service to his Lord.” 

Reformed Expository Commentary on Revelation, Richard Phillips.

We must fix our eyes on the mighty and victorious Jesus revealed only in Scripture.   Not just the Jesus who was, but the Jesus who is and who is to come.  The one who is the same yesterday, today and forever, the Living One, who died, but is now alive forevermore.  The One who holds the keys to death and hell.   As the author of Hebrews encourages us.

Run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:2-3

Adversity is ingrained in the Christian life.   Victory is gained not through avoiding, but overcoming it.   John Calvin observed, “the church of Christ has been so divinely constituted from the beginning that the Cross has been the way to victory, death the way to life.”  Strength to endure adversity, tribulation, and turmoil, comes not from some place deep within us, but from the depths of knowing Christ.  

Join us this week as we continue our survey Revelation as we examine Revelation 1:9-20 and consider how this opening vision reveals, not what Jesus looks like, but what Jesus is like so we might fix our eyes on Him, know Him, and run with endurance.

We meet on the square in Pottsville, right next to historic Potts’ Inn at 10:30 am for worship.  Get directions here or contact us for more info.  Or join us on Facebook Live @PottsvilleARP or YouTube. 

01/31/2020 | “Nom de Plume” | Revelation 1:4-8

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When writers attempt to gain credibility by assuming a false identity, this only exposes their fraud.   When a real author writes under his own name his life authenticates his work.  This is what makes the Bible so powerful.   Though God worked through human agents by the process of inspiration, the thoughts and the words are His thoughts and His words.  We see this powerfully in the Book of Revelation.   John is merely seer and scribe.  The comfort of these words flows not only from its vivid imagery, but from the character of its author.   As John pens the greeting, he is careful to describe the letter’s Divine Author. 

Join us this week as we continue our survey of the book of Revelation, examining Revelation 1:4-8 to consider how the letter’s greeting gives us key insights into the letter’s divine sender – insights which give needed comfort when our faith is challenged. 

“Nom de Plume,” Revelation 1:4-8

Nom de Plume

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Many of our favorite writers, like their creations, are fictional – at least as far as their names are concerned.  Writers often write and publish under a nom de plume, or pen-name.   Contemporary writers do this for a variety of reasons.   If they are well known, they may choose a pseudonym in order to publish in a different genre.  Or perhaps previous work was not well received and they want a fresh start with the public.   Some may have a common name shared with a famous copyrighted author.   But more typically, authors use a pen-name because discretion or social bias prevents them from publishing under their own name.

Probably, some of your favorite authors have written under a false identity.   Famous pseudonyms include Mark Twain, James Herriot, George Elliot, and even Dr. Seuss.  Pen names are hardly a modern innovation.   Voltaire, the Enlightenment skeptic, was a cover for François-Marie Arouet.  And in the early centuries of the Christian Church, there were a many works purported to be written by biblical patriarchs or New Testament characters.  

Written centuries after the canonical books of the New Testament, these pseudopigrapha, are constantly appearing on the cover of grocery store tabloids with the headline, “New Books of the Bible Found!”   Yet there is nothing new about them.   These writings, such as the Gospel of Judas, have been well known as frauds since they first appeared.  Often their authors assumed an apostolic identity to gain authority or credibility.  But the church has never been fooled.   These works of religious fiction never passed the litmus tests of apostolicity, orthodoxy, or catholicity demonstrated by the accepted books of the New Testament.   More than that, the works themselves bore no resemblance to what we know of the supposed authors from Scripture and early church history.  

Paradoxically, when writers attempt to gain credibility by assuming a respected identity, this only exposes their fraud.   When a real author writes under his own name his life authenticates his work.  It is impossible for the life of the writer not to express itself in his work.  This is what makes the Bible so powerful.   Though God worked through human agents by the process of inspiration, the thoughts and the words are His thoughts and His words.  The Bible is no mere human creation.  And its human authors, even when known, never claimed otherwise.   

When we come to the Book of Revelation, this is seen explicitly.  The human writer, the Apostle John, does not claim the work as his own in any way.   Right from the outset, he gives complete attribution to the one from whom the word is received.

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 

Revelation 1:1-2

John is merely seer and scribe.  But the content is the Lord’s.   Written in the form of a letter to comfort and encourage ancient Christians, this word is also for us.   Its comfort flows not only from its vivid imagery, but from the character of its author.   As John pens the greeting, he is careful to describe the letter’s Divine Author.  And the Author’s identity lends power and assurance to the letter’s challenging words.

