Psalm 119:88 Halfway Home

In your unfailing love preserve my life,
that I may obey the statutes of your mouth.

Psalm 119:88

This is another of the 11 times David uses the phrase "preserve my life" in Psalm 119. Literally it's "make me alive".

Each time he uses that phrase, he tells us something about how God and God's Word gives us life. In verse 88, at the halfway point of Psalm 119, he tells us two things about the reason for living.

Unfailing love gives you a reason to live.

A long, long time ago I asked a young lady if she knew the best four words in the English language.

"I love you?" she said, hesitantly. "No, that's three words."

"The four best words," I told her. "I. Love. You. Too."

"I love you" can be unrequited. It can be a blurted out phrase that falls flat. But "I love you too" is only said when there's an actual relationship, whether it's just beginning or decades long.

That sort of relationship can be energizing. When that mutual spark first burst into flame, both parties feel a new joy in living, a wholly different purpose for getting up in the morning and moving through the day.

How much more, then, does the loving relationship between God and a "man after God's own heart" energize and provide a reason for living?

Psalm 119 is David's trip diary, chronicling his journey on the 1 road, and about how he developed and maintained a deep love for the God who loved him.

If you want to be energized for the remainder of your journey on the 1 road, go deep in His Word and learn to align your heart with God's heart.

Obeying the statues of God gives you a reason to live

What's your reason for getting up in the morning? What's your goal for this year, for this life?

Whatever you put at the top of your To Do list, has it ever occurred to you that this should be first?

Obey the statues of God's mouth

Obeying is so passé these days. Most people don't get too excited about obeying anyone or anything. A lot of preachers don't like to talk about obeying, preferring to emphasize our freedom in Christ.

But David writes about obeying God no less than twenty times in Psalm 119.

And Jesus was quite clear about the importance of not ignoring the Law.

Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 

Matthew 5:19

Then Jesus continues, making it clear that it's not as simple as focusing on obeying a bunch of rules.

But For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. 

Matthew 5:20

If, like David, you're trying to align your heart with God's heart, then his commands and precepts and laws are windows into His heart. He doesn't make up those rules randomly. Each law is an expression of what God loves and hates, what He prioritizes, and the behaviors He knows are best for you, the one who He loves.

The laws are a description of righteousness, not the other way around. Righteousness is the reason to live. The laws are the signposts along the way.

Let me live that I may praise you, and may your laws sustain me.

Psalm 119:175

Missional Politics: Kobayashi Maru

I'm re-posting updated selections from a previous series on Missional Politics during the current political season.
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The 2016 presidential election presented a classic Kobayashi Maru scenario - a "no win" situation.

For the non Trekkies who are reading this, the Kobayashi Maru, according to the Star Trek wiki, MemoryAlpha:

...was an infamous no-win scenario that was part of the curriculum for command-track cadets at Starfleet Academy in the 23rd century. It was primarily used to assess a cadet's discipline, character and command capabilities when facing an impossible situation, as there is no (legitimate) strategy that will result in a successful outcome.

Many voters saw no legitimate strategy that would result in a successful outcome to this election. Both the Republican and Democratic candidates were repellent in their own ways. We were faced with the choice of voting for the one we were least scared about. The only alternative seemed to be either a vote for a third party candidate or staying home and not voting at all, both of which choices would effectively help one or the other of the "mainstream" candidates to win.

For a Christian, though, there is no such thing as a no-win scenario.

In the fictional world of Star Trek, there was one cadet who found a way to win.

In the 2250s, James T. Kirk became the first (and only known) cadet to ever beat the no-win scenario. After taking the test and failing twice, Kirk took the test a third time after surreptitiously reprogramming the computer to make it possible to win the scenario. Kirk was subsequently awarded a commendation for "original thinking" and later commented, wistfully, that his stunt "had the virtue of never having been tried."

Some people reacted to the presidential election by "reprogramming" their minds to conveniently ignore the flaws and flubs of one candidate, while amplifying every slip up and questionable comment by the other. Many of those people are still doing that today. For a Christian, this should never be an option. The Father of Lies is quite pleased when his opponent's followers resort to spinning the truth.

As Christians, our mission is not to buy into the platforms and purposes of the culture, but to "reprogram" our minds. The scriptures don't use the term "reprogram", but they do talk about the  "renewing of the mind" (Romans 12:2), being "made new in the attitude of your minds" (Ephesians 4:23), and "taking every thought captive" (II Corinthians 10:5).

If we reprogram our minds to to see things the way God sees them, we'll understand, first of all, that God is in charge, and that no king, no president, no nation is more powerful or more important than the King of Kings. In the Old Testament, God frequently is described as laughing or scoffing at the pretensions of rulers and principalities. If God thinks so little of them, why do we, as people who put our trust wholly in God, allow ourselves to get caught up in the hysteria surrounding who will be the next president?

