October 11, 2009 - More on Hebrews 1 ...

Last week, we spent some thoughtful time with the Text … we went home with a phrase that seemed to engage our spirit.

"He is the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being." Norm

"By the grace of God he might taste death for everyone" Shari

"What are human beings that you are mindful of them...?" Patty

“What are human beings that your mindful of them or mortals, that you care for them?” Nic

“Jesus is not ashamed.” Tom

Today, a little more time with the Text …

Prayer – then first reading …

Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12

Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds.

He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word.

When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels. But someone has testified somewhere,

“What are human beings that you are mindful of them,

or mortals, that you care for them?

You have made them, for a little while, lower than the angels;

you have crowned them with glory and honor,

subjecting all things under their feet.”

Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them, but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that, by the grace of God, he might taste death for everyone.

It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation, perfect, through sufferings.

For the one who sanctifies, and those who are sanctified, all have one Father. For this reason, Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, saying,

“I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters,

in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”

********************

Second reading … in phrases repeated after Pastor Tom …

What catches your attention today?

Take some time now to meditate on the passage – begin by saying, “LORD Jesus Christ, son of the Living God, give me insight through your Word that I might be more faithful to you and to the world,” and then begin meditating …

A moment of prayer … Pastor Tom …

Groups of three or four – no more than five …

Work on the following pieces:

Hebrews 1:1-4 is all about Jesus … what words or phrases does the author use to describe who and what Jesus is?

Jesus is the reflection of God’s glory … so when we think about Jesus, we’re thinking about God. When you think about Jesus during the week, what are you likely to think about? When you think about Jesus, does it occur to you that you’re thinking also about God?

Vs. 6, a quotation from Psalm 8 – a celebration of God’s creation and how big it is, and how small we are.

But at the same time, God created us just a tad bit lower than the angels and given the world to us for our care, crowning us with honor and glory.

But the writer of Hebrews looks around her world and says: we have yet to see this worked out. Yet, what we CAN see is Jesus, who was made, like us, a little lower than the angels, but now is crowned with glory and honor, because of the road he traveled for us (and now is infinitely greater than all the angels).

What was your chosen phrase from last week?

Did you have a chance to use that phrase during the week? If so, what was that like?

Choose a phrase for the week ahead - the same phrase, or is there something else here you’ll choose?

Craft a newspaper headline from our Text this morning.

I’d like to have each group read their “headline” when we finish!

Unison reading of the Text.

For the Benediction - Remember the gospel:

1. You are loved more profoundly than you could ever imagine and more than you will ever know.

2. Though your sins be many, they are as if they never were, for when Jesus tasted death for our sake, our sins were wiped away!

3. Even now, the Holy Spirit is at work binding your life to Jesus, enabling you to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

4. When you die, you, and everyone you love, will be with Jesus forever!

October 4, 2009 - something different

Yup, something different.

Rather than a "regular" message, I led the congregation through the following with the text.

Praying Scripture

Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12

1. Text - read by reader – Bibles closed.

2. Open Bibles …

3. Text - read again, in phrases, which cong. repeats

4. Text read silently by cong.

5. Select a phrase for yourself …

6. Repeat the phrase silently for a few moments.

7. Share your phrase aloud with congregation.

8. Groups of three …

a. Share the phrase you chose …

b. Any idea why you chose this phrase?

9. Take it home with you … write it down on your bulletin, scrap of paper.

10. Text - read in unison.

11. Prayer …

September 27, 2009 - "Sorrow to Gladness"

Esther - chapter 8 & 9

The Bible celebrates the work of God:

God says, Let it be, and it is.

Creation and all of its creatures, sun, moon and stars …

The call of Sarah and Abraham …

The promise of a child …

Deliverance from Egypt …

Guidance in the wilderness: manna in the morning, water from the rock …

Through the sea to the Promised Land …

Jericho conquered and enemies defeated …

Judges and prophets, kings and queens …

God at work,

God at work,

God at work.

But … Esther strikes a startling note …

God never shows up … not even once!

Just Esther and her Uncle Mordecia … and the people held captive in a faraway land.

Ahasuerus, the king of Persia … vain and powerful … proud and willful …

And Haman, a sniveling snot, hateful of the Jews.

