Month: January 2025

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A Picture of Love

My father was a pastor,  college administrator, and a teacher. In his early ministry he was an artist who used colorful chalk drawings on Christian themes to illustrate spiritual truths. People loved to watch him depict biblical scenes with artistic skill. He would draw a large picture during a church meeting accompanied by background music.

Ahead of time he had traced the faint outline of his picture in pencil. Then when he drew the colored rendering in chalk, the depth and richness of the picture appeared, especially when illuminated with colored lights. The effect was almost magical.

1 Corinthians 13 is an outline of a Christ-controlled life, a life of of love. The description given there is like my dad’s preliminary sketch, made visible when the full drawing was completed. It is a description of Jesus’s love in the life of a believer who is surrendered to him.

For example, it says that love is patient (1 Corinthians 13:4). There may be occasions when righteous indignation is in order, but a loving Christian will seldom reach that point.

I read an illustration of two mountain goats who met on a narrow ledge. There was no room to pass. They both reared and bucked, but neither one gave way. Repeatedly they backed up, charged and locked horns. Each one held his ground and stood unmovable. Finally the more sensible one knelt down and let the other climb over him. Both of them went happily on their way.

Love is kind. This is another aspect of Christ’s love. It is a word which means “mellow,” in the place of harshness and severity.

An anonymous poet wrote: “Let us be kind; the way is long and lonely, and human hearts are asking for this blessing only — that we be kind.

“We cannot know the grief that man may borrow; we cannot see the souls storm swept by sorrow; but love can shine upon the way, today, tomorrow — let us be kind.

“To age and youth let gracious words be spoken; upon the wheel of pain so many weary lives are broken; we live in vain who give no tender token — let us be kind.

“Let us be kind; the setting sun will soon be in the west; too late the flowers are laid upon the quiet breast — let us be kind.”

Love does not envy, does not boast, is not proud. Jesus said of himself, “I am gentle and humble in heart” (Matthew 11:29). The loving person is a humble person. The loving person is like Jesus.

Love is unselfish. Love seeks the good of others. We always see this in the life of Jesus.

Love is trusting. “It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.” The loving person does not keep a tally of offenses. Love commits the list to the Lord and does not bring it up again.

Love is truthful. It “rejoices with the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:6). Those who are infused with Christ’s love have no difficulty affirming the truth wherever it is found: in others, in oneself, in the scriptures, in Jesus who said, “I am the truth” (John 14:6).

Love is optimistic. Love “always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” Christ’s love never fails. It is durable, resilient, and it refuses to accept defeat.

If someone could draw a portrait of Christ, it would look like the outline of love we see in 1 Corinthians 13. If we want to be like Jesus, ours will be lives of love.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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Love at First Sight

A scholar wrote a treatise on the theme of love. He was an unmarried man who’d had little personal experience with the opposite sex. In his research he consulted numerous books and articles by famous writers. His research spanned many months.

When he was finally ready to submit his writings to a publisher, he made arrangements with a secretary to type the manuscript. When he walked into her office something unexpected happened. Their eyes met. Their pulses quickened. A strange feeling swept over both of them. It was love at first sight!

The subject of his research was no longer an abstract theory. It had become a matter of personal experience. In this way he learned and understood more about his topic in a few seconds than he had gleaned through months of tedious research. For love to be fully appreciated, it must be experienced.

That is why 1 Corinthians 13 is in the Bible. It is the greatest treatise ever written on the subject of love. The eminent scholar Philip Schaff wrote in the margin of his Greek New Testament at 1 Corinthians 13: “This is a psalm of love. It is the Song of Songs of the New Testament. This is the height of the epistle. Love is the solution to all difficulties, the cure of all ills in the Corinthian church. If Paul had written nothing else, he would still be one of the world’s greatest writers and benefactors.”

In the original language of the New Testament, the word for “love” used there is a word that was used almost exclusively by early Christian writers. Many Bible students believe that the word was invented by Christians to denote the God-like love which can only be produced by the Holy Spirit.

This Greek word, agape, as used in 1 Corinthians 13, is not a natural love. It is the result, in the life of a believer, of a Christ-filled life. According to 1 Corinthians 13, love is greater than spiritual gifts, greater than oratory, greater than prophecy, greater than knowledge, greater than faith, greater than philanthropy, and greater even than martyrdom! It is, Paul wrote, “the most excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:31).

Amy Carmichael was a Christian missionary in India who dedicated her life to rescuing children and ministering to women. She wrote many books of devotion that were deeply spiritual. She wrote a little book that is both convicting and powerfully motivating. It is titled “IF.” Here are a few excerpts.

“IF I have not compassion on my fellow servant even as my Lord had pity on me, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

“IF I belittle those whom I am called to serve, talk of their weak points in contrast, perhaps with what I think of as my strong points; if I adopt a superior attitude . . . then I know nothing of Calvary love.

