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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

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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

 

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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

 

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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

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Called to Politics?

William Wilberforce was  a British politician whom God used to help end the Commonwealth’s involvement in the slave trade. After his conversion to faith in Jesus Christ, well-meaning people urged him to leave Parliament and become a pastor.

Historians tell us that it was a pastor, John Newton, who persuaded Wilberforce that God wanted him to stay in politics as his ministry. Newton wrote to him, “It is hoped and believed that the Lord has raised you up for the good of the nation.”

After much thought and prayer, Wilberforce concluded that Newton was right. God was calling him to champion the liberation of oppressed enslaved people, by working in the vocation of politics. “My walk,” he wrote in his journal in 1788, “is a public one. My business is in the world, I must mix with the assemblies of men, or quit the post to which Providence seems to have assigned me.”

If Wilberforce had not remained in politics, he most likely would not have influenced the massive social changes that led to the end of the wicked practice of slavery in the British Commonwealth.

Does God call people to serve in politics? There are members of Congress, senators and representatives, who would say that they have been definitely led by the Lord to serve in government. There are politicians and staff members who gather weekly in small groups, to pray for divine guidance.

We ought to be skeptical of the claims of some politicians who try to use religion and “God-talk” to gain the endorsement of the faith community. But we should also appreciate the fact that there are those who humbly seek the Lord’s wisdom for the important work they do in the service of our nation.

Whatever a Christian’s vocation, it should be considered a ministry for God. Jesus is Lord of every aspect of life. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord . . .” (Colossians 3:23).

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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I Miss Singing Hymns

I really, really miss singing hymns in church. The church I attend now has discarded hymnals and the hymns they contain in favor of contemporary Christian music. Exclusively. All the time. Every Sunday.

Please don’t interpret this as an old guy’s fulmination against new music. I believe God accepts and approves of many different expressions of praise, including CCM. I really do believe we should be learning and singing new songs. So, I hope you will not dismiss this as merely an exercise in nostalgia or musical snobbery.

No, this is not an old granddad’s desire to return to the 1950s, Not at all. I think God likes guitars and drums as well as pianos and organs.

What I am trying to say is that I miss the theological richness and timeless beauty of such hymns as “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” “O God Our Help in Ages Past,” and “And Can it Be?” I deeply regret the fact that my grandchildren and their generation are not learning hymns like these and the truths they express so well. Something important is being lost.

What is being lost? For one thing, a theological education is being lost. We are supposed to be taught and edified through the singing of psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (Colossians 3:16). I appreciate singing biblical truths when I hear them in contemporary praise songs. Yet I am grieved and offended when I am exhorted to “sing a little louder” 18 times in one song, and I’m put off by a sentimental love song that could just as easily be sung to one’s girlfriend without changing the lyrics at all.

Another thing that is being lost is a valuable legacy of faith and faithfulness. Much contemporary music is temporary and falls into disuse after a few months. When this happens it is because the words do not have staying power and the poetry is trite. (It is a sin to be trite.) There is a reason that until recent years churches were enthusiastically singing hymns that were written in the 18th and 19th centuries. They have stood the test of time.

I regret the failure to sing the great hymns for the same reasons that I regret the failure to teach America’s founding principles to our schoolchildren. I regret the failure to sing hymns for the same reasons that I regret that the number of Americans who read their Bibles daily is declining. Something important is being lost.

Compare the superficial lyrics of some current praise choruses with these written in 1867 by Walter C. Smith.

“Immortal, invisible, God only wise, in light inaccessible hid from our eyes / Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of days / Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise.

“Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light, nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might. / Thy justice like mountains high soaring above, Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.

“To all life Thou givest, to all great and small; in all life Thou livest, the true life of all; / we blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree, and wither and perish, but naught changeth Thee!

“Great Father of glory, pure Father of light, Thine angels adore Thee all veiling their sight; / all praise we would render, O help us to see ’tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee.”