Our story begins with a party … Ahasuerus, in all of his pomp and power, throws a wild party …

The Bible reads:

The army of Persia and Media and the nobles and governors of the provinces were present, while he displayed the great wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and pomp of his majesty for many days, one hundred eighty days in all.

When these days were completed, the king gave for all the people present in the citadel of Susa, both great and small, a banquet lasting for seven days, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace. There were white cotton curtains and blue hangings tied with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings ◙ and marble pillars. There were couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and colored stones. Drinks were served in golden goblets, goblets of different kinds, and the royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king. Drinking was by flagons, without restraint; for the king had given orders to all the officials of his palace to do as each one desired.

When the king is thoroughly potted, he calls for his queen, queen Vashti … the king wants to show off his eye-candy … but to everyone’s surprise, Vashti tells the king to take a hike.

The king is embarrassed.

The officials incensed.

The guests shocked.

The king and his officials huddle … this is a crisis of state.

If the women of the empire hear that Vashti refused the king, it’s going to go down bad for men everywhere.

So, Vasthi is dumped … never again to enter the king’s chambers … she’s history, because she refused the king … she’s lucky she didn’t lose her head.

Now what?

What’s a king to do without a queen?

A king needs a queen …

A little eye-candy to decorate the palace …

A pretty little thing hanging on his arm …

A trophy wife to show the boys at the country club …

Look, this is not a pretty picture …

It’s gross, sickening and silly.

Power without restraint.

Wealth without purpose.

Bloated egos and huge expense accounts.

Life at the top of the heap …

Everything big …

Big appetites, big egos, big parties, big homes, the bigger the better …

What’s a king to do when he needs a queen?

Well, of course … announce a beauty pageant …

All lovely young ladies apply here.

If accepted, you’ll be given an extreme makeover …

You’ll be coddled and doted upon …

You’ll be exercised, bathed and perfumed …

You’ll be taught how to walk and talk and think like a queen … ah, well, ah, excuse, me … you’ll be taught to walk like queen … but ease up on the talking – the king isn’t interested … and forget about thinking – the king couldn’t care less.

All the king wants is a little eye candy.

So the young ladies of the land send in their applications … sounds like reality TV, doesn’t it? With high hopes of being chosen by the king to be the next queen of Persia.

For a moment, the story shifts to Mordecai and his beautiful niece, Esther … her parents died early on, so Mordecai adopted Esther and raised her as his own daughter.

She’s an eye-full, that’s for sure.

And when the girls of the realm are gathered, Esther is among them.

For a whole year, the girls are preened and prepped:

Six months with oil of myrrh and six months with perfumes and cosmetics.

And then the moment … drum roll please …

The most eligible bachelor in the realm calls for the pageant to begin… everyone dressed fit to kill … the girls can wear anything they want from the finest wardrobes of the palace … they’ve prepared mincing and posing for 12 long months … now the moment is here:

Who’s going to be sent home?

Who’s going to get the red rose?

One by one, the girls pay a visit to the king.

One by one, they’re sent packing … whisked away in a cheap chariot … they can keep the perfume and the clothes.

Now it’s Esther’s turn.

She catches the king’s eye.

He’s smitten by her.

Esther gets the rose.

The little Jewish girl, an orphan and a captive in a strange land, becomes the queen of Persia.

In the meantime, Mordecai discovers an assassination plot to kill the king … Mordecai spills the beans and wins the king’s affection.

But Mordecai gets crossways with a top official in the palace … Mordecai refuses to bow and scrape before Haman … the sniveling snot … Haman is incensed … his pride wounded … his ego yelling for blood.

Haman manipulates the king into signing a death order for the Jews throughout the kingdom - every last one of them … Kill ‘em all!

Well, that’s one way of taking care of it …

Is anything here done reasonably?

It’s all over the top.

Power gone mad.

A party that lasts 180 days.

Thousands to die for one man’s pride.

The Jews hear of the order and are frightened out of their wits … what can they do? … their captors hold all the cards … the “Golden Rule” – you know what that means, don’t ya’? Those with all the gold, make all the rules!

Mordecai approaches Esther …

Esther, Esther, can you do something?

