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What Christmas Letters Are Saying

Connie and I enjoy hearing from friends and family who send Christmas letters. Yes, we really do read them. We are cheered by the holiday greetings and good wishes. We enjoy the photos that are sometimes included. This is the only time of year when we hear from some of our far-away friends and we appreciate their writing to us. The Christmas season is a good time of year to hear from loved ones.

I suppose this seems old-fashioned, but I guess I am entitled to be, since I am, in fact, old. I still like to go to the mailbox and find some real mail. Christmas cards are a delight — festive, colorful and uplifting. For several years Connie and I have made it a practice to put those Christmas cards and letters into a basket in our bedroom. We keep them all year. When we pray together before retiring, we often use those cards as reminders to pray for the friends who sent them.

Christmas letters usually include updates about important events in our friends’ lives: news about children and grandchildren, travel adventures, career changes, books read (or written), and hobbies and other interests. Most of the time, our friends adhere to the conventional rules of etiquette for Christmas letters: keep it short, try not to brag, be positive, make it personal, and remember to include the whole family.

What makes this meaningful? Why do we send and read these family letters? What is going on? I think Christmas letters are saying at least two things to those who receive them. “I want you to know me” and “I love my kids.”

One of the most important things we give to each other as human creatures is recognition. Every person desires and deserves to be understood and respected. This is why we smile. This is why we talk and listen to each other. A Christmas letter says, “Here is some of what I want you to know about myself and my family. This is a bit of information about what makes my life significant.”

Of course parents will write about their kids, too. Perhaps the most important responsibility we have is launching children in life, giving them a great home foundation. Watching them learn and grow and achieve is a source of immense satisfaction and legitimate pride for parents. It is not surprising that Christmas letters tell about the kids’ academic, athletic, and community activities. Of course parents want to talk about their kids.

The beginning of the new year is a good time for me to remind you that our heavenly Father has communicated to us in written form. The Bible is like a love letter from God. Even though it is thousands of years old, it is relevant to every generation is every part of the world. It is like those Christmas letters in these respects: God is saying, “I want you to know me,” and “I love my children.”

Jesus summed it up in his great prayer for his followers in John 17. Verse 3 says “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” God wants us to know him and we may know him through Jesus his Son. Then in verse 23 Jesus prays, “May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them, even as you have loved me.”

The Bible is filled with messages like this from our heavenly Father. He wants you to know him and he wants you to know that he loves you. Read his love letter in 2021. He may ask you if you’ve read it when you see him someday.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

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2021: Uncharted Territory

“The world in front of you is nothing like the world behind you.” This was the great lesson of the Lewis and Clark expedition. These explorers were commissioned in 1803 by President Thomas Jefferson to try to find a river route to the Pacific Northwest. What they discovered was that there is no water route to the Pacific. The way is blocked by the formidable Rocky mountains.

The explorers had to adapt. Their adaptive leadership of the Corps of Discovery provides the model for Tod Bolsinger’s excellent book on leadership, Canoeing the Mountains. This was one of the most important books I read this past year.

When Meriwether Lewis and William Clark came to the source of the Missouri River system, they realized they would have to ditch their canoes and find a way over the mountains. They were in uncharted territory. There is no map for uncharted territory. Leadership in this situation required different skills than those that had brought them thus far. They had to adapt or die.

Bolsinger weaves the story of the Corps of Discovery with his own experiences as a seminary professor, leadership consultant and local church pastor, along with insights of other leadership theorists, to provide a leadership vision for a new environment. I wish I could have read this book when I entered the ministry over fifty years ago. There were times when I said to myself and to the Lord, “Seminary didn’t prepare me for this!”

We face such a world as we enter a new year. I suspect that “normal”  will never again be quite what it was before 2020. We are changed and we are changing. As we try to understand this new situation, effectiveness will be measured by what Bolsinger calls “adaptive capacity.”