Join us this week as we continue our survey of the book of Revelation, examining Revelation 1:4-8 to consider how the letter’s greeting gives us key insights into the letter’s divine sender – insights which give needed comfort when our faith is challenged. 

We meet on the square in Pottsville, right next to historic Potts’ Inn at 10:30 am for worship.  Get directions here or contact us for more info.  Or join us on Facebook Live @PottsvilleARP or YouTube. 

01/24/2021 | “Lifting the Veil” | Revelation 1:1-3

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No part of Scripture is more challenging to grasp than Revelation – the last book in our Bible.  Its enigmatic creatures, symbols, and numbers are fertile fields for fanciful interpretation.  Martin Luther questioned its canonicity, and Calvin never commented on it.   Yet, this word that seems so mystifying, and is so often ignored, has been breathed out by God, useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training that you and I may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.    More than that, the book itself claims to be a “lifting of the veil.”  

In Revelation, Christ Jesus draws aside the veil and shows us his glorious purpose and sovereignty over history, encouraging us to view our circumstances rightly and live boldly.   Join us this week as we begin a survey of the book of Revelation, examining Revelation 1:1-3 to consider how this part of God’s Word offers blessing, encouragement, and hope for dark times. 

“Lifting the Veil,” Revelation 1:1-3

Lifting the Veil

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One of my mottoes when counseling a prospective bride and groom is “prepare more for the marriage than you do for the wedding.”   Yet, it is hard for star-crossed lovers to get their heads around “till death do us part.”   The logistics of a wedding are so much easier than the logistics of marriage.   That is until the wedding day arrives.  Standing with the groom, I see in him that same growing bewilderment, I felt on my own wedding day.   With each processing bridesmaid a sense of foreboding self-doubt grows.

Then the door to the church opens. The bride, veiled in glory, her father at her arm, appears in radiant splendor.  And it hits you.   I am making the most momentous decision of my life.  I am about to be responsible for another person.   I am about to live for someone other than myself.  In that moment, self-doubt and introspection grip you in a way you have never been gripped.  

Then she is there.   Right in front of you.  You lift the veil.   And the light in her eyes, the love radiating from her face assures you – all is well.   You settle in.  You breathe.  You settle down. And you make vows that change your life forever.  All will be well.   Because once unveiled, ‘the bride’ is revealed as ‘the beloved.’   And that makes all the difference.

When the veil is removed, we see what really matters.   Fear, uncertainty, and insecurity may still be there, but they are eclipsed by faith, hope, and love.   However, what is true in our human relationships only dimly reflects what is true of our relationship with Christ.    To know Him for who He is, to see Him for who He is, allows us to run with perseverance the race marked out before us.  No matter where the course might lead.   Yes, there is fear, uncertainty and insecurity.  But faith, hope and love rule the day.

Yet, fixing our eyes on Him is hard.   We squint to see Him through sight, rather than faith.   He has revealed Who He is through His Word, the Bible.   But the Bible can be challenging to understand.   Yet God has given each part of it to lift the veil on who He is.   As John Calvin noted, “in the Scriptures God is veiled, that he might be unveiled.”   The one who defies description, describes himself in the limitations of language so that we might be able to see him with unveiled faces and unveiled faith.

No part of Scripture is more challenging to grasp than Revelation – the last book in our Bible.  Its enigmatic creatures, symbols, and numbers are fertile fields for fanciful interpretation.  Despite early historical claims of authorship by Jesus’ beloved disciple, John, Revelation was one of the last books to be accepted into the Canon of the New Testament.  Martin Luther questioned its canonicity, and Calvin never commented on it.   Yet, this word that seems so mystifying, and is so often ignored, has been breathed out by God, useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training that you and I may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.   

More than that, the book itself claims to be a “lifting of the veil.”   This testimony of Jesus Christ begins with the ancient word which means to “take away a veil” – a word we translate ‘revelation.’  For that is what Revelation and revelation are — God’s self-disclosure to us, that we might see by faith not by sight.  In Revelation, Christ Jesus draws aside the veil and shows us his glorious purpose and sovereignty over history, encouraging us to view our circumstances rightly and live boldly.   When the veil is lifted, our existential self-doubt and gripping fear are also lifted.  At last, we can see that all will be well — even if it will not be easy.  

Join us this week as we begin a survey of the book of Revelation, examining Revelation 1:1-3 to consider how this part of God’s Word offers blessing, encouragement, and hope for dark times. We meet on the square in Pottsville, right next to historic Potts’ Inn at 10:30 am for worship.  Get directions here or contact us for more info.  Or join us on Facebook Live @PottsvilleARP or YouTube.