Esther replies, Mordecai, you know the deal … I’m the queen, and that and five bucks gets me a caramel latte at the local coffee shop … if anyone goes into the palace unbidden, they can die, just like that. Just like that! No one goes to the king unbidden.

But Mordecai says, Don’t think for a moment you’re going to be safe. When the hammer falls, you, too, will die. Help may yet come to the Jews from some other source, but it’ll be too late for you Esther, too late for you and your family.

Every time I read this story, I’m reminded of Pastor Martin Niemoller who lived through the Nazi Holocaust … Pastor Niemoller protested and paid a price for it, and when the war was finally over, he wrote a poem:

When the Nazis came for the communists,

I remained silent;

I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,

I remained silent;

I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,

I did not speak out;

I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,

I did not speak out;

I was not a Jew.

When they came for me,

there was no one left to speak out.

In my mind’s eye, I see Esther pacing the floor, brow furrowed, deep in anguished thought …

What shall I do?

Should I take a chance? Am I a fool to try, or a worse fool to remain silent?

Ever been there?

An ethical dilemma on your shoulders?

A young truck driver told by his boss to dump toxic waste in a nearby stream late at night …

An HR VP told by the higher-ups to fire 400 people, and do it now … and if she does it now, there’ll be a fat Christmas bonus for her …

An accountant who sees the books being cooked …

A scientist who knows the toxic compounds being used in food products …

A farmer trapped - between paying fruit pickers a decent wage and the giant buyer who pays pennies on the dollar …

Ever been in an ethical dilemma?

Tough, isn’t it?

Do I keep my mouth shut and do I what I’m told?

What about my family?

My future?

My children?

Hey, I need the job.

I’m glad to have a job.

I’ll close my eyes to what’s going on.

Or will I?

Is there something more important here than me?

More important than my family?

My security?

My world?

Big questions, aren’t they?

You pace the floor, your nights are troubled, your stomach churns … you can’t think of anything else … your turn it over in your mind a thousand different ways – you try to get on with your life, but you can’t … you try to forget it, but it snaps back at ya’ …

You have to decide …

Esther, Esther, what will you do?

I can hear her thoughts, can’t you?

The people … who are they?

Who do they think they are?

Maybe they don’t deserve it.

Look at ‘em … look at me.

I live in luxury; they live on the edge.

I’m beautiful; they’re not.

I’m on top of the heap, someone has to be on the bottom.

I’ve got it, and they don’t.

Good for me, and too bad for them.

Esther, Esther, what will you do?

I can see her, can’t you?

There she stands … in the middle of the room … alone.

Head down.

A deep, deep, breath taken.

Esther looks up …

Eyes determined …

Mouth set …

Resolve - written all over her face.

She’s made the decision - at last.

She walks to the window of her room … overlooking the palace courtyard … across from the gate, where Mordecai sits in sackcloth and ashes, mourning the fate of his people.

His people … my people.

Esther’s going to do it!

She’s going to do it, and she’s going to do it right!

For the people … the people, yes … the people.

Maybe I’m safe, but they’re not.

Maybe I’d make it, but they won’t.

It isn’t about me … it’s about the people … the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker … the kid flipping burgers at In n Out, the gal pushing the vacuum cleaner in the hallway of my hotel room … the bartender in the nightclub … the man on the corner hoping for a buck … folks on the bus and folks on the sidewalk … folks in Beverly Hills and folks in east LA … the haves and the have-nots … the rich and the poor … the most and the least …

Think of the world in which we live … the people, yes, the people …

Esther cannot separate herself from the people.

What she does, she does for them.

The courage of compassion … to see a need and fill it … to risk ourselves for the greater good …

The courage of Martin Luther in Germany defying Pope and Emperor, and Martin Luther King, Jr. in an Alabama jail.

The courage of Albert Schweitzer in Africa and Dietrich Bonhoeffer in a Nazi prison.

The courage of Carl Sandburg, to write for the people who worked in the horrible factories of Chicago … to make the steel, to butcher the meat and load the trucks … children, 12-hour days, seven days a week … women on the streets … men desperate for work …

Courage to see the world.

Your courage and my courage.

Now, let me get back to the earlier comment about the Book of Esther … God doesn’t show up in this little book … nary a mention of God … why?

Because there comes a when God says, You know what you need to do … you don’t need anything more from me; I’ve given you everything you need. You know what you have to do!