This is one of five vital lessons from the book. (1) The first task of a leader is to understand and interpret uncharted territory, the new situation “off the map.” (2) Trust is earned and built by a leader’s proven competency and character in familiar “on the map” situations. (3) Adaptation will involve loss, resistance, learning, and courage. (4) No longer can leadership be a solitary enterprise. A leader cannot go it alone. (5) The process of transformational leadership means that everybody, including the leader, will be changed.

What should not change is the core ideology and mission of the organization, whether it is a congregation, enterprise, team or institution. The DNA of the group is its unchanging set of core values. In the case of a Christian ministry what should never change are the biblical priorities and norms that define the group: “This is who we are.”

What must change are ineffective methods unsuited to the new environment. The transformational leader energizes the community to accomplish a shared mission in a changing world. This process involves discarding what is not essential to achieving the mission. It also means discovering what is essential and must be preserved at all costs.

Bolsinger studied how Lewis and Clark reframed their mission to align with the new realities they faced. There is a pattern in this for individuals and groups facing an uncertain future in unfamiliar territory. What was most helpful to me was his careful and honest delineation of the sometimes painful process of leading a community through loss, disappointment and insecurity to a shared vision for a new adventurous mission.

What I missed was an emphasis on strategic prayer as a part of the process. To be fair, this was probably assumed to be essential to Bolsinger’s Christian values. I think prayer could have been given a more prominent role as he described effective inspirational leadership. He did conclude the book with a statement of faith in Providence: “God is taking us into uncharted territory to transform us.”

Bolsinger emphasized his definition of leadership: It is “energizing a community of people toward their own transformation in order to accomplish a shared mission in the face of a changing world.” He says, “Perhaps the most unexpected, challenging and delightful work of transformational leadership is when it becomes the shared work of friends.”

I wish you well as you navigate  your uncharted territory in 2021.

Happy new year!

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

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What’s Right about Christmas

People talk about the commercialization of Christmas, They protest the secularization of “the holidays.” It is not difficult to see problems associated with the season: materialism, overindulgence and busyness. So let’s pause for a moment and think about what is right about Christmas. Christ is born! (Some of these points are not original with me, but they bear repeating.) This is very good news.

Christ was born at the right time — chronologically. “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship” (Galatians 4:4-5).

At the time of his birth, the Greek language was the universal trade language of the empire. The Romans had built thousands of miles of roads making trade and travel more efficient for everyone. The Jews were everywhere and had built synagogues for the preservation and teaching of the Hebrew scriptures. There was relative peace throughout the world, enforced by the iron rule of the Roman government. It was at this opportune time in history that Jesus was born and would die and rise again. The news of his gospel spread rapidly.

Christ was born to the right family — genealogically. When Jesus was born it was as a direct descendant of King David, as scripture had promised. Jesus’ family history (genealogy) was recorded in the gospel of Matthew to establish his legal right to the throne of David as King of the Jews. This genealogy traces his ancestry through Joseph, his adoptive father on earth.

The genealogy in Luke’s gospel most likely traces our Lord’s human family history through his physical mother, the virgin Mary. She was also a descendant of King David through her father Heli (Eli, Joseph’s father-in-law). Mary is not named because it was not the usual practice to name the mothers in a genealogy. Luke emphasized Jesus’ physical or natural right to the throne of David.

Because he is the son of David, the Lord Jesus will inherit a kingdom that will endure forever (2 Samuel 7: 8, 16). When the angel told Mary that she would be the mother of Messiah, he told her, “The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David … his kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:32-33). He was born to the right family.

Christ was born in the right place — geographically. What difference does it make where he was born?  He was not born in Jerusalem or Athens or Rome because the scriptures had foretold he would be born in “David’s town,” Bethlehem. Micah 5:2 is a prophecy that the people of Israel took very seriously: “But you Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times.”

Ancient prophecies said that the Messiah (God’s anointed king) would arise out of the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10). The insignificant village of Bethlehem, because it was the birthplace of David, was to be the birthplace of David’s greater Son who was to come to rule. This was written to be an unmistakable sign to the great men of the earth (Matthew 2:3-6).