Those who read their Bibles will recognize that these words were inspired by 1 Timothy 1:17 — “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” This hymn was written to help Christians exalt the indescribable majesty and transcendence of God the Father. It does not say everything that could be said. But it says enough to give us a vocabulary of praise to Him, something we need today as much as ever.

So, let’s continue to compose and sing new songs to God that are as biblically faithful and theologically sound as this one. But why can’t we sing this one too?

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

 

 

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Called to Servanthood

It is hard to account for the impact of Paul the apostle on world history. How does one explain the phenomenal influence of this single Jewish rabbi who became a Christian missionary? What motivated the man who wrote one-fourth of the NewTestament and who planted the Christian gospel on the European continent?

One answer might be that he considered himself to be the servant of Jesus. “Slave analogies are the background scenery that fills Paul’s imagination,” wrote Mark Fairchild and Jordan Monson. In a recent article in Christianity Today, they point out how Paul uses the language of slavery to describe his calling and mission.

“Paul is obsessed with the vocabulary of slavery. In his writings, he speaks constantly of it: Of bondage. Of freedom, Of shackles. Of exodus. Of citizenship. The two most common openings to Paul’s letters are, ‘Paul, an apostle of Christ’ and ‘Paul, a slave of Christ.'” They even call attention to an ancient theory that Paul may have  been born to parents who had been slaves and who had gained Roman citizenship through manumission.

Being a servant of Jesus Christ was not what Paul had originally planned to do with his life. He had begun as a promising young scholar studying theology in Jerusalem under Gamaliel, a leading teacher of Jewish law. His career as a zealous Pharisee was interrupted by an appearance of the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus. There he received his calling to be the slave of Christ.

He referred to this as “the commission God gave me” in Colossians 1:25. The word “commission” is a translation of a Greek word for household steward. In Roman culture, this word was used of a trusted slave who had been given an assignment as a household manager. It would have been an important  position of great responsibility.

He also called himself a servant of the gospel (Colossians 1:23) and of the church (Colossians 1:25). The Greek word for “servant” in this context was used broadly in the first century for a household slave who was responsible for a variety of domestic duties. The word was later applied to church officers (deacons) who assisted in the ministry of caring for the needs of the members.

This same word is used repeatedly in Paul’s letters as an admonition to all Christians to serve the Lord Jesus by serving one another in love. If we claim to believe in Jesus and to follow him, then we have been called, like Paul, to be servants. Paul’s life, as a servant of Jesus, is a pattern for us.

“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ,” Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 11:1. “Imitate me,” he said in 1 Corinthians 4:16. “Join with others in following my example,” he wrote in Philippians 3:17. Who on earth says things like this? Only someone whose example is worth following: a servant of the Son of God.

The test of whether we are truly servants is how we react when we are treated as servants.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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That Old Feeling


Connie and I were married on this date 56 years ago. On this anniversary, I must say that other than the gift of eternal life, she is the best gift God ever gave me. I am thankful for her and thankful to her. I am certain that marrying Connie was an important part of the will of God for my life.

She has, for 56 years, been a trusted confidant, a loving companion,  and a happy co-laborer in the service of Jesus Christ. She is a beautiful wife, mother and grandmother. Words are inadequate to express how I feel on this special day. Maybe the Hallmark card will help.

However, there was a time in the year 1967 that I came close to losing her. We were students in college. It was probably because of my uncertainty and immaturity that we decided to date other people. She was much more secure within herself than I was then.

During that year, every girl I dated was lovely and interesting. But I could not help comparing each one to Connie. I discovered before long that no one could measure up  to her beauty, her thoughtfulness, her strength, and the emotional hold she had on me.

At first, when I saw her with other guys it didn’t bother me. But the longer we were apart I began to realize that I could not imagine life without her. I still loved her. In the good providence of God, she took me back and we declared our love for each other.