Esther had everything she needed from God … the rest is up to Esther … God will not decide for us; God will not kick us in the butt or grab us by the ear … God steps away, and we’re left on our own!

That incredible moment when we can’t defer any further to God – no more questions to ask, no more data to gather, no more Bible studies and no more prayers … all the grace we need has been given; all the love we desire is ours …

The rest is up to us!

With a deep breath and firm resolve, Esther puts on her royal robes and goes to the palace. The king sees her and says to her, Whatever you want, Esther, it’s yours.

Esther’s story ends well.

But not every story ends so well, does it?

We know that.

So does Esther.

It’s must never be the outcome that determines our action.

It’s the need.

It’s the moment.

It’s the people.

Today, tomorrow … the world out there.

You’ll meet it on the road.

You’ll read it on your computer.

You’ll hear it on the evening news …

You care, don’t you?

Of course you care.

Because you know Christ.

You ARE the people, and THEY are you.

Every man, woman and child is you.

And you are everyone!

That’s what it means to be alive!

To be a human being.

That’s what it means to be in Christ.

You care, don’t you?

Of course you do!

Now let’s put on our royal robes and go see the king!

Let’s take a chance … let’s go for the people … let’s see what happens … it may turn out better than we expect!

Amen and Amen!

Finding Wisdom Everywhere

Proverbs 1:20-33

Wisdom is found everywhere!

Over hill and dale, and all around the town:

A busy street.

A crowded intersection.

At the city gates.

Available to all …

Without price.

Without chage.

Wisdom cries out:

Be smart.

Be wise.

Don’t be a simpleton.

With a sharp reproof to scoffers …

Naysayers and complainers …

And to the fool who refuses to learn!

And a warning …

Ya’ better do it now, because there will come a crisis, and then it’ll be too late …

Simpletons and fools will suffer.

Scoffers will find no solace.

But the wise will be secure!

So we might well ask this morning, “What’s wisdom?”

There’s a ton of stuff out there that claims to be wisdom.

Talk radio and TV evangelists … pundits and politicians …

Far-right, far-left, and just plain far out …

How in the world do we sort it all out?

How do we decide?

What’s wisdom, and what’s foolishness?

The truth be told:

Not all that glitters is gold.

Not everything that purports to be wisdom is wise.

But sorting it out isn’t easy.

Proverbs reminds us:

Scoffers and fools are influential.

Their words carry weight.

Folks are taken in by the silver-tongued every day.

Paul the Apostle confronts this matter in 2 Corinthians … Paul speaks of the “super-apostle” – slick words and good shows impressed the Corinthians with a false gospel.

P.T. Barnum said it well: a sucker is born every minute.

And sometimes I get the feeling that American Christians can really be suckers … we fail to be discerning …

Too often the dross, and not the gold.

Too often the chaff, and not the wheat.

Sometimes I get the feeling that American Christianity lacks maturity – the capacity to think clearly and critically …

Dr. Harley Swiggum recognized this in the late fifties when he was called to Bethel Lutheran Church in Madison, Wisconsin for adult education.

Bethel Lutheran was a huge congregation – full of influential people, good people, strong people, who loved the LORD.

But “they were defenseless,” said Swiggum.

“Defenseless against the slick talker and the good show. Like sheep, they could easily be led astray.”

Swiggum said, “There’s only one sure way to sort it all out – know the Bible … know it through and through, how it works and what it says, and to study it well for one’s entire life.”

And so Dr. Swiggum developed the Bethel Bible Series, to help folks get wisdom … so they can sort it all out; sit in a pew on Sunday morning and listen responsibly to the reading of Scripture and to the preacher – so they can say the prayers and sing the hymns knowingly, intelligently … and listen to a TV preacher or a History Channel special about finding Noah’s Ark, and be able discern the tawdry from the truth; the real from the unreal; fact from fiction.

I’ve been paying attention to sermons for a long time.

In seminary, I worked in the library – I reshelved books returned by students and pastors … I decided to look at what pastors were reading, and even as a first-year student, I was shocked and disturbed – so much of it was just plain schlock … syrupy spirituality, mediocre moralisms, simpleton ideas and shallow commitments.