Christ was born in the right manner — biologically. There are those who teach that the miraculous conception of Jesus in the womb of a virgin maiden is a made -up story. But this is not like the fanciful legends surrounding Santa Claus. When the angel made his announcement about the Christ child to Joseph, it was understood to be a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14, “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means God with us)” (Matthew 1:22).

This means that “God was reconciling the world to himself through Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:19) and “He (Jesus) is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20) and “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory” (Hebrews 1:3) and “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14). 

Our Lord’s miraculous conception and birth means that the virgin Mary was enveloped by the Holy Spirit and her holy child was God in human flesh. He became human so that he could die for sinners as a human. He rose again from the dead to break the power of sin and death and open the way to eternal life for all who believe in him.

Christ was born for the right reason — theologically. The angel said to Joseph, “You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). God never does anything without purpose. His purpose in sending his Son into the world was “to save the world through him” (John 3:17). In another place John wrote, “The Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14).

The world’s powerful people use extravagant language to lavish honors upon their own: emperor, king, benefactor, potentate, premier. But no powerful person in history has ever dared to call himself Savior except the One who had the right to appropriate these words for himself: “I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior” (Isaiah 43:11). Only Jesus has the right to that title and every book in the New Testament bears that out.

Speaking of himself Jesus said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). He came at the right time, to the right place in the right manner and for the right reason, that we might believe in him and receive the gift of salvation. “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).

Merry Christmas!

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

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Advent: Fear Not, Shepherds!

During the weeks of this season of preparation I have been writing about occasions in the Christmas story where ordinary people were told not to be afraid. Zechariah, Mary and Joseph received messages from heavenly visitors which caused them to be afraid. But the coming of Christ is no time to be afraid.

Fear does strange things to us. The heart rate goes up, blood pressure is elevated, and the body, sensing danger, produces a blast of hormones, inducing a fight or flight response. Other effects of fear might be hyperventilation, sweating, goosebumps or sleep disturbance.

Some other people were told not to be afraid. They are not identified by name in the Christmas story. Rather, we know them by their occupation. Like 7.4% of people in our population, they were night workers. These men took care of sheep.

If they were like David, the shepherd boy of Bethlehem, they must have been rugged, brave, and resourceful. You may recall how David protected his father’s sheep from predators, killing a lion and a bear. If the men we read about in Luke 2 were like David, we would not attribute fear to them. Yet when an angel appeared, it was a shock to the system. They were terrified.

Angels are all over the place in the story of our Lord’s birth. They appear unexpectedly with good news for the participants in the unfolding events. They are powerful beings who are sent to people as representatives from God. As these nocturnal field workers watched over their flocks, all of a sudden a brightness lit the night with the appearance of a mighty and awesome creature who spoke to them and said, “Do not be afraid.”

They may have been humble, anonymous working men, but they were not stupid. They knew a supernatural manifestation when they saw it! The angel might have surprised and scared them, but he didn’t paralyze them. They overcame fear by realizing this was a message for them and they had better believe it.

They made the message personal: “The Lord has told us.” What did the Lord tell them in the angel’s message? “Today, in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:11). This is the good news of Christmas. God did not send his Son as a political reformer, educator or philosopher. He sent him to be our Savior, to deliver us from the penalty and power of sin. Like those simple shepherds, we need to make this message personal.

A friend of mine told me how she had done this. She attended a Christmas eve service at a church and heard the pastor bring a simple message on John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” She told me that during the singing of the Christmas carol that followed, she bowed her head in prayer and opened her heart to the Lord Jesus, receiving the promised gift of eternal life. That is the point of Christmas. She made it personal and so can you.

The story continues. They acted on the message: “Let’s go!” We are not told much about their feelings, but we do read about their direct and decisive actions. They were men of action. By obeying the message, they stepped out of obscurity and became internationally famous for what they did. They encouraged each other in obedience: “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about” (Luke 2:15).