Having your mind rooted in the Word of God, rather than in the world's version of the Word,  will change how you respond to the way the culture around us is reacting to the elections. As I've said before,

While people around you are pushing the edge of the envelope in favor of an extreme, whether politically conservative or liberal, the missional believer will continue to stretch him or herself to sacrificially seek and save the lost. 

As we reprogram our hearts to love what God loves and hate what He hates, we'll be driven by His concern to seek and save the lost. We'll be eager to leapfrog past the political wranglings to eagerly be salt and light in the world. As Eugene Peterson's The Message puts it, "bring out the God flavors" and the "God colors" in the world, in effect working to "reprogram" the way people in the world look at the world.

The alternative is to get caught up into the chaos of the no-win scenario, causing more harm than good. As one Star Trek cadet's poor performance in the Kobayashi Maru training exercise was described, "she destroyed the simulator room and you with it."

If my political obsessions lead me to argue too often and too vehemently with non-believers about political issues, I've become a stumbling block. I'm distracting them from the smiling and welcoming face of the Father who loves them. I also risk causing them to stumble when they look at me and, instead of seeing the love of Jesus in my actions and attitudes and words, they see someone scary, someone who only wants to convince them of some political opinion.

Our primary mission as Christians is not to win the battle for or against climate change, gun control, globalism, immigration, refugee settlement, political correctness, gay rights, racial equality, trickle down economics, a living minimum wage, or even abortion.

Our mission is play our part in reprogramming the minds and hearts of the people we encounter to honor god and trust Him as Lord, not to spin our wheels trying to win them to a political point of view.

So, go ahead and make the tough decision during this political season and vote for whichever candidates you can stomach. Or decide to not vote, if that's the only choice you feel you can live with. But don't let that choice push you into a no-win corner.

If you're focused on Jesus' mission, you're always going to  be on the winning side.

Psalm 119:87 1UP

What's a 1UP?  (It's not 1/7th of a 7UP.)

If you're playing a video game, you generally start out with more than one life for your avatar. Three is the usual standard. If your character gets killed during the game, you get start over  again with another life.

Many games also have a feature known as the 1UP. If you achieve a certain goal or touch a certain object, you'll see the characters 1UP appear, and an additional life is added.

You don't get a 1UP so you can sit and just watch the game play itself out.

You don't get a new life so you can go do something else.

It's not so you can just keep your avatar standing still, enjoying the view.

And the 1UP doesn't mean you can start ignoring the rules of the game and make your avatar go fishing instead (unless it's a fishing game).

No, you get that new life  so you can keep moving, heading along the path, on mission.

They almost wiped me from the earth,
but I have not forsaken your precepts.

Psalm 119:87

This past week, I was given a 1UP.

The heart attack began early Thursday morning. By Friday afternoon I was enduring a heart characterization procedure, made exceptionally long and painful due to the abnormal and backwards layout of my anatomy.

There was more than one point during the procedure that I was convinced I was going to die on that table. And yet here I am today, three days later, at home with my laptop, writing about the experience.

God didn't give me this 1UP just so I could back to living life the same way as before. I'm looking forward to exploring what new adventures God has in store for me.


You don't have to go face to face with death to find yourself in desperate need of a 1UP.

There are plenty of times on the 1 road of life that a 1UP would be nice to have. Actual life is a lot like a video game that way. There's always something trying to knock you down, aiming to distract you, hurt you, discourage you, or put you out of the game.

But God, through Jesus, has offered the best 1UP of all. At the point where you've completely messed up your life and are drowning in your own sin, He offers the opportunity to be immersed in His grace and to be raised up with new life in Christ.

And just like the video game, that new life means you need to continue living by the rules, the precepts.

God didn't give me a new life so I can just show up at church once a week and watch the preacher play out God's mission.

Christ didn't sacrifice His life for you just so you can take your new life and go do something else.

You weren't raised up out of that watery grave of baptism so you can become a spectator in church.

And your new life in Christ doesn't mean you can just ignore the scriptures and head off chasing your own priorities and your own agenda.

God has a mission and whatever role He has planned for you, it's grounded in His Word. You're going to need to pay attention to the precepts in order to be up to the challenge of the adventure ahead.

Ready Player One?

Missional Politics: The Pendulum Swing

I'm re-posting updated selections from a previous series on Missional Politics during the current political season.
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In 2008, when people around me were reacting with shock and fear to the election of Barack Obama, I cautioned them to be patient.

In my experience over half a century of observing politics, the one thing you can always count on is the predictable swing of the political pendulum.