“IF I can easily discuss the shortcomings and the sins of any; if I can speak in a casual way even of a child’s misdoings, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

“IF I can write an unkind letter, speak an unkind word, think an unkind thought without grief and shame, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

“IF I do not feel far more for the grieved Savior, than for my worried self when troublesome things occur, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

This is the difference between theory and experience. This is Christian love at first sight.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

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Equal in God’s Sight

Monday will be Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the United States. His memory is honored in America and around the world because of his leadership in the Civil Rights Movement. He influenced many Americans to better understand the plight of their neighbors who experienced racial prejudice every day simply because their skin was black.

As a pastor, I preached against racial prejudice. I tried to show from the Bible that God welcomes the worship of people of all  races and cultures. The apostle John wrote about the heavenly scene and the multitude assembled around the throne of God: “from every nation, tribe, people and language” (Revelation 7:9). If God accepts them, how can we reject them? If God loves them, how can we hate them?

Yet as a boy growing up in the South in the 1950s, I accepted the institutionalized racism that was a way of life in my city. African Americans were allowed to attend the church in which I was reared, but they were relegated the back rows of the balcony. In the department store downtown I drank from a water fountain labeled “Whites Only.” Black people were required to sit in the back of city buses. Their children had to attend inferior schools.

I knew these things but as a boy I did not have the wisdom or the vocabulary to understand or oppose racism. White supremacy was everywhere. It was the air I breathed. The adults in my life did not so much indoctrinate me in the belief, as they passively accepted the prevailing cultural assumptions of racial bias.

The closest they came to undermining it was to teach us the Sunday School song “Jesus Loves the Little Children of the World. Red, and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight.”

The Civil Rights Movement under Dr. King became a social force that influenced the attitudes of many Americans. Some whites became hardened in their opposition to integration in public schools, voting rights, and equal opportunity in the workplace for black Americans.

Some opposed the Civil Rights Movement with violence. I remember when, in 1963, white supremacists bombed a church in Birmingham, Alabama, on a Sunday morning killing four young girls as they attended Sunday School, and injuring 20 other black worshipers. Whites infected with racial hatred murdered many civil rights activists, including Dr. King himself.

Others, myself included, began to better understand the plight of our African American neighbors who lived under white supremacist ideology. I began to actively oppose racial discrimination. I hope I have outgrown the attitude that one’s skin color has anything to do with one’s value, intelligence, dignity, or human potential. I fervently believe that racism is not only sinfully wrong, it is stupid.

Some of the people I knew  as I was growing up in the 1950s tried to use the Bible to teach that people of some races were meant to be slaves (the curse on Ham; the fact that slavery was allowed in Hebrew law; the fact that Paul did not teach against the institution of slavery in the Roman empire).

In view of this, it is amazing that so many enslaved people and their descendants became Christians. Could it be that they saw in Jesus the one who took on himself the form of a bond slave and died to save us (Philippians2:7)? Could it be that they felt in him the love and acceptance they did not feel from their bigoted white neighbors?

Throughout my ministry as a pastor I taught against racial prejudice. I called attention to what the Bible says in Acts 17:26– “From one man (Adam) he (God) made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.”

Since all humans are descended from one man, they are equal in God’s sight. This cancels any theory of inherent racial superiority. God’s word tells us not to show partiality (James 2:1). Peter rightly learned that “God does not show favoritism, but accepts men from every nation” (Acts 10:34). Because this is God’s attitude, I want it to be my attitude toward people of other races.

I will have these things on my mind as I remember Dr. King on Monday.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

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No Place for Anti-Semitism

Jesus was a Jew. His apostles were Jews. The first Christians were Jews. Most of the Holy Bible was written by Jews. It says of the Jews that “God did not reject his people whom he foreknew” (Romans 11:2).

The scripture also says that “There is no difference between Jew and Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call upon him, for everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:12-13). This is quoting the Jewish prophets Isaiah and Joel to teach that salvation is by grace through faith for people of all ethnic backgrounds, Jewish as well as Gentile.

This means that there is no place for anti-Jewish bigotry among Christians, or anywhere else. The US Department of Education has documented an alarming rise in harassment, intimidation, and discrimination against Jewish students in American universities. These demonstrations have been attributed to the conduct of the state of Israel in its war against terrorism.

One does not have to agree with every policy of the nation of Israel to say that anti-Semitic hatred and violence are just plain wrong, and sinful. Martin Luther said as much early in his ministry. But, famously, and unfortunately, his later writings laid the groundwork for the 20th century’s  explosion of violence against the Jewish population of Europe under Adolf Hitler.