They did that. “They hurried off” (they were quick to obey the Lord) “and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger” (Luke 2:16). The angel had told them to look for an unusual sign (v. 12), a feeding trough! The baby he was speaking about, the Messiah, will be lying in a feeding trough for animals. Sure enough, they found him there, as the angel had said.

I believe their fear faded when they determined to make the message personal and act upon it. When the shepherds acted in obedience to God, they found his word to be true. It was “good news that will cause great joy for all the people,” as the angel had said. For us too, if we will believe it and act on it.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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Advent: Do Not Be Afraid

“Do not fear” (Isaiah 41:10) has been the most searched, read and bookmarked verse on the You Version Bible app in 2020, according to Christianity Today. The topic of fear was the term searched most often in the early months. It spiked in frequency as the year unfolded with every anxiety-producing news report.

There is a reason “do not fear” is the command repeated most often in the Bible. We humans are prone to anxiety. This is especially obvious during the holidays when busyness, economic worries, and shorter daylight hours contribute to higher levels of stress. Domestic violence and alcohol abuse usually increase during this season. ‘Tis the season to be anxious!

Joseph was afraid. His world had been turned upside-down. He was reeling emotionally, off-center, unsteady. He had received word that his beloved Mary, to whom he was betrothed, was expecting a baby. He knew for certain that he was not the child’s father!

Perhaps he was afraid of the unknown. Who was responsible? He was afraid for Mary’s future. Should he divorce her? (Betrothal, according to Jewish custom at the time, was as binding as marriage. They were bound legally but not yet living together as husband and wife.) He must have been afraid of scandal and public disgrace. We may read about this in Matthew 1:18-25.

The impression I have of Joseph is of a strong man, skilled in his work as a craftsman, reliable, trustworthy, with a reputation for integrity. He was a man of few words, preferring to let his actions speak for him. He was devoted to God, a righteous Jew who made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem every year for Passover (Luke 2:41). Now suddenly he was faced with the most fearful situation of his life.

As he contemplated this predicament, “an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream,” and told him what to do. He was to take Mary as his wife, recognizing that the child she was carrying was “from the Holy Spirit.” He was to name the baby “Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” The angel began by saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid.”

God gave Joseph several reasons not to be afraid. He was speaking: through the dream, through the angel, and also through the scripture. What was happening in Mary was a direct fulfillment of the prophecy found in Isaiah 7:14, “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). Matthew’s gospel is telling us that’s who Jesus is: God with us.

God was near, on the scene, close by, another reason not to be afraid. Paul would say, “He is not far from any one of us” (Acts 17:27), and “The Lord is near” (Philippians 4:5). If we only remembered that, we would surely have less anxiety. Joseph was being told not to fear because God has shown up! He has come to us in Jesus Christ to share our humanity. He has come to us as Savior to die on the cross to save his people from their sins.

Joseph responded with instant obedience and long-term strategic action. As the story unfolds, we see how he recognized how God was guiding him as he cared for the mother of our Lord and the holy child himself. He took Mary as his wife, and in doing so, exposed himself to slander and misunderstanding (see John 8:47).

By order of the Roman government, the couple travelled to Bethlehem (Luke 2:1-4), where the child was born in accordance with another Old Testament prophecy (Micah 5:2). Who helped Mary with the delivery? Was it Joseph? Joseph obeyed the command of God to name the child Jesus which means “Yahweh is salvation” or “the Lord saves.” This is another of the prophecies about God which is fulfilled in Jesus, and another evidence of his deity (Psalm 130:8).

Later, according to Matthew’s gospel, Joseph received more guidance from heaven. He was instructed in another dream to take the family to Egypt for the protection of the child (Matthew 2:13). Then in yet another dream he was told when it was safe to return to Israel (Matthew 2:19-20). A fourth dream gave specific instructions to return home to Galilee (Matthew 2:22-23).