Whenever the electorate swings toward the Democratic Party or the liberal side, the pundits warn of the death of conservatism. And then, after a handful of election cycles, the general public becomes disenchanted with the liberal agenda and swings back toward the conservatives. At which point the pundits predict the death of liberalism. And the pendulum then makes its inevitable swing to the extreme and starts its way back to the other side.

Over and over and over it happens. So, I counseled, just wait. People will tire of the liberal agenda and the pendulum will swing back the other way.

Little did I know the ensuing eight years would bring about a somewhat different twist on the predictable pendulum dynamic. Instead of simply swinging back toward conservatism, the general public has instead swung farther out to the extremes in both directions, driven by the internet's tendency to amplify extreme opinions and splinter traditional alliances.

As a result, we see the electorate splintered, chasing after extreme socialism, extreme conservatism, and - the swing that's generating the most buzz - chasing after the elusive "different", also known as the "against". Many don't really seem to care much what Donald Trump's actual political opinions are, they're just glad to cheer him on in being against politics as usual.

So how can a Christian who wants to exercise discernment keep from being carried along with the latest swings in political thought?

By being missional, not only in your "religion", but in your politics.

While people around you are hopping onto the bandwagon of the blunt outsider, reacting against perceived political correctness, the mission minded believer will continue to counter correctness with righteousness, while also countering bluntness with kindness and love.

You want to be a contrarian, standing against the status quo? Follow the example of Jesus, who refused to take sides with the Pharisees or the Sadducees or the Zealots or the Romans or the masses who hopped on the pendulum, clamoring after his "different" teaching, pushing him to set himself up as a political leader "against" all those other unsatisfactory choices.

When asked by the highest political leader in the land whether he considered himself a king, Jesus set Pilate straight.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” (John 18:37)

While people around you are telling you what they're against politically, the missional believer will distinguish him or herself as different by testifying to the truth of God's righteousness and grace.

You want extreme? Follow the example of Paul, who didn't follow the pendulum swings of his culture but instead lived on the edge, consistently stretching the envelope for the sake of God's mission.

We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited.  Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses;  in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger;  in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love;  in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left;  through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors;  known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed;  sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. (II Corinthians 6:3-10)

While people around you are pushing the edge of the envelope in favor of an extreme, whether politically conservative or liberal, the missional believer will continue to stretch him or herself to sacrificially seek and save the lost.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (I Corinthians 15:58)

Psalm 119:86 Faithful News

All your commands are trustworthy;help me, for I am being persecuted without cause.

Psalm 119:86

In the original Hebrew language, David puts the word for trustworthy (literally faithful) up next to the word for without cause (literally falsehood). Putting them back to back emphasizes they are direct opposites.

The faithfulness of God's commands stand in direct opposition to the false witness of the persecutors who oppose his commands - and his people. This is a highly important concept in today's culture of "truthiness" and "fake news".

What distinguishes fake news from true news is not whether it lines up with your preconceived notions. It's not about whether it supports your agenda or your politics or even your religious opinions.

It might be better to describe the conflict as faithful news versus unfaithful news.

• Is this information faithful to actual truth, actual facts? 
• Will this information continue to prove faithful to actual truth, or is it too dependent on current culture and popular opinion to reliably stand the test of time?
• Is the person sharing this information basing it on actual knowledge or research? Or is this second or third hand news.
• Does the person sharing this information place a high value on faithfulness to the truth? Or are they more faithful to their agendas, platforms, and prejudices?

It's pretty easy to read that list of questions and begin pointing fingers at those people. You know, those people who you disagree with.

But you'd better take another look at the list and make sure your own faithfulness to the truth isn't compromised.

Rocky Fork Fellowship: Writer's Notebook (part 2)

Rocky Fork Fellowship Groundbreaking Ceremony

Last week I posted portions of an interview with Scott Rice, the current Rocky Fork Fellowship chairman of the elders.

I also spent about an hour talking to Mark Butrum, RFF Senior Minister, and  Chris Collier, Executive Minister. What follows are some of the things we discussed that didn't make it into the article in the October issue of Christian Standard..

The Building Project

Chris: There’s a lot of people working on the building project. Don’t give me all the credit, and I’ll accept all the blame. I hope it relieves Mark to do what we need him to do, what he’s skilled to do.

We’re blessed to have a lot of people in the church who have experience in construction, experience working with the county. Through those people we’ve been tied into others. We’ve been leaning heavily on the professionals we’ve hired for design and engineering. That’s why it’s not fair to say I’m the guy doing it all, I’m just collecting the data, collecting the information.

Mark: Chris did a huge amount of work with cost reductions – right size, right price comparisons. Bringing all that into perspective. One of his talents is being able to pull data together and make it so we could and read it and make decisions together. It’s OK to have all this raw data, but unless you put it in one place and say, this is what it might look like, you can’t really make decisions, you’re just pulling numbers.