Luther wrote, in a document called “Against the Jews and their Lies,” that Jewish synagogues should be burned, properties confiscated, books should be burned, travel restricted, and persecution tolerated. These inflammatory rantings provoked unspeakable horrors  against the Jews of Luther’s day. They are an embarrassment to all who identify themselves as followers of Jesus.

It is hard for us to understand Luther’s anti-Semitism. I do not think we should dismiss it by saying, “Well, he was just a man of his times. This was a part of his cultural heritage as a German.” That may be true, but Luther was also a man of the scriptures. He knew what the apostle Paul had written, “My heart’s desire and prayer for the Israelites is that they may be saved” (Romans 10:1). Did Luther become embittered against Jews because they refused to voluntarily convert to Christianity?

He also knew and believed what the Bible teaches about the forgiveness of sin. There is a familiar story Luther told about himself. He said that the devil approached him one day and tried to use the fact that every person is fallible. The accuser reminded Luther of his sins. He presented him with a long list of his past failures of which he was indeed guilty.

When Satan finished Luther asked him if he had omitted some of his sins. “Think a little harder. You must have forgotten some!” The devil complied and added some other sins to the list. Then Luther said, “That’s fine, now write across that list in red ink, ‘The blood of Jesus Christ God’s Son cleanses us from all sin!'” There was nothing the devil could say to that.

Luther knew the scripture which says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

One wonders, did Luther ever confess the sin of anti-Semitism?

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

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Looking Back; Looking Ahead

The ancient Romans worshipped a deity called Janus. On Roman coins, archways and doorways, he was depicted as having two faces, looking backward and forward. He was considered to be the god of beginnings, entrances and exits, after whom the month of January was named.

Having entered the month of January, we are conscious of the beginning of a new year and the passing of time. Our government’s chief conservator of time is the U.S. Naval Observatory. According to the agency’s website, it is responsible for maintaining the Department of Defense’s precise time and time intervals, the Master Clock, timing for Global Positioning Systems, two-way satellite time transfers, and telephone time. All of this gives the impression that time is a resource which can be managed.

We often speak of time as being our own, a personal birthright. It is better to think of time as a gift. We did not create it, We cannot hold onto it or control it. Yet it is good to try to understand the value of time and how to use it wisely. The Bible helps us to think wisely about time.

Looking back

Some people seem paralyzed by past regrets, bad choices, wasted time, or hurts inflicted by others or upon others. “If only I had it to do over.” “If only I had started sooner.” “If only I could forgive myself.” The “if only” game is not a creative strategy for dealing with the past. It is frustrating and self-defeating.

There is a better way for dealing with those yesterdays of regret. Paul the apostle put it like this: “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).

Paul was putting his regrets behind him. He had plenty of regrets. He said in his writings that he was unworthy to be called an apostle because in his past life he had been a persecutor of the church, a murderer, a blasphemer, and the chief of sinners. But he had confessed his sins and repented. He had accepted God’s forgiveness through Christ.

Look at the past as a driver of an automobile might use a rear-view mirror. Glance back occasionally, but don’t constantly look back. The past is a reference, like a rear-view mirror. We cannot move confidently into the future if we are constantly looking back. If we try to drive a car forward while looking back through the rear-view mirror we’ll surely run into trouble.

Looking forward

Anxiety about the future is common today. I have read that depression ranks among the most common diagnoses made by primary care doctors. This is especially true among high school students, who are being unduly influenced by social media. According to the Centers for Disease Control, suicide is the third-largest cause of death among American youths aged 14-18.

Jesus’ words in Matthew chapter 6 are an antidote to anxiety. He tells us how to face the future. “Do not worry,” Jesus said, about the accumulation of material things, about the length of your life, or about keeping up appearances (Matthew 6:25-29). You are, he says, more than a display rack for the latest designer fashions. You are a soul with an eternal destiny.

Your life, he says, has a vastly more important significance than the money you make, or the clothes you wear, or the food you eat. Don’t let these things be substitutes for God. Rather, cultivate faith in your heavenly Father. He knows you, he loves you and he will provide for you (Matthew 6:30-33). Ruth Graham said, “Worry and worship cannot live in the same heart. They are mutually exclusive.”

With a heart of worship for the God who gives life, live it one day at a time. Jesus said, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself” (Matthew 6:34).

Sometime today, try this experiment. Look at a clock with a second hand. Watch the second hand when it reaches twelve, then follow it as it sweeps down toward the number six. The six is still future as the second hand approaches. What happens when the second hand reaches and passes the six? It is in the past. It is over. Gone forever.

That part of your life is gone in an instant. You have just experienced time as it passes us by. We cannot stop it. We cannot control it. But we can choose to make the most of the time God has given us today to prepare to live with him in eternity, beyond time.

Pastor Randy Faulkner