I imagine Joseph’s fears dissipated and his confidence grew with every step of obedience. All his life was preparation for this — his purpose. The guidance of God confirmed the truth of the original revelation. Mary had not been unfaithful to him! This baby boy was the Son of God and the Savior. Joseph’s calling in life was now clear: he was to provide for and protect the child and his mother.

What about our fears and uncertainties? Perhaps during this Advent season we can take time to pause and recognize that God still speaks to his people. He is near to those who call upon him in truth (Psalm 145:18). He still guides his people who are willing to follow him, as Joseph did.

A friend of mine sent me a note that put a smile on my face. In her own hand she wrote: “Good morning! This is God. I will be handling all your problems today. I will not need your help, so have a great day.”

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

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Advent: From Fear to Faith

C. S. Lewis wrote that one way we know we are living by faith is that what we are doing for God scares us. He said if it doesn’t, there is no faith involved. The Advent message “do not be afraid” can move us from fear to faith.

Mary was scared! An angel appeared unexpectedly (don’t they always?) and told her that God was calling her for a special assignment. She was going to become a living miracle. She, a virgin, would become the mother of the Son of God.

The appearance of the angel must have been frightening enough. Luke 1:19 says that the angel Gabriel stands “in the presence of God.” The name Gabriel means literally “God’s strong man.” He was surely a mighty and imposing presence. He was God’s spokesman. Mary was a simple village maiden from Nazareth.

His message must have been even more unsettling than his appearance.  He told her that she had found favor with God. The Holy Spirit would envelop her and the power of the Most high would overshadow her. But she should not be afraid. “The Lord is with you,” he said (Luke 1:28).

Mary’s fear is understandable. How would you feel if you went one-on-one with a powerful angel from heaven? What if he told you things that would upend your life forever? What would it mean for your plans, your future, your dreams and desires, to be replaced with a whole new agenda? If that thought makes you want to run and hide, then learn from the blessed mother of our Lord.

Mary accepted God’s intervention in her life. Can you do the same? The angel called Mary by name. God knows your name too, and all about your personal circumstances. So do not be afraid. In Matthew 10, Jesus told his disciples three times not to be afraid because the heavenly Father valued them and cared for them (Matthew 10:26-31).

The first word the angel spoke to Mary, “Greetings” (v. 28) means “rejoice!” She could rejoice because the Lord was with her. The Lord Jesus has promised he will be with us, too. So like Mary, we do not have to give in to fear if we welcome the Lord’s intervention in our lives.

Mary listened to God’s message and believed it. “Do not be afraid” is one of the most frequently-repeated commands in scripture. These commands are given to people facing real crises. Mary was altogether human and her mind was troubled by the crisis posed by the angel.

Gabriel explained: “You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:31-33).

Mary accepted the word of God through the angel. “I am the Lord’s servant…. May your word to me be fulfilled” (v. 38). Mary shows us the way to replace fear with faith.

Mary accepted what could only be described as a miracle. If the supernatural elements in the Bible trouble you, you are not alone. But the message of Advent is precisely that: the story of a great miracle. It is the miracle of the Incarnation: The Holy One to be born of Mary would be called the Son of God.

Yes, his coming would be by a  natural human birth. But Mary’s baby boy would be the Son of God; his conception would be supernatural. “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (v.35).

Luke, who wrote this, was a careful historian. He was a physician, a man of science. He did not try to offer a medical explanation for the birth of Jesus. He knew that he was describing something that was beyond the purview of science. Mary lived the miracle and Luke reported it as a supernatural break-in to our natural world.

Mary and Luke remind us that it is not superstitious and gullible to believe in an invisible God of love who would send his Son to save us from our sins. The miraculous elements in the story cannot be side-stepped. They are essential. They remind us that this life is not the only life. There is a heavenly place being prepared  for those who trust in the Lord Jesus. He is indeed the One whom the angel said he is.

We live in a scary time. It is a good time to welcome God’s intervention, God’s message, God’s miracles. So do not be afraid. Rejoice!