The writer to the Hebrews touches upon this very thing – simpleton thinking, always a danger for God’s people – to settle for the simple rather than the sublime … to shy away from the big stuff and go for the small ideas …

In the image of Hebrews, too many Christians are still drinking infant’s milk instead of eating solid food.

Get on with it, says the writer to the Hebrews.

Quit laying the same foundation over and over again – there’s more to this Christian life than conversion and theological ideas.

I get the uneasy feeling that the larger a congregation grows, the more likely it is to feed on milk rather than solid food.

Folks want to hear about heaven, but they don’t want to hear about earth.

I get the uneasy feeling, because I’ve been there, that in the larger congregations, there’s tremendous pressure on pastors to offer milk, and even that watered down, rather than solid food.

This is a problem for God’s people.

In the second letter to Timothy, the apostle writes:

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths [2 Timothy 4:1-4].

Maybe even in smaller congregations.

Maybe ever here at Covenant on the Corner.

Reluctance to tackle the big stuff and go for the small ideas.

Talk about Christ, but keep it spiritual.

Talk about faith, but keep it personal.

Talk about God, but keep it private.

The Southern Presbyterian Church formed in the heat of the days leading up to the Civil War – in the course of time, our Southern brothers and sisters developed an interesting doctrine: the spirituality of the church – that pastors should only preach spiritual things, whatever that really means?

In fact, what it means: leave me alone. Talk about heaven, but don’t talk about earth!

Can you see why the Southern Presbyterians developed such a doctrine?

Because their reality was so painful.

They lived in a world of slavery – life was good because life was bad for thousands of slaves working the in the hot cotton fields, lugging heavy bales onto paddle boats, and if you were a young slave girl, beckoned to the master’s bedroom.

It took the Southern Presbyterian Church a hundred years to work it all out … and to this very day, though North and South are now one church again, the doctrine of the spirituality of the church still holds sway in parts of our denomination, and for many conservatives, they want to keep it that way … preach doctrine, preach conversion, preach heaven, but don’t preach the world to us, don’t challenge the way we live, because life is good for us, and we don’t want to hear how bad it is for millions working in sweat shops around the world and just around the corner … the shirts we wear and the skirts we buy and the food we eat are cheap because someone, somewhere, pays the price with sweat, blood and tears.

Don’t preach the world to us preacher.

Just preach heaven.

How do we sort it all out?

The accurate from the inaccurate; the false from the true … the fabricated from the factual?

Here’s where Proverbs is helpful … more than helpful … vital …

To us who claim the name of Christ … we’re Christians … followers of the way …

It’s vital for us, don’t ya’ think, that we deal with truth?

Jesus said, I’m the way, the truth and the life …

Remember the courtroom scene when Jesus stands before Pilate?

Pilate asks: “What’s truth?” and Jesus remains silent.

Why? Why the silence?

Because truth IS Jesus.

Jesus standing there in front of Pilate.

Truth is not a maxim, a principle, or an idea.

Truth is flesh and blood, and love.

Truth takes up a cross.

Truth challenge the powers and the principalities.

Truth refuses to answer Pilate, because Pilate already has his own version of the truth – and for Pilate, it’s all about power and prestige … for Pilate, it’s the golden rule … those with all the gold make all the rules!

Get the picture?

Here’s Pilate, wearing expensive clothing, hair well-done, in a well-appointed palace, surrounded by Imperial Guards with shiny weapons, servants attending to Pilate’s every need, fine food and drink … the lap of luxury … and then Jesus, hands bound with tough leather straps, blood seeping through his tattered robe, hair tangled with spit and sweat … already half-way to death …

You’re standing there, in a shadowy corner – you’re a witness to this encounter – there you are, ten feet away: watching a Jewish prophet from Galilee hours away from death, and mighty Pilate in his palace … and you ask yourself, “Who’s telling the truth?”

How might you answer?

Come one now, tell yourself the truth.

Might you not be inclined to go with Pilate?

Rather than this beaten and tattered man swaying unsteadily on his bloody feet.

Pilate questions him with an imperious voice.

Jesus is horse from thirst, his mouth swollen from the fists that easily found their mark.

Who might you choose?

I posted this to Facebook the other day, and got some interesting replies …

One friend suggested that since we’re now on this side of it all, we can easily choose Jesus.