A song that expressed that for me then was a ballad sung by Andy Williams: “I saw you last night and got that old feeling. / When you came in sight I got that old feeling. / The moment that you passed by, I felt a thrill. / and when you caught my eye my heart stood still. /  Suddenly I seemed to feel that old yearning. / Then I knew the flame of love was still burning. / There’ll be no new romance for me, It’s foolish to start / when that old, old feeling is still in my heart.”

We were married the next year, August 2, 1968.  We still love each other.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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The Lord’s Prayer — for You

In anticipation of his death, Jesus prayed with and for his disciples. The prayer he prayed is recorded for us in John 17. In this prayer Jesus prayed for the disciples who were with him then, and for all who would believe in him in the future.

It is important for us to remember that Jesus continues to intercede for his people in heaven now, at the Father’s right hand. Reading John 17 is a wonderful way for us to restore the assurance of our relationship to him. The prayer emphasizes two facts about the Lord’s people.

First, his people do not belong to the world (John 17:6-8). They have been given to Christ out of the world. Christ has revealed to them the true nature of God and the true knowledge of God. This is eternal life (John 17:3). Believers no longer belong to the world. Rather, they belong to Christ and Christ is glorified in them (John 17:10).

This is because they received his word, understood his word, and believed his word (John 17:8). His disciples were not perfect, but they had the right commitment. This is true of all believers in Jesus. His prayer applies to us today, even though we are far from perfect (John 17:20).

The second fact about his people is that they (we) continue to live in the world (John 17:11). In his prayer, our Lord speaks of two human communities: “the world,” and those whom God has taken “out of the world.” He is not referring to the world of nature or of ordinary humanity. Jesus is talking about the world as it is organized in opposition to God.

Although we belong to God and his Son (John 17:9-10), we still live among the people who belong to this world. This places upon us a responsibility to love our neighbors and to make known to them what Christ has made known to us in the gospel. We live in this present world as Christ’s representatives.

As we read Jesus’ prayer for us, we learn that while we are here in this world, he is praying for our preservation. “I pray for them,” Jesus says, “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name” (John 17:9, 11). The Lord Jesus had us in mind as he prayed. Believers today stand in the same relationship with him as the original disciples did in that day. “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message” (John 17:20).

Christ prayed then and he is praying now. He is our advocate and representative in heaven (1 John 2:1-2). The book of Hebrews teaches that this fact is the basis for our assurance of salvation and our access to God in prayer (Hebrews 4:14-15).

If your faith is in Jesus, you may be sure that he is in heaven praying for you because you belong to him. I invite you to re-read John 17 to learn more about this. God will never fail to answer a prayer of his Son.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

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Thinking About the Trinity

I have been thinking about the Trinity. Christians believe that God is eternally self-existent in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

One of the best proofs of this is love. Love requires a giver and a recipient. It is relational. It is reciprocal, Love has no meaning otherwise.

The New Testament teaches that “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16). God is love in his very essence. To deny that God is three persons in one divine being, is to deny that God is love. In eternity past, before the creation of the world, if he was only one person, he could not love.

From eternity to eternity, the Father loves the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Son loves the Father and the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit loves the Father and the Son, in a mutual, self-giving reciprocity. This is how the Son glorifies the Father, the Spirit glorifies the Son, and the Father glorifies both the Son and the Spirit.

Creation was an act of self-giving love. God needed nothing outside of himself to be complete and completely satisfied. But in extravagant love he created the universe and created human beings to experience his love.

Unfortunately, the disobedience of the human race resulted in alienation, death and judgment. According to the opening chapters of the Bible, humans became self-centered instead of loving their creator, and the relationship was spoiled by sin. The self-centeredness which plagues the human condition is the opposite of the love of God.

Fortunately, God provided a way back into his love through his Son. Jesus came into the world to put divine love on display in the ultimate act of unselfishness. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

Those who believe in him become part of a new God-centered community in which it is possible for us to love one another as he has loved us. Just as the members of the Trinity pour love into one another, so the Holy Spirit enables the new community of Christ to live in love for one another.

I have been thinking about the Trinity. One of the strongest evidences for the Trinity is the love of God.

Pastor Randy Faulkner