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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Advent: No Time for Fear

A note to readers: This week I have received texts and emails from individuals who have appreciated something they have read in this space. If you have found hiswillblog.com to be helpful, I would appreciate hearing from you, too. Click on “contact.” Thank you for your encouragement. Feel free to re-post or share these articles on your social media account.

The four weeks of advent remind us to live in hope, not fear. Today’s post begins a four part series on the “fear nots” of the Advent season. This is an important reminder because fear is all around us these days. There seems to be a contagion of anxiety, panic attacks, and depression fueled by uncertainty about the COVID-19 pandemic. It has interrupted every aspect of our lives.

In Luke 1:13 the Jewish priest Zechariah had his religious duties interrupted by a message from God: “The angel said to him: ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah, your prayer has been heard.'”

Amid the political reality of Roman oppression, the whispered threats of insurrection, the fevered atmosphere of prophetic expectation, Zechariah’s traditional religious observances must have provided him with a degree of comfort. He was offering incense and leading a gathered congregation in the prayers that were prescribed for that day on the Jewish calendar.

As the smoke curled from the censor, a symbol of prayers arising before the God of his fathers, and as Zechariah prayed for the deliverance of Israel and for the coming of the Messiah, suddenly an angel interrupted everything! This was not conventional, comfortable or customary. Verse 12 says “he was startled and gripped with fear.” Well who wouldn’t be?

No prophetic voice had been heard in Israel since the time of Malachi 400 years before this. God’s messenger appeared to Zechariah to tell him that he and his wife Elizabeth would have a son who will be a prophet. He would grow to be a man who would be “great in the sight of the Lord.”

The angel said other things about this son of Zechariah. The most important thing he said may have been the statement that this son, John, would “make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17). This was a fulfillment of Isaiah 40:3-5 which tells of a forerunner for Messiah, “a voice of one calling: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; … And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.'”

John was to be the prophet who would prepare the people for the coming of the Christ!

Zechariah’s initial response was not praiseworthy. He questioned the word of the angel. For that he was silenced and sidelined for the next nine months. The Lord gave him time to grow in understanding as he watched the unfolding of these strange and startling events. The story ended well. If you read the first chapter of the gospel of Luke you may see how Zechariah overcame his fear and accepted God’s good news.

It was good news of acceptance and grace. John’s assigned name means “the Lord is gracious.” The name the Lord chose for John the Baptist was in itself a message of grace for Zechariah, for the nation Israel and for the rest of us. Grace is the theme of the New Testament. Grace was the message of Jesus.

It was the good news that God hears the prayers of his people: “Your prayer has been heard.” What prayer? It was the prayer that the priests and prophets and people of Israel had been praying for hundreds of years, a prayer for the coming of God’s anointed Messiah. God was now on the move, answering that prayer, fulfilling prophecy. It was time for the advent of the Messiah, the Son of God. Zechariah’s son John would prepare the way.

It was good news of salvation. Zechariah got his voice back when his son was born. He uttered a prophecy that John’s ministry would give the people “the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins” (Luke 1:77). This would be made possible through the merit and sacrifice of Jesus Christ and only because of the free grace of God.

It was the good news that Messiah’s coming would fulfill the ancient prophecy of Malachi: it would be like the rising of the sun (Luke 1:78; Malachi 4:2-5).

This good news freed Zechariah to serve God “without fear” (Luke 1:74). With this kind of good news for the Advent season, we have to conclude, this is no time for fear. Let’s ask God to liberate us from anxiety and replace fear with the truth that Jesus has come and he is coming again!

The same God who heard the prayers of Zechariah will hear our prayers too. Come, Lord Jesus!

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

 

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Giving Thanks in 2020

The artist Dante Gabriel Rosetti famously quipped, “The worst moment for an atheist is when he is genuinely thankful, but has nobody to thank.” I remember when President Ronald Reagan invited Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev to his California ranch for the Thanksgiving holiday. The Soviet leader, a professed atheist, declined the invitation. I thought at the time that the reason may have been that thanksgiving implies the existence of Someone to whom we should be thankful.