Chris: There’s some balance there of faith vs. fact and what you see on paper. We took a faith step in identifying the budget point. We’re still trying to hold to that budget, we’re not done holding to that budget. It takes a lot of moving things around and deciding . There’s so many options. From what kind of paving we’re going to put in the parking lot all the way to what kind of building this is going to be, how big, what the span is, how many fixtures in the bathroom.

Mark: Keeping some of our core values in mind, stewardship is very high . We want to come out with a finished product that is not only reasonable and what we can afford, but also matches the expectations of the future we want to get into as far as future growth.

Chris: Stewardship is more important than professionalism.  All indications are this is not the end of what we do, but we have to start somewhere. We looked at huge scale down to smaller than what we finally rest on, trying to fin a balance. It would be awesome if we outgrew it in 3 to 6 months, but at the same time we want to expect what ‘s going to happen. I hope it’s always about how this is going to help us accomplish our mission.

Mark: We keeping harping on it: this is a tool. We haven’t arrived. We have people ask, when are you going to become a church? They don’t see us as a church yet because we don’t have a building. I’m OK with that, but we need to change our mindset that the church isn’t the building. This is a tool, it doesn’t mean we haven’t arrived yet because we haven’t built it. There’s so much more to do.

Mark: Vision leaks. We've got to talk twice as much about vision and mission to overcome that. So we’ve got to have this balance. When we started this campaign, we knew this was the beginning of something that will probably never end. We’ll probably always be campaigning for something, whether it’s more staff or another building, a second campus, another church, plant. Something, we’re going to be constantly in this cycle of collecting funds, and not just tithing to keep the church going. We’ve got to keep the vision out front more than the other. We struggle with keeping the campaign out there. We struggle with talking about both and getting those two back in synch again.

Balancing Growth and Mission

Chris:What makes RFF unique is that family welcoming atmosphere. We have to be careful. Some of the churches I’ve attended have fallen into accepting that it can’t be done, or accepting that there’s nothing you can do about it., that if you get to a certain size, you can’t keep doing that. I don’t agree with that, I don’t agree that we always have to say society or culture has changed and people won’t come to church. It’s because nobody asked them or challenged them or got to know them enough to bring them along.

Mark: One of the things we want to do this year is to look at how we reach people. We’re refocusing a lot of energy on that right now. How do we reach people, how do we bring in new people, how to create an environment where people who are coming to RF will bring in their friends and feel comfortable about it, will want to do that. How do we, once they're here, whether it be for a picnic or special event, how do create an on-ramp to RF? It goes down to every one of us. We all have to be mission minded. We have to in a place where we know, I’m accountable for the people I invite.

Mark: Every weekend we get a sheet of people that were here the 2nd or 3rd time, or who was missing. Chris and I and other people in the church take names from that list. We text them, Facebook, call, however we can get hold of them and and say we missed you. We’re not trying to be the attendance police, but we missed you. Is there anything going on, is there a divorce or split or kids are sick. Reach out to people let them know you care. We find that when we make a special effort to do that, there’s an attendance spike the next week. You may make contact with one neighbor and suddenly there’s two families coming, because a neighbor or family member they know, someone who used to come, they’re coming back too. That’s awesome. I’m paraphrasing Andy Stanley, but we want to be the church where unchurched friends invite their unchurched neighbors. We want to be that kind of church where it’s perpetual motion, exponentially.

Mark: When we put a building up out here, we’re going to have people coming out of the woodwork to come visit us. I say visit us. How are going to get them to come back a 2nd, 3rd, 4th time? The infrastructure has to be ready for that. Small groups, things for their kids, all that has to be ready for them.

Missional Politics: That's What He DIDN'T Say

I'm re-posting updated selections from a previous series on Missional Politics during the current political season.
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A few things neither God nor Jesus said:

How, then, can they vote for the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring political campaign points!”

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make partisans of all nations, registering them in the name of the right party and the right platform and the right opinions and teaching them to stick to the party line. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying:
     Who should I send? Who will go for Us?
Isaiah said:
     Here I am. But I'm too busy arguing with my co-worker about gun control.

Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority with whom you agree: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are empowered by their politically zealous followers to punish those who do wrong (according to them) and to commend those who do right (as they see it). For it is God’s will that by speaking the truth bluntly and by sharing hilarious memes you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.

Then He said to His disciples, "The candidates are plentiful, but the campaign workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the election to send out workers into His target audience."

Live such politically active lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of holding to wrong opinions, they may see your right-ness and glorify your grasp of truth on the social media. For it is God’s will that by being right you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for political correctness; live as God’s spin masters.