But I wonder …

I wonder if it’s all so easy.

Think of it as metaphor … Pilate’s pomp on the one hand … the scruffy figure in tattered robe on the other …

In the book of James, the question surfaces about church visitors – those who show up in fine dress are given the best pews in the church, and the man who shows up in shabby dress is told to stand in the lobby or take the folding chair off to the side.

The metaphor still functions ... to whom are we inclined to give the greater weight: a well-dressed CEO or a line-worker?

Perhaps if we were blind, it would be easier, but, then, I suppose, we'd go with the sound of the voice, or something like that.

I think the juxtaposition of Jesus and Pilate, and the well-dressed and the shabby in James 2, suggest that I'm still easily fooled by appearances ... or to put it more personally, to which pastor am I likely to give the greater credence - the pastor of a 15,000 member megachurch or the pastor of a rural parish in Oklahoma?

We’re easily seduced by the very things that mean so little to God …

Size never matters to God.

Listen to what God says to the people of Israel in the wilderness:

It was not because you were more numerous than any other people that the LORD set his heart on you and chose you—for you were the fewest of all peoples. It was because the LORD loved you [Deuteronomy 7:7].

Power and prestige are of no consequences to God.

Here’s what Paul writes to the Corinthians:

Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” [1 Corinthians 1:26-33].

Gold is nothing more to God than street gravel.

Have you ever wondered why the streets of heaven are paved with gold?

What do we use here to pave our streets, but the cheapest materials we can find? Sand and gravel, because they’re plentiful – they’re everywhere, and that makes sand and gravel cheap.

Heaven’s streets are paved with gold because in God’s kingdom gold is as cheap as sand and gravel. What we use to decorate bathroom fixtures or wear upon our bodies will be nothing more than street material in God’s heaven.

When was the last time any of us wore a piece of gravel as a pendant? Or stored up sand for ourselves?

In heaven, gold will be nothing more than gravel and sand!

How do we sort it all out?

Look to Jesus.

Study the beatitudes.

Ponder the Book of Proverbs.

Feed your soul on good things.

Things that build you up and encourage you to a noble life.

Things that tell the truth and commend you to a life of service and sacrifice.

Pay attention:

Fear-mongers are working over time these days.

Fear mongers warning us about gays and lesbians who “want to destroy our nation and dismantle the family.”

“Muslims are going to take over the world and make us all bow the knee to Allah.”

Jesus Camps and fundamentalist churches harp upon a consistent theme: “nefarious plans are underway to take away our rights, take away our guns, tell us what to eat, and turn us into a socialist state.”

Peddling boogiemen and monsters under the bed and in the closet.

Turn on TV and pay attention to the fear-ads.

Illness is a big fear, “But don’t be afraid, we’ll sell you drugs; and if we have to read the fine print to you about side-effects, we’ll read real fast, even as we play beautiful music and show beautiful people prancing around with health and vigor.”

Home security is a big fear, “But don’t be afraid, we’ll sell you a home alarm system … and you’ll always be safe with us.”

Fear, fear, fear!

Dear Christian friends; pay attention to fear … when fears start to rise, hell draws near.

Fear is Satan’s chief weapon against us … fear is Satan’s medicine to make us sick … sick with trepidation and sick with anxiety.

Ward it off and walk away!

Because Jesus says: “Fear not!”

Don’t be afraid, says Jesus, because it is your Father’s will to give you the kingdom [Luke 12:32].

John writes to his little church:

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love [1 John 4:18].

How do we sort it all out?

Trust your own spirit, your own instincts.

What builds up is likely of God!

Even though God will challenge us to the core and push us to the limit, it will feel right.

God always feels right.

When something doesn’t feel right.

That’s a good sign that something is wrong.

That it’s not God, but Satan.

When something agitates without purpose.

When anxiety rises and suspicion grows.

When everyone who’s different begins to look like a threat … when other religions are condemned, when chasms grow deeper and fences grow taller,

A clear sign that we’re dealing with a script from hell.

I close with words from Proverbs:

How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?

How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing

and fools hate knowledge?

Give heed to my reproof;

I will pour out my thoughts to you;

I will make my words known to you [Proverbs 1:22-23].

Amen and Amen!