Well, yes. The eminent Czech composer Antonin Dvorak began writing his new music with the words, “with God” and ended with “God be thanked.” Johann Sebastian Bach wrote in the margins of his music “SDG” for Soli Deo Gloria, or “glory to God alone.”

Augustine described the Christian life as an “alleluia from head to foot.” The seventeenth-century Anglican poet George Herbert included a prayer in one of his poems, “You have given so much to me. Give me one thing more — a grateful heart.” Os Guinness wrote that “gratitude must be our first and constant response to God.”

This year has been a difficult one for our nation. People  are out of work. The pandemic is still spreading. Children cannot attend school in the normal way. We have just had a contentious election. Riots, racial hatred, and political extremists have threatened public order. It is easy to forget that there is still much for which to be thankful.

A recent column by Jonah Goldberg, titled “It’s a Great Time to be Alive,” elaborated on this theme. Despite the fact that we seem only to hear bad news, we should be thankful for the under-reported good news. He says the situation is far better than pundits and politicians often claim.

For example, over the past thirty years, worldwide poverty has been on the decline. Global GDP has increased by 621%. Literacy, infant mortality, hunger, work-related deaths and other benchmarks of human misery have been improving for years. Goldberg says this is because of public health and anti-poverty programs, the expansion of international trade, liberty and technological innovation.

In America, we still enjoy relative peace, freedom, and a prosperity unprecedented in world history.

His article concluded, “None of this is to say that we don’t have problems. But when all we hear about are the problems, it’s not surprising that people think that all we have are problems.” He didn’t say it, but as Thanksgiving Day approaches, these are reasons to speak words of appreciation to that Great Someone from whom all blessings flow.

Jesus certainly did. As an observant Jew, he no doubt thanked God before and after every meal. He would have prayed the great thanksgiving psalms with deep gratitude for God’s love and faithfulness. In his hymn of jubilation (Luke 10:21) he prayed, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, this is what you were pleased to do.”

In the upper room, with his imminent death heavy on his heart, he took bread and “when he had given thanks” (Luke 22:19), he gave it to his disciples. If the Lord Jesus could give thanks in the darkest moments of his life, then you and I can find many reasons to give thanks, even in the year 2020.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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The Sense of Someone There

I witnessed a scene in a restaurant that reminded me of an incident from my childhood. A dad and mom had come in with two small children. The young father went on a scouting expedition to find a high chair. His little boy looked around for his daddy and not seeing him, began to cry. His dad had disappeared and the little guy was inconsolable.

I remembered the feeling. Once my mother and I were separated in a crowded department store and I panicked! I felt alone in the universe. It was scary.

There are times in our lives when we feel a sense of spiritual loneliness, like frightened children. We try to mask our fears and salve our hurting hearts with superficial talk, religious cliches, or mind-numbing entertainments. We sometimes forget that God is a living presence in our everyday lives.

The Bible says that God will be active in the future in a decisive way. Christians believe in the second coming of Jesus Christ. We are taught to pray for his kingdom to come.

We read with faith what the Bible says about God’s great acts in the past. We believe in God’s interventions in the history of  Israel and of the holy apostles of the early church. These stories amaze us but we secretly suspect that those people were somehow different and God does not show himself today. As a result we feel spiritually lonely, like lost children.

The answer is to remember and believe that the God of the past and future is also the God of the present. He is the God who said to Joshua, “Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you” (Joshua 1:5).  The God of ancient Israel and the God of the early Christians is also our God. He wants us to believe him when he tells us, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

When I, as a young child, cried out for my mother in that strange and crowded place, she reappeared. She had never left me. I didn’t see her for a moment, but she had never taken her eye off me. She was there.

When you and I grasp the truth of the timelessness and eternal compassion of God, we will, in the words of A.W. Tozer, “begin to think of him as always being there.”

in troubled times, when we need to feel his presence, we may call out to him. He will be there. We may “know God with a vital awareness that goes beyond words” as we live in the intimacy of personal communion with him.

It is the sense of Someone there.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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Proverbs for Presidents

The Bible gave sound advice for Israel’s rulers. A king of Israel should have a written copy of God’s law at hand at all times. He must read it regularly. This is so that he will learn to serve the Lord, follow the Lord’s word, and remain humble, not considering himself better than his fellow Israelites (Deuteronomy 17:18-20).

America is not Israel, and we do not have a king or dictator. Our presidents are chosen by the people and are subject to the Constitution of the United States. But these wise words from scripture may apply to whomever is elected to be president for the next four years.

Many people have found it a good practice to read the book of Proverbs daily. It is well known that the book has thirty-one chapters. This makes it convenient to read the book through every month, a chapter a day. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we knew that the President of the United States sought God’s wisdom from the book of Proverbs as he governed?

The book declares that it is by God’s wisdom that rulers govern effectively and successfully (Proverbs 8:15-16; 29:18). Reading Proverbs can make the wise even wiser (1:5). Proverbs states that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (1:7) and wisdom (9:10). What president doesn’t need these?

Here are some Proverbs that are relevant to the life and governance of a president.

Outcome of an election: “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails” (19:21). “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord” ( 16:33).

Advice and counsel: “For lack of guidance a nation falls, but victory is won through many advisors” (11:14). “Where there is strife there is pride, but wisdom is found in those who take advice” (13:10). “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisors they succeed” (15:22).

Character of the ruler: “The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint, and whoever has understanding is even-tempered” (17:27). “A lying tongue hates those it hurts” (26:28). “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (16:18). “Kings detest wrongdoing, for a throne is established through righteousness” (16:12). “Humility comes before honor” (15:33).

Criminal justice: “It is not good to be partial to the wicked and so deprive the innocent of justice” (18:5). “A corrupt witness mocks at justice” (19;28). “The wicked accept bribes in secret to pervert the course of justice” ( 17;23). “The lips of a king speak as an oracle, and his mouth does not betray justice” (16:10).

Economic justice: “If a king judges the poor with fairness, his throne will be established forever” (29:14). “Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God” (14:31). “Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered” (21:13). “Rich and poor have this in common: The Lord is the Maker of them all” (22:2).

War and peace: “Plans are established by seeking advice; so if you wage war, obtain guidance” (20:18). “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death” (16:25). “It is to one’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel” (20:3). “Those who promote peace have joy” (12:20). “A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel” (15:18).

Diplomacy and international relations: “To answer before listening — that is folly and shame” (18:13). “A wicked messenger falls into trouble, but a trustworthy envoy brings healing” (13:17). “When the Lord takes pleasure in anyone’s way, he causes their enemies to make peace with them” (16:7). “Enemies disguise themselves with their lips, but in their hearts they harbor deceit” (26:24). “Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land” (25:25).

Speaking the truth: “Kings take pleasure in honest lips; they value the one who speaks what is right” ( 16:13). “The righteous hate what is false” ( 13:5). “The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy” (12:22). “…Sayings of counsel and knowledge, teaching you to be honest and to speak the truth” (22:20-21).

The ultimate Ruler: “In the Lord’s hand the king’s heart is a stream of water that he channels toward all who please him. A person may think their own ways are right, but the Lord weighs the heart” (21:1-2)).

A prayer for the president: Heavenly Father, you are the great Sovereign of heaven  and earth and we look forward to the day when your kingdom will come. Your son Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords. In his name we pray for our president and for his family. Please protect and guide him. Give him the wisdom that he needs for the solemn responsibility of leading our nation.

May he trust in You with all his heart and not lean on his own understanding. May he submit to you in all his ways so that in your kindness and mercy you may make his paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6).

May your will be done in the coming election. May your people pray for the president and for all who are in authority, whomever is chosen for the next term in office. We pray for a clear and decisive result and for an end to unrest, suspicion and division in our nation. Please forgive our many sins and heal our land that we may glorify you. Amen.

Pastor Randy Faulkner