Who Do You Think You Are?

When God introduced himself to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, he spoke from a bush that was on fire and told Moses to remove his sandals because he was on holy ground.

When Moses asked how God wanted to be identified, God said, “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). This is a way of saying, “I am the one who exists. I was, I always will be, and I am always the same.” This is related to the name Yahweh, or Jehovah. This name for God means that he is the eternally self-existent God.

Jesus Christ used this name of himself in the gospel of John (John 8:42-59). When some religious leaders objected to his teachings, they said, “We are descendants of Abraham. Who do you think you are?” They accused him of being a Samaritan (a despised outsider) and demon-possessed (crazy).

In reply, Jesus made an astounding claim, “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad. . . .  Before Abraham was born, I AM!” This is clearly a claim to deity. The name “I AM” implies eternal existence. Jesus was saying that he existed before Abraham was born.

Jesus knew what he was saying. He knew that the name “I AM” was recognized in Israel as a title of deity. He was claiming to be divine and his opponents knew it. That is why they picked up stones to stone him to death for blasphemy. Jesus did not deny that that is what he meant to say. His enemies were right. He was claiming to be God in the flesh.

“You are from below,” Jesus had said to them. “I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world” (John 8:23). “I am the one I claim to be” (John 8:24, 28).

Statements such as these, if they are not true, must be the babblings of a person with serious mental problems. But Jesus’ powerful miracles and good deeds are not the works of a crazy person with delusions of grandeur. The wisdom of his teachings refutes the false idea that he was out of touch with reality. Multitudes were attracted to his compassion and composure. They recognized the inherent truth and authority of his words. They witnessed the power of God in his miracles.

The fact that Jesus took the divine name for himself meant that he and he alone could meet the deepest needs of human beings. He audaciously made himself the center of his teaching,

He said, “I AM the bread of life” (John 6:35). He used bread as a metaphor for eternal salvation. If people will eat the spiritual bread God provides, they will live forever, he said (John 8:51, 58).

“I AM the light of the world,” Jesus said (John 8:12). Darkness pictures ignorance, sin and death. Light pictures salvation. “God is light” (1 John 1:5).

“I AM the gate” (John 10:7-9). “Whoever enters through me shall be saved.”

“I AM the good shepherd” (John 10:11, 14). The shepherd of Israel was the Lord himself (Psalm 23:1). “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

At the graveside of his friend Lazarus Jesus announced, “I AM the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies” (John 11:35). Then he proceeded to raise Lazarus from the dead. This happened in the presence of eyewitnesses. Even Jesus’ enemies could not deny or refute this miracle (John 11:45-48).

“I AM the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). He could not make a claim like this and not be divine. He was saying “I am your only way to God. I am your only way to heaven.” Why would he say this? Because he is truly the son of God and God the son.

Then he said to his disciples, “I AM the true vine” (John 15:1,5). You are the branches. Remain close to me (abide in me) and draw your life from me and you will bear fruit.

If you were to ask Jesus, “Who do you think you are?” he would calmly reply, “I AM.”

He is the one who was, who is, and who always will be. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). As the eternally divine son of God, Jesus has the authority to give eternal life to those who put their faith in him. He said so and I believe him. Do you?

Pastor Randy Faulkner

October 31 – Reformation Day

On October 31, 1517, a little over 500 years ago, an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther invited church authorities to debate some church practices which he believed were in violation of scripture. He nailed his 95 theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg, where he was a university professor. These proposals were translated from Latin into German, printed, and quickly circulated throughout Germany.

Luther was objecting to the sale of indulgences by representatives of the church. These were certificates guaranteeing deliverance from Purgatory, and offering the false promise that salvation could be obtained by the payment of money. Having discovered the happy assurance that “the just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17), Luther protested that salvation is only through faith in Christ, apart from good works. “The true treasure of the church,” Luther wrote, “is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God.”

This event is seen as sparking the Protestant Reformation which is being remembered this weekend in many churches around the world. The main themes of the Reformation have been summarized in five distinctive declarations about salvation: it is based upon scripture alone, through Christ alone, it is by faith alone, by grace alone, and thus all glory goes to God alone.

The beliefs we find in these five statements set Luther and his fellow reformers apart from the official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century. Scripture alone (sola scriptura), taught that the Bible as the inspired Word of God is the final authority, not  papal edicts and decrees. Christ alone (solus Christus) is the belief that it is only through Jesus that sinners may be justified and reconciled to God. Faith alone (sola fide) asserts that salvation is through faith in Christ, apart from works or human effort. Grace alone (sola gratia), means that salvation is a free gift from God. Because of this, God alone receives all praise and glory (soli Deo gloria).

One of the key texts on which the reformers’ doctrine of justification by faith rests is Romans 3:24, “…  and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” “Justified” means to be declared righteous. This involves the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to the believer’s account. This is the basis for the believer’s acceptance before God. “Freely” means that justification is a gift of God’s grace, completely apart from human works or merit. It is possible only because of the “redemption” of sinners by Christ when he died on the cross. His sacrifice was the ransom price to God to satisfy the justice required by his holy law.

When Luther studied the book of Romans and discovered the meaning of justification by faith, it set his spirit free. He learned that salvation comes not through vigils, fasts, pilgrimages, or monastic discipline, but by grace alone through faith in Christ alone. That same freedom of grace is available to you if your faith is in Jesus Christ, and in him alone.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

God Bless America

During the seventh-inning stretch at some Atlanta Braves baseball games, a tenor soloist sings “God Bless America.” The beauty of the song and the sight of thousands of fans joining in, puts a lump in my throat. I too want God to bless America and I pray for that every day.

The moral decline and divisions in our nation have prompted a renewed urgency in many people of faith. Pray for America yard signs, Facebook posts and church prayer gatherings indicate that there are believers who are looking to God for his guidance in this contentious election year. But the thought remains: why should God bless America?

Are we entitled to his blessings when over half of the adults in America claim no membership in any church or religious institution, and the number of adults who say they believe in God is on the decline, according to Gallop polls?

Should God bless an America where in all but thirteen states it is still legal to kill a human baby inside his/her mother’s womb? Can God bless an America which legitimizes sexual behavior that his word says is abominable? Will he bless racial hatred, internet misinformation (lies), mass shootings, the breakup of families, and a political culture of cruelty and incivility?

It is chilling to read the writings of the prophet Jeremiah. Recently I read chapters 6-9 in which he declared God’s intention to punish his chosen people for their sins. (Maybe the Jews heard Jeremiah preach and wished God would choose somebody else!) He prophesied judgment on the surrounding nations too, but Judah and Jerusalem were not spared.

Jeremiah told them why. Falsehood, greed, violence, theft, murder, adultery, idol worship, and child sacrifice were among the sins for which God’s inevitable judgment was coming, Added to these was Judah’s stubborn refusal to repent and to obey the word of God. This reminds me of America.

As I pray for America I sometimes recall the words of President Thomas Jefferson: “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever.” President Abraham Lincoln said that the war between the states was a judgment on America by the Almighty as punishment for the wickedness of slavery.

History confirms what Jeremiah predicted. The nations of Edom, Moab, Syria, Assyria and Egypt were overrun by the powerful and cruel Babylonian army. Jeremiah’s prophecy about Judah also proved true: “I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals; and I will lay waste the towns of Judah so no one can live there” (Jeremiah 9:11).

If God judged those nations, can we be so glib and complacent as to assume that God will overlook America’s offenses against him? The election won’t solve the problem of America’s moral decline. Neither presidential candidate can effect the spiritual renewal we need. Politics is not the solution. It simply holds up a mirror to America and shows us what we have become. When we look into that mirror, we want to cry, “God help us!”

Well that’s what we need to  be saying. It is time for prayer, desperate prayer. Our intellectual power, military power, and economic power cannot save us. Only God can restore the soul of our nation. It’s all right to sing “God Bless America.”  But we also ought to be praying prayers of repentance and begging God to be merciful and to forgive our sins.

Jeremiah, speaking for the Lord, put it this way: “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom, or the strong man boast of his strength, or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight, declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 9:23-24).

Vance Havner wrote, “There is a weird and sinister movement of the powers of darkness all over the world today. One of its major objectives is to destroy America. It will not be necessary to do that from without: we are allowing it to be accomplished from within. . . . It is time for holy desperation because it is too late for everything else.”

Pastor Randy Faulkner

Safe in the Storm

A friend smiled at me and said, “I have two words for you: hunker down!” He was right. The third hurricane to hit our town in just two years was headed in our direction. Longtime residents of Valdosta, Georgia, tell me that the force of these storms this far inland is unprecedented. Last year Hurricane Idalia devastated our little city. Hurricane Debby hit us in August of this year.

Friends of our daughter Carrie invited us to ride out Hurricane Helene in their spacious and beautiful home in the country. They had a generator with enough power to provide electricity for several days. Their big, strong house was like a fortress. We felt welcomed and we are grateful to our friends for providing that safe haven for Connie and me.

Helene slammed into Florida’s Big Bend area the evening of September 26. It marched north and hit Valdosta about midnight. The next morning uprooted trees  and downed power lines blocked roadways. My son-in-law and grandsons hoisted chainsaws and helped our host clear fallen trees and debris near his house. All day we heard reports of widespread damage and power outages throughout Valdosta

Since we knew it would be a while until electricity would be restored to our neighborhood, Connie and I decided to evacuate to our daughter Mary’s home in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. We stayed there for a week until we got power again at home. During that week we followed the news about the terrible effects of flooding in Appalachia caused by the hurricane.

Coincidentally, we had visited friends just a few weeks before in Asheville and Blowing Rock, North Carolina, and in Connie’s hometown of Damascus, Virginia. Like the rest of the nation we were saddened by the stories of catastrophic destruction of property and loss of life throughout the region.

I have been without internet service from September 27 until the date of this writing, October 14. That is why I have been unable to write new entries for hiswillblog,com.

Connie and I are thankful to the Lord for his provision and protection. The words to a gospel song by Mosie Lister have been on my mind.

“In the dark of the midnight have I oft hid my face / While the storm howls above me, and there’s no hiding place. / ‘Mid the crash of the thunder, precious Lord hear my cry. / Keep me safe till the storm passes by.

“Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more, / till the clouds roll forever from the sky; / hold me fast, let me stand, in the hollow of your hand. / Keep me safe till the storm passes by. ”

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

Who’s the Real Hero?

She had sad eyes and a weary expression. She appeared to be in ill health. As we conversed I learned that she had worked all her life as a waitress. Her husband had died as a young man. They had been married only seven years. She had been left to rear her daughter as a single mother. Her life had not been easy.

Her expression brightened as she talked about her only child. She proudly told me how her daughter has made a success of her life, helping hundreds of families through her profession as a pediatric dentist. I congratulated my new friend on being a good mom and giving her daughter a good foundation for life. I asked, “How did you manage to do it?”

She answered, “I couldn’t have done it without the Lord. He was with me. He helped me.”

This humble Christian woman is living proof that John Lennon was a false prophet. He was a cultural hero during my high school years. In the 1960s he famously and foolishly predicted that the Beatles would, in ten years, be more popular than Jesus Christ. Lennon is long gone and so are the Beatles.

But here, in the year 2024, is a woman testifying to the living presence of a living Savior who has been with her all her long life and remains with her today. How are we to explain this?

Dallas Willard provided an answer in his book The Divine Conspiracy. “I think we finally have to say that Jesus’ enduring relevance is based on his historically proven ability to speak to, to heal and empower, the individual human condition. He matters because of what he brought and what he still brings to ordinary human beings, living their ordinary lives and coping daily with their surroundings. He promises wholeness for their lives. In sharing our weakness he gives us strength and imparts through his companionship a life that has the quality of eternity.”

The woman with the sad eyes and weary expression has had a hard life. But she is praising Jesus and looking forward to eternity with him. She has had an indirect influence on every life touched by her daughter. To me she is a real hero. I think she will be at the front of the line when the rewards are handed out in heaven.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

Why Pray Before Meals?

I was eating in a local restaurant. I observed a young couple as they occupied a booth across the room. When their food arrived, they held hands, bowed their heads, closed their eyes, and prayed before they ate.

Why did they do this?  A cynic might say that it was just an expression of Bible-belt cultural religiosity. Someone else might accuse them of putting on a show of piety, like the legalistic Pharisees of Jesus’s day who made long public prayers for the sake of appearance.

I’d like to think they prayed because they were sincerely grateful to God. I hope it was because they believed it was important to express thanks to our Creator for his good gifts. Whatever their motivations, I offer three reasons to grace our eating and drinking with thanksgiving.

The example of Jesus

On more than one occasion our Lord blessed food before he ate with others. When he miraculously fed the five thousand, and later the four thousand, he looked up toward heaven and prayed a prayer of thanksgiving (Matthew 14:19, 15:36). When he ate the Passover meal in the upper room, he “took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples” (Matthew 26:26).

Jesus shared a meal with two of his followers after his resurrection. They did not recognize who he was until “he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and began to give it to them” (Luke 24:30). If the Son of God thought it was necessary to give thanks before eating, should we do less?

A habit of gratitude

The New Testament exalts thankfulness, “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20). When the apostle Paul said that as a liberated Christian, he was free to eat all kinds of foods, he was careful to add, “with thankfulness” (1 Corinthians 10:30, 1 Timothy 4:3). So we find him aboard a ship giving thanks to God for food in the presence of unbelieving prisoners, soldiers, and seamen, “in front of them all” (Acts 27:35).

In his instructions about foods and Christian liberty, Paul said, “He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God” (Romans 14:6). In the same letter to the Romans he warned against ingratitude as a symptom of ungodliness (Romans 1:21). The Christian way of life is to cultivate a lifelong habit of gratitude, for all of life’s blessings, including nourishing food (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Consecrated by prayer

Another reason to pray for God’s blessing on our meals is because God created food  and “everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer” (1 Timothy 4:5). “Consecrated” means set apart or dedicated for a good purpose.

The good purpose of God’s gift of food is to satisfy our hunger and to promote our health. Objectively, the food is consecrated by the word of God which declares his creation as “good” (Genesis 1). Subjectively, the food is consecrated by prayer as we acknowledge where these gifts come from and we say “thank you!” The foods which sustain us are transformed into life-giving energy as they are consecrated for our use by our gracious Creator.

Here are three good reasons to give thanks to God for our food before we eat it. Jesus did it. The Bible tells us to do it. Prayer dedicates the food for our benefit. It is the right thing to do.

Recently, I enjoyed a round of golf with friends. Three of us went to the clubhouse for lunch. When we got our food, one of my companions said matter-of-factly, “Let me bless this.” Then he prayed simply, expressing thanks to God for the food, and for a beautiful day on the golf course.

Why did he do that? I believe it was because he knows where the blessing of food comes from, and he wanted to express appreciation on behalf of all of us. “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

 

 

 

On a Pilgrimage

When I hiked on the Appalachian Trail, I met fellow hikers who thought of themselves as pilgrims on a spiritual journey. For some it was a form of escape from a difficult past, or a therapeutic retreat, or a way to reconnect with nature. For many, the experience was almost mystical.

I myself found it easy to express myself in praise to God when I was on the Trail. The immensity and beauty of His creation prompted worship, involving mind, body, and spirit. The wilderness was a giant cathedral.

Pilgrimage is common to many world religions. Millions of Hindus make pilgrimages to wash in the waters of the Ganges River. Muslims endeavor to make the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca at least once. Lourdes, France, attracts over five million visitors a year who make the pilgrimage to pray for healing. The Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City is a destination for millions of Catholic pilgrims.

The ancient Hebrew people were given three annual festivals to commemorate God’s deliverance and preservation. Entire families made pilgrimages to Jerusalem for the celebrations of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles.

Embedded in the psalms we find a series of songs written especially for these pilgrims. They are the “Songs of Ascents,” Psalms 120-134. They imply pilgrimage, progress, climbing higher toward a destination. If you study these psalms together you sense a gradation, an ascending scale of truth, with important themes building on each other.

It has been said that there is in these psalms a movement away from the world and all that is alien to God’s will (Psalm 120), to the mountains of Judah (Psalm 121), and to Jerusalem itself, and to the Temple (Psalm 122); then from the Temple to God himself (Psalm 123), then to fellowship with the people of God (Psalms 124ff.).

Sometimes on a long hike on the Appalachian Trail it felt less like a pilgrimage than a slog, a march, just putting one foot in front of the other. Sometimes our lives are like that too. Not always exhilarating; sometimes just exhausting. Maybe some of the Jewish pilgrims who made their way to Jerusalem for the three festivals got tired along the way, too.

Maybe some of them wondered if it was worthwhile to keep going. Maybe that’s why they were taught to sing those psalms as they made the journey. Maybe singing the Psalms of Ascents helped them remember why the pilgrimage was important.

The New Testament pictures the Christian life as a pilgrimage. Believers are told to follow in the steps of Christ and walk to please God. That is because we are headed somewhere. There is a destination at the end of the journey and He is there to welcome us.

Keep going, pilgrim!

Pastor Randy Faulkner

None but the Honest and Wise

When our second president, John Adams, first occupied the White House, he offered a prayer that has become famous. “I pray heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house, and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men rule under this roof.”

President Franklin D. Roosevelt thought so highly of the prayer that he had it carved into the wooden mantelpiece in the State Dining Room, according to historian David McCullough. When President Harry S. Truman supervised the renovation of the White House, he insisted that the inscription remain. When John F. Kennedy was president, he had the prayer carved into the mantelpiece in marble.

None but the honest. What does that mean? The dictionary definition advises us to think of persons who are free from fraud or deception, truthful, sincere, and innocent. Adams’s prayer is that his successors as president of this great country of ours would be worthy of our trust, truth-tellers, people of good character. We should expect nothing less.

None but the wise. Wisdom is sound judgment, deep understanding, and discernment. John Adams knew that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10).

President Adams was the first to occupy the presidential mansion, He moved in on January 1, 1800. McCullough wrote, “The house itself was still quite unfinished. Fires had to be kept burning in all the fireplaces to help dry the wet plaster. Only a few rooms were ready. . . . Though the president’s furniture had arrived, shipped from Philadelphia, it looked lost in these enormous rooms. The only picture hanging was Gilbert Stuart’s full-length portrait of George Washington.”

It was in these circumstances that President Adams prayed, dedicating the White House and all future presidents, to God. He prayed for the blessing of heaven and that none but the honest and wise would occupy the White House.

This election year is an urgent call for us to pray, as we vote, that the next occupant of the White House will be honest and wise.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

Born Again Through Baptism?

Many church people believe that baptism is necessary for salvation. They speak of baptismal regeneration. Baptism is the obedience without which faith is invalid. Some biblical texts seem to support this view. On closer examination, however, the claim is not supported by scripture.

The concept of baptismal regeneration contradicts the principle of salvation by grace alone. Rather, Christian baptism in water is an act of public testimony that one has been united with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection. It is a witness to one’s faith in Christ. Every instance of baptism recorded in the New Testament, except for the baptism of our Lord, is of people who had first believed the gospel and were testifying to that belief. They were saved by faith in Christ, not by their baptism.

For example, the apostle Paul reminded the Corinthian believers of how he had brought them to Christ: “I have become your (spiritual) father through the gospel” (1 Corinthians 4:15). If their new birth meant baptism, this must mean that he had baptized them.

But at the outset of the letter, he declared that he had not baptized them. “I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius” (1 Corinthians 1:14). Surely Paul would not have written this if baptism were essential for salvation.

The Lord Jesus never emphasized baptism in his teachings about the kingdom of heaven. Indeed, the thief on the cross was not, and could not have been, baptized. Yet Jesus assured the penitent man, “Today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).

This is not to imply that baptism is unimportant. It is a vital first step of obedient discipleship. Dr. Jere Phillips has written, “Christian baptism is the immersion of the believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus.”

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

Labor Day Musings

I was asked for advice about work and career. What came to mind were principles I have tried to apply in my own work. I share them today, in no particular order, as Labor Day approaches.

Learn what is expected of you. You have a right to know how your work will be evaluated. Learn the written and unwritten expectations found in your formal job description and informal codes of company culture.

Help others succeed in their work. Be a good neighbor to your co-workers.

Try to enjoy your work.

Finish what you start.

Don’t procrastinate. Most of the time it is best to do the hard parts first.

Communicate. Ask questions. Initiate better ways of doing things.

Don’t love money. Use money. It is a useful servant but a terrible master. “Whoever loves money will never have enough” (Ecclesiastes 5:10).

Take a day off. The sabbath principle was built into the universe for our emotional and physical health.

Recognize that the opportunity to gain wealth is a gift from God. Thank him regularly. “Remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:18).

Do your work for the glory of God.

Pastor Randy